How Pastors Can Make Extra Money With a Podcast

Are you a pastor wondering if you can make extra money with a podcast? Well you’re going to love today’s show. Because I’ll be sharing 10 ways you can make money with a podcast. Let’s get started!

Hello my friend! Welcome to the More Than a Pastor Show. I’m your host, Rich Avery. This is where we help pastors leverage your ministry know-how into sustainable income outside of the church, through a business or side hustle that’s right for you. So you can serve God and provide for your family, no matter what.

If you’re a pastor who feels called to something more in your life, work, and income, you’re in the right place! It’s great to see you today. Thanks for joining me - it really means a lot.

If you’re new to the show, you can learn more about me, get the show notes for today’s episode, and download tools and resources to help you launch and grow your business or side hustle at morethanapastor.com/33 for episode 33.

How Pastors Can Make Extra Money With a Podcast

If you’re a pastor wondering if you can make extra money with a podcast, you’re going to love today’s show.

Because podcasting is easier and cheaper today than ever before. And there are some great ways to make money with a podcast.

But not so much from a podcast.

So what’s the difference?

We’ll talk about that in a moment.

But first…

Why Launch a Podcast?

If you have a message to share, a product to sell, a service to provide, or a passion to promote, creating a podcast is one of the fastest ways to build and grow an audience.

Because there’s something about the power of audio, and the theater of the mind, that makes it easy for your listeners, as you serve them with regular content they desire, to get to know, like, and trust you.

What Should Your Podcast Be About?

Some people podcast about their passions, hobbies, and interests. Others stick with topics they have professional experience in, related to their work or business.

As a pastor, you can easily leverage your ministry know-how into a podcast.

1. Theology - ask the pastor
2. Weekly Sermons
3. Devotionals (repurpose sermons or create fresh content)
4. Verse of the day
5. Bible character or saint of the day or week
6. Niche podcast geared for senior pastors, worship pastors, youth pastors, missions pastors etc.
7. Leadership
8. Politics and Culture
9. Marriage and family
10. Your local community

How to Make Money From a Podcast

1. Sponsors

Well, a lot of people think the only or biggest way to make money podcasting is, by getting sponsors for their show, like those big name influencers do.

The problem is, to get sponsors, you need to have a huge audience with thousands of downloads per episode.

According to Buzzsprout, which is the podcast hosting service that I use for this show , the average podcaster can start getting sponsorships if you have like 5,000 downloads per episode.

Typical sponsors pay $10-20 per thousand downloads. So if you get 5,000 downloads per episode, and you have a sponsor paying you $20 per thousand downloads, that adds up to $100 per episode. Multiply that by 52 episodes in a year (presuming you post a new episode once a week) and you’ve got a cool $5,200 in annual income.

Of course it takes the average podcaster a long time to get 5,000 downloads per episode. But if your show is in a super-popular and lucrative niche, you may be able to get sponsors with fewer downloads.

2. Patrons

The second way to make money from your podcast is to get patrons. Patreon and Buy Me a Coffee are two popular patronage platforms that allow listeners to donate to your show and possibly receive a benefit in exchange for their contribution.

According to Buzzsprout, 2% of your listeners will become patrons, and the average donation is $5. So if you have 1,000 podcast listeners, chances are good that 20 of them would become patrons, giving $5.00 a month each, generating $100 a month or $1,200 for the year.

3. Merch

And the 3rd way to make money from a podcast is merch. No matter how big your audience is, selling merch can be a fun way for your dedicated fans to show their support for the show, and help others learn about it too. T-shirts, stickers, pens, and hats are among the most popular merchandise ideas. The good news is that you don’t have to invest a lot of money today to create and sell merch, thanks to on-demand printing companies who can take your orders, print the merch, and ship it out to your customer.
But today I want to talk about how pastors can make extra money with a podcast.

How to Make Money With a Podcast

The good news is that you don’t need thousands or millions of fans in order to make good money with a podcast. You just need a thousand true fans, according to Kevin Kelly.

A true fan, according to Kelly, is someone who has such a deep and abiding connection with you that they want to buy everything you produce, will drive 100 miles to hear you speak, will buy the hardback, paperback, and audio versions of your new book, and will tell all their friends about you.

The key to making money with your podcast is to use it as a tool for creating a platform that generates income through:

1. Coaching/Consulting
2. Books
3. Blog/Website
4. Courses
5. Membership
6. Amazon Affiliate others
7. Partner Affiliates

So the podcast isn’t the end in itself. It is the vehicle for building a platform by attracting your ideal audience, helping you create a community that will follow you anywhere.

That’s exactly what I hope to do with this show.

So, do you think podcasting is one of the tools you’ll want to use to create income outside of the church? I’d love to hear your reply. You can share your comments in our private FB community at morethanapastor.com/facebook or email me at [email protected].