May 18, 2026

519. Monetize Your Podcast Without Big Downloads

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Small download numbers can mess with your confidence, especially when every podcasting headline makes it sound like you need massive reach before you can make a dollar. But in this conversation, the morning show cast and crew talk through what it really means to Monetize Your Podcast when your audience is still growing, and why loyalty, trust, and niche connection matter way more than chasing some magic download number. We get into sponsorships, affiliate links, memberships, merch, and listener support, but also the uncomfortable side of monetization, you know the one where creators start wondering if asking for support makes them look desperate or if they’re underselling themselves completely. There’s a bigger thread running through the whole episode about treating your podcast like something worth investing in, even before it feels “big enough,” and realizing that sometimes one engaged listener is worth more than a thousand passive ones.

Episode Highlights:

[00:00] Money Monday Kickoff

[05:34] Small Shows Don’t Need a Magic Number

[08:36] Build Trust First, Don’t Sound Salesy

[11:37] Early Monetization Options for Small Creators

[13:39] Reinvest Before Paying Yourself

[22:21] What to Do After Your First 500 Downloads

[26:01] Paid Content That Actually Converts

[30:54] Sponsor Rates and CPM Basics

[32:02] How to Sell Sponsorship Packages

[36:36] Live Reads That Convert Better Than Ads

[41:02] How to Price Sponsors Properly

[49:00] Platform Ads vs. Direct Sponsorship Deals

Links & Resources:

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https://PodcastingMorningShow.com/spotlight

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⁠⁠https://podcastingmorningshow.com/people⁠⁠

Join The Empowered Podcasting Facebook Group:

⁠⁠www.facebook.com/groups/empoweredpodcasting⁠⁠⁠

Book A Free Call With Marc:

https://calendly.com/ironickmedia/freestrategycall

Application To Submit Your Show For Evaluation:

⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://podcastingmorningshow.com/eval⁠⁠

Join us every other Monday at 8 AM ET for the Obsession Worthy Podcasts:⁠⁠⁠

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00:00:05,820 --> 00:00:08,087
Marc Ronick: Good morning,

podcasters.

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00:00:08,087 --> 00:00:13,204
Today is Monday, May the 18th,
2026 and today it's
Money

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00:00:13,204 --> 00:00:16,838
Monday, and we're diving into
podcast monetization, from


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sponsors and affiliate links to
memberships, merch, and whether

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small podcasts can actually
make money.

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00:00:23,481 --> 00:00:28,035
So, if you're listening
live
on Clubhouse, hit the share

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00:00:28,035 --> 00:00:31,305
button, top right-hand side of

the screen, and share it however

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00:00:31,305 --> 00:00:33,897
Clubhouse lets you.
And if
you're catching us via

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00:00:33,897 --> 00:00:38,385
podcast, YouTube, etc. please
share this
episode with a

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00:00:38,385 --> 00:00:41,040
fellow podcaster.
And now, give us about 30


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seconds, and we'll get things
rolling.

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Thanks for being here.

The Podcasting Morning Show is

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00:00:53,370 --> 00:00:57,750
powered by Ironic Media, helping

podcasters launch, polish, and

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00:00:57,750 --> 00:01:02,070
grow great shows, and by Content

Creators Accountant, helping

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00:01:02,070 --> 00:01:18,752
creators build real business

behind their content.

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Good morning again.
Podcasting
morning show.

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00:01:22,803 --> 00:01:25,260
Thank you so much for being
here.

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I am your host,
Mark Ronick,
and currently with me on stage,

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00:01:29,916 --> 00:01:33,750
my co-hosts Ralp
Estep, D.R.
Fay, and BC Babbles.

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00:01:33,750 --> 00:01:37,980
We also have our old friend

Tide, aka Nikki, joining us from

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00:01:37,980 --> 00:01:40,424
the audience here on the virtual

stage.

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00:01:40,424 --> 00:01:43,292
Welcome back, Nikki.
Good to see you here.

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00:01:43,292 --> 00:01:46,505
And yes, we
will dig into
today's Money Monday.

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What this is.. look, I
don't
care who you are as a podcaster,

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I gotta think that
this is
going to be of interest to you

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today.
Let's talk all
about the

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different ways we can monetize a
podcast.

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We haven't
done that in a long
time, I think it's time before

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00:02:02,025 --> 00:02:05,001
we do,
though.
I first want to remind you about

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00:02:05,001 --> 00:02:08,475
our Spotlight series.

So, if you want to be featured

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00:02:08,475 --> 00:02:10,995
on this very show, the

Podcasting Morning Show, for

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free with no strings attached,

honestly, no strings attached,

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00:02:14,235 --> 00:02:17,205
other than you have to put in

your email when you submit, but

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00:02:17,205 --> 00:02:19,134
we're not going to spam you, I

promise.

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What we want you to do is submit
a 62nd clip about your
show,

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00:02:23,811 --> 00:02:26,735
something that gives people a
real feel for your
podcast,

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and then if we select it, we'll
play the clip on a
future

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00:02:30,280 --> 00:02:32,980
episode, we'll share the things
that stood out to us,
we'll

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00:02:32,980 --> 00:02:35,400
introduce your show to our
community of podcasters and


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00:02:35,408 --> 00:02:41,835
creators, so all you got to do
is go to Podcasting Morning


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00:02:41,843 --> 00:02:45,519
show.com/spotlight.com/spotlight
and submit your clip, which we


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00:02:45,527 --> 00:02:49,830
hope that it's more, more coming
from you as the host, sharing


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about the podcast rather than
just playing a little clip of


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the show.
You could also, if you wanted

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to, if you're clever
enough,
you could do a combination.

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I'll throw this in
here, where
maybe you set up the clip for us

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and set up a little
bit about
your show, and then play the

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clip, so we'll see if
anybody
heeds that call, but we are

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starting to get some more

submissions, we need more

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because we really want to make

this a thing, so submit yours

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today at Podcasting Morning

show.com/spotlight All right, so

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00:03:20,040 --> 00:03:22,854
like I said, it is Money Monday,

and that means Ralph is going

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to lead the charge, and I
believe
this is also a mailbag

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edition.
But Ralph, I'm going to hand it

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off to you.
Let us know what.. what are we

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doing today?
Ralph Estep Jr: Very good.

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So,
what we're going to do
today is we're going to talk

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00:03:34,701 --> 00:03:38,685
about
monetization, and I want
to start by going through some

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00:03:38,685 --> 00:03:41,531
real
money questions that
podcasts are asking right now,

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00:03:41,531 --> 00:03:45,153
and I
think this topic really
matters, because, like you said,

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Mark,
every podcaster
eventually asks some version of

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the same
question.
How do I make this show

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sustainable?
Now, that
could mean landing

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sponsors, might be some
affiliate income,
it might be

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membership, merch, live events.
Hey, nobody thinks
about live

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events, but that's one coaching
courses, selling
your own

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products and services, or maybe
simply figuring out how
to

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cover your hook, and because a
lot of people say, "Well, I


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just do this for a hobby.
Well, great.

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Well, how about to talk
about
how to cover your costs, how to

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cover your editing costs,
your
software costs, equipment, and

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time.
So today we walk
through a set

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of money mailbag questions, and
they're all
focused on podcast

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monetization, and I want this to
be
interactive, so if you're

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on Clubhouse, jump into the
chat,
raise your hand, share

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your experience.
If you've made money
from your

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podcast, I want to hear that as
well.

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If you
haven't, that's okay
too.

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Let's talk about what you can do

first.

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And if money and podcasting
still feels
confusing,

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awkward, or out of reach, that's
exactly why we're
having this

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conversation today.
So we're going to talk about


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what small podcasters can focus
on to be creative and still


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bring the business side.
So, Mark, if you want to get to

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our
first question, you can
read that if you would like,

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that'd
be great.
Marc Ronick: You got it.

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Yeah, I
was totally unprepared
here, even though we talked

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about it,
but there.
You go, just a little side note

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for everybody.
I'm a
little distracted today.

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My wife, I mentioned on Friday,
her
health hasn't been the

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best, and it's taken another
turn.

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Uh, she
look, it's nothing
life-threatening again.

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So, I
just..
I don't want to put it out there

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that you know, and
make people
more concerned than they need to

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be.
But she's not
doing great.

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It's been a big distraction,
she's actually in
the hospital

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right now, in good spirits, and
overall I will say
good

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health, but there are some
concerns that we're dealing


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with, so it's my mind is a
little bit all over the place,


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so bear with me, please.
And with that, this first

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question
in the mail bag here,
let me grab it.

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This comes from Jeff in

Albuquerque.

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Jeff says I only get 30 to 50
downloads per
episode.

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Do I need to hit a magic number
like 1500 listeners
before I

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can start making money from my
podcast?

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Ralph will
obviously start
with you on this.

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Ralph Estep Jr: Yeah, I think

the thing you got to remember is

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there's no magic number where a
podcast suddenly becomes

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monetizable, and it's

interesting that you ask this

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question, because when I first

started in podcasting a while

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back, I heard this magic number:

you got to have 10,000

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downloads, and I'll never forget

the first month I had 10,000

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downloads, and I said to a

mentor of mine, I said, 'Hey, I

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got 10,000 downloads, he says,

'But is that per episode or per

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month, I'm like, dog gone, it, I

thought I had reached the, I

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reached the threshold, Marc
Ronick: the magic number.

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Ralph Estep Jr: Yeah, it's

interesting, but at 30 to 50

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downloads per episode, I'm going

to say this traditional what

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they call CPM probably aren't

going to be the best fit,

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because definitely not.
Yeah,
the math just isn't

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00:06:39,392 --> 00:06:42,028
going to work, so if you're
thinking
about, hey, I'm going

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to go into one of the networks,
and we'll
talk about, we've

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00:06:43,958 --> 00:06:46,504
got another question later in
the show about
networks and

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automatic feeds and all that
sort of thing, but if
that's

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your plan, I think you need to
abandon that.

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00:06:51,050 --> 00:06:55,035
But here's
the thing, a small
show can still make money if the

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audience
is focused, if
they're loyal, and they're

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connected to a clear
niche,
and that's what they say,

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there's gold in those hills,

that's exactly what we're

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talking about here.
So, if
you're just getting

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started, the better monetization
options
might include listener

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support.
You can do buy me a coffee, you

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can do Patreon, you can do
PayPal.

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There's all kinds of
listener
support things.

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Affiliate links work great,

maybe you've got a small digital

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product, even a paid community,
a workshop, coaching, or

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services.
I want to say this.


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The key question is not only how
many listeners do I have, it's


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who are they, what do they do,
and what value can I provide.


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That's really my answer to this
one, Mark.

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As we get into the
community
discussion, but I think we got

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to start there.

It's not about how many

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listeners do you have, it's who
are they, what do they need,

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and what value can I provide to
them?

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I think that's really the key to
this question.

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Marc Ronick: Yeah, and you're

echoing something that I know

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Sid has become very passionate

about, right?

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Sid, because he took his
smaller, quote unquote,
sized

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audience and was able to
monetize it with sponsorships,


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and he talked about this on
Empowered Podcasting Live last


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Wednesday, and that those were
basically the same three


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questions he said you've got to
be able to answer with, you


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know, clarity and confidence if
you really want to monetize your

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podcast.
So, yeah, I appreciate you

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00:08:17,249 --> 00:08:19,195
sharing, Ralph Estep Jr: and
Mark, even
above monetization,

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if you want to grow your show,
you got to
know those things,

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you've got to know who your
audience is, what
they're

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00:08:24,557 --> 00:08:26,999
looking for, and what value
bring to them, regardless
of

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00:08:26,999 --> 00:08:28,759
whether you monetize.
So, if you're listening right

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00:08:28,759 --> 00:08:31,705
now, or
you're watching this,
and you say, Ralph, I have no

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00:08:31,705 --> 00:08:34,325
interest
in monetizing, this
is important to grow your show

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00:08:34,325 --> 00:08:36,019
as well,
because I'm sure you
want it to grow.

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Marc Ronick: And, Tide, I saw

you put something in the chat,

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00:08:39,049 --> 00:08:42,224
would you share it here on

stage, Nikki: yeah.

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00:08:42,224 --> 00:08:44,800
No problem.
I was
thinking, as far as the

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00:08:44,890 --> 00:08:47,200
monetization piece goes, you

know, thinking about what your

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00:08:47,290 --> 00:08:50,830
audience actually desires, and

that's going to be a question

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00:08:50,860 --> 00:08:52,175
that you can answer internally.


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You can also do some, of course,
research externally online, but

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most of the stuff you already
know, because you're in the


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content space, you already know
internally what people are


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00:09:01,878 --> 00:09:06,290
thinking, what they feel is
hurting them in life, what's


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00:09:06,298 --> 00:09:09,102
holding them back, what's
causing them to fail in life.


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00:09:09,110 --> 00:09:11,570
You already know, because you're
a subject matter expert.

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00:09:11,570 --> 00:09:14,298
So, I
think that that answer
is going to come internally, but

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00:09:14,298 --> 00:09:17,945
as far
as like what you can
stir within the person, a lot of

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00:09:17,945 --> 00:09:21,276
people come
from a desperate
place, so they, and I know I've

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00:09:21,276 --> 00:09:24,428
been there, so
if you have a
podcast or a blog or anything

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00:09:24,428 --> 00:09:27,018
else, or maybe
you're just
talking to someone, maybe you

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00:09:27,018 --> 00:09:30,634
have a great product
to sell.
How many times have we all gone

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00:09:30,634 --> 00:09:34,604
to someone and tried to
push a
product or push something that

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00:09:34,604 --> 00:09:37,250
we wanted to sell to them?

