Ways to Monetize Your Content

 Content creators are known to wear many hats — from photography and videography, to online courses and webinars, even graphic design, article writers and merchandise — they have many tools in their box!

But knowing how to monetize your skillset on social media can feel daunting, especially if you’re expanding beyond a traditional influencer offering.

Take a little stress off by developing a few new sources of income. You’ve already done the hard work of creating your brand, so here are some fresh ideas to help you amplify your efforts!

Making Money as a Content Creator Tip 1: Teach a Course

Online learning is where it’s at. And platforms like Skillshare and Udemy have truly democratized the way people learn (and teach!).

Becoming a teacher on an online learning platform can help increase your profile as a thought leader, which will help you to build life-long, engaged followers across your channels.

And, not to mention, top-earning teachers on platforms like Skillshare can make $100K USD per year!

From photography to fashion design to email marketing; there’s a lane for you to teach a virtual class with respect to your creative content niche!

Most virtual classes are broken into short “lessons” that are easy to digest and understand. Becoming a teacher on an online learning platform also helps you to increase your profile as a thought leader, which will help you to build life-long, engaged followers across your channels.

Making Money as a Content Creator Tip 2: Offer Exclusive Content

If you have an established community online, you can build on it even further by offering your community exclusive content behind a paywall.

If this sounds like something you’d be interested in, consider using a paid membership platform like Patreon.

Patreon is a membership platform for artists and creatives to make money — you can host exclusive content for your most enthusiastic fans

Over 150,000 creatives take advantage of using the Patreon platform to diversify their monthly income.

You may be surprised at how many of your community members would be willing to spend $5-10 per month to receive exclusive content from you.

The exclusive content you offer varies depending on your brand and what your audience wants from you. You can be creative with this — release bonus podcast episodes, BTS videos, additional articles, vlogs, and so much more.

Put out some feelers and ask your community what they’d like to see from you and if they’d be willing to pay monthly for additional (and exclusive!) content.

If you’re a photographer, this could be a great place to offer custom photo presets. If you’re a graphic designer, why not offer exclusive phone backgrounds or Instagram Stories templates for your followers to download?

The possibilities are endless when it comes to creating exclusive content.

Making Money as a Content Creator Tip 3: Branded Sponsorships

While some influencer marketing budgets may have been cut because of COVID-19, studies by Fohr have shown that influencers are still able to secure great partnerships in 2021.

In fact, engagement on sponsored content is on the rise, due to Instagram usage skyrocketing since the beginning of the pandemic!

Brand sponsorships can include anything from in-feed posts on Instagram to Reels or Instagram Stories.

Instagram users are more likely to trust the opinion of their favorite content creator over a brand’s corporate messaging, so these moments aren’t going anywhere anytime soon!

Making Money as a Content Creator Tip 4: Social Media Ads

In order to make some money, you might have to spend some. And social media advertising is a great place to start.

You can use Facebook ads to promote content on Instagram and Facebook alike. Facebook’s Business Manager offers numerous different types of ads, depending on your objective.

With Facebook Ads Manager, you can target people who have never heard of you or your brand. You can also target people who frequent your website but don’t make purchases. There are countless ways to create ads for Facebook and Instagram!

ICYMI: Instagram rolled out the launch of IGTV ads. This could mean more monetization features are in the works at Instagram and Facebook.

Another advertising option is Google AdWords for sidebar and banner ads and AdSense for YouTube videos.

AdSense allows YouTube creators to capture a portion of revenue from programmatic ads (think 30-second pre-roll ads, sponsored banners, etc.).

Making Money as a Content Creator Tip 5: Consulting Services

Being a content creator doesn’t always mean you need to create new content to make money.

If you want to offer your expertise but don’t want to create a full-fledged Skillshare class, you can offer up consultation services.

Your followers will definitely appreciate the opportunity to learn from you in a 1-on-1 capacity. Why not offer simple portfolio reviews via email or take it a step further and do 1-on-1 Zoom consulting video calls?

Just think: the 1-on-1 video call could turn into a lucrative, long-term consulting gig with new business owners or brands who are wanting to develop content strategies.

Making Money as a Content Creator Tip 6: Sell Your Art

If you aren’t interested in setting up a Patreon or teach a Skillshare course or develop a Facebook ad campaign, we get it! But, why not consider selling your art?

As creatives, we often forget to honor our own work. And we forget that our supporters do and will truly support us!

Whether you’re a photographer, painter, digital marketing expert, or anything in between, set up a store on your personal website and give your followers the opportunity to show their support for your work!

Luckily, there are ways to drive traffic and make sales on Instagram!  

For example, the link in your bio is super easy to find and readily clickable, making it one of the most valuable traffic-drivers on your Instagram profile.

And the good news is, with Linkin.bio by Later, you can turn your whole Instagram feed into a clickable landing page that updates with every new post you share.

And if you’re on a Later for Business plan, you can even connect your Shopify account to Linkin.bio! With just a click, you can tag Shopify products in your Linkin.bio posts, making it easy for your followers to shop your feed.  

Lastly, don't forget to read about another way to monetize your content, it's called Web Monetisation, check my previous article to read more or click 

here