In this edition of Voics Voices, I’m going to be giving away a step-by-step guide to make thousands of dollars from your podcast.

Listen up.

Every podcast wants to be sponsored, but most shows lack the actual strategy to get there.

This is a real case study with The Copyblogger Podcast, an outstanding content marketing podcast.

Here’s the backstory:

​Tim Stoddart saw one of my posts on LinkedIn around sponsorships. He had recently appeared on Kickoff Sessions and asked could I could help him get his show sponsored.

Until that point, they had been recording for four years and generating $0 from their podcast in sponsorship revenue.

It wasn’t for a lack of ability; the show is in the top 0.5% globally with over 800,000 downloads and 25,000+ downloads per month.

I took on the project, of course, and returned to my little cave in the middle of Asia. My goal was to create a repeatable strategy that would consistently produce $$$ each month.

Here are the exact strategy:

1. Aggregation of Data

First, we need to see what we’re working with. If you’re getting 10 downloads per week, focus on growth, not monetisation.

The data points you need to gather include:

- Total episodes

- Global ranking

- Total downloads

- Monthly downloads

- Quarterly growth rate

The goal is to show progression, so you can say “your brand will be at the front of our podcast as the show scales”. Don’t cap yourself on what you’ve done. It’s always the next milestone.

2. Create a Pitch Deck

Think of your podcast like a startup. Getting sponsored is kind of like raising capital.

You need to dig deep into the mind of the sponsor and give them exactly what they want to see. They do not care “how hard you’ve worked” or how “passionate” you are. They only care about one thing:

Return on investment.

Knowing this, you want to create a deck that describes exactly the benefits/outcomes the brand can expect. Here’s an outline of the deck:

- Podcast bio & niche

- Data insights

- Follower & subscriber count

- Previous guests

- Audience insights & demographics

- Pricing

Previous guests and audience insights should tap into the EXACT ideal customer profile of the brand.

For The Copyblogger Podcast, I pulled out big content marketing founders like ConvertKit and Smart Passive Income as brands want to be associated with these platforms.

For the audience, it’s important to break out elements of demographic, job titles and approximate salaries.

3. Shortlist Brands for Sponsorship

Alright now that the fun bit is over, it’s time for the actual work.

The next step is to create a spreadsheet of all the brands that match your podcasts audience. This must be an almost identical match. For the Copyblogger Podcast, I found a list of content marketing tools and SaaS companies.

The goal is to go directly to their founder via LinkedIn and email to pitch to them.

Remember, it’s not about you, it’s about them. This is an opportunity for them to increase exposure and drive revenue to their platform. Not you. Do you understand?

If the company has more than 100 employees, I also target roles like:

- Chief marketing officer

- Senior growth marketing

- Brand partnership manager

- Paid influencer marketer

Anything that screams ‘I can sign this’.

4. Create a Pitch Video

My general approach to life is, if other people aren’t doing it, it’s a good idea to do it.

So, for outbound messages, I record a personalised Loom video providing a detailed overview of the pitch deck and the outcomes for the sponsor.

This video has several benefits:

- Sells the outcomes

- Creates a relationship

- Shows you’re not a robot

Remember, when others don’t, you do.

5. Hammer Outbound Reach

We have the deck, brands and video, now all that’s left is to smash some outbound messages. Here’s a nice, chill sequence that works well:

Hey X! I’ve been using Y for the last couple of months and it’s great.

Have you given any considering to sponsoring podcasts to grow the brand further?

Our largest client would be a good fit for Y and is in the top 0.5% of global podcasts for writing & content marketing!

Follow-up message:

Hey X, have you considered growing the Y brand through podcast advertising?

Our client, The Copyblogger Podcast, is ranked in the top 0.5% of all podcasts globally, with over 800,000 downloads 150,000 subscribers.

If this is a priority for you, I’d love to share their sponsorship deck.

Thank you.

Once people give a signal to see the deck, you’re 60% there. Final step, get them on a call.

6. Listen Closely & Close Hard

When you finally get a brand on a call, it’s important to listen to major triggers like their ideal customer, problems they’ve had with other paid channels and brand growth challenges.

You provide the solution to these challenges.

My recommendation is to focus on three and six-month deals. As no one will really see the benefit for one month, and of course, it’s not exactly that financially rewarding.

If you face some rejection, keep the relationship and return to the conversation in six to twelve months.

That’s basically how you can go from $0 to over $10,000 in sponsorship revenue. It’s difficult, but it’s possible.

It worked for The Copyblogger Podcast. It can work for you.

I’ll be opening up three slots to bring podcasts from $0 to full sponsorship soon. If you’re interested in working together, let’s chat.

See you next week internet friends.

Whenever you’re ready, there are 3 ways I can help you:

→Schedule an Introduction Call: Voics is the straightforward podcast agency that creates, markets, and scales your podcast in a “done-for-you” model.

→Podcast Accelerator: Remove the stress, pressure and countless hours of growing a podcast. This comprehensive course will teach you the system I used to grow Kickoff Sessions and record with the sharpest minds in the world.

→Listen to Kickoff Sessions: Learn from 145+ entrepreneurs who have scaled businesses to millions in profit that will help you on your journey.