Maybe, and it didn't have to be

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00:09:37,340 --> 00:09:40,010
something they bought, it could
be an opinion, maybe we wanted

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00:09:40,040 --> 00:09:43,450
them to, you know, agree with

our opinion, and then all of a

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00:09:43,540 --> 00:09:46,660
sudden we can feel that

immediate resistance coming from

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00:09:46,750 --> 00:09:48,442
them.
So, if, if somebody's
trying

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00:09:48,442 --> 00:09:51,580
to sell you something, you
personally think about how
you

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00:09:51,580 --> 00:09:54,478
feel when they try to push
something on you, you


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00:09:54,486 --> 00:09:57,040
immediately resist.
So, are you coming from an

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00:09:57,040 --> 00:09:59,200
honest place?
Are
you coming from a place

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that's genuine?
Are you coming from a
place

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that, hey, I have this thing,
and I think it could
really

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00:10:03,754 --> 00:10:06,430
help you, and being relaxed
about it, as opposed to
like

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00:10:06,430 --> 00:10:09,225
trying to push it and constantly
make $1 and I'm going
to make

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00:10:09,225 --> 00:10:11,270
money off of you, and all that
kind of stuff, because
if

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you're putting out that kind of
energy, it's going to be


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received as such, and people are
going to resist that.

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00:10:15,690 --> 00:10:18,180
Marc Ronick: Thank you, Nikki,

live from the classroom, I

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00:10:18,270 --> 00:10:21,429
suppose, which is awesome.
Thank
you for being here,

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Ralph.
Did you want to respond?

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00:10:23,420 --> 00:10:25,400
Ralph Estep Jr: Yeah, I think

Nikki nails it on that one.

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Yeah, and it's that salesy

versus providing value, Nikki.

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I think is what you were really
getting to if you use a

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00:10:32,681 --> 00:10:35,554
product, if you endorse a
product that's
a product that

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00:10:35,554 --> 00:10:39,118
you don't need to sell, because
you're going to be
showing

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00:10:39,118 --> 00:10:41,310
your audience value.
I think that's the difference,

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00:10:41,310 --> 00:10:44,340
and
I think if you're coming
at this from a place of

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00:10:44,340 --> 00:10:46,472
desperation,
it's a good time
to stop.

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00:10:46,472 --> 00:10:49,519
See, I love what somebody said.
They
said when you start a

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00:10:49,519 --> 00:10:52,699
podcast, you have no audience
and you
have trust, but what

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00:10:52,699 --> 00:10:55,546
happens over time is you start
to break
down that trust.

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00:10:55,546 --> 00:10:58,318
If you're constantly promoting
products
that you don't use

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00:10:58,318 --> 00:11:00,914
yourself or that you're just
trying to sell
somebody on

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00:11:00,914 --> 00:11:03,204
something, you're going to break
that trust, and
that's the

215
00:11:03,204 --> 00:11:06,045
cool thing about content
creation podcasting, is
that

216
00:11:06,045 --> 00:11:09,138
you build trust with your
audience, and that's something


217
00:11:09,146 --> 00:11:11,397
you have to really honor and
respect.

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00:11:11,397 --> 00:11:14,520
And so, if you're
thinking
about products, that's why I

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00:11:14,520 --> 00:11:17,070
don't like the CPM model,

because I do a Christian-based

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00:11:17,190 --> 00:11:19,710
finance podcast.
Could you
imagine what kind of

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00:11:19,710 --> 00:11:22,624
crazy ads could be on my show if
I just
let it go out there to

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00:11:22,624 --> 00:11:25,028
one of those markets where you
just
throw on whatever you

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00:11:25,028 --> 00:11:26,936
want.
I could have people that are


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really into me, they trust me,
and all of a sudden this ad


225
00:11:29,626 --> 00:11:32,120
comes out of left field for
something, because if I was


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00:11:32,128 --> 00:11:35,288
desperate, I could do that, but
I respect my audience enough not

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00:11:35,288 --> 00:11:36,890

to do that.
So, great point, Nikki.

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00:11:37,580 --> 00:11:39,530
Marc Ronick: So, should we,

Ralph, should we talk a little

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00:11:39,560 --> 00:11:45,550
bit about what does a smaller

podcast do when you know smaller

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00:11:45,670 --> 00:11:49,018
meaning download numbers?
What
does a smaller podcast do

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00:11:49,018 --> 00:11:54,053
in place of, say, the CPM model?
I
mean, look, we've, we've

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00:11:54,053 --> 00:11:57,010
talked to Sid, and we will
continue to
talk with Sid

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00:11:57,010 --> 00:12:02,446
about the fact that, yes, you
can get sponsors
even with a

234
00:12:02,446 --> 00:12:06,420
smaller-sized podcast, but at
the same time,
there are

235
00:12:06,420 --> 00:12:09,846
definitely other areas people
can explore, as far as


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00:12:09,854 --> 00:12:13,216
monetizing early on, like with
as a new podcast that might not

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00:12:13,216 --> 00:12:16,020
have a lot of listeners out of
the gate, or even one that's


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00:12:16,028 --> 00:12:19,455
been around for a while that
just still has that more niche


239
00:12:19,463 --> 00:12:21,516
audience.
So, let's talk about some of

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00:12:21,516 --> 00:12:23,240
those ways to do it.

What's the first thing you'd

241
00:12:23,300 --> 00:12:24,620
suggest?
Ralph Estep Jr: Well, I think


242
00:12:24,628 --> 00:12:26,775
you got to do two things.
I think you have to have a


243
00:12:26,783 --> 00:12:29,130
strategy of monetization and a
strategy of growth, because I


244
00:12:29,138 --> 00:12:31,112
don't want anybody to
misunderstand me.

245
00:12:31,112 --> 00:12:35,036
Your podcast
is easier to
monetize when it grows, that's

246
00:12:35,036 --> 00:12:36,980
just the truth.

Let's just not forget about

247
00:12:37,070 --> 00:12:38,702
that.
You need to grow your


248
00:12:38,710 --> 00:12:41,666
audience, you need to grow, but
when you're first getting


249
00:12:41,674 --> 00:12:44,135
started, affiliate links are
great for that, because if


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00:12:44,143 --> 00:12:46,540
you're in a niche, what are the
products you're using?

251
00:12:46,540 --> 00:12:49,164
What are
the products you can
go out there and reach out to

252
00:12:49,164 --> 00:12:52,060
people of
the products you use
and say, "Hey, can I get some

253
00:12:52,060 --> 00:12:54,420
kind of
referral?
It doesn't cost them anything,

254
00:12:54,420 --> 00:12:55,980
and it doesn't cost
you
anything.

255
00:12:55,980 --> 00:12:58,352
You know, a lot of people -
we'll talk about this a
little

256
00:12:58,352 --> 00:13:00,959
bit later, but merch and all
stuff that can cost you
money,

257
00:13:00,959 --> 00:13:04,140
maybe a workshop, maybe a small
product, maybe a simple


258
00:13:04,148 --> 00:13:06,978
service, and listen, like I
said, the beginning, maybe


259
00:13:06,986 --> 00:13:10,190
listener support, put that, buy
me a coffee, I love buy me a


260
00:13:10,198 --> 00:13:13,275
coffee, I don't get a lot of
response from it on my


261
00:13:13,283 --> 00:13:16,044
particular shows, to be very
candid with you, but it's there,

262
00:13:16,044 --> 00:13:18,858

and it's a drip or drab, hey,
that's a funny play on words,


263
00:13:18,866 --> 00:13:21,882
right, it's a dripper drap, but
anyway, so that's the things I


264
00:13:21,890 --> 00:13:24,233
would start, but, but I think
you have to really, you have a


265
00:13:24,241 --> 00:13:27,600
clear mindset of I've got to do
two things, I've got to look for

266
00:13:27,600 --> 00:13:30,308

basic support, and I don't
forget about growing your


267
00:13:30,316 --> 00:13:33,200
audience, I don't want to get
overshadowed on that, Mark.

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00:13:34,100 --> 00:13:37,610
Marc Ronick: Yeah, and all

right, so I think BC wanted to

269
00:13:37,700 --> 00:13:39,950
chime in on something too, so

I'll bite my tongue, go ahead,

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00:13:40,010 --> 00:13:43,540
BC, BC Babbles: yeah, so now one

caveat I wanted to add here is

271
00:13:43,600 --> 00:13:46,750
that I think when people think

monetize, also they think

272
00:13:46,810 --> 00:13:50,620
specifically, okay, I bring home

money for myself for me to use

273
00:13:50,710 --> 00:13:54,378
as I want to use the money, but
I think we could agree here

274
00:13:54,378 --> 00:13:57,883
that when you start to monetize
the
show, what you want to do

275
00:13:57,883 --> 00:14:01,905
first is probably reinvest it
right
into the show, so my

276
00:14:01,905 --> 00:14:06,946
question for Ralph would be, do
you have
a particular say

277
00:14:06,946 --> 00:14:10,131
percentage past the covering of
the show's
expenses, where

278
00:14:10,131 --> 00:14:14,332
you'd say, okay, now start to
bring that's when
you start

279
00:14:14,332 --> 00:14:17,500
having heavy money for yourself
to bring home as you
want to

280
00:14:17,500 --> 00:14:19,962
use it, as opposed to just
reinvesting into the show
to

281
00:14:19,962 --> 00:14:23,366
make sure that it keeps
operating, Ralph Estep Jr:

282
00:14:23,366 --> 00:14:24,938
that's a very
good question,
PC.

283
00:14:24,938 --> 00:14:26,865
And it depends on what you're
doing.

284
00:14:26,865 --> 00:14:29,750
If
you're doing this as a
full-time gig, I think that's a

285
00:14:29,750 --> 00:14:32,474
harder
decision to make.
But I think if you're doing this

286
00:14:32,474 --> 00:14:35,789
as a sideline,
I think you put
100% of it back into the show.

287
00:14:35,789 --> 00:14:39,025
I don't think you
take
anything for yourself until it

288
00:14:39,025 --> 00:14:41,770
reaches a point where it's at

least covering expenses, and

289
00:14:42,010 --> 00:14:44,293
you're adding to some marketing,

and all that sort of thing,

290
00:14:44,293 --> 00:14:45,868
bc.
So, if you're just getting


291
00:14:45,876 --> 00:14:48,230
started, and that's another
reason when I work with content

292
00:14:48,230 --> 00:14:50,640
creators, I tell them, don't
quit your full-time job when


293
00:14:50,648 --> 00:14:53,418
you're first getting started,
you know, do this as a sideline,

294
00:14:53,418 --> 00:14:56,310

do this as a side gig, do this
as an extra thing.

295
00:14:56,310 --> 00:14:59,500
So, if it's
an extra thing, I
think you cover your expenses,

296
00:14:59,500 --> 00:15:00,820
if.
There's
a little bit left

297
00:15:00,820 --> 00:15:02,378
over.
I'm putting that back into


298
00:15:02,386 --> 00:15:04,266
marketing.
I'm putting that back into maybe

299
00:15:04,266 --> 00:15:06,990
some gear that would
make me
be able to be more seen.

300
00:15:07,170 --> 00:15:09,300
So, honestly, you know, you

probably don't like the answer,

301
00:15:09,690 --> 00:15:12,450
but I say, for the first six

months to a year, don't take

302
00:15:12,510 --> 00:15:14,786
anything for yourself.
Once you
get past that and the

303
00:15:14,786 --> 00:15:17,559
so is established, then you can
start
to look at paying

304
00:15:17,559 --> 00:15:19,437
yourself.
And listen, I'm a huge proponent

305
00:15:19,437 --> 00:15:22,646
of
pay yourself first, but I
think you've got to get to a


306
00:15:22,654 --> 00:15:24,767
sustainable level of income
before you really should think


307
00:15:24,775 --> 00:15:26,354
about doing that.
BC Babbles: Awesome.

308
00:15:26,354 --> 00:15:28,169
Thank you.
Marc Ronick: Interesting.

309
00:15:28,169 --> 00:15:31,416
Okay,
cool.
Yeah, so even if they've got a

310
00:15:31,416 --> 00:15:34,190
little bit of income
coming
in, Ralph, you think that

311
00:15:34,460 --> 00:15:37,570
initially they got to first make

sure they're investing into

312
00:15:37,570 --> 00:15:40,640
the show into the business
before
they start paying

313
00:15:40,640 --> 00:15:42,055
themselves?
Ralph Estep Jr: Yeah, I just


314
00:15:42,063 --> 00:15:43,855
believe that, Mark.
And I've been doing this kind of

315
00:15:43,855 --> 00:15:46,306
thing
for 30 years.
Yeah, and even with regular

316
00:15:46,306 --> 00:15:49,725
business
non-content creators,
I think the best strategy is to

317
00:15:49,725 --> 00:15:51,900
reinvest
it.
Because here's the real reason I

318
00:15:51,900 --> 00:15:54,642
say that, Mark, is
content
creator income is like a roller

319
00:15:54,642 --> 00:15:56,686
coaster.
There is one
month you might

320
00:15:56,686 --> 00:15:59,285
get a sponsor, you might make
some money, you
sell some

321
00:15:59,285 --> 00:16:01,748
merchandise, and then the next
month it's literally
crickets,

322
00:16:01,748 --> 00:16:04,545
and what worries me is because
what happens is when
people

323
00:16:04,545 --> 00:16:07,715
start to take money from their
show, their lifestyle
grows,

324
00:16:07,715 --> 00:16:11,513
and once your lifestyle grows,
you get a bigger house, a


325
00:16:11,521 --> 00:16:14,830
different car, you buy gear, you
get an editor, you do all those

326
00:16:14,830 --> 00:16:16,895
type of things.
Well, until you've got a

327
00:16:16,895 --> 00:16:19,385
sustainable level
of
consistent income, I think you

328
00:16:19,385 --> 00:16:21,790
got to be really careful
with
that, and that's why I say put

329
00:16:21,790 --> 00:16:24,485
it back into the business,

grow the business side of it,

330
00:16:24,485 --> 00:16:27,526
and then once it's sustainable,
once you see consistency in

331
00:16:27,526 --> 00:16:30,858
your numbers, then you could
start to
take some money from

332
00:16:30,858 --> 00:16:33,930
it Marc Ronick: Dave in the chat

actually has said that Buy Me

333
00:16:33,930 --> 00:16:35,510
a Coffee has been great for him.



