We don’t have to tell you how much hard work goes into producing each and every episode. Whether you set out to make money in podcasting or it’s your passion project (or both!), having cash flow is key to sustaining your show long term. It can take a significant amount of time and energy to build your audience to a size where advertising is a viable option.
Donations and subscriptions are a great way to generate revenue starting from a dedicated group of initial followers at the earliest stages of your show’s development. Already advertising? Add exclusive content to reward your most dedicated followers and diversify your revenue streams.
Build subscription revenue for your podcast
At RedCircle, we realize that a one-size-fits-all approach to monetization doesn’t work, which is why we built tools that give creators multiple ways to make money with their podcast that align with their goals.
We created powerful monetization features to provide every podcaster, big or small, the opportunity to generate recurring revenue directly from their audience through donations and exclusive content.
Introducing Exclusive Content
RedCircle’s latest monetization tool helps generate subscription revenue for your podcast by placing some, or all of your content behind a paywall. Your listeners have the option to pay a monthly subscription fee for access to exclusive content. It’s up to you what content is designated exclusive, whether it’s specific episodes, additional bonus content, your back catalog, or your entire show.
You choose the amount your users will be charged monthly and create a description that tells listeners what the exclusive content will be and why they should subscribe. Once you’ve enabled exclusive content, RedCircle automatically adds a link to your show descriptions to make it easy for listeners to access your exclusive content.
Monthly Donations
We released our one-time donations feature earlier this year, which lets your listeners directly support your podcast by donating an amount of their choice. Today, we’re excited to share that we’ve added monthly donations.
Now, your listeners can choose to make a one-time donation, OR make a long-term commitment by subscribing to monthly donations. Splurge on that new microphone or book some studio time. With donations, it’s easy for your listeners to support you. They can subscribe to a monthly donation to show their ongoing support of your content.
Donations will automatically be enabled when you connect your bank account to RedCircle and set up your Stripe account. A donation link will appear in your show’s description or notes, as well as on your podcast’s public RedCircle page. As always, you are in control and can choose to turn the donation feature on or off at any time through the donations tab.
Transfer revenue directly to your bank account
We pride ourselves in being a champion of creators, so you can be sure you’ll keep the majority of the revenue you earn using RedCircle. We’ll also always be transparent with you about how we make money.
Here’s how it works. When you use RedCircle’s monetization tools to generate revenue, we do take a small share. We take an industry leading 4.5% share on donation revenue and 12% share for exclusive content—some of the lowest rates you can find in the industry.
You can track and manage your Donation and Exclusive Content revenue using RedCircle’s Money page. Our partnership with Stripe makes it super easy to process payments and transfer funds to your bank account quickly and securely at any time.
Get started making money with RedCircle
Subscriptions and Donations are powerful methods for building deeper relationships with your listeners. Here’s a few key benefits of directly monetizing your podcast:
- Generate additional recurring revenue streams
- Build a direct relationship with your listeners
- Gain the flexibility to adapt and test monetization strategies as you grow
Every podcast and audience is unique and both continue to evolve and grow over time. The best part about using a direct monetization strategy—it’s effective for podcasters of all kinds, at every stage.
We set out to build a product that streamlines monetization for all podcasters and we’re excited to see how Donations and Exclusive Content help you reach your goals.