Are you an Influencer or Content Creator? Do you want to be? — How to generate income.
This is a relatively new avenue of exploration for me— If you’re interested in being a social influencer or content creator, or already consider yourself one, how can you turn all that fun work into income? Short answer: there are some great software platforms out there to help connect the dots.
From what I see around the web, it’s never been easier to turn a passion for creating content into an awesome lifestyle, and in turn your livelihood. Look at the explosion of YouTubers making millions[1], Podcasters telling incredible stories[2], and Food bloggers owning the food scene in their cities[3].
To consider yourself an influencer you must command the attention of many eyeballs, ears, and everything in between. Whether you’re writing compelling blog content, producing an engaging podcast, or cranking out YouTube videos, once you’ve found your rhythm in creating content the next step is to do it full-time, and realize that it’s now your job to keep your fans engaged. You will also want to keep yourself happy by ensuring you can pay your bills, eat good food, and live the type of life you want.
Certain platforms have monetization built right in, like YouTube. If you get enough views you can make money on the ad impressions alone, let’s call it a cool $2,000 for every 1 million views [4]. That model can transverse over to Blogging and Podcasting too, but only if you can reach hundreds of thousands, or millions, of viewers/readers/listeners on a regular basis. I don’t think that’s easy, nor is it for everyone. Some people have a smaller niche, or want to be a local influencer where those numbers just don’t work out — So what now?
You could sell merch, which is a great idea. You can also leverage Patreon. But, I still think your ceiling is limited with those options since you can only monetize your existing base so much by selling them t-shirts, stickers, hats, and counting on their goodwill. Offering your loyal fans a way to show-off their fandom is an important piece of the pie, but not really a means to support the passion. In the long-run it’s also important to diversify income streams.
So, now we land on sponsored content. When it’s done properly I think this is where the sweet spot is. My argument for advertising has always been, “I love good ads — Why would I not want a savvy recommendation for something I actually want?” I think influencers promoting sponsored content is this magical point where a person is trusted by their fans; and if the product and messaging is good I don’t see a better way of getting a paid endorsement in-front of wallet-opening-eyeballs. So how can you, as an influencer, find these sponsored content opportunities? Well, I think that is the hard part… but it’s getting easier.
As a content creator your passion and competence is surely laser-focused on producing your podcast, recording your videos, or writing your prose — Your time probably isn’t best spent hustling around trying to sell yourself to prospective sponsors or advertisers. Selling ad space is a whole separate business venture in and of itself, and any time you’re doing that is time you’re not creating content and engaging with your audience. If you can do this, do it — but just as commanding millions of views per month isn’t for everyone, securing sponsors and advertisers isn’t either.
This is where the incredible power of modern software and web apps come in! Over the coming weeks I and some “Creator Subscribers” at Buoy Ventures are going to be diving headfirst into these platforms to see what they offer and who they’re best for. Some are influencer focused, others are publisher focused. We’re attacking this from all angles —
Stay tuned for more info in later posts (like & subscribe! 🤣), but in the meantime check them out for yourself too!