334
00:16:35,518 --> 00:16:39,235
He says that he gets a few of
these coffees from his community

335
00:16:39,235 --> 00:16:40,772

each week.
Very cool.

336
00:16:40,772 --> 00:16:44,840
Yeah, I mean, my experience with
Buy Me
a Coffee is similar to

337
00:16:44,840 --> 00:16:47,024
Ralph's.
We don't really see much, even


338
00:16:47,032 --> 00:16:49,530
though we keep asking at
Podcasting Morning


339
00:16:49,538 --> 00:16:53,579
show.com/support If you want to
support this show, and yeah, we

340
00:16:53,579 --> 00:16:55,973
don't seem to get a lot of
those.

341
00:16:55,973 --> 00:17:00,821
And quite frankly, in all
of
my 20 some years of podcasting,

342
00:17:00,821 --> 00:17:04,617
I personally, I'm
not saying
it doesn't work, hear me

343
00:17:04,617 --> 00:17:10,145
clearly, but for me, the

donate with PayPal link or buy

344
00:17:10,145 --> 00:17:13,970
me a coffee with buy me a

coffee, those things generally

345
00:17:13,970 --> 00:17:17,220
don't do much for me.
I have
not, no matter what

346
00:17:17,220 --> 00:17:20,351
podcast I've done, I
occasionally get a
little, a

347
00:17:20,351 --> 00:17:25,031
couple bucks here and there, but
in my experience, I
don't use

348
00:17:25,031 --> 00:17:28,400
those expecting them to be a big
revenue stream.

349
00:17:28,400 --> 00:17:29,990
Ralph Estep Jr: Hey Mark, let

me, let me flip that around for

350
00:17:29,990 --> 00:17:31,358
a second.
I know Dr. wants to
comment,

351
00:17:31,358 --> 00:17:33,602
but let me flip it around,
because I think I, it'd
be

352
00:17:33,602 --> 00:17:35,998
good to talk about this.
What would make you financially

353
00:17:35,998 --> 00:17:38,525
support a small podcast?
Let's ask the community that,

354
00:17:38,525 --> 00:17:41,483
like, if
you are a podcaster,
what would make you support

355
00:17:41,483 --> 00:17:43,941
someone else's
podcast?
I don't want to interrupt you,

356
00:17:43,941 --> 00:17:46,265
y'r, but I don't
want to
forget to mention that too.

357
00:17:46,265 --> 00:17:48,485
Marc Ronick: And by the way,

Dave has shared that he gets

358
00:17:48,485 --> 00:17:54,395
$7,000 in a year from that

alone, from Buy Me a Coffee,

359
00:17:54,395 --> 00:17:55,443
which, Ralph Estep Jr: that's
great.


360
00:17:55,451 --> 00:17:57,683
Yeah, that's really good, Marc
Ronick: nothing to sneeze
at.

361
00:17:57,683 --> 00:18:00,892
Yeah, Dave, I was curious if
you're willing to share, and I


362
00:18:00,900 --> 00:18:03,718
think that's usually publicly
shown on Patreon, but I don't


363
00:18:03,726 --> 00:18:06,674
know about buy me a coffee.
I'm curious, how many

364
00:18:06,674 --> 00:18:10,160
subscribers,
because it helps
me put that into context, right?

365
00:18:10,160 --> 00:18:15,048
Like maybe
it maybe gives me a
little bit of a benchmark, like,

366
00:18:15,048 --> 00:18:18,960
okay, if I
can get these this
many people to buy me a coffee

367
00:18:18,960 --> 00:18:21,839
regularly, I
could make about
this amount of money, just

368
00:18:21,839 --> 00:18:25,109
curious about that,
but let's
find out at some answers to

369
00:18:25,109 --> 00:18:27,855
Ralph's question, and
while
we're waiting for that, Dr. you

370
00:18:27,855 --> 00:18:29,429
wanted to add something.
D.R.

371
00:18:29,429 --> 00:18:34,385
Fay: Yeah, I think the buy
me
a coffee thing is a, it's a

372
00:18:34,385 --> 00:18:39,365
perception thing, for instance,
I have a seven figure business

373
00:18:39,365 --> 00:18:46,190
coach as a client, it would not
look good for her to have a buy

374
00:18:46,190 --> 00:18:52,520
me a coffee call to action, so

she's a seven figure business

375
00:18:52,520 --> 00:18:54,463
coach.
So, do you know what I'm


376
00:18:54,471 --> 00:18:55,778
saying?
Ralph Estep Jr: I agree with


377
00:18:55,786 --> 00:18:58,520
you, Dr. Because I think she's
selling a product, though, and


378
00:18:58,528 --> 00:19:01,959
she's selling coaching, which is
the best thing to sell, if you


379
00:19:01,967 --> 00:19:05,094
hear nothing else I say today.
The best thing you can sell is


380
00:19:05,102 --> 00:19:07,728
your D.R.
Fay: own, yourself, your
own

381
00:19:07,728 --> 00:19:11,334
product.
Yeah, and I'm talking now to a

382
00:19:11,334 --> 00:19:16,166
potential
client who is, you
know, masters in pharmacology,

383
00:19:16,166 --> 00:19:20,666
so she's not
hurting for money
either.

384
00:19:20,666 --> 00:19:24,494
So, I mean, it, it's a
perception
thing, you really

385
00:19:24,494 --> 00:19:29,903
have to weigh, you know, what
you do, who you
are with the

386
00:19:29,903 --> 00:19:34,078
whole, please give me money,
please, you know,
charity kind

387
00:19:34,078 --> 00:19:36,656
of thing.
Marc Ronick: Well, and as we


388
00:19:36,664 --> 00:19:39,946
know, Ralph often encourages,
encourages us not to say donate

389
00:19:39,946 --> 00:19:44,602
and please give us money, but
more support the show is the way

390
00:19:44,602 --> 00:19:48,010

that he suggests it.
Yeah, let me just ask this.

391
00:19:48,010 --> 00:19:51,984
Then, is it a
bad look, even
if we're a smaller show, to be

392
00:19:51,984 --> 00:19:55,202
asking for
handouts?
Does that, because I know that

393
00:19:55,202 --> 00:19:57,928
there are podcasters
out there
that feel weird about it, no

394
00:19:57,928 --> 00:20:01,275
matter how big or small, D.R.
Fay: the size of the.

395
00:20:01,275 --> 00:20:05,600
Show
matters, I think the the
host, what position the host is

396
00:20:05,600 --> 00:20:09,120
in
matters regarding the buy
me a coffee thing.

397
00:20:09,900 --> 00:20:12,000
Marc Ronick: Yeah, but and I

think about it, though, and I

398
00:20:12,060 --> 00:20:16,983
think about, okay, so yeah, I'm
not a seven figure business,

399
00:20:16,983 --> 00:20:22,050
but I have a business, I don't
want
to call it high ticket

400
00:20:22,050 --> 00:20:26,420
items, but they're certainly the

services I sell are not a few

401
00:20:26,690 --> 00:20:28,760
bucks either, right?
Like, you
got to invest a

402
00:20:28,760 --> 00:20:32,330
little bit of money if you want
to, you want
help starting a

403
00:20:32,330 --> 00:20:36,113
podcast, growing a podcast, etc.
So, like, is it
a bad look for

404
00:20:36,113 --> 00:20:39,975
somebody like me?
I don't know, but I know that a

405
00:20:39,975 --> 00:20:42,100
lot of podcasters struggle with
it.

406
00:20:42,100 --> 00:20:45,027
BC, go ahead BC Babbles: to
branch off of Dr.
point.

407
00:20:45,027 --> 00:20:48,585
Is it important for us to also
consider whether or not the


408
00:20:48,593 --> 00:20:52,369
podcast itself is a separate
venture from what the person


409
00:20:52,377 --> 00:20:56,085
does mainstream?
So, if this was something, if

410
00:20:56,085 --> 00:21:00,693
Mark did something
aside from
Ronic, Ironic Media, if he did

411
00:21:00,693 --> 00:21:02,429
something else as a

profession, and this was

412
00:21:02,849 --> 00:21:05,954
completely separate, would that
also alter the perception of

413
00:21:05,954 --> 00:21:09,869
him utilizing Buy Me a Coffee,

Venmo, or whatever it was to get

414
00:21:10,379 --> 00:21:14,429
some kind of audience-provided

funds to help the show go?

415
00:21:15,570 --> 00:21:18,720
Marc Ronick: Yeah.
Well, is that
a question or a

416
00:21:18,720 --> 00:21:19,800
statement?
Just making sure.

417
00:21:20,010 --> 00:21:23,514
BC Babbles: Question, yeah.

Question Marc Ronick: for me, BC

418
00:21:23,514 --> 00:21:25,855
Babbles: for well, for Dr. As

well.

419
00:21:25,855 --> 00:21:29,764
If the podcast itself is a
separate venture from what the


420
00:21:29,772 --> 00:21:32,845
host does mainstream, in your
perspective, would that change


421
00:21:32,853 --> 00:21:36,109
the view of someone then asking
for buy me a coffee or a pastry?

422
00:21:36,950 --> 00:21:40,582
D.R.
Fay: Yeah, I think it
depends

423
00:21:40,582 --> 00:21:44,770
on how much the host is
revealing about themselves


424
00:21:44,778 --> 00:21:48,307
during that show.
If it's a separate kind of

425
00:21:48,307 --> 00:21:53,458
thing, let's
say my seven
figure business coach did a show

426
00:21:53,458 --> 00:21:56,653
all about
railroads, but she
keeps mentioning, well, you

427
00:21:56,653 --> 00:22:00,787
know, I
have a very thriving
business, a business coach, I

428
00:22:00,787 --> 00:22:04,330
think that
gives into
perception about BC Babbles:

429
00:22:04,330 --> 00:22:05,012
fair, D.R.
Fay: you know.

430
00:22:05,012 --> 00:22:09,240
Well, you
don't, you don't
need my money, Marc Ronick: all

431
00:22:09,240 --> 00:22:10,740
right.
And so,
with that, Ralph,

432
00:22:10,740 --> 00:22:12,355
where do you want to go from
here?

433
00:22:12,355 --> 00:22:14,490
Do we keep
going?
Do you want to me to move on to

434
00:22:14,490 --> 00:22:15,620
the next?
Yeah, Ralph Estep Jr: let's move

435
00:22:15,620 --> 00:22:17,967
on to
our next question mark.
Marc Ronick: All right, let's do

436
00:22:17,967 --> 00:22:19,679

it.
Let me grab it out of here.

437
00:22:21,539 --> 00:22:25,115
And this comes from Kathy in my
hometown, Maryland.

438
00:22:25,115 --> 00:22:29,020
My podcast gets around 500
downloads per
episode.

439
00:22:29,020 --> 00:22:33,599
What's the smartest first
monetization move,
sponsors,

440
00:22:33,599 --> 00:22:36,763
affiliate links, Patreon, or
selling my own
product?

441
00:22:36,763 --> 00:22:39,499
And I guess we've kind of danced
around this a little
bit.

442
00:22:40,250 --> 00:22:41,530
Ralph Estep Jr: Yeah, we don't

need to spend a lot of time

443
00:22:41,620 --> 00:22:43,930
here, but here's the first

thing: 500 downloads per episode

444
00:22:44,080 --> 00:22:46,780
is really good, so give yourself

a pat on the back, that is an

445
00:22:46,840 --> 00:22:49,198
accomplishment.
That said, CPM
is probably

446
00:22:49,198 --> 00:22:53,281
still going to be limited, and
sponsors might not
be the

447
00:22:53,281 --> 00:22:56,386
highest paying first move.
I think what I would do
here

448
00:22:56,386 --> 00:22:59,400
is actually do what I call some
monetization experiments,
and

449
00:22:59,400 --> 00:23:02,478
a lot of people try this.
Here's where you get into


450
00:23:02,486 --> 00:23:04,650
trouble, and I found myself in
the same position.

451
00:23:04,650 --> 00:23:07,080
Is I try to
do 10 things at
once.

452
00:23:07,080 --> 00:23:08,832
So, here's my advice for this
person.

453
00:23:08,832 --> 00:23:10,606
I
apologize, Mark.
What was her name again?

454
00:23:10,606 --> 00:23:12,644
I apologize, Marc Ronick: Kathy.
Ralph Estep Jr: Kathy, Kathy,


455
00:23:12,652 --> 00:23:15,290
here's what I would do.
I would start with one thing,

456
00:23:15,290 --> 00:23:18,611
and maybe
an affiliate link
for a particular product that's

457
00:23:18,611 --> 00:23:20,279
relevant and fits your
audience.

458
00:23:21,089 --> 00:23:24,574
Do that only do that for 90 120
days.

459
00:23:24,574 --> 00:23:27,547
Don't try to attend other
things, because that's a


460
00:23:27,555 --> 00:23:29,455
promise.
Podcast is, we, we get in this

461
00:23:29,455 --> 00:23:31,369
vacuum of I'm gonna try

everything, I'm gonna try

462
00:23:31,489 --> 00:23:33,259
everything, and next thing you

know, we don't know what's

463
00:23:33,349 --> 00:23:35,149
working, because we're throwing
so much stuff with the wall,

464
00:23:35,179 --> 00:23:36,519
we're not sure what's sticking.


465
00:23:36,527 --> 00:23:40,154
So, I would start by doing one
thing, so maybe an affiliate


466
00:23:40,162 --> 00:23:43,705
link, you can do the listener
support thing, maybe a


467
00:23:43,713 --> 00:23:46,053
membership.
Those are strong ways to both

468
00:23:46,053 --> 00:23:49,153
grow the emotional
connection
to your show and also grow your

469
00:23:49,153 --> 00:23:50,871
audience.
And again,
I'm going to

470
00:23:50,871 --> 00:23:54,104
champion what Dr said, selling
your own product
is a great

471
00:23:54,104 --> 00:23:57,571
thing to do here, but again, it
depends on the nature
of your

472
00:23:57,571 --> 00:23:59,815
podcast.
If you can do consultations, a

473
00:23:59,815 --> 00:24:04,429
workshop, a
course, all of
those things are going to be

474
00:24:04,429 --> 00:24:08,873
your ideal first
moves, and I
say first at 500 Listen, a lot

475
00:24:08,873 --> 00:24:11,009
of us would be
like 500 per
episode, fantastic.

