How do content creators and influencers actually make money? For some reason, this always seems to be a top secret topic that nobody really wants to discuss. Today I’m going to break down my five income streams as a creator and how you can do it, too. I’ve been a content creator since about 2017, with over 4 and a half million followers across platforms.
Quick note before we get into it: this article talks about platforms like Amazon and ShopMy, and some of the links I use for those in my own work are affiliate links, meaning I can earn a commission if someone makes a purchase through them.
Income Stream One: Platform-Based Money
The first stream of income is platform-based money. This is when the social media platform that you are posting on directly is paying you for the number of views that you’re getting. The top three social media platforms people are using today are YouTube, Instagram, and TikTok.
YouTube Long-Form Content
YouTube is divided into short form content and long form content. For long form content, if your video is 8 minutes or above, that means that you can place multiple ads throughout your video. YouTube can do this automatically and you can also go in and manually move exactly when you want the ads to play. There are different types of ads that display, including skippable ads, non-skippable ads, display ads, and overlay ads. YouTube typically takes 45% and you take 55%.
Not all videos are made equal because advertisers will pay different rates depending on a variety of different factors, including the niche, the topic of your video, as well as the time of the year. There are two key phrases here, RPM and CPM. CPM is what advertisers pay and RPM is a number that you’re making for every thousand views after YouTube’s cut. For this reason, instead of talking about CPM, it’s more helpful to talk about RPM, which is the actual amount of money that you’re going to be able to take home. Here are the specific factors that affect RPM.
Factor One: Audience Location
Audience location matters. Some countries and their advertisers are known to pay more. This includes countries like the US, Canada, and Australia. So having a US-based watcher audience is very valuable.
Factor Two: Your Content Niche
Your content niche affects RPM too. Some niches just pay higher than others. A great example of this is finance. Finance, investing, business, tech, all of these companies tend to have more money and there’s also a lot of advertisers and competition in the space. So they are competing for ad slots and therefore the amount that they pay is higher. My RPM on finance videos is often double if not quadruple what my regular lifestyle videos are.
Factor Three: Video Length
Video length matters. Your video has to be at least 8 minutes long in order to have mid rolls. The more ad slots you have in a video, the more money you’re making from it. But of course, this is something that you need to carefully balance because you don’t want to place so many ads that your audience is getting annoyed and clicking out of the video.
Factor Four: Audience Age and Buying Power
Audience age and their buying power matters. Let’s say I have a brand company targeting Gen Z. Then I’m going to try to find creators that would have that audience. As a general rule of thumb, the highest buying power usually lands between age 25 to about 45.
Factor Five: Seasonality
Seasonality plays a role too. A lot of the times brands have a budget that they have to use up within a calendar year or sometimes it’s academic year. Q4 is really busy. You have a bunch of holidays, a lot of big spend events like Black Friday, Christmas. Therefore, because a lot of advertisers with a lot of leftover money are competing for the same ad slots, the RPM tends to be a lot higher during the holidays.
YouTube Shorts
YouTube Shorts uses a pooled model, which means that ads run between shorts in the feed. All of the revenue from YouTube Shorts goes into one pool and then YouTube takes a cut. Then the remaining money is distributed to creators based on how many views your videos got. The split for shorts is also 45% to creators and 55% to YouTube. But shorts often use copyrighted music. So YouTube does have to pay for that music licensing. And if you are using copyright music in your videos, you will also get a lower RPM.
YouTube Premium Revenue
Creators also make a share from YouTube Premium Revenue. If a YouTube Premium subscriber watches your video, then you earn a portion of their subscription fee based on the watchtime share.
As it currently stands, I am not being paid to post on Instagram in any way, shape, or form. The platform itself does not pay me. Throughout the history of Instagram, there have been times that they did pay their creators. Most notably, they had a reels bonus program where based on the number of views you got, you would get paid a certain amount. And there are also creators who have gotten paid flat fees to post a certain number of videos. But as it currently stands, there isn’t something that’s just open to the general public. Instagram is under Meta and Meta also owns Facebook. Facebook itself, even if it’s the same reel from Instagram being cross-posted to Facebook, they have their own separate incentive programs and bonuses.
TikTok
TikTok also uses an RPM model. Your TikTok RPM can vary based on audience location, watch time, video quality, and engagement. For me personally, the TikTok RPM is all over the place and very unpredictable. Creators say that this can range anywhere from 20 cents to a dollar. For example, for one video with 30,000 views, I was paid $3. For another video with 62,000 views, I got paid $7.
Income Stream Two: Affiliate Income
The second stream of income is affiliate income. Basically, if you are to share a link or a code and someone then purchases an item using the link or code, you get a share of the sale, which is a commission. Most of the times commission is based on whole cart value, which means that if you were to share an Amazon link to a shampoo, and the person adds the shampoo to their cart, but in the same cart, they also bought a conditioner, a hairbrush, then you actually earn a commission on all three of those items and not just the shampoo. And most of the platforms have a 30 day window where if they were to click on your link and make a purchase anytime within the 30 days, then it still counts as a commission towards you.
