Home Beauty How to Make Money as a Content Creator. What’s Working NOW!

How to Make Money as a Content Creator. What’s Working NOW!

by Tavia

Hello everyone!

It’s Monday again so this means I’m going to touch on another hot topic… How To Make Money as a Content Creator. I’ll be sharing some insightful tips and strategies that worked for me and allowed me to remain an Independent Content Creator in a beauty world dominated by brands and sponsorships. Keep reading to find out what’s working now!

Photo by Austin Distel on Unsplash

Don’t forget to access my PATREON PAGE if you want to support me as an independent blogger and Chicprofile, but also to get the latest scoops on Upcoming Makeup collections before anyone else. I post exclusive content only for my Patrons!

 

How to Make Money as a Content Creator. What’s Working NOW!

You may say your success as a content creator depends on your location, because it’s easier to work with brands if you are based in U.S. rather than anywhere else. I started Chicprofile back in 2008 in Romania and I made it my full time job, being aware I had a huge disadvantage because of my location. Things were way different then, so let’s talk about the present. 🙂

I’ve always considered myself an independent content creator because I never relied on sponsorships, free PR products or any kind of collaboration from brands. I was happy to receive PR from time to time but I never saw this gesture of gratitude as something permanent. Brands may have budget cuts, make you give up editorial control so you can stay on PR lists, a new brand manager suddenly decides to refresh the entire PR list…and I can keep going. What I am saying is that you shouldn’t depend on brands’ because even the sponsorships they’ll offer you won’t be forever.

I know collaborating with brands represents fast cash and an easy way to grow your platform (blog, Youtube, website etc). That’s true, but it shouldn’t be the only way for you to be a full time content creator… and why not, an independent one. If you treat your blog/ YouTube channel as a hobby then is fine and I may have another article for you in a few weeks. 🙂

I’m here to teach you how you can make money without the help of a brand and doing it full-time.

Photo by Shiraz Khan

In my “What no One Tells You about Content Creators Income” post I shared precious insights along with other 4 worldwide content creators. We are from different continents and our experiences in the beauty world are completely different.

After receiving a feedback from Mindy from Another_Mk on the article above, she told me:

I’m spending thousands of dollars on my Instagram content, yet didn’t get any income from it. So frustrating sometimes that I constantly buy stuff for reviews and swatches and yet again I’m spending my own money to get new releases. Well, getting some PR samples a little bit here and there, but free products won’t pay my bills. I often think how long can I go like this?

I sometimes wonder how smaller Instagram accounts get so many PRs, sponsored posts and ADs…One brand asked me to make a series of videos of their products (applications and reviews like YouTubers do) and sent me a long guidelines, I was just shocked how they can ask me without any compensation.

They only sent me a few of their skincare products and then they sent me 9 long messages about what I have to say in the videos. That was a bottom line I had to draw with them. I told them they should hire someone to do all those, not me. Without money compensation, this is not ethical to ask people…even though lots of them are probably okay with free products.

The fact that I launched Chicprofile in Romania, where brands where not even aware of the word “beauty blogger” made me develop strategies on how to make money even though I’m not based in U.S.

My content was in English right from the start and even when years later some brands realized the importance of bloggers, not writing in my native language was always an excuse for many of them to cast me aside. So I’m here to tell you that you don’t have any excuses for not making money as a content creator, no matter where you are based! 🙂

How Will You Make Money?

1.Place Ads on your Blog /YouTube

You must have seen ad placements on almost every blog or Youtube channel out there. This is one way to make money but please keep in mind that you have to have serious traffic to make some real cash. I didn’t say it would be quick did I? 

Provide your readers quality content, the one you would want to read on the same topic you are writing for them. Not even Rome was built in a day so we are not talking about fast money here if you have a small audience, otherwise paid sponsorships from brands may be your only solution.

As long as you keep focusing on your content and growing your audience, your traffic will earn you money but if you want to see some profit you’ll have to keep your expenses low.

A typical case for every beginner will be ads generated by Google AdSense. I’ve been using them too for many years, having to customize my ads, choosing the color, type, size and length and so on. Depending on your traffic and even the demographics of your audience, you can opt for ads generated by Monumetric, Mediavine or AdThrive. I’ll be discussing the differences between these in a future article but until then you should consider one of them.

For example Ads make me roughly 70% of my income so is my main source of revenue on which I’m counting every month.

2. Affiliate Links

This is another way to monetize your platform. I’ve asked you “Do You Support Content Creators by using their Affiliate Links?” in a previous post where I stated the importance of having a faithful audience that will click on your affiliate links everytime they make a purchase.

Reward Style is one of the most popular affiliate programs used by the majority of content creators (myself included), with hundreds of department stores, online shops, individual businesses. They do have some requirements in order to qualify and be accepted!

There are other affiliate programs with lower requirements that you can apply for if you are a beginner. Even brands have their own affiliate programs that will be happy if you join them so just weight your options and make the smart choice.

Thanks to Reward Style I can use affiliate links from different retailers such as Nordstrom, Sephora.com or Sephora.fr, Beautylish, Selfridges, Harrods, Chanel, Pat McGrath, Escentual, Net-a-Porter, Cult Beauty and the examples may go on.

