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Do you ever wonder how podcasters ACTUALLY make money? Take it from a full time podcaster, it might not be what you’re expecting. In this episode, I’m telling you everything—the what, when, and how behind the five income streams I’m using to monetize my podcast in 2025.

I’ll walk you through real examples from my business, including soft pitches, digital products, affiliate marketing, speaking engagements, and a first look at my upcoming courses. Whether you’re just starting podcasting or ready to go full time, there’s something in this episode for you!

1. Services, Consultations and Virtual Production 

For me, the bulk of my revenue—around 60% to 75%—comes from podcast production, management, and consulting services. My podcast is my main marketing tool to attract and nurture clients for these services.

Here’s how I pitch my services in every episode:

• Soft Pitch: Share success stories or client transformations within your episode content.
• Hard Pitch: End every episode with a clear call to action (e.g., “Here’s how you can work with me and why you need to work with me now.”)

Pro Tip: If you aren’t pitching your services on every episode you’re leaving money on the table. You know why? Because most of your audience doesn’t listen to every episode. Most of your audience is only retaining about 60% of what they’re hearing. Most of your audience needs to hear about a product 8 – 12 times before they buy.

2. Digital Products 

Digital products are my second-biggest focus. Think templates, guides, or tools designed specifically for your audience. Currently, these make up 5% to 10% of my revenue, but there’s so much room to grow.

For example here are a few digital products I sell: 

• Podcast Media Kits: Customizable templates that podcasters can use to pitch their podcasts to advertisers and brands, these templates are customizable on Canva and use everything I’ve learned about pitching my podcasts to brands for partnerships.
  
• Social Media Templates: Proven designs for promoting podcast episodes to turn followers into listeners. These are customizable Canva templates designed from my highest performing posts on social media over the past 5 years. 

How to Start Selling Digital Products:

1. Understand Your Audience: What problem are they trying to solve?
2. Solve a Problem You’ve Faced: What do you wish you had when you started podcasting?
3. Keep It Simple: One product is all it takes to start.

🙋🏻‍♀️Need an idea for a digital product! I’ve created a tool that emails you 10 digital product ideas based on your podcast. Use it here! 

3. Affiliate Marketing

Affiliate marketing isn’t my biggest revenue stream, but it’s by far the easiest. Currently, affiliate commissions from Amazon, podcasting tools, and vendor referrals make up less than 5% of my income.

Steps to Get Started with Affiliate Marketing:

• Make a List: What products or services do you genuinely love?
• Reach Out: Email the brands and ask about their affiliate programs.
• Be Selective: Only promote what you believe in.

Affiliate marketing is perfect for new podcaters because of its low barrier to entry. Even small creators can get approved for programs and start earning.

4. Speaking Engagements

My podcast has opened doors for paid speaking engagements. Whether it’s a conference or a workshop, these events bring in 10% to 20% of my monthly revenue.

How I Monetize Speaking:

1. Speaker Fee: Negotiate a set fee for your time.
2. Sales Funnel: Offer a freebie during your talk (like a free download that corresponds with your presentation). Then, use an email sequence to upsell services or products.

Pro Tip: Personal connections at live events lead to higher conversion rates for sales and services.

Listen to Episode 17: How to Leverage Your Podcast for Paid Speaking Opportunities here.

5. Podcast Monetization in 2025 and Beyond 

Up to this point we’ve talked about things I’ve done in 2024, that I’m also going to be doing in 2025. Now I want to talk about new things I’ll be doing in 2025 to make money through this podcast.

Let’s start with course creation, I have 3 courses currently in process to be launched in 2025. I’m so excited for these because not only are they incredibly valuable to podcasters, they have video components and downloads to walk you through if you’re a visual learner. They say you only retain about 60% of what you hear, so I’m so so excited to be launching these courses for you. I’m keeping 2 of them a surprise for now, but the first one to launch will be about Pinterest and using Pinterest for your podcast.

I’ve had over 500,000 views on my pins since February and it’s the number one lead source after Google to my website. I want to teach you how to use Pinterest for your podcast so you can stop stressing about posting 5 times a week on social media and people still not listening to your new episodes. Pinterest is incredible because the pins circulate for 2 years, whereas Instagram is usually less than 2 days. I’ll take the 2 years.

In addition to courses I’m also launching automations for podcasters. This is going to look like a few different things, but like the digital product tool these will be tools and systems to make your life easier as a podcaster and help you figure out how to grow and monetize your podcast. I’ll also be working with podcasters to implement automation into their podcasts. Like we always say, AI won’t replace you, people who use AI will.

What’s Your 2025 Podcast Monetization Plan?

Whether you’re selling services, creating products, or exploring speaking opportunities, there are countless ways to monetize your podcast. The key is to start small, stay consistent, and keep your audience’s needs front and center.

Schedule a free exploratory call with me to talk about your podcast: https://calendly.com/morganfranklinmedia/30min?back=1&month=2024-12

If you’re ready to create a game plan for 2025, I’d love to help. DM me or email me at morgan@morganfranklin.media. Let’s make this your most profitable year yet!