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Why you should put podcasting profit first.

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Thank you for joining me for The Audacity to Podcast.

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I'm Daniel J. Lewis. Monetization is not the only profit you can get from podcasting and you shouldn't be

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the only one to profit either.

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Nonetheless, here is why I think you should put profit, P-R-O-F-I-T, first in every aspect

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of your podcast. If you would like to follow along with the notes, they're a simple tap or swipe away

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inside of your podcast app or at theaudacitytopodcast.com/profitfirst.

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But before we can focus on podcasting profit, I want to revisit how I've taught the five

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podcasting cornerstones for several years, because this is totally relevant here.

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I've taught content, presentation, production, promotion, and profit.

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Content is what your podcast is about.

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Presentation is how you share your content.

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Promotion is the technical side to reduce distractions and increase understanding.

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Promotion is how you market and grow your podcast.

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And profit, P-R-O-F-I-T, is how you and your audience benefit from your podcast.

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Despite the fact that these cornerstones have always had an alliteration problem with no

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suitable solution, I realized recently that it had an even bigger problem.

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I realized this while I was getting ready to speak at the National Religious Broadcasters

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Convention to teach podcasting there.

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The problem was the order.

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Profit should not be last. It should actually be first.

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But stick with me on this and please don't tap away or swipe away or don't touch that

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dial if your podcast app for whatever reason has a dial that takes you away from this podcast.

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Don't do that! Because you may be tempted to think that, well, since I'm talking about profit, this

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doesn't apply to you if you're a hobbyist podcaster or you're not interested in earning

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money from your podcast. But profit isn't only about money.

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So before I can explain why profit should be first, I want you to understand what it

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is and why I keep spelling it. And if you look at the notes for this episode at the

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audacitytopodcast.com/profitfirst, you'll see that I've made it over-obvious that

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it is spelled, it's an acronym, actually it's an acrostic. That's the podcast profit

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paradigm, as I call it. Several years ago I was inspired by a typo I let go to press

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in an advertisement for my now temporarily retired Podcaster Society.

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As a result of that typo, I wanted "profit" to stand for something, not only in the metaphorical

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sense of "profit stands for something" but also literally as an acrostic.

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Now it's my Podcast Profit Paradigm, P-R-O-F-I-T, which is a list of ways you can benefit from

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your podcast. P-R-O-F-I-T. Popularity, relationships, opportunities, fun, income, and tangibles.

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P-R-O-F-I-T. Popularity is growing a following, being an influencer, or becoming known. Relationships

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like gaining friendships, building community, and finding your "tribe". Opportunities.

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Opening doors for things like public speaking, travel, testing products before they're

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released, and such. Fun. Simply having a good time, with or without laughter even.

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Income, yes, earning money does have a place in profit.

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And tangibles, getting things that you get to use or keep,

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which is especially profitable

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when they're relevant to your podcast topic.

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Like I am recording this podcast right now

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while I'm speaking through an ElectroVoice RE320

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that has a shock mount on it, and I'm recording into a first-generation Rode Rodecaster Pro.

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Those were given to me because of this podcast.

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So I've received tangible benefit and I use these products and they were given to me because

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of the relationships I've built within the podcasting space and because of the popularity

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of the Audacity podcast and because of the relevance and because I'm such a big fan

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of these products and I was before I even owned them.

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Except for the Rodecaster Pro, I didn't really know much about that before I actually

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owned one. But now I'm a huge fan of it.

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I would have purchased these things eventually anyway.

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But they're now tangible profits for me from my podcast, among many other ways that

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I've profited from my podcast as well.

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So while most people think of profit meaning money, I challenge you to change your thinking

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and look at the much bigger ways you can profit from your podcast.

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P-R-O-F-I-T. That's why I make profit stand for something.

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Popularity, relationships, opportunities, fun, income, intangibles.

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And think of all of those things especially if you don't care about monetizing your podcast.

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Because you don't have to monetize if you don't want to.

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The other paradigm shift is that your podcast should not only give you profit but also offer

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it to your audience. And I'll explain that more in a moment.

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Profit is for all podcasters, not only professionals.

