12 ways to make more money and get paid as a content creator

Catarina Mello is a travel influencer who made over $1 million teaching an online course.

Courtesy Catarina Mello

Content creators can earn money in many ways.
From partnering with brands to teaching online courses, creators can build multiple income streams.
Business 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.

Many 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 the 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. (Read more about how she built her business.)

Here are 12 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 to companies, as they often appear more authentic, have more engaged audiences, and tend to charge less for partnerships.

And sponsorships are not limited to social-media platforms: creators can also land brand deals on their newsletters or their podcasts. Simran Kaur and Sonya Gupthan, cohosts of the podcast “Girls that Invest,” have made podcast ads a cornerstone of their thriving million-dollar financial literacy business.

Here’s how much influencers earn from brand partnerships on different platforms:

Gabby Beckford, a travel influencer, makes over 85% of her six-figure income from partnerships with brands

Affiliate marketing

With affiliate marketing, creators can earn a cut of the sales of certain products.

When signing up for an affiliate program, the creator generally receives a personalized link. They then get a percentage of each sale that is driven through the link. The percentages vary based on product type and program.

Some of the most popular affiliate programs include Amazon, LTK (formerly known as RewardStyle), and ShareASale. (Read more about the top affiliate programs for influencers.)

In recent months, creators have been scoring big paydays from TikTok’s affiliate program, which pays commission for products sold on the platform’s feature Shop. Some creators are earning thousands of dollars a month from it.

Another core affiliate program for creators is the Amazon Influencer Program. Here’s a breakdown of how to join the program as a creator and how much it pays.

Here’s how much creators have made through affiliate marketing:

Photoplotnikov/Getty, Tyler Le/insider

Online courses

Starting a course can be a way for creators to supplement their income by sharing their knowledge of a specific field or industry.

When pre-recorded, courses can also become a source of passive income.

Some creators also update and strategically time the launches of updated versions of their courses to generate more interest among their audience.

“The idea of doing launches, instead of an evergreen model where it’s always available, is that you are creating scarcity,” said Catarina Mello, a travel influencer who made over $1 million in course sales. (Read more about Mello’s business.)

Here’s how much creators have made through online courses:

Products

When it makes sense for their brand and there’s interest from their audience, some creators turn to making products.

This can mean merchandise — personalized branded items, usually apparel that can range from hoodies to plush toys — but also other types of physical or digital products that fit within a creator’s personal brand.

For example, Aisha Beau Frisbey, a full-time lifestyle content creator with 36,000 Instagram followers, launched a deck of affirmation cards.

Apps can also be lucrative digital products. Tessa Barton, a fashion influencer with over one million Instagram followers, built a photo-editing app that had $32 million in projected revenue in 2023.

And in recent months, a new avenue has emerged for creators and brands who want to sell products directly on social media — TikTok Shop. The feature allows creators to build a storefront on their own profiles and sell their own products. Writer Adam Beswick, for example, was able to quit his job as a nurse and become a full-time writer after he began selling his novels on TikTok.

Here’s how much creators have earned from products:

For the past 16 years, the “gold standard” of ad-revenue-share initiatives on social media has been the YouTube Partner Program. Creators can earn a cut of the revenue from the advertisements that appear before and during their YouTube videos.

Recently, other platforms have started following YouTube’s example. Snapchat now shares advertising revenue with creators who are part of its Snap Stars program, and Facebook does the same on Facebook reels. TikTok also offers a cut of its advertising revenue to top-performing creators, with a program called Pulse.

For some creators, Facebook is proving a particularly effective avenue to repurpose content. Some say it’s an overlooked “cash cow.” Creator Shaniece Brown said she was making an average of $700 a month from the platform’s ad-revenue-share program in June 2023. For food creator Wasil Daoud, ad revenue on Facebook is as lucrative as YouTube.

Snapchat is also seeing a resurgence is creator interest with its Snap Stars program. Some creators are posting up to 400 times a day to maximize revenue, and making thousands in the process. (Read more about how some Snap Stars are making millions.) Smaller creators have also been able to rake in some serious cash. Creators AJ and Grey made six figures in 2023 and even decided to leave behind brand deals on other platforms to focus on posting on Snapchat. Here’s how they got into the Snap Stars program.

On YouTube, the Partner Program has expanded to include creators who reach 10 million views in 90 days on shorts — YouTube’s short-form video offering — as well as 1,000 subscribers.

