Sarah St. John is the founder and CEO of PodSeam.com, a podcast production company. She is also an entrepreneur, podcaster, author, animal lover, and world traveler. 

Sarah has created several startups throughout her entrepreneurial journey of over a decade. Her goal is to show people how to launch and manage an online business on a budget.

She recently joined us on Creating Your Encore Career to teach us how to do just that. 

 

Frugal Preneur

 

Sarah wrote a book called Frugal Preneur that’s all about the different types of online business models and how to run them affordably. She also launched a podcast with the same name. 

 

Many new entrepreneurs need resources like these as they can often be reluctant to spend a lot of money right away. A lot of people just assume that building a business is expensive but it doesn't have to be. Sarah maintains her online businesses for under $100/month which is very attainable.

 

$100/month?

 

So, how do you run a business on only $100/month?

 

Sarah shared her top tips in the episode:

 

1. The first thing you need is a website because it’s something you own. To create a website, you have to purchase a domain which can cost anywhere from $1 to $15 per year on average. The website itself is free but you have to purchase hosting. This usually only comes out to $3 or so a month.

 

2. From there, you need an email provider for your email list. Most of them are free up to a certain number of subscribers.

 

3. Finally, you need a place to host a landing page where people can download your freebies in exchange for their email addresses. 

 

Those are the three things you should get set up right away. From there, the other software you need depends on what type of business you're running.

 

Podcasting

 

One of the most affordable and effective ways to grow your business is by starting a podcast. Firstly, this is because the exposure is really good. People can find you easily. If they're already listening to podcasts, they can find you in search engines or via a podcast directory. Additionally, you have the chance to be a guest on other shows which increases your exposure even more. 

 

People can also multitask while they listen to your podcast. People are more likely to listen to a podcast for 30 minutes or an hour which is much longer than they’d read a book or watch a video. 

 

Finally, listeners can get to know and trust you. People also tend to binge-listen to podcasts once they find one they like. They'll go back several episodes and listen to it like a Netflix show. 

 

Monetizing A Podcast

 

If this inspires you to start a podcast, you may want to consider monetizing it. Here are some ways to do that:

 

1. Be a guest on other shows and promote your business there if the host allows it.

 

2. Sponsorship. You can make up to $25 per 1000 downloads.

 

3. Talk about your products and services on your podcast. 

To get more of Sarah’s free resources, click here.