Learning how to make money from a podcast wasn’t as intuitive.

Honestly, I saw podcasting as a creative outlet to share my voice, build a community, and discuss topics I cared deeply about.

But somewhere between my fifth and fifteenth episode, I started asking, “Could this thing actually become a side hustle?”

If you’re in that same boat, wondering how to make your podcast profitable without selling your soul or annoying your listeners with endless ads, this article is for you.

I’ll walk you through the monetization methods that worked for me, the ones that didn’t, and the strategies I’d double down on if I were starting over from scratch.

When I launched my podcast, my goal was to connect with people who thought like me. I had no fancy setup—just a basic mic, a bunch of software, and a loose chain of topics to talk about.

At first, monetization wasn’t even on my radar. I thought I needed 10,000 downloads per episode before I could earn a dime.

That myth got busted fast.

A few episodes in, a listener sent me a direct message on LinkedIn: "Do you have a Patreon? I'd love to support your show."

That comment made me realize people were actually finding value in what I was saying, and they were willing to pay for it.

I began researching available monetization options and discovered a wide range of them: sponsorships, memberships, affiliate links, and even a few product ideas.

That’s how my podcast monetization journey began.

Finding ways to monetize podcasts felt like swimming in alphabet soup: paid tiers, affiliate links, merch, sponsorship decks...it was a lot.

The temptation to try everything at once was real, but it was not fruitful.

I started small. I tested one tactic at a time, stayed patient, and tracked what actually worked.

Out of the dozen (maybe a hundred?) monetization tactics I came across, these four delivered real results (even without a massive listener base).

Like many podcasters, I assumed that sponsors only cared about big numbers.

“Who would pay to promote their product to 100 listeners?” I thought.

It turns out that if you have an engaged audience and cold, hard data to support your claims, sponsors will pay.

I got my first sponsor when I was averaging just 1,200 downloads per episode. Here’s how:

After a few personalized follow-ups, I landed the deal. That $100 might sound small, but it changed everything. It made monetization feel possible.

My paid newsletter became my most reliable source of recurring income.

By the time my podcast gained momentum, I already had a newsletter with around 500 engaged subscribers. That gave me a warm audience to introduce paid subscription tiers through beehiiv, with payments handled via Stripe.

For $5/month, members received the following:

Paid tiers didn’t turn into a massive income stream, but it was consistent.

On average, 2 out of every 10 subscribers opted into the paid tier. It was just enough to cover my podcast hosting costs and keep things sustainable without dipping into my own pocket.

Once I had a reliable stream of income from sponsors and paid tiers, I focused on selling digital products.

I reviewed my podcast analytics and newsletter data to spot high-performing topics. Then, I created products directly tied to what listeners were already engaging with.

For example:

Creating these products felt natural, as I was simply repackaging content I’d already created.

The cool part? Mentioning these products in episodes helped new listeners binge on old episodes, so the monetization loop actually improved discoverability.

Affiliate income didn’t make me rich, but it turned into a reliable, low-effort stream of passive revenue.

I only promoted tools that I genuinely used and had already mentioned naturally on the podcast, such as my go-to podcast editing software and hosting platform. Once I joined their affiliate programs, I began linking to them in strategic locations.

Most affiliate programs pay $20–$30 commission per signup. It was not life-altering; but when a few signups trickled in, they added up.

One key ingredient to consistent revenue was pairing podcasts with newsletters to build a tight-knit community with an engaged audience.

I focused on nurturing the audience through both channels by being strategic and intentional in my content strategy.

Each podcast episode was connected to a bigger picture—topics my audience cared about and themes that had real potential to convert into paid subscriptions, product sales, or sponsorship deals.

I also experimented with mini-series formats, like a three-part deep dive on building a personal brand or launching a small business. The continuity kept listeners coming back and boosted both downloads and trust.

One thing I baked into my audience growth strategy was paying close attention to my podcast engagement metrics. If an episode performed well, I’d repurpose the key insights into a newsletter issue. This allowed me to serve different content formats while maintaining the same core message.

Repurposing worked. It helped me reach a wider audience, improved engagement, and showed sponsors and affiliates the actual impact my content was having.

As a small podcast creator, it’s easy to get caught up in popular advice that doesn’t translate well to a smaller, more intimate audience.

Here are a few things that didn't work for me and what I learned from them.

