Few things are as enjoyable as starting a business related to your passion. If you’re a foodie, why not put all that knowledge and enthusiasm for good eats to work by starting a food business? This may seem intimidating at first, but it can be achieved with the right idea and determination. Here are 15 great food business ideas for aspiring food entrepreneurs.
15 Profitable Food Business Ideas
Here’s a list of very popular ideas you can try.
1. Create a Food Blog
If you are adventurous in trying new food recipes and love to share your food journey, you can start a food blog. There are plenty of niche site ideas in this arena to help you pair down from the millions of food blogs already in existence. You can create:
Restaurant review blog
Recipe blog
Food photography blog
Cocktail blog
Culinary focus blog (vegan, gluten-free, etc)
The ideas are endless, so just make sure to start a food blog niche that you can be passionate about.
And if you’d like a step-by-step video course to walk you through the entire process, check out our review of The Authority Site System (TASS). It’s a very popular SEO and blogging course that teaches you everything you need to start and grow a profitable blog!
2. Start a Vending Machine Business
Vending machines are one of the many profitable food business ideas. Begin with a business plan that includes the right location and ready-to-eat snacks.
It is crucial to keep the vending machine stocked up at all times to avoid losing a potential sale, so this business is best for those who can keep up with operations on a timely basis. You can sell:
Beverages
Savory snacks
Candy
Frozen treats
Healthy foods
A vending machine business operates independently and also as a franchise. So you can scale your business as you learn the ropes.
3. Become a Farmer’s Market Vendor
You can enter the food industry as a small food business selling fresh produce at the farmer’s market.
The farmer’s market is a great place to connect with individuals and other food businesses looking for healthy ingredients like fresh fruits and vegetables. Ferments, dairy products, preserved seeds and nuts, and meat are also viable options.
With the right location, you can set up a stall that will help to create a communication channel and open up possibilities for you in the restaurant industry.
4. Offer Cooking Classes
Offering cooking classes is a relatively low-cost food business idea with the potential to turn into a very lucrative business.
If you are a food lover, love to cook, and can easily connect with people, it can be the perfect entry into the food industry. You can sell your classes through an online business or opt for in-person classes for:
one-to-one sessions
group sessions
You can stick to a certain genre of food, such as Indian food, or focus on a demographic such as busy moms. Make sure you’re clear on who you’re teaching so you can develop content that directly serves them.
5. Start a Food Processing Business
A food processing business includes selling packaged and manufactured food products. The manufacturers aim to preserve food quality and provide convenience to the consumer.
You can enter the market to sell processed goods such as:
Honey
Sauces
Spices
Dairy products like cheese and milk
Jams and jellies
Fruits and vegetables
Many food processing businesses operate only as online stores to reduce in-store costs and focus on inventory management, packaging, marketing, and supply chain management for the product line. You can market your services online to find leads to expand your product reach.
6. Open a Food Truck
Food trucks are a creative business idea for entrepreneurs willing to reach people rather than wait for people to come to them. This$1.2 billion industry is expanding rapidly due to the increased mobility and location control it provides to the business owner.
Even though the initial startup costs to procure a fully equipped truck are high, they are often less than a brick-and-mortar establishment. Once you purchase the food truck and acquire the relevant permits and licenses, you can build a very profitable food truck business.
It is a massive food industry to tap into. However, gaining the trust of parents who wish to provide the best for their children can be challenging. The baby food business is scalable as babies require different food textures for every stage.
With the use of healthy, organic food ingredients, you can build long-lasting relationships with your customers- parents. With high-quality ingredients and a food processor, this business is easy to start even if you don’t have the best cooking skills.
8. Create a Coffee Shop
It is no surprise that coffee is growing to be one of the essential food items in our lives. The revenue generated from the coffee market increased to $95.58 billion in 2023. Therefore, the coffee shop industry presents a sizeable business opportunity for food lovers to enter.
With the increased popularity of coffee, people are always willing to try unique blends and are receptive to local coffee shops. You can seize this chance to create a niche for your product line.
With a coffee shop, you can also sell complimentary baked goods like biscuits and cookies to create a pleasing dining experience. And if you don’t want to directly manufacture and ship the product, you can join a coffee affiliate program to make commissions from coffee sales.
9. Craft a Subscription Box Service
A subscription box service is one food business idea that gives consumers the benefit of eating restaurant-quality food or snacks at home. You can offer the following weekly or monthly subscription service as part of your food business idea:
Meal kits: dishes designed with pre-proportioned ingredients that can save customers trips to grocery stores
“Almost” ready-to-eat meals: dishes that require just a little effort on the consumer’s part
Curated subscription boxes: food boxes designed on a specific theme
You can design your niche around different cuisines or as a healthy and tasty food brand dedicated to serving food lovers.
10. Sell Ice Cream From a Cart
As of 2022, the global ice cream market stands at$70.6 billion. You can sell ice cream, gelato, frozen yogurt, or any variation and serve hundreds of customers daily.
Ice cream carts function independently or as a franchise. With the latter, you can enjoy brand familiarity from your customers and avoid the extra hassles of marketing.
However, if you don’t mind going the extra mile and love doing things your way, you can start your independent ice cream cart.
The only downside to an ice cream business is seasonal demand changes. Business owners experience a high rise in demand during summer carnivals and festivals and a slow business in the winter.
However, with the innovative addition of autumn and winter flavors to your ice cream menu, you can enjoy a profitable business throughout the year.
11. Start a Virtual Restaurant
Want to start a restaurant with low capital investment? A virtual restaurant may be the perfect business idea for you.
The recent pandemic has increased the demand for ordering food via websites or apps. The market for online food ordering is anticipated to reach $200 billion by 2025.
A virtual restaurant operates through a commercial kitchen and is merely a food delivery business. You can choose your specialty; a fast food restaurant, a dessert business, or an online coffee shop, the possibilities are endless.
12. Make a Restaurant Review YouTube Channel
This is an extension of the food blogging business idea for those who are comfortable with sharing their opinions on camera. You can review newly opened or famous restaurants on YouTube and rate them in different aspects. You can be as creative as you like and give feedback on what makes these restaurants successful and where they have a chance for improvement.
