The Secrets Behind How Influencer Income Growth *Actually* Works

Who is the most incredible online creator you can think of?

Picture them at their home right now, what are they doing? If you imagined that they’re probably not at home, but chillin’ in Bali or dancing in Ibiza, you might also imagine that they are drowning in money.

Because they’re probably drowning in money.

And that tiny pit of jealousy in your stomach? That feeling that you long to be swimming in cash because of your creations? You’re not alone.

We’ve all endlessly scrolled and flippantly wished we were at the pinnacle of someone else’s success.

And the good news is that you are in control — influencer income growth isn’t actually a secret, it’s a series of moves made to optimize revenue streams.

Now, who wants to talk about how to be the person that others are enamored with but secretly jealous of? You? Thought so. Let’s go! 

Diving into Influencer Revenue Streams

As a creator or influencer, you probably already know that every platform has options to monetize your content. By meeting requirements like follower count minimums or view counts, you can earn a piece of that platform’s proverbial pie (like YouTube’s Partner Program or TikTok’s Creator Fund). 

But there are several other ways to earn income from your online efforts without having to rely solely on a platform’s… generosity.

Influencer income growth is maximized through any combo of additional means:

1. Brand partnerships: When you begin to gain traction, brands will begin reaching out to you to accept offers for sponsored content. They may send a free product for your review or pay you directly.

But because you’re reading this, we know you’re serious about gettin’ that bag, so know that you can reach out to brands yourself.

Go to Canva and customize a Media Kit template, create a view-only share link, and create a really compelling one- to two-sentence partnership pitch so you can hit people up on LinkedIn (search for “Influencer Marketing Manager,” “Social Media Manager,” “Brand Partnerships Manager” at the companies you’re interested in).

There are also influencer marketplaces where brands go to find influencers for collaborations — they take a small cut, and your mileage will absolutely vary. Influencity, AspireIQ, Collabstr, and Influencer.co are collab platforms to look at for this.

2. Fan funding: Crowdfunding is a popular way amongst influencers to rake in extra cash, and Patreon remains the leading platform for offering exclusive content to paying members.

Platforms have also opened up this earning potential, particularly with live streaming. You’ve likely seen monthly memberships on Twitch, or YouTube’s SuperChats, and have probably witnessed TikTok Live gifts (virtual gifts that rack up into “diamonds” and can be converted into real money). If you’re not going live, but have a strong following, this is a growing form of income that you can tap into — here’s our full guide on getting started.

3. Affiliate marketing: If you’re already promoting products and not getting a cut, you can change that. Earn commissions for sales generated through your affiliate links, because that’s what most influencers who are hyping a product are doing.

Sometimes it’s paid per lead, sometimes it’s per click, but it’s better than leaving money on the table. Here’s a quick primer on affiliate marketing for ya.

4. Merch sales: Look, it’s not 2017 and you don’t have to join some weird dropshipping cult and listen to some dude’s 28-hour podcast series about it, but if you create content that leads to people wanting to buy merch like shirts or bags, it’s worth exploring. Like this goofy guy. 

You can have other companies handle it all from start to finish via print-on-demand (they take a bigger cut) or make an investment and have products created in bulk, then sent to you to ship out to folks (you’ll make a lot more money this way, but it’s much more work).

If you chose to have products sent to you for processing, always go with a local outfit — you won’t get someone on the phone to help you if it’s an offshore t-shirt sweatshop. But if they’re up the street, you can pop in if they sent you baby onesies when they should have printed adult XL shirts.

5. Newsletters: It doesn’t sound glamorous, but imagine you make the wrong joke on a platform tomorrow and are completely kicked off. If you’ve been building an email list on the side, all is not lost.

This can be a free newsletter supported by advertising brands that appear in ads in the emailer, or ad-free for paying subscribers and supporters. The content should be part of your personal brand and can act as a “behind the scenes” look at your process. Get creative, but get going, because if sh*t hits the fan, this is a surefire backup with an audience that you “own” outright. 

Regardless of the direction you choose, the one thing every successful influencer (or hell, any wealthy person) knows is that diversification of your income is critical. Any one of these sources can dry up overnight, but on the flip side of that same coin, any one of them can blow up at any minute and overly dominate your time. Ideally, content creators should have at least three different revenue streams, and you should always be reviewing new ways to add to your money pile. 

How to Make Sure Your Brand is Ready to Make More Money

You may already have a strong personal brand, but that doesn’t mean it’s marketable. You might already have tons of followers, but that doesn’t always translate into cash, even when you’re casting out the nets we spelled out above.

So what exactly do all influencers have in common that make them marketable and attractive to sponsors? Three things: Niche, notoriety, and nuance. 

