Many podcasters start with the hope that downloads and sponsors will magically appear — but if you want your show to make money, you need more than wishful thinking.
This episode walks through the three essential “I’s” to transform a podcast from a casual hobby into a revenue-generating asset:
- Intention (know your audience and improve quality)
- Investment (put resources into the right tools and talent)
- Iteratipon (get feedback, refine, and make your show something worth paying for).
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Description written by ChatGPT based on the transcript
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About Streamlined Podcaster: This is the show for solo podcasters who love their podcast but hate how much time it takes. Each week, host Joe Casabona shares the systems, workflows, and podcast automation that let you run a great show without burning out.
Joe has been a solo podcaster for 15+ years and helps solopreneurs replace manual tasks with reliable systems so they can take time off worry-free. He knows firsthand what it takes to produce a quality show solo — and he's here to help you do the same.
Get Joe's favorite podcasting tools: https://streamlinedpodcaster.com/tools
Connect with Joe on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jcasabona/
00:00:02 --> 00:00:06 Welcome to the Streamlines Podcaster, a podcast
00:00:06 --> 00:00:08 that shows you how to put the right systems in
00:00:08 --> 00:00:12 place so you can stop spinning your wheels, focus
00:00:12 --> 00:00:15 on making great content and see your show grow.
00:00:15 --> 00:00:17 Because there's nothing worse than putting a
00:00:17 --> 00:00:20 ton of effort into your show to see very few
00:00:20 --> 00:00:24 benefits and even fewer downloads. My name is
00:00:24 --> 00:00:27 Joe Casabona and I know you're strapped for time.
00:00:27 --> 00:00:31 So let's get into it. Something that I observe
00:00:31 --> 00:00:34 with a lot of podcasters is when they start out,
00:00:34 --> 00:00:37 they say something to the effect of, yeah, so
00:00:37 --> 00:00:40 I figure I'll just launch and get a bunch of
00:00:40 --> 00:00:42 downloads and then hopefully sponsors will reach
00:00:42 --> 00:00:46 out. And that's just simply not the case. As
00:00:46 --> 00:00:48 somebody who's been podcasting for over 10 years,
00:00:48 --> 00:00:52 who has had brand deals for over 10 years, and
00:00:52 --> 00:00:55 who is an active sponsor coach for the Wizards
00:00:55 --> 00:01:00 Guild, Justin Moore's thing. I can tell you that
00:01:00 --> 00:01:03 sponsors are not just going to reach out and
00:01:03 --> 00:01:06 you probably aren't going to get a bunch of downloads
00:01:06 --> 00:01:10 right off the bat. Now there is also a distinction
00:01:10 --> 00:01:15 right between people who want to support their
00:01:15 --> 00:01:20 business with a podcast and people who start
00:01:20 --> 00:01:24 a podcast for the love of the game and so If
00:01:24 --> 00:01:26 you're looking to support your business with
00:01:26 --> 00:01:31 your podcasts, I have episodes like Tiaran and
00:01:31 --> 00:01:33 Thought Pieces over at streamlinedpodcaster .com.
00:01:34 --> 00:01:37 And I'll probably put out more of that because
00:01:37 --> 00:01:39 I think a lot about that. But if you have started
00:01:39 --> 00:01:47 your podcast as a hobby and you want to maybe
00:01:47 --> 00:01:51 turn it into a stream of income, I think that
00:01:51 --> 00:01:54 there is a path to that. But I think you really
00:01:54 --> 00:01:59 need to switch contexts, right? I love playing
00:01:59 --> 00:02:06 the drums. And I am very aware that it is a hobby
00:02:06 --> 00:02:08 for me. I don't think I'm good enough to play
00:02:08 --> 00:02:12 live. I think I'm barely good enough to play
00:02:12 --> 00:02:15 with other people, but I also don't care to do
00:02:15 --> 00:02:20 that, right? There's like Rod Stewart famously
00:02:21 --> 00:02:24 uh does model trains but does not do them very
00:02:24 --> 00:02:29 well and the idea behind that and and other things
00:02:29 --> 00:02:31 like that is that you know a hobby could be something
00:02:31 --> 00:02:35 that you don't do well enough for people to want
00:02:35 --> 00:02:38 to pay you and that's what the drums is for me
00:02:38 --> 00:02:41 i don't want to turn drums into a job i want
00:02:41 --> 00:02:45 to keep that for me and it can be for me and
00:02:45 --> 00:02:47 maybe your podcast is the same way maybe you're
00:02:47 --> 00:02:51 really passionate about Disney or Star Wars or
00:02:51 --> 00:02:55 coffee mugs or Lego or model trains and you just
00:02:55 --> 00:02:57 want an outlet to talk about it and if other
00:02:57 --> 00:03:02 people enjoy that then they can follow along.
