This Is How Much Money a Podcast With 1,000 Downloads Can Make

Hey Friend!

Have you ever wondered how much money a podcast with just a thousand downloads can make? It’s probably more than you think, but not in the way you think. People often think that making money from a podcast comes from sponsorships or brand deals. Incorrect!

Podcasting has been around for years. I used to listen in the car while working out, folding laundry, at the gym, or making dinner. Not only was I learning, but I also started wondering how much money these podcasts are making. Could this be the secret to what I’ve been looking for to grow my own online business?

At the time, I was spending four to five hours a day on social media, not having success, and struggling to find leads and people who wanted to work with me.

Five million podcasts exist today. Advertising revenue for podcasts is projected to hit four billion dollars by 2025! People trust podcasts more than they trust social media ads.

PODCAST DOWNLOADS AND MORE

In this post, we’ll consider how much a podcast with one thousand downloads per episode could potentially make. I‘ll walk you through my three favorite methods of making money with podcasting and break down the math so you can see the potential of one thousand downloads. We’ll also look at:

• How to start a podcast?
• What does it cost?
• What does it entail?
• The numbers behind podcasting monetization
• The truth about ad revenue

Finally, I’ll share what my podcast, which has over two million downloads, produces in sales and revenue. Whether big or small, your podcast audience is your biggest asset. If you’re podcasting or thinking about starting one, this is the strategy you need.

Please dive in with me. Grab that notebook and pen. I hope this blows your mind.

Podcast Downloads Method Number One: CPM Model

So, how much can you make with a thousand downloads per episode? The answer is, it varies. Podcast downloads method number one is podcast ads. This is the CPM model. CPM stands for Cost Per Mille, from the Latin word for thousand. It’s a standard advertising term that refers to the cost per one thousand impressions.

Typical ad rates are eighteen to twenty-five dollars per thousand downloads. The first thing you can do after starting a podcast is to get some advertisers. This is easy to do. There are multiple ways to get advertisers for your podcast early on.

This is not my favorite way to make money with a podcast. I’m not going into depth on this method. Most people think ads are the best way to make money with podcasting.

Here’s an example: With a thousand downloads per episode, you can make eighteen to twenty-five dollars per ad slot. If you run two ads per episode, that’s thirty-six to fifty dollars. That’s roughly one hundred and forty-four to two hundred dollars per month with one thousand downloads.

Podcast Downloads Method Number Two: Affiliate Marketing

Method number two is affiliate marketing. To make this easy, we’ll assume you get a one percent conversion from your podcast. This is a conservative number based on the thousands of students I have helped monetize a podcast.

We typically see between a one and five percent conversion from a podcast, but for purposes of this analogy, we’ll go with the conservative number, one percent.

What does a twenty percent commission mean? Let’s say you have a decluttering podcast but don’t have a product to sell yourself and don’t want to sell ads.

You find a decluttering coach with a product that sells for one hundred dollars. You partner with that coach and sell one percent because you have a one percent conversion. She makes a sale and keeps eighty percent. You keep twenty percent. That’s eighty dollars for her and twenty dollars for you. That’s how affiliate marketing works.

This is a great way to make money podcasting. Let’s run the numbers on this. If one percent of one thousand listeners buy, that would be ten buyers. Twenty percent commission with ten buyers for a two-hundred-dollar product equals two hundred dollars per episode. The numbers add up fast.

If you release four episodes per month, that’s eight hundred dollars from affiliate marketing!

Podcast Downloads Method Number Three: Your Products

The third method to make money with podcast downloads is to sell your product. Let’s assume you have created your online course. This is my favorite method and the one I teach all my students to do in Podcast to Profit.

Because when you own the thing you sell, your profit margin is exponentially more than pennies on the download, as in method number one, or a small commission from someone else’s product, as in method number two. If you ask me, selling your products is the bread and butter. We need to make some assumptions.

Let’s say you create a course that costs five hundred dollars. This is the baseline where I teach my students to start their pricing. And you still have a conservative conversion rate of one percent.

If one percent of one thousand listeners buy, that’s ten buyers, the same as in method number two. But you get to keep all the profit because you’re selling a five-hundred-dollar course, and you don’t have to pay someone else because it’s their product!

MORE BENEFITS OF CREATING YOUR PRODUCTS

The place I host my courses is a one-time investment. I don’t pay a monthly recurring fee for it. My courses are passive, which means I don’t pay anyone to show up and coach in them.

A ninety-seven percent profitability is where you want to land. A five-hundred-dollar course that’s a coaching session, membership, or something else, with ten buyers, will earn you five thousand dollars per episode. That’s amazing!

One great offer you own can outperform podcast ads by twenty-five percent. This is why I teach how to monetize a podcast inside my bootcamp.

How to Start a Podcast

Now that we’ve looked at how much money a podcast can make with a thousand downloads, let’s talk about starting a podcast. What does it entail, and how much does it cost? So let’s get into it. The first thing you need is an idea. What will your podcast be about?

You need clarity on the direction, title, and tagline of your podcast. The clearer and more boring, the better. If you’re interested, I can help you with that. Check out my bootcamp. It walks you through all the details of podcasting.

Podcast Equipment

The second thing you need is equipment. I use Beats headphones. They are my favorite. They have noise cancellation and plug straight into your phone or microphone. This keeps things simple.

Speaking of microphones, the one I use is the Rode PodMic USB. I love Rode! I’ve had the best success with their products. Some of you might prefer the Shure microphone. If you prefer a smaller, more affordable mic, try the Rode ME Lapel mic. You can plug it into your phone or an adapter.

Full disclosure: I used a Yeti mic for the first five years of my podcast. It was great! If you’re on a budget, check that mic out or use your phone to get started.

Podcast Hosting

The other thing you will need when starting your podcast is hosting software. I use Podbean. You will also need editing equipment. I use Audacity. Btw, Audacity is FREE and easy to use. I use it on a Mac.

That’s all you need to start a podcast. If you buy a microphone and headphones and use Podbean, your cost is under five hundred dollars. If you skip the microphone, you can start your podcast for under two hundred dollars. Recording on your phone with Podbean as your host would cost around fifty dollars. This is doable!

Stef’s Podcast Downloads and Revenue

Next, let’s look at what my podcast produces. I’ve been podcasting for six years. My podcast has produced over one million dollars in gross revenue in the last twelve months. Here’s the math on that. If I do two episodes a week, there are fifty-two weeks in a year. That is one hundred and four episodes.

When I divide the one million dollars we made last year by one hundred and four episodes, that means every podcast episode is making roughly nine thousand six hundred and fifteen dollars!

Each episode takes me one hour from start to finish; the planning, recording, all of it. That is nine thousand six hundred and fifteen dollars per hour! Can I get an “Amen?” This is crazy!

So why am I sharing all of this information with you? Because you can create a more profitable online business if you shift the method in which you do business.

This allows you to stay away from the high algorithm-driven platforms on social media like:

• Instagram
• Facebook
• TikTok

You can exchange those platforms for audio consumption because podcasting has a much higher conversion, as I mapped out in the three scenarios.

You Can Have Results Like This with Podcast Downloads

To recap, it’s possible to earn hundreds to thousands of dollars from one thousand downloads. It’s simple to start and scale to seven figures and beyond as you grow your podcast.

If you want me to help you learn more about this, check out my bootcamp, where I will train you for five days to create a profitable podcast. I can’t wait to see you there!

APPLE PODCAST | SPOTIFY | YOUTUBE

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