476
00:24:11,279 --> 00:24:14,189
Let me get into some of that,

but selling your own product is

477
00:24:14,339 --> 00:24:17,039
really the thing to go, but

don't chase after the CPM yet.

478
00:24:17,219 --> 00:24:19,019
So that's what I would do right
now.

479
00:24:19,769 --> 00:24:21,979
Marc Ronick: Yeah, and listen,

just to help people put this in

480
00:24:22,069 --> 00:24:26,989
perspective, selling your own

product, your own service, the

481
00:24:27,169 --> 00:24:31,515
reason why a lot of us push that

as an option, and especially

482
00:24:31,515 --> 00:24:35,804
as a potentially one of your
first
options to monetize, is

483
00:24:35,804 --> 00:24:38,797
because if you stop and think
about it
for a second, if you

484
00:24:38,797 --> 00:24:41,409
have the quote unquote small
audience,
right?

485
00:24:41,409 --> 00:24:46,101
Like, in my experience, I've
found that roughly around
5%

486
00:24:46,101 --> 00:24:49,989
of your overall audience are
actually going to act, they're


487
00:24:49,997 --> 00:24:53,199
actually going to buy things
from you or from your sponsors,

488
00:24:53,590 --> 00:24:54,970
Ralph Estep Jr: and that's

actually a big number, because

489
00:24:55,210 --> 00:24:58,064
statistics show around 3% Marc
Ronick: Yeah, I was..

490
00:24:58,064 --> 00:24:59,469
I
was.. it's.. it depends,
right?

491
00:24:59,769 --> 00:25:01,479
I've.
Seen it for me personally,
in

492
00:25:01,479 --> 00:25:04,037
my experience, up to five.
It's funny you say that, because

493
00:25:04,037 --> 00:25:05,975

I was hesitating, I was
thinking about maybe saying

494
00:25:05,975 --> 00:25:08,879
three, but in
my experience,
it's been like around five.

495
00:25:08,879 --> 00:25:13,385
And if you think
about it for
a second, even if, even if you

496
00:25:13,385 --> 00:25:17,456
have 1020,
listeners, and they
are loyal listeners, and they

497
00:25:17,456 --> 00:25:21,167
are
downloading and listening
every week, or whatever your

498
00:25:21,167 --> 00:25:25,681
cadence
is, you get just one
person to buy that $500 that

499
00:25:25,681 --> 00:25:29,599
$1,000
service that you offer.
Well, that's a pretty good month

500
00:25:29,599 --> 00:25:30,979
for
you all of a sudden,
right?

501
00:25:31,039 --> 00:25:34,249
Like, you've made some

significant money, whereas maybe

502
00:25:34,399 --> 00:25:38,089
starting with an affiliate

program, although I do encourage

503
00:25:38,239 --> 00:25:40,959
that, because I think it's the

easiest way to get started,

504
00:25:42,069 --> 00:25:44,769
you're only going to get maybe a

few bucks, depending on the

505
00:25:44,769 --> 00:25:48,609
affiliate relationship, in

return for making that sale.

506
00:25:48,609 --> 00:25:52,263
So that's why we always
encourage,
think about a

507
00:25:52,263 --> 00:25:55,545
product or service that you can
sell to your
audience, because

508
00:25:55,545 --> 00:25:58,489
there's a much bigger profit
margin, a much
bigger sale

509
00:25:58,489 --> 00:26:02,044
that can be made in that way.
Ralph Estep Jr: Yeah, because


510
00:26:02,052 --> 00:26:04,674
you could do bonus content,
which let me ask the room, has


511
00:26:04,682 --> 00:26:07,535
anybody here paid for bonus
content, uh, creator membership

512
00:26:07,535 --> 00:26:10,162
or some sort of digital product
from a podcast?

513
00:26:10,162 --> 00:26:12,793
Or I'd love to
hear what you
have to say, and what motivated

514
00:26:12,793 --> 00:26:16,049
you to do that,
and what did
they say to say, "Oh, I got to

515
00:26:16,049 --> 00:26:19,104
do this right now.
Marc Ronick: I've definitely


516
00:26:19,112 --> 00:26:23,390
purchased bonus episodes of one
of, like, my favorite shows,


517
00:26:23,398 --> 00:26:27,938
when I am an active religious
listener to a podcast, and then

518
00:26:27,938 --> 00:26:32,115
I find out, like, maybe they've
got this one off bonus episode


519
00:26:32,123 --> 00:26:35,585
that's an extension of something
that they've been talking about

520
00:26:35,585 --> 00:26:38,857
that I've been really engaged
with, and I'm going to want to


521
00:26:38,865 --> 00:26:41,800
hear that, and as long as it's
whatever I consider reasonably


522
00:26:41,808 --> 00:26:44,628
priced.
It, I'm not going to hesitate to

523
00:26:44,628 --> 00:26:48,518
purchase that
extended
episode, that bonus episode, but

524
00:26:48,518 --> 00:26:53,770
yeah, I am not shy.

I will be happy to do that if

525
00:26:53,830 --> 00:26:57,190
it's a podcast that entertains

me or that helps me solve

526
00:26:57,520 --> 00:26:59,890
problems I'm looking to solve.

Dr, go ahead.

527
00:27:00,520 --> 00:27:03,154
D.R.
Fay: I actually pay for


528
00:27:03,162 --> 00:27:07,650
several different newsletters
that I get an education from.


529
00:27:07,658 --> 00:27:15,342
Substack is a great place for
that, and my I'm always on a


530
00:27:15,350 --> 00:27:21,234
continuing education basis, and
Chris Stone is one of them.

531
00:27:21,234 --> 00:27:27,260
My
pen pivot is another one.
I mean, I, I am constantly

532
00:27:27,260 --> 00:27:31,430
paying
for really good
newsletters that I am

533
00:27:31,430 --> 00:27:35,258
continuously learning from.
Marc Ronick: There's no right or

534
00:27:35,258 --> 00:27:38,350

wrong answer here.
Dr. Have you purchased anything

535
00:27:38,350 --> 00:27:43,298
specific,
like any podcast
content before, like bonus

536
00:27:43,298 --> 00:27:46,527
episodes, or maybe
some, or
not even courses.

537
00:27:46,527 --> 00:27:50,374
I mean, specific podcast
episodes,
like, do you ever

538
00:27:50,374 --> 00:27:52,120
buy Patreon?
Get into Patreon.

539
00:27:52,240 --> 00:27:54,922
D.R.
Fay: Yeah, I follow a PR


540
00:27:54,930 --> 00:28:00,095
person by the name of.. well,
never mind, but she's. she has


541
00:28:00,103 --> 00:28:04,728
really very juicy, juicy content
that she puts behind a paywall,

542
00:28:04,728 --> 00:28:06,694
and Marc Ronick: that's not
Lucy, is
it?

543
00:28:06,694 --> 00:28:08,402
Lucy, D.R.
Fay: not Lucy.

544
00:28:08,402 --> 00:28:10,089
Okay, not
Lucy.
I'm sorry.

545
00:28:10,089 --> 00:28:13,959
She, she's like the fixer.
Does anyone remember
that show

546
00:28:13,959 --> 00:28:18,460
with Kerry Washington, and she
fixed all problems of,
yes,

547
00:28:18,460 --> 00:28:22,325
all the problems that
celebrities get into, she's one

548
00:28:22,325 --> 00:28:25,986
of those, and oh, her stuff is
so juicy.

549
00:28:25,986 --> 00:28:28,924
I just, I couldn't
resist.
So, Marc Ronick: yeah, so there

550
00:28:28,924 --> 00:28:30,965
you
go.
It's when, so for Dr. What moves

551
00:28:30,965 --> 00:28:32,960
the needle is that real
juicy
material.

552
00:28:32,960 --> 00:28:34,127
Yeah, right.
Okay.

553
00:28:34,127 --> 00:28:35,570
BC, you wanted to share,
go
ahead.

554
00:28:36,050 --> 00:28:37,910
BC Babbles: Same thing, I watch
a number of interview kind of

555
00:28:38,120 --> 00:28:41,530
based shows, and as it's really
cool as they kind of grow and

556
00:28:41,530 --> 00:28:44,500
they get access to larger and

larger profile people, but it's

557
00:28:44,620 --> 00:28:48,310
a while off before that's a

public facing bit of content, so

558
00:28:48,340 --> 00:28:51,670
to get to pay to see like what's

coming up, like with like

559
00:28:51,790 --> 00:28:54,820
worldly and see where they are,
also like oh they've got access

560
00:28:54,850 --> 00:28:57,340
to this person now, they've got
access to this celebrity now,

561
00:28:58,180 --> 00:29:01,500
and I've known about this like

weeks before the world does that

562
00:29:01,560 --> 00:29:04,800
feel cool to be able to pay for
that kind of insight into, but

563
00:29:04,800 --> 00:29:07,530
also see how this awesome brand
is growing, you know, and it

564
00:29:07,560 --> 00:29:09,300
helps kind of reestablish what

my goals are.

565
00:29:09,960 --> 00:29:11,220
Marc Ronick: Love it.
Thank you.


566
00:29:11,228 --> 00:29:13,404
BC, all right, Ralph.
The Ralph Estep Jr: other thing

567
00:29:13,404 --> 00:29:15,774
I
wanted to interject here,
this is a great opportunity for

568
00:29:15,774 --> 00:29:19,339
all
of us to support of other
people, and I make a point of


569
00:29:19,347 --> 00:29:22,524
this, and I didn't know Dave
Campbell had a buy me a coffee,

570
00:29:22,524 --> 00:29:25,483
because he will find he's going
to have a new subscriber, I


571
00:29:25,491 --> 00:29:29,437
think all of us can do that in
and go support people that are


572
00:29:29,445 --> 00:29:33,049
doing the same sort of thing
you're doing, because for $5 a


573
00:29:33,057 --> 00:29:36,697
month on buy me a coffee you can
really show your support, so I


574
00:29:36,705 --> 00:29:39,131
know we're talking about how to
monetize your podcast, but let's

575
00:29:39,131 --> 00:29:41,709

talk about how we can give
back to others as well.

576
00:29:41,709 --> 00:29:44,585
I think it's
a really huge
thing that we can do to support

577
00:29:44,585 --> 00:29:47,257
each other,
because hey, we
can all help each other out in

578
00:29:47,257 --> 00:29:48,663
this.
But
Mark, if you want to go on

579
00:29:48,663 --> 00:29:50,967
to the next question, we can
move
on to the next question.

580
00:29:50,967 --> 00:29:53,248
Yeah, Marc Ronick: and though I
think
that that's really

581
00:29:53,248 --> 00:29:56,464
important for me, I think that
what you're
saying, paying it

582
00:29:56,464 --> 00:30:00,970
forward goes a long way, and if
you expect or
you.

583
00:30:00,970 --> 00:30:04,344
Want people to support your
podcast financially.

584
00:30:04,344 --> 00:30:07,024
Why aren't
you supporting
others?

585
00:30:07,024 --> 00:30:10,146
Right, that's the way that this
great
universe works, right.

586
00:30:10,146 --> 00:30:13,550
We've got to put, we've got to
pay it
forward in order to

587
00:30:13,550 --> 00:30:16,425
receive as well.
So I just wanted to
emphasize

588
00:30:16,425 --> 00:30:19,374
that point again, Ralph.
But yes, Ralph Estep Jr: I think

589
00:30:19,374 --> 00:30:21,344
it's
super important, Mark,
because you know, like you said,

590
00:30:21,344 --> 00:30:22,489
you
want people to support
you.

591
00:30:22,549 --> 00:30:24,187
Well, what are you doing to

support them?

592
00:30:24,187 --> 00:30:26,883
What have you reached out to
them and bought
one of their

593
00:30:26,883 --> 00:30:29,959
mini courses, or do their
Patreon, send them a one
off?

594
00:30:29,959 --> 00:30:33,064
Just think about how much energy
that would build when you
get

595
00:30:33,064 --> 00:30:35,577
something like that yourself.
Think about how cool
it feels

596
00:30:35,577 --> 00:30:38,572
like somebody recognizes you.
You have the
capacity to do

597
00:30:38,572 --> 00:30:41,353
that for other people, and it's
not going to
put you in the

598
00:30:41,353 --> 00:30:44,635
poor house to do it.
Set aside 50 bucks a month
or

599
00:30:44,635 --> 00:30:48,567
25 bucks a month and go find
five people or 10 people to go


600
00:30:48,575 --> 00:30:50,724
support.
I just think it's a great way to

601
00:30:50,724 --> 00:30:52,660
build the
community.
Marc Ronick: Yep.

602
00:30:52,660 --> 00:30:53,960
Thank you,
Ralph.
Appreciate that.

603
00:30:53,960 --> 00:30:57,502
All right, pulling out this next

question.

604
00:30:57,502 --> 00:31:01,955
This comes from Jamie in
Arlington, Texas, a few


605
00:31:01,963 --> 00:31:06,840
companies want to sponsor my
show, and I'm around 15 to


606
00:31:06,848 --> 00:31:11,430
20,000 downloads per month.
How do I know what to charge for

607
00:31:11,430 --> 00:31:14,661
a
sponsor read?
Ralph, Ralph Estep Jr: oh, I

608
00:31:14,661 --> 00:31:16,949
love this
question.
It's a great one, and the thing

609
00:31:16,949 --> 00:31:19,179
I think you got to do,
start
off with, do is breaking down

610
00:31:19,179 --> 00:31:22,107
those monthly downloads
into
episode level downloads, like I

611
00:31:22,107 --> 00:31:25,182
said, when I hit that
10,000
in my daily show, the first

612
00:31:25,182 --> 00:31:28,192
month I was so excited,
and
somebody kind of took the air

613
00:31:28,192 --> 00:31:31,097
out of my balloon and said,

"But how many is that per?