Amazon
The affiliate platform that I think everybody should be on is Amazon. A lot of the times, if I have the choice to link a moisturizer on Amazon versus linking it on Sephora, I will choose Amazon because that’s what I personally, as a consumer, would use to purchase it. Whereas, if you were to share a specific website link and they don’t want to buy through that, then you would lose out on the commission if they were to then go and search it up on Amazon.
ShopMy and LTK
The other two really popular affiliate platforms are ShopMy and LTK. Between the two, my personal favorite is ShopMy by a landslide. Number one, it allows you to link everything even if there isn’t a commission on that item. You can link any website and still add it to your shelf, your page, and generate a link. This is a very big deal because on Amazon, for example, you cannot add to your storefront anything that is not being sold on Amazon.
So it makes it very frustrating when you’re linking one thing from Amazon and then you’re having to find another link from another place and it just gets really messy. ShopMy gives you the ability to house everything in one place even if you aren’t earning commission. Number two, it is really user friendly and easy to use. I personally use the ShopMy app, so I can generate links anytime on the go. Let’s say I’m outside taking an Instagram story of my outfit, I can link it right away. And finally, as a creator on the back end of ShopMy, you have the ability to chat and communicate directly with brands. They can offer you gifting. You can request gifting and it’s just really great for relationship building.
Income Stream Three: Brand Deals and Sponsorships
Third stream of income is brand deals and sponsorships. This is the fat juicy one that I know everybody wants to talk about and again, this topic alone could be 10 videos in itself. The short of it is that a brand is paying you in exchange for social deliverables. There are so many different ways that this can be structured, but here are the three main things that you’re being paid for.
The Actual Deliverables
Number one, the actual deliverables. Is it on Instagram? And Is it on TikTok? Is it syndicated to both? You also have to specify whether this is photos, single photo, carousel versus video.
Exclusivity
Number two is exclusivity. For what period can you not work with other competitors? Let’s say you are working with a pimple patch brand. There are a lot of other pimple patches out there. They might say that they want 2 weeks exclusivity before and after their ad goes live. That means that you can’t work with other pimple patch brands for 4 weeks total and therefore the brand will be paying to kind of restrict this time.
Usage
And then usage. There’s two kinds of usage. Organic usage and paid usage. Organic usage is when they organically repost your content on their page. Paid social usage is when they whitelist your content or put money behind the ad to make it perform better. Most of the times creators will post the ad on their own page and then brands will put money behind those ads to make sure that it reaches more eyeballs. If you’re wondering how much paid usage is, it’s usually a percentage of how much you’re getting paid for the brand deal. So a brand can say, “I will pay you 20% of what the deal was to run ads on it for 1 month.”
How Much Creators Actually Get Paid
How much are creators actually getting paid from brand deals? Because you and I have both heard the stories. We know that there are people who can pay off cars, houses, college tuitions with brand deals. This isn’t a copout answer. The truth is everyone is getting paid differently and it is all over the place. The price of a brand deal can vary a lot depending on a variety of factors.
For example, how tight is the campaign? If it’s something that’s really rushed, a lot of the times brands will have to pay a rush fee. Number two, let’s say I am a dermatologist and I am promoting a skincare company. I’m obviously going to be able to charge a higher rate than somebody who is just in the lifestyle category because I have special expertise. Number three, some asks are bigger than others. Some campaigns are harder to shoot than others. Sometimes you have to go to a very specific location.
They are requiring you to have special props. For example, if they are asking that you shoot a snow campaign or do something on a ski lift, that means that you have to buy the lift ticket. You have to drive to somewhere with snow. You have to have your snow outfit. None of those things are easy or cheap and therefore will probably inflate the price of the brand deal.
The same way that RPM varies with niches, certain brand deals just pay more. Finance again at the top of the category because finance companies have a lot of money. Another great example is pharmaceuticals and beauty which has so many competitors in the space that they have to pay a good rate if they want the best creators. Niches that pay less in my experience are things like fashion. A lot of the times fashion brands know that you want clothes and you want to look cute. So they know that they can really get away with a lower rate especially if they’re also offering you free product in exchange. And again, that’s just what I’ve seen. If you are a fashion creator, then that might not be the case for you.
How much are creators making from brand deals? There’s no consensus, but here’s a general rule of thumb for Instagram specifically. Assuming that a creator has good engagement and good quality content, if they have 100K on Instagram, they are probably making at baseline around $1,000 per post. That’s a baseline because that’s not including usage, exclusivity, any special requests or asks or expertise.
