857: How to Stand Out and Make Money Podcasting in 2025

27:29If those are areas that you're not super familiar with, or you don't feel super confident in teaching. Wow. That is so helpful. Oh, I'm so thankful. Okay. If you thought I was done, I'm totally not done yet. I have the third thing that I would really just focus on as somebody who is new to the platform. And that is really thinking about, okay, how does this podcast kind of integrate into the bigger picture of what it is that you want to do? You know, I think that there are some people out there who have podcasts as a hobby. I think that's amazing. But one thing you realize when you get into podcasting is it's more work than you actually think, right?

28:06It takes a lot. And so thinking through kind of what is the next step for your listener and you don't have to have a product, a service, or an offer ready, but what would be a potential next step? What would be a future next step? And that's where it's beautiful, even if you don't have that offer yet, to start thinking through what that might be because then you can start creating those free resources to grow your email list and have people signing up for your list so that whenever you launch whatever is next, you already have a list that you can launch to. And so thinking through of like, what kind of call to actions could I have in my episode to either gain insight or to get people off of these platforms and onto my email list, getting feedback through polls or through emails.

28:52If you have an email list of asking, what do you want to hear next? Or who are people you want to learn from? Or what is the question you're dying to ask me? And just focusing on staying consistent to build that know, like, and trust factor while you're kind of thinking of the whole ecosystem and how the podcast is going to play into that. And so I would just say the third main thing I would focus on is just what is the business integration so that as you're creating, you know, that it's feeding into a bigger picture and it's not just another one of your amazing babies where you're like, I'm giving up so much time, but I'm struggling to connect the dots on like where this is ending.

29:28if that makes sense. It does make sense. It does make sense. And you don't want to go through that. Yeah. I don't want to go through that again. Nobody wants to go through that, right? Like we work so hard and we deserve to get paid for the work we do. And so I think that's just a beautiful thing to be thinking through, right? You don't have to have all the answers. You don't even have to know what step C is going to be, but just thinking through like, what would that next step look like and starting to grow even regardless of if you have that or not. Wow. A lot to think about. Yes. Yes. That's why we do this.

30:04Okay. Do you have another question? Of course I do. The third question is what is your strategy for monetizing a new podcast in 2025? Okay. So I'll tell this story and I know that you've heard it because you've been on my training, but I'll tell this story because I just think it's so funny and it illustrates so much about the podcasting space. It's interesting because so many people focus on sponsorship as the number one way to monetize a podcast. And what people don't realize is that a very small percentage of podcasts have the listenership required to be able to have those big name sponsors, right?

30:42And I think a lot of us, at least I'll speak for myself, I listen to really big shows. So it's very common for me to hear ads to their favorite products or different offers, but we don't recognize that like there are so many hundreds of thousands, millions of podcasts that might not have the listenership yet to get the paid sponsors in. And so if we are only thinking about that method of monetizing, we are doing a disservice to the millions of podcasters who are working so hard to create their podcasts and deserve to get paid, but they need to find a different method. So I share this in the training, but when I first started my podcast, I had a sponsor, HoneyBook, who I love and use, and they basically paid so that I wasn't going in the red on my podcast.

31:26So I knew I couldn't edit it myself. And basically they covered the expenses of my podcast, but I made basically$0. And it was a really great strategy at the beginning because I just wanted to start my podcast as a total experiment. But about six months in, Drew and I had signed up for this meal delivery service, HelloFresh. We loved them. And they had solved the biggest marital spat of our lives, which is every single night, what are we having for dinner? That is like my least favorite question of all time, especially now that I have kids. And so I went on to my podcast and I recognized that HelloFresh had this very simple share with your family and friends link.

32:01I had already shared it with my family and friends. They had taken advantage of all the offers and I had a bunch of different offers from HelloFresh. And so I talked about it in one of my episodes super organically and said, you know, this episode should be brought to you by HelloFresh because it solved this marital spat. If you're very busy like we are, you might love this. And I dropped the link and I ended up getting our family free dinners for an entire year just off of my listeners taking action on their affiliate program. They were not directly paying me. They had not reached out to me. They had no idea who I was.

32:33I was just recommending something that I loved. And so my first tip for monetizing a podcast in 2025 is leveraging referral links from companies that you shop at, that you use and love. And there are so many benefits to doing this. So let me walk you through just a few of the benefits. And I want for you to brainstorm if there's any products that might work for you and for your show. Now, it doesn't have to be so perfectly aligned that it makes total sense with your offer. But if you can tie it in to the message of your podcast or to the overarching umbrella of what you're talking about, it would be great.

