Making Money on Social Media Writing (Part 1)

Let me begin with a caveat.  There is no magic bullet or surefire way to make an immediate financial killing on Social Media.  There are a couple of different outlets for establishing a Social Media based business and, as we have learned with Riff on Jobs, growth and income are truly a crap shoot. Nonetheless, as you try to figure out how to do this yourself, you will find a wealth of videos and training courses that promise to teach you how.  Many of these contain pearls of wisdom and valuable information.   However, you can save your dollars by understanding a few key points.

Blogging - if you enjoy writing, and have something meaningful and useful to say, you could certainly start a blog with minimal capital outlay.  You merely need a platform to publish your blog.  You can design your own website or use a tool like Substack to publish. Some tools even offer you the ability to create a website if you are using their tool. However, with most of these sites and tools, you will need to grow a subscriber base. If you wish to have paid subscribers, consider offering extra benefits (like the ability to interact with your blog via chat and comments). The average subscription price for good blogs is about $5/month, with a discount of $50/year if the subscriber pays a year in advance.  This is chump change for people who want to read your blog but enter into this with full awareness that you are competing with professional journalists, subject matter experts, and political pundits.  You need to clearly establish your BRAND and style, stay on topic repeatedly, and post no less than 2-3 times a week.  Without this level of frequency, a paid subscription is not worth it for your audience.  For me, personally, I will share that I subscribe to about five political pundits but only pay for two or three of them because I find them excellent - informative, factual, timely, and on point.  I receive almost daily emails from one writer and about three a week from the others.  For a long time, I read them without subscribing and, although I have no particular interest in interacting, I chose to subscribe to fund their ongoing writing (and I believe I get tremendous value for my $50/year).

Self-Publishing – Anyone can write a book and many dream of it… one day.  Not everyone can write a good book or a book that will sell.  However, in the internet age in which we live, anyone can promote a book, and it can be produced and published on a variety of sites, most often Amazon.  This also includes Audiobooks on Audible.  Just like YouTube and other opportunities, there are many training courses on how to self-publish and they range in price from hundreds to thousands of dollars.  One of the most popular courses is from publishing.com.  This course offers training, inspiration, and private Facebook groups to share information with other wannabe publishers.  Many of the followers and “students” have done well following their formula and publishing books. (NOTE: If you do sign up for this course, please let them know that Kim Brant-Lucich from Riff on Jobs referred you).  The key to this and any other course is to follow instructions.  Invest the time and energy, follow the methodology and, while there is no guarantee of success, most of the programs out there will at least instruct you on how to get it done.  The rest is up to you.  Choose a book topic that inspires you and will attract an audience.  Write it well (or hire an experienced ghostwriter to write it for you).  Edit, proofread, design a cover, and include photos and graphics.  Spend money to advertise and market your book. Many authors will tell you that self-publishing is an arduous path.  Many professional writers (ie, those who have always made a living as authors) will tell you to find a “real” publisher.  Whatever path you choose, there is a market for books, as long as people continue to read. Despite a surprising amount of illiteracy out there, books still sell. There is definitely a market for audiobooks as long as people choose to listen while driving, working out, cooking, and taking the dog for a walk.  If you like writing, have some decent language writing and editing skills, and have a story or topic worth sharing, this may be a path for you.

Facebook – Facebook is a location to connect with friends and family, posting whatever political rant or silliness or family photos you choose to share. Think of it only as a means to promote your business, not as a vehicle to generate money directly (unless of course, you create a storefront or post items to sell). If you use Etsy or Amazon Affiliates to generate income, then use Facebook to post links to your product, or even consider running Facebook ads for visibility. However, Facebook, in and of itself, is not the first place you should consider as a revenue generator.

LinkedIn – Like Facebook, LinkedIn is a site where you can post ads for your business or your blog, and post links to purchase items on Etsy or through your Amazon Affiliates account.  Unlike Facebook, LinkedIn is a professional networking site where one should avoid posting political rants, TikTok videos, or family photos.  However, If you create a TikTok or a YouTube video that is instructional and might interest working corporate professionals, then you could certainly post it on LinkedIn.  If you have a social media or service-oriented business (like Riff on Jobs), consider LinkedIn as a site to share information about your business, or post inspirational quotes, news articles, etc.  Don’t look to LinkedIn as an income source in itself, though.  Consider it an advertising medium just like Facebook.

Instagram – This is a great way to promote your business or yourself, and a good venue to grow your social media presence and attract followers.  There are videos, blogs, and courses on how to make money on Instagram but, at the end of the day, it seems you need to be selling something – a product or service – to make money.  Instagram is widely followed but seems best for advertising or gaining traction as a social media influencer (which then leads to other revenue options, including placement of promotional ads).  While it’s great to use Instagram to become a social media influencer, it can take years and you may not be interesting or original enough to attract the followers you would need to monetize an Instagram presence.