There are so many legitimate ways to make money online these days so it should come as no surprise that you can use social media to earn extra money as well. It’s true that there are various money-making opportunities on social media than you might realize. Social media can be really lucrative. There’s no shortage of social media marketing tactics to promote your brand online, but not all of them are efficient. As a marketer, you have a finite number of hours in the day and a finite budget to work with, not to mention the pressure to get the best results possible.
Turning a profit using social media, for some, is as elusive as a white rhino. But, it doesn’t have to be. Think of social networks as a big party and try to fit in — not be the life of the party.
According to Pew Research, 79% of all internet users use Facebook, 32% of all online adults use Instagram, 31% use Pinterest, 29% use LinkedIn, and 24% use Twitter.
Given the fact that there are so many people on social media, some people have decided to cash in on the popularity of some of these platforms and use them to make money.
If you spend time on social media regularly anyway, you may want to follow suit.
Here are some of the best ways to get started.
1. Be authentic
Don’t treat social media like traditional advertising and it shouldn’t look or feel the same. Social media is a community that has been designed to share comfort, support, information, expertise, and entertainment. You need to build up a voice in social media — one that speaks like a real person, shares like a real person, and someone that people can relate to. Share your foibles, mistakes, sense of humor, and what’s going on in your life. Let people backstage.
2. Creative Writing/Content distribution
Content distribution is one of social media’s most powerful roles as an outlet for promoting your published material.
Always remember that when you publish a new post, make sure to use your social media channels to boost that post to the public. This will do a lot of things for your brand: You’ll attract more initial traffic to your post, achieve more visibility (especially if that post is shared) and encourage more customer loyalty (especially with consistent updates), all of which can help improve your SEO. Best of all, it only takes a few minutes once your post is live.
So what exactly is Content distribution? Well it is about making a recent post available to more people, but content re-distribution is about maximizing the value of your older posts. It’s a good idea to keep a running list of your “evergreen” content pieces, and re-post them on an occasional and rotating basis.
It will help keep your social media profiles full of regular updates but also maximize the long-term value of every post you produce. The trick is to time and frame your posts so your followers don’t get sick of seeing the same things over and over. What’s more, this is not a time- or budget-intensive strategy.
3. Monetize Your YouTube Channel
YouTube is another social site that many people tend to overlook in terms of earning money online. Whether you want to promote a business venture or just want to share your expertise and opinion on certain topics, you could start your own YouTube channel and earn money from your videos through advertisement earnings.
Your videos will need to reach a certain number of people before you can earn more ad income (so you probably won’t get rich quick with YouTube ads), but it could be a nice additional stream of income that could potentially become passive. Once you have a popular video and place ads in it, you can leave that video up and earn money regularly as long as people continue to view it.
4. Promote your coaching or consulting services
Social media is definitely a great place to generate multiple leads for your consulting business. Whoever you are, you can create more interest for your services by connecting with your target customer on social media.
Did you know coaching sessions can be conducted over Skype? So this is definitely an opportunity to make money without leaving home. Consulting can also be lucrative, so remember not to undercut yourself — charge a fair price for your time and effort.
This strategy can also work if you have some professional courses to provide to your audience.
5. Influencer marketing
Influencer marketing wins for sheer virtue of its potential. Though there are quite a lot of potential tactics here, all have the same basic function; you’ll engage an influencer in some way, and tap into his or her pre-existing levels of visibility, earning a better reputation for your brand and possibly gaining some of the celebrity’s followers through association.
At 100,000 followers, even a 1 percent gain will mean 1,000 new followers for your brand. Your approach can be as simple or as complex as you want it to be; sometimes, even a basic action like sharing a post or replying to a question will be enough to earn you this visibility.
Final thoughts
These are just some of the several ways you can make money with social media; there are plenty of other money-making websites for you to explore.
It’s important to remember that making money on social media isn’t necessarily easy. If you have an entrepreneurial spirit and are willing to work hard, test and experiment, your chances of success will be far greater than the chances of those who just want to “give it a try” to see what happens.
As with anything, quality is key to creating something people not only want to read, but will pay to read. If you take extra care in creating great information, designing and promoting it well, you will definitely see more sales.
So, build a strategy; don’t just wing it. Make a plan for how you’re going to reach your financial goals, and be willing to adjust as necessary.