33:08And let me tell you, I could probably tie anything into anything. And so one of the things that I love about this approach is it allows you to collect very insightful data. And so if a sponsor were to come to you and say, Hey, I'll pay you$500 per episode. They are collecting all that data. They know how many people clicked on your link. They know how many people purchased it. You don't get any of that insight. When you use partner links, oftentimes you can see that data for yourself, which is so invaluable because you'll start to notice what your audience cares about, what they'll actually click on, what they don't care about, what they're buying, what the results you're generating are.

33:48And so that data is so, so valuable. The second reason why I love affiliate marketing is that if you work with a paid sponsor, you have to stick to a script, right? We've all heard the scripts. I've read the scripts. There are certain talking points that you have to hit on. You have to say the link this many times you have to do all these things. It's beautiful. They want to make sure that their investment is worth it. But when you do affiliate links, you get to talk about the product however you want to. You get to share what you really genuinely love about it, why you use it, why you're recommending it, you get to inject your own story into it.

34:21And so as a storyteller for you, this would be so beneficial and you get to tell people why they should take advantage of it. What's amazing is I think there's a stat out there and it could be wrong, but I'm pretty sure that it's 80 % of brands right now have a refer a friend or an affiliate program set up. So brands are seeing the power of having this ability to have their customers do their marketing for them. And so whether it's sheets you bought or the skincare you love or the food you eat or that one product you can't live without, there's a good chance that you could collect a commission from talking about it.

34:54And so I would just say start with affiliate marketing for so many reasons. But the last reason is, is we talked about this earlier, podcasting helps the content live on, right? Yeah. And so if somebody goes to listen to an episode from a year ago and I had a paid sponsor and they take advantage of that, I don't make any more money. But if I had an affiliate code in there and somebody clicks on a link from two years ago, I still get paid. And so you get this residual income as people listen to your old episodes and take advantage of your codes. So even if you only have a hundred listeners right now, that's not going to be the case.

35:31And people are always starting back at episode number one. And so you are in a beautiful position as a newer podcaster to be super intentional and strategic with what you're sharing in these early episodes, knowing that a year from now, two years from now, seven years from now, like I'm sitting, people will still be going back to episode one. And you have the ability to compound those results, whether it's growing your email list or getting an affiliate commission, if you set it up strategically from the beginning. When we were young, we dreamed of castles and fairy tales. And as we grow up, those dreams might shift into building something real, like starting a business.

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37:11Anyone who knows me knows that I'm all about creating spaces where people actually want to be. So when we started hosting on Airbnb, it honestly felt like the most natural thing in the world. And it's turned into one of the best decisions we've ever made. Over the years, we've hosted hundreds of couples in our little spaces. We've had so many repeat guests come back and we've created this incredible community, not just with our guests, but also with the people who help us care for our space. Whether you've bought properties as an investment or have unused rooms waiting to be shared, hosting on Airbnb is a practical and profitable choice.

37:45And just think about it. If you've put a ton of time, effort, and work into your home, someone out there probably would love to experience it while they're traveling. So next time you're planning a trip or want to make some extra income from your spaces, you should definitely host on Airbnb. Your home might be worth more than you think. Find out how much at airbnb.com slash host. So I just did a lot of talking. Tell me what your brain is telling you.

38:13Well, affiliate marketing was something that's, it's something that I have not put in my radar. Okay. I use a lot of stuff, but I'm too, I don't know, maybe embarrassed to mention it. Oh my gosh. Don't be embarrassed. Your audience, if you benefit from it, your audience will likely benefit from it. Right? As you were talking about HelloFresh and I was like, HelloFresh? I have the quote. Yes. See? And listen, think about this. You could so easily record an ad for your show and say, how much time a week do you spend meal planning, ordering DoorDash, trying to prep your meals, realizing you forgot ingredients going to the store all of these different things you could position that so easily in this realm of saving yourself time and ultimately saving yourself money like tell me any product and i could position it for your podcast because that's what we do do you know what i mean though i just it's kind of like my next episode is on delegating and outsourcing amen okay i want to hear your hello fresh referrer friend that episode i am recommending that people should delegate things like even meal prep yes it is already there i've recorded the show so here's what i want you to do oh if you've already recorded the show i want you for you to sit down right after this conversation and i want for you to record a 60 second thing where you say, hi, I'm going to interrupt myself here, but I just want to let you know about this product that I love.

