How to Make Money As a Content Creator

How to Make Money as an Online Content Creator in 2022

Your unique content can be used to make an income in so many ways, but if you still feel like making money online is a mystery, it might be as simple as someone pointing out a few ways others have monetized their podcast, blog, or social media to get your wheels turning.

That’s why I’m here! I’ve had the privilege to see the “back-end” of 50+ online businesses and learn some of the various ways they make money creating content.

It’s not as convoluted or mysterious as you think!

What is a Content Creator?

Content creators are people who produce entertainment and educational materials for a given target population. The term is edutainment, and it makes sense — think about it, all those blogs you read, all those podcasts you follow, and all of those YouTube channels you subscribe to — chances are you love them because you’re learning something in a fun, relaxed way.

Everything you see online is digital content. So whether you’re a podcaster, financial advisor, finance coach, or real estate expert, you can leverage your content to bring in more income.

There are 2.91 billion monthly active users on Facebook, which is a 6.2% jump from 2021. Facebook is the most popular social platform worldwide, and 79% of monthly users are active daily. That’s a lot of posting and commenting on digital content online from social media accounts!

And it’s not just Facebook, there are other social media platforms that you can use to monetize your online content. The total daily hours of video watched on YouTube in 2022 are 1 billion. 1 billion! And there are 23.6 million YouTube Premium paying subscribers who are willing to contribute to the creator economy with their dollars.

You can leverage any social media platform to make money online as a content creator. In addition to Facebook and YouTube, people enjoy content on Instagram, TikTok, LinkedIn, and just about any social media platform you can list.

 Why Should You Become a Content Creator?

The internet era and the rise in the popularity of social media has made monetizing your talents and passions easier and faster. Whatever you’re interested in, from real estate investing to personal finance, or small business money management, you can build and grow a lucrative personal brand.

As a content creator, you can serve your audience with educational, helpful information, create opportunities for them to click affiliate links, buy products you’ve created, or sign up for your services. When done well, your audience is happy to make purchases through and from you, because you’re presenting solutions they needed. Which is awesome!

Just by creating video content, audio content, or written content for your business, not only will you educate your audience, but you may be able to repurpose it into another income stream.

As an example, if you’re a financial coach sharing free content about budgeting, you may be able to get paid via an affiliate link or direct sponsorship by a personal finance app company of which you already use and share about. If you can deliver exclusive digital content that engages your audience and keeps them coming back for more, there are lots of opportunities to diversify and create new ways to make money online.

What’s Your Why?

When you’re considering how to make money as a content creator, you need to get a good fix on what your North Star is. In other words, figure out your why. It doesn’t matter whether you’re running towards something or away from something, but to make money from creating content online, you NEED to understand your purpose and how that purpose connects you to your target audience.

By creating exclusive content online, whether you’re using social media platforms to create a personal brand that will attract an audience or an online learning platform to write courses that your audience will love, authenticity is more important than ever.

Don’t roll your eyes yet! – I know “authenticity” and being authentic in your content creation is such a buzzword these days. The key, however, is to be true to yourself. Don’t share advice, products, or about topics you don’t use or aren’t passionate about. Don’t try to be someone you’re not.

These days, it seems like the weirder, the better!

A content creator can be a professional or simply someone with a little technical knowledge. There are millions of content creators in the world, but not all of them are making money — in 2022, it is critical to stand out from the crowd by sharing high-quality content that is unique, informative, and resonates with your target audience.

How Much Money Can You Make From Being a Content Creator?

According to Comparably.com the average content creators’ income is between $8,000 and $70,000 per year, with some creators in New York making a whopping $116,000 a year! That’s a LOOOOOOT of money for monetizing skills you already have. So how do you get in on the action and make money as a content creator?

There are several ways you can monetize your exclusive content, including:

• on social media

• via a paid membership platform

• teaching an online course

• affiliate marketing strategies

• sponsored content

Basically, if you can dream it, you can do it.

Think about what you’re good at — what do you love to do? what are your hobbies? what are the skills you use in your current role?

You might be a CPA, or a podcaster on a niche subject, or maybe your passion is investing in real estate. You can make money creating all sorts of content online, from writing blogs to producing podcasts or YouTube videos and creating online courses or a subscription service where you share your expertise. There is no skill or interest that you cannot create valuable content around that will generate traffic and give you an extra income.

The riches are in the niches, as they say!

Selling Exclusive Content

Creating exclusivity can become an effective marketing tool. But, how do you get your engaged audience to pay for membership? You could set up a model that allows members access to regularly updated content, masterminds, small group or 1:1 calls, and a private support group. You could even make it multi-level and create exclusive content for different levels of membership.

You might consider building an established community online for whom you could host exclusive content online for valued members. The range of bonus content available behind the scenes could range from courses, to cheat sheets, checklists, workbooks, or even private coaching groups. A platform like Patreon allows you to give your biggest fans paid access to community exclusive content.

Online Course Creation

Teaching your skills online is an amazing way to help content creators make money. You very likely already have a passion or a unique skill you can pass on to others — you don’t need a formal teaching qualification and you don’t need a huge following. You just need to put together an online course around the knowledge you already have and create exciting how-to videos and lesson content.

Courses are one of the best ways to use your time efficiently, since you create the course once and then earn ongoing revenue from each sale for years into the future. Of course, you can provide updates or add information when you want, but, in general, once you have created your course, you can sell it over and over again to make truly passive income.

Making money as a content creator is more scalable than most people assume, because as you increase the number of courses you offer or add membership or subscription services, you expand your opportunities to generate revenue. This can enable you to transition from content creation being your side-gig to making it your full-time income.

