November 3, 2025 • 12 mins
Jordan and I discuss how a small loyal audience can fund a podcast with premium content! We'll walk through practical paywall options, burnout risks, link placement, and a creative call to action that you might want to add to your next episode!
Check out more on Buzzsprout Subscriptions!
If you have questions about offering premium content through BuzzSprout subscriptions, email us at support@buzzsprout.com.
Have a topic or question we should address on a future episode? Text us or email the Buzzsprout Podcaster Success Team at support@buzzsprout.com
Keep podcasting!
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Cara Pacetti (00:00):
Welcome to Podcasting QA, brought to you by
the people at Buzzsprout.
I'm your host, Cara Pacetti,and I'm bringing you the best
tips and strategies to keep youpodcasting with confidence.
In today's episode, I want toshine the spotlight on how
putting some of your contentbehind a paywall is an effective
(00:24):
monetization strategy.
So today we're going to answerthe question: how do I monetize
by offering premium content?
I'm excited to answer thisquestion today because I have
Jordan with me.
Jordan is not only our podcastproducer here at Buzzsprout, but
she's also a co-host ofBuzzCast.
And in my opinion, she is theexpert in podcast monetization
(00:46):
using both listener support andpremium content.
Jordan Blaire (00:49):
Thank you for joining me today, Jordan.
Oh, I'm so excited.
This is like my favorite topicto talk about.
So I'm I'm really pumped thatyou invited me on.
Cara Pacetti (00:59):
So to kick things off, I want to talk about two
different monetizationstrategies and really highlight
premium content.
And the reason is for mostindependent podcasters, the
value of using premium contentand putting your content behind
a paywall is much more lucrativethan recruiting ads or
(01:20):
sponsorships.
It just works for anindependent podcaster.
So that's why we're focusing onthat today.
And Jordan, can you kind ofexplain why that is for
independent podcasters, whypremium content is really the
more ideal way to go?
Absolutely.
Jordan Blaire (01:36):
So the way that ads or sponsorships or brand
deals work is they're typicallydone on a CPM basis.
And what that means is cost permelee, which is cost per
thousand.
So that means the cost perthousand downloads.
So when you make a brand dealor when you accept an ad, you're
looking at like seven dollarsper thousand downloads or twenty
(01:59):
dollars per thousand downloads,and that's where the
negotiations come into play.
So I would say that the averageCPM for brand deals is
typically somewhere in theballpark of $15 CPM.
And so that's per episode,right?
When you have premium content,if you have a premium
(02:19):
subscription set at $5 a month,you only need three listeners to
make $15 as opposed to athousand listeners to make $15,
which is why subscriptions andpremium content is so much
better for independentpodcasters.
Cara Pacetti (02:38):
The other awesome part about subscriptions and
listener support is that thereis no minimum.
There's no threshold of minimumnumber of downloads or minimum
number of subscribers.
You just enable the feature andask your listeners, let them
know what's available.
And so it's a great startingpoint for monetization.
Jordan Blaire (03:00):
Yes.
And that is something thatBuzzsprout offers.
Really, if you just have like afew loyal listeners that are,
you know, you got like 15 peoplethat show up every week when
you drop an episode, you couldhave listener support.
Cara Pacetti (03:14):
Yes.
Buzzsprout subscriptions isdesigned to make this process
super easy.
So I do want to explain what isoffered through BuzzSprout
subscriptions and the differenttypes of premium content you can
offer.
The first is premium episodes.
So this is just selectingcertain episodes that are going
(03:34):
to be behind a paywall.
So this kind of is that morework, I'd say you're creating a
whole nother episode that you'regoing to offer to your
listeners uh for a certainprice.
But if there's value in that,it's worth the extra work.
So we like to offer that alwaysas an option.
Another option is early access.
Actually, this and our nextoption, which is back catalog
(03:57):
access.
I'll kind of group thosetogether.
Those are both no extra work.
They are literally recordingand releasing your episodes, and
you get to schedule when itcomes out.
So early access is theopportunity for your listeners
to grab those episodes beforethe rest of your public audience
does.
And the other option is to putyour back catalog behind a
(04:19):
paywall, and your listeners canlisten to your historic episodes
by paying that subscriptionfee.
So this is now a new way ofmonetizing that maybe you
haven't done before.
So, Jordan, do you want to talkabout our other two ways of
monetizing through Buzz RouteSubscriptions?
Jordan Blaire (04:36):
Yeah.
So the other two that we haveis um subscriber-only podcasts.
And I put this one at like thehighest risk of burnout just
because you're literallycreating a completely separate
podcast.
This entire podcast that you'remaking is behind a paywall.
