Five Ways I Make Money As An Influencer!
Hello friends! Today I want to share a quick post about how I make money as an influencer. I understand it’s hard talking about money and before we get started I do want to mention that I am writing this post to try and help others, not be weird, gross or show off. Also, I’m very much a micro / mid-tier blogger, so I don’t earn wild amounts, but I get by. Anyway, I’m hoping this post will help you understand how I make my living and if you are an influencer or hoping to be one, I would love this post to give you a little inspo on how I make my money and just be really honest and transparent about the whole thing… OK! Deep breath, let’s go!
♥
Sponsored Posts
This is probably the most obvious way I, and a lot of other influencers make money… SPONSORED POSTS! Generally a brand will come to me and say ‘We are launching a product and we would love for you to share it with your audience’. I’ll create the content to share with my audience, they will approve it, I’ll post it (usually on a set date) and I will get a pre-arranged fee for the work. This can be a great way to earn money as an influencer, but it’s not the only way! So, never feel like you have to say ‘yes’ to a sponsorship which you don’t believe it and always remember, that the trust between you and your audience is everything. Plus they are smart people, you can’t get away with that non-sense! So, if you try and convince them that you loveeeeeeee skinny tea it doesn’t make you gag or give you the runs, then not only will they not believe you, but they will also loose trust for you. And we all know a friendship without trust is nothing. To that point, if you see your audience as fans rather than friends, you’re a d*ck!
Adsense
It took me FOREVER to qualify for it on YouTube but now it comes in every month automatically and it’s a nice little bit of passive income I don’t even need to think about. In case you don’t know, you need to have at least 1,000 subscribers and get at least 4,000 hours of watch time per year, which when you are starting out, is actually pretty hard to reach. Anyway,I finally got there about 12 months ago and now I make money every month and it’s REALLY COOL! Adsense has a pretty bad reputation amongst YouTubers as it used to be more lucrative, but quite frankly, no other platform is paying me when the run adverts alongside my content and it’s fun and easy passive income, so I love it! I have 5,000 subscribers and none of my videos go viral, but I still make money every month and it’s always way higher over christmas too, which is pretty cool if you ask me! Does it pay my mortgage? No, but would I be making videos regardless? Yes! And let’s be honest, it should grow over time, imagine if YOU could grow your channel to 50,000 or 100,000 subscribers! Wow! Also, Adsense varies from channel to channel and at different times of the year. Plus, it’s more influenced by views than subscribers, so these numbers are just for your guidance, but I wanted to be open with you about what I am earning at the moment, however, it could be more or less for you and your channel. WATCH THE VID TO SEE THE FULL MONTHLY REPORTS!
Affiliate Marketing
Often overlooked by influencers, but if you work at affiliate marketing, it really does pay off! This year the majority of my blog income has come from affiliate marketing and I know that’s the same for a lot of my friends too! In case you don’t know, Affiliate Marketing is when you recommend an item to your audience and they shop that item and you make a tiny commission from each sale. It’s only a small percentage, but it adds up fast! Some days I make nothing, other days I’ve made £200-£250! It usually takes 90 days for the commission to hit your account and you will have to sign up to an agency to create your bespoke link, but it’s free to sign up and it really does pay off. I would recommend signing up to AWIN if you are a fairly new blogger (they will allow you to make commission from brands like Boots, ASOS and John Lewis), but if you are feeling confident, you should try and apply to Reward Style as they have loads of great fashion and beauty brands too, but I would read this Reward Style post first.
Airbnb OR A Secondary Income
I want to be 100% transparent here, I blog pretty much full time, but a healthy chunk of my income UNTIL RECENTLY came from airbnb. I did this for three years on the side of my blog and hoping one day it will be an option again, but I bring it up because it’s worth thinking about an additional stream of income for yourself, something independent of blogging. It might be social media management, influencer outreach, jewellery making, yoga instructor… there are SO many options, you just have to think about something that works for you! Also, a huge shout out to Jane from British Beauty Blogger who really instilled to me that relying on sponsored posts alone was not enough, you need streams of revenue and OMG! She was SO right, especially after the last year!
Long Term Investments
This might be a sign that I’m getting old, or maybe getting sensible, but this year I’ve been working on setting up some longer term investments, mainly building a healthy pension pot and stock market investments. It’s something I did before I was self employed and now I’m working hard to play catch up for the years I let things lapse / couldn’t afford to invest. If you have a job, you should have a workplace pension as part of your employment package, but it is worth looking into how generous your employers contribution is and how much they will pay in to your pension on your behalf. If the company does the minimum required by the government, they will be paying in around 2% of your salary into your pension on your behalf, however, some companies will pay up to 5% if you match the amount from your earnings. If this is the case, DO IT! It’s free money, a pay rise essentially… you just don’t get it for a few years! Seriously, sign up and start your pension TODAY! I highly recommend Pension Bee – refer-a-friend link.
As for stock market investments, this is something I’ve had experience in for a fair few years now and I’m forever learning more and getting confused over it all, but to be honest, I wouldn’t venture into it blind as it can be very confusing and you could end up loosing a lot of money. It’s basically gambling, just fancier and less fun! Instead, you might be better opening some form of SIPP, Vanguard or Investment ISA which is where you are putting your money into an ISA / fund where someone else (usually a bank) is doing the investing for you. They won’t give you a fixed interest rate like a regular ISA and you may have to pay a small monthly or annual fee, but it should pay off for you over time. IMO this is the best way to venture into investing as someone else is choosing your shares for you and they will also be diversifying your portfolio for you, which you would be really hard to do yourself unless you are willing to invest a hefty chunk of change and even then, you might buy the wrong stocks or buy at a bad time or even sell at a bad time. It’s a lot to manage and get your head around… Sorry! If in doubt, just stick to your pension pot, you won’t get it til you retire but it’s worth investing in ASAP!
How I Make Money As An Influencer: Watch The Video!
♥
I hope this post is of help! Please let me know if you have any questions, I am always happy to help! Also, this post contains affiliate links.
