Are you looking for a little extra cash in the bank each month? Or maybe you’re sick and tired of cube life and are ready to take a break for a life outside of the corporate world? If neither of those scenarios apply to you, then this post is not for you.
Enjoy the rest of your day.
If, however, you answered “Yes,” then read on. I make a relatively healthy second income through my content creation, and I thought I would share a few honest ideas for making extra money on the web or through social media.
Before we start, though, this is not a get-rich-quick post. I’m not going to tell you how to get 100K views to your blog post in under 24 hours. I’m not going to give you a way to quit your job tomorrow and be retired on a beach in 6 months.
Instead, I’m going to share 10 REAL ways that you can earn an extra income in this gig economy by developing and monetizing your content. The amount of money you generate will be directly related to the amount of time, energy, and dedication you put into it.
NOTE: There are no easy rides here. The key to winning in the content economy is quality and dedication. If you’re going to try to cheat the system, produce junk, and expect it to pay out, be ready for disappointment.
If you’re ready to create some amazing, high-quality content and get paid for it, then keep on reading.
What is the content economy and how does it work?
Before you can make money from content creation, you need to understand what it is.
First, you need to understand that content isn’t new; content changes. Over time content has had to morph to fit in the time and environment we live in. The content economy is an economic chain of people or corporations who create, disperse and consume digital content.
I know you’re wondering how this whole system runs, well the answer to that question is simple – the internet. It is the engine that powers this entire system by providing a market platform for digital content trading. It’s YouTubers, Tiktokers, Instagramers, ad publishers, big brands, and…of course, the social media platforms that we all use every day.
Content is created. Content is consumed. Content is monetized.
It’s an ongoing cycle that most consumers have simply accepted as part of their daily lives.
What makes the content economy different?
Why are content-focused jobs a great opportunity when compared to other gig-economy jobs like Uber or DoorDash? Compared to physical goods, digital content is accessible to anyone with a device that can use the internet regardless of location.
The content economy allows you to explore your creative side without limits compared to other lower skill gig jobs. The content economy covers a wide range of jobs and skill sets.
What are some ways to earn money creating content?
Anyone who can use the internet and has a skill set that fits with the content economy can take advantage of it.
Some skills that work well within the content economy include:
- Writing
- Editing
- Photography
- Video editing
- Social media management skills
- Virtual assistance
- Project Management
- Music creation
How can I use my skills to make some extra money online?
So, you’ve identified your creative skills that might be useful in this content economy. Maybe you enjoy creating informational videos. Maybe you’re an entertainer. Maybe you love playing video games.
The beauty is you can earn from sharing your passion with others. The moment we have all been waiting for, here are some options you can try to start making money online. As I have said above, to make money online, you need to ensure that you present quality work to your clients.
Option 1 – Start A Niche Blog Using A Tool Like WordPress
Create a blog that others will find interesting or entertaining. Nowadays, it’s easy to create a blog; with the rise of superpower CMS software like WordPress, you can build a blog page in under 20 minutes.
Blogs can be divided into two significant categories lifestyle blog or niche blog. If you decide to start a niche blog, you will need to evaluate what you want to post on your blog.
Find a niche you are passionate about and write about it, don’t worry if you are not a writer. There are famous websites like Upwork, Fiver, and Freelancer where you can find professional writers who can work for you.
Speaking of freelancing sites, this is another way you can earn some cash online; all you have to do is register and start bidding for jobs. There are plenty of website and blog owners who are looking for good, high-quality authors to create content for them and they are willing to pay for it.
There are many ways you can turn your blog page into a cash cow; some of them are:
- You can run advertisements through your blog and get paid through it – To earn a reasonable sum of money through advertising, you need to garner traffic to your blog so that the advertisements can reach a wider audience.
- You can push your products through your blog page – By posting your products through your blog page, you can kill two birds with one stone. You can gain a bigger audience with your writing and push your products through your blog.
- You can review products and send traffic to the product page and receive an affiliate commission – When you review a product, you can add a link that includes a special affiliate code that signals to the site that you sent the traffic there. This allows the site to pay you a small portion of any sales that are generated by your content.
Option 2 – Take Photographs and License Them
Share your photography with the world and offer others the ability to purchase and use your photos. This option will mostly favor people with a creative eye, with the knowledge and skills to capture critical elements to attract clients.
If you want to create a business out of photography, you have to know how to license your photographs. Even though copyright law exists, it is easy today for people to share and use images illegally, whether through the internet or in print.
A photography licensing agreement is the best way to be sure you are compensated for your work. Licensing images involves giving discretion to your client on how your images can be used and giving the time limit.
This agreement determines if they will use the photos you take for commercial purposes or not, who is allowed to use your images, how long, and if you can sell them again to a different client.
Once you have licensed your photo, you can sell your creative art on websites like; Adobe stock, Foap, Alamy, Getty Images, and many more. If you don’t want a third-party site to control how you sell your photo, you can create your photography website with WordPress and sell your photos on your own.
Option 3 – Create Music and License It
Use your musical passion to create unique music and license it for others to use. If you are a musical prodigy and don’t know how to use your talent to make money, this next section will guide you.
Like we have said above, with photos, you need to license your music to be sure that you are compensated for your work. To license your music, get permission from a legal entity that stands for artist work.