And really, it only works ifyou already have like an
(04:57):
established audience.
So you need to have like asuccessful blog or Instagram and
be able to bring your audiencein because when you paywall an
entire podcast, you like losethat marketing of having those
episodes to like entice people.
So I think that subscriber-onlypodcasts, it does work for some
people, but is definitely thehardest thing to do.
(05:19):
And then offer ad-free episodesis our final option.
And this is where payinglisteners will only hear your
content without anythinginterrupting it.
So it's a little more simple,but if you have baked-in ads,
which is where you just recordthem in the thing, you're
basically editing those out.
So I guess that could get alittle tedious.
But yeah, that's that's anotheroption.
Cara Pacetti (05:40):
Another option for ad-free in Buzzsprout, I've
heard this done before.
You can have the bloopers orlike the extended cut.
Jordan Blaire (05:50):
Yeah, because basically you're uploading two
versions of the podcast, so youcould get creative with it.
That's a fun option.
Yeah.
Absolutely.
And I will say, I think thatsometimes podcasters can feel a
little bit of like analysisparalysis when they are
encountering a bunch ofdifferent choices.
And so if you're listening tothis, I would say that you
(06:12):
should look at do you have extratime to create bonus episodes
or do you only have extra timeto edit out ads from your
podcast?
Also look at your audience.
What would they be willing topay for?
Think about the future versionof yourself.
When you see yourself fivemonths from now, are you gonna
be tired of doing this extrawork?
(06:33):
Is this something that you cancontinue doing, or are you just
gonna like burn out and then letyour subscribers down?
So just make sure that you'rechoosing something that's gonna
be attainable, it's what yourlisteners want, and you have
time for it.
Yes, absolutely.
Cara Pacetti (06:47):
So when you decide to offer premium content, you
have to let your listeners knowit's available.
And sometimes this can be thehardest part.
But you want to be intentionalwith your messaging and you want
to communicate that thiscontent that you're offering,
it's exclusive.
So make it special.
It's personal, it's valuable.
(07:09):
So, Jordan, I know for yourdreamful podcast, you offer
premium content.
Yeah.
What are some of the ways thatyou've communicated to your
listeners uh to get them onboard?
Jordan Blaire (07:21):
Yeah, I offer um a bonus episode.
So my podcast is bi-weekly,which means I release an episode
every other Friday.
And in the in between weeks, Iwill release a premium episode.
So it's a paywalled episode.
And so what happens is mylisteners, if they want to have
an episode every single week,then they can subscribe to the
(07:42):
podcast and then they get fourepisodes a month as opposed to
two.
And something else that I do inevery episode is I do a call to
action that I incorporatethrough thanking new
subscribers.
So whenever someone subscribesto the podcast, I start the
episode by saying, Hey, thankyou so much to Tristan and Joey.
(08:02):
Thank you.
Like, I hope you all have thesweetest of dreams.
And if you'd like to be justlike Tristan and Joey, you can
use the link in the show notesto subscribe to the podcast and
get access to subscriber-onlyepisodes and a shout out in the
future episode.
And what it turned into was Istarted getting uh listeners
that would buy subscriptions andthen shoot me an email and say,
(08:23):
Hey, this is actually for mydaughter.
And so it turns into this likespecial thing.
And then pretty soon I'msaying, like, happy birthday,
Jessica, your mom, whatever.
And then I go into the thing,and then other kids are going,
Mom, mom, she just she told thiskid, happy birthday, will you
do that for me?
And it's such a cool thingbecause it's me integrating the
messaging into call to action umin a way where it's like I'm
(08:47):
making them feel VIP, I'm makingthem feel special, they are
seen, and it's just constantlyreminding my listeners, like
every episode, hey, this couldbe you.
Cara Pacetti (08:56):
I did not know that it went that direction
because I go deep.
I love that.
I have heard the shout outsbefore on your episodes, which I
love that in general.
But the fact that people areoffering this as a surprise, I
cannot even imagine as alistener just tuning in to my
favorite podcast and then theysay my name or wish me a happy
(09:18):
birthday, I would be floored.
That is an amazing way to usepremium content.
So you mentioned in your callto action, you let your
listeners know that they canclick the link in the show
notes.
That's vital.
We've got to make this easilyaccessible for listeners so that
when they hear that, they go,Well, I want to support the
(09:39):
show.
And so the next step is wheredo I go?
Yeah.
And so, Jordan, low-hangingfruit.
What are the best ways to getthose links available so that
listeners can easily access thepremium content?
Jordan Blaire (09:53):
And that's the thing is easily access the
premium content.
