Podcast Business Outlook from Day 1
Empowering women with a podcast that revolves around the topic of sexual matters, Sex & Letters podcast (情慾書苑) is another Firstory podcast creator that beat the odds and stood out with her exemplary podcast performance. Despite the odds of her podcast content, she was able to successfully make money from her podcast business.
Whenever interviewed about her goals and motivations in starting the podcast, host Azi (阿梓) doesn’t hesitate in exclaiming “To make money, of course!”
Launched in September 2020, the podcast’s first episode is an erotic literature review and analysis of “Raise the Red Lantern” 《大紅燈籠高高掛》. Here, Azi empowers women as she analyzes and talks about the most primal desires of women living in a patriarchal society.
How can a podcast with such heavy, rich, and sensitive content make money and generate podcast income in a society that considers this to be taboo? We first take a look at Azi’s background.
The Love for Literature and The Art of Eroticism
In one of the podcast’s Q&A session, Azi once shared:
“I was born to study literature. Apart from making money, I hope to apply what I have learned. Nevertheless, I know that income-generating learning is definitely more motivating!”
The podcast is Azi’s voice notes where she places her thoughts, opinions, and analysis on books, works, literature, and art that she comes across. In some instances, she even shares about her own personal experiences.
The listeners of Sex & Letters podcast creates the atmosphere of an erotic and emotional literature class. Here, Azi uses sound to beautifully weave eroticism and literature. When you carefully listen to the podcast, you’ll notice that Azi’s personal characteristics are distinct, cutting into each argument directly and leaving no room for ambiguity and disputes.
By listening to this podcast, listeners are empowered to be more vocal about sex, and this creates an opportunity to reduce the level of mystery that surrounds sex, especially from a female perspective.
"I run this podcast with the purpose of earning money, to be blunt. In addition, I also want more people to understand sex, to remove the veil of mystery surrounding sex, and reducing sexual violence and crimes."
The podcast’s precise cutting-edge theme, coupled with Azi’s distinct personal characteristics paved way to Sex & Letter’s success in acquiring monetary support from listeners. In 2020, Firstory launched the one-time donation feature where Azi was able to gather a small group of supporters.
When Sex & Letters opened up recurring subscription plans after Firstory’s launch of this feature in July 2021, they concurrently released an episode entitled “⚠️ New IG & Subscription System. Donate Money to Azi!” where she announced the various plans available.
When Azi opened up these subscription plans, she bluntly states “I do not promise exclusive content. The sponsorship is to support the show.” After all, the core key to running an erotic podcast is the interaction. This interaction eventually snowballed into its own unique community.
The sensor-free, blunt conversations on sex and its workings in daily life becomes a good guide to those who are just beginning to venture into this area. This back and forth exchange established “Queen” Azi’s voice and role in the podcasting space.
We take a closer look at Sex & Letters’ podcast success factors:
1. Distinct Personality and Style
Listening to Sex & Letters feels like a literature class thanks to Azi’s clear and straightforward tone in discussing erotic literature. The content’s definitely more climatic than your English class in school though!
2. Matching the Theme with Pricing Strategy
Since the podcast was created for listeners who wish to explore sexual matters, the pricing numbers used ($419, $1069, and $17698) are Chinese sexual innuendos that appeal to the local audience.
For instance, $419 pertains to “For One Night.” This makes it more enjoyable for listeners to support Sex & Letters podcast.
3. Connecting with Supporters on Other Platforms
In order to connect with listeners and supporters better, Azi created additional groups, communities, and channels outside of Firstory’s built-in monetization system. This opens the door for closer, wholesome relationship-building between podcaster and audiences.
Grow your podcast business with Firstory
Your podcast listeners are your greatest supporters. Connecting and engaging with listeners can strengthen your podcaster-listener bond, which can greatly benefit any podcast business.
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