Have you always wondered how to make money as a social media influencer? It is possible! First you have to become a social media influencer. Find out what is a social media influencer, how to become one, and answer “how do social media influencers make money”!

Stop wondering how social media influencers make money!

If you already have a sizable social media following you absolutely should follow these steps to start making money as a social media influencer.

Social media influencers can make a lot of easy money

To give you an idea of what you can make, I’ll share how much I make with around 3K Facebook fans, 5K Instagram followers, 5K Pinterest followers, 12K Twitter followers and at least 30K visitors to my website a month.  I make anywhere from $2,000 to $4,000 a month working about 3 hours a day on my blog and social media. This doesn’t include free trips or free products. If I included that it would be much more a month. I want you to know that if you put even more time into it, you can make even more money! I’m doing it so I know it’s possible.

Don’t have a large social media following yet? Check out this post to learn the basics of getting starting as a social media influencer. There are a lot of tips to help you grow your social media following.

You don’t have to be a blogger to make money on social media, but it can’t hurt

You don’t have to be a blogger to monetize your social media accounts, however it is required for several of the companies listed below. It certainly can’t hurt to start a blog if you already have a good social media following. You’ll probably find that your large following will bring you lots of traffic! Need help starting a blog? Follow the tips in this post.

How to make money as a social media influencer

The best way to make money as a social media influencer is to have many different eggs in your basket. Join multiple influencer programs, affiliate programs, and contact companies directly. If you do all of this then your chances of making real money are much higher. This is good too because you never know when one program will stop making you money.

1. Make money as a social media influencer by joining social media influencer programs

The companies listed below are ones that I currently work with as a social media influencer. The sky is the limit though. If you like a company or brand, reach out to them and ask if they have a influencer program. If they don’t have an official one, they may have an affiliate program that can still make you money (more about affiliates later in this post).

These programs offer everything from paid blog posts, Twitter posts, Instagram posts, Facebook posts, Pinterest pins and even paid public appearances. I’ve been paid as little as $5 for a tweet and as much as $700 for a combination of Instagram and Twitter posts. I’ve even made $300 for a 2 hour public appearance. It makes you wonder how much the Kardashians make for their appearances, right?

• Linqia
• Captiv8
• Social Fabric
• Obviously
• Clever Girls
• IZEA
• Acorn Influence
• Soapbox Influence
• Massive Sway
• Best Buy Blogger Program
• Influence Central
• Mom Select
• Activate 
• Social Spark
• Wayfair Homemakers
• World Market Ambassador

2. Join affiliate programs to make money in social media

I really love affiliate programs because I’m able to work whenever I want on these programs. You sign up to be an affiliate for some of your favorite stores or websites. Then you can share your favorite products from those specific stores and websites. Some will even email you directly when they have great deals. This means you’re able to share deals with your social media following before they even know about it.

I currently make most of my money through ShareASale by promoting Shutterfly, Cents of Style, and used clothing websites.

Here are three of the most popular affiliate programs to help you make money as a social media influencer:

1. Commission Junction
2. ShareASale
3. Amazon Associates

3. Reach out to companies you love

Believe it or not, companies love working directly with bloggers and social media influencers. This is because they can hire you for less than it takes to work with an influencer network. It’s good for you because you can change more because you’ve cut out the middle man.

The only downside is that you have to do all the work. You have to find the right contact, get in touch, pitch to them, and then invoice them. It really does end up being a lot of work, but it can pay off big time.

Personally, I’ve only been mildly successful with this because I don’t have the time to pitch to companies. However, when I really like a product, I always reach out just in case! So far I’ve gotten a lot of freebies in exchange for social media posts. It worked out really well during Christmas!

Bonus tips/ legal stuff

Once you start monetizing your social media accounts, don’t become consumed by it. Remember, you have a large social media following for a reason. Don’t start making all of your posts sound like commercials. Still share authentic posts, then add in the paid posts from time to time.

Follow Federal Trade Commission guidelines and make sure to disclose to your audience that you are making money off of your links. If you are being paid make sure to use #ad. If you are sharing an affiliate link make sure to disclose that before the link. I usually say something like, “if you want to buy this please use my affiliate link: add link here”.

Are you ready to make money as a social media influencer? You might as well give it a shot! You don’t have anything to lose. 

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