- Content creators can earn money in many ways.
- From partnering with brands to teaching online courses, creators can build multiple income streams.
- Insider spoke with influencers about how to make money as a creator on social media.
In the past few years, earning money as a content creator and building an influencer career have become more accessible.
Creators on platforms like YouTube, TikTok, and Instagram are now earning six figures or more annually through a variety of income streams.
How much creators earn can depend on factors like follower count, audience engagement, and type of content they post. But it’s now possible for creators with smaller followings to make consistent and lucrative income by building a personal brand on social media. And as the creator economy has matured, the ways influencers can make money have multiplied.
Personal finance YouTuber Reni Odetoyinbo, for example, has built seven income streams with just 19,000 YouTube subscribers, and has made up to $34,000 a month throughout 2022. (Read more about how she built her business.)
Here are 11 common ways influencers earn money, based on conversations with dozens of industry insiders.
Brand deals
Partnering with brands for sponsored content is the most widespread way for creators to make money.
Depending on the size and engagement of an influencer’s following, they can get paid hundreds of thousands of dollars (or even millions) to advertise products or services.
But it’s not just influencers with millions of followers who can monetize their content this way.
Micro influencers — those with less than 100,000 followers — can be especially appealing for companies, as they often appear more authentic, have more engaged audiences, and tend to charge less for partnerships.
Here’s how much influencers earn from brand partnerships on different platforms:
- How much 13 TikTokers make from brand partnerships and what they charge per post
- How much 11 Instagram micro influencers earn from brand deals
- Tej Patel, a TikTok creator with 55,000 followers, shares how much he makes from three income streams
- Kirsty Ip, an Instagram influencer with 42,000 Instagram, breaks down what she earns
- John Seaton, a college football player and TikTok creator with 2 million followers, shares what he makes from NIL brand deals
- Nate White, a fashion TikTok creator with 1.8 million followers, reveals how much he’s made from brand deals in 2022
- Joel Bervell, a med student and TikTok creator, explains how he makes six figures from brand deals
Affiliate marketing
With affiliate marketing, creators can earn a cut …….