Sponsorship Vs Premium Content
This show originates at www.schoolofpodcasting.com
If you want to have a sponsor for your show, you need to be a SALES PERSON. New to sales? Check out Zig Ziglar or Tom Hopkins but you need to have a system in place to PROVE to the advertiser that YOU brought them traffic, and that your listeners bought their products. So you should:
1. Have some sort of stats system. I use Libysn stats, or in the case of some podcasts I use stats from podtrac.com
2. Have them create a "landing page (this could look like their home page, but its' just a different address). So it could be www.theadvertiserssite.com/podcast" now they can go into their stats and see how many visitors came from your show.
3. Have them offer a deal. This could be a coupon, a discount, SOMETHING that ONLY YOUR LISTENERS get.
4. Track the number of links from your site to their site. This is easy with a tool like Jay Jenning's Cloak and Tracker software (and very, VERY, easy to setup).
So now no matter what happens, if a person goes to their site (After hearing it on your podcast), if they purchase something (using the coupon), or if they click on an image from your site (which should be a bargaining tool) to go to their site - you can track the traffic, and hopefully prove the results.
The advantage of sponsors that you find on your own is you get all the money. You don't have to split it with people. The potential bad news is you might feel yourself editing yourself so you do offend any potential sponsors. This is why some people are turning to the Premium Podcast Solution.
I call this the "Chic Fil-A" way to podcast. Chic Fil-A in the states often gives out a sample piece of chicken so that you go buy a whole sandwich. Podcast pioneer Dan Klass of the Bitterest Pill has just adopted this model. After podcasting for two years he will produce one free episode (the sample chicken) and four episodes a month of "premium" content (the whole chicken). He is using Premiumcast.com for this (A great system).
Watch Dave's Video on Carbonite that allows you to back up ALL of your files for $50 a month.
Are you looking for a Podcast Expert? Looking to get into Podcasting on a budget? I've got step by step tutorials that will show you how to podcast at www.schoolofpodcasting.com