As you gain popularity, restaurants may invite you to publicera an honest review of their service to reach your audience.
You can earn a great living from working as a YouTuber by increasing your engagement rate, number of subscribers, and producing high-quality content. This is one of the best food business ideas for entrepreneurs that love to travel or constantly try the latest restaurants in their area.
13. Become a Personal Chef
Another way to use your training, experience, and skill set is to find a job as a personal chef. People with special dietary requirements or busy work schedules are looking for chefs with relevant qualifications to cook tasty food for them.
Even though the job doesn’t provide very flexible working hours, it offers a high pay reward. You can learn to deal with clients and use this experience to start your own food business.
14. Start a Nutrition and Diet Coaching Business
People worldwide are becoming more aware of the importance of healthy food and lifestyle, making this niche one of the best profitable food business ideas. This has created a demand for nutritionists and dietary consultants to assist individuals and organizations in crafting a dietary plan.
You need to possess the relevant certifications and medical background to start your career as a nutritionist. However, once you start this journey there is a huge potential to climb up the ladder. You can land a job as a senior consultant at gyms, hospitals, schools, or offices.
15. Start a Catering Business
Catering businesses are in popular demand throughout the year. Be it a wedding, birthday party, or any big or small official event, people always look for the best food service in town.
You must build a strong business model to craft and deliver a suitable menu. It can be a challenge to overcome big orders initially, but once you have impressed a few clients, their recommendations can make your business go a long way.
You can also partner with event planners to bring in business and share clients to generate a profitable food business.
The Bottom Line: Food Business Ideas For Profit
Hopefully, at least a handful of the above ideas have you excited to move forward with your own food business. Whether you have years of experience in the food industry or you’re a complete novice, there is an opportunity for everyone to make a profitable living through food-based businesses.
Elysia Cartlidge is living proof that success will come if you work hard and don’t give up.
As a registered dietician with a full-time corporate job and two small kids, Elysia had a full plate and not much time. But she started her website, Haute & Healthy Living, originally as a hobby. A few years later, when she realized she could monetize it, she shifted her focus to healthy recipes, doubled down on SEO, and worked extremely hard on the weekends and when her kids were napping or sleeping.
Today she has a thriving website earning up to $15k per month.
Keep reading to find out:
Why she started her blog
What happened after she took her first blogging course
How long it took her to join Mediavine
Where her income comes from
How much she works on her site
Her marketing strategies
Her thoughts on SEO and social media
How she approaches keyword research and link building
How she creates content
Her favorite resources and tools
Her biggest challenge
Her greatest accomplishment
Her main mistake
Her advice for other entrepreneurs
Meet Elysia Cartlidge
My name is Elysia, and I’m a wife and mother to two little boys, Leo and Max, who are 5 and 2 ½ years old. I have a Master’s in applied nutrition and have been a registered dietitian for 11 years. I was a retail dietitian for 8 years before making the decision to quit and run my online business full-time in January 2022.
Why She Created Haute and Healthy Living
I decided to create my website Haute & Healthy Living, back in 2015 strictly as a hobby. I had just started my first corporate job as a dietitian and was looking for a creative outlet to work on outside of my day job.
When I first launched my website, it was intended to be a lifestyle blog. I posted about recipes, fitness, home decor, DIY projects, and beauty – pretty much all the things that I loved. I never had any plan to turn my website into a business.
I posted about random topics for about 8 months and then I completely stopped posting on my blog during 2016 and 2017 because I got engaged and was busy with wedding planning. Then shortly after the wedding, I got pregnant and had no energy or desire to blog.
During my maternity leave in 2018 with my first son, I decided to start dipping my toes in the world of blogging again. My mom sent me a link to a course called Elite Blog Academy, and I decided to take the course since I had some time while my baby was sleeping. Through the course, I learned that you could monetize a blog and turn it into a business, which to me was completely mind-blowing!
From that point on, I made it a goal of mine that I would monetize my blog and one day quit my job and blog full-time. My husband, family, and friends were supportive, but I think everyone questioned if you can actually make money from a blog. I made it my personal mission to prove that I could do it.
I niched down to just posting healthier recipes and started implementing some of the strategies from the course. I managed to grow my blog traffic to a point where I qualified for Mediavine a year later, in March 2019.
That was the game changer. Since being with Mediavine, my monthly revenue has continued to grow to the point where I was able to quit my full-time job after my second maternity leave in January 2022.
Although I started out covering a wide range of topics, I now focus on posting easy and healthy recipes for busy families.
How Much Money She’s Making
As I mentioned, every month my blog revenue continues to grow, but it’s currently bringing in about 10-15K per month, depending on the month. I’m on track to make around $130-150k this year.
The majority of my revenue comes from ads, but I do make some money from selling my ebooks (a few hundred dollars per month) and from affiliate marknadsföring as well (around $100/per month).
I will also launch another website in the next couple of months, which I hope to monetize in the next couple of years to help further diversify my income.
Although I launched my website in 2015, I started truly taking it seriously and treating it more like a business in 2018, so it’s taken me about 5 years to reach this revenue level.
I had to work on it very much part-time during this time period since I was also working full-time at my corporate job and tending to two young children.
I pretty much built my business at night when my kids were sleeping, on weekends when I wasn’t working my other job, and during my maternity leaves while my kids were napping or sleeping.
On average, I probably work on my business 35 hours per week, though it varies weekly depending on how much my kids are home with me.
Elysia’s Marketing Strategy
I don’t really have any unique marketing strategy that I’m using. My goal is always to produce high-quality content and to use keyword research to help people find my content. That’s my primary marketing strategy.
I’m always trying to improve my food photography as well, which can help with marketing since people will be more likely to want to try a recipe if it looks good.
Finally, I use Pinterest to help share my content, which also brings in some traffic.
Her Thoughts on SEO and Social Media
SEO is incredibly important for my business since most of my traffic comes from search engines.
