Five Monetization Strategies as a Content Creator with Joe Casabona of How I Built It
Oct 25, 2023
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Joe Casabona, host of 'How I Built It,' shares his S.M.A.S.H. framework for content creators, discussing monetization strategies, the effectiveness of sponsorships, using crossovers to build audience loyalty, finding lookalike audiences, the affiliate model of monetization, combining sponsorship and selling, and compartmentalizing content to promote services.
Joe Casabona's Smash framework outlines eight different ways to monetize content, including sponsorships, memberships, affiliates, and selling products or services.
Building a loyal audience and providing high-value content are crucial for effective monetization and audience engagement.
Deep dives
The Smash Framework for Monetizing Content
The podcast episode discusses Joe Casabona's Smash framework, which outlines eight different ways to monetize content. The framework includes sponsorships, memberships, affiliates, selling products or services, and helping others. Each strategy is explained in detail, with examples and insights provided. The importance of building a loyal audience and maintaining trust is emphasized. Tips are given for effectively implementing each monetization strategy, such as selecting sponsors that align with the audience and providing high-value content for memberships. The episode also covers the significance of developing a mission statement for the podcast and the benefits of regularly releasing solo episodes. Planning for monetization prior to launching the podcast is highlighted as a key consideration.
Audience Building Strategy and the Pitfalls of Social Media
The podcast delves into the audience building strategy for podcasts and highlights the pitfalls of relying solely on social media platforms. The importance of providing value on the platform being used is emphasized to keep audiences engaged and interested. Examples from college bulletin board posters and 90s TV shows like Friends and Mad About You are used to illustrate the concept of attracting and retaining audiences. The significance of finding lookalike audiences and leveraging podcast swaps is discussed as an effective way to expand listenership. The episode underscores the need to adapt strategies for different platforms and the value of focusing on audience trust.
The Smash Framework: Sponsors, Memberships, and Affiliates
The episode explores three key components of Joe Casabona's Smash framework for monetization: sponsors, memberships, and affiliates. Sponsorships are highlighted as a win-win-win approach, ensuring benefits for the content creator, brand, and audience. The power of memberships is described, offering premium content to loyal followers and creating an additional revenue stream. The advantages and drawbacks of affiliate programs are discussed, with emphasis placed on choosing programs that pay well and resonate with the audience. Examples and personal experiences are shared, such as the impact of Amazon's decreasing affiliate income and the long-term benefits of promoting web hosting services.
Selling and Helping: Selling Own Products and Showcasing Expertise
Joe Casabona explains the selling and helping components of the Smash framework. Selling focuses on utilizing the podcast to showcase authority and expertise, providing value to the audience while positioning oneself as an expert. The importance of clear messaging and avoiding mixed signals is highlighted to maintain trust with the audience. The value of offering coaching calls or workshopping course content is discussed as an effective way to demonstrate skills and attract clients. The helpful aspect involves creating content that helps people and builds trust faster, ideal for coaches and online course creators. Personal examples and actionable advice are provided to illustrate these strategies.
E55: Many content creators struggle with building a dedicated audience and effectively monetizing their content. Despite having quality content, they often lack the strategic framework to captivate and monetize an audience in a landscape saturated with creators.
So, how do you sift through the noise?
On today's episode, host Yong-Soo (@YongSooChung) has a very special guest, Joe Casabona (@jcasabona) , the host of the popular podcast 'How I Built It.' Joe talks about his S.M.A.S.H. framework for creators, which highlights all the monetization channels a creator has at their disposal.
On today’s episode, you’ll learn:
- Creator Monetization Strategies - Why Sponsorships Don't Always Work - S.M.A.S.H. Framework and its Components - How to Master the Art of Audience Building
If you're a content creator looking for ways of monetizing your content, this episode is a must-listen!
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*** EXCERPTS:
Premium Content: "What I tell people for this is you don't need a big audience, but you need a loyal audience. People who are really love your content or conversely really hate ads, like, I know people who pay for my show just because they hate ads, the value proposition for them is that you're providing them with a little extra." — Joe Casabona (17:43)
The Power of Podcasting: "A podcast can be a great way to get people to know, like, and trust you faster." — Joe Casabona(28:23)
*** First Class Founders is a show for indie hackers, bootstrapped founders, CEOs, solopreneurs, content creators, startup entrepreneurs, and SaaS startups covering topics like build in public, audience growth, product marketing, scaling up, side hustles, holding company, etc.
Past guests include Arvid Kahl, Tyler Denk, Noah Kagan, Clint Murphy, Jay Abraham, Andrew Gazdecki, Matt McGarry, Nick Huber, Khe Hy, and more.