Making money from a podcast sounds exciting, but it can also feel a little unrealistic when you’re just starting out.
You might have a small audience, only a few hundred downloads per episode, and no companies contacting you about sponsorships. That doesn’t mean your podcast can’t make money.
One option worth looking at is affiliate marketing.
Instead of waiting for a company to pay you upfront for an advertisement, you recommend products or services that are relevant to your audience. If someone makes a purchase through your affiliate link, you earn a commission.
For Buzzsprout users, one of the easiest ways to get started is through the Buzzsprout Affiliate Marketplace.
The marketplace was created with independent podcasters in mind. Buzzsprout describes it as a way for podcasters to promote products and services that fit their audience, even when their shows are still relatively small.
- But is it actually worth using?
- How does it work?
- How much can you make?
And is the Buzzsprout Affiliate Marketplace better than simply joining affiliate programs yourself? Let’s take a closer look.
What Is the Buzzsprout Affiliate Marketplace?
The Buzzsprout Affiliate Marketplace is a collection of affiliate opportunities available to podcasters.
The basic idea is simple. You find a product or service that makes sense for your listeners. You apply to promote it. If you’re approved, you receive a unique affiliate link.
You then share that link with your audience. If someone clicks your link and completes a qualifying purchase, you receive a commission.
This is different from traditional podcast sponsorship. With a sponsorship, a company might pay you a fixed amount to mention its product in an episode.
With affiliate marketing, you’re generally paid based on results. That makes affiliate marketing particularly interesting for smaller podcasts.
You don’t necessarily have to convince a company that your podcast is big enough to justify an advertising campaign. Instead, you can prove that your audience is willing to take action.
Buzzsprout has previously described its marketplace as a way for podcasters to start monetizing regardless of audience size.
Why Affiliate Marketing Makes Sense for Small Podcasts
Imagine you have 500 listeners per episode. If you approach a traditional sponsor, they may look at that number and decide your audience is too small.
With affiliate marketing, the situation is different.
Suppose 20 of those 500 listeners click your link and two eventually buy the product. You have generated actual customers. The company gets something valuable, and you earn a commission. That doesn’t mean you’ll automatically make a lot of money.
Affiliate marketing can be slow at first. But it gives smaller podcasters another way to monetize without waiting until they have thousands or tens of thousands of listeners.
That’s one of the biggest reasons I think affiliate marketing is worth considering early in a podcast’s life.
How the Buzzsprout Marketplace Works
The process is fairly straightforward. If you’re a Buzzsprout podcaster, you can access monetization tools from your account.
Buzzsprout’s current help documentation also explains that its Monetization area includes tools for sponsors and affiliates.
From there, you can look through available affiliate opportunities and decide which ones make sense for your audience.
Once you find a program you’re interested in, you can apply. If you’re accepted, you’ll receive an affiliate link.
You can then put that link in your podcast show notes, website, newsletter, social media posts, or anywhere else the program allows.
The important part is that you shouldn’t promote something just because it pays a commission. The product needs to make sense for your listeners.
Relevance Is More Important Than Commission
It’s easy to get distracted by commission rates. Suppose one product pays you $5 per sale and another pays $50. The $50 commission looks much better. But what if almost nobody wants the $50 product?
Meanwhile, your audience loves the $5 product and buys it regularly. The lower-paying product could make you more money. That’s why you should look at the entire picture.
- Consider the product’s price.
- Consider how useful it is.
- Think about how well it fits your audience.
Consider whether your listeners already ask about products like it. And, of course, look at the commission. Don’t let the commission percentage make the decision for you.
How to Add Affiliate Links to Your Podcast
One nice thing about Buzzsprout is that you don’t have to completely reinvent your workflow.
Buzzsprout allows podcasters to save sponsors and affiliate partners inside their account. You can add the company name, logo or artwork, URL, and a description.
Then, when you’re preparing an episode, you can add those sponsors or affiliates to the episode description.
That can save time if you regularly promote the same products. For example, suppose you recommend the same microphone in several episodes.
Instead of manually rebuilding the show-note section every time, you can use your saved sponsor or affiliate information.
It’s a small feature, but small conveniences like this can make podcast publishing easier.
Where Should You Put Your Affiliate Link?
Your show notes are probably the most obvious place. Let’s say you’re talking about podcast microphones. You could mention a microphone during the episode and then write:
“You can find the microphone I use here: [affiliate link].”
