S1E11 - Jack Rhysider of Darknet Diaries: Growing a High-Quality Podcast to $15,000 a Month in Memberships

In this episode we'll hear from Jack Rhysider, the creator behind Darknet Diaries, an award-winning podcast with over 15 million downloads last year. With loyal listeners paying up to $15,000 a month in paid memberships, this podcast focuses on true stories from the dark side of the Internet: on hackers, breaches, shadow government activity, hacktivism, cybercrime, and all the things that dwell on the hidden parts of the network.Main Points:Building a high quality podcast from the first episodeHow Darknet Diaries grew to $15,000 a month in paid membershipsGetting podcast mentors through cold emailWhat podcasters get wrong when asking for money from their listenersEnjoy!Join us in the FREE Supercast premium feed and you get to hear Jack talk about:0:37 Would Jack ever join a network? Darknet Diaries' 2020 marketing plan2:42 Why promo swaps are effective at growing podcasts4:12 Winning awards and other marketing experiments4:58 Leverage and getting featured in Apple podcasts6:37 You don't need a large audience to start monetizing8:42 If you want to start monetizing your show...9:43 Price tiers, and why the $1 tier doesn't work well10:59 Paid podcast marketing did not work well, here's whySign up here: premium.supercast.comTimestamps1:32 True crime meets cybercrime: What is Darknet Diaries?2:23 Mixing podcasting and 10+ years in IT Security4:06 From side project to going full-time5:58 High quality standards from the very beginning7:00 Growing Darknet Diaries from the start through blogging and Twitter8:46 Jack Rhysider's mentors for Darknet Diaries11:16 How Email led to Darknet Diaries' podcast growth13:05 Pulling a Darknet Diaries story together through alerts14:54 Describing the listener, and the Discovery Channel17:51 Monetizing a podcast through Patreon and ads20:20 Data-driven monetization and offering value to listeners23:11 Go to the listeners, don't bring them to you24:53 $15,000 a month in memberships and revenue transparency27:23 What podcasters get wrong when asking for money28:25 Sharing podcast stats and findings through lime.link30:20 Megaphone.fm podcasts showing up on blocklists34:00 The future of privacy in podcasting35:23 What Jack Rhysider would do if he started all over again36:17 The evolution of the Darknet Diaries teamLinksDarknet Diaries WebsiteDarknet Diaries StatsJack Rhysider's TwitterDarknet Diaries Twitter