Today, I had a lunch conversation with my good friend Drew Ackerman, also known as "Scooter," who's been hosting the podcast "Sleep with Me" for a decade now. It's all about helping people fall asleep and has garnered a dedicated fanbase over the past ten years.
Drew's approach to generating revenue from his podcast was fascinating and got me thinking about opportunities in the podcasting world, particularly for associations. Drew monetizes his podcast through advertisements and sponsors. What's unique is that he cleverly places these at the start of his episodes, recognizing that his listeners fall asleep at different points during his episodes.
Additionally, he employs the value-for-value model by encouraging listeners to become Patrons and contribute monthly on a website called Patreon. These patrons receive bonus content, fostering a loyal community around his show. Looking at his Patreon page, he has more than six thousand patrons. Each gives on different tiers of $5, $10, $20 a month. (you can do the math on what he potentially makes)
He also sells branded pillows and sheets.
Our conversation then steered towards my association clients and how they effectively generate non-dues revenue. I started producing association podcasts while managing my meetings and media production company. At that time, I noticed associations possess an ideal ecosystem for successful podcasting ventures.
Associations have the membership as the audience. If Drew and I were to contemplate starting a podcast together that focused on topics we're passionate about, we would be looking for an audience to listen. How would they find us? How would we find them?
Associations stand as subject matter experts within their industries and services. They have a pre-established audience in their membership, exhibitors at their events are the sponsorship arm, and a wealth of speakers who are authorities in the field to interview and focus on.
This opens up numerous revenue channels. For example, sponsors/exhibitors could tap into the association's member base and could pay for direct access to the podcast's listeners. Moreover, by offering sponsorship opportunities for podcast stages or tracks at annual events, associations and exhibitors can enhance brand recognition among their community. They also can utilize dynamic content. As associations continue to produce episodes, their podcast becomes more valuable, and they can offer ad space/dynamic content that our "robots" or automated systems seamlessly insert and remove ads to sell over and over.
You can even opt to "bake in" the ads for a long-term presence or until the episode is re-edited with new advertisements.
It was a fun lunch listening to Drew's insights and thinking about how associations can get after the untapped potential in the podcasting realm.
I'd love to hear your thoughts on this, whether you have any experience with your podcast revenue strategies or ideas to share. Do you have some cool ways you bring un non-dues revenge with content?
Let's keep this conversation going and explore the world of podcasting and association collaboration!
I am looking forward to your feedback and discussions. 😊
If you have trouble sleeping, check out Drew's podcast! It's a snoozer.
Mike
------------------------------
Michael McAllen
Podcasting4Associations
Oakland CA
mike@podcasting4associations.com------------------------------