F#ck the CPM Model (Part II)

There is more than one way to get paid

Would it surprise you to learn that 2023 has been one of the most challenging years of my business? I found myself reevaluating everything. What was working, what wasn’t and whether or not I should move forward with the different projects that I’d been working on.

I was humbled.

Not enough people talk candidly about the fact that building a business or online brand can take time, steps forward and a couple of steps backwards.

After holding a successful session on how to monetize your podcast without ads at Podcast Movement in Denver and meeting subscribers to Podcasters Getting Paid “in real life” I knew that I wanted to continue working on this project into 2024. But, I needed to make some significant changes. Thank you for your patience and continued support.

Original Post from 2022

Small Podcasters Can (and Should) Get Paid for their Work

One of the most frustrating things that I experienced as an online content creator was the death of hope. This would happen every time someone would post about their 30,000 a month download show making money (my show was getting a fraction of those downloads)

Or, I would attend a podcast monetization panel at a podcasting conference and inevitably the panelists (industry professionals) would be asked by a member of the audience at which point would their company work with a host?

Listen to the Following Podcast Episode

10,000 or more downloads.

Here’s the thing, I wasn’t making 10,000 or more downloads a month for my primary show “Michelle is Money Hungry.” Instead I was getting around 2,000 (ish) a month in downloads depending on the frequency of episodes released.

The thing was….I was making money.

I was winning awards with my podcast and other online content and because of my overall brand-attracting collaborations, creating products and making money online.

But, there was no way that I could make money with the CPM model and in fact, I felt the CPM model was holding a lot of podcasters back from pursuing wildly creative and impactful ideas that could earn them money and potentially change their mindset about earnings and their brand.

Podcasters and the CPM Model

For all extents and purposes, the CPM model is almost like affiliate marketing. It takes A LOT of downloads to make this model make sense for a company to say “yes” to partnering with a host under this model. This is why there’s a minimum 10,000 download threshold before they say “yes” to YOU.

The problem with this is that the CPM model Jedi Mind Tricks people into thinking that it’s “just not possible” to make money with smaller shows and this is just not the case.

BUT, for podcasters who are creating a digital brand around the content that they’re creating. There are an endless number of ways to make money. In Podcasters Getting Paid, we’re going to deep dive into the different ways there are to make money, share content creator’s experiences (because I haven’t done everything) and share some of the best practices to consider as you decide which strategies make sense for your brand and the community that you serve.

The CPM Model Kills Monetization Dreams

For smaller podcasters the CPM model kills small podcasters monetization dreams. I’ve seen it happen almost every single time I’ve attended a podcast monetization panel with industry professionals on it.

Forget the Click Per Mille model for your small podcast.

It’s a dream killer.

What About Cash Flow?

That’s an entirely different conversation and cash flow is the reason why I rebranded this project to Creators Getting Paid. The primary focus on Creators Getting Paid is to help share tips, ideas and case studies to help online creators build predictable revenue/cash flow for their digital business. Check out the website and podcast.

Podcasters Getting Paid is a unique section of the Creators Getting Paid Project. Podcasting is still so new that there are some unique monetization conversations specific to that space that podcasters need to hear.