39:56And then you can say, you know, my meal was brought to you by HelloFresh. I have this amazing refer a friend's code. If you buy a box, you'll save$40 or whatever their promo is. All you have to do is click the link in this show description to take advantage of it and drop it in there. And that's it. Wow. It's so easy. It feels silly. But what's beautiful about it is that if you even made a list, and one thing that I think is helpful is kind of how you were talking about auditing your money and how people can pay attention to pennies, is maybe even look back on the last 30 or 60 days of just things that you've bought or subscriptions you paid for that are worth it to you.

40:35And just look and see if they have referral programs and then try to weave in just one offer per episode that makes sense that you can weave it in. And people, if it is something that you genuinely love and that it's helped you or supported you or that you would tell your girlfriend about, people love hearing about it. And it's a very small price to pay as a listener to listen to something like that. It doesn't take away from their value, right? So yeah, we are like solving half of the world's problems in this call. That is so true. Because like even this last point, you just talked about saving pennies and all like subscriptions is one of the main things that most of us keep subscriptions that we don't really use or subscriptions that are now outdated.

41:22Then you want to get rocket money, which is a great app that literally shows you all of the apps. Seriously, like you could drop, like, I love rocket money. This is not a paid ad. This is what I talk about. But literally like, there are so many different tools that help people implement what you're already talking about on your show. So it's almost a disservice to not include those into your episodes if it's something that you trust. Because a lot of times people take the information, but they don't actually implement it, right? They don't take it into action. So if you give them the next step that they need to take in order to put it into application, you're also solving another problem for them, which is amazing.

42:01Wow. I love it. Thank you so much. This is getting me thinking. Yes. Good. Do you have another question? I do. How can I effectively promote my podcast to stand out in a crowded market? Okay. First off, I think every market is crowded. So I would argue everything, like anyone that's doing anything, there's probably a million other people doing it, which I think is awesome because it's proof of concept and it's beautiful. And one thing I want to remind people of, especially when it comes to the podcasting space, is that podcast listeners listen to podcasts, plural, right? I don't just tune into one show a week.

42:47I tune into like 10 different shows a week. And so what's beautiful is, is it feels a lot less of a competitive environment and more collaborative and community-based where we recognize that people listen to so many different things. And so if a scarcity mindset is impacting you from feeling like, how do I stand out in a crowd? I just want to invite you to think of it in a different way because there are listeners who listen to a little bit of everything every single week. And so it's not like you have to be the one person and the one voice that they hear. And that's what you need to market yourself to be.

43:22So when I think of effectively promoting, I think again, nailing your niche. So getting really clear on who you serve and how you speak to them is the first thing. And I think that's something that will really help you just figure out different ways to communicate through your podcast. So when you know who you're talking to, it's a lot easier to address them. It's a lot easier to connect with them. It's a lot easier to hit topics that they'd likely be looking for. The second thing would be going back to that first thought that I had of leveraging SEO. So just thinking of those keywords, those search bars, and again, go onto Pinterest or Google, and even just start typing in like time management and see what pops up because there will be a guided search function where people will, it'll show you like what other people are typing in.

44:07So it could be like time management for busy moms, time management for entrepreneurs, time management for people with ADHD. And that can help you brainstorm different topics and ideas that you want to cover on your show. But again, making sure that your episode titles have keywords that people might be searching for. Also looking at repurposing content. So if you have not kind of figured out a flow or how you want to take the podcast and then repurpose it on different platforms and in different ways, I would challenge you to kind of figure out some sort of plan. So for example, when we do my show, that show, we take the outline of the show and we clean it up and we make it into show notes.

44:49So that goes onto my blog. So that's another long-term place that's serving. We also take my show and we put pins on Pinterest that point to that episode. So we create 10 different pins that go into Pinterest. We take clips of it and we turn it into reels for Instagram. We post about it in Facebook. We have our Facebook community. Now I am in all the places because I am not the person that is doing all this. I have one team member who helps me do this and I've been doing it for a long time. And so it doesn't need to be this crazy robust strategy, but I want for you to be thinking about how do we make this content live on?

45:22How do I repurpose it? How do I maybe take one of the key points from this episode and share it to my email list so that they get value and they want to tune in? How do I take the second key point and create an Instagram post out of this? And just thinking more from a standpoint that is longevity and less of the churn and burn mentality that I think we're all burnt out by. and then just thinking too about collaboration and so I know that you've stuck to solo shows but you're open to collaboration and so just thinking through you know who would be a few dream guests you don't have to have this format where you know every other week is a guest you don't have to have this like very rigid framework but when it makes sense and when you find somebody who's a great fit you know how do you collaborate and how do you get the most out of that collaboration like when they come on your show would they agree to share that interview on their social media or with their email list?