Aside from Pinterest (which I outsource), I currently don’t use much social media to grow my website. If you saw my number of followers, you probably would think that my website isn’t very successful since I have less than 5000 followers on Instagram and Facebook combined and don’t even have a TikTok account.
I decided to stop posting on Instagram a little over a year ago and only post on FB when I think of it. I found that social media was a major time suck, the algorithms kept changing, and the ROI wasn’t there. So I switched gears and focused the majority of my time on SEO and developing blog content, and that’s when I started seeing the most growth.
If you compare this January and February to the same time last year, my traffic is up about 80%. The moral of the story is you can still be successful and see growth without having a massive following, so don’t get caught up in the vanity metrics.
Keyword Research
I search for my initial ideas using sökordsforskning to determine which recipes to develop. I implement strategies from Stupid Simple SEO and Cooking with Keywords, two courses I took to help me better understand keyword research.
I try to target lower competition keywords so that people can find my content, rather than going for super competitive keywords, which can be difficult to rank for.
Länkbyggnad
Link building is very important, although I probably haven’t devoted as much time to it as I should, as there aren’t enough hours in the day. I hope that focusing on SEO and getting content to rank in top positions on Google will help organically generate backlinks.
I also provide links to my content in roundup groups that other bloggers can use on their sites if they choose to help with backlinks. Additionally, I use my expertise as an RD to sometimes contribute to publications like Insider, Livestrong, Women’s Health, Eat This, Health, etc., when the opportunity presents itself to help build up authority since these sites have a high DA.
Her Content Creation Process
Currently, I try to post about 2 new recipes and update one old recipe per week. I’d love to do more, but at this point, quality is more important to me than quantity. This amount is what I find to be the most manageable during this busy phase of life with young children.
When it comes to my process, first, I’ll come up with initial recipe ideas by conducting keyword research. Then I’ll select a recipe idea from my list and test it (usually multiple times) and make any necessary tweaks before photographing it, editing the photos, conducting additional keyword research, coming up with a post outline, drafting up the post, and inputting the images.
A lot of work goes into creating each post, so it’s definitely more than just coming up with a recipe and posting it on the blog.
Her Email List
I do have an email list that I email weekly. I mostly grow it by using opt-ins on my site. People who choose to subscribe will be added to my email list.
Elysia’s Favorite Resources
Some of my favorite podcasts are EatBlogTalk, the Blogging Millionaire, and Food Blogger Pro. I also like the TopHatRank webinars for learning about best practices for SEO.
Her Top Tools
I use KeySearch for keyword research and find that it’s affordable without being overly complicated like some of the other tools out there.
I also like Asana for building my content calendar since I can easily move things around.
Finally, I use Excel spreadsheets. I find tracking my content in spreadsheets is the best way to keep track of content ideas and keywords since I’m constantly adding new ideas.
Her Biggest Challenge
The biggest challenge I’ve faced is staying up to date on the latest best practices, the constant fluctuations with algorithms, and the never-ending Google updates.
In the blogging world, things are constantly evolving, so you have to be prepared for a bit of a roller coaster ride.
Her Most Impressive Accomplishment
My most important accomplishment thus far has been building up my business to the point where I could quit my corporate job after my maternity leave and pursue my online business full-time.
This not only allowed more flexibility and time to spend with my children, but it also proved to myself and those around me that you can accomplish anything you set your mind to.
Growing my business to this point was all done while having a full-time job and a very demanding newborn and a toddler. It was not an easy journey, but I feel incredibly blessed knowing that the hard work has paid off and that I now get to wake up every morning and work on something that I’m truly excited about.
What She Wishes She Knew When She Started
I wish I had known that you have to post content that people are searching for. If you fail to do this, chances are people won’t be able to find you, which can definitely slow your growth.
I probably would have been much further ahead if I had known this from the start. But learning and mistakes are all part of the journey!
Her Biggest Mistake
Speaking of mistakes, mine is not focusing on SEO sooner. In the beginning, I posted random recipes that had catchy titles, rather than focusing on what people were actually searching for.
When I started focusing on SEO and meeting my readers’ needs, my business began to grow. I’m still going back now and fixing the mistakes that I made.
Her Advice for Other Entrepreneurs
You can accomplish anything you put your mind to.
The key is showing up consistently and putting the work in.
The difference between those who succeed and those who fail, is the ones who succeed are the people who continue to put the work in even when the odds are against them.
Do more of what’s working and less of what’s not. Through consistency and regularly assessing and refining your strategy, you will eventually find success.
When you work hard on your podcast, it shows. Hours of dedication put into creating well-crafted, interesting content pays off with a fine-tuned product— your very own podcast. A show that listeners discover and keep coming back to week after week. And while having a great show and a growing audience is rewarding, you may want to get the full benefit from your work. We’re talking about a payday.
Whether you’re a bedroom podcaster or a seasoned pro, Acast believes that everyone deserves to find their audience and make money from their craft. So if you’re looking for tools to turn your passion into a side hustle or even a career, we’ve got you covered.
Getting podcasters paid is our business at Acast. We provide creators with the best monetization tools that enable them to find a model that works for both them and their audience. From ads and sponsorship to subscriptions and one-time payments, Acast makes it easy to get paid for doing what you love. We’ve already paid out over $240 million to creators, and they’re all earning in different ways — we put the creator in control.
In this article, we will talk about how to make money podcasting and the different monetization methods available on Acast and beyond. We’ll cover how to get started with ads, sponsorships, and subscriptions, and how you can track your earnings and growth with clear and transparent metrics. As well as touching on additional revenue streams such as merch, live events, and affiliate marknadsföring.
Why and when should I monetize my podcast?
Look, we know that not everyone gets into podcasting to make money. In fact, we don’t encourage people to start a podcast specifically to make a quick buck — it doesn’t work like that, but more on this later. But the beauty of podcasting is that it allows you to turn a passion project into a side hustle that burk earn you money and, if you’re lucky, even develop into a career. If you’re in it for the long haul, you’ll want a strategy when it comes to monetizing your show.
