If there’s anyone who knows a thing or two about turning content into dollars, it’s Nathan Chan, the founder and CEO of Foundr magazine. What began as a humble digital magazine is now a content empire spanning podcasts, blogs, email newsletters, ebooks, courses, social media groups and more.
At the We Are Podcast 2017 conference, Nathan shared 10 successful ways that he and the team at Foundr have used to monetise content in a variety forms.
Here’s a quick round up of the 10 methods Nathan advocates. For more details and all his tips, you can watch Nathan’s entire presentation by following the link at the end of this article.
Digital magazines – an incredible brand builder
Nathan points out that the Foundr business is essentially built on the back of recorded interviews with successful entrepreneurs and business thought leaders that are repurposed in a variety of ways. The articles that appear in Foundr magazine are just one way. As Nathan says, a magazine, whether digital or printed, is a great way to build authority and rapport with an audience.
Educational courses – you don’t have to be a guru
Providing educational courses is another strategy, though Nathan notes it takes a bit of work. That said, you don’t need to be a guru in the course subject. Survey your audience, find out their biggest problem and then connect with somebody who is an expert practitioner to teach the subject. Nathan also recommends selling the course before you’ve even produced to test the market viability.
Repackaging content – release your greatest hits
Just like a popular music artist, podcasters should think about releasing their greatest hits in packaged form. This might be a collection of your best podcast episodes that you release in book format, for example. You can go even further and put it on Kickstarter, and don’t even create the book unless it gets funding. At Foundr, for example, they recently re-released their most popular digital magazine issue featuring Richard Branson in a printed version as a lead magnet.
Books – still a mainstay of monetisation
Books are still a great way to monetise your podcast, whether that’s audio or printed. Again, you could repackage that content from episodes or blog posts or even write it from scratch. It’s another fantastic way to build authority and rapport. Nathan offers the example of Gary Vaynerchuk’s book that is essentially just a repackaging of his YouTube videos.
Membership sites – gather your tribe
This another way that Foundr has found to monetise their content, but Nathan warns that to create a successful membership site it’s not as easy as some people say, and you do need to be very focused. If you apply yourself, it can be lucrative. There are a few different types of membership site around content, you might provide content you’re not offering on your podcast, more exclusive content, or you might proved more access to you as a person, if you’re an authority in your niche. You might even consider a simple Facebook group that people pay to access.
Events, masterminds, paid workshops – get in front of your audience
These are great ways to test and to speak with and learn from your audience. Nathan highly recommends, particularly before creating a course, offering paid workshops. You can do this simply online using a produce like GoToWebinar and feel for how strong your offer is. Virtual or online summits are another great option for connecting with your audience. Social Media Marketing World started as an online summit-style event, for example.
Coaching and consulting – it’s easy to do
More often than not, people want one-on-one help. Coaching or consulting is an easy thing to provide. You could just schedule a coaching call, for example. Putting your services out there through your free Facebook group, for example, is another great way to monetise what you do.
Done-for-you services – people always want their hand held
Nathan points out that this is not a strategy that Foundr has put into place, but one that he’s seen other businesses have great success with. It’s a strategy that can take many forms depending on your specialisation, the team at Amplify is good example. “People always want their hand held, and it can work incredibly well,” Nathan says.
SAAS or Software As A Service – a lot of potential
Nathan admits that this is an area that the Foundr team are just becoming involved in, but he’s impressed by the potential of it. If you podcast in an industry or market that lends itself to a SAAS product, it’s well worth investigating, though much more involved than some of the other monetization methods mentioned above. The important thing is to define what problem you’re solving for your potential customer.
You can listen to Nathan’s entire presentation here.
https://mustamplify.com/shouldistartapodcast157/
Author: Ronsley Vaz
Ronsley is the founder & chief day dreamer at AMPLIFY. He is an author, speaker & serial entrepreneur.
He has a Masters’ degree in Software Engineering and an MBA in Psychology and Leadership. He is known as the creator of We Are Podcast – the first Podcasting Conference in the Southern Hemisphere, and the host of The Bond Appetit Podcast and Should I Start a Podcast. He has an audience of over 3 million in 133 countries.