7 Ways to Create Content and Make Money
Many people are involved in content creation today because it offers them a way to make money online. They may have a website with a blog, a YouTube channel or be an Instagram influencer. Here are some ways to make money from your content.
1. Sell merchandise to followers
Content creators can make good revenue every month from selling merchandise, especially those with large followings on social media. If you want to sell physical products, working with a print-on-demand vendor is the best option. You don’t have to carry any inventory, and when someone places an order, you simply place the order with your vendor. You upload the design, and the print-on-demand company prints the product and ships it for you. A content creator income stream gives you the security you need to continue creating premium content that your followers want.
2. Sell premium access to exclusive content
If you build a membership website, you can charge members a monthly fee for access to exclusive content. This is a subscription business model that allows you to make a consistent monthly income. Access to exclusive content is gated and only made available to subscribers. The content you create must be in demand and stand out from what’s freely available online. For example, you can get thousands of free recipes online, but you may offer subscribers access to rigorously tested, foolproof recipes.
3. Create content containing affiliate links
Affiliate marketing is working with brands and businesses to promote their products and services. You sign up with a brand’s affiliate program, create content, and include the links it provides to products or services. When someone clicks on your link and buys a product, you receive a commission.
It’s important to sign up with affiliates related to your content and preferably those whose products and services you use personally. If you have a mom-and-baby website on which you write about various baby products, you will sign up with affiliates that sell baby products. You can share links on your blog, email list or on social media, and your passive income will grow over time.
4. Create and sell digital products
Many content creators make a living from selling digital products. You only have to create a digital product once, and you can sell it over and over. This helps you to build up a passive income stream. You can start your business with hardly any capital, and you don’t have to worry about packaging or shipping products. You simply create your digital products, upload them, and when customers buy them, they can immediately download them. You can choose to sell digital products on your own website or choose to sell them on one of the many other platforms available for this purpose.
5. Find brand sponsorships
There are brands out there that will appreciate the opportunity to reach your audience, especially if you have a really engaged following. They know that if you promote their products or services to your audience, they are likely to get more sales. Brand partnerships or influencer marketing is often seen on platforms like Instagram and YouTube. How profitable it will depend largely on your followers, engagement rate and your brand partnership.
6. Monetize a live stream
If live streaming is part of your content offering, you can monetize it by linking your merchandise or affiliate products. You can also use virtual tipping from viewers that tune in. Using a platform like Amazon Live means you can make your live stream shoppable. YouTube also has a live shopping experience that makes it easy for users to buy or sell products. Various social media platforms make it possible for content creators to get virtual tips.
7. Create and sell an online course
Many people depend on online courses, and the great hunger for online learning offers an opportunity content creators can benefit from. Choose a topic that is in demand, create a course and upload it to a popular site like Udemy. You will reach more people this way than promoting it on your own website. How much you earn from your online course will depend on the size of your audience, what you charge and your conversion rate.
