Podcasting advice usually follows a predictable script:
Grow your audience.
Monetize the audience.
Sell a course teaching other people how to monetize their audience.
But today’s guest accidentally breaks that formula.
Alex Sanfilippo, founder of PodMatch and host of Podcasting Made Simple, builds tools for podcasters, teaches podcasting, and works with thousands of hosts… yet he argues something that sounds almost heretical:
Stop focusing on growing your audience.
Instead, focus on the listeners you already have.
In this episode of Monetize This!, we dig into the strange economics and mythology of podcasting — from inflated rankings to fear-based platform advice — and why your listeners might be your best marketing team.
Along the way we talk about:
The surprising origin story of PodMatch
Why “Top 1% Podcast” probably doesn’t mean what you think
The moment a YouTube executive predicted podcasts would become irrelevant
Why niche podcasts outperform “shows about everything”
The myth that every podcast needs social media
The rise of obvious AI-generated podcast episodes
Why 100 listeners might be far more valuable than 100,000
If you’ve ever felt like podcasting advice sounds suspiciously like internet marketing advice… this episode might be for you.
Links
• PodMatch
• Podcasting Made Simple
About Monetize This!
Monetize This! is the podcast that looks at podcasting advice with a skeptical eye.
Because if every guru strategy worked, every podcast would already be rich.