Everytime you (the reader) click on an affiliate link and make a purchase, the content creator, known as the publisher of the affiliate receives a small commission. Each retailer (online shop /brand) offers a fix % from the final purchase to the affiliate program. On average, this % is around 10% of the price of the product. Many thanks to anyone who’s supporting Chicprofile by using our affiliate links when they shop!

I said previously that Ads make me roughly 70% of my income so the remaining 30% I get from affiliate links. While I get paid from ads every month around the same date, things are a bit different with affiliate links. I’ll dedicate another post to RewardStyle platform where I’ll get into details… but here’s a sneak peek.

Even when I generate sales, I’m getting paid months later when a certain amount of commissions are closed. So even though RewardStyle sends payments every 2 weeks, I may not receive anything if my open commissions are not closed.

3.Create an Email List

The most important asset you have as a blogger is your email list. This is your audience, your team… the readers who support you, shop through your affiliate links because they trust your recommendations and they find value in your content. They are the ones who will buy your products, comment on your posts, like your content and answer your surveys.

Create an email list as soon as possible so you can start building a faithful audience. Honestly if you have even a small but faithful audience you will be able to sustain some of the most important blog expenses. Work towards providing your e-mail subscribers with perks that your normal audience doesn’t have.

It’s well known that people tend to buy more from e-mails than social media and that’s why I never prioritized Instagram (or any other social media platform) over my blog. So get that newsletter started because if you monetize with affiliate links or your own products, your readers are more likely to buy from your newsletter.

You can start by giving them exclusive content or access to difference products that you created on your blog and finishing with creating a funnel. If you subscribe to Chicprofile VIP list (the form to join the newsletter is in the footer) you’ll also have access to my Makeup Library from which you can FREE DOWNLOAD cheat sheets about the best high-end products that are really worth the splurge.

4. Create Your Own Products

No, I’m not talking about creating your lipstick line or a limited edition collection, unless you are a famous influencer or makeup artist who got a proposition from MAC Cosmetics or any other brand to do a collaboration. Even respectable makeup artists who have their own makeup lines have worked for years in the beauty business before they could afford to create their own products and transform them into a makeup line.

Getting back to earth now! I’m talking about different kind of products that your readers will enjoy and benefit from you. How about selling your knowledge? If you passionate about makeup, nailing every makeup tutorial out there, a talented makeup artist or you just know your way around makeup then you can offer your readers some makeup consultations.

I get asked tones of questions by my readers, who want more details then what I post in my reviews. They want a more personal advice on the products which really qualifies as a makeup consultation. If I’m going to make a list and spend time answering your questions which are customized for your skin color / tone, skin type or even your makeup preferences, then is definitely a makeup consultation.

Or maybe you are the queen of skincare ingredients and you can analyze every skincare product just by looking at the label. Use the knowledge you’ve accumulated it and start offering personalized skincare consultations to your readers.

I can keep on going and I’m sure I can find something for every content creator out there. Some of them created even t-shirts, mugs, tote bags, key chains, photo frames or sweat pants, which their audience buys to support them.

Depending on your level of knowledge, experience and expertise, you can go as far as you want and create courses, write books, organize workshops, give consultations on how to grow your social media accounts, you name it.

Another great service you can offer to your readers will be… personal shopper. I started as a personal shopper last year when some beauty releases were exclusive to London and my readers reached out to me. I was happy to help, knowing how I felt when I really wanted a product and it wasn’t available in my country or no shops will offer to ship to my location.

Photo by freestocks on Unsplash

Becoming a personal shopper helped me generate additional income whenever a makeup collection / product launched exclusively in UK. In December and January I’d say it was a total of 35%, even exceeding the earnings from affiliate links.

My previous Instagram account got disabled when I was close to 20.000 followers back in 2018 and I create a new account only 8 months later because of so many e-mails and msg from my readers. It’s true that is easier to communicate on Instagram but that was never my main platform, the blog was.

With the new Chicprofileofficial Instagram account created only 10 months ago, I’m almost at 10k followers which has been a hard work considering the new Instagram algorithm. I took it easy for a few months to see what’s new and started to develop new strategies to reach 10k followers organically as soon as possible. I gathered enough knowledge in the past years from these 2 accounts, experiments on different strategies, reading about IG updates and algorithms that I can offer support through Instagram consultations to everyone who wants to grow up their accounts.

5. Build A Patreon Page

For creators, Patreon is a way to get paid for creating the things you’re already creating (blog posts, truthful reviews, videos, songs, whatever). … For patrons, Patreon is a way to join your favorite creator’s community and pay them for making the stuff you love.

I started my Patreon Page last year because I wanted to build a more personal connection with my audience. You can read the full story on my Patreon About Page where I’m also answering questions like “Why Do I Need A Patron?“, “How Will Your Patronage Help?”, “What Do You Get?” and offering rewards.

You should Build a Patreon page without focusing on the money. Create a valuable and authentic connection with your audience and the rest will come in time. As an independent content creator I believe my audience is the most important and the only one I can count on to support me to keep Chicprofile going and provide valuable and honest content.

CONCLUSION

Make sure to use more than one option if you want to make some serious money. Of course every beginner takes it step by step but don’t wait to long before adding another strategy to your plan so you can earn some serious money. Diversify as much as possible!

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