Let me take you back in time to 2018 for a moment– back to precedented times where Tide Pods were of great concern and the biggest global event was the Winter Olympics.
2018 was also the year I started my first podcast, Philly Who? And, while times were much simpler back then, I was facing a conundrum.
My podcast had been around for about 6 months, it had grown, and I had even gotten my first advertisers.
I was making some money from ads, but it wasn’t enough money, nor was it consistent enough, and my savings that I had been living off of were about to run dry.
Around this time, somebody recommended I try launching a Patreon.
I decided against it because I figured I didn’t have enough time to invest, or enough listeners who would want to pay monthly.
By the time the next year rolled around, I had started making more money via paid ads, live events, merch, and other miscellaneous avenues. I still didn’t have a Patreon, and I still was hearing that I should.
So, I launched one in July 2019.
Within one week, five people signed up for the top tier at $25 per month.
It turned out, there were people in my small audience who really loved my show, and who were thrilled to have the opportunity to support me while getting perks for doing so.
Now it’s 2021 and the world looks a little different. Philly Who? has grown past six figures in revenue, and I’ve launched Grow The Show, which has done the same in six months.
In the 3 years in between, podcast monetization has come a long way.
A few weeks ago, Apple and Spotify both announced the ability for listeners to subscribe to paid memberships in their apps.
That’s what we’re going to talk about today– membership monetization.
But, we’re not going to talk about Apple and Spotify, because for once, the big tech companies are actually behind the curve.
We’re also not going to talk about Patreon. While Patreon is the biggest name in membership platforms for creatives, what I’ve found through a year of extensive research is that there is an easier way.
That way is Supercast, which is one of the first paid membership platforms made specifically for podcasters.
Today, we’re chatting with Supercast’s CEO, Jason Sew Hoy. He’s here to teach us about how we can take advantage of one of the fastest growing forms of podcast monetization.
He’ll share how he built Supercast to be one of the most podcaster membership platforms currently available, he’ll explain exactly why paid memberships and the “passion economy” are the future of podcasting, and he’ll give you strategies to help build out your membership platform.
Through a premium membership, you don’t have to wait until some mythical someday to monetize your podcast. If you tune in to this episode, you’ll be able to monetize your podcast today and forget about finding sponsors.