If you’re wondering if they make an extra $1,000 for every extra 100K they have, not exactly, because in my experience, it really does kind of plateau off. A lot of your highest earning creators are kind of in this sweet spot between 100K to 300-400K. This is because smaller brands can afford to work with them and so can bigger brands. So they’re getting a bigger pool of opportunities. Also, keep in mind, let’s say this creator with 100K followers is making $1,000.
That deal was likely negotiated by their manager or their team. Managers and agents typically take anywhere from 15 to 30% of the raw price of the brand deal. So immediately that amount is gone. If you have a lawyer, that can be another 5%. If you have a business manager, that’s often another 5%. So basically, there’s a lot of people who have to get paid before you get paid. I know somebody with over a million followers that is charging $75 for a TikTok post. And I know someone with less than 100k followers who has taken a six figure brand deal. It really depends on the type of creator you are and how easy it is to monetize your content.
What Kind of Creator Gets Hired for a Sponsorship
What kind of creator is most likely to be hired for a sponsorship? There are some prerequisites. Number one, your content has to be brand friendly. Brands do not want to sponsor people who are going to be censored by the platforms themselves. That means that you can’t swear too much in your content. You don’t want to wear overly revealing clothes and everything kind of along those lines. Number two, you can’t talk overly negatively about people or brands.
So if the premise of your content is negative and you’re talking a lot of gossip, tea, and exposing things, that usually doesn’t sit well. And that’s not to say that you can’t be honest and say that you don’t like a product, it’s the way that you say it. If you’re saying, “This product sucks. It’s horrible. I can’t believe this company exists.” And if a brand sees that and sees that you’re speaking so negatively about other things, then they’ll also worry that you’ll speak negatively about them. And finally, you need the right audience demographics and location.
Let’s say that you’re a grocery store based in California. It is more beneficial for you to hire a creator with only 20,000 followers, but 50% of their followers are in California, versus a bigger creator with 100K followers, but only 5% of their followers are in California. If you are a women’s fragrance brand, sponsoring somebody with a 70% male demo is probably not going to be your first choice. In general, if you’re in the United States, the higher your US percentage is and the higher your female percentage is, the better it is for brand deals. A lot of brands will screen right off the bat and say, “If you do not have at least 30% US demos, you’re not considered for the campaign.” So you really have to think about whether your content is attracting the right kind of audience.
Awareness Campaigns vs Conversion Campaigns
For brand deals, there are usually two major types of objectives. First type is an awareness campaign where basically they want a lot of people to see the campaign and become aware of the product. The second type is a conversion campaign where they are specifically hiring creators that are able to convert into sales. Some creators are able to do both, but a lot of the times they usually fall into one of the two categories. A lot of luxury brands are often doing awareness campaigns because they’re not really that concerned about conversion. Whereas for brands selling on Amazon, for example, or specific beauty campaigns, they really are looking for creators that can move numbers. That’s why having conversion data from Amazon affiliates or ShopMy are really really helpful to pitches because it shows the evidence that you are able to move numbers.
Income Stream Four: Product Launch and Product Licensing
Income stream number four is product launch and product licensing. A lot of the times this is in collaboration with an existing brand, but some examples include launching a jewelry line, merch, a specific drink flavor, a special shade of a makeup product. Last year I launched a jewelry collection that I helped design that ended up selling out twice. Every deal is structured differently. For a book deal, for example, a lot of the times you get an advance.
So my friends who have written books will get a six figure amount before they even write the book so that they have the resources they need to write the best possible book. And for other deals, you’re making a percentage of the sales or the profit. Relying on views and sponsors can be very volatile and unpredictable. There’s always new creators, new eyes, and things that brands want are always shifting. So having a product line or something that you can call your own is much more stable and will really give you more longevity in your career as a creator.
Income Stream Five: Speaking Engagements
The fifth stream of income and one of my favorites is speaking engagements. This is when a company, institution, school, somebody is paying you in exchange for your time to speak to an audience. There are remote speaking engagements that can be done over Zoom or Google Meets and there are also in person speaking engagements. This can happen in a keynote format where you are the main character and you are the person speaking and presenting or in a panel format where there are perhaps multiple other creators.
Typically, people who have a very clear niche are more likely to be hired for speaking engagements. For example, for a medical device company, they’re much more likely to hire perhaps a doctor content creator to be their speaker. The same way a finance creator is in a better position to be hired to be on a panel in front of SoFi execs. In the past, I have spoken on panels for AAPI Heritage Month, Taiwanese American Student Associations, a lot of colleges, schools, nursing programs, medical schools, which all really makes a lot of sense considering who I am as a person and the type of content that I am making.
Creator Expenses
We’ve talked a lot about the income streams, but we haven’t talked at all about the expenses that creators incur. Just to name a couple, you probably have to pay a manager, maybe an agent on top of that, a lawyer, perhaps a business manager, an accountant, editors, assistants. So while the income streams get all the attention, this is the other side of the equation that’s just as much a part of what it actually takes to make a living as a creator.