This transcript was generated from the episode audio and may contain minor errors.
[Music]
What are some creative ways to monetize YouTube and Instagram? That's what we're gonna look at in this episode and welcome, by the way, to Side Hustle School, everyday creative practical ways to increase your income without quitting your day job. Whether you are a seasoned side hustler, we got lots of those, or just getting started, lots of those people as well. The goal is the same to provide you with inspiration and tools you need to succeed, to grow your next side hustle, to increase your income, be able to do more of what's important to you. And you get to decide what that looks like, of course.
I just try to provide some motivation, inspiration, and perhaps some ideas along the way. So with that in mind, today's question comes to us from Laura in New York. She has been making content on YouTube and Instagram, maybe some other networks as well, I'm not sure, but she wants to diversify her income streams. So this is something people need to consider when you're making content, that's one thing. It's not necessarily the same thing as making money.
You want to make sure you're making content that leads to making money, if in fact that is the goal. So if you're wondering how to make money from content besides or beyond, let's say the usual ad revenue and sponsorships, this episode is for you. Monetizing content on YouTube and Instagram, stay tuned. [Music]
Hi, Chris, I'm Laura from New York. I've been creating content on YouTube and Instagram for a while now, thanks in part to the motivation from your podcast.
I'm looking to monetize it effectively, but want to explore options beyond ad revenue and sponsorships. What are some less obvious ways to generate income from my content? I'm eager to diversify my income streams and make the most of my creative efforts. Thanks for all the incredible ideas and advice you share. [Music]
Hey, Laura, thanks for listening.
Thanks for the question as well. Monetizing content on YouTube and Instagram, let's talk about it or could be other platforms as well. Several creative ways to generate income beyond ad revenue and sponsorships, which we should always mention first because I know it's obvious, but that's how most people make money on those platforms. But there are other ways, including digital products, such as eBooks and guides or online courses. We talk about this a lot.
I'm not gonna go into it in detail here, but creating products based on the topic that you're focusing on, like if your content focuses on fitness, you could create a workout guide or a meal plan, or some kind of course that you publish on Teachable, Thinkific, Udemy, Kajabi, something like that. This could be a deep dive into a topic that you frequently cover on a service level in your digital content. So that's products, also membership and subscription services, offering exclusive content to subscribers who support you on platforms like Patreon. So that could include behind the scenes videos, early access to content, live streams. A lot of creators are doing really well with that.
There's also affiliate marketing. So you partner with brands that are relevant to your niche. You recommend products you earn based on commissions when sales are generated through your referrals. Pretty big revenue source for lots of people. We've talked about that from time to time.
Let's see what else. Merchandise, merch, of course. Design and sell branded merchandise. T-shirts, hoodies, mugs, and more. Platforms like Teespring and Merch by Amazon make it pretty easy to create and sell products without holding inventory.
So you don't actually have to worry about the screen printing or filling up your garage or closet with a bunch of T-shirts. If you have an audience that might want to buy some merch, why not make some merch? Couple other options really quickly. Crowdfunding, donations, depending on the project. A lot of projects do direct donations.
You could also offer consulting or some other kind of service. So yeah, a bunch of ideas there. I also wanted to talk briefly about licensing your content, but I think we have a separate question all about that coming up. And there's a lot to say all about that specifically. So we'll hold on to licensing, but I've given you a bunch of other ideas from digital products to memberships, subscription services, affiliate marketing, merch, and crowdfunding slash donations.
Oh, also consulting. Like I said, a bunch of ideas there. Laura, good luck. Listeners, if you have a question or some experience you want to share, feedback, ideas, et cetera, sidehustleschool.com. There's an email list there.
There are notes for every single episode. This was 2,755. I'll be back tomorrow. I hope you'll join in. My name's Chris Guillebeau.
This is "Side Hustle School." [Music]
from The Onward Project.