614
00:31:31,097 --> 00:31:32,909
So, if we're going to think,
because
let's pivot a little

615
00:31:32,909 --> 00:31:36,283
bit, let's talk about that CPM
formula just
for a second.

616
00:31:36,283 --> 00:31:40,359
So, the basic CPM formula takes
your downloads
divided by 1000

617
00:31:40,359 --> 00:31:43,033
multiplied by your CPM rate.
I know this is
kind of like a

618
00:31:43,033 --> 00:31:44,989
jargon wheel thing, but I think
we need to go
here at this

619
00:31:44,989 --> 00:31:47,103
point.
Marc Ronick: And CPM is cost per

620
00:31:47,103 --> 00:31:49,040

1000, Ralph Estep Jr: correct?
Yes.

621
00:31:49,040 --> 00:31:52,965
So
here's a typical example.
Let's say you get 5000 downloads

622
00:31:52,965 --> 00:31:58,327
per
episode at $25 CPM, that
means you would get about $125

623
00:31:58,327 --> 00:32:01,569
for one
ad placement.
That's about what we're talking

624
00:32:01,569 --> 00:32:04,350
about here, but
here's the
thing, I'm going to say to you,

625
00:32:04,350 --> 00:32:06,550
is a lot of people
get hung up
on this.

626
00:32:06,550 --> 00:32:11,319
Don't sell for only one ad read.
Think
about selling packages,

627
00:32:11,319 --> 00:32:13,548
multiple episodes.
If you've got a
newsletter,

628
00:32:13,548 --> 00:32:17,358
like Dr. said, she subscribes to
newsletters, you
can put that

629
00:32:17,358 --> 00:32:20,370
out, social post, community
visibility, all those
things

630
00:32:20,370 --> 00:32:23,930
add to the value to this person.
A lot of people get
stuck on,

631
00:32:23,930 --> 00:32:26,135
well, how much can I charge for
a host, right?

632
00:32:26,135 --> 00:32:28,550
At,
yeah, there's, there's
potentially a number for that.


633
00:32:28,558 --> 00:32:31,490
But think about what you're
doing, you're inviting them into

634
00:32:31,490 --> 00:32:35,515

a level of gold that you have.
Your audience is your gold, and

635
00:32:35,515 --> 00:32:38,875
you're inviting them into that.
They're getting a lot more value

636
00:32:38,875 --> 00:32:40,836

than just the episode or that
ad read.

637
00:32:40,836 --> 00:32:43,180
They're going to be in the

show notes, and you got to

638
00:32:43,210 --> 00:32:44,920
really promote this, like I'm

going to use the word, you got

639
00:32:44,920 --> 00:32:47,710
to pimp yourself out a little

bit here, you've got to do that

640
00:32:47,740 --> 00:32:50,350
and show where all these things
are going to happen, because

641
00:32:50,470 --> 00:32:54,010
it's a package, multiple

episodes, newsletter, social

642
00:32:54,100 --> 00:32:56,950
posts, community visibility,

that's where you can take that

643
00:32:57,520 --> 00:33:00,360
move away, I hate the CPM model,

if I haven't said that, it's

644
00:33:00,390 --> 00:33:04,200
probably pretty obvious what

you're sponsoring is you, you're

645
00:33:04,290 --> 00:33:07,099
sponsoring that beautiful

audience that you have.

646
00:33:07,099 --> 00:33:10,140
But here's the thing, as you're
moving into this, be very clear

647
00:33:10,410 --> 00:33:14,430
about the placement, the link,

the exclusivity, reporting,

648
00:33:14,850 --> 00:33:16,980
payment terms, and here's

another thing we got to think

649
00:33:17,010 --> 00:33:20,475
about: is the ad baked in, or is

it dynamically inserted?

650
00:33:20,475 --> 00:33:22,594
Now, let me, that's probably
another
jargon thing, right,

651
00:33:22,594 --> 00:33:24,465
Mark.
So we're talking about baked in,

652
00:33:24,465 --> 00:33:27,095

that is, you know, it's going
to play in every episode till

653
00:33:27,095 --> 00:33:29,200
the
end of time.
Marc Ronick: Let me, yeah.

654
00:33:29,200 --> 00:33:33,040
And
what he means by that is,
so baked in ads, that means that

655
00:33:33,040 --> 00:33:36,124

you are recording the ad while
you're recording the episode,


656
00:33:36,132 --> 00:33:38,386
right?
That's what it means to bake it

657
00:33:38,386 --> 00:33:41,228
in, because it's baked
in,
meaning it's going to live there

658
00:33:41,228 --> 00:33:43,636
unless you want to remove
it
at some point.

659
00:33:43,636 --> 00:33:47,220
Then you've got to go to your
original
edited file, edit it

660
00:33:47,220 --> 00:33:51,269
out, and then upload it to the
episode
again, and you know,

661
00:33:51,269 --> 00:33:54,337
take down the other audio, the
original,
and replace it with

662
00:33:54,337 --> 00:33:56,753
your new one.
That's a pain in the butt,
and

663
00:33:56,753 --> 00:34:00,223
a lot of work to do, which is
why there's also dynamic ads,


664
00:34:00,231 --> 00:34:03,415
where some platforms allow you
to automatically insert it in


665
00:34:03,423 --> 00:34:07,633
and insert it out whenever you
see fit, and it basically pauses

666
00:34:07,633 --> 00:34:11,571

the podcast, plays the ad, and
then resumes the podcast after


667
00:34:11,579 --> 00:34:13,904
the ad, Ralph Estep Jr: but you
got to
be clear with your

668
00:34:13,904 --> 00:34:16,216
sponsors to front end what
they're getting,
because the

669
00:34:16,216 --> 00:34:18,820
sponsor might not understand the
difference
between the two.

670
00:34:18,820 --> 00:34:22,178
So lay that out, put it all out
there in
writing, I'm a big

671
00:34:22,178 --> 00:34:25,054
proponent of that, but to really
answer the
question, don't

672
00:34:25,054 --> 00:34:29,446
just sell them on a quote host
read ad, sell
them on the

673
00:34:29,446 --> 00:34:32,005
whole economy, the whole
ecosystem that you're
bringing

674
00:34:32,005 --> 00:34:35,643
to the table for them, and I see
BC is nodding his
head, if he

675
00:34:35,643 --> 00:34:37,732
shakes anymore, he's going to
shake the whole camera D.R.

676
00:34:37,732 --> 00:34:41,610
Fay: down, can we break
that
down a little bit, like what

677
00:34:41,610 --> 00:34:44,340
would a package include for

me?

678
00:34:44,340 --> 00:34:49,945
I tell my clients, well, you can
like dedicate a whole
episode

679
00:34:49,945 --> 00:34:53,722
to the product and what the
product's about.

680
00:34:53,722 --> 00:34:58,363
Hopefully
it is in alignment
with what your message is.

681
00:34:58,363 --> 00:35:02,170
How about la.

Lives on Facebook and on

682
00:35:02,170 --> 00:35:05,230
Instagram, you can do lives

where people, where listeners

683
00:35:05,230 --> 00:35:08,890
can ask questions and get a

direct answer from the sponsor.

684
00:35:08,890 --> 00:35:12,640
And what else would you say

would be in that package?

685
00:35:12,640 --> 00:35:15,490
Ralph Estep Jr: Well, Dr. Very

valuable observation, and I'm

686
00:35:15,490 --> 00:35:16,995
gonna grab one thing you first

said.

687
00:35:16,995 --> 00:35:19,618
Listen, if it doesn't fit your
product, that's not a
sponsor

688
00:35:19,618 --> 00:35:21,676
that you should have D.R.
Fay: right, Ralph Estep Jr:

689
00:35:21,676 --> 00:35:23,539
that's where we
get into that
desperation talk we talked about

690
00:35:23,539 --> 00:35:26,086
earlier, but I,
you know, who
does a really good job of this,

691
00:35:26,086 --> 00:35:29,780
James Cridley with
Pod News,
he is like a master at this.

692
00:35:29,780 --> 00:35:33,025
If you notice, every month

there's like a headline sponsor,

693
00:35:33,025 --> 00:35:35,641
and then he has sponsors of

individual pieces.

694
00:35:35,641 --> 00:35:38,971
I'm actually one of his, I think
it's gold
sponsors for his,

695
00:35:38,971 --> 00:35:42,073
his daily show, you get this and
you get
that, so Dr. I think

696
00:35:42,073 --> 00:35:45,325
you got to think in terms of
maybe, and it
depends on your

697
00:35:45,325 --> 00:35:47,590
cadence as well.
If you are a daily show like


698
00:35:47,598 --> 00:35:50,158
mine, maybe you do a monthly
sponsorship, or you do, hey,


699
00:35:50,166 --> 00:35:53,734
this show on Mondays is brought
to you by X or something like


700
00:35:53,742 --> 00:35:55,834
that.
But I think bigger than that,

701
00:35:55,834 --> 00:35:59,821
your newsletter, social
media
posts, if you have a community,

702
00:35:59,821 --> 00:36:02,398
are you promoting
that product
out there in the community?

703
00:36:02,398 --> 00:36:05,436
I think if you bring
it to the
table of something bigger than

704
00:36:05,436 --> 00:36:08,130
that, because here's
the
thing, it's your show, you do

705
00:36:08,130 --> 00:36:11,605
what you want, you know, like

I said, pimp yourself out, the

706
00:36:11,605 --> 00:36:13,945
person wants to see what am I

going to get from it, because

707
00:36:13,945 --> 00:36:17,095
here's the thing, the person

that's buying the sponsorship

708
00:36:17,095 --> 00:36:20,695
once wants to sell something,

they want to have, they want to

709
00:36:20,695 --> 00:36:23,395
move the needle, and if you can
help them move the needle, you

710
00:36:23,395 --> 00:36:26,665
could have a sponsor for life.

So, give them as much as you

711
00:36:26,665 --> 00:36:28,520
can, make it clear, make it

abundant.

712
00:36:28,520 --> 00:36:31,806
Say, here I am going to love on
you, I'm going to put
you on

713
00:36:31,806 --> 00:36:33,727
all the different pieces of the
puzzle that I have.

714
00:36:33,727 --> 00:36:35,050
So, I
hope that answers your
question.

715
00:36:35,050 --> 00:36:35,894
D.R.
D.R.

716
00:36:35,894 --> 00:36:40,094
Fay: Yeah, it does, but I
also
want to make the point of doing

717
00:36:40,094 --> 00:36:46,126
a live read statistics
have
shown that doing a live read is

718
00:36:46,126 --> 00:36:50,710
really more effective
than
anything else, that's what

719
00:36:50,800 --> 00:36:56,710
statistics show, but doing a

live read is difficult because

720
00:36:57,130 --> 00:37:01,140
it's hard to remember to get

that in when you're, when you're

721
00:37:01,350 --> 00:37:03,960
basically on a roll, you're

talking about something, and

722
00:37:03,990 --> 00:37:09,060
you're on a roll, and you have

to stop and do that live read.

723
00:37:09,870 --> 00:37:16,590
It takes finesse and talent and
skill to kind of weave that ad

724
00:37:17,010 --> 00:37:20,229
in, maybe relate it to something

that's being talked about.

725
00:37:20,229 --> 00:37:23,997
This is one of the reasons why I
love
Conan.

726
00:37:23,997 --> 00:37:28,300
Conan has a podcast, and he is
brilliant with the way he


727
00:37:28,308 --> 00:37:31,164
handles his live reads.
They're very long, but they're

728
00:37:31,164 --> 00:37:33,650
very
funny, but that is his
skill set.

729
00:37:34,400 --> 00:37:36,104
Marc Ronick: Yep, yes, he does.


730
00:37:36,112 --> 00:37:38,720
He's one of the best at it,
that's for sure.

731
00:37:39,140 --> 00:37:40,728
Ralph Estep Jr: And that's why

they work, though.

732
00:37:40,728 --> 00:37:43,552
They work because the audience
doesn't
even realize half the

733
00:37:43,552 --> 00:37:46,690
time that they're even in an

advertisement, and that's why

734
00:37:46,780 --> 00:37:49,510
I'm saying, if you're selling a
product that you use, that you

735
00:37:49,630 --> 00:37:53,470
endorse, that you say, "Here's

the value I got from this, it's

736
00:37:53,530 --> 00:37:56,560
not really an ad read at that

point anymore, Dr. it's more of,

737
00:37:56,740 --> 00:37:59,800
"Here's what works for me, and

my audience trusts me, so

738
00:37:59,890 --> 00:38:02,250
they're going to go do business
with this particular company,

739
00:38:02,850 --> 00:38:06,030
Marc Ronick: and entertainment

and comedy podcasts have a real

740
00:38:06,120 --> 00:38:10,200
advantage, I think, because they

can really weave it into their

741
00:38:10,440 --> 00:38:14,040
content, where your audience

doesn't even know it at first,

742
00:38:14,280 --> 00:38:16,190
right?
Like, I think it's harder
for

743
00:38:16,190 --> 00:38:19,546
some that may be more serious
podcasts, more focused


744
00:38:19,554 --> 00:38:23,721
podcasts, where you know, just
to try to like casually weave it

745
00:38:23,721 --> 00:38:25,908

in might be feel a little more
challenging.

746
00:38:25,908 --> 00:38:28,908
I believe you can
do it
regardless, no matter what kind

747
00:38:28,908 --> 00:38:31,586
of show you have.
But I
just thought I'd call

748
00:38:31,586 --> 00:38:34,330
that out because I was
remembering the
big show that

749
00:38:34,330 --> 00:38:36,962
I used to work on, the Mike
O'Mara show.

