Asking for Listener Support Without Offering Exclusive Content

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We challenge the myth that you have to create bonus content to ask for support from your listeners. We share simple ways to ask for support with confidence and how small, consistent asks build a sustainable show.

If you have questions about asking for listener support, email us at [e-mail]. 

Have a topic or question we should address on a future episode? Text us or email the Buzzsprout Podcaster Success Team at [e-mail]

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Episode Transcript

Cara Pacetti (00:00):
Welcome to Podcasting QA, brought to you by
the people at Buzz Brown.
I'm your host, Kara Passetti,and I'm bringing you the best
tips and strategies to keep youpodcasting with confidence.
I was having a conversationwith a podcaster the other day,
and they asked me a reallyspecific question.

(00:20):
They said, How do you makemoney from your podcast without
offering exclusive extras?
So I think there's a commonmisconception that in order to
ask for support from yourlisteners, you have to create
extra content or offer extrathings to be compensated for.
And I kind of want to debunkthat today and give you some

(00:43):
ideas for asking and receivinglistener support without
producing extras.
The first option is to ask fora one-time support payment from
your listeners, sort of like atip jar.
When you're already offeringgreat service, let's say a
coffee shop, that's the easiestvisual that I can think of.
If you are ordering a coffeeand the barista is making this

(01:07):
coffee and they're communicatingwith you, and you're already
paying for the item that you'repurchasing, but they were just
so pleasant.
They were just very warm andsmiley and that made your day.
And so you have the option.
There's a jar sitting rightthere in the window that you can
leave a tip.
So the tip jar approach is thatyou put the jar out there.

(01:28):
In Buzz Sprout, you have theoption of adding a support the
show link inside of yourdescriptions for each of your
episodes.
That support the show link isbasically the tip jar.
You're already offering yourcontent, you're already
producing an awesome podcast.
And if your listener isenjoying it, they see support

(01:49):
the show and they think, youknow, I want to support the
show.
And so they would click thesupport the show link.
Now you'll have to update thatlink from within your BuzzSprout
account.
And that URL can be a couple ofoptions.
You can add a buy me a coffee,you can add a PayPal link, or
even there's a new platformcalled Ko-Fi.

(02:10):
And all of these platformsbasically allow your listener to
contribute to this platform.
What that does is just allowsyour listener the opportunity to
support the show solely basedon their enjoyment and their
desire to help.
Another option is get yourlisteners involved and let them
know a goal that you are workingtowards.

(02:33):
It could be specific to yourpodcast.
So you could say, hey, by theend of this year, I'd love to
have a new microphone or newequipment.
And you could let them know,you can allow them to feel
involved and say, just click thesupport the show link and that
will help us reach our goal.
And then you can give updatesevery time you release a new

(02:54):
episode.
You could say we are 60%towards our goal, whatever it
may be.
You can use that support theshow link through your episode
descriptions.
So that's one way of makingmoney, and you're really not
doing any extra work, you'rejust asking.
Another way is through afeature called listener support
that we offer through BuzzSproutsubscriptions.

(03:17):
Now, you can enable listenersupport by just being on a paid
plan.
That's the only requirement.
Once you start your podcast,you can just enable that inside
of your account by heading tomonetization subscriptions and
turn on listener support.
What that does is it puts asupport the show link in the
episode descriptions, and thenyou can customize a supporter

(03:40):
page.
You can add a message on thatpage.
You can let your listeners knowone that you're grateful that
they want to contribute to yourpodcast by recurring monthly
payments.
And you can let them know whatthis is going towards in that
message if you'd like.
On that page, they will seesome contribution options.

(04:01):
A fun way to incorporatemonthly support is to give a
little label to your fans oryour supporters, depending on
the amount they give.
Something I thought of is ifyour listener is paying $3 a
month, they can be yoursupporter.
So they are supporting yourpodcast.
If they're paying $5 a month,now they are a super fan.

(04:24):
So they are next level.
If they're paying $8 a month,now we will call them a sidekick
because they are in this withus and we're tackling our
message together.
And then the max $10 a month,okay, now you're just part of
the squad.
You are doing this with me.
You are bought in.
And so that's just a fun way toreally include your listeners

(04:47):
who are supporting your podcast.
When you're using the listenersupport feature in BuzzSprout,
every time you get a newsupporter, we'll actually show
you that inside of yourBuzzSprout account.
So if you head back to thatsubscription page, you will see
a list of your supporters withtheir name and their email
address.
The reason that we want you tosee that is because we want you
to be able to use that email toeither reach out to them and say

(05:12):
thank you.
But if you're already releasinga newsletter that customers or
clients or just fans aresubscribing to when they visit
your website, maybe when asupporter supports the podcast
and you have your email addressthere, you go ahead and add them
to your newsletter.
And so you make sure that theyget a copy as well.

(05:32):
The last point I want to touchon, and I've kind of referenced
it here a couple of times, but Iwant to talk about the ask.
I think the hardest part in allof this is asking for support.
It's hard when you don't seethe value in your content that
you're putting out.
You may really believe in itand you really believe that it's

(05:55):
valuable, but there's thislittle part of you that thinks,
well, it's valuable, but I gotto do more if I'm gonna charge
money.
But the truth is, the work thatyou're putting in is what is
valuable.
Think about all that you'redoing just to produce a podcast
episode.
You're researching, you areinviting a guest, you are
recording, you are editing,you're publishing, you're

(06:16):
promoting.
That is all a lot of work.
Your value warrants support.
You don't have to create extrajust to receive monetization.
But if you're still in themindset that you've got to offer
something, I want to give you acouple of options for that as
well, because I totally get it.
One thing you can offer is arecognition-based perk.

(06:39):
When you receive a newsupporter that is committed to
supporting your podcast monthly,you may want to recognize them
on a future episode.
Maybe on your social mediachannels, you want to highlight
them, you want to share and givethem a shout-out.
You know, and so when you'reasking for the support, you can
say, hey, if you guyscontribute, I will give you a

(06:59):
shout-out.
Another option is value-drivensupport.
So this is where you want to bereally transparent with your
listeners.
You want to let them know whattheir contributions are going
towards.
Maybe you only offer episodesonce a month right now because
you don't have anybody to helpyou edit and you're in a busy
season of life.
And so you let your listenersknow, hey, if you guys could

(07:22):
contribute and sign up formonthly recurring support and we
could reach this amount ofmoney, I could actually hire an
editor that will help me withthis and I can produce content
four times a month.
Let them know that's the goal.
And so it's really not creatingexclusive content or making
more work on you.
In fact, it's actually gonnahelp you.

(07:44):
And again, you'd just besurprised that when listeners
are passionate about yourmessage that you're sharing,
they want to be a part of it andthey want to team up with you.
And of course, I alwaysrecommend finding a method of
saying thank you.
Listener support is essentiallya gift from your listener to
you for your content.
So you want to make sure theyfeel your gratitude, whether it

(08:06):
be, like I said, on a shout-outor maybe even a heartfelt email
after you receive that supportpayment.
If you have any questions forthe podcaster success team about
using listener support, you canreach us at support at
buzzsprout.com.
If you have a question that youhaven't seen answered yet on a
podcasting QA episode, click thesend us a text link in the show

(08:28):
notes.
You can send us a fan mail, andI would love to feature your
question on a future episode andget that answered for you.
Be sure to join us every Mondayto kickstart your week.
Thank you so much forlistening.
And as always, keep podcasting.