You want some extra cash in your pocket, and you’re considering turning to social media. But you want to know how to make money on social media. How does it work? Are there startup costs? How long does it take, and how much can you make?

We’re covering those questions and more in this post.

The truth is social media is quietly creating millionaires every day.

Sure it can be competitive, but there’s also a lot of opportunity and plenty of options for people to enter the social media game.

If you’re not that familiar with using social media, there may be a bit of a learning curve as you get acquainted with the network, but honestly, in a few easy steps, you can be on your way to making good money using the power of social media.

This is how!

There are plenty of ways to make money on social media.

You might be surprised to hear that content creators can earn $50,000/year.

Some creators make up to $60,000 per month!

So there’s definitely money to be made on social media, regardless of the genre or niche you’re operating in. And I will share 6 different ways to make money using social media.

Let’s get into it.

1. Sponsored Posts

Sponsored post income comes from companies that pay you to talk about them on social media. 

For example, a video editing software company may pay a social media influencer a flat rate for creating a 10-second TikTok video and Instagram story to show to your audience for brand awareness.

Or, a toy company may pay you a set rate for filming a 5-minute ad to share on your YouTube channel.

These are a few examples of how sponsored posts (or brand deals) work. Sponsored posts are one of the most lucrative ways how to make money on social media.

There are also brand ambassador opportunities, which tend to be longer-term arrangements that may be more involved:

• Attending press events
• Giving product demonstrations
• Being the company’s spokesperson
• Speaking gigs

How to find sponsored post opportunities?

There are a few different ways to spot sponsored post opportunities:

• Join and apply to opportunities on sponsored post networks: These are free and premium networks you can join online, like Upfluence, that show dozens or hundreds of sponsored post campaigns you apply to. Choose the campaigns that work for you, apply, and if selected, you’ll hear back from the brand and network with the details!
• Cold-pitch companies: Be proactive and contact companies you support and want to work with. Find the contact details of their marketing or PR team, write a compelling pitch email, and wait to hear back to negotiate the campaign.
• Get contacted by companies: Share your contact details publicly on your social media profile so companies can easily contact you directly with sponsored post opportunities.

What is UGC content?

UGC (user-generated content) videos are like sponsored social media content, but this is exclusive content you create for the brand. This is great because you can make money like sponsored posts, but, you don’t need any social media followers since you won’t be posting to your social media account.

This creator shared that she earned a little over $2,000 in her first month from UGC content!

2. Affiliate Marketing

Making money with affiliate marketing is another lucrative way to earn from social media.

You refer products to your audience. And when your referrals result in a sale, you earn a commission.

For example, you might recommend a grocery delivery subscription to your social media audience. When viewers buy the subscription service using your affiliate link, you’ll earn a commission on each sale!

Affiliate marketing is a pay-for-performance model that can earn you unlimited income. Top affiliate marketers like Eric Worral make up to $40K+ per month from affiliate marketing on social media like YouTube and other networks.

How to start affiliate marketing on social media?

From Twitter affiliate marketing to YouTube affiliate marketing, there are many ways to pair social media with affiliate marketing to make money online.

1. Join an affiliate program like FlexOffers
2. Get your affiliate links
3. Share and promote your affiliate links online 
4. Earn affiliate commissions on successful conversions

First, find affiliate programs to join. This can be done by joining affiliate networks, which house hundreds or thousands of affiliate programs you can browse through and join.

Once you have your affiliate link, start promoting the product with your link, sit back, and watch the passive income roll in.

Setting up the foundation for earning through affiliate marketing will take time and effort, but once you have your system in place, you can earn unlimited money in the future with little to no maintenance.

That’s why this is one of the best ways to make money in your sleep!

3. Creator Programs

Another way how to make money with social media is through creator programs offered by a social media site. These special programs launched by the social network pay creators for their work.

Some examples include:

• TikTok Creator Fund
• YouTube Partner Program
• Snapchat Spotlight
• Pinterest Creator Rewards
• Pinterest Creator Fund
• TikTok Work with Artists

How do social media creator programs work?

Many creator programs exist, as you can see above. You just have to find them and then apply to join. This is a great way social networks support creators sharing their craft online.

Creators have reported making up to $70K+ per month from creator programs.