750
00:38:36,962 --> 00:38:40,858
You always
knew when they were
doing a commercial, but at the

751
00:38:40,858 --> 00:38:45,448
same
time, when they would do
it, you would still lean in as a

752
00:38:45,448 --> 00:38:48,151

listener, like I heard this
all the time, because people

753
00:38:48,151 --> 00:38:51,245
would
want to just hear what
antics they were going to get

754
00:38:51,245 --> 00:38:53,440
into
while they were doing the
commercial read, they would


755
00:38:53,448 --> 00:38:57,694
always find a way to make it
funny, even though we knew at


756
00:38:57,702 --> 00:39:01,414
these times during the podcast
they always do a commercial, it

757
00:39:01,414 --> 00:39:04,015
didn't matter, because people
just wanted to get entertained


758
00:39:04,023 --> 00:39:06,270
by wondering what was going to
come next.

759
00:39:06,810 --> 00:39:09,450
D.R.
Fay: I also wanted to touch
on

760
00:39:09,450 --> 00:39:14,620
the fact that maybe your host is
not skilled in the way to do


761
00:39:14,628 --> 00:39:17,930
those live shades.
A pre-taped message, for

762
00:39:17,930 --> 00:39:21,869
instance, let's say
your call
to action is you're trying to

763
00:39:21,869 --> 00:39:25,090
build a community on
one of
the platforms, like school.

764
00:39:25,090 --> 00:39:31,060
Okay, so a pre-taped
message
about that is can be effective

765
00:39:31,060 --> 00:39:35,822
if you helpfully, you
have a
good editor that can whoosh you

766
00:39:35,822 --> 00:39:37,785
in, you know, give us
that
whoosh sound.

767
00:39:37,785 --> 00:39:40,734
Mark, Marc Ronick: oh man, okay,
D.R.

768
00:39:40,734 --> 00:39:43,414
Fay: there you go.
If you
wish it in, whoosh it

769
00:39:43,414 --> 00:39:47,520
out, have a little maybe a music
bed
underneath what you're

770
00:39:47,520 --> 00:39:49,825
saying.
I think that that can be

771
00:39:49,825 --> 00:39:52,750
effective
as well.
Marc Ronick: Speaking of which,

772
00:39:52,750 --> 00:39:55,240
Ralph, what's coming up for
tomorrow's episode?

773
00:39:55,680 --> 00:39:57,016
Ralph Estep Jr: Oh, you know

what, D.R.

774
00:39:57,016 --> 00:39:59,940
If I was next, I'd give you a
big hug, because you
just.

775
00:39:59,940 --> 00:40:02,297
Walked us right into where we're
going tomorrow.

776
00:40:02,297 --> 00:40:04,019
Tomorrow
we've got Jody
Krangle.

777
00:40:04,019 --> 00:40:07,207
She's going to join the show.
She is a
voice over and a

778
00:40:07,207 --> 00:40:10,304
sound person, and she's going to
talk to us
about how to bring

779
00:40:10,304 --> 00:40:13,446
that sound and those that
soundscape of how
to make your

780
00:40:13,446 --> 00:40:15,416
listeners really feel great
about your episode.


781
00:40:15,424 --> 00:40:19,142
She's going to talk to us about
her many years of experience to

782
00:40:19,142 --> 00:40:22,249
invite voiceovers and really
the art and science of sound, so

783
00:40:22,249 --> 00:40:24,781

make sure you join us
tomorrow, 8am Jody Krangle is

784
00:40:24,781 --> 00:40:27,814
going to be
here, and I am
telling you what I am excited.

785
00:40:27,814 --> 00:40:30,341
I can't wait to
hear what she
has to tell Marc Ronick: us.

786
00:40:30,341 --> 00:40:32,519
Yeah, and I
want to talk to
her a little bit about how we

787
00:40:32,519 --> 00:40:35,058
use our voices too
as
podcasters, right?

788
00:40:35,058 --> 00:40:38,914
Because there is a way, a style
that we
can adopt that, like

789
00:40:38,914 --> 00:40:42,253
you're saying, Ralph, really
helps that
audience feel

790
00:40:42,253 --> 00:40:45,118
welcomed, feel like this is the
right place.


791
00:40:45,126 --> 00:40:48,559
They, it helps with their trust
with the host, etc.

792
00:40:48,559 --> 00:40:52,090
So, I want
to learn more from
her about that stuff too.

793
00:40:52,090 --> 00:40:54,854
So, looking
forward to Jody
Crank, Ralph Estep Jr: and, like

794
00:40:54,854 --> 00:40:57,615
Dave
said, she's a Canadian,
so we gotta, we got a thumbs up

795
00:40:57,615 --> 00:40:59,855
from
Dave.
So, is it, uh, she's going to be

796
00:40:59,855 --> 00:41:03,884
good?
Hey, Marc Ronick: okay, Ralph,

797
00:41:03,884 --> 00:41:06,650
I'm
not sure if this is
something that's coming up in

798
00:41:06,650 --> 00:41:10,080
the mailbag
or not, but we've
talked a lot about sponsorships

799
00:41:10,080 --> 00:41:14,516
and bringing
on sponsors, and
we haven't yet really talked

800
00:41:14,516 --> 00:41:18,861
about how do we
know what to
charge them, that is such a

801
00:41:18,861 --> 00:41:22,098
common question that I
get
from podcasters when they start

802
00:41:22,098 --> 00:41:23,735
thinking about bringing in

sponsors.

803
00:41:23,735 --> 00:41:26,858
Well, okay, but I have no idea
what to charge them.

804
00:41:26,858 --> 00:41:29,360
So,
what would you tell
somebody that says that or asks

805
00:41:29,360 --> 00:41:31,470
that?
Ralph Estep Jr: That's a hard


806
00:41:31,478 --> 00:41:32,862
question, Mark.
You just stumped me, because

807
00:41:32,862 --> 00:41:35,137
this is the question
I get a
lot now, working with content

808
00:41:35,137 --> 00:41:38,138
creators, and I wish I
could
tell you I had a great answer

809
00:41:38,138 --> 00:41:38,930
for that.
I don't.

810
00:41:38,930 --> 00:41:42,180
I will
tell you this: if you
go back to the CPM model, we can

811
00:41:42,180 --> 00:41:44,938
take that
apart a little bit,
so you can look at your

812
00:41:44,938 --> 00:41:46,165
audience.
You could
say, "Okay, well, if

813
00:41:46,165 --> 00:41:49,597
I got this many downloads, if I
was going
to do CPM, here's

814
00:41:49,597 --> 00:41:51,602
how much money I would be
earning.

815
00:41:51,602 --> 00:41:53,856
You start
there.
I think that's a base number,

816
00:41:53,856 --> 00:41:56,786
but bigger than that, I
think
what you have to do is just kind

817
00:41:56,786 --> 00:41:59,440
of put some numbers
out there
and just say, "Hey, what, what

818
00:41:59,440 --> 00:42:01,962
do you, what do you
want to
give me, and what is it you're

819
00:42:01,962 --> 00:42:04,458
willing to pay?
The
problem is, as content

820
00:42:04,458 --> 00:42:06,714
creators, we'll undersell
ourselves a lot
of times.

821
00:42:06,714 --> 00:42:09,835
So, I think you put a bigger
number out there than you


822
00:42:09,843 --> 00:42:12,455
think you actually could get,
because a lot of people think,


823
00:42:12,463 --> 00:42:14,948
and this is true of sales in
general, a lot of people think,

824
00:42:14,948 --> 00:42:17,202
well, if my price is right,
I'll sell it every time.

825
00:42:17,202 --> 00:42:19,138
Well, guess
what?
If you sell it every time, your

826
00:42:19,138 --> 00:42:21,509
price is too low.
Yeah, so
you, you want people

827
00:42:21,509 --> 00:42:24,530
to say no.
So, what I say is, start at a


828
00:42:24,538 --> 00:42:27,608
high number and see how many nos
you get, and then start to drop

829
00:42:27,608 --> 00:42:29,858
that down a little bit till you
get a yes.

830
00:42:29,858 --> 00:42:32,726
Because if you can
get a yes
at a high number, then maybe

831
00:42:32,726 --> 00:42:35,186
that sets the tone of
where
you're going to be, because it's

832
00:42:35,186 --> 00:42:38,084
easy to say, well,
I'm going
to sponsor, I'm going to do $100

833
00:42:38,084 --> 00:42:40,720
a month for a
sponsor.
What if you could get 10,000 a

834
00:42:40,720 --> 00:42:42,598
month.
What if you
could get 5000 a

835
00:42:42,598 --> 00:42:44,365
month?
What if you could get 1000 a

836
00:42:44,365 --> 00:42:45,730
month?
If
you don't ask, you're never

837
00:42:45,850 --> 00:42:48,520
going to get that.
Marc Ronick: Yeah, and I know


838
00:42:48,528 --> 00:42:51,535
that Sid has shared that he
actually feels like he did


839
00:42:51,543 --> 00:42:55,680
undersell a little bit because
he's now found himself in


840
00:42:55,688 --> 00:42:58,944
certain occasions scrambling a
little bit because he's got a


841
00:42:58,952 --> 00:43:03,092
lot of work to do for maybe not
quite the same value of what you

842
00:43:03,092 --> 00:43:06,545

know, what they paid for it,
so yeah, that's a, that's a trap

843
00:43:06,545 --> 00:43:09,786

that we can easily fall into.
I try to encourage people when

844
00:43:09,786 --> 00:43:12,822
I'm
having this conversation,
and I go down a similar road as

845
00:43:12,822 --> 00:43:15,996
you,
Ralph, and I'll say to
the podcaster, well, how much do

846
00:43:15,996 --> 00:43:19,322
you
think it's worth, right?
And eventually I'll get them to

847
00:43:19,322 --> 00:43:23,046
come
up with an answer, and
then I'll tell them to one and a

848
00:43:23,046 --> 00:43:27,380
half
times that, just just up
it, because, like you said, we


849
00:43:27,388 --> 00:43:30,020
undersell ourselves a lot.
Ralph Estep Jr: I'll give you a

850
00:43:30,020 --> 00:43:31,756
great example of this.
I was working with a client,

851
00:43:31,756 --> 00:43:34,480
it's
probably been 15 years
ago, he washed windows, that was

852
00:43:34,480 --> 00:43:37,406
his
job, he was a window
washer, and he came to me and he

853
00:43:37,406 --> 00:43:40,232
said,
Ralph, he says, man, I
am so busy, I've got a three

854
00:43:40,232 --> 00:43:43,132
month
backlog, I can't get, I
can't even get my work done.

855
00:43:43,132 --> 00:43:45,340
I said,
your prices are too
low, and he says, What do you

856
00:43:45,340 --> 00:43:46,982
mean, my
prices are too low?
I said, Here's what I want you

857
00:43:46,982 --> 00:43:48,597
to do
tomorrow, I want you to
double your prices.

858
00:43:48,597 --> 00:43:52,180
He said, Ralph, if
I double my
prices, no one is going to call

859
00:43:52,180 --> 00:43:54,340
me.
I said, do me
just listen to

860
00:43:54,340 --> 00:43:55,635
me.
So he goes away.

861
00:43:55,635 --> 00:43:57,340
Three months later, he
comes
back, and I said, How are

862
00:43:57,430 --> 00:43:58,722
things?
He goes, Man, he says, I


863
00:43:58,730 --> 00:44:01,372
didn't want to do what you said,
I didn't double my prices, but I

864
00:44:01,372 --> 00:44:02,953

raised them by 50% I said,
'What happened?

865
00:44:02,953 --> 00:44:04,650
He goes, 'I lost zero

business.

866
00:44:04,650 --> 00:44:06,972
He said, 'I still have a three
month backlog.

867
00:44:06,972 --> 00:44:09,325
He says,
'Ralph, when I leave
this meeting today, I'm going to

868
00:44:09,325 --> 00:44:11,220
do
what you said, I'm going to
double my prices.

869
00:44:11,220 --> 00:44:13,220
Guess what?
He
doubled his prices, and he

870
00:44:13,220 --> 00:44:16,121
still had a three month backlog.
He
ended up tripling his

871
00:44:16,121 --> 00:44:19,613
prices, and then he finally
started to
see some attrition.

872
00:44:19,613 --> 00:44:23,123
So we all think that we can't
like what
Bez put in the chat.

873
00:44:23,123 --> 00:44:25,604
He said the formula comes from
knowing their
business and

874
00:44:25,604 --> 00:44:27,362
what they are trying to
accomplish.

875
00:44:27,362 --> 00:44:30,062
That
should drive your formula
and make it fair.

876
00:44:30,062 --> 00:44:31,766
Don't leave money
on the
table.

877
00:44:31,766 --> 00:44:34,895
I agree, Bez, what is the value
you're giving your
audience?

878
00:44:34,895 --> 00:44:37,848
What is the value that
advertiser, that sponsor, is


879
00:44:37,856 --> 00:44:40,116
getting?
Put numbers on that, because if

880
00:44:40,116 --> 00:44:43,375
you're solving a
problem, and
they are the conduit to solving

881
00:44:43,375 --> 00:44:45,580
that problem
that is worth a
lot to them.

882
00:44:46,060 --> 00:44:47,380
Marc Ronick: BC has something.

Go ahead, BC.

