Ever felt the pressure to turn your podcasting passion into a money-making machine? In this episode, we’re diving into why you don’t actually have to monetize your podcast if you don’t want to! In this episode, we explore five solid reasons to keep your podcast a fun hobby instead of a pressure cooker of dollar signs.
From the exhausting hustle of monetization culture to the pure joy of podcasting just for the love of it, we’re giving you the green light to focus on what really matters: your creativity and connection with your audience. So whether you're just starting out or already knee-deep in the podcasting world, we'll remind you that the joy of sharing your voice should come first.
And hey, if you still want to know how to monetize your podcast later, no worries! We’ve got a whole playlist in the show notes to help you with that too.
Takeaways:
Monetization culture can zap the fun out of your podcasting hobby, leaving you stressed.
It's totally okay to podcast just for joy; you don't need to make money from it.
Your podcast should be a creative outlet for you, not just another job to stress over.
Remember, you have full permission to enjoy podcasting without the pressure to monetize.
Hello everybody, and welcome back to another episode of the Lazy Girls Guide.
Speaker A:
Podcasting with me, Verity.
Speaker A:
Before we get into the goodness of this episode, I would love it if you could hit subscribe or follow and then you will get the latest episodes as soon as they are released.
Speaker A:
In today's episode, I am going to give you five reasons why you don't have to monetize your podcast.
Speaker A:
And you might be thinking this is a bit of a strange episode to be coming out with, because I have done a lot of episodes in the past on this podcast all about how to monetize your podcast.
Speaker A:
So many, in fact, that I've actually created a whole playlist of episodes specifically around monetizing your podcast.
Speaker A:
And I'm going to have that whole playlist linked in the show notes below.
Speaker A:
So if you want to binge all of those episodes specifically around monetizing your podcast, you can do that after listening to this episode.
Speaker A:
But I wanted to talk about the flip side of monetizing your podcast today and why you don't need to to monetize it if you don't want to.
Speaker A:
And that's perfectly okay.
Speaker A:
What we're going to cover in this episode is the pressure to monetize and why it's exhausting, why podcasting can and maybe should just be a hobby, the benefits of staying monetization free.
Speaker A:
And also, I hope you take away from this episode that you have permission to podcast just for the joy of it and not making money from your podcast.
Speaker A:
recording this at the end of:
Speaker A:
ll be published at the end of:
Speaker A:
But it feels that at this time, everywhere you look, the messaging from any kind of hobby is that you need to monetize your hobby.
Speaker A:
It doesn't matter if it's a YouTube channel, if it's podcasting, if it's knitting, whatever it is, everyone seems to be saying, oh, but you can monetize that hobby.
Speaker A:
And particularly, as I said in podcasting that there's so much information about making money with your podcast, turn your listeners into sales, pitch responses, et cetera, et cetera.
Speaker A:
And this can be great for a lot of people.
Speaker A:
Don't get me wrong, and I don't want anyone to take away from this episode that I'm saying don't monetize your podcast.
Speaker A:
I am just saying that monetization Culture can be exhausting.
Speaker A:
And I think sometimes when you start bringing monetization into a hobby, the fun gets sucked out of it.
Speaker A:
And especially when you started something as a hobby and for fun in the first place, to have that fun, being sucked out of it is just.
Speaker A:
It's horrible.
Speaker A:
And it takes away from the joy that you originally got from that hobby, and it makes your hobby just feel like another job.
Speaker A:
The second reason then, as to why you don't need to monetize your podcast is because you are allowed to have joy and fun from your hobbies.
Speaker A:
You think of any hobby that you have got where you don't monetize it.
Speaker A:
Maybe it's reading books, maybe it's writing, maybe it's going for walks, etc.
Speaker A:
Are you necessarily thinking of monetizing that hobby?
Speaker A:
Probably not.
Speaker A:
And therefore, why do you have to monetize podcasting as a hobby if you don't necessarily want to?
Speaker A:
You don't need to justify why you don't want to monetize your hobby.
Speaker A:
But if you are enjoying what you're doing, if you're getting connection, if you're getting personal fulfillment, do you know what?
Speaker A:
That could be enough for you.
Speaker A:
And you don't need to add the monetization side onto podcasting.
