5 ways content creators can make money

There has been a lot of talk about how content creators or influencers don’t feel valued or appreciated by companies. Some have gone on to criticise the businesses that reach out to them with low offerings or freebies as “cheap.”

However, I don’t believe that’s the full picture. You see, many content creators have built their name, and solid foundations and made the transition from a person who makes trendy videos on social media into full-blown businesses. The individuals who have made that transition can get paid very well, as brands come to them with offers that fit their stature and they can negotiate better deals for themselves.

When you ask some of the top creators in the Caribbean how they go about making money, you quickly realise a small percentage comes from brand deals, because they have diversified their income streams and use their popularity to fuel their other ventures.

A major reason why content creators continue to feel they have been lowballed or don't get paid as much as others is that they only know one way to make money as an influencer, and that’s through brand deals.

This begins the never-ending chase of trying to work with as many brands as possible to get paid or get products/services for free. When this happens, you begin to dilute or lose your power to influence your audience to decide, because they realise you will promote any and everything to your audience – so you don’t have any credibility in your recommendations.

Once a brand sees you as someone they can use for only “awareness” campaigns, then it’s a race to the bottom concerning money, because awareness is one of the lowest KPIs for a marketing team. Awareness doesn’t convert to actual sales, which is why over the last two years we have seen more brands across the globe work with more micro-influencers, as they are specialists and closer to their audiences.

Rather than running down brand deals, I want to give content creators five ways they can create revenue for themselves beyond brand deals.

1. Affiliate marketing

2. YouTube monetisation

3. Digital courses

4. Sell products

5. Workshops

Affiliate marketing

Research all the various platforms or businesses that offer affiliate marketing. Amazon is the largest affiliate platform in the world.

Think about all the products, books, clothes, and equipment you use daily that people ask you about.

Set up an account in Amazon Associates and use the product links they give so that people can buy any of the products or gear you use or talk about.

Amazon pays you through cheque in the mail in US dollars or direct deposit to your local bank account through a service like Wise.

YouTube monetisation

If you want to get paid for your content in the Caribbean, YouTube is still the only platform that we have access to that will pay you for your content.

Try pushing your IG or TikTok audience to consume your content on YouTube: that way you can get paid through its platform. Remember, you need 1,000 followers and 4,000 hours of watch time in the last 365 days to qualify for monetisation.

Digital courses

If you specialise in makeup, cooking, video editing, graphic design or creating content, start thinking about how you can package your knowledge into a digital course. I’m sure your fans ask you how you create amazing content. Well, turn that into a digital course and let people learn from you. Digital courses allow you to scale it globally.

Sell products

I started as a tech blogger, talking about smartphones and teaching people how to use them.

People always asked me for smartphone recommendations and that led me to find suppliers and sell the products. I opened a store, and when I closed it down, I sold all the products through my e-commerce website.

Find products that you can sell for your brand as well.

Workshops

People love to connect with people, and workshops are a great way for your audience to learn from you about a topic and meet you in person. Package your knowledge on a topic and turn it into an in-person workshop.

Soon, other companies may book you to facilitate that workshop in collaboration with their company.

You need to learn the business of content if you want to become a full-time creator who never gets lowballed.

I recommend reading Content INC by Joe Pulizzi (grab on Amazon), as he is one of the best teachers showing content creators how to turn this into a business.

Failure to make the transition will always have you stuck running down one source of income – brand deals. At that point, you will never be able to make the money that is out there for those who have made the transition.

Keron Rose is a digital strategist who works with Caribbean entrepreneurs on building their digital presence and monetising their platforms. Learn more at KeronRose.com or check out the Digipreneur FM podcast on Apple Podcast/Spotify/Google Podcast.