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Monetizing Your Online Presence: The Ultimate Social Media Money-Making Guide

By Phanjakidze Zako Last updated : November 19, 2023

With every passing day, it is becoming impossible for us to remain absent from social media platforms. While for some, social platforms are only a medium to share their memories and connect to distant friends, for others, it is their entire world. Yes, money-making through social media has become a full-time job for millions in this generation.

So, if you are entering the world of social media to generate income and earn a living, you have come to the right place. Today, I will walk you through some of the most popular ways creators are making money on social media.

Once you enter the arena of social media marketing, your perception of the whole social networking world will change for the better.

5 Ways You Can Make Money On Social Media

Creators are the soul of social media platforms. Especially now that businesses have started shifting from an offline mode of marketing to an online one, creators have become a potent link for them to market their products. From social shopping to influencer marketing, social platforms have become a powerful stage for both creators and businesses to earn good money.

So, if you are wondering how to make money on social media, below are five effective ways to start your independent journey into the money-making world.

The three major platforms, Instagram, YouTube, and TikTok, are currently competing for influencer attention with their corresponding ad dollars and multiple lucrative monetizing options. So, if you are on all or one of these platforms, you are good to start your money-earning journey on social media.

Review Affiliate Products

One of the easiest and most convenient ways to use your creativity to earn money is by reviewing affiliate products. Nevertheless, before you attract companies, you need to have a good social presence. So, if you are a beginner, you can earn quick followers through a trustworthy website to jumpstart your journey. 

Coming back to affiliate products, companies seek reviews of their products from other companies or influencers with similar customer bases. So, if you are a fashion influencer, you might get clothing companies asking you to review their products. By doing so, they get their products in front of a new audience, and hence, you get paid. 

It is one of the easiest ways to earn money on social media for beginners. Even with a small follower base, you can get good affiliate deals.

Focus On Paid Membership

If you want your followers to remain loyal to you and bring in more attention, building a paid membership is the next best step to earning money. For instance, Instagram's subscription feature enables you to earn monthly revenue by allowing you to make content exclusively for paid members.

Only loyal followers who subscribe to your profile will get the privilege to view your exclusive content. They will get a subscriber badge next to their name, and you will get paid a monthly fee in exchange. You can set your own price and monitor who is subscribing to you.

Even other platforms like YouTube and Twitch have entered this sphere, allowing creators to make exclusive content only for paid followers.

Partner With Brands Directly

Once you have an established presence on your social platforms, you can start earning money by partnering with brands. The brands you partner with will provide free merchandise, and you will feature their products in your content in return. Otherwise, you can also find deals where the brand directly pays you for showcasing them in your content.

However, you have to be very creative while promoting such deals. Do not forget your integrity. Simply promoting anything and everything is not the way. If you do so, your audience will lose interest and start navigating towards different creators.

Hence, always work with brands that naturally fit your content. Make sure that the content still feels like you, even in a sponsored post. Put your creativity at its best and let your audience enjoy your content.

Creator Fund

One of the most popular ways of earning money is through TikTok's Creator Fund. Similarly, with Instagram's Reels Bonus Program, Snapchat's Spotlight reward fund, and Pinterest's Creator Fund, you can start earning money based on how many views and likes you get. However, there are some criteria that you have to fulfil to qualify as a recipient of the Creator Fund.

The best thing about earning money through features like this is that you do not have to deal with others. You just have to be yourself and make posts that are engaging and popular. Once the audience starts interacting, liking, and following your content, the social platform will pay you for your efforts.

Ad Revenue Sharing

Lastly, a very prevalent and sustainable way of making money on social platforms is through ad revenue sharing. As long as you are making quality content and attracting constant views, you will earn good money.

The major platform with this feature is YouTube. YouTube Partner Progam allows the creators to earn a percentage of the revenue generated by ads that play during their videos. The program offers a 55% share of the generated revenue for long-form videos and 45% for Shorts based on their share of total views.

Meta has recently notified us that a similar program is also being made for creators on Instagram and Facebook.

Conclusion

These are some solid ways of earning money on social media platforms. While having a good follower base is the ultimate key to getting started, do not be demotivated if you are struggling to get there. Success comes with time. The key will always be consistency and commitment.