You want to make it as easy ashumanly possible for people to
put money into your hand, right?
And so you want linkseverywhere.
You want links in your episodeshow notes, you want links on
your website, which theBuzzsprout website has the
support the show link built in.
It's in like a couple differentplaces, actually, and looks
gorgeous.
(10:14):
And you want to have links tosubscribe in your social media
bios.
Like just put links everywhere.
There's no excuse, there'snowhere to run, nowhere to hide.
They are going to find thatlink.
Cara Pacetti (10:26):
Yeah.
Jordan Blaire (10:27):
If you're asking, make it easy.
Throw it out there.
Tell them exactly where to findit.
Yeah, exactly.
Cara Pacetti (10:33):
And the last point that I want to make is to make
sure that these listeners knowhow grateful you are for their
support.
So you want to make sure youare communicating how thankful
you are for your listenersupport, whether that's through
a shout-out like Jordanmentioned or through a heartfelt
(10:53):
email, or maybe on socialmedia, you can tag your
listeners and let them know.
And so that would be my bigadvice is to let your listeners
know just how grateful you are,and that you are encouraged by
their support to continue givingthem premium content and
sharing the best content thatyou can.
So, do you have anything to addto that, Jordan?
(11:15):
I think that you said itperfectly.
Jordan Blaire (11:17):
And I mean, this is the whole reason why there's
like brand loyalty programs andcustomer appreciation weeks and
stuff like that.
They are paying for thecontent, but you're also giving
them a benefit.
And it's really important tojust say thank you, even if it's
like once every coupleepisodes.
So there's just little ways tobe able to communicate with
(11:38):
them.
Hey, I'm paying attention toyou and I value you.
And I think that is reallyimportant.
So important.
Cara Pacetti (11:44):
And it's really incorporating that human
connection in podcasting.
So it's amazing.
Yes.
If you have questions aboutoffering premium content through
BuzzSprout subscriptions, youcan reach us on the Podcaster
Success team at any time byemailing support at
buzzsprout.com.
If there's a question thatyou'd love to see answered on a
(12:04):
future podcasting QA episode,click the send us a text link in
the show notes.
I love getting fan mail andanswering questions directly
from listeners.
So send us some fan mail and wewill get that question answered
on a future episode.
Thank you so much for joiningme today, Jordan, and answering
this question.
It's been so helpful.
It was so much fun.
Jordan Blaire (12:25):
Thank you for having me.
I hope I get invited back onagain.
We'll see.
Of course.
Of course.
Cara Pacetti (12:31):
Be sure to join us every Monday to kickstart your
week.
Thanks for listening.
And as always, keep podcasting.
Welcome to Podcasting QA, brought to you by
the people at Buzzsprout.
I'm your host, Cara Pacetti,and I'm bringing you the best
tips and strategies to keep youpodcasting with confidence.
In today's episode, I want toshine the spotlight on how
putting some of your contentbehind a paywall is an effective
(00:24):
monetization strategy.
So today we're going to answerthe question: how do I monetize
by offering premium content?
I'm excited to answer thisquestion today because I have
Jordan with me.
Jordan is not only our podcastproducer here at Buzzsprout, but
she's also a co-host ofBuzzCast.
And in my opinion, she is theexpert in podcast monetization
(00:46):
using both listener support andpremium content.
Jordan Blaire (00:49):
Thank you for joining me today, Jordan.
Oh, I'm so excited.
This is like my favorite topicto talk about.
So I'm I'm really pumped thatyou invited me on.
Cara Pacetti (00:59):
So to kick things off, I want to talk about two
different monetizationstrategies and really highlight
premium content.
And the reason is for mostindependent podcasters, the
value of using premium contentand putting your content behind
a paywall is much more lucrativethan recruiting ads or
(01:20):
sponsorships.
It just works for anindependent podcaster.
So that's why we're focusing onthat today.
And Jordan, can you kind ofexplain why that is for
independent podcasters, whypremium content is really the
more ideal way to go?
Absolutely.
Jordan Blaire (01:36):
So the way that ads or sponsorships or brand
deals work is they're typicallydone on a CPM basis.
And what that means is cost permelee, which is cost per
thousand.
So that means the cost perthousand downloads.
So when you make a brand dealor when you accept an ad, you're
looking at like seven dollarsper thousand downloads or twenty
(01:59):
dollars per thousand downloads,and that's where the
negotiations come into play.
So I would say that the averageCPM for brand deals is
typically somewhere in theballpark of $15 CPM.
And so that's per episode,right?
When you have premium content,if you have a premium
(02:19):
subscription set at $5 a month,you only need three listeners to
make $15 as opposed to athousand listeners to make $15,
which is why subscriptions andpremium content is so much
better for independentpodcasters.
