TPU #22 | Can You Charge for Your Podcast and Make a Profit?
Click here to download this episode.
On this episode of the Podcasting Underground,
- I discuss whether you can charge for your podcast and make a profit
- I talk a bit about which podcast directories are most important to which you should submit your podcast
- And I give you the usual podcast promotion quick tip.
The idea for this episode came from a conversation that started when I commented on Episode #22 of the New Comm Road podcast.
My discussion touches on several reasons why people would be willing to pay for the information you provide in your podcast. Then I also look more at what makes your information unique and how this affects the value of your podcast, whether or not you charge for it.
Other links and things mentioned in this show:
- Chris Penn
- New Comm Road
- Bryan Person
- Rule for the Revolution
- Podcast Mastery
- Corporate Podcasting Summit
- My blog post on the most important podcast directories
- k7.net voicemail service
Send comments and feedback to:
- jason [at] podcastingunderground [dot] com
- or call 206-222-1585 to leave a voice message that I can play on the show.
Marc said,
March 15, 2007 at 4:56 pm
Jason -
As a podcast consumer, my initial reaction to someone charging for a podcast was -
‘WHA???’ closely followed by -
‘It must be some rather unique content to justify charging for it.’ (ala B.Person)
On the surface, I did not have a problem with the idea of charging for a Podcast,
but something about it was subliminally unsettling…then it hit me -
It was because of the word ‘Podcast’ itself!
You know, that ‘warm and fuzzy feeling’ word Podcast.
Part (i)Pod - part Broadcast - open to ALL for consumption.
The word Podcast was being denigrated through capitalist intent!
We do not object to paying to ‘participate/listen to’ a Teleseminar .
Information Marketers turn these Teleseminars into CDs (or MP3s)
and in turn, sell them to those who could not ‘attend.’
That seems perfectly reasonable to me.
Q: Why should charging for a Podcast be any different?
A: It’s not - it’s just that the word Podcast is further ‘losing its innocence.’
_
Hey….who are those gents in the matching white coats???
Where are we going fellas?
former listener said,
March 25, 2007 at 9:00 am
I just removed the podcasting underground from my podcatcher. Why? I *really* don’t care to listen to you recounting some conflict you had with someone else. Very tacky. Mostly, it’s a waste of my listening time. And no “joo-joo” there for sure.
Marc said,
March 25, 2007 at 7:09 pm
Length of Episode #22: 25 min. 51 seconds.
Length of segment about the berating by PodcastBunker: 2 min. 45 seconds
(actually, 50 seconds was about ‘Human-curated’ directories & Demoz, so…)
‘Adjusted’ total time spent on the berating by PodcastBunker:: 1 min. 55 seconds
Having the time to post an anonymous, ‘unhappy’ comment: priceless
‘..you can please some of the people some of the time, but not all of the people…’
ah..nevermind
Jason said,
March 25, 2007 at 7:26 pm
And the real point of that 2 min 45 second segment was that my list of suggested podcast directories had changed. Of course I wrapped it in a story, but that’s just because many people enjoy an interesting story (like the listeners who have emailed thanking me for telling that story).
Truth be told, if I didn’t tick someone off now and again, I would wonder if I was doing things right or just being “safe”.
Podcasting Underground | Podcasting Tips for Podcasters said,
April 3, 2007 at 1:40 am
[…] Last episode, I talked about whether or not you could charge for your podcast as a way to make money. I talked about some of the reasons why your content has value to information consumers. People will pay to get the content they want in a convenient, well-organized manner that saves them time and money in the long run. On this episode I answer the question, “Should you charge for your podcast?” […]
Charles Stricklin said,
April 23, 2007 at 4:22 pm
Bah, it was probably the guy who gave you the odd, vitriolic phone call to begin with. :)