Go around the internet a bit, and you’ll probably hear about the likes of Pewdiepie or Michelle Phan. People that have made tons of cash by making videos and putting them on the internet. And there are lots of people that try to follow in their footsteps, but it just doesn’t work out. Sometimes, even with a great viewership, you’ll still be in debt.
So how do you make things work for your podcast or vlog?
Like in all other types of business, making maximum profit is done by searching for multiple sources of revenue within the same business model. If you think you can live through ads alone, you’re in for a really hard time. Instead of waiting to get millions ov views per post to get the kind of living you want, lets look at three ways you could get more money through your show.
The first thing we’re going to cover is the use of your show to sell something. Other than giving you another way to get money, this can improve your marketing as well. Letting your product/service and your show cycle awareness with one another might not get you viral, but the popularity of one will definitely rub off the other.
Another cool, but vastly more difficult way is sponsors. Advertisements that have you locked under a retainer. Although this is the most stable of the ways I’m sharing with you, let me repeat that it’s very difficult. First off, you need a pretty huge audience to reel these guys in. Second, meeting the demands of a sponsor can sometimes be as arduous as having children.
The last way is through affiliate marketing. This falls under advertisements too, but unlike sponsors, you can start doing it off the bat. However, you only make money when people make sales off of your referrals. If you’ve ever heard a show host ask you to use their discount code to purchase a certain product, that’s a really easy way to track down where customers are coming from.
BONUS: I just remembered something while I was on Youtube. A lot of shows are going for donation services like Patreon. They work like Kickstarter, but instead of funding a huge chunk of money once, donors will be charged a way smaller fee every month. And yes, you’re usually obliged to give pledge rewards and stretch goals, which more often than not include you quitting your day job to work on the show full-time.