Ensure you license your work to avoid copyright claims. Once you authorize your music, you can sell your music online on popular sites like Spotify, cd baby, Tunecore, DistroKid, Rumblefish, and many more.
You can even create a YouTube channel and share your music videos there. While you can’t use it to license your music, you can use your music to grow a following and monetize your YouTube channel. That means YouTube will pay you a portion of the revenue that they generate from showing ads in your videos.
Option 4 – Use Your Digital Skills to Help Others
Create SEO reports, build websites for other people, offer social media management services. If you have any of these skills, you can help out other people online while getting money for your assistance. Tools like SEMRush can give you robust tools that help you analyze other people’s websites and blogs and provide consulting services for improving them.
Platforms like skillshare offer you the ability to create videos that you can share online, teaching others skills. You can earn money by selling your courses on skillshare, and this will help both you financially and others learn new skills.
Option 5 – Become A Virtual Assistant
Being a virtual assistant offers you the flexibility to be able to build a balanced lifestyle. It means you are free to choose the client or business you want to work for and the tasks you prefer to undertake.
Online gigs enable you to work from any place, i.e., the comfort of your own house, which makes it cheap because you don’t have to move around.
Becoming a virtual assistant involves offering help to other forms of businesses or clients from the comfort of your specified location. Today, with the availability of high-speed internet, different forms of communication, such as online conference calls, make it easy for clients or businesses to get help instead of having full-time employees in a specific location, therefore reducing expenses.
As a virtual assistant, you are required to do office work like administrative tasks from the location of your choosing. These services can be bookkeeping, social media or content creation, and many more. You will be able to choose what you are good at and do it with passion.
A brief list of some of the most popular VA tasks include:
- Writing blog posts
- Managing WordPress
- Creating Pinterest content
- Managing Instagram accounts
- Photo editing
Option 6 – Digitize Content That Is Currently Analog
We need to understand what digitization is first before we proceed. Digitization is the process of morphing data from an analog version to a digital version.
Most analog data is binary; therefore, it can be easily transformed and propagated by computers. The world is migrating into a digital era, and there is still a lot of data that is in analog form. This means there is an opportunity to make money converting this data into digital form.
Want an example of content that is analog that could benefit from becoming digital? Think about old time radio shows. These shows are often stored on old reels or cassette tapes and are degrading. Similarly, most families have a box of old VHS or Super8 videos that are growing more and more brittle by the day. Once the film degrades, the memories are gone.
You can help preserve those memories and earn some extra cash by setting up a process to help convert them to digital formats.
Option 7 – Turn Your Passion into A Digital Experience
Do you have a passion? Why not turn it into a financial gain? Whether it’s playing soccer, driving a car, traveling, whatever you are good at, you can transform it into a money-making platform. Share your passion with the digital world, and you will be surprised how many people might relate to your story.
For example, if you love traveling, you can record the experiences of your journey and post them on YouTube or write about it on your blog page. Work hard to become an Instagram influencer. Create a TikTok account and share your funny stories or experiences. Write an ebook sharing your experiences and publish it on Amazon.
Whatever it is…find a way to translate your passion into a digital product or service.
Option 8 – Share Your Opinion
Sharing your opinion to make money can be done in many ways. You can share your opinion and earn money while doing online surveys. While not highly lucrative, some surveys might pay enough to make you some extra beer money.
If you’re looking for something that takes a little more effort and can produce some real income, try your hand at a vlog or podcast. With your podcast or YouTube channel, you can push advertisements or promote products. Over time if you gain more subscribers, different established brands can work with you and pay you to be their brand ambassador.
If you share your vlog episodes on YouTube, you can even participate in their monetization program and earn revenue as your audience grows.
Option 9 – Monetize a TikTok channel
Create short videos that are entertaining and grow a following so you can monetize the videos. TikTok was not originally meant as a means to acquire income, though, in recent times, it has become very popular as a get way to creating short videos with your mobile phone.
TikTok has taken the world of social media by storm and has enabled virtually anyone to become a media creator.
If you want to make money with TikTok, though, you need to be at least 18 and have a minimum of 10,000 followers. If your account hasn’t quite grown to those numbers, you can also be an influencer to do promotions for different products or advertise your skills and services.
Linking your account to other social platforms, i.e., YouTube and Instagram, can also increase your potential and reach.
Option 10 – Become an Instagram Influencer
Create amazing photographs and videos so brands will want to work with you. Instagram is a popular social media platform whereby you can create traffic by gaining followers. Recently Instagram introduced an initiative called creator monetization.
If you use Instagram, you might have come across features like IG tv and badge. These features allow content creators to earn money through donations while live streaming. That aside, you can also earn money by pushing or advertising your products through your Instagram profile.
If you have an artistic nature or generally an extrovert, why not use this opportunity to create your income. Especially during these challenging times, with many people staying indoors and consuming creative content, this makes it a potential opportunity as a source of income.
There you have it. 10 actual ways to start sharing your passion in a way that you can earn some extra income. Some important things to keep in mind as you get started:
- It takes time. Don’t get frustrated if you don’t see revenue in your first year.
- Focus on building your audience and community first. The money will come second.
- Quality is key. Make sure your content stands out above your competitors
- Stick to it. Consistency is important.
Good luck in your content economy gig – whatever you choose. Have additional ideas as to how you can earn income online? Be sure to share them in the comments!
Cheers!
–Sean
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