Cara Pacetti (02:38):
The other awesome part about subscriptions and
listener support is that thereis no minimum.
There's no threshold of minimumnumber of downloads or minimum
number of subscribers.
You just enable the feature andask your listeners, let them
know what's available.
And so it's a great startingpoint for monetization.
Jordan Blaire (03:00):
Yes.
And that is something thatBuzzsprout offers.
Really, if you just have like afew loyal listeners that are,
you know, you got like 15 peoplethat show up every week when
you drop an episode, you couldhave listener support.
Cara Pacetti (03:14):
Yes.
Buzzsprout subscriptions isdesigned to make this process
super easy.
So I do want to explain what isoffered through BuzzSprout
subscriptions and the differenttypes of premium content you can
offer.
The first is premium episodes.
So this is just selectingcertain episodes that are going
(03:34):
to be behind a paywall.
So this kind of is that morework, I'd say you're creating a
whole nother episode that you'regoing to offer to your
listeners uh for a certainprice.
But if there's value in that,it's worth the extra work.
So we like to offer that alwaysas an option.
Another option is early access.
Actually, this and our nextoption, which is back catalog
(03:57):
access.
I'll kind of group thosetogether.
Those are both no extra work.
They are literally recordingand releasing your episodes, and
you get to schedule when itcomes out.
So early access is theopportunity for your listeners
to grab those episodes beforethe rest of your public audience
does.
And the other option is to putyour back catalog behind a
(04:19):
paywall, and your listeners canlisten to your historic episodes
by paying that subscriptionfee.
So this is now a new way ofmonetizing that maybe you
haven't done before.
So, Jordan, do you want to talkabout our other two ways of
monetizing through Buzz RouteSubscriptions?
Jordan Blaire (04:36):
Yeah.
So the other two that we haveis um subscriber-only podcasts.
And I put this one at like thehighest risk of burnout just
because you're literallycreating a completely separate
podcast.
This entire podcast that you'remaking is behind a paywall.
And really, it only works ifyou already have like an
(04:57):
established audience.
So you need to have like asuccessful blog or Instagram and
be able to bring your audiencein because when you paywall an
entire podcast, you like losethat marketing of having those
episodes to like entice people.
So I think that subscriber-onlypodcasts, it does work for some
people, but is definitely thehardest thing to do.
(05:19):
And then offer ad-free episodesis our final option.
And this is where payinglisteners will only hear your
content without anythinginterrupting it.
So it's a little more simple,but if you have baked-in ads,
which is where you just recordthem in the thing, you're
basically editing those out.
So I guess that could get alittle tedious.
But yeah, that's that's anotheroption.
Cara Pacetti (05:40):
Another option for ad-free in Buzzsprout, I've
heard this done before.
You can have the bloopers orlike the extended cut.
Jordan Blaire (05:50):
Yeah, because basically you're uploading two
versions of the podcast, so youcould get creative with it.
That's a fun option.
Yeah.
Absolutely.
And I will say, I think thatsometimes podcasters can feel a
little bit of like analysisparalysis when they are
encountering a bunch ofdifferent choices.
And so if you're listening tothis, I would say that you
(06:12):
should look at do you have extratime to create bonus episodes
or do you only have extra timeto edit out ads from your
podcast?
Also look at your audience.
What would they be willing topay for?
Think about the future versionof yourself.
When you see yourself fivemonths from now, are you gonna
be tired of doing this extrawork?
(06:33):
Is this something that you cancontinue doing, or are you just
gonna like burn out and then letyour subscribers down?
So just make sure that you'rechoosing something that's gonna
be attainable, it's what yourlisteners want, and you have
time for it.
Yes, absolutely.
Cara Pacetti (06:47):
So when you decide to offer premium content, you
have to let your listeners knowit's available.
And sometimes this can be thehardest part.
But you want to be intentionalwith your messaging and you want
to communicate that thiscontent that you're offering,
it's exclusive.
So make it special.
It's personal, it's valuable.
(07:09):
So, Jordan, I know for yourdreamful podcast, you offer
premium content.
Yeah.
What are some of the ways thatyou've communicated to your
listeners uh to get them onboard?
Jordan Blaire (07:21):
Yeah, I offer um a bonus episode.
So my podcast is bi-weekly,which means I release an episode
every other Friday.
And in the in between weeks, Iwill release a premium episode.
So it's a paywalled episode.
And so what happens is mylisteners, if they want to have
an episode every single week,then they can subscribe to the
(07:42):
podcast and then they get fourepisodes a month as opposed to
two.
