More ad dollars flowing into podcasting is generally seen as a good thing. Yet niche podcasters don't see very much of it. Yes, there are "riches in the niches," but only if your podcast is attractive enough. Podcasting has a healthy and growing industry set up to serve the needs of both the big-money advertisers and the podcast publishers who get the lion's share of the more-than-a-billion dollars spent on podcast advertising. But that industry doesn't work all that well for podcasters on a smaller scale. Nor does it work for many potential advertisers and sponsors with more modest budgets. That doesn't preclude niche shows or smaller would-be sponsors from participating in podcast advertising and sponsorship. It just means those niche podcasters have to be little scrappy. And they can start by making their podcasts more attractive to potential sponsors. Here are five ways you might go about doing so. 1. Know Thine Audience. Deeply. Set up a survey, like https://www.edisonresearch.com/edison-research-podcast-listener-survey/%5C (the template) gifted to podcasters by Edison Research. Set up an online group, community, or forum. Or start a newsletter. You can learn a lot by just email domain names. 2. Have A Commitment To Quality Does your show present itself well? If they select a random episode—or your most recent—will it sound, look, and feel like something they'll want their brand associated with? 3. Have A Brand Story To Tell Spending money in an unexplored channel is a little scary, regardless of the size of the budget. So you might need to prime the pump by putting brand messages on your show so the brands you want to work with have a clear idea of what their money gets them. 4. Ask For The Sale Yes, put a sponsor or advertiser inquiry page on your website. But also put your sales hat on and start making phone calls, sending emails, and brushing up your LinkedIn profile as you go on the hunt for dollars. 5. Grow Your Podcast's Audience Yes, some brand-based sponsors are going to want to know how many people your podcast reaches. Advertising and sponsorship is often a numbers game, but so is talking to the right audience in the right way. Grow wisely. ----- Links https://evoterra.link/vocalize (Vocalize Inc) https://www.edisonresearch.com/edison-research-podcast-listener-survey/%5C (Podcast listener survey template) via Edison Research http://podcastpontifications.com/survey (Take the survey for Podcast Pontifications) http://evoterra.link/buzz (Over 100K active podcasters trust Buzzsprout) Got a podcasting service? https://podcastpontifications.com/about/sponsorship-information (Become a sponsor of Podcast Pontifications). Serious about podcasting? Join the https://evoterra.link/app (Advancing Podcasting Community) today! Got a podcasting service? https://podcastpontifications.com/about/sponsorship-information (Become a sponsor of Podcast Pontifications). Serious about podcasting? Join the https://evoterra.link/app (Advancing Podcasting Community) today! ----- https://podcastpontifications. (Podcast Pontifications) is a production of https://simpler.media (Simpler Media). New episodes are released weekly, providing ideas and questions every serious podcaster should be thinking about. It's created and hosted byhttps://twitter.com/evoterra ( Evo Terra. Follow him on Twitter) for more podcasting insights as they come. http://alliepress.ne (Allie Press) assists with the production and transcription of the show. If you received value from today's episode of Podcast Pontifications, return some of that! We call it https://PodcastPontifications.com/support (value-for-value) and there are many ways to show your support. This podcast uses the following third-party services for analysis: Chartable - https://chartable.com/privacy Podsights - https://podsights.com/privacy