When can I monetize my podcast?

When you deliver value. Your audience must reap benefits before you do. Sure there are places that say "Monetize from day 1" but that is 2 cents a download so that's about 15 bucks a month in your case. Your first goal is to grow and audience - then monetize. The more niche you are, you might have a better chance at sponsorship. Here are the ways you can make money with your podcast: 1. Sell your own stuff (products and services) 2. Sell other people's stuff (affiliate programs) 3. Crowdfunding and Donations (notice it is crowd funding, not fund crowding you need the crowd first and that can take YEARS 4. Advertising 5. Live events (very similar to 1 sell your stuff) 6. Free stuff 7. Opportunities (Which lead to opportunities to make money) It all starts with knowing who your audience is, and giving them what they want.

Depending on what your audience is and what your goal in sponsorship is, a few dozen active listeners or thousands, doesn't really matter. If the sponsor sees a benefit then go for it. I've had sponsors from before I even launched several years ago. I approached local businesses, restaurants, bars, and the like, let them know what my show was (interviews of local artists, musicians, authors). We record on site at those locations, and they see an immediate benefit when 10-20 or more people show up to watch & hear us record. Turns an off night into a great night. Worked out other "friend of show" benefits, happy hr prices, BOGO, or other similar for anyone coming in saying they listeners or showing the show web site (with venue logo on our sponsor page). Sponsors for me have been both payments, where we do a straight forward $s for ads on web, social media push, and mentions in show, to trades- free oil changes for all my vehicles, a few sets of tires over the years, a couple of restaurants I haven't paid a tab for in 6 years- show them the benefits/drive customers

You have to treat your podcast like a business. Downloads don't matter unless you know who is downloading your podcast. The value is understanding what heads you're getting into and what would they buy? Think of your podcast as a more scalable radio station, what is the format, content, and listenership? When you understand those basics you.can start to understand monetization. We've monetized since day one, but we approached the podcast as an extension to our businesses and now it is the main business. I hope that helps.

In my experience-of only been podcasting for 2 months- I find it easy to monetize. I have 5 local businesses that advertise with me and each one pays 100 bucks for 30 second ads. As far as listeners each episode I get about 15 to 20 thousand people tuning in. I'm not on any of the Spotify or other platforms. I broadcast right off my Facebook group and it seems to work. I have had congressmen, Senators, and County Councilmen on my show. Plus a few local bigwigs. I guess if you want to make money get local businesses on board

I started monetizing my podcast when I had about 1k downloads for a new episode in it's first month and 10k downloads per month overall. I run a podcast network where I monetize other podcasts and the minimum download requirement to be considered is 20k per month. You have to have a good base of listeners to get sponsors or the money will be so low it won't be worth it to run an ad

For those numbers maybe offer a Patreon with exclusive episodes. My podcast is getting 13-15,000 downloads a month. We’ve had a few small sponsorships but Patreon is where the vast amount of our income is coming from

Also start collecting email addresses. You need a way to directly talk to your audience. Doesn’t have to be often, but you’ll never regret building a list early. You can use Substack, or ghost which is free. Converkit is good too, but costs more as you grow. Revue is integrated/owned by Twitter.

Anchor is hit or miss, if you sign up with spreaker and do the $20 dollar a month plan you can sign up for their ad exchange program. They have a pool of ads that they will put on your podcast in a place you approve usually pre or post roll. and you get paid per listen. The more downloads you have the more you make. And it's no extra work on your part once you setup. Right now I am covering the cost of the monthly subscription and putting a little money in my pocket the more you podcast grows the more you will make.

If you can get sponsors or sell merch with your numbers than do it. But in my experience to start getting real sponsorships you need big numbers. There is nothing stopping you from trying to monetize in other ways. Donations, sell merch, start a patreon and offer bonus content. You can also create place holder sponsors to promote your patreon and merch that will get you used to editing in ads later and get your audience used to ad breaks in your show.

Nice numbers, and you're off to a good start. But I'm bewildered that you're already looking at monetizing. There are people way further down the line than you who aren't even looking at monetizing yet. Don't run before you can walk. Keep growing that audience. Also, having 2932 downloads does not mean you have 2932 listeners. Wait until you've grown your audience to a more substantial number and you're at a point you can prove loyalty, THEN have a look at monetizing.

Most important thing: consistently provide value first to your audience first. 1000/mo, for automatic monetization, is on average about $20 or so (not including any fees you need to pay) The best option is to sell your own product or service. I don't suggest anybody even considers monetization until you are hitting a minimum 5,000/mo. If you want, I'm happy to give you a 30 min consultation and help come up with some solutions for you (I'm a podcast manager). Most all other methods of making money from a podcast is better than monetizing.

I think asking “When can I monetize my podcast” Is the wrong question. What value do you bring that would make people want to pay for your content? Be really honest about that. We all believe we bring more value than we really do. What podcasts do you spend money on because you want to hear their content? Or do you wait for a free option like most do? Also, 2932 downloads in 4 months is awesome! Congrats

I wouldn’t waste your time trying to make money yet. If anything you’ll make $1-5 per month at the expense of annoying your listeners with ad segments. Enjoy creating your show and keep growing it. At some point they’ll come to you when the value add proposition makes sense.