How To...
Make Money Online
My most requested and now most viewed How To in 10 video yet and that's most likely because it's also a topic rarely spoken about in such a new industry - How to Make Money Online.
The business of being an influencer is one that seems to have been accidentally shrouded in a certain amount of mystery. Not only is it a new way to earn a living it's also a career that can be split (albeit with a blurred line) into 2 areas.
To be an influencer means you have the ability to influence the shopping/style/beauty/lifestyle habits of a certain section of individuals online. This is typically through one platform and with a more relaxed approach to influencing based on showing and selling. The blanket term influencer covers the entirety of blogging, influencing and social media platforms and diving deeper reveals that a lot of bloggers (myself included) of course fall under the influencer terminology but also feel at home with the title of content creator. Someone who has the ability to influence but both organically and through paid work spends time, money, effort and passion to create unique content, that they hope will stand out from the norm across multiple (for me 7) channels.
With both titles though comes the ability to earn money but how exactly?
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How Influencers Make Money Online
1. You may have a social media platform that has gained a following large enough to influence and in turn the ability to bump up your pay cheque. Whether that be growth over on your own blog, on a YouTube channel, through an Instagram account or even a TikTok presence, there are ways to monetize your content and earn through the things you spend time creating.
2. AdSense - The oldest and original online revenue stream and the one most closely associated with traditional advertising. AdSense is the ability for creators to earn money in ratio to the clicks and sometimes sales that they gain, through static adverts hosted on their channels. This allows influencers to earn money through hosting advertisements on blogs/websites, from PPC (Pay Per Click) and/or a percentage of sales that are achieved through said advertisement.
3. AdSense on YouTube - A varying revenue stream similar to the more traditional AdSense in that you can profit from advertisements on your uploads (both automated and manually placed) but your earnings can also come from the views/impressions you gain. Every video and channel will have a different CPM (Cost Per Impression) which varies in line with the type/length of content but if you are consistently gaining millions of views you can earn sizable amounts.
4. Affiliate Links - Affiliate links are links that influencers can generate alongside their created content that will earn them money. A lot of content creators see affiliate links as the online version of a commission that a sales assistant would earn in a bricks and mortar store - a thank you for being introduced to a product. Affiliate links give the influencer who created that link a percentage of the sale price but without costing the consumer any extra. A thank you for inspiring the purchase.
5. Affiliate Link Criticism - Affiliate links have been around for quite some time but with the surge of influencers into the social media space they have become a much more talked about way to earn money. It's quite likely that you have clicked on many affiliate links over the years through online magazine articles, Google search adverts, Twitter adverts etc but now that influencers declare them for clarity, consumers are for more aware but that has also brought misconceptions.
6. Own Products - As time has gone on some influencers have been able to create revenue streams through the creation and sales of their own products. Whether that be standalone brands, collaborations with already established companies or endeavours such as writing a book. These projects may involves commission earnings, one off payments or even profits from the brand itself if it's personally owned.
7. Brand Partnerships - Brand partnerships and sponsorships were built from the ideas generated through traditional advertising such as billboards, magazine adverts, TV commercials etc but brands soon realised they could target consumers in a much more personal way through influencers. Now brands can choose to market their products through individuals that align with their values and imagery, that also in turn have a following that aligns with what they stand for.
8. Brand Collaborations - Brands may choose to pay an influencer to create a campaign, some imagery, a video etc to help to promote and market a particular item. Brands will offer to pay a content creator dependent on the size of their following, the type of content they make, the engagement they typically receive, the time and effort that goes into their content and much more.
9. An influencer will be offered a budget to work with to create a set amount of content, on particular social media channels dependent on the above numbers. They will take the figure away with their team and work out if that budget equates to the time they will spend imagining, creating and publishing the content as well as the ROI (Return on Investment) the brand is hoping to achieve.
10. There are many ways to monetize content online as an influencer but the biggest tip would be to ensure you monetize your content fairly and that the content you create is quality content that has time, effort and passion at it's core, not just the ability to earn.
And as always if you have any questions, suggestions or recommendations for new episodes of How To in 10 I'd love to know so I can continue to make content that interests, entertains and perhaps offers a new perspective :)
