You’re Already Making Online Content- Why Not Get Paid for It
Social media has become ingrained in our culture and, in many ways, almost everyone has a presence as an online content creator of some kind.
But, many people are convinced that making money from blogging or through social media channels is difficult, if not impossible. That’s just not true, especially if you already have a large base of followers. With a little extra effort, content over time can be turned into a supplementary or even main income stream.
If your social profile is part of a marketing campaign for a product or business, monetizing it can add an extra income stream to the enterprise. Alternatively, if you’re an individual who’s creating content about something you’re interested in as a labor of love, there’s no reason why it has to be unpaid labor.
Here are a few successful strategies people are using to monetize their digital presence.
Become An Affiliate Marketer or Product Reviewer
Your followers are potential social currency.
If you mention a product to them that has an affiliate program, you can make a connection between seller and buyer — and a profit at the same time. Write a review or a blog post about products of interest to your target audience and steer them to the product page. For example, someone with a home maintenance advice page or blog can recommend do-it-yourself tools or products. If the company has an affiliate program, you’ll get a commission from every sale that results from traffic sent from your page.
Build A (Paid) Subscriber Base
Consider setting up a ConnectPal profile. ConnectPal is similar to other social media sites, except that followers pay a subscription fee to see your ConnectPal page.
ConnectPal users include YouTube creators, radio hosts, bands, athletes, political and religious groups: well-known users include radio host Neal Boortz, Alex Debogorski of the TV show “Ice Road Truckers” and yoga teacher Travis Eliot.
Setting up a new ConnectPal account is free and users have the option to set their subscription price. ConnectPal adds a small percentage to that fee as its commission. A profile owner needs to earn at least $200 in a calendar month to qualify for a payout.
You can market your ConnectPal profile by posting a link to it in your other social media accounts.
Think Visually
More and more content consumers have migrated to mobile as their primary viewing device. Keep this in mind and create engaging mobile-friendly content: It’s a very different animal from the traditional website.
The highly valued millennial demographic has migrated to sites like Instagram and Snapchat. People who build a good following on sites like these can earn money promoting brands in their posts just by posting photos.
Video bloggers who upload content to YouTube can enable Google AdSense, which allows the site to play ads before the video starts. Once a channel reaches 10,000 views, its creator can become a paid YouTube Partner.
Share Your Expertise
Set up an online course or webinar geared to the central focus of your social media efforts and charge a fee: it’s a great way to engage an audience and keep them coming back. Or write an e-book or hardcover book on the topic and sell it through your page.