And something else that I do inevery episode is I do a call to
action that I incorporatethrough thanking new
subscribers.
So whenever someone subscribesto the podcast, I start the
episode by saying, Hey, thankyou so much to Tristan and Joey.
(08:02):
Thank you.
Like, I hope you all have thesweetest of dreams.
And if you'd like to be justlike Tristan and Joey, you can
use the link in the show notesto subscribe to the podcast and
get access to subscriber-onlyepisodes and a shout out in the
future episode.
And what it turned into was Istarted getting uh listeners
that would buy subscriptions andthen shoot me an email and say,
(08:23):
Hey, this is actually for mydaughter.
And so it turns into this likespecial thing.
And then pretty soon I'msaying, like, happy birthday,
Jessica, your mom, whatever.
And then I go into the thing,and then other kids are going,
Mom, mom, she just she told thiskid, happy birthday, will you
do that for me?
And it's such a cool thingbecause it's me integrating the
messaging into call to action umin a way where it's like I'm
(08:47):
making them feel VIP, I'm makingthem feel special, they are
seen, and it's just constantlyreminding my listeners, like
every episode, hey, this couldbe you.
Cara Pacetti (08:56):
I did not know that it went that direction
because I go deep.
I love that.
I have heard the shout outsbefore on your episodes, which I
love that in general.
But the fact that people areoffering this as a surprise, I
cannot even imagine as alistener just tuning in to my
favorite podcast and then theysay my name or wish me a happy
(09:18):
birthday, I would be floored.
That is an amazing way to usepremium content.
So you mentioned in your callto action, you let your
listeners know that they canclick the link in the show
notes.
That's vital.
We've got to make this easilyaccessible for listeners so that
when they hear that, they go,Well, I want to support the
(09:39):
show.
And so the next step is wheredo I go?
Yeah.
And so, Jordan, low-hangingfruit.
What are the best ways to getthose links available so that
listeners can easily access thepremium content?
Jordan Blaire (09:53):
And that's the thing is easily access the
premium content.
You want to make it as easy ashumanly possible for people to
put money into your hand, right?
And so you want linkseverywhere.
You want links in your episodeshow notes, you want links on
your website, which theBuzzsprout website has the
support the show link built in.
It's in like a couple differentplaces, actually, and looks
gorgeous.
(10:14):
And you want to have links tosubscribe in your social media
bios.
Like just put links everywhere.
There's no excuse, there'snowhere to run, nowhere to hide.
They are going to find thatlink.
Cara Pacetti (10:26):
Yeah.
Jordan Blaire (10:27):
If you're asking, make it easy.
Throw it out there.
Tell them exactly where to findit.
Yeah, exactly.
Cara Pacetti (10:33):
And the last point that I want to make is to make
sure that these listeners knowhow grateful you are for their
support.
So you want to make sure youare communicating how thankful
you are for your listenersupport, whether that's through
a shout-out like Jordanmentioned or through a heartfelt
(10:53):
email, or maybe on socialmedia, you can tag your
listeners and let them know.
And so that would be my bigadvice is to let your listeners
know just how grateful you are,and that you are encouraged by
their support to continue givingthem premium content and
sharing the best content thatyou can.
So, do you have anything to addto that, Jordan?
(11:15):
I think that you said itperfectly.
Jordan Blaire (11:17):
And I mean, this is the whole reason why there's
like brand loyalty programs andcustomer appreciation weeks and
stuff like that.
They are paying for thecontent, but you're also giving
them a benefit.
And it's really important tojust say thank you, even if it's
like once every coupleepisodes.
So there's just little ways tobe able to communicate with
(11:38):
them.
Hey, I'm paying attention toyou and I value you.
And I think that is reallyimportant.
So important.
Cara Pacetti (11:44):
And it's really incorporating that human
connection in podcasting.
So it's amazing.
Yes.
If you have questions aboutoffering premium content through
BuzzSprout subscriptions, youcan reach us on the Podcaster
Success team at any time byemailing support at
buzzsprout.com.
If there's a question thatyou'd love to see answered on a
(12:04):
future podcasting QA episode,click the send us a text link in
the show notes.
I love getting fan mail andanswering questions directly
from listeners.
So send us some fan mail and wewill get that question answered
on a future episode.
Thank you so much for joiningme today, Jordan, and answering
this question.
It's been so helpful.
It was so much fun.
Jordan Blaire (12:25):
Thank you for having me.
I hope I get invited back onagain.
We'll see.
Of course.
Of course.
Cara Pacetti (12:31):
Be sure to join us every Monday to kickstart your
week.
Thanks for listening.
And as always, keep podcasting.
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