For Ben Wilson, host of How to Take Over the World, the recurring revenue he earns from his premium subscribers has become a strong, reliable source of income that pays for his everyday living.
Ben Wilson launched his podcast, How to Take Over the World, in 2017. But what started as a passion project eventually gained momentum and turned into a full-time job, and with that came questions like:
Just 9 months after launching on Supercast, Ben surpassed $50K in subscription revenue, a one-year goal he didn’t know how he would achieve. Now he can count on the stable income he earns from recurring subscriptions to pay for his mortgage and groceries - giving him an opportunity to set his sights much higher.
We sat down with him to learn more about his journey and what advice he has for creators preparing to launch a premium subscription.
Q: How did you start the show?
A: I was listening to Tim Ferris and he had done three or four episodes in a row where I wasn’t really interested in the guests. I panicked - had he interviewed everyone I cared about? (To be clear, the answer was no, it’s still a great show.)
But that got me thinking about who I would want him to interview and I realized that they were all dead. I wanted to hear Tim interview Napoleon, or Caesar, or Thomas Eddison, or Steve Jobs. So I thought, “why not me?” I can read books about them and surface their insights.
After that it didn’t take long to get started - the podcast was live just a couple weeks later after I read a few books on Napoleon, threw together a script, and recorded the first episode using some equipment I happened to have lying around.
Q: HTTOTW grew steadily and has even received praise from other creators like Sam Parr and Mr. Beast. But how long did it take for the podcast to start making money?
A: It took me about five years to start making anything, but at that point it went fairly quickly from some money to full-time job money.
Q: Why did you decide to launch the premium subscription version of the pod?
A: I wanted a source of revenue that would be more stable than advertising which really fluctuates with the market. Sometimes there are big deals that come with an influx of cash, sometimes there are no deals and things are hard - but subscription revenue is constant.
I also wanted an opportunity to get closer to my listeners. When you have a direct commercial relationship and people are paying you for content, they offer more feedback and are much more engaged.
Q: The benefits of having that reliable revenue stream are obvious, but can you tell us more about why getting closer to your audience was important to you?
A: Podcasting is not YouTube - we don’t have the luxury of a comment section, so feedback is really hard to come by. I was looking for insights into what people wanted me to cover and how I should structure my episodes, so having the one-to-one relationship with my premium audience has helped me hone in directionally.
Q: Did you have any reservations when you launched the subscription?
A: I was skeptical if it was really going to work. Maybe I’m just a pessimist, but even though I knew on paper that I had all these listeners, I felt like no one would actually subscribe to the podcast. (Well, I knew my mom would but other than that I wasn’t so sure.)
I set a goal of $50K in revenue in the first year without really thinking that was going to happen. But we’ve already collected an amount of revenue that was well above my expectations and that’s made me start to set my sights even higher.
At this point my Supercast revenue pays for my life and everything else can be gravy. It’s incredibly reliable so it’s nice to know that my mortgage and groceries are taken care of.
Q: How did you decide what to put behind the paywall?
A: By listening to feedback from my subscribers!
My content is about the great people of history and what we can learn from them, so I always knew that pulling out those lessons as I’m telling their stories was an important part of the show. I also did a “takeaways” section that summarized each episode, but I worried that was too redundant, so for a while I took it out. But then my premium subscribers were immediately asking about where it went, making me realize that was what people were really paying for!
It was such a strong piece of feedback that I actually changed the format of my bonus episodes. When I started they were “endnotes” or things that didn’t make it into the main show, but the feedback was so clear that I moved the takeaways section to the end of each episode, structured that section out, and made it a focal point.
We all know there’s a tricky trade off with subscription - the more valuable the bonus information, the more people will subscribe, but the more you do that, the harder it is to grow the free feed. So for me, the takeaways were the perfect thing to put behind the paywall. The narrative is what hooks people and they still get that for free, but the summary makes for an engaging piece of content that people find valuable.
Q: What has subscription unlocked for you that you wouldn’t be able to do otherwise?
A: It’s unlocked my community. I actually just got back from my first HTTOTW event - we hosted 31 attendees at a summit in Ecuador where we had great conversations about some of the most influential people in history. It was amazing!
Subscription has created a new type of relationship with my listeners. Instead of it being “I serve you ads and who knows what you do with that” it’s now “you pay me money directly, we have an open dialogue, and you actually feel real to me.” It has opened up the possibility for things like group chats, in person events, and more - I’m excited to continue building that community.
Q: Why did you choose Supercast as your subscription partner?
A: The economics of partnering with you guys is just so much better than partnering with the big tech companies. They charge you like a partner and treat you like a SaaS provider - I’ve never talked to anyone there.
Supercast charges me like you’re a SaaS product (extremely modestly) but you treat me like a true partner.
You guys are really helpful in trying to think through the listener experience, how I can make more money, and how I can engage more deeply with my audience. Your door is always open, and that’s one of the things I love most about Supercast.
Q: What advice would you give to other creators who are starting their own subscription?
A: I’m the classic creator type - I like reading books and talking into a microphone. But luckily for me I have some business-minded friends who reality checked me after I started the show and were like “look, you’re giving yourself the soft sell, you need to give yourself the hard sell.” So for other creators like me who aren’t natural-born sellers: don’t be afraid to talk about the ways your community can support you! Don’t wait until the end of your episodes to promote your subscription, hit them right at the beginning.
Find the people in your life who can give you that same reality check and tell you that you’re worth it because you’re actually doing your fans a favor by selling them more.
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