Getting paid will allow you to sustain making episodes. For example, if you have an interview podcast, you can attract more guests by offering a fee for their time. If your podcast involves traveling, you can fund your next trip to produce future episodes. You may decide to hire specialists such as sound designers, social media managers, or a producer, to take your show to the next level and improve the quality of the show going forward.
Having a little extra money in your pocket can pay for essential podcasting equipment and recording gear. Maybe there’s a snazzy new microphone you’ve been coveting, or you want to upgrade your editing software. If you don’t record at home, monetizing can also help pay for regular studio time in a professional podcast studio.
As for when to start monetizing, it’s down to the individual. You can start straight away with ads on platforms like Acast to open up an income stream, and there’s no risk in launching a subscription early on to start developing your offering. Keep in mind there are some limitations on how much revenue you can generate while your audience is limited, but there’s nothing wrong with starting early.
What do I need to start monetizing my podcast?
As we said, we don’t encourage people to start a podcast to make money fast. Podcasting is a medium that takes planning, managing, and a fair bit of hard work to start seeing success—don’t rush to the bank after starting a podcast with one episode.
While there’s no definitive list of things you need to start making money from podcasting, as it can differ from podcast to podcast. Here are the foundations that you should have in place before exploring monetization:
Quality content
When you’re starting out with a new podcast, it’s important to focus on creating the best possible content you can. This all starts with your idea, concept, and format for the podcast. Something that plays to your strengths as a creator, and offers listeners something different that they can’t hear on any other podcast. We love the phrase “Build it, and they will come” because it is so true in podcasting. We’ve got a great guide for how to start a podcast called Aclass Essentials with tons of helpful insights into how to create quality content, which is a great place to start.
Building an audience
Building and sustaining a podcast audience is crucial for monetizing — it’s your audience that advertisers are paying you to reach, or the listeners themselves who will support you financially. Ultimately, it’s a case of steadily growing your podcast and building your audience — keeping listeners tuning in, episode after episode. It’s about making sure that they don’t “dip in”, but rather hit the follow button and keep coming back for future episodes.
It’s all about consistency, which is the fuel for podcast growth. Keep a regular release schedule, and use seasons to give yourself a break. Your listeners are creatures of habit, and podcast listening is habitual behavior, so they’ll appreciate knowing exactly when new episodes are out.
The best and most obvious way of getting an audience to return is simply to ask them. Make sure you always tell listeners their support matters and tell them to follow wherever they get their podcasts — as well as leave a positive review. Point out you’ve got social media accounts they can follow, and that you’d love to hear from them. The relationship between the podcast host and the listener is an unusually close one, so make the most of this bond.
Some podcasters take advantage of other marketing channels to entice returning listeners. This could take the shape of an email newsletter, dropping a reminder of the next episode into listeners’ inboxes. Your podcast should feel like a club, where your most valuable listeners are the ones who keep coming back – the ones who reach out to let you know they’re listening. Let them know you’re listening, too.
Choosing the best podcast monetization platforms
If you’re serious about developing a successful podcast monetization strategy, your best bet is to work with specialized partners in generating revenue for your podcast. These platforms offer tools that do all the heavy lifting for you, so you can focus on doing what you do best — making podcasts. Platforms and tools vary in what they provide; from podcast advertising networks, membership subscriptions, one-off payments, donations, merch, and more.
There are a lot of choices out there, which can leave podcasters feeling overwhelmed about which platforms to choose. That’s why Acast developed its podcast hosting platform to be a one-stop shop for the most effective podcast monetization. Podcasters can access our podcaster advertising network, the ‘Acast Marketplace’, where they can monetize with ads and, once they’re big enough, sponsorships. We also have our industry-leading subscriptions and one-time payments tool ‘Acast+’, which allows podcasters to get paid directly by listeners in return for premium content, ad-free episodes, and much more. You can find out more about these monetization tools below.
How do podcasts make money?
Here we go, your complete guide to the various podcast monetization methods, along with helpful explainers and tips on how to get started.
Podcast advertising och sponsorships
Podcast ads and sponsorships are the bread and butter of podcast monetization. If you’ve ever listened to a podcast, chances are you’ve heard what these sound like. These commercial messages from brands and businesses are what put the most money in podcasters’ pockets and keep podcasts free for listeners.
First, let’s define a few important terms:
Annonser are shorter commercial messages in podcasts, usually, 30-60 seconds in length, that are typically created by the advertiser, brand, or business themselves. These will often feature their own signature voice, tone, or music associated with that brand.
Sponsorships are commercial messages that are direct endorsements of a brand, often read by the podcast creator themself — also known as host-read sponsorship. These are typically longer, around 1-3 minutes in length. As sponsorships are personally created and read by podcasters, this ad format is suitable for podcasts with bigger listenerships.
Dynamic Ad Insertion is a technology that inserts ads and sponsorships into your podcast, which Acast invented all the way back in 2014. Dynamically inserted ads and sponsorships are heard on your podcast episodes at the right time, targeting the right audience, across all of your shows’ episodes. This means that your podcast, no matter how far back in your catalog your listens are taking place, will generate passive income even from episodes published years ago. Neat!
In the majority of cases, it’s recommended that you sign up for a podcast host that’s got a built-in podcast advertising network, like Acast. On Acast’s platform, you have everything you need for podcast creation, publishing, and monetizing — including access to the Acast Marketplace where you can start making money through ads and sponsorship that uses dynamic ad insertion, and manage and track your revenue all from the same place.
Monetizing with Acast means you can make money from advertising no matter what app is used by your podcast listeners, including Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music, Google Podcasts, and any other app that catches your RSS feed.
Acast works with the world’s biggest and best brands, so you don’t have to worry about any dodgy ads. On top of this, we ensure that ads sound right at home on your show by putting you in control of setting criteria for any brands or categories that you don’t feel are right for your listeners. It’s our job to make sure your audience hears the right ad that won’t interfere with their experience.
You also have control of showing us exactly where you want ads to be heard in your episodes, using what is known as ‘Ad Markers’.