00:03:03 --> 00:03:08 But if you start your podcast off as a hobby
00:03:08 --> 00:03:12 and you have a little bit of intention to turn
00:03:12 --> 00:03:17 it in to a stream of income then again the mindset
00:03:17 --> 00:03:21 shift needs to change. So let's go back to me
00:03:21 --> 00:03:25 playing the drums. Let's say tomorrow I decide
00:03:25 --> 00:03:30 I want to, I actually want to make this a job.
00:03:30 --> 00:03:36 I want to get paid to be a drummer. My approach
00:03:36 --> 00:03:42 has to change because right now my approach is
00:03:42 --> 00:03:45 I have an electric drum set The cymbals don't
00:03:45 --> 00:03:48 work as well as they should. I need to probably
00:03:48 --> 00:03:53 replace them or fix them. And it's like not really
00:03:53 --> 00:03:55 fully optimized for me to play well. It's good
00:03:55 --> 00:03:57 enough. You know, it's good enough for me to
00:03:57 --> 00:04:01 just go for a half hour or 40 minutes and just
00:04:01 --> 00:04:06 play along with songs. And I do have a drums
00:04:06 --> 00:04:08 playlist. I'll teach myself a new song every
00:04:08 --> 00:04:13 once in a while. But it's mostly a set of 20
00:04:13 --> 00:04:15 to 30 songs that I like to play and I just put
00:04:15 --> 00:04:18 the playlist on random and I play for a half
00:04:18 --> 00:04:22 hour. Some of those songs I don't even play right,
00:04:22 --> 00:04:24 like play correctly, right? I just play along
00:04:24 --> 00:04:27 to them in such a way that I'm keeping the beat
00:04:27 --> 00:04:29 and it's fun. And I do, you know, I do try to
00:04:29 --> 00:04:34 learn new songs. But again, when I try to learn
00:04:34 --> 00:04:37 new songs, I don't know how to read music. At
00:04:37 --> 00:04:38 least I don't know how to read it very well.
00:04:39 --> 00:04:42 And so I'll usually listen, I'll learn by ear
00:04:42 --> 00:04:44 and it takes me longer and I'll probably play
00:04:44 --> 00:04:46 it incorrectly, but I'll play it through and
00:04:46 --> 00:04:50 pick up new things as I'm playing. That's a fine
00:04:50 --> 00:04:53 approach for a hobby, right? But if I wanted
00:04:53 --> 00:04:56 to be a professional drummer, I would have to
00:04:56 --> 00:05:00 start playing for, I'm gonna say two to three
00:05:00 --> 00:05:03 hours a day. I'm actually gonna have to learn
00:05:03 --> 00:05:06 the songs. I'm not saying I have to learn how
00:05:06 --> 00:05:09 to read music. But I'm gonna have to learn how
00:05:09 --> 00:05:11 to play them the right way, especially songs
00:05:11 --> 00:05:14 that are more distinctive, right? If I learn
00:05:14 --> 00:05:19 how to play In the Air Tonight by Phil Collins,
00:05:20 --> 00:05:22 you know, I need to play that correctly. It's
00:05:22 --> 00:05:25 got iconic drums in it. If I'm just playing like
00:05:25 --> 00:05:28 generic punk song by one of the many bands I
00:05:28 --> 00:05:33 used to listen to and still listen to, then it's
00:05:33 --> 00:05:36 less crucial that I play the drums exactly right.
