How much can an influencer make?

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So, one of your TikTok videos has gone viral, or you stumbled across Amazon livestreaming, and it’s working. People are clicking along, shopping, and buying – all while watching your recommendations. And now brands come knocking asking for brand deals. So the question pops top of mind: how much can an influencer make?

Of course, how much an influencer can and will make depends widely. There’s no upper limit, really, but the chance to earn zero dollars or lose money also exists. (Some even buy the products just to promote them so the sales will have to make up for that cost and more. I would NOT recommend this approach in general. Unless you really want the product.)

So, let’s look at the different ways to make money.

Advertising

Advertising can drive revenue and on high-performing blogs (yes, blogging still works!) can drive several hundred dollars or more – especially when sold directly. My Google Ads make enough each month that I keep them around.

Advice: If you run ads on your site, consider the overall user experience. This is easily controllable in Google Ads. I don’t want inline ads, for example.

Read next: What is an influencer commission?

Affiliate commissions

These can happen through blog posts with links to relevant products, Amazon product reviews and livestreams, and even TikTok Shop videos.

Affiliate commissions are a great way to maximize evergreen content. As long as people find the content, a certain percentage clicks along and ends up buying, too. Talk about passive content from content that exists and works over time.