46:14Or could you do an Instagram live the day the episode airs and you have a conversation? So you get exposed to their Instagram followers and vice versa, and you get to kind of guide people to that episode. And so thinking through that spirit of collaboration, even collaborating with your listeners. We recently set up a phone line where our listeners can call in to ask a question, and then I can answer their question on the air. And so collaboration doesn't just have to be with creators. It can also be with your community. And I'm so excited about that because I'm like, that just adds a whole new dimension to the podcast where I get to answer real people's questions and not just read them and say like, you know, Carissa wants to know, it's actually Carissa's voice saying, hi, I'm Carissa from Michigan.

46:58And my question is, and so thinking of just different ways to collaborate can also be really huge. And so I just think, you know, showing up consistently and showing up at all is the biggest step and you're already over that hurdle. And so now it's just about using your time, which you love wisely and just thinking through again, how do I get the most out of this? How do I make this content live on the longest? How do I reach the most people with it? And how do I strategically set it up so that long after I hit publish, it's still doing something for me? Oh, wow. I have a lot of homework. You do, but it's good homework and it's valuable homework.

47:39And what's beautiful about where you're sitting is you've already done the hardest part, which is get it out into the ether. And so if I know anything about you and the way that you look at your time, this homework is going to make the time spent on your podcast feel so meaningful, feel so worth it and feel like a million bucks, which will be awesome. Thank you so much because, yeah, if there's one thing I take from this whole interview today is I know where to put my energy right now. That is basically what I want to do. I know where to put my energy and just focus on those key areas to give me the impact that I desire.

48:25Yes. Amen. I think we have one final question. Okay, so drop it for me and we'll rock this out strong. So what are common mistakes new podcasters make and what can I do? What can other new podcasters do to avoid these mistakes? Because it's very common for us to make mistakes when we're starting something new. Yes. Still common for me to make mistakes too. The first thing is, is I would just say consistency. And so get really clear on what you can commit to and don't overcommit. I think a lot of times when we get a new idea, we get so excited and we're like, yes, of course, I'm going to publish five days a week.

49:06And then it's like two weeks in, you're like, what did I agree to? This is never going to quit, right? And so I would say start super simple. So for me, it was one episode a week at the very beginning. And then once I had that system down and some of the things that we talked about today of just figuring out, you know, how does this pour into the ecosystem? How do I get people off of the podcast? What are the strategic moves that I can make to make this really worth it? Then I added a second episode per week. And so I would say start super simple, start small and just be consistent and grow that consistency muscle.

49:40And this goes for anyone out there, not just podcasters. being consistent and showing up consistently changes how you show up changes what you believe about yourself changes everything and so getting really consistent is the first thing the second thing and the mistake that people always make is over complicating the tech right and you talked about this like you were like i was so overwhelmed and then you talked about just iphone headphones and you're like i can do this right and even to this day i was literally talking to one of my best friends yesterday and she's had a podcast for almost a decade.

50:14And she was talking about changing her whole setup and all these things. I was like, don't get so consumed in what it looks like and what equipment you're using that you forget about the message. Like it is something that we will fight no matter what, because we love to add complexity. And so I would just say not over complicate the showing up that is required. And even last year, this was something I shared about in my year-end review, but we had been trying to do YouTube and like go bigger on the video component. And I hated it. I hated thinking about what I looked like. I hated thinking about having to look at the camera perfectly.

50:49I hated thinking about where my microphone was positioned. It just took away why I love podcasting, which is that you can just talk. And so if you get prone to overcomplication, keep it super simple so that you just stay consistent. Because I think a lot of times overcomplicating is just an excuse to put us into analysis paralysis, which is an excuse for us to not show up. Right. The third thing that I would say is a mistake is that people focus only on downloads and like that number. Right. And a lot of times, especially when you're starting out, it can feel discouraging. It can feel slow. It's not overnight.

51:26And I had somebody reach out the other day and they were like, you know, I've been podcasting and I've only gotten 500 downloads. like, should I quit? And I was like, 500 is a lot. Like that is a lot of people's lives you're touching. And 500 will turn into 5 ,000 quickly if you keep showing up and delivering value and telling them to share this content with a friend, right? And so do not obsess over downloads and things like that. Obsess over your consistency, the things you can control. And when you control your controllables, people are going to come and they're going to bring friends. And that leads me to my final thing is a mistake that we make is that oftentimes we're so obsessed with saying, like, make sure you subscribe, make sure you leave a review, like all of these different things.