00:05:37 --> 00:05:39 octopus's garden like I gotta play that I know
00:05:39 --> 00:05:40 how to play that so I get but I gotta play that
00:05:40 --> 00:05:44 right right so I'm gonna need to properly learn
00:05:44 --> 00:05:46 how to play those songs I'm gonna have to invest
00:05:46 --> 00:05:49 a lot more time I'm going to have to get a better
00:05:49 --> 00:05:52 drum set cuz like again right now the drum set
00:05:52 --> 00:05:55 I have is fine for the way I'm playing but it's
00:05:55 --> 00:05:59 not fine -tuned the cymbals or things just sound
00:05:59 --> 00:06:01 a little bit off but it's good enough for me
00:06:01 --> 00:06:05 to play as a hobby The same thing goes for if
00:06:05 --> 00:06:10 you are switching your podcast from a hobby to
00:06:10 --> 00:06:14 a source of income. You can't really take the
00:06:14 --> 00:06:16 approach of, ah, let's just hit record and see
00:06:16 --> 00:06:19 what happens. You need to go in with a plan.
00:06:19 --> 00:06:22 You need to understand who your podcast helps
00:06:22 --> 00:06:25 and why people listen to your podcast, whether
00:06:25 --> 00:06:28 that is for entertainment purposes or to learn
00:06:28 --> 00:06:33 something or for some other reason, right? No
00:06:33 --> 00:06:35 matter what, your podcast solves a problem. If
00:06:35 --> 00:06:37 you're like, oh, well, this is really just entertainment.
00:06:38 --> 00:06:41 Entertainment solves problems, right? You know,
00:06:41 --> 00:06:45 I will watch when I'm sad or having a bad day,
00:06:45 --> 00:06:52 I will watch Friends because, you know, 196 of
00:06:52 --> 00:06:56 the 200 plus episodes are not heavy episodes.
00:06:56 --> 00:06:59 They are just funny, high jinks, sitcom things
00:06:59 --> 00:07:04 happen. And it helps me forget. Right? So you
00:07:04 --> 00:07:09 need to think about what your podcast, what problem
00:07:09 --> 00:07:12 your podcast solves, why people listen to your
00:07:12 --> 00:07:15 podcast. And there are actually, I have three
00:07:15 --> 00:07:20 eyes for changing your podcast from a hobby to
00:07:20 --> 00:07:23 a source of income. The first is intentionality.
00:07:24 --> 00:07:29 Like I was saying, you need to be intentional
00:07:29 --> 00:07:34 with your show. Determine who you're talking
00:07:34 --> 00:07:40 to. Make the sound quality better. Have an actual
00:07:40 --> 00:07:43 outline for the show. Don't just say, oh, it's
00:07:43 --> 00:07:45 totally unstructured. We're just going to have
00:07:45 --> 00:07:49 a raw conversation. Because that's not good enough
00:07:49 --> 00:07:53 for a podcast where you want it to generate income,
00:07:53 --> 00:07:57 especially now. Right. You know, with Wondery
00:07:57 --> 00:08:01 closing or with the layoffs at Wondery. I think
00:08:01 --> 00:08:07 a lot of people are trying to figure out where
00:08:07 --> 00:08:12 exactly podcasting lives. And I think it's somewhere
00:08:12 --> 00:08:17 between raw unedited conversation that sounds
00:08:17 --> 00:08:20 like it was recorded in a bathroom stall and
00:08:20 --> 00:08:26 highly produced cinematic quality audio. It's
00:08:26 --> 00:08:28 somewhere in between there, right? Because the
00:08:28 --> 00:08:33 cinematic quality audio, the level of effort
00:08:33 --> 00:08:36 for those wondery shows has clearly not borne
00:08:36 --> 00:08:41 out as a worthwhile investment. But the crappy
00:08:41 --> 00:08:45 shows aren't good either. So you need to be intentional
00:08:45 --> 00:08:47 about who you help and the quality of the show
00:08:47 --> 00:08:51 you're putting together. The second I, related
00:08:51 --> 00:08:55 to the first I, is invest. They say you got to
00:08:55 --> 00:08:57 spend money to make money and ideally you're
00:08:57 --> 00:09:00 going to spend a lot less money than you make
00:09:00 --> 00:09:04 but in the beginning you are going to have to
00:09:04 --> 00:09:09 invest a little bit in What you're doing hire
00:09:09 --> 00:09:14 an editor Get better software Maybe if you're
00:09:14 --> 00:09:16 putting the show on YouTube hire a thumbnail
00:09:16 --> 00:09:19 person get a better microphone Sound quality
00:09:19 --> 00:09:24 matters, right? So invest a little bit to show
00:09:24 --> 00:09:26 people that you actually care about the show.