Pre-roll markers usually play at the very start of your episode
Post-roll markers usually play toward the end of your episode
Mid-roll markers can be placed in the middle of any episode that is at least 10 minutes long. And want to know a secret? – this tends to be the most lucrative ad spot.
Before an ad plays in your episode, we play our iconic audio logo (the Acast North Star) to let your listeners know the difference between your show and the ads.
Once ads are in your episodes, it’s time to get paid. The amount of money you earn depends on the number of listens, your show category, how brand-safe your content is, and a few other factors. Crucially, ad revenue is dependent on CPM (Cost Per Mille), which is a fancy way to say the cost-per-thousand impressions (listens) from your listeners. This can range between advertisers, but typically falls between $5-50 per CPM. Once you’ve reached a certain monthly threshold (for example, $50 in the US), you’ll receive simple steps to tell us where to send your money. You can also track your earnings through the dashboard with our transparent metrics.
As your podcast grows and you get bigger, you may find that advertisers want to hear from you directly, in your voice. These are podcast sponsorships, and Acast can help connect you with sponsors. Sponsorships are podcast host recorded endorsements of a product or brand read aloud by the podcast creator. Podcasts allow you to fully take control of advertising in your own style. In fact, it’s that personal connection between you and the listener that our advertisers want to tap into. Eligibility for the sponsorship on Acast starts at 500 listens per week, but sponsorship campaigns are managed on a case-by-case basis through our dedicated podcast sales team.
Of course, there’s the option of going it alone and pitching potential sponsors yourself for your podcast. Before you reach out, you’ll need to have some numbers ready. Advertisers will want to know how many downloads or listens your podcast gets, and therefore how many impressions their ad is likely to get. In other words, how many people are likely to hear it. You should also be prepared to talk in detail about who your listeners are, and why they’d be interested in the sponsor. For most podcasters, this is very time-consuming and difficult to manage whilst doing everything else it takes to create a podcast. And keep in mind, if you have your own baked-in ads you are not eligible for sponsorship opportunities from Acast.
Podcastsubscriptions, memberships, och premium content
Working with brands isn’t the only route for making money in podcasting, increasingly a lot of creators are supported directly by their listeners through subscriptions or memberships, as well as one-off payments for premium content. And you may not need masses of listeners to make this work – you just need them to be really into what you’re doing.
It’s a bit of a different approach to advertising – one that relies on building a loyal audience base before it can be truly sustainable. But when it works it can be so effective in creating revenue that grows alongside your show’s popularity and helps you build a strong, two-way relationship with the people who are investing in you.
There are a few platforms out there for podcast subscriptions, such as Supercast and Patreon—which Acast has integration with. Acast also has its own supercharged subscription tool called Acast+, which is included in its hosting platform. Think of Acast+ as the ultimate podcast membership club, all available through the same platform you host and publicera your podcast.
Podcast subscriptions and premium content are a way to offer listeners all sorts of benefits or perks in return for a monthly fee, or one-time payment. Essentially you’re creating a paywall for exclusive content. Acast+ subscriptions work across pretty much every listening app including Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Pocket Casts, Podcast Addict, and many others. This means a super seamless experience for your listeners. No changing apps or even feeds to access their Acast+ benefits.
Let’s look first at monthly subscribers—that is, listeners who pay a monthly subscription fee, set by you to access benefits. On average, we’ve seen that around 2-5% of audiences could become paying subscribers using Acast+. Shows that promote frequently and persistently can see upwards of 7-10%. This process can take a while – podcasts are slow-burning experiences built on trust and faith so don’t be disheartened if things take a while to ramp up. Persevere, focus on your show, and the subscribers will come in time.
You’ll need to work out what you can offer your listeners in return for their subscription. You can set up a range of tiers for different amounts of money and assign perks to each. Benefits that you can offer through Acast+ include:
Ad-free episodes: Acast can automatically remove ads from episodes for paying listeners.
Bonus episodes: Exclusive podcast content for the people who love it most.
Early access: Get episodes to your superfans before anyone else can listen.
Access to archive: Holding back your archive is a great way of turning new listeners into paying subscribers
You can also customize these tiers to fit with the themes and stories of your show. Take a look at some of Acast’s popular podcasts that are using Acast+, including WTF With Marc Maron, Sh**ged, Married, Annoyed, och Owning It.
Acast+ brings all the tools you need to convert your audience to membership, including a dynamically-inserted intro message added to your regular episodes, explaining what your subscription is and how to subscribe. And cleverly, you can make sure these messages aren’t served to any existing subscribers. You can also put a custom call-to-action in your show notes so people can easily click straight through to your subscription offering.
You can also test your listeners’ appetite for subscriptions with one-time payments for special episodes, bonus content, or bundles of episodes in one go. This can be a really great, low-stakes way of bringing them closer to your show without the pressure of ongoing payments. You’re also not limited to podcasts. Audio content like audiobooks, stand-up sets, live recordings, and more can all be delivered to your audience through Acast+.
You don’t just make money with Podcast subscriptions, they’re also a great way of building an email list—which you can use to build a closer relationship with your biggest fans.
Podcast subscriptions work because they are a great example of what makes podcasts so special. It’s about you, it’s about what you love and connecting you with the people who love what you do.
Affiliate programs
Affiliate programs allow you to earn commission by promoting a business’s products or services. When your listeners use your affiliate link to make a purchase, you earn a percentage of the sale. Here are some steps to help you make money in podcasting using affiliate programs:
Choose a niche: Identify a specific niche that your podcast caters to. For example, if you host a podcast about personal finance, you can promote affiliate products related to finance and investments.
Find affiliate programs: Research and find affiliate programs that align with your niche. There are several affiliate networks available, such as Amazon Associates, ShareASale, and Commission Junction. Acast also has its own affiliate program.
Select products: Choose products or services that you genuinely believe in or have used yourself. It is crucial to promote high-quality products that will provide value to your listeners.
Promote products on your podcast: Once you have selected the products, you can promote them on your podcast by creating engaging ad spots. You can also add links to the show notes or your podcast website.
