Founder of comedy podcast network shares his secrets to online riches

A COMEDY podcast network based in Melbourne has recently made the transition from hobby to full-time profession. Here’s how to do the same.

WHETHER it’s My Dad Wrote A Porno, Serial or The Joe Rogan Experience, it seems we can’t go anywhere these days without hearing about podcasts.

But have you ever listened to an episode of a podcast and thought you could a better job?

Well now might be the time to act, with the second coming of the medium opening up doors to Aussie content creators looking to make money from their offerings.

For proof, one only has to look at the Sanspants Radio comedy podcast network based out of Melbourne, which recently made its way to the top of iTunes and has been able to monetise content as a result of hosting on the Acast platform.

Founder Joel Zammit admits podcasting is not a get-rich-quick scheme, having been working on the project since 2012 when he was a media lecturer and tutor at La Trobe University.

“I put the call-out to students to see if anyone was keen to start something using the university equipment and ended up getting two different groups — a serious Radio Lab type project and the one more focused on comedy,” he told news.com.au.

What started as an experiment soon became lucrative for Mr Zammit, with the podcast able to become a full-time profession for himself and a two other staff.

“We now have at least three people doing full-time and another 10 casuals after being one of the lucky ones able to monetise through a combination of crowd-funding along with advertisers,” he said. “We also recently did a sold-out tour of the UK, with live shows being another avenue stream.”

Joel Zammit has made his podcasting dream a reality

When it comes to making a living from podcasting, Mr Zammit told people to expect a lot of work.

“I would say it took us four years, if not longer. It was a slow progression and something unexpected,” he said.

“We are producing five shows weekly, plus extra content for paid subscribers and it is still trial and error.

“Patience is always good to have because you likely won’t be an overnight success. So if you’re not passionate about you work, I would suggest not to start a podcast.”

In saying that, Mr Zammit is proof it’s not impossible to make your hobby a profession and he believes if you do have the right drive, you can make it happen.

“You don’t need to spend a lot of money, maybe $30 for mics and $70 for a mixer. It really comes down to the quality of content and churning out as much as you can,” he said.

“It’s about short-term sacrifice for long-term reward.”

As the worldwide leader of tech infrastructure for podcasts, content director at Acast Guy Scott Wilson said making money from the medium was all about finding your niche.

“It’s about finding your passion and then bringing it to a like-minded audience,” he said.

Mr Wilson said the challenge with podcasts was building a big enough following to make money.

“Everyone has a smartphone these days and there is more content than ever before,” he said.

“Every time you go on social media there is a large amount of content trying to compete for your attention and podcasts are really a format made to go viral.

“Podcasting is a return to traditional media in a sense, where audience members know exactly what they are going to get.”

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