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So lest you think profit is only for those people who podcast for business purposes or

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to try earning a living from their podcast, money is only one part of the podcast profit

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paradigm, the "I" for income. The other ways could complement that income, but there's

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nothing wrong with podcasting simply for the fun of it, and fun is the "F" in profit.

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When I hosted a clean comedy podcast, the profit we were after was primarily to laugh

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and to help others laugh too. And along the way, we also formed relationships. We were

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We were given fun tangibles from our audience and we even made a little money on the side.

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But our main focus was just having fun.

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And if you are podcasting to build a business, don't neglect the other aspects of profit,

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P-R-O-F-I-T. It's okay to have fun with professional subjects.

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And always look for ways to position yourself for opportunities and more, even if you're

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not in this for the money. But look for those opportunities anyway, no matter why you're podcasting.

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So why should profit come first?

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It needs to power your decisions for podcasting.

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Because it's actually more important than your content.

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Consider the cornerstones that I mentioned in this way.

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Content is what attracts an audience.

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Presentation is what keeps the audience. Production is what makes your podcast stick.

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Promotion is what brings an audience to you.

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And then profit is the impact your podcast makes.

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how you change the world, even if you're changing the world for only one other person.

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Simon Sinek wrote a great book. I highly recommend that you read or listen to the audiobook.

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The book is Start With Why, How Great Leaders Inspire Everyone to Take Action. And that

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"why" word is another way to think of profit, especially with these two questions.

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Why are you doing this podcast? And why should anyone listen or watch?

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When you start with profit, P-R-O-F-I-T, in mind, then you can pick the right content

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to share that helps get you closer to that profit.

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And the other cornerstones then build from there.

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After you know your why and your content to support that why, then you can decide on the

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best way to present it. Like should it be an interview show, a solo show, a roundtable show, a Q&A show, an audio

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drama, or whatever other formats you might be interested in.

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Then when you know those things plus the format, then you can decide on the best way to produce that.

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The best microphones, the best software, the best editing technique, whether you're doing

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audio or video, all of that. And then you have the things that you need, the content, all of that produced together

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which can help you decide on the methods to promote it.

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But when you don't start with profit, you won't know what content to share, you won't

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know the best way to communicate it, and you certainly won't know how to produce it, and

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frankly, you wouldn't offer much value worth promoting if you're not starting with the

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value in mind. Here's a series of questions that follows this podcast profit paradigm to help you podcast

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the best way. 1.

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Why do you want to podcast? What value will your podcast give your audience?

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2. content best enables your profit goals? Number three, what's the best way to present the content

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that moves you toward your profit goals? Number four, what's the best way to produce this that

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leads you and your audience in the right directions? And number five, whom should you

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promote your podcast to and what are the best ways to reach them? This is why profit should be first.

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But remember, profit is also for your audience.

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I've heard some people say, "Podcast for yourself.

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If you're having fun, that's all that matters."

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I've heard other people say, "You're podcasting for your audience, so focus on

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their needs first." While these might seem contrary, they're actually complementary and simply different

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sides of the same profit coin.

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Both you and your audience need to get value from your podcast in order for your podcast

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yourself and your audience to improve and grow. But the problem I see most often is

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that podcasters forget to focus on what value they offer their audience. Instead, they often

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fixate on the value they want from their audience or on how they can essentially sell their

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audience to get value from someone else, like an advertiser. But as Jesus said, "Give

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and it will be given to you." That's from Luke 6:38 in case you're interested.

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Some podcasters also obsess over the production aspects of podcasting without investing the

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same time and money into improving the more weight-bearing cornerstones.

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I see this a lot in communities where people are obsessing over what's the best microphone,

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what's the best editing software, what's the best this or that, or what are the best

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tools to use for this. And really, we should be starting with why do you want to podcast?

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Okay, now that you know why, then what is your podcast going to be about?

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Then how are you going to present that? Then we can think about how are you going to produce that.

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It's fine for your podcast to make you popular, but how are you helping your audience to be

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popular too? It's great when you can foster or form new relationships because of your podcast, but

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how are you helping your audience foster or form new relationships too?

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It's great when your podcast opens opportunities for you, but what opportunities do you help

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your audience find and pursue?