883
00:44:48,010 --> 00:44:49,866
BC Babbles: Yeah, and one of the

other things I would mention,

884
00:44:49,866 --> 00:44:52,562
a great thing to do, and I think
a
lot of us creatives have

885
00:44:52,562 --> 00:44:56,076
this same block when we're
trying to
really make sense of

886
00:44:56,076 --> 00:44:58,954
the pricing we have for what we
offer, and a
colleague of mine

887
00:44:58,954 --> 00:45:00,897
mentioned this on their podcast.
Cast a couple
months ago, and

888
00:45:00,897 --> 00:45:04,929
I loved when they did this.
Learn to line
item the process

889
00:45:04,929 --> 00:45:08,688
of the service.
A lot of times people think


890
00:45:08,696 --> 00:45:12,345
single service, single product,
therefore the pricing should be

891
00:45:12,345 --> 00:45:15,450
minimal, but when you really
line item out, what it looks


892
00:45:15,458 --> 00:45:19,060
like, and this goes back to you
mentioning having to remove a


893
00:45:19,068 --> 00:45:22,160
baked-in ad, right?
The process, the difficulty that

894
00:45:22,160 --> 00:45:25,576
is break
down line item, what
the provision of that

895
00:45:25,576 --> 00:45:29,914
sponsorship
looks like on your
end to help make sense of why

896
00:45:29,914 --> 00:45:33,092
your pricing
is what it is.
Just in case you get additional

897
00:45:33,092 --> 00:45:36,413
pushback, if they
see that
this is quite the process to put

898
00:45:36,413 --> 00:45:39,986
their logo here,
here, here,
and record this, this, and that,

899
00:45:39,986 --> 00:45:42,738
it makes more
sense for your
pricing to be where it should

900
00:45:42,738 --> 00:45:44,050
be.
Marc Ronick: Yeah, thank you,


901
00:45:44,058 --> 00:45:45,548
BC.
It's a great, yeah, I like that

902
00:45:45,548 --> 00:45:47,452
one too.
That's a great way
to approach

903
00:45:47,452 --> 00:45:49,490
it.
And so, look, I think that

904
00:45:49,490 --> 00:45:52,696
ultimately, if
somebody's
still kind of hanging on our

905
00:45:52,696 --> 00:45:54,700
words here and wondering,

well, I still don't know what to

906
00:45:54,820 --> 00:45:57,340
charge, right?
I think one way
to do this is

907
00:45:57,340 --> 00:46:00,469
reach out to a few different
podcasters, see what
they're

908
00:46:00,469 --> 00:46:02,955
charging, right?
And this is such a great

909
00:46:02,955 --> 00:46:04,590
community.

And if you don't, if you haven't

910
00:46:04,680 --> 00:46:07,560
really engaged with the

podcasting community, start with

911
00:46:07,800 --> 00:46:09,960
ours.
Go to our Facebook group,


912
00:46:09,968 --> 00:46:13,020
Empowered Podcasting, search for
that, and join us, and ask your

913
00:46:13,020 --> 00:46:14,780
question there, and see what
people say.

914
00:46:14,780 --> 00:46:18,609
Or join Pod Fest
Facebook
group as well, and put it in a

915
00:46:18,609 --> 00:46:20,548
few different groups,
see what
what people say.

916
00:46:20,548 --> 00:46:24,168
And yes, BC says Chat GPT.
You could
ask Chat GPT too.

917
00:46:24,168 --> 00:46:26,720
Why not, right?
It's at least giving you
a

918
00:46:26,720 --> 00:46:28,950
starting point.
I do think that every podcast,

919
00:46:28,950 --> 00:46:32,590
not every,
but I do think a
lot of podcasts are different,

920
00:46:32,590 --> 00:46:37,060
and I think it's
important to
try to, you know, poll the

921
00:46:37,060 --> 00:46:39,847
audience, if you will,
poll
your fellow podcasters and see

922
00:46:39,847 --> 00:46:42,383
what they're charging.
I
don't think you should

923
00:46:42,383 --> 00:46:47,602
charge any less than $100 for a
30 to
62nd spot, and

924
00:46:47,602 --> 00:46:51,370
regardless, even if you have 15
downloads a
month, I say start

925
00:46:51,370 --> 00:46:54,911
at least at $100 for a 30 or
62nd spot.

926
00:46:54,911 --> 00:46:58,840
At
least start there, but I
think you could get a lot more

927
00:46:58,840 --> 00:47:01,488
than
that, and like Ralph said
earlier, package this.

928
00:47:01,488 --> 00:47:03,900
Don't
just charge for one
episode.

929
00:47:04,590 --> 00:47:06,435
It's not worth it.
It's not
worth your time.

930
00:47:06,435 --> 00:47:09,264
It's not worth the pitch.
It's not worth the
effort.

931
00:47:09,264 --> 00:47:12,960
Put it at least for a month or a
quarterly package.

932
00:47:13,860 --> 00:47:14,730
D.R.
Fay: Let me just interrupt


933
00:47:14,738 --> 00:47:15,600
here for a second.
I'm sorry.

934
00:47:16,200 --> 00:47:20,480
There is a saying in the

business, and this happened in

935
00:47:20,750 --> 00:47:23,914
television, and it's happening,
it happens in radio, and now

936
00:47:23,914 --> 00:47:28,580
I'm podcasting, that people have
to
hear the pitch, the call to

937
00:47:28,760 --> 00:47:34,610
action, at least what I think

seven times, but in podcasting I

938
00:47:34,730 --> 00:47:38,372
think it's up to like 11 or 12

times, Marc Ronick: oh really,

939
00:47:38,372 --> 00:47:40,682
okay, D.R.
Fay: something like that,
in

940
00:47:40,682 --> 00:47:46,670
order for people to say, hey, I
think I go for that, so yeah,


941
00:47:46,678 --> 00:47:51,050
just one episode is not going to
do you any good, Ralph Estep Jr:

942
00:47:51,050 --> 00:47:52,190
and just think
about this,
D.R.

943
00:47:52,190 --> 00:47:54,559
If you're doing a baked-in ad
and you're just
getting

944
00:47:54,559 --> 00:47:57,768
started, if you knock it out of
the park five years from
now,

945
00:47:57,768 --> 00:48:00,575
that sponsor is still going to
be getting all the gold from


946
00:48:00,583 --> 00:48:03,708
what you brought to them for
that whole period of time, so


947
00:48:03,716 --> 00:48:05,448
don't undersell yourself, like
Mark said.

948
00:48:05,448 --> 00:48:08,129
I think it's easy to
undersell
what you're doing, especially

949
00:48:08,129 --> 00:48:11,023
baked-in ads, which
I'm not a
big fan of those, because

950
00:48:11,023 --> 00:48:13,059
companies go out of
business,
things change.

951
00:48:13,059 --> 00:48:16,387
I think dynamic is the way to
go, but if
you're going to do

952
00:48:16,387 --> 00:48:18,000
that, there's a lot of value in
that.

953
00:48:19,080 --> 00:48:21,350
Marc Ronick: Okay, Ralph, we're
going to move to the next

954
00:48:21,470 --> 00:48:24,678
question.
Here, let me.. and I
just

955
00:48:24,678 --> 00:48:28,550
remembered that, you know, where
I'm on video now.

956
00:48:28,550 --> 00:48:31,274
My
secret is revealed.
Everyone's seeing what I'm

957
00:48:31,274 --> 00:48:34,820
doing, which is
just grabbing
a bunch of pieces of paper and

958
00:48:34,820 --> 00:48:38,750
old checks and
stuff that's
sitting on my desk, BC Babbles:

959
00:48:38,750 --> 00:48:39,740
envelopes, and send
that to
you.

960
00:48:40,400 --> 00:48:42,355
Marc Ronick: Yes, that would be
great.

961
00:48:42,355 --> 00:48:44,520
That'd be great.
Yes, I think that would be

962
00:48:44,520 --> 00:48:45,030
perfect.
All
right.

963
00:48:45,030 --> 00:48:46,570
Well, this Ralph Estep Jr: one
have this
one mark.

964
00:48:46,870 --> 00:48:49,165
Marc Ronick: What's that?
Oh,
that's a good one.

965
00:48:49,165 --> 00:48:52,288
Is that a sound effect?
Ralph Estep Jr: It Marc Ronick:

966
00:48:52,288 --> 00:48:52,855
is.
Oh, nice.

967
00:48:52,855 --> 00:48:54,430
So
you're not actually
crumpling papers there.

968
00:48:54,850 --> 00:48:56,140
Ralph Estep Jr: That's too much
effort for me anymore.

969
00:48:57,460 --> 00:49:00,250
Marc Ronick: All right, I'm

gonna pull this one out here.

970
00:49:00,400 --> 00:49:05,070
This is from I'm skipping a

question, just FYI, Ralph from

971
00:49:05,250 --> 00:49:09,450
Tony in Portland, Oregon.
Tony
says, I qualified for ads

972
00:49:09,570 --> 00:49:13,500
through my podcast host, but

nobody has bought the slots yet.

973
00:49:14,160 --> 00:49:17,670
Should I wait on platform ads,

join a network, or sell

974
00:49:17,850 --> 00:49:19,950
sponsorships myself?
What do you
think, Ralph?

975
00:49:20,760 --> 00:49:22,400
Ralph Estep Jr: Oh yeah, I was

happy to see this one too,

976
00:49:22,580 --> 00:49:25,130
because a lot of people get onto

these platform ads and they

977
00:49:25,220 --> 00:49:28,100
think they've arrived.
The
problem with platform ads

978
00:49:28,100 --> 00:49:31,379
is they may not match what
you're
doing in your show.

979
00:49:31,379 --> 00:49:33,890
I have been listening to shows
where all of
a sudden it's

980
00:49:33,890 --> 00:49:37,004
like I had whiplash because this
post was
talking about one

981
00:49:37,004 --> 00:49:40,243
thing and I'm here to add for
something
completely different

982
00:49:40,243 --> 00:49:43,264
than that, that's the problem
with the
platform ads, that's

983
00:49:43,264 --> 00:49:45,082
the problem with joining a
network again.


984
00:49:45,090 --> 00:49:47,152
What are you doing to your
audience?

985
00:49:47,152 --> 00:49:50,680
So, like I said,
qualifying
for a platform ad program is

986
00:49:50,680 --> 00:49:52,780
great, but it doesn't

guarantee your ads are going to

987
00:49:52,810 --> 00:49:54,427
sell.
People still have to go
out

988
00:49:54,427 --> 00:49:57,892
there and buy those ads, and the
ad marketplace depends on


989
00:49:57,900 --> 00:49:59,752
advertisers' demand, category,
geography.

990
00:49:59,752 --> 00:50:03,306
Audience size
available
inventory, and here's the thing:

991
00:50:03,306 --> 00:50:06,244
they're convenient,
but I
don't think they should be your

992
00:50:06,244 --> 00:50:08,790
only monetization strategy.

I still think direct

993
00:50:08,820 --> 00:50:11,250
sponsorships give you more

control of the brand fit, the

994
00:50:11,430 --> 00:50:13,620
pricing, and the messaging.

Here's the thing, I will say, if

995
00:50:14,130 --> 00:50:17,400
you want to use platform ads,

you can use those for unsold

996
00:50:17,580 --> 00:50:19,950
inventory when you're still

doing your other things

997
00:50:20,040 --> 00:50:21,606
yourself.
I don't think that's a


998
00:50:21,614 --> 00:50:24,440
terrible plan, but again, know
what you're putting on your


999
00:50:24,448 --> 00:50:26,030
show.
What are you going to be

1000
00:50:26,150 --> 00:50:29,240
subjecting your audience to?

Because if you're not careful,

1001
00:50:29,420 --> 00:50:32,467
anybody could put an ad on there

that you may disagree with.

1002
00:50:32,467 --> 00:50:36,410
It could be a philosophical, it
could be a political ad, any of

1003
00:50:36,410 --> 00:50:37,964
those things that you might not
like.

1004
00:50:37,964 --> 00:50:40,690
So just be aware that when
you're going with those platform

1005
00:50:40,690 --> 00:50:44,205

ads, you get what they send
your way, so I'm not a huge fan

1006
00:50:44,205 --> 00:50:46,944
of
those, to be blunt.
Marc Ronick: Okay, cool.

1007
00:50:46,944 --> 00:50:49,644
And
does anyone else want,
because I want to try to get to

1008
00:50:49,644 --> 00:50:51,967
at least
one or two more.
Does anyone else want to

1009
00:50:51,967 --> 00:50:54,474
respond, or shall I
move to
the next one?

1010
00:50:54,474 --> 00:51:01,800
All right, I'm going to move on.
This one
comes from Sophia in

1011
00:51:01,920 --> 00:51:05,622
Pennsylvania, listeners keep

asking for merch.

1012
00:51:05,622 --> 00:51:10,599
Is print on demand worth it, or
should I do
limited merch

1013
00:51:10,599 --> 00:51:12,486
drops and ship everything
myself?

1014
00:51:12,486 --> 00:51:15,936
I'm curious,
not just for
Ralph here, I'm curious what

1015
00:51:15,936 --> 00:51:18,975
others think about
this,
because merch is often a common

1016
00:51:18,975 --> 00:51:21,440
way that a lot of
podcasters
like to jump into the

1017
00:51:21,560 --> 00:51:24,650
monetization game, and I'm

curious, from different people's

1018
00:51:24,710 --> 00:51:26,425
experience, what you would say

to that.

1019
00:51:26,425 --> 00:51:30,335
So, again, do we do print on
demand, is that worth
it, or

1020
00:51:30,335 --> 00:51:34,160
should we limit to merch drops
and ship everything
ourselves?

1021
00:51:34,940 --> 00:51:37,253
Ralph Estep Jr: I will jump into

this first, and I would say

1022
00:51:37,253 --> 00:51:40,010
the thing about merchandise for
me,
a lot of people think

1023
00:51:40,070 --> 00:51:42,088
merchandise is going to be this
big profit center.

1024
00:51:42,088 --> 00:51:45,235
I do not believe that.
I think
merchandise is great

1025
00:51:45,235 --> 00:51:48,610
for building your community,

especially at the beginning.

1026
00:51:48,610 --> 00:51:51,684
I think print on demand is a
good
way to do that, because

1027
00:51:51,684 --> 00:51:53,080
it's low risk, doesn't cost
anything.

1028
00:51:53,080 --> 00:51:55,556
In
fact, I have a merchandise
store, I don't sell much with


1029
00:51:55,564 --> 00:51:57,527
it, but that wasn't the point of
it.