Here’s how much YouTubers earn from advertisements on their videos:

Platform creator funds and bonuses

Some platforms offer bonuses or “creator funds” that pay influencers money for the views they receive on their content, primarily short-form videos.

These types of payout structures have long been a pain point for creators — some expressed frustration with these programs paying very little, being an unreliable income stream, or being unavailable in many countries.

Recently, platforms have also started rethinking the creator fund model.

The funds Meta offered for Instagram reels and reels on Facebook have been put on pause, while YouTube replaced its creator fund for short-form content with a revenue-share program in early 2023.

TikTok rolled out in 2023 a new version of its fund, specifically for longer-form videos over 60 seconds. Some creators reported making tens of thousands of dollars from this fund, called the Creativity Program Beta, now known as the Creator Rewards Program, but it’s unclear how long its benefits will last.

Here’s how much creators have earned from platform bonuses and funds:

Consulting

As companies and brands recognize the power of having a social-media presence, they are increasingly looking to gain expertise on how to leverage social media from the influencers themselves.

This can become a valuable income stream for creators, who get paid by companies to provide support as consultants or advisors.

UCLA quarterback and influencer Chase Griffin, for example, has been consulting for companies on how to get involved with athlete creators and name, image, and likeness campaigns after scoring over 30 NIL deals.

Here’s how much creators have earned consulting for companies:

Tejas Hullur

‘User-generated content’ (UGC) ads

In recent months, TikTok’s immense growth has led to a newfound interest from brands in acquiring the rights to “user-generated content” that they can repost on their social channels or use for paid advertisements.

UGC can be a lucrative income stream for creators who have expertise in crafting content but don’t have the following to land big brand deals or want to avoid flooding their audience with sponsored content. In fact, some brands prefer creators with small followings because their content costs less and feels more authentic.

Unlike sponsored content that gets posted on a creator’s personal page, this UGC is used on brands’ channels.

The boom of this type of content has enticed many creators to try their hand at it. Here’s the advice of some seasoned UGC creators on how to set rates as a beginner.

For those who are just starting out with UGC, TikTok offers the Creative Challenge program, which allows creators to participate in UGC campaigns advertised by brands directly on the platform. Creators called it one of the platform’s “best-kept secrets.” One creator, Joseph Arujo, said the program provided some much-needed income when his film-related sponsorships ground to a halt during the 2023 SAG-AFTRA strike.

Some creators shared how they got started on the program and made money from it.

Here’s how much creators have made creating user-generated content for brands:

AR lenses

The messaging app Snapchat announced Lens Studio at the end of 2017, which enables Snapchat creators to make augmented reality lenses for the app for free.

Some creators are building careers by focusing not on posting content, but on making tools others can use to help power virtual experiences. Creators can earn money by creating branded augmented reality lenses that others can use on Snapchat.

TikTok also launched a $6 million fund in May 2023 to help augmented-reality creators earn up to $50,000 a month.

Here’s how much creators have earned building AR lenses:

Speaking engagements

Some creators receive a payment when they are invited to events or conferences to speak, both virtually and in person.

DIY creator Emma Downer said she has been invited to speak publicly about how DIY can improve people’s problem-solving and build a sense of personal autonomy, as well as how to use TikTok effectively, both for paid and unpaid opportunities.

Here’s how much creators earn from speaking engagements:

Subscriptions

One way for creators to generate a consistent income stream is to use subscription models where fans can pay to access exclusive content.

One of the most popular platforms to publish subscription content is Patreon — but there are many other ones like Fanfix, Fanvue, Fourthwall, or OnlyFans. Some creators even build their own websites to host exclusive content.

Subscription platform OnlyFans has become prominent among adult content creators, some of whom have become millionaires thanks to their presence on the platform. (Read more about how seven OnlyFans creators price their content to earn millions.)

Here’s how much creators have made from subscription programs:

Experiences

On top of selling digital and physical products, it’s become increasingly common for creators to sell experiences.

These can range from online or in-person events to classes or trips. For example, travel influencer Tia Cooper built a lucrative business as a travel agent and sold $119,000 worth of trips in eight months in 2023.

Podcaster Ariana Nathani hosts in-person events in New York connected with her popular dating podcast. The events were her biggest source of income in 2023.

Here’s how creators have made money selling experiences:

Source 12 ways to make more money and get paid as a content creator

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