In the early days, I’d spend hours scratching out “ums,” trimming silences, and agonizing over whether a sentence sounded polished enough. I’d replay sections five or six times just to decide if a three-second pause was too long. 

I thought if the episode sounded perfect, the growth would follow. I was wrong.

While I was busy fine-tuning audio, I barely promoted the episodes. I wasn’t creating clips, writing posts, or even emailing my list on a consistent basis.

The result? Crickets.

My podcast numbers stayed flat for weeks because no one knew it existed.

Once I flipped that effort—spending more time getting the episode in front of people than perfecting every second, I started seeing real traction.

One of the biggest pitfalls of running a solo creator business is trying to do everything by yourself.

I was posting daily on social media, editing every episode myself, writing two newsletters a week, pitching sponsors, and juggling a full-time job on top of it all.

I hit burnout fast. My podcast quality dipped. I stopped sending personalized guest invites, half-baked my episode promos, and, honestly, lost the energy that made my content engaging in the first place.

Eventually, I had to make a choice: keep burning out or streamline. 

I started outsourcing repetitive tasks to tools and a part-time virtual assistant. That freed me up to focus on guest outreach, content planning, and smart promotion.

When I limited my effort to just two to three high-leverage activities, growth finally started to feel sustainable.

Initially, I overlooked SEO for my website. Most of my listeners found me through social channels and my newsletter, so I didn’t bother optimizing episode pages, adding keywords, or writing detailed show notes. 

My site barely got any traffic. It wasn’t until I saw smaller podcasts ranking for niche topics I had covered that I realized I was leaving money on the table.

Once I started writing keyword-friendly episode titles, updating show notes with clear summaries, and embedding transcripts or blog-style content, my website picked pace. 

My site began attracting search traffic, which led to increased listenership, more newsletter sign-ups, and even a few sponsor leads.

Here’s the exact stack I used to streamline podcast production, repurpose content, grow my email list, and track monetization.

Riverside was my home base for podcast production. It handled recording, editing, and helped me list the episodes on Spotify and Apple Podcasts. I also used it to create short video clips that I embedded in my newsletter or shared as YouTube Shorts for higher visibility and audience growth.

Spotify’s analytics dashboard was where I learned what actually worked. I tracked listener retention and saw which episodes kept people hooked. That insight helped me decide which content to repurpose, which formats to keep, and which episodes to mention in emails or on social media to drive traffic.

Once I started publishing video content (mainly YouTube Shorts), YouTube Studio became key. I monitored which Shorts received the highest views, which thumbnails were most effective, and which formats led to new subscribers. I used these learnings to research highly engaging topics for full episodes.

Chartable helped me understand where my listeners were coming from. If I mentioned a podcast on YouTube or in a newsletter, I could actually track how many people click through. That level of attribution was incredibly useful when working with sponsors or testing out affiliate promotions.

beehiiv was where my newsletter lived. I used it as my go-to solution to write, edit, and publish engaging newsletter issues and grow my audience.

beehiiv also made me double my distribution effort by helping me turn high-performing newsletter issues into podcasts and publish them on various podcast hosting platforms.

What made me stick with beehiiv was its built-in monetization tools, which helped me increase my earnings and also supported my podcast strategy. 

Here’s how I used beehiiv to monetize my newsletter:

I used Stripe to manage paid memberships (linked to my beehiiv newsletter) and accept one-time payments for digital products like courses or templates.

I relied on Canva to design podcast cover art, create audiograms, and make all the social assets for Reels, Twitter, and newsletter embeds. Clean, on-brand visuals made my content stand out and helped increase clicks and listens.

Notion kept me organized. I mapped out content calendars, stored episode transcripts, and drafted everything from interview questions to email copy. Having a centralized workspace helped me stay consistent, and consistency was what fueled long-term growth.

If I had to start monetizing my podcast from the ground up, here’s what I would do:

If you could take one thing away from this piece, it should be that earning money solely through launching a podcast has limited scope.

Unless you build and grow an engaged audience, podcast monetization will always feel like an uphill task.

Growing my newsletter audience and leveraging the tools that beehiiv offers, such as paid tiers, referral programs, and newsletter-to-podcast repurposing, gave me the leverage I needed to turn my podcast into a revenue stream.

If you’re serious about turning your podcast into a sustainable business, start by building an email list using beehiiv. It’s easy to use, offers all the necessary tools, and offers a 30-day, free trial. Check it out today!