Track your earnings: Keep track of your earnings from affiliate marketing to determine the effectiveness of your efforts. This will help you make adjustments to your strategy and optimize your earnings.
Acast has its very own affiliate program, which can earn you a 30% recurring commission every month for each podcast customer you refer to Acast who signs up for one of our paid-for plans. This is perfect for podcasters as you’re already speaking to people interested in the medium, and can talk from experience about the joys of podcasting.
Additional ways to monetize your podcast
Donations and crowdfunding
Similar to one-time payments, there are tools to request one-off donations from your listeners to support the podcast. People often phrase this to their listeners as helping them buy a cup of coffee, a beer, or an in-joke related to their podcast. You can do this through Acast+ easily by creating a one-time payment tier and customizing the message.
Crowdfunding is a slightly different approach than a donation, but still involves your fans contributing to support the podcast. Usually, creators will launch a crowdfunding campaign to launch a new podcast or series, using platforms like Kickstarter—which has a whole section dedicated to funding podcast projects. For example, James Acaster, co-host of Off Menu, funded a new podcast using Kickstarter.
Merch
Another way to earn money directly from your diehard fans is by selling merchandise. This is a great way to put money in the bank but also to build a community with your audience around your podcast — like a real fan club. Using e-commerce platforms like Shopify and Everpress or specialist merch platforms like Spring, you can create branded t-shirts, mugs, hats, or even books or an online course that ties in with the topic of your show.
Live events, live streams, and gigs
In-person live events and live streams offer podcasters the opportunity to connect with their audience in a more intimate way. The relationship between podcasters and listeners is unlike any other medium, so many fans want to be able to interact with their favorite podcasters. You can run events such as live Q&A sessions, behind-the-scenes looks at your show, and even exclusive interviews with your guests. And the best part? You can charge your audience to access these events.
To get started, you’ll need to choose a platform to host your live events and live streams. There are plenty of options out there, including YouTube, Facebook, Twitch, and Zoom. You’ll also want to promote your event through your podcast, social media, and email list to get as many people to attend as possible.
And here’s an idea, why not try using one-time payments on Acast+ to sell tickets to your live events?
Sammanfattning
There you have it, a comprehensive look at all the different ways to earn money through podcasting. Monetizing is just one aspect of podcasting, but an important one if you’re looking to turn your passion into a profitable venture. From ads and sponsorships to merchandise and subscriptions, there is a monetization strategy that can work for you and your audience. At Acast, we offer a variety of tools and features to help you monetize your podcast on your own terms. Get started by signing up or switching to Acast today.
Hearst Newspapers medverkar i olika affiliate marknadsföring programs, which means we may earn a commission when you purchase products featured in this content or purchase from vendors featured here. Our professional curators independently research and recommend products and services, with no newsroom involvement. Merchants can pay for a sponsored listing and may choose to rewrite their summary. When that happens, we label the listing as “Sponsored” and highlight it in grey to differentiate the merchant-provided content from our writing.
If you are one of the countless people out there that have trouble sleeping at night, then you are not alone. Sleeplessness and insomnia are very common problems that keep so many of us up at night.
Sure, expensive and potentially dangerous sleeping pills are one option. However, another much more natural and cost-effective way to help you sleep at night is CBD, particularly a good CBD tincture.
In case you don’t know what a CBD tincture is, no worries, because this is just one of the things we will explain today. We will also talk about how CBD tincture can help you sleep, what some of the other potential benefits are, the pros and cons, and more.
However, the main point of today is to provide you with a top ten list of the best CBD tinctures for sleep that the market has to offer. Let’s get to it and help you finally get that good night’s sleep you need.
Nyckel takeaways
CBD tincture and CBD oil are two different things.
CBD tincture can help you sleep through a variety of means.
Anywhere between 25 and 160 mg of CBD is recommended for sleep.
When choosing a CBD tincture, pay attention to the brand, potency, possible additional cannabinoids, the brand, third-party testing, and purity.
A Quick Look at the Best Broad Spectrum CBD Brands
Here’s a quick look at the top ten best CBD tinctures for sleep.
ACBD tincture is a very special type of extract based on CBD or cannabidiol. This is an alcohol-based extract where extremely high-proof alcohol functions as a solvent to extract the natural compounds from the hemp plant, which in this case is CBD.
This method of extracting CBD from the plant matter is ideal because it helps to protect against oxidization and also preserves cannabinoids and terpenes. This results in a very potent concentrate or extract, but it can often have a bitter flavor.
To help mask some of this bitter flavor, these tinctures are often mixed with various additional ingredients, such as flavoring, sweeteners, herbal extracts, and more. Do not confuse a CBD tincture with CBD oil, as these are two different things, as we will cover below. Check out this guide if you want to make your own CBD tincture.
How CBD Tincture Works for Sleep
CBD tincture can help you get a good night’s sleep in more ways than one. Here are some of the potential benefits of a CBD tincture in direct relation to sleep.
Many people believe CBD affects the human body’s production of cortisol. Cortisol is created when you are stressed out, and this actually keeps you in that stressful state for longer. Cortisol keeps you alert. However, it is thought that CBD may have the ability to reduce cortisol production, therefore helping to reduce stress. This may make it easier for you to sleep because you aren’t as stressed out and alert.
CBD may also help you get a good night’s sleep by acting as a potential mood regulator. CBD may be able to increase the brain’s production of dopamine and serotonin, so-called feel-good chemicals. These chemicals help to relieve stress, anxiety, and depression, plus they just make you feel a lot better, happier, and calmer. In other words, CBD may be able to help balance your mental state, so you feel calmer and therefore better able to sleep.
Another way in which CBD may be able to help you sleep at night is by potentially relieving pain and inflammation. Many people believe CBD to be both an anti-inflammatory and an analgesic, which could therefore help you sleep better at night by relieving some of your chronic pains.
Potential Benefits of CBD Tincture
What is interesting to note is that all of the potential benefits of CBD tincture, or at least most of them, are in some way related to how it can help you sleep.
