CAMPS: Updating the Podcast Monetization Framework
Over the last 2 weeks I’ve shared with you that I’m ostensibly getting rid of two lines of monetization for my podcast: Membership, and Sponsorship.
That begs the question: how will I monetize my podcast in 2025? After all, the primary reason I got into podcast coaching was my early success in growing the show, and getting sponsors.
But I’ve been saying for years (longer than I’ve been friends with Justin Moore) that sponsorship isn’t the easiest path for a small audience podcaster. That to do it right, it takes work.
Revising the SMASH Framework
So I decided to revisit my SMASH framework, which I developed in 2020-2021, to help people understand how to monetize their podcasts. SMASH stands for:
Sponsorship: The most common way people think of to monetize their podcast because it’s the most visible. You get a company to give you money to advertise on your show.
Membership : Another commonly known way to monetize. Instead of asking potential sponsors, you ask your listeners to directly support the show, usually in exchange for some members-only benefits.
Affiliate Links: This is the lowest barrier to entry, but may take time to get a decent income. You sign up for affiliate programs for products you commonly recommend, and you get a cut of each sale from people who click your link.
Selling: I feel is the least-used way to monetize a podcast. You, using the podcast to prove your expertise, sell directly to your audience.
Helping: Similar to Selling, you use your podcast to land consulting clients, coaching clients, or sell your online courses.
After using this for nearly 4 years, I’ve realized there are two problems with it:
It puts sponsorship at the front, making it seem like the best way to monetize.
Selling and Helping are basically the same thing, which makes the framework harder to explain.
Sponsorship is Still a Great Way to Monetize
I want to make this super clear: I think sponsorship is a great avenue for podcasters. I’m a sponsorship coach for Justin in his Wizard’s Guild.
But it has gotten harder, and it requires more work, and probably other content properties, to put together a stand-out package. Heck — I landed most of my podcast sponsorships over the last 2 years by throwing in a YouTube video and newsletter spot.
Something we teach in Wizard’s Guild is leveraging packages, based on goals, and since most of my sponsors have the goal of awareness, a multichannel approach is a smart one.
But I also help a specific type of podcaster best: solopreneurs and small-medium sized businesses (SMBs) who are leveraging their podcast as part of their content and marketing efforts. And for that reason, I think there are other avenues worth trying first.
So I’ve decided to change my framework. “SMASH” has been co-opted by YouTubers looking for likes anyway.
What I want is something to give you the idea that all of these can work together.
I want you to think of your monetization strategy as CAMPS.
The CAMPS Framework
Now I’ll say here at the top that I came up with the methods — and the exact words — but did ask for help from ChatGPT on arranging the acronym. I kept coming up with SPAM and SCAM and that’s…well, that’s suboptimal.
The methods of CAMPS are still largely the same, but they shake out a little clearer than SMASH:
Coaching
Affiliates
Membership
Products
Sponsorship
Coaching takes the place of Helping, and moves to the front. Helping was doing a lot of heavy lifting in SMASH — coaching, consulting, courses — plus it conflicted with “Selling.”
If you have a program for coaching and consulting, or a mastermind group, leverage your podcast for that immediately. Create authority-building content, make the CTA to join your mailing list, and nurture listeners into becoming clients.
The same thing goes with Affiliates. This is the path of least resistance, thought it’s probably a slower build to appreciable revenue. I recommend picking 3-6 tools and services that you love, that pay well, and talk about them a lot.
Getting Feedback from Your Audience
The next 3 all have something in common, though you can do them in any order: you need to talk to your audience to make these work.
Membership I’ve talked about excessively. Same with Sponsorship. See the linked articles above for more context.
When it comes to Products, you might think this belongs with Coaching and Affiliates. And if you’ve been successfully selling physical or digital products from before you had a podcast, you’d be right.
You can use your show to talk behind-the-scenes work, or talk about new ideas (which you can also get feedback for).
But maybe you’re just getting into the product game. Perhaps none of your products have sold as you would have liked. Now you have a warm audience that you can ask for feedback, learn from, and then create a product that actually helps them.
I’m happy to add this to the CAMPS framework now because I’ve done this for years — just making a course or digital product I thought would be good and easy to sell.
But this year, I started getting real feedback from my audience — talking to them about their issues, why they listen to the show, and why they join my mailing list.
It’s how I came up with the Unstuck Sessions — a way for them to get more personalized help without getting my expensive coaching program.
I trust that in 2025, with more time, I’ll come up with a few other products thanks to feedback from my podcast audience.
Which Camp are You Joining First?
As we go into 2025, I encourage you to think about the CAMPS framework. Are you ready to form relationships and become a true partner to a select number of brands?
Are you going to try your hand at Memberships? Or are you ready to finally develop a product or coaching program that your listeners truly need.
Let me know! I’d love to hear from you.
Originally published at Podcast Workflows on December 16th, 2024