Affiliate Marketing

Content creators with personal websites or blogs or those with a high number of followers on social media platforms like Tiktok or Instagram may earn more money if they add affiliate links for services and products they already use and love. Affiliate marketing works by allowing you to earn a commission for making product recommendations to your audience, so if you use specific products in your particular niche, you can easily make income by sharing and recommending products you actually use.

If you’re planning on using affiliate marketing, you first must review the various programs available and compare how much they pay so you can make the right choice for you and your audience.

Branded Sponsorships

Brand sponsorship is when a company pays you an upfront fee if you promote its brand. Some brands pay a fee, while others might offer you free items instead, so if you’re offered a brand partnership, ensure you read the details of the proposal carefully, so you go into it knowing how much profit you stand to make as a content creator.

Although brand deals with the right partner can be a source of income for a creator, content creators make money by having a significant presence on social media and high traffic to from their ideal audience.

Subscriptions

You can make certain forms of exclusive content only available to your most loyal followers through subscription. For example, one way to make money podcasting is to give listeners an advertising-free experience as part of a paid subscription to an app.

The subscription model can also allow you to create a tight-knit community in which subscribers pay a monthly fee (yeay for recurring income!) in exchange for access to private one-to-one or one-to-many coaching calls, unlisted youtube video content, specific niche brand collaborations, and other premium content.

If you’ve been producing free podcast, video, or social media content for some time and have a reliable group of engaged followers, opting to sell subscriptions might be one way to increase your income while simultaneously creating an even tighter circle of followers.

Content Syndication

Content syndication refers to when content creators allow larger websites to publish their content for a fee, backlinks, or a byline. Content creators often begin building their notariety and earn recognition by getting featured on sites like Forbes, Yahoo Money, CNN, and other world-renown media sites.

Often, even when getting your content featured on a big site isn’t a direct-income deal, it can lead to more money in the future when you use the traffic and publicity strategically. Third-party websites typically link to your website, blog, or social media channels during their mention, making a broad audience aware of your message and increasing your overall traffic.

The Role of Your Audience as You Create Content

As a content creator, you have infinite capacity for connecting with your audience via your personal brand online. If you provide knowledge and share your perspective, skills, and services or products, you can inspire your audience to become active members of your community, interact with your content, and bond with others.

Nurturing your audience allows you to develop an ongoing relationship. The stronger the relationship, the more likely they’ll follow your CTA and buy your thing, providing you with an ongoing revenue stream.

Your community is generally full of your biggest cheerleaders online. When they recommend your content or gush about how much value you provide, they’re infusing the market with social proof for you, which is unbelievably valuable in attracting fresh audience members.

Content Creation as a Profession

It is definitely still possible to make a good living as a content creator in 2022, and there are perhaps more opportunities to make money online than ever before.

If you’re passionate about a method, message, or medium, pursue your goals as if you can’t fail. Ignore anyone who tells you that blogs or podcasts are ‘dead’! There may be 1000’s of content creators already, but there is always room for fresh perspectives, unique personalities, and new ways of sharing information. You just have to be willing to share your skills and knowledge.

Consider combining various types of content, so your audience can connect with you in the way that they prefer. It’s much easier to earn money as a successful content creator if you diversify your content and provide various options for consuming it.

Some begin their online money-making journey with a blog, intending to attract readers and build an email list. Soon that content marketing journey matures and they begin to promote a course they made and begin social media advertising. Eventually, their community is thriving, so adding a membership provides their patrons access to exclusive content and ensures that they’re generating regular income.

The biggest challenge content creators face is to provide value on a consistent basis that helps their audience solve their problems. Whether that comes in the form of mindfulness and peace through podcasts, or PDFs and downloadable spreadsheets combined with instructional videos, the possibilities are endless. The goal is not publishing content just for the sake of getting stuff out there.

The goal is to produce helpful, informational, valuable content on a consistent basis that your followers can’t wait to share with their friends.

Creating a Content Strategy that Works for Your Audience

While you can earn money as you create content, content creators make money with a strategy in place that guides what you create and how you distribute your content.

To be a successful part of the creator economy and turn it into a full-time career, you need to consistently create high-quality, engaging content that will that offers something new to your audience. Everyone seems to want “influencer” status these days, but you have to walk before you run.

First, focus on creating and refining content for a niche group of people. Your content should make things easier for them or solve a specific issue. Before you start trying to reach the masses, use your small stage to connect 1:1 with people, build relationships, and find out how you can help them with their most frustrating challenges.

It’s during this stage that you also test your course, services, or products for viability with your small audience. Decide what should be included in your paid products, establish boundaries, and get payment systems, email automation, and other infrastructure in place.

Then, once your message is refined, take your content production to the next level by sharing on social platforms, creating an SEO-friendly website, and potentially expanding into a YouTube Channel or podcast. At this time, it’s important to get feedback from your existing audience about where and how they prefer to consume content and use that information to direct your business’s next steps.

Contrary to the general public’s narrow perspective, making money as a content creator isn’t something that occurs overnight. I encourage you to explore the journey of your favorite influencers and see if there are any best practices, pivots, or major moves you can make note of. Do your best not to reinvent the wheel as you get started creating content.

My best advice? Keep things as simple as possible and avoid getting distracted by “shiny objects” if you can help it.

For help creating a strategy around taking your message public, book a free discovery call with me. I’ve helped 50+ online entrepreneurs boost their online footprint through blog posts, podcasts, and video and have experience with various content creation revenue streams. Let me put my experience to work for your brand, reducing your headaches and shortening your learning curve to becoming a successful content creator.