Three of the biggest potential benefits are the exact ones that we mentioned above, which are the ability to help regulate your mood and reduce anxious thoughts, to help relieve pain and inflammation, and to help reduce stress levels.
These potential benefits of CBD are freestanding and beneficial in their own rights, not just in relation to helping you sleep better at night.
It is also believed that CBD may be able to help regulate insulin-related hormone levels and blood sugar levels, it may be able to help protect against neurological diseases, it may assist with the treatment of opioid addictions, and more.
However, by far the three biggest benefits that people can reap from it in their everyday lives are those three that we discussed in the above section, which is particularly true in relation to sleep.
Pros & Cons of CBD Tincture
Let’s take a quick look at the pros and cons of CBD tinctures, particularly in relation to assisting you in your quest to get a good night’s sleep.
Pros
With a CBD tincture, you are ingesting something as opposed to inhaling it. This means that, unlike smoking or vaping, there are no risks posed to your lungs.
A good CBD tincture will be accurately labeled, which means that dosing is made easy, so you know exactly how much CBD you are getting.
Ingesting CBD makes sure that you get the most bang for your buck, unlike smoking or vaping, where a lot of it may be wasted if improperly used.
CBD tincture does of course have many potential benefits, including helping you sleep better at night and much more.
CBD, when ingested, may also be able to help regulate your gastrointestinal or digestive system.
Taking a CBD tincture is extremely fast and easy.
Cons
Many CBD tinctures are known to be quite bitter and to not taste very good.
Some people may be sensitive to the CBD tincture and various ingredients contained in it, which may at times result in an upset stomach.
When ingested, your body doesn’t absorb all of the CBD. To make sure that your body absorbs as much CBD as possible, you should first eat a fatty meal.
CBD tinctures and edibles of all sorts can take anywhere from 30 to 90 minutes to kick in, so there is a bit of a waiting period. Furthermore, technically speaking, this is the kind of thing that is more like a multivitamin than a one-shot dose. If you expect to get the best sleep aid results from a CBD tincture, you should take it regularly on a daily basis, not just once.
How Much CBD Tincture Should You Take For Sleep?
How much CBD tincture you take for sleep depends on a variety of factors. First and foremost, your size, weight, and metabolism play a big role. The bigger you are and the faster your metabolism is, the more you will need. Furthermore, it also depends on how severe your sleeplessness is.
For basic or mild cases, anywhere between 25 milligrams and 40 milligrams of CBD tincture should be fine. However, for more severe cases, between 40 milligrams and 100 milligrams is recommended. If you have severe problems sleeping and have somewhat of a tolerance to CBD, you could take up to 160 milligrams of CBD per serving.
CBD Tincture vs Oil
As mentioned above, CBD tincture and CBD oil are not the same things. A CBD tincture is made by extracting the CBD from the plant matter using high-proof alcohol. The CBD tincture itself may then also contain high-proof alcohol, glycerin or vegetable oil, flavorings, CBD, and more.
On the other hand, CBD oil is exactly that, only CBD and oil, and usually nothing else. CBD is usually a mixture of ACDC extract with an inert carrier oil. CBD tinctures tend to be better for ingestion than CBD oils, whereas the oils are usually better for topical application.
Furthermore, the oils and the tinctures generally don’t taste very good, but tinctures are often mixed with added flavors to help cut down on the bitterness. However, both are still made with CBD, which is of course the most important part. Here’s a guide onhow to use CBD oil.
Bästa CBD-tinkturen för sömn
Let’s now take a look at the top ten options for the best CBD tincture for sleep.
The Otter Space Tincture is made with 1000 milligrams of full-spectrum CBD. Here, you also get a dropper for easy dosage, with each dropper containing 33 milligrams of CBD, as well as other minor cannabinoids.
This product is made with high-quality ingredients, mainly just with purified hemp extracts and some carrier oils. We do like this tincture because it is totally vegan.
Furthermore, it is also free of pesticides, all of the ingredients are natural, the hemp is grown in the USA, and this tincture has been third-party tested for reliability, accuracy, and compliance with the farm bill.
Here we have a CBD tincture made out of live resin, and it also contains a little bit of THC. Here, you get a total of 1500 milligrams of CBD or 50 milligrams per serving. There is a dropper included, so dosing is made easy.
Each serving does also contain 2 milligrams of THC, so this product may be very slightly psychoactive. As for the flavor, here you should taste earthiness, lemon, and sour apple. This product has been third-party tested to ensure that it complies with the 2018 Farm Bill and to ensure that it is pure and reliable.
Pros
Ideal dosage for most people
Flavor is pretty good
Third-party tested
Quality ingredients
Ideal for people who want something slightly psychoactive
Here we have a CBD tincture made with high-quality ingredients, just a few carrier oils and the CBD extract. You can choose from a 1000-milligram and a 3000-milligram option. It comes with a dropper for easy dosing, with each dropper containing either 33 or 100 mg of CBD, respectively.
This product does not contain any genetically modified organisms, the hemp is 100% organic and grown in Wisconsin, and the tincture has been third-party tested for purity and reliability. It is also infused with a terpene blend to give it a bit of a taste. It’s quite potent, so you don’t need a lot of it.
This brand actually has a variety of CBD oils, with the main difference between them being the flavor. There are five different flavors to choose from, including natural, citrus, mint, berry, and vanilla.
You can also choose from four different potencies, including 300, 600, 1200, and 2400 milligrams. Each bottle also comes with a dropper for accurate and easy dosing.
The hemp used here is totally organic and farmed in Colorado, plus it is free of pesticides and GMOs. Yes, this product has also been third-party tested for reliability.
This Dragon Hemp Tincture comes complete with 1200 milligrams of high-quality full-spectrum CBD hemp extract. You get a dropper for easy dosing, with each dropper containing 40 milligrams of CBD. 40 milligrams might not seem like much but it is rather ideal for beginners.
What stands out about this tincture is that the hemp is organically grown, the tincture is 100% vegan, and it has been subjected to third-party lab testing.
