Summary
Krista here! I’m excited to share with you the four biggest takeaways I’ve learned about how to get podcast sponsors — we’re talking big time sponsors! From building relationships to shifting your mindset, these tips will help you get podcast sponsors and monetize your podcast!
In this post you’ll learn
- My personal journey working with podcast sponsors
- How to get your listeners to become podcast sponsors
- The importance of being your most authentic self
- Why you should focus on getting paid first (aka don’t quit your full-time job just yet)
- The value of believing you can do this and so much more
I will never forget where I was when we made our first $122.40 for the podcast. I was standing in my kitchen of our 1BR apartment in Venice, on my work laptop for my corporate job, when the email came through: “Yes, we will do an ad spot.” I couldn’t believe it!
What I thought was an amazing way to help pay for my groceries eventually led us to paying for our rent, then for our full-time salary once we quit our jobs in 2019.
It was a few years in the making but it felt so good to be paid for what I love to do. I never thought it was possible — being from Ohio, I didn’t see many people I knew who were doing jobs they loved, let alone liked. I didn’t see any dreamers, chasers, or side hustlers, so I had to make it up as I went!
My background in sales, marketing, account management, blogging, and the influencer space has led me to a knowledge and understanding of how everything works.
The biggest thing that I learned was that relationships are SO important. HUM Nutrition, our very first sponsor, was a brand that I did free work for previously, and eventually grew into a paid relationship through Almost 30. The team there are big fans and loved the content we were providing, which helped us build our case to eventually get paid for ad spots.
Here are 4 key things I learned with our first podcast sponsor:
1. Getting your listeners to become a podcast sponsor is possible.
Most of our advertisers were listeners first! These are your fans who want to support you and your mission.
2. Build relationships with your podcast sponsors naturally and slowly.
Be authentic and be yourself. They are people too! Let it build up to bigger relationships in due time — we still do that today!
3. Focus on getting paid first, and then focus on quitting your full-time job later (if that is what you want to do).
Don’t force your podcast to be your full-time job before you make money from your pod.
4. Believe that it’s possible and let yourself be expanded by the possibility of making money doing what you love.
If you don’t believe it, you won’t achieve it.
I am hopeful this serves as inspiration today for your podcast. Know that you can start small, start early, and focus on relationships with brands and people you really feel connected to. It won’t happen overnight, but it will happen!
For more information to support, you can check out our new E-Book, which is FRESH and full of updated information. It’s a goodie!
This is super refreshing. We’re in our 3rd year of producing podcasts and this article is exactly what I needed to read today. Thank you for sharing your journey!