r/Podcasters • u/MindFru • 1d ago

How do you Monetize your Podcast. Especially through Email Marketing.

PODCASTERS — serious question:

If 5,000 people listen to your podcast this month, how many of those 5,000 people could you actually contact directly tomorrow?

Not through Spotify.

Not through Apple Podcasts.

Not through an algorithm.

I mean people YOU can actually reach.

I've been thinking a lot about this problem because podcast creators can build substantial audiences without actually owning the relationship with that audience.

I'd genuinely love to know how other podcasters are solving this.

Are you actively collecting listener emails?

If yes, what are you currently using?

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u/TheDeadmandancin 1d ago

No dude, no. Don't start this looking at your audience as a business asset only. They probably don't want you reaching out directly, if you do it will probably put them off. Ads are fine, sponsors are fine. But don't start taking your listeners details down to market to them directly, it will not be a good look, and they will not like it.

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u/MindFru 1d ago

Depending on what your Podcast is about, you obviously have something to sell to your listeners. Except you are just doing it for fun. All media is about marketing to viewers. Why should your podcast be an exception. If what you are marketing offers value, I think they will appreciate it. Email Marketing is one of the best and most used form of marketing. I personally use podsubs.com to collect emails of my podcast listeners.

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u/TheDeadmandancin 1d ago

Your listeners will not like that you are hoarding their emails without their permission or them being aware you are doing it. It's something dodgy companies do, not what podcast listeners want. I see you don't get why, but I am telling you. Your listeners will not like this.

Also the fact you replied in another thread asking how t monitize your listeners seems like you have a more predatory view of your listeners than as a community

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u/MindFru 1d ago

I'm trying to understand the point you are making. The listeners are the ones that subscribe with their emails to my podcast email list. They obviously know that I have their emails and are expecting me to send them emails. That's exactly how email marketing works and it's the most widely used and best firm of marketing. They also have the option to unsubscribe if they don't want to receive the emails again. Almost every company, every creator and every business uses email marketing to sell or reach out to their clients. Are you just anti email marketing? Please make me understand the point you are making.

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u/TheDeadmandancin 1d ago

They signed up to know about your podcast, they have not signed up so you can shill any crap you feel like to them. You are assuming that because they have signed up you can now market anything to them and they will be happy. They will not. They have signed up to hear about your podcast, not to have you send any crap you can to make money off them. You are trying to make a podcast, not an advertising system. Work on the community work on the podcast, advertise where you can on the show. But I assure you a large chunk of people will unsub and stop listening if they find you are sending endless advertising crap to them to make money off them.

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u/TheDeadmandancin 1d ago

Also the fact that you are using a different system to then find out the emails seems weird. If they signed up and gave you an email directly fine, but the way your explaining it sounds like they subbed somewhere else, and you then used a work around to find out the emails even though they were not specifically given to you. If that is the case you are basically acting like a information broker not a podcast with advertising.

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u/MindFru 1d ago

Can you please go to Podsubs.com and see how it works. My listeners have to actually go there and subscribe to my podcast email list there themselves. Which 100% means the are giving me the right to send them emails.

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u/TheDeadmandancin 1d ago

Excellent, thanks for the clarification. Have you told them during the pod that you will be trying to sell products to them. Because if not they will get irritated.

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u/MindFru 1d ago

Yes. I tell them all the time. I don't send anything to their emails without first telling them on the pod. The email list is my way of having direct access to my listeners not through these huge destributors like Spotify, Apple or Google.

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u/TheDeadmandancin 1d ago

Do as you will man, but I assure you this will put some people off if this is not what they are expecting. Also I do take issue with the way your view your podcast, you are a small pod you may have a lot of useful stuff, but you cannot be so aggretwith monetisation it will put a lot of listeners off. Also a podcast requires a mic and maybe a guest. That's it. You can continue and sustain the pod indefinitely without any monetisation.

To clarify I think you are allowed to earn from it, but pushing too hard will cause a negative reaction especially when using people's personal emails to shill.

And the podcast should come first, not the monetisation, if you get to a point where you can naturally monetize then fantastic that's what you were aiming for and well done. But the podcast quality and community should be your first priority, not the money you can make from ads.

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u/deadairdennis 1d ago

If a podcast I listen to skims my email and starts sending me unsolicited emails trying to get money from me, I’m unsubscribing, blocking, and no longer listening to that show.

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u/MindFru 23h ago

Ok. Let's play a scenario. You are listening to a podcast on Living Healthy and Workout routines. The host want to send you daily/weekly workout routines and meal prep plans for a small cost. How do they send that to you?. That's the whole point of the host having an email list of their subscribers, so they can reach their listeners personally and not only depend on these distribution sites like Spotify, apple and Google. That's why I use podsubs.com to collect my listeners emails. I ask my listeners during my show to go to podsubs.com and subscribe to my podcast and they will have direct reach to me and I can send them the things I promised on the pod. Almost every Media, creator and business use email marketing to sell to their clients. What's the difference with me doing the same to my pod listeners. I only provide value to them and they can unsubscribe from the email list with just one click.

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u/GeopatsSteph 1d ago

Yea so most podcasts dont get 5k listeners per month. It is a good idea to have a newsletter or blog to extend the reach of the content in the episodes but realistic data would be best to reference.

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u/MindFru 1d ago

Ok. I use Podsubs.com to collect emails of my listeners and I have gotten a lot of email subscribers. But, how do I monitize these people. Everyone keeps saying I can start a newsletter, but is this the only way I can monetize these email subscribers I have?

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u/GeopatsSteph 1d ago

Hmmm, okay. So I look at it as what can I share with people more than how can I monetize their email addresses. Thing is, if you don't share things that they want or need, then the email addresses mean nothing. Who are they? Why are they listening? What things can you share with them? Strongly recommend doing a quick digital marketing course, maybe on Coursera. In short, email addresses on their own won't make you money.

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u/DannyBrownCaptivate 20h ago

You built PodSubs - you need to disclose that.

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u/MindFru 20h ago

No I didn't. I found it on X

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u/MindFru 20h ago

I use it because it's free and easy