This is absolutely one of the purest and most natural CBD tinctures out there at this time. What is interesting to note is that it also contains myrrh, frankincense, turmeric, and corydalis. Together, these ingredients can shave anti-inflammatory, pain-relieving, and sleep-promoting benefits.
Pros
Third-party tested
Ideal dosage for beginners
Trustworthy and natural
Very high-quality ingredients
Great for sleep, pain, and more
Cons
Contains additional ingredients that some may not like (myrrh, turmeric, and others)
This CBD FX Sleep Tincture comes in three different options, including a 1000, 2000, and a 4000-milligram bottle. Yes, it comes complete with a dropper so you can easily dose yourself.
Exactly how much CBD each dropper contains will depend on the option you choose as mentioned above. What is important to note is that this product also contains CBN, not just CBD.
Together, CBN and CBD should provide you with increased sleep aid benefits. Keep in mind that this product has been third-party tested to ensure that it is totally legal and reliable. It also features a terpene complex, so the taste is rather enjoyable too.
Pros
Three potency options to choose from
Taste is pretty decent
Third-party tested
Kostnadseffektiv
Contains CBD for added benefits
Cons
Ingredient list is a bit longer than we usually like
TheraOne CBD Tincture contains 1000 milligrams of full-spectrum CBD, so it should help you sleep. It also comes with chamomile oil, lemon balm oil, and valerian root, all of which are also known to aid in sleep.
Furthermore, this product is certified USDA organic, it is non-GMO, it is cruelty-free, vegan, and made in Colorado. This product has also been third-party tested for reliability and complies with the 2018 Farm Bill.
This tincture does come complete with a dropper, so dosing is made easy. As far as quality is concerned, this is by far one of the best products on the list, but it’s not going to come cheap.
The Limitless CBD Tincture comes in a variety of flavors including natural, lemon, orange, and peppermint. It also comes in varying potencies ranging from 500 to 2500 milligrams. You might like how this tincture is infused with terpenes to provide you with some extra benefits and flavor.
The bottle comes complete with a labeled dropper, so you can easily determine dosage for yourself. This tincture has been third-party tested to ensure that it is both legal and reliable. All of these tinctures are made with natural and organic refined hemp seed oil.
Something you might like here is that this product comes in a variety of flavors including peppermint, strawberry, natural, and more. Each bottle comes infused with 2500 milligrams of high-quality CBD. There is also a 1000-milligram option available.
Each bottle comes with a dropper for easy dosage. What is important to note is that this is actually one of the most cost-effective products on our list today.
All products from this brand name are third-party tested for reliability and purity. Furthermore, all products from this brand are made in the USA in an FDA-approved facility. We like how the ingredient list on these tinctures is very short, just three!
This CBD tincture also features CBN, both of which work together to provide you with great sleep benefits. Each bottle contains 150 milligrams of CBN and 450 milligrams of CBD, with each serving having 5 milligrams of CBN and 15 milligrams of CBD.
As far as potency goes, this is one of the least potent products on our list today. We do like how it contains CBN, as it should help you get a good night’s sleep.
Furthermore, all of the ingredients here are natural, the product has been third-party tested, and made in the USA. We do have to say that this tincture is very high-quality, but based on the potency, it is rather expensive.
Pros
High-quality ingredients
Third-party tested
Contains CBD – added sleep benefits
Non-GMO
Easy to dose
Cons
Comparatively expensive
How We Made Our Top Choices for the Best CBD Tincture for Sleep
Before we call it a day, we do just want to inform you exactly how we made our top choices for the best CBD tinctures. There are a few important factors that we always pay attention to whenever recommending such products.
Ingredients
One of the main considerations here is what ingredients the product in question contains. We always look for products that contain minimal ingredients. We really just want to see CBD extract, carrier oils, and maybe some terpenes.
Potency
The next most important consideration is how potent the product in question is. Some may only contain 100 or 200 milligrams of CBD, whereas others may contain thousands. We did our best today to choose products with varying potencies, in order to find something for everyone. Some people may need a lot, whereas others may just need a little, so having CBD tinctures of varying strengths is important.
Additional Cannabinoids
Our main focus for today was to show you tinctures that have just CBD. However, there are plenty of tinctures out there that contain many other cannabinoids, not just CBD. So, if you are looking for a combination of effects, this is something to pay attention to. However, for today’s purposes, we focused specifically on CBD.
Third-Party Testing for Reliability and Purity
One of the most important considerations that we always keep in mind when recommending any sort of product is third-party testing. We always want to know that the product has been third-party tested to ensure that it is compliant with the 2018 Farm Bill in the terms of Delta-9 THC contents. We also want to know that the products we recommend are free of toxins and chemicals of all kinds.
The Brand
The brand name in question is also something that we always look at. Simply put, some brands are better than others. We always look for brand names that are extremely reputable and transparent. We always look for brands that have good reviews from customers. We also try to ensure that the products themselves have good reviews too.
Flavor
Although CBD tinctures generally just don’t taste good, we tried our best to find ones that are enjoyable for your tastebuds.
Cost and Shipping
Although the quality of the product is always our main focus, we don’t want to recommend products to you that are going to empty your bank. Therefore, we do try to choose products that are fairly cost-effective. While there might be more expensive ones on our list, we always try to review at least a couple of products that are very budget-friendly.
Conclusions & Final Thoughts
The bottom line here is that a good CBD tincture may help you get the rest that you need and deserve. The only thing for you to do now is to choose the CBD tincture that sounds ideal to you. Furthermore, if you are going to venture out on your own, remember to keep the above points in mind. Pay attention to things like third-party testing, purity, ingredients, cost, and more.
Hearst Newspapers participates in various affiliate marketing programs, which means we may earn a commission when you click links in this content. Our professional curators independently research and recommend products and services, with no newsroom involvement. Merchants can pay for a sponsored listing and may choose to rewrite their summary. When that happens, we label the listing as “Sponsored” and highlight it in grey to differentiate the merchant-provided content from our writing.
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