For every creator riding in a G6 and lighting their cuban cigars with flaming Benjamins, there are tens of thousands who are wondering what happened on their way to vast riches.
Fun facts:
- 1 million views on TikTok will earn a creator something in the range of $20 to $40
- Instagram creators with 30 - 80 thousand followers generally make $350-$850 for a sponsored post
- YouTube may pay as much as a penny to three cents per view - but the average YouTuber with a million subscribers is estimated to earn about $60k total annually
There will always be Mr Beast, various Kardashians, and Charli DeMelio, sucking up millions in advertising, affiliate income, and sponsorship deals - but modeling your plan to earn online on the people at the top is like applying for an entry-level developer job at Apple with salary expectations based on what Tim Cook takes home. Sure, at some point, someone will take over that one CEO job, and it could be you, but you’d be best advised not to base all your life choices on the assumption it will be.
In fact, anyone below that very top echelon of influencers runs a significant risk of their online living being both super inconsistent, and in danger of ebbing away as tastes and trends change. When the only real source of income is advertising (whether through ads that are placed by the platform, by publishing sponsored posts, or by pitching products as an affiliate), you also risk diminishing your most authentic connection to an audience. One video promoting a product that turns out to be terrible can turn off your following to your message, and undo what you’ve spent years constructing.
This is why building a closer relationship with your most ardent fans is so important: when they see the real you, and are tightly aligned, they are not only ready to pitch in to support your craft, they also have the sort of closeness that will lead them to have your back when things don’t go according to plan.
The steps to take are simple:
- Download the QP app and create an account
- Sign up for our Stripe service, so we can process payments for you
- Set up both free and paid channels, so folks can see what they’re here for
- Now invite your followers on all those other channels to follow you on QP (you should expect 1% - 5% of them to be willing to join your paid channel)
- Engage with your paid subscribers - don’t just give them exclusive content, but message directly with them and let them become your ‘third social circle’
- Continue to develop your audience on traditional social media, and continue to add subscribers on QP
On QP you’re in control of your content (you can edit or delete anything, any time), in control of your contacts (you can oust haters, baiters, and trolls whenever you need to), and in control of your finances (you can adjust the price of your subscriptions any time, and even offer one-off specials).
Now, when the ad market gets shaky, you’ll have your core followers on board to support you - and you won’t have to take every dubious sponsorship deal that comes along to keep your business afloat.