That gives the listener an obvious next step. You can also put affiliate links on your podcast website.
If you have a page called “My Podcast Equipment,” for example, you could list the products you genuinely use and include the appropriate affiliate links.
Your newsletter can also work well. And depending on the affiliate program’s rules, you may be able to share your links through social media.
The key is to make the link useful rather than simply dropping it everywhere.
Talk About Products Naturally
Nobody wants to listen to a podcast that sounds like one long sales pitch. If you suddenly interrupt an episode with:
“BUY THIS PRODUCT NOW!”
people are going to tune out. Instead, make recommendations part of the conversation. For example:
“I’ve been using this microphone for the last year, and the biggest thing I like about it is how easy it is to set up. If you’re interested, I’ve put a link in the show notes.”
That’s much more natural. You’re explaining why you like something. You’re giving the listener useful information.
Then you’re giving them the option to learn more. That’s what affiliate marketing should feel like.
Be Honest About Affiliate Relationships
You should tell your audience when a link is an affiliate link. There’s no good reason to hide it. A simple disclosure can be enough:
“Some links in our show notes are affiliate links. If you purchase through one of these links, we may earn a commission at no extra cost to you.”
The exact wording and requirements can vary depending on where you operate and which affiliate program you’re using, so make sure your disclosures comply with the applicable rules.
Being transparent also helps protect the relationship you have with your audience. People generally don’t mind affiliate links when they understand what’s happening. What annoys people is feeling like they’ve been tricked.
How Much Money Can You Make?
This is where you need to keep your expectations realistic. There isn’t a guaranteed amount. Your earnings depend on several things:
- Your audience size.
- How relevant the product is.
- Your click-through rate.
- The product’s price.
- The commission rate.
- The percentage of clicks that turn into sales.
- How often you promote the product.
A podcast with 1,000 listeners could make almost nothing from an affiliate product.
It could also make a meaningful amount if those listeners are highly targeted and the product is a great fit.
That’s why I wouldn’t look at affiliate marketing as “easy passive income.” It takes work.
Don’t Expect Every Listener to Buy
Let’s say your episode gets 10,000 downloads. That doesn’t mean 10,000 people are going to click your affiliate link.
A small percentage may click. An even smaller percentage may purchase. That’s normal. Affiliate marketing is a numbers game, but it’s also a trust game.
A listener might hear your recommendation today and buy the product three months later. Someone else might click but decide the product isn’t right for them. Another person might purchase immediately.
Don’t judge an affiliate program after one episode. Give it enough time to collect meaningful data.
Affiliate Marketing vs. Podcast Sponsorships
Affiliate marketing and sponsorships are different. With a sponsorship, you may get paid for delivering an agreed advertisement.
With affiliate marketing, you’re generally paid when your recommendation generates a qualifying action.
For a small podcast, affiliate marketing can be easier to start with. A sponsor might say:
“Come back when you have 10,000 downloads per episode.”
An affiliate program may say:
“Here is your link. If your audience buys, you earn a commission.”
That removes some of the risk for the advertiser.
Buzzsprout has also explained affiliate marketing as an option for podcasters who don’t yet have enough audience size for traditional sponsorships. As your podcast grows, you don’t have to choose one or the other.
You can use affiliate marketing, sponsorships, listener support, subscriptions, and other revenue streams together.
Don’t Rely Only on the Buzzsprout Marketplace
The Buzzsprout Affiliate Marketplace is convenient, but it shouldn’t necessarily be your entire affiliate strategy. Many companies operate their own affiliate programs.
If you regularly recommend a product that isn’t available through the marketplace, check whether the company has its own program.
Buzzsprout itself also supports adding your own sponsors and affiliate partners to your account. Its help documentation says you can add as many partners as needed and include their information in episode descriptions.
This is useful because it means you aren’t locked into only the marketplace’s available brands. You can build an affiliate strategy around the products that actually make sense for your show.
Final Thoughts
The Buzzsprout Affiliate Marketplace is a useful option for podcasters who want to start making money without waiting for a huge audience.
It’s particularly interesting for smaller shows because affiliate marketing doesn’t depend entirely on download numbers. If your audience trusts you and you’re recommending products they genuinely need, even a relatively small podcast can generate affiliate sales.
If you host your podcast with Buzzsprout, it’s worth exploring the Monetization section and seeing what’s currently available. Buzzsprout continues to offer several ways to monetize a podcast, including affiliate links, listener support, subscriptions, and advertising options.