Each creator program is going to be a little different. Most of them have requirements in place, so make sure you review these programs to see which ones you’re eligible for. This can be a great way to make money as a content creator on social media.

4. Selling Products

Another way to earn unlimited money through social media is by selling products. These can be physical or digital products. 

Get on social media, attract your niche audience, create content about what you’re selling, post your shop link, and make sales.

Some social networks even have their stores you can sell in, like TikTok Shop, for example.

Platforms like Gumroad, Stan Store, Etsy, Amazon, and others exist to help people sell their goods online.

Once you have your store set up, marketing will play a major role in the success of your business and how much you can potentially make from social media.

5. Selling Services

Selling services works similarly to selling products on social media. You’ll attract your online audience, create content, and market and sell your products.

Selling services tend to have lower startup and maintenance costs, which is nice. And service-based businesses can also have higher profit margins, which puts more money into your pocket.

Examples of services you can sell include:

• Coaching
• Consulting
• Audits
• Public speaking

6. Lead Generation

On social media, create content that attracts your target audience, collect leads, and make money selling those leads to companies. It’s not unusual to earn up to $20 to $500 per lead, according to this source.

Imagine funneling hundreds or thousands of leads each month, using your social media account, making up to hundreds per lead for your services!

How to find lead generation opportunities?

Join affiliate networks and find advertisers that pay on a CPL (cost per lead) basis. Then, promote your link and earn money for each qualified lead you drive to the advertiser.

Generating and selling leads can happen in virtually any industry, from home improvement to divorce. There are plenty of creative ways to generate leads, too, like linking to anchor text, using buttons, popups, or chatbots.

And of course, we’ve found the best lead generation tools to help you along the way.

One of the best social networks for making money right now is TikTok. It’s a newer social network and still has plenty of organic reach, which means you don’t have to rely on social media ads to reach your target audience.

For TikTok, some tips to excel include:

• Posting content consistently
• Paying attention to trends
• Being active on the platform and engaging with your audience
• Using TikTok tools and features to increase your reach like TikTok Shop, trending sounds, participating in trends, using video creation and editing tools like duets and stitches

Yes, you can get paid ON social media. This can happen through payments from the social media network and payments from outside sources.

Let me break it down.

Getting paid from social media networks happens through creator funds and creator programs.

For example, when they ran their Pinterest Creator Rewards program, Pinterest would reward creators in the program with payment for successfully completing social campaigns, like getting over 200 saves on 3 Pinterest pins.

Creator programs and creator funds are a smart way to reward creators for participating on the platform. It’s also a good way to support creators for their work. Brainstorming, outlining, filming, editing, and publishing a single social media video can take hours. And most of this work is largely unpaid, so when social networks offer creator programs, it’s a way to support and give back to the creator community. 

Getting payment from outside sources would include earning money from brands for social media-sponsored posts or earning affiliate commissions from promoting products.

Making $100,000 a year on social media can be doable, especially if you have multiple income streams.

This can happen through a variety of activities like selling products and services, referring affiliate products, participating in one or more creator programs, and booking sponsored posts throughout the year.

According to this source, a macroinfluencer with 100K to 1 million followers can charge $1,800 per post for an Instagram influencer. Running 10 campaigns of 5 posts each is nearly $100K alone, not to mention other opportunities to monetize like affiliate marketing or selling products and services, among other ways.

Social media marketing is a 200+ billion dollar industry with growth rates near 20% for 2023. Many companies have a budget to work with creators and influencers. This is an opportunity to make six figures or become a millionaire from social media!

My best advice to become a six-figure social media creator is to diversify your income sources. Don’t put your eggs in one basket; spread out and embrace multiple income streams.

• Master one income stream before moving on to the next so you don’t spread yourself too thin
• Don’t take on additional income sources that can put your existing income streams in jeopardy.
• Outsource when possible so you can work more efficiently (like using social media management software like SocialBee, hiring an influencer manager, a video editor, etc.)
• Track your earnings
• Engage with your community
• Continue to be authentic and create valuable content for your audience

You just read about 6 ways how to make money on social media!

Making money on social media is within reach for any creator of any size. The sky’s the limit on your earning potential and this can be a lucrative and rewarding profession.

Are you surprised to learn about these money-making ideas to generate an income with social media?