1030
00:51:57,527 --> 00:51:59,770
The point of it was people

could go out there, they could

1031
00:51:59,830 --> 00:52:02,100
get a shirt that could get a

hat, they could get a mug, or

1032
00:52:02,340 --> 00:52:05,310
something like that.
It was all
about building that

1033
00:52:05,310 --> 00:52:07,590
community.
Once you've got a community


1034
00:52:07,598 --> 00:52:10,341
built, then you might consider
doing some self-managed


1035
00:52:10,349 --> 00:52:14,408
inventory, where you do an ad,
you know, where you do something

1036
00:52:14,408 --> 00:52:16,890

sort of like you do a
promotion, where I'm going to

1037
00:52:16,890 --> 00:52:19,911
sell this
much stuff, but I
think it all comes down to

1038
00:52:19,911 --> 00:52:23,531
because you want
to carry the
cost of inventory, you might end

1039
00:52:23,531 --> 00:52:25,892
up with a lot of
shirts or
whatever hats you're never going

1040
00:52:25,892 --> 00:52:27,970
to sell.
That's why
I like to print on

1041
00:52:27,970 --> 00:52:31,336
demand, but just understand it's
not going
to be a huge profit

1042
00:52:31,336 --> 00:52:33,962
center for you.
Now, if you are going to do


1043
00:52:33,970 --> 00:52:37,105
that, I would do something that
really identifies the show's


1044
00:52:37,113 --> 00:52:39,300
identity.
Maybe there's a catch phrase

1045
00:52:39,300 --> 00:52:42,024
like I'm going to do one
for
Dr. You know, words are hard in

1046
00:52:42,024 --> 00:52:43,770
the morning.
I think we
should have a words

1047
00:52:43,770 --> 00:52:47,369
are hard in the morning shirt,
that's
something that's inside

1048
00:52:47,369 --> 00:52:49,312
joke.
It's an audience thing, you


1049
00:52:49,320 --> 00:52:51,404
know.
We could do something like I hit

1050
00:52:51,404 --> 00:52:54,220
the wrong button again, or

hey, BC, I'm gonna throw you

1051
00:52:54,220 --> 00:52:57,340
under the bus, BC is falling

asleep again, or something like

1052
00:52:57,400 --> 00:52:58,292
that.
Hey, wake up.

1053
00:52:58,292 --> 00:53:00,940
Those are
all things that are
going to appeal to the

1054
00:53:00,940 --> 00:53:03,014
community, and
that's going to
reinforce the community, and

1055
00:53:03,014 --> 00:53:05,392
then what happens
is somebody
goes out in the community and

1056
00:53:05,392 --> 00:53:08,106
wears that shirt
or shows that
mug, and then somebody goes,

1057
00:53:08,106 --> 00:53:10,485
"Oh, what is that
all about?
What, what's hard in the

1058
00:53:10,485 --> 00:53:12,525
morning?
Who, who is Dr. Why
is words

1059
00:53:12,525 --> 00:53:15,220
hard in the morning for her?
And then they're going to
tune

1060
00:53:15,220 --> 00:53:17,790
in, because, and that's the way
you build a business, but
it's

1061
00:53:17,790 --> 00:53:20,916
not going to be a big profit
center for you at the
front

1062
00:53:20,916 --> 00:53:24,180
end, so don't spend a lot of
money, and you know, have a


1063
00:53:24,188 --> 00:53:26,768
whole shipping material set, but
then you got to deal with


1064
00:53:26,776 --> 00:53:29,210
shipping, you got to deal with
returns, you got to deal with


1065
00:53:29,218 --> 00:53:31,360
all that garbage.
It just, it's not a fun place to

1066
00:53:31,360 --> 00:53:33,607
be.
Marc Ronick: BC, before we go to

1067
00:53:33,607 --> 00:53:37,255

you, I want to go to Jeff
Dwoskin, who joined us on stage,

1068
00:53:37,255 --> 00:53:40,944

because I know, and rightfully
so, I know why he came up on


1069
00:53:40,952 --> 00:53:44,790
stage because Jeff does sell a
lot of merch, so I'm sure he has

1070
00:53:44,790 --> 00:53:46,300

some strong opinions about
this.

1071
00:53:46,390 --> 00:53:47,415
Good morning, Jeff.
Welcome
back.

1072
00:53:47,415 --> 00:53:52,905
What did you want to add?
Jeff: Hey, hey, great to be here

1073
00:53:52,905 --> 00:53:57,620

at a normal hour.
The, yeah, well, so I've been a

1074
00:53:57,620 --> 00:54:00,898
stand-up
comic for like 20
years, so the old school was you

1075
00:54:00,898 --> 00:54:03,952
bought like
100 shirts, and
then you tried to sell them, so

1076
00:54:03,952 --> 00:54:06,462
you had to
upfront.
So, print on demand is a

1077
00:54:06,462 --> 00:54:08,716
godsend.
I mean, in terms of
not having

1078
00:54:08,716 --> 00:54:12,450
to upfront all those costs and
do all that.

1079
00:54:12,450 --> 00:54:16,968
So,
absolutely, I recommend
checking out T Public, because

1080
00:54:16,968 --> 00:54:19,872
they kind
of advertise for
you.

1081
00:54:19,872 --> 00:54:26,309
I also recommend that you don't
just
make podcast shirts, like

1082
00:54:26,309 --> 00:54:31,160
I gotta be honest with you, I've

made some money on T Public

1083
00:54:31,910 --> 00:54:35,663
every month, and I've never sold

a Classic Conversations

1084
00:54:35,663 --> 00:54:39,727
T-shirt, but I make pop culture
related
shirts, and those

1085
00:54:39,727 --> 00:54:42,310
sell.
I will also say that I've made

1086
00:54:42,310 --> 00:54:45,451
hundreds
of stuff, and
probably only 10 of them have

1087
00:54:45,451 --> 00:54:48,754
ever sold.
Some
have sold a lot, and some

1088
00:54:48,754 --> 00:54:52,851
will collect dust until D.R.
Fay: the give us an example
of

1089
00:54:52,851 --> 00:54:54,999
one or two of your pop culture
shirts.

1090
00:54:56,440 --> 00:54:59,640
Jeff: Sure, I have a Jaws one

that I have that's.

1091
00:54:59,640 --> 00:55:03,978
Kind of Jaws Lego, that's just
the poster
that looks like

1092
00:55:03,978 --> 00:55:06,600
Lego.
I have some Twilight Zone ones

1093
00:55:06,600 --> 00:55:08,490
that
I've done, some guacamole
ones.

1094
00:55:09,420 --> 00:55:11,520
Let's Guac about it is one of my

best sellers.

1095
00:55:12,600 --> 00:55:15,144
Marc Ronick: Interesting, I'm

curious, Jeff, do you?

1096
00:55:15,144 --> 00:55:20,259
Okay, I totally am with you as
far as
the podcast related

1097
00:55:20,259 --> 00:55:24,784
shirts themselves are harder to
sell in
some cases, and so I

1098
00:55:24,784 --> 00:55:28,367
love that you're since you're a
pop
culture show, you're doing

1099
00:55:28,367 --> 00:55:32,014
pop culture related shirts.
Do you
include anything about

1100
00:55:32,014 --> 00:55:35,126
your podcast with the merch,
whether
maybe it's your

1101
00:55:35,126 --> 00:55:38,369
podcast logo somewhere else on
the shirt, or
maybe when it's

1102
00:55:38,369 --> 00:55:41,648
sent, do you send something
promotional about
the podcast,

1103
00:55:41,648 --> 00:55:45,540
I'm just curious if that, if
that's Jeff: what they send it,

1104
00:55:45,540 --> 00:55:49,564
so I
never do it, but I don't.
It's not a bad idea, like I'll

1105
00:55:49,564 --> 00:55:53,655
be
honest, I was inspired by
Mark Ronnick's shirts, and so I

1106
00:55:53,655 --> 00:55:58,035
stole
some of his ideas, like,
and made like a Star Wars

1107
00:55:58,035 --> 00:56:01,586
classic
conversations, certain
your friends' ones, you know,

1108
00:56:01,586 --> 00:56:03,630
those
were my original
inspiration.

1109
00:56:03,750 --> 00:56:07,010
So, I, I'll give you full credit

there, but the, but what I

1110
00:56:07,010 --> 00:56:09,884
think it's great, like, I just
went to
a comic con all

1111
00:56:09,884 --> 00:56:13,410
weekend, right, is with my press
pass, so I had
made classic

1112
00:56:13,410 --> 00:56:16,260
conversation shirts, so it's
easy now for me,
I can make

1113
00:56:16,260 --> 00:56:19,405
any shirt I want, and then just
buy it real cheap, you
know, I

1114
00:56:19,405 --> 00:56:22,087
mean, it's like 15 bucks or
whatever, and then I wear my


1115
00:56:22,095 --> 00:56:25,670
own shirt to the comic cons, and
walking around where it's very


1116
00:56:25,678 --> 00:56:28,355
relevant to my audience and
stuff like that.

1117
00:56:28,355 --> 00:56:30,932
So, for that D.R.
Fay: question, I have a


1118
00:56:30,940 --> 00:56:33,080
question about copyright,
because you've mentioned Star


1119
00:56:33,088 --> 00:56:36,677
Wars, you've mentioned Jaws,
people will probably want to


1120
00:56:36,685 --> 00:56:38,210
know about copyright
infringement.

1121
00:56:39,410 --> 00:56:42,280
Jeff: Yes, check with your

lawyers, there's certain things,

1122
00:56:42,370 --> 00:56:46,570
and I have gotten stuff taken

down all the time, so, but I

1123
00:56:46,660 --> 00:56:49,360
gotta say that there's people

with way worse stuff on there

1124
00:56:49,480 --> 00:56:51,600
than mine.
Yeah, like T Public
will just

1125
00:56:51,600 --> 00:56:54,994
take it down, they'll just take
it down if there's an
issue,

1126
00:56:54,994 --> 00:56:57,392
and also, Marc Ronick: you know,
if Jeff
is doing like what I

1127
00:56:57,392 --> 00:57:00,518
was doing with the Star Wars
related merch
to his podcast,

1128
00:57:00,518 --> 00:57:05,102
you know, nothing on my, my
shirt says
podcast written

1129
00:57:05,102 --> 00:57:09,432
like the logo of Star Wars.
There's nothing that
says Star

1130
00:57:09,432 --> 00:57:11,964
Wars, so it's probably.. it
could be a little
more

1131
00:57:11,964 --> 00:57:15,008
difficult, a little more
challenging to be for them to


1132
00:57:15,016 --> 00:57:19,166
come at me for it, because it
doesn't, it, you know, it.. it


1133
00:57:19,174 --> 00:57:22,504
looks a little like Star Wars,
but it's really nothing, nothing

1134
00:57:22,504 --> 00:57:26,618

to do with it, but yeah, I
think I think where I was going

1135
00:57:26,618 --> 00:57:29,580
with
this was one great idea
is if you're going to do

1136
00:57:29,580 --> 00:57:32,140
something
like Jeff does,
yeah, add your podcast logo

1137
00:57:32,140 --> 00:57:34,832
somewhere.
I used
to do it sometimes,

1138
00:57:34,832 --> 00:57:38,070
encourage my clients to put it
on the sleeve,
put like your

1139
00:57:38,070 --> 00:57:41,763
logo on the sleeve there, or put
it small
underneath whatever

1140
00:57:41,763 --> 00:57:45,514
the main print is on the front
or the
back, but yeah, why

1141
00:57:45,514 --> 00:57:47,440
not, right?
Just, just so that when that


1142
00:57:47,448 --> 00:57:50,130
person puts it on every time,
they see that, and then


1143
00:57:50,138 --> 00:57:52,540
hopefully when others are
looking at that shirt, they see

1144
00:57:52,540 --> 00:57:55,250
that, and maybe it becomes a
conversation starter, and then


1145
00:57:55,258 --> 00:57:57,820
maybe you get another listener
out of it.

1146
00:57:57,820 --> 00:58:00,450
It's not the quickest
and
easiest way to get a new

1147
00:58:00,900 --> 00:58:03,756
listener, but it is a way to

help get the word out.

1148
00:58:03,756 --> 00:58:07,086
If you're going to sell merch
and you're
not going to make

1149
00:58:07,086 --> 00:58:11,000
your podcast the dominant thing
on the shirt,
at least make it

1150
00:58:11,000 --> 00:58:14,409
something, put it somewhere
where someone could
see it, in

1151
00:58:14,409 --> 00:58:16,452
my opinion.
All right, listen, Ralph, we're

1152
00:58:16,452 --> 00:58:19,850
gonna have to save, because I
know we have a pretty big bag


1153
00:58:19,858 --> 00:58:22,836
here of mail, so we're gonna
have to save this, maybe for the

1154
00:58:22,836 --> 00:58:24,600

next one.
We could continue it, or we'll

1155
00:58:24,600 --> 00:58:26,945
just reopen it another
day.
Ralph Estep Jr: Absolutely, I


1156
00:58:26,953 --> 00:58:27,943
think that's exactly what we'll
do.

1157
00:58:27,943 --> 00:58:29,822
That'll be fun, Marc Ronick:
awesome, cool.

1158
00:58:29,822 --> 00:58:32,174
So,
thank you all for a great
conversation today.

1159
00:58:32,174 --> 00:58:35,144
Remember
that tomorrow we have
our guest, Jody Krangle, joining

1160
00:58:35,144 --> 00:58:37,086
us.
Jody's
an old friend of mine,

1161
00:58:37,086 --> 00:58:39,644
an old Clubhouse friend of mine
as
well.

1162
00:58:39,644 --> 00:58:42,598
So, looking forward to that
conversation with her


1163
00:58:42,606 --> 00:58:45,858
tomorrow.
Join us 8am Eastern Time at

1164
00:58:45,858 --> 00:58:48,031
Podcasting Morning

show.com/join us.

1165
00:58:48,031 --> 00:58:51,874
So until then, make it a great
day, everybody.


1166
00:58:51,882 --> 00:58:52,450
Take care.