52:09But if we really want our show to grow, we should ask people to share it with a friend. And that is how we actually grow the community and we get our content more out there. And I think that's a very simple ask is like, if this episode helped you, if you learn something new, or if you want to talk about this with someone in your life, share this episode with a friend and just let them know why they should listen to it. And I think that's a really beautiful way. And honestly, when we look at the podcasting metrics and the way the algorithms are working, the way that podcasts are ranked in terms of the charts are the most shareable episodes.

52:42It's not the people that have the most subscribers. It's how viral in terms of that content is. And so a good call to action is to ask people to share it and that will help you get the word out. And so those numbers will grow, but don't obsess over those numbers because what's beautiful is, is we see about 50 % of our monthly downloads are on our new episodes and about 50 % are on our past episodes, meaning people are always going back to other episodes that they might've missed, that they didn't know. And so it isn't a reflection of what episode one, two, three, and four are going to be like for the end of time.

53:18This is just the beginning. That is my, so my call to actual should be tell people to share the podcast. don't focus on the subscribe or review because I worry about those. Yes. And you can, I mean, you can absolutely still say that and I still will include it in like every other episode, but it's not, it's not the main metric and it's also really not how it grows. Right. And so I think that it's a very beautiful call to action to share. And I think too, when I really just think about the meaning of life and like how we move through it, we want to have deeper conversations with our friends and sharing a podcast episode is a really beautiful way to introduce a new topic, to learn something new together, to have something to converse about, to agree or disagree.

54:05And so I think it's just a really beautiful way to encourage people to, to build their community and to connect with the people that they love in their life. We did it. Thank you so much. I really like this. Oh, thank you so much for coming on. Thank you for paving the way and showing people what's possible. I want for you to give us a little pitch of what we can expect when all my listeners go and search for your podcast and check it out. Just tell us a little bit about what they can expect and remind us of the name of your podcast. And hint, hint, if you're listening to this right now, go check out Ngozi's podcast.

54:44So the name of the podcast is the Minute Mastery Podcast. And the emphasis is on making small changes every day that can give you big impacts tomorrow. I don't like overwhelm. So I believe in doing small, small things every day. So if you do small, every little thing, one day every year, and in 365 days, you are a different person. And I believe that the idea that there is not enough time is a myth. There is always time for the things that we love to do. So if you don't have enough time for something, that means that thing is not important yet. But if it is important, you would organize your time and put it in your schedule.

55:33Because if it's not on your calendar, it's never going to happen. So what the Minute Mastery podcast does is to first help you find clarity on what you want to do. And then you schedule the time based on what you currently do so that you can now put it on your to-do list and have it on your calendar. And so it's just about making small changes every day that will give you big impact over time. I hope everybody goes and checks it out and supports you and listens. where else can we connect with you online? Yeah, I'm on Instagram at Ungoze Edema and I'm also on Facebook and I'm on TikTok and Trends.

56:18Amazing. Thank you so much for being a part of this community. Thank you so much for taking action. Thank you for changing the world with your voice and your stories. And thank you for coming on the podcast today. Thank you so much. I'm so happy to have come here And I hope that I connect with so many people who want to make an impact and reclaim time for themselves. I know I'm not supposed to have favorites, but I absolutely love doing these coaching sessions with members of our community. If you are not a part of our Gold Digger podcast, Facebook insiders group, make sure you join. This is where we ask people to ask their questions and choose who I'll be coaching on air next.

56:57And if you want to ask a question that you want featured on a future episode of the Gold Digger podcast, check out the show description for this episode and click on our phone number and leave me a message. I would absolutely love to hear from you and answer your biggest questions on an upcoming Ask Me Anything episode. This episode was so much fun. I absolutely love podcasting for a million reasons. And if you want to hear more of them or different strategies to get your show started in three easy steps, head to freepodcastclass.com for my free training all on the topic. I cover so much of what we talked about today in detail and so much more when it comes to podcasting to keep it uncomplicated and make it easier than you might be thinking.

57:40Again, that's freepodcastclass.com. Thank you so much for listening to today's episode. If you know someone who would love to start their own podcast, make sure you share this episode with them. Here I am taking my own advice. And of course, until next time, gold diggers, keep on digging your biggest goals. Thanks for pulling up a seat for another episode of the Gold Digger podcast. I hope today's episode filled you with inspiration, gave you information that you can turn into action and realigned you with your true north in life and business. If you've enjoyed today's episode, head on over to golddiggerpodcast.com for today's show notes, discount codes for our sponsors, freebies to fuel your results, and so much more.

58:21And if you haven't yet, make sure you're subscribed so that you never miss a future show. We'll see you next time, Gold Diggers.