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It's fun to have fun, as the cat in the hat said, but is your audience having fun too?

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*cough* *cough* professional comedian podcasters who podcast with other professional comedian

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podcasters and sit around and not be funny.

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*cough* *cough* *cough* Sorry, that's something I'm going to throw out there.

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Earning income is definitely rewarding, but how are you helping your audience earn more,

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spend less, save more, or be smarter with what they have?

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And it can be exciting to get new tangibles, but what tangible benefits are you helping

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your audience gain too? See, it's not all about you.

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You need to remember the profit for your audience as well.

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So it really comes down to this one word to define podcasting profit.

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P-R-O-F-I-T. The one word is "why".

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Yes, start with "why" indeed.

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I highly recommend that. Think "why" are you podcasting?

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Why should your audience keep consuming your episodes?

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It's all in what profit, popularity, relationships, opportunities, fun, income, or tangibles you

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pursue and you offer.

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Yes, people are attracted by the content, but it's really the profit that changes them

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and impacts the world.

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If you'd like to review these notes, then please go to theaudacitytopodcast.com/profitfirst.

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I also have a link there to Simon Sinek's book on Amazon if you'd like to purchase it.

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It is an affiliate link so I do earn commissions through that link, but I've read the book

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myself and I recommend it because it's a good book regardless of whatever I earn from it.

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But if you want the link for it, it is there in the notes. Tap or swipe away or on the website at theaudacitytopodcast.com/profitfirst.

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Let's go visit the community corner. I just made things easier for me and you with Podgagement.

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Go to podgagement.com and you can check this out.

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Now you and I can both do this if we're using it.

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We can easily copy all of the text from a review or a piece of feedback with only two clicks.

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Well, two clicks and a keyboard shortcut for pasting.

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You can copy it in markdown, you can copy it in HTML, or an iframe embed.

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And soon there will be a JavaScript embed that will make it even more native to your

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website with working with whatever CSS classes and styles that you want to put in.

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So it's super easy and I used that myself to very easily, very quickly paste a review,

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I want to think, into this community corner.

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In the past what I used to have to do is I would select the text of the review, I'd switch

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over to my notes, I'd paste it, then I'd switch back to podgagement, copy the name of the

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person, switch back to my notes, paste that in, switch back to podgagement.

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So I'd be back and forth, back and forth. Now I did it with just two clicks.

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I click copy, then I clicked copy as single line plain text, and then paste.

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And that was it. So this review that I wanted to mention is from Marshy76 in Apple Podcasts in the United

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States who loved the episode about podcast loudness normalization.

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And what they said in their review was basically that this really helped them to learn how

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to better normalize the loudness of their episode.

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And I think that's a very important episode looking back at things because consistent

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loudness is so important. And so I'm really glad that I was able to help Marshy with that.

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Thank you for that kind 5 star review.

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And thanks to Alan C. Paul, Jason Pickle, Rich Bennett, D.R., and Julio Fernandez for

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all the great ratings on GoodPods.

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And I didn't know I had so many ratings on GoodPods until Podgagement supports GoodPods now.

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So Podgagement found all of those for me. So I thought, I just want to thank everyone who's given a rating for different episodes.

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Some of them gave multiple ratings because you can rate individual episodes on GoodPods.

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You're not just rating the whole podcast, but individual episodes you can give 1 to

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5 stars. So I'm really grateful for these episode ratings from these people.

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And also thanks for more streaming stats from Dave Jackson, Alan C. Paul, and Dwev.

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I believe that totals to 1,716 stats that I've received since the last episode, and

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that's currently worth about $1.15.

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So thank you so much for that support. If The Audacity to Podcastgives you value, I would be grateful if you would put that

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in a number and consider giving it back in some way, either through a one-time gift or

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streaming Satoshi's back. And you can do either of those with the Modern Podcast app

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that you could get from podcasting2.org/apps. Or check out Podgagement at podgagement.com.

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And now that I've given you some of the guts, taught you some of the tools, and pontificated

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about some of the profit, it's time for you to go start and grow your own podcast for

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passion and he are oh F I T. I'm Daniel J. Lewis from the audacity to podcast.com. Thanks

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for listening.