Yesterday, Roman Mars announced the sale of 99% Invisible to SiriusXM and Jay Acunzo sold his podcast about podcasting, 3 Clips, to Castos. I’ve dutifully added those moves to the Who Owns Who In Podcasting? Airtable that Anne Baird created to keep track of…well, who owns who in podcasting, as it’s becoming quite the tangled skein! 

If someone were to come knocking on your door with an offer to buy your podcast, should you sell it? My answer is an enthusiastic but qualified YES! 

Anytime this question comes up, I’m reminded of the wise words of my friend and podcaster Dave Slusher of The Evil Genius Chronicles: 

There's no such thing as selling out. Only the possibility of selling too cheaply.

Both Jay and Roman will continue to be very much in charge of their podcasts, using their voices and creative vision. This is the kind of deal I think most podcasters would be foolish not to at least consider, and I can sum up why in three points:

1. Cash! - Anyone selling their podcast needs cash. Roman’s deal was healthy enough to allow him to donate $1 million dollars to PRX over the next four years. So he’s probably not worried about paying his mortgage for at least that time.
2. Focus! - But because of the cash, you can afford to let other people do the tasks necessary to keep your show running that you’d really rather not focus on so you can double-down on the aspects of making the show that you love. 
3. Future! - It’s common for the seller to agree to continue performing duties for a set number of months or years. Knowing that your departure is already baked in can help you better understand your accomplishments thus far and allow you to start having serious thoughts about your next project.

But it’s not all roses. Remember, when you sell your show, however you sell your show, you’re no longer the sole decision-maker. When you sell your show and stay in the hosting seat, you get a boss or partner in return, and they’d like to be clued in on things. And have more than a little input, if only to protect their investment.

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A written-to-be-read article and a full transcript of the audio of this episode can be found at https://podcastpontifications.com/episode/the-art-of-selling-and-keeping-your-podcast

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Evo Terra produces