I’ve heard on the podcast airwaves, presenters musing over ways to fund their show, and show hosts admitting to feeling jaded and pondering whether the time has come to hang up their mic. I’m a cycling podcast addict, and want these shows to keep going, so here I list 10 ways to make money from a cycling podcast. I can’t call these ideas or suggestions, as they are all being used in one way or another, somewhere across the airwaves/internets.
1. Rely on goodwill
Like the Two Johns, Velocast or Fredcast, you can ask listeners to donate voluntarily. This may or may not get you very far. Scott Velocast’s ‘$1, which is less than the price of a coffee’ is a pretty good call to action.
2. Pimp yourself to the advertisers
Fredcast has it’s detractors, but it’s the most popular one out there (I’m guessing, without having access to the stats). To appeal to advertisers you have to have a lot of listeners, and David Bernstein achieves that. The downside (if you want to look at it that way) is you need to aim for a broad appeal. You also might feel more pressure to record a show more regularly, although Fredcast David still takes breaks when life intervenes.
3. Get into bed with retailers
Veloreviews has a premium members model, where for $35, subscribers get access to trade prices on cycling products.
4. Be part of something commercial
Cyclingnews, RTL-l’Équipe and the dreaded Guardian The Bike Podcast are offshoots of commercial news websites. Listeners to the show can be directed to the site, or at the very least be exposed to ‘brand awareness’, which may bring a few more hits to the main site, and thus stats for paying advertisers. Could an independent podcast sell itself to a commercial publisher without alienating the listeners? e.g The Edinburgh Bicycle Co-Op Velocast, or the Eurosport Real Peloton podcast?
5. Sell stuff
The Two Johns sell coffee and T-Shirts. Fredcast sells cycling jerseys (and other stuff I can’t remember). Velocast dipped its toe in the merchandise water. Merchandise would have to be promoted in the show and online, and I get the impression show hosts are a little wary to push stuff on their listeners. Don’t be! See it as a kind of donation, where the donater gets something in return.
6. Paid content
Charging for access to your podcast is not a good idea. Hardly anybody will fork out to listen to it. The Veloreviews subscriber system doesn’t fall foul of this though, instead offering additional content and benefits to paid-up members. Other podcasts spring to mind, such as the Lingua Networks series of Coffee Break Spanish/French/etc language learning shows, which offer PDF downloads, supplementary podcasts and other premium content. What’s worth offering as premium content? Audio interviews, video, photography, articles? The downside is the IT work needed to manage member log-ins and all that stuff.
7. Use it as a stepping stone
Using the podcast as a stepping stone to some sort of commercial gig, e.g a tv or online commentating job. You probably already need to be a famous name to make it in that business though. You might be a writer, a fitness coach, or a marketing person who could get a foothold into the cycling industry through your show. Two Johns’ John G is a local race announcer, although I doubt he makes much from that and would expect he does it for the love of the sport. He has worked on the Tour of Georgia though, a big race in the USA, doing TV interviews and things.
8. Get funding
The Bike Show is broadcast on Resonance FM which is funded partly by donations but also gets funding, presumably arts council or similar.
9. Be in the cycling business
In Will Fotherinham’s biography of Tom Simpson, Tom was a pioneer living and racing on the continent. He ran some sort of lodgings in Belgium and encouraged British guys to come over (If I Remember Correctly). More British riders in Belgium, meant more interest in cycling back home, which meant more interest in him, as the top British cyclist, and therefore more likely to get sponsors and contracts. More people listening to and participating in cycling podcasts, means more people cycling, or consuming cycling media, which oils the gears of the cycling industry.
10
I was already clutching at straws with 9, so I’ll stop there. You can make more suggestions…
