20-05-2025
How to make money off social media
(WSPA) – Even if the word 'influencer' doesn't appeal to you, you might be surprised at how common it has become for people to make money off their social media and YouTube posts.
So what does it take and how does it work? 7NEWS Here to Help looked into homegrown success stories to find out.
When Allison Moncheck, owner of Unorthodox Salon in Taylors, started sharing her hair painting technique on Instagram, she never imagined it would lead to some serious extra income.
'I really had no idea you could make money doing content creation,' Moncheck said.
As her page drew more followers and some of her posts went viral, companies in her field started to reach out.
'My biggest pay was from Babe Hair Extensions, and for two reels, 60 days of use, and a couple of story posts they paid me $5,000,' Moncheck said.
On top of the sponsored content, what many may not realize is that the social media platforms themselves are cutting checks. Moncheck gets about $150 a month from Instagram, with a reach, of now, more than 50,000 followers.
Smitha Lee owns a photography business in Spartanburg and just by sharing his work with nearly 40,000 followers on Facebook, Meta pays him $200-$400 a month, all for doing what he would normally be doing to promote his Meta first notified him of the potential compensation, he initially thought it was a scam.'I got the notification, kind of shocked. Oh, OK I guess I can start making money through social media,' Lee said. One of his reels showing his wife teaching others to line dance at a wedding got more than a million views and banked more than $600 what is the trick?'A lot of people think it's just the lights or just the views, no, when a person actually engages and drops a comment, Facebook and Instagram will therefore push that video even further because of the comments,' Lee said.
And then there's 'merch.'
Justin Myrick's TikTok page has more than 98,000 followers, some of whom have bought his personalized merchandise like hoodies and cell phone covers.
As he shares his music and dance covers with a global audience, he's come across multiple ways to make money from social media, from live video incentives from the platform to 'gifts' from fans that can be transferred into cash.
'Monetization wasn't even the goal when I started, I just wanted to have fun. I think that's one of the big messages if you want to grow your following, have fun with it,' Myrick said.
USC Upstate Communications Director Emily Gillespie said YouTube tends to pay the most for ads that run before and during your content, and you don't have to have tons of followers.
'For YouTube specifically, you need 1,000 subscribers and about 400 hours of watch time in order to start getting paid for your content,' said Gillespie, referring to the past 12 months.
You can also qualify if you have had 10 million short video views in the past 90 days.
To sign up to get paid by YouTube for your videos, you need to join the YouTube Partner Program (YPP) and have an active AdSense for YouTube account.
For Instagram, TikTok and Facebook, people with about 10,000 followers, known as 'nano influencers,' can start to make money, that is if you get the engagement.
Robbie Fitzwater, a Clemson Professor and owner of the marketing firm, MKTG Rhythm, said consistency is more important than going viral, and the biggest mistake people make is giving up too early.
'To build an audience, different is better than best. Where you understand what makes you unique, what gives you a specific different voice, that's going to be what people are going to connect with,' Fitzwater said.
To stay relevant to your followers, he cites an industry 'rule of 3' when it comes to posting:
Hygiene: Frequent posts that don't go too deep
Hub: Higher quality content you post every two weeks or so
Hero: Big moments that could go viral that come about once or twice a year
Be data-driven
'At the end of the year, I will typically see what reels did the best for me and I see any consistencies,' Moncheck, who uses that information to inform future posts, said.
Be educational
'The biggest thing that I've found that's been a successful point for a lot of creators is finding a niche that they love and that other people can learn from,' Lee said.
Be authentic
'I found my niche, but I also found what made me different. Once you find those two, you're pretty much golden,' Myrick said.
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