Here are some of the options I use currently / have used on older shows. I tend not to go the CPM route through advertising, since my episodes don't get tens of thousands of downloads in the first 28 days. That being said, I make a decent amount through these options. Direct sponsorships are great, because you'e tying direct relevance of your audience to a sponsor, making both sides much more valuable and effective to each other. So, if your niche is the MCU, you can partner with online comic book stores, specialist toy stores, special events, etc, that tie into that fanbase. Your listeners might get special offers from your sponsors for coming direct from your show, and your sponsors gets a much warmer audience that's right for their product, versus a generic ad that may or may not be a fit. If you can go hyper local with sponsorship, even better. Say you have a large audience in a particular state, or even city - are there potential sponsors in that locale that you can say, "Hey, I could potentially drive X amount of foot traffic to your stores, let's talk"? Because that then makes you a very valuable partner for them, and your listeners can shop locally and get a great deal. Then there are Memberships, where you can set up various tiers and offer perks for signing up to those tiers. Exclusive content, early access, ad-free, stickers, live stream specials (be part of the conversation), etc. Anything you want, and members simply pay a recurring monthly fee for that. This is a super effective way of connecting more directly with your listeners, and vice versa - and, if your sponsor comes on board, then premium Members can get exclusive deals just for them. You can also offer one-off donations, tips, etc, for anyone that wants to support but not become a fully-fledged member. These options, and more like them (merch, exclusive online communities, etc) are much more effective than generic ads, down to the direct connection between you, audience, and partner/sponsor/offer, meaning the revenue is also much more. The main thing is, have a diversity of revenue streams - that way, if one dries up or isn't really effective, you have more options to pull from. Disclaimer: I'm Head of Podcaster Support & Experience at Captivate More on reddit.com

Check out Buzzsprout’s monetization program. You would have to change hosts but you may meet their requirements. My podcast is hosted with Buzzsprout and though it’s too new to meet the download requirements I have been happy with the service so far and chose them because of the monetization service. More on reddit.com

Three things. First, set reasonable expectations for audience numbers and growth. Podcasts audiences are smaller (though generally more committed)... 32 listens in the first week after an episode drops puts you in the 50th percentile, believe it or not. This, combined with the fact that podcasts don't mesh well with other digital platforms, means they're hard to monetize. This will be a marathon, not a sprint. Second, look hard at YouTube. It's early days, but Google is migrating its podcasting platform here, and video 'podcasts' are becoming a lot more common. The reasons, I suspect, have to do with my second point above... the ability to track and measure listener behaviour through and after the listen. YouTube also has a better referral engine than anything you could accomplish in search and social, and in any case, I think Google is going to make this work through sheer force of will. Finally, hone your positioning (ie who you're for, what your niche is) as much as you can as you go along, and own it. Discoverability depends heavily on search-friendliness and word-of-mouth, both of which demand a focused product. It's the only way you're going to get scale unless you, personally, are already famous. Very best of luck to you, and respect for your foresight on the burnout thing. Have fun! More on reddit.com

Monetization doesn’t usually happen until you have lots more downloads - like tens of thousands. Advertisers simply don’t want to mess around buying ad space with a bunch of small podcasts. Buying ad space is work. Easier to buy 10,000 spots with one show instead of 50 shows with 200 downloads each. Networks can help with this. You get to be part of a larger buying pool. The thing is you’re lucky to get something like $20 per 1000 downloads. Or even $10. So personally, I wouldn’t mess around with ads for a while. Make sure the show is really good. Someone will notice if it is. Without ads, it makes your show more attractive to users. Why mess with that for $10 or $20 at this stage. Of course, there are always exceptions. You could have a great audience that advertisers love. But for now, I’d focus on the show quality. Good luck. More on reddit.com