Give Away 99% for Free?! Are You Crazy?!

"Monetize the 1%."

This is what a lot of people say. But is it accurate?

When Apple has made it possible for podcasters to charge for their podcasts, Jack Rhysider set up paid subscriptions for his podcast, Darknet Diaries, and had 670 within the first 45 days.

After Apple’s 30% cut, he makes $2338 per month.

Not bad, but the free version of Darknet Diaries has around 300,000 downloads per episode. Even at a very-low rate of $10 CPM, he still makes more money doing things that way. And he almost certainly has more opportunities for non-advertising revenue, such as in-person appearances, endorsements, or his own products by doing things this way.

Of course, he can do both. And he is. His Patreon account currently has 6534 people and brings in $12,720 per month.

How much of your content should you give away? Here is what I know for sure ...

If you don't have a plan to monetize what you do, it's easy to get caught up in a cycle of "give, give, give" without getting anything to sustain you in return.

That's not to say you need to charge for everything you do. But if you can’t get people to pay attention to your free work, you aren’t going to get them to pay attention to your paid work.