00:09:27 --> 00:09:31 And the third I is iterate. When you're doing
00:09:31 --> 00:09:33 a hobby, right? Again, if I'm going back to my
00:09:33 --> 00:09:37 drums example, I'm not iterating that much. I
00:09:37 --> 00:09:39 learned a bunch of songs when I was a teenager.
00:09:40 --> 00:09:42 I played them when I went off to college. I didn't
00:09:42 --> 00:09:44 bring my drum set with me for a million reasons.
00:09:44 --> 00:09:47 But then Rock Band came out and I actually learned
00:09:47 --> 00:09:50 a bunch of songs thanks to Rock Band and my friend
00:09:50 --> 00:09:54 and my housemate John. John Kelly, shout out.
00:09:54 --> 00:09:56 He brought his drum set because he was a drummer
00:09:56 --> 00:09:58 too, a much better drummer than me. He brought
00:09:58 --> 00:10:01 his drum set and put it in the basement of our
00:10:01 --> 00:10:04 house. And he told me I could play it whenever
00:10:04 --> 00:10:07 I wanted. And so I ended up learning a bunch
00:10:07 --> 00:10:10 of new songs thanks to Rock Band and John Kelly.
00:10:13 --> 00:10:17 And, you know, now I'm approaching 40 and I've
00:10:17 --> 00:10:19 learned a few new songs, but I'm not really iterating.
00:10:19 --> 00:10:25 I'm just doing it for fun. But if you are investing
00:10:25 --> 00:10:27 in your show, if you're being intentional, the
00:10:27 --> 00:10:32 third I is iterate. Make the show better by getting
00:10:32 --> 00:10:35 feedback, by figuring out what's working and
00:10:35 --> 00:10:41 not working, and just improving to make it something
00:10:41 --> 00:10:46 that people want to invest in, right? Make it
00:10:46 --> 00:10:48 something people want to give you money for.
00:10:48 --> 00:10:54 Whether that is through sponsors, or other ads
00:10:54 --> 00:10:58 or hiring you to do something or buying your
00:10:58 --> 00:11:06 product. So intentional, invest, iterate. If
00:11:06 --> 00:11:11 you want to take your podcast from hobby to income
00:11:11 --> 00:11:13 generator, those are the three things you need
00:11:13 --> 00:11:16 to do. I'd love to hear from you. Do you have
00:11:16 --> 00:11:18 a hobby podcast that you want to start making
00:11:18 --> 00:11:21 money from? Let me know what you think. You can
00:11:21 --> 00:11:24 send your feedback over at streamlinedfeedback
00:11:24 --> 00:11:28 .com. That's streamlined with a D, feedback .com.
00:11:29 --> 00:11:31 Thanks so much for listening, and until next
00:11:31 --> 00:11:33 time, I hope you find some space in your week.