Speaker A:
Podcasting is a creative outlet.
Speaker A:
This is my third point.
Speaker A:
It can be a place to think out loud.
Speaker A:
That's why I podcast, because I do think out loud a lot of the time on the podcast and also the podcast.
Speaker A:
For me, this particular podcast is about sharing a journey.
Speaker A:
It's about building that lazy girl community when it comes to podcasting.
Speaker A:
Yes, I've monetized this podcast in the past, and I have made money through decent money as well through this podcast.
Speaker A:
At the moment, I'm going through a season where I'm not monetizing this podcast.
Speaker A:
I have stripped a lot of it back, and that was a very personal decision.
Speaker A:
So you may have noticed in the past that I've done things like memberships for this.
Speaker A:
I've done teaching, I've done coaching, I've done all sorts with this podcast.
Speaker A:
And like I said, I've made decent money from it, which is brilliant.
Speaker A:
But at the moment, I'm just at a point where I don't need to monetize the podcast.
Speaker A:
And I don't say I don't need to in like a really, like, oh, I've got all this money.
Speaker A:
Not at all.
Speaker A:
It's like, I don't need to, as in, I don't need the additional stress of monetizing the podcast.
Speaker A:
I just want to be able to enjoy this podcast, which is why I'm not monetizing it.
Speaker A:
And that then brings me on to my next point, that monetization complicates things, really can complicate things.
Speaker A:
Whether or not you're monetizing because you are selling something through your podcast, you've got a membership, maybe, or a course, maybe, you have got something going on with Patreon, you've got sponsorships, ads, whatever it is, there's an expectation that comes with these things.
Speaker A:
And monetization, as I said, it just.
Speaker A:
It complicates it.
Speaker A:
It could be that there's three contracts or agreements, or needing to fulfill a certain order or certain criteria.
Speaker A:
There might be deadlines.
Speaker A:
You could have performance anxiety.
Speaker A:
You know, is this good enough?
Speaker A:
And that can be really, really stressful.
Speaker A:
And if you're doing your podcast, you're creating your podcast episodes and running a podcast as a hobby, maybe you just don't want or need that additional stress and you just want to keep it simple and relaxed and true to you.
Speaker A:
And my final reason as to why you don't need to monetize your podcast is because your podcast is for you at the end of the day.
Speaker A:
Yes, it's for your listeners.
Speaker A:
Yes, it's for your audience, however big that might be, whether or not Your listenership is 5 people or 5,005, or anywhere in between, or anything bigger even, that's absolutely fine.
Speaker A:
And you've got full permission to use your podcast for a fun creative outlet, to have personal growth, to have personal expression.
Speaker A:
It could be that you're really interested in the tech side of things, and you just want to keep experimenting with different recording equipment or different software to help you with editing and producing your show.
Speaker A:
And that's absolutely fine.
Speaker A:
You're allowed to concentrate on those things without having some kind of return of investment.
Speaker A:
And if you love what you're doing, keep going.
Speaker A:
You don't need to let the monetization pressure steal that.
Speaker A:
So that for today, are my five reasons why you don't need to monetize your podcast.
Speaker A:
If you've listened to this and thought, actually, I do want to monetize my podcast, as I said, check out in the Show Notes, where I've got the playlist of loads of different episodes about how to monetize your podcast in different ways.
Speaker A:
But as I said, podcasting can be a hobby.
Speaker A:
It can be a refuge for some people, a space for real creativity, and you don't owe anybody the need to monetize your podcast, you owe yourself authenticity.
Speaker A:
And if you've been feeling the pressure to monetize your podcast, you're not sure where to go.
Speaker A:
Maybe you have monetized your podcast and are now thinking that you wish you hadn't.
Speaker A:
I hope that this episode gives you the permission and the confidence to either not monetize your podcast or to turn around and go.
Speaker A:
Actually, monetization isn't for me.
Speaker A:
I'm going to stop this, and there's absolutely no right or wrong way.
Speaker A:
But I hope that this episode has given you that confidence that to help you with that decision.
Speaker A:
When it comes to monetizing your podcast, this episode has resonated with you.
Speaker A:
If you've enjoyed it, please hit the subscribe or Follow button on whichever podcast platform you are currently listening on.
