586: Monetize Your Curiosity: $80k in Revenue from a Part-Time Project
Nov 16, 2023
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Harry Duran, launched the Vertical Farming Podcast with no experience, and now generates over $80k revenue. Learn about tactics for landing high-profile guests, securing sponsors, expanding into a media network, and more. Discover the strategies behind connecting with influential guests and securing sponsorships, targeting niche B2B companies with funding and marketing budgets, utilizing Crunchbase for research and SEO strategies, building relationships and sponsorship deals, building social proof and creative sponsorship strategies, approaching events as a media business, and taking imperfect action and building a reputation.
Leveraging strategic partnerships and consistency can establish a side hustle podcast as a leading authority in a niche industry.
Treating sponsors like gold by providing maximum visibility and overdelivering can lead to successful sponsorship strategies in podcasting.
Building a strong online presence, engaging with listeners, and leveraging industry events are key to driving growth and expanding the reach of a niche podcast.
Deep dives
Building a Niche Podcast: Vertical Farming
Harry Durant shares how he created a successful side hustle podcast in the niche industry of vertical farming. Despite not being an expert in the field, Harry quickly built a loyal audience by leveraging his podcasting skills and interviewing influential CEOs and founders in the vertical farming space. He attracted a $9,000 sponsor before releasing an episode, showcasing the power of leveraging his platform and industry connections. Harry's podcast focuses on human-to-human conversations, inspiring listeners and showcasing the origin stories of individuals in the industry. He also explores creative revenue streams such as partnerships, media placements, and fractional equity deals with startups in the industry.
Treat Sponsors Like Gold
One key aspect of Harry's podcast success is his emphasis on treating sponsors like gold. He creates title sponsorships and ad reads to give sponsors maximum visibility and exposure. Harry also goes the extra mile by promoting sponsors on social media, mentioning them in podcast episodes, and highlighting their businesses in LinkedIn posts. By overdelivering and building strong relationships with sponsors, Harry shows the value of effective sponsorship strategies in the podcasting world.
Growing the Podcast and Expanding Reach
To grow his podcast audience, Harry focuses on strategic partnerships with established players in the industry. He aims to collaborate with related podcasts and media outlets to increase visibility and reach. Additionally, Harry seeks opportunities to speak at conferences and events in order to engage with target listeners directly. He also explores creative ways to promote the podcast, such as utilizing postcards at conferences or moderating panels. By leveraging industry connections and capitalizing on industry events, Harry continues to drive growth and expand the reach of his niche podcast.
Building a Strong Online Presence
The podcast host emphasizes the importance of building a strong online presence and engaging with listeners. They discuss how creating platforms like LinkedIn showcase pages and social media profiles can help drive engagement and connect with the target audience. The host highlights the effectiveness of using different social media platforms to promote episodes, generate brand visibility, and encourage audience interaction. They also share specific examples of successful strategies, including using audiograms or video grams and collaborating with guests and sponsors to amplify the podcast's reach.
Expanding Opportunities and Future Growth
The podcast host talks about the future of the podcast and the niche it serves. They mention the potential for partnerships and expanding into a larger media group focusing on specific categories within the industry. The host draws inspiration from successful niche media companies and envisions similar growth opportunities for the podcast. They emphasize the importance of thinking long-term and exploring avenues for further promotion and engagement with the target audience. The host also shares personal insights on the journey from being an outsider in the industry to becoming a respected figure and spokesperson within the vertical farming community.
When Harry Duran launched the Vertical Farming Podcast in 2020, he had zero experience or connections in the industry — he just wanted to learn more about vertical farming.
Yet through strategic partnerships and consistency, he has established himself as a leading voice in this emerging space.
Fast forward just over three years later, the show generates over $80,000 in annual revenue.
Harry is now seen as a leading authority in the space.
His show generates thousands in sponsorship revenue from companies eager to get in front of this highly targeted audience.
Tune into episode 586 of The Side Hustle Show to learn: