If you want to make money from your podcast by offering products, services, and sponsors, you need to understand what is valuable for your listeners. This means unearthing what they need and what they’re willing to pay.
In this episode of Mics to Millions, we sit down with Joe Sanok, host of The Practice of the Practice Podcast. He’s a veteran in the podcast space and has been running the show since 2013, which now receives roughly 60,000-100,000 monthly listeners.
He joins us to share his “pain, product, price” (3P) process for engaging with a podcast audience so you can understand how to add real value to your offerings while also bringing in more revenue.
Engaging with your audience will help you understand their needs
Before diving into sponsorship deals or product launches, it’s crucial to gauge the pulse of your audience. Are they actively engaged with your content or merely passive listeners?
That’s why Joe recommends starting by inviting a select group of listeners for a 15-minute brainstorming session. This gives you invaluable feedback on their interests and pain points.
Consider approaching your audience like this,
“You say, ’Hey, everybody, I’m thinking about launching some products or doing some sponsor stuff. I know you’re dedicated listeners. You’re the cream of the crop. You’ve been listening since the beginning. I want to talk to you. This is not a sales call. It’s 15 minutes of me just asking questions about how you think and what kind of things you might want me to offer.”
During these calls, you’ll want to address the three key points – Pain, Product, and Price.
Joe argues that delving into the core challenges faced by your audience sets the stage for product development. Through a series of probing questions, you coax out their ideal features and functionalities. Then, armed with insights from your audience, you can then mold the perfect product.
Determining the right price point is a delicate balance between value and affordability. Use this time with your audience to dig deeper into what they perceive as valuable and what they’re willing to invest.
With a prototype in hand, it’s time to put your product to the test. A targeted email campaign to your most engaged subscribers and ads to your podcast audience offers a litmus test for consumer interest. Moreover, with exclusive early bird pricing, you can gauge the market’s appetite for your offering. This tangible sales data can be a powerful bargaining chip when negotiating with sponsors.
🎧Check out the full episode to learn each step of the 3P in greater detail and with examples from Joe.
Strategic investments in endorsements and business deals can elevate your podcast and profile
When John Lee Dumas, renowned podcaster and author, launched his book, “The Common Path to Uncommon Success,” he also offered a promotion where bulk buying his books granted access to a private mastermind with him.
Sensing an opportunity to provide value to his community, Joe proposed a collaboration.
Rather than purchasing the books for himself, Joe arranged for 50 copies to be sent directly to members of his membership community. In return, John offered a one-hour teaching session for Joe’s community.
With a connection established, Joe later proposed hosting a happy hour event at Podcast Movement, covering the tab for $1,000 to $2,000 worth of drinks. In exchange, all he requested was a brief acknowledgment from John during the event.
The result? The ROI of Joe’s investment surpassed his wildest expectations.
“That $2,000 got me into so many VIP rooms, it was better than any podcast sponsorship I could have paid for. I all of a sudden had the blessing of John Lee Dumas in front of hundreds of his followers who then wanted me on their shows.”
In light of this experience, Joe argues that strategic investments go beyond financial transactions and instead create opportunities to cultivate meaningful connections and add value for everyone.
Paid interns and virtual assistants can be a great first step to bringing in help for your podcast
As a podcast host with limited financial resources, the prospect of hiring professionals to outsource work might seem daunting. For Joe, finding help when starting on a small budget meant getting creative.
He says, “When I first got started, I realized that our local community college has a sound engineering program.”
This allowed him to bring on budding young professionals at a price that didn’t break the bank.
“Some of my sound engineers now work in Nashville or on Broadway. I had them when they were interns, and they got paid for their internship, unlike most other internships. And then they’d stay with me for a couple of years and do audio engineering,” he adds.
Following this, Joe recognized the limitations of his time and bandwidth and began working with virtual assistants. He advocates that even dedicating just a few hours per week to administrative tasks proved instrumental in freeing up his time to focus on strategic growth initiatives.
🎧Check out the full episode here.