As a content creator, there are different ways you can make money on social media. Knowing your options and coming up with a strategy is the only way to turn your Instagram game into a true side hustle, or even more, a extremely profitable full-time business!
Brand Partnerships
Brands will pay you to plug their products on your social media. There are typically 3 ways you can work with brands as an Influencer: gifted partnerships, brand ambassador and paid collaborations.
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
The first two ways to work with brands are nice and all, but the latter is the stuff that pays the bills. Payment for working with brands can depend on a lot of things, like your follower count, engagement, and campaign deliverables.
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
⚡Know what value you bring to the table and know what it is worth.
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
⚡Always negotiate. You never want to leave money on the table so don’t be afraid to ask for it.
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
⚡When in doubt, ask others. You were probably raised to never ask a person's age or how much money they make. In an industry that lacks a lot of transparency, all rules are out the window. If you don’t know what you should be charging brands, reach out to your peers to ask what they are charging! I think you’ll find that fellow Influencers are more than willing to share their knowledge with you.
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
Affiliate Marketing
You can make real money, just by recommending products to your community. To explain further- affiliate marketing is when brands pay a commission to you for sharing links or discount codes to their products that result in purchases. Commissions are usually small but if you share a lot of products and have a loyal community that comes to you for advice on what to purchase, sales can add up quickly. Affiliate marketing isn’t just for fashion bloggers. Companies like Amazon and Rakuten have programs you can join that will allow you to share links and earn commissions on thousands of products, not just clothing.
Sell a Good or Service
What makes you unique and what do you have to offer?
⚡️Maybe you’re an artist ➡️ sell prints of your work
⚡️Maybe you’re into vintage clothes ➡️ resell vintage finds
⚡️Maybe you love jewelry and always wanted to have your own jewelry line ➡️ do it and promote it on your social media platforms
⚡️Maybe you know a lot about social media ➡️ offer consultations to help others learn more about social media
⚡️Maybe you are into fitness ➡️ provide personalized work out plans for clients
Selling a good or service to your community is a lot of work but there is a lot of reward and long term payoff to marketing and selling something that you love and are passionate about.
How To Find Paid Partnerships⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
⚡Pitch yourself to brands! Figure out who you would love to work with, find the email for their PR department and send a pitch to them about why you would be the best person for their next campaign. Include links to your social media channels and a marketing one-sheet aka your social media resume.
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
⚡Work with Influencer Agencies/ Influencer Marketing Platforms. Their job is to connect brands with influencers like yourself. Make a profile for yourself on their websites/ apps and apply to their active campaigns so it is easier for them to find you!
Head to my related blog post for information on resources I've used in the past to find paid brand collaborations as a micro-influencer.