Open Source Revenue Generation

[jeffullrich 652]

One one of The Wolf Den episodes I suggest that we have open source revenue generation. David emailed me and requested I create a forum topic for it. So here it is, post any and all ideas you have for how Earwolf can increase revenue (and profits). Have at it!

[TheLoudestFan 0]

In the same vein as a pledge drive: Fundraising tour. I figure that the logistics of such would be a nightmare, and that this would require a substantial investment to get it off the ground, but if a big enough show (or shows) could do 10 weeks in 10 cities or so, recording one (or more?) live ep each visit (plus extra, bonus eps for which you could charge?), you can put a face on donating. It's easier to turn down kicking in a few bucks online than it is in person. So, you could charge a standard show price for tickets, encourage listeners ahead of time to bring cash/cheques, then have hosts/guests physically interact with the crowd to collect extra money on top, whatever they feel like giving (and I'm sure the talent could make that just as entertaining as the rest of the show). You can also have cities compete against each other for tickets sold and for extra money raised, encouraging participation all the more. Plus, you can have a moment of each show for members of the audiences to participate that you can auction/sell right then and there. Booking varieties of guests shouldn't be too much of a problem since so many comedians/musicians tour year-round, and you'd have a chance at tailoring each show to slightly smaller, more local acts who come to LA less frequently than the usuals.

Like I said, probably expensive to undertake, so this might be better suited for the future of Earwolf than right now.

[MDC 0]

I've got no desire to donate. I don't mind paying for things, but the whole pledge-drive-for-what-should-be-a-revenue-positive-organization I can't get behind. Also, it strikes me as very "radio" which is kinda backward looking.
I would be thrilled to purchase Class B shares though. Let me know when you're offering those.

[Joshua1326657710 0]

I don't know if you could do this for all of the shows, or if it's even feasible (it might require hiring another person, but the gain might offset the cost), but why not keep audio free and charge for video? I know video is a big undertaking, but I'd pay $20 per season (whatever a season might be) for Never Not Funny style video. As for people who don't want their characters to be anything but audio, the customer who would pay for video would love to just see the guy doing the voice, no costume required. The podcasts wouldn't have to adapt at all, there would just be an added component the hosts and guests would never even have to acknowledge. That way the audience supports you guys and we get something in return that we would really want. Plus you'd drive traffic to your website which would help with ad pitches via increased numbers and it would also help encourage discussion among fans on the website because that would be their main portal to see the video and since they're already there, why not talk about what they just saw? I think at the very least you should talk to Jimmy next time you see him to ask about the percentage of people who choose to purchase video over audio, I don't know the numbers but it's probably enough to warrant a little extra work and maybe hiring a video intern.

[VIJoe 1]

Like you have expressed on the Wolf Den, I think the best revenue path at the beginning might be a multi-headed approach. One additional tool toward that end that you might consider is the Premium SMS (PSMS) donation service. For example: "Text EARWOLF on your mobile phone to 77033 to donate to $10 to the Earwolf Studio Fund.") I know that the Red Cross had huge numbers via PSMS after the Haiti earthquake. I know that This American Life's Ira Glass talk about PSMS as a very effective fundraising tool for their podcast/radio show. There is some administrative cost involved but given that Earwolf's base is very comfortable with this type of technology, it just might be a good fit. See http://mobileactive.org/american-life-joins-mobile-giving-revolution

Taking a slightly Pardo-ish approach, what about one longer weekly free offering from Earwolf. This one show would combine 5-10 mins of highlight from each show. Premium subscribers would have access to all offerings - full length.

I will also share one effective donation approach (it has worked on me at least). Dan Carlin of the Common Sense and Hardcore History podcasts takes a minute or two each show to drop in a request for listeners to donate "a buck a show." I think setting an amount (even while making it clear that any donation is accepted and appreciated) helps to accentuate just how valuable this content really is.

[Daniel Lee 8]

Two words , emu farms. Now I know many people have wasted tonnes of money on them. They have been breeding to unmanageable levels causing to the market to crash.They have too many emus and we need emus.So we poach peoples emus. Obviously we dont kill them, im not stupid, why would we waist such a valuable work force. No we dress them in people clothes and hire them as inters by the thousands. When prices rise and people need there emu fix, boom, we take off there smelly clothes and the money flows like smelly wine.

[Daniel Lee 8]

sorry i don't want to make a joke of this

[Anonymous37 22]

As far as the premium content idea goes, I think that Earwolf could dip a toe into these waters fairly painlessly and without committing yourselves permanently to the strategy.

I don't know if there are issues with doing this, but given that Scott Aukerman hosts Comedy Bang Bang -- I'm talking here about the live UCB show, not the podcast -- it would be (relatively) easy to sell audio (maybe even video) recordings of the live shows. If you follow the Doug Benson model of charging $1.99 for 90 minutes worth, and breaking down longer shows into 2 downloads at that price, it seems like there is real money to be made here. I wouldn't be surprised if Earwolf pulled down $50,000 per show after paying performers their royalties and the UCB a cut.

Of course, this is conjecture: I imagine that you have discussed it amongst yourselves and perhaps you've decided that you wouldn't make that much money. But I really think that you could easily get 50,000 paid downloads for CBB @ UCB. If you could convince Paul F. Tompkins to come into the tent, I would think the same of recordings of his show at Largo (rights issues for the songs would have to be ironed out, certainly).

Incidentally, I just donated $100 after Caroline replied to a comment I made at avclub.com. So when you're filthy rich, don't act too annoyed when I come to your palatial estate and ask to hang out by the pool.

[Anonymous37 22]

I just realized I left something out of my comment above. The advantage of selling CBB @ UCB and PFT @ Largo as premium content instead of extra/additional episodes of existing shows is that if this fails, you don't lose existing listeners. People won't complain about not being able to figure out references to things that happened in the paid episodes.

And if it fails? I can believe that there would be some outlay to record and sell these episodes, but I wouldn't think that you would end up losing money in the worst case scenario that you only got a few paid downloads.