1. Niche: The more specific your personal brand is, not only is it more memorable, but it is more marketable. Imagine you have a media budget to spend, and you’re just sitting at your desk scrolling through Instagram to find your next partner. And let’s imagine that you work for a luxury hotel brand. Aren’t you much more likely to give partner cash to someone whose brand is all about luxury travel versus someone who focuses on all types of travel? Of course you are — more bang for the buck.

Whatever your focus is, even if you have a niche, consider narrowing that down even more. If you’re doing comedy, can you post your bits about Southern culture more frequently and attract alcohol sponsors? If you’re influencing fellow knitters, perhaps it’s time to carve out your niche in curse word knitting and earn the attention of the anti-Hobby Lobby hobby sponsors?

2. Notoriety: How engaged is your audience? Are you earning ample shares and comments? Authenticity is extremely important today in building trust, which builds engagement. Which builds notoriety. Which builds income growth.

Depending on your niche, authenticity presents itself in different ways. If you’re a real estate practitioner, TikTok dancing ain’t it, but talking through recent negotiations is. It encourages relevant trust, which creates relevant sponsorship potential.

3. Nuance: The nuance of what you’re posting is everything — is your content high quality enough to attract new audiences every day? If you’re not constantly improving your content practices and focusing on your quality, your marketability will also stagnate. 

How to Keep the Dollars Flowing

So you know about the most common influencer income streams, and that you must focus on niche, notoriety, and nuance to be marketable, but how do you keep the momentum building? 

1. Pitching: Become an expert in your own personal brand. That Media Kit we mentioned earlier? That two-sentence pitch? It’s not just a quick project; it’s something that should be updated and refined over time.

Think of your personal brand like a startup — don’t adopt their language, but research how they create pitch decks and how they craft promotional language. Emulate that.

2. Networking: No matter how big you get, you’re never too big to go to a networking event. If people fangirl when you attend, try something new and go to business networking events instead. You’re not attending to gain new followers, you’re attending to secure additional partners. Sponsor dollars don’t grow on trees — well-off influencers have had to shake hundreds of hands just to get one to yield results (except for influencers living on a trust fund).

3. Collaboration: One of the fastest ways to amplify your personal brand is through another established brand — it’s why all of the biggest creators do collaborations. It’s done by identifying other influencers, building a rapport over time with them, reaching out with a personalized message outlining a proposal to mutually benefit both of you, agreeing on the terms of content type and posting schedule (and if there is compensation or if it’s equal trade), executing the content, and evaluating its success.

Here’s a quick video on collaborating:

It’s an influencer income growth hack that is easily overlooked because of the level of effort it takes, but one that can open many new doors over the years.

4. Learning: When you’re finding success in content creation, it can feel like you’ve invented the wheel. Like you’ve created this magical kingdom that no one else could possibly understand because you handcrafted it, social media brick by social media brick. The secret to your success has been hard work. But where you’ll find sustained success over time is in remaining a curious sponge, just like you were in your earliest days.

You can do this through structured education (a Coursera class on higher level marketing, video editing, psychology of consumerism, or B2B sales), or by carving out 15 minutes every day for a new YouTube video on a new topic to keep your mind expanding. The most common failure with creators is coasting on current success, so stand out and position yourself for future income growth by being a perpetual student.

5. Adaptation: In the same vein, creators often find a formula that works, and stick with it for so long that they become stale. They coast on that success. Adapting to algorithmic changes and consumer behavior is the best way to continually add to your success. It sounds simple, but could be one of the most sophisticated ways to create enduring relevance and expanding income.

6. Financial responsibility: Don’t you yawn at me, and wait, don’t you walk away — you get back here right now! If you start hitting it big, you’re going to immediately be tempted to buy a Huracán, but hire a financial advisor instead, and use the Shaq method.

Hire smartly and slowly, improve your equipment over time, don’t invest in risky cryptocurrencies or put it all on red. This is the one area where you should be extremely boring. Think about it — Warren Buffett lives in his old house in Omaha bought for $31,000 years ago, and he drives a five year old Cadillac. Old money is smart. New money is overly enthusiastic and tends to blow it. Think like Shaq. Think like old money. Boring is good.

Will You Be the One Swimming in More Money Soon?

Think back to that feeling we talked about in the beginning. That tiny pit of jealousy for creators who are absolutely crushin’ it.

Do you now see the roadmap they’ve all used? 

You’re officially in the club of people who have the playbook for influencer income growth. And the best part is that even if every single person read this today, only 1% will actually put the playbook to use — be that 1%.

You now know the vehicles you can use for cashing in (brand partnerships, merch sales, fan funding, affiliate marketing, newsletters), how to be attractive to sponsors (niche, notoriety, nuance), and how to keep the money rolling (pitching, networking, collabs, learning, adaptation, financial responsibility).

The question is — which winning combination of these moves will you make bank on?