Lenny.fm works for creators
Are you creating podcasts and would like to monetize?
Read on, but also let us know here if you’re interested.
After years of listening to podcasts, making podcasts and talking with other podcast creators, we made Lenny.fm.
Our mission is to give you the most efficient revenue stream that also works for your listeners.
The first version is a web app where listeners can create a bundle of podcasts they want to support. When listeners start contributing money to your show, we’ll let you know so you can collect it.
It’s powered by Stripe for payment security and privacy.
Lenny.fm is up and running now for listeners to financially support the podcasts — your podcast — they spend time with.
It works as a single revenue stream or along side any other way you currently monetize.
All you need to do is let them know — “Support us and the other podcasts you listen to on Lenny.fm”.
Let’s get into it
- How it works
- Things of note
- Testimonial from Mark at Climactic
- Comparison between Patreon and BuyMeACoffee
- What do from here
- About us
How it works ⚙️
- Listeners select 4 or more podcasts they want to support — $4 USD a month + transaction fee. Currencies will localise soon.
- The $4 is split between their top 4 preferences of podcasts they chose. This makes sure a meaningful amount goes to the podcasters, rather than split it between 10 shows. The split is often equal to or more than ad revenue, but most podcasts have audiences too small for ads.
- If any show in a listener’s top 4 don’t publish an episode in the past month then your preferences reorder. That way they’re only supporting podcasts that are publishing episodes.
Things of note ☝️
- The economics of a $4 contribution split between 4 top preferences is the result of mathematical modelling to find a point where Lenny is more beneficial than advertising revenue.
- No new app, the listening experience doesn’t change. Lenny runs on separate tech.
- Listeners will be effortlessly supporting creators like you, creators they already spend quality time with.
Keen to get started? Start with the Creator Portal.
We showed Lenny.fm to Mark from Climactic, a science podcast about climate.
This email came back (unedited and unsolicited).
Yep, absolutely love it
On a personal psychology level, I felt ever so uncomfortable asking for support for myself. This though… it’d be so easy to plug this consistently and enthusiastically. I could talk about my own top 4, I could talk about someone else’s, I can immediately think of a bunch of ways to talk about it.
And it doesn’t force me to run a Patreon/Discord et al.
So it’s like Patreon or BuyMeACoffee?
Yes and no.
Lenny.fm, Patreon and BuyMeACoffee are all great ways to support creators.
Lenny.fm is the only one that allows listeners to create a custom bundle of creators to support.
Patreon’s tiers often create much more work on top of the fantastic core content that got you listeners in the first place.
And subscriptions to Patreon and BuyMeACoffee keep getting charged even if no content has been published for months.
From here
Join other podcasts already getting monthly money from listeners who want to support their podcasts!
- Get started by sharing your email and podcast name here.
- Check out our 🧐 Frequently Asked Questions
- Tell your audience to support your show, and the other podcasts they spend time with, on Lenny.fm
- We’ll let you know when you have money waiting. Until then there’s no account necessary.
- Follow us on Instagram, @lennyinc
About us
I’m Courtney Carthy, a radio/podcast producer in Melbourne Australia. I make shows at Nearly Media.
Andrew, Dan and Adam in the team are developers and musicians. All podcast fans too.
I’ve tried so many different ways to get paid for the shows I’ve made — merch, events, bonus content, subscriptions, advertising and more.
Nearly Media shows get 120k downloads a month but we’ve never found a consistent way to get paid for our effort.
After working in the music industry I saw how musicians immediately set up effective ways to make money — publishing, streaming, touring, physical sales, merch and sync deals. Sometimes more!
Podcasts don’t have this sorted out. But our team create one revenue stream for podcast creators that didn’t require anyone to make more content or organise heaps of other adjacent stuff.
Giving listeners an easy and effective way to contribute, without inciting more work from creators, is something we’ve been working on for a few years now.
Podcasting needs more money distributed across shows that aren’t in the top tier. Building a podcast middle class is something that’s possible.
Lenny.fm is live and working with podcasts collecting money from listeners who want to support them.
You can do the same! Just tell your audience to support your show on Lenny.fm.
We’re currently on version 1 of Lenny.fm, and with more people using it we can add features, make it look better and offer support to help podcast creators make money.
Happy podcasting!
And join the Creator Portal so we can help you make the most of Lenny.fm.
Get in contact anytime — hi@lenny.fm
Create a free listener account now to check it out.
Very version 1 but everything works :)
