When you search on Google for ways to make money using Social Media you will find hundreds of articles telling you how easy it is to make money with Social Media. When you follow active Social Media users online and you watch YouTube video it all looks very simple. A Social influencer (somebody who makes money using Social Media) posts a picture of the product on their profile and he or she gets paid for this. Or, a vlogger receives products from a brand and he or she mentions this product in a vlog and money is made.
Is making money with Social Media really that easy?
My answer is no. Making money using Social Media is not easy at all. A lot of people don’t see what’s behind the scenes of Social influencers. They don’t see the amount of time it takes before money comes in. Making money using Social Media is really hard work.
Audience/ followers
A Social influencer needs an audience or a group of followers to make money. Followers are the main reason why brands and companies want to work with Social influencers. Think about your own profiles. How long does it take you to get 100 new followers on Twitter, Instagram or Snapchat? Social influencers often have more than 50K followers across multiple Social Media channels. And 50K followers is only where it starts. A lot of Social influencers reach more than 100K followers with their content. To me, that’s already a full time job!
Content
The only reason why Social influencers can make money with Social Media is because they create a lot of content. One paid Instagram picture stands against +10 not paid Instagram pictures. And this is very similar for YouTube. Mentioning a product in a vlog is only powerful when the rest of the vlog is interesting enough to watch for followers. A lot of Social influencers are in my eyes real content machines. Their Instagram pictures are always of high quality, engaging and highly relevant. Blogs are personal, inspire and educates followers and the vlog camera is always part of their lives. Editing a video takes vloggers between 5-10 hours per video! (depending on the type of video and the skills of course). And, as you know, being consistent is key for success. Social influencers always create new content, every day.
Offline activities
Making money using Social Media doesn’t stop when Social influencers go offline. An important part of their jobs is to attend events, product launches, workshops, webinars, meet ups with other influencers and also hang out with friends and family! Social influencers connect with their followers online but meet them offline. And attending an event means creating new content about the event! Do you get me 😉
I don’t want to say that Social influencers work to hard or that we should feel sorry for them, absolutely not! I know for sure a lot of Social influencers love what they do and they don’t mind to work hard for their success. I just want to make sure, next time when you see a Social influencer profile or you read an article about making money using Social Media you know it isn’t as easy as it sounds. Making money using Social Media means often working day and night. And the only way, for me, to make money using Social Media is by doing what you really love and doing what makes you happy!
With love, from Dublin..
WENDY VAN GILST 