Motivation on the Run

I think that every podcaster secretly dreams of bigger and better things. Of their podcasts catching on and sitting at the top of every download list, bandwidth charges be hanged. The dream continues, that if the podcast is that successful, a living could be made from doing something that is enjoyable. How will money be made from podcasts? For the small independent like me, I am not sure there is a lot of money to be made, but it would be nice to develop a model that covered the costs involved. Something to dream about, I suppose.

Podcasting Profits – Forbes.com

So, how do you make money? It’s still in the early stages, and revenue at most podcasting startups is likely to be quite minimal. But major venture capital firms–like Kleiner Perkins and Sequoia–have invested millions in the space. They certainly see profits in the future.

Stan Sorensenm, senior director of product management and marketing of Melodeo, believes there are four possible ways to monetize podcasting:

– Embedding advertising in the audio itself. Basically, this uses the traditional model of radio.

– Free and premium channels. This is how many content sites make money. There may even be subscription services, kind of like a magazine.

– An enterprise model. This would mean selling sophisticated products to major customers that would have special features, such as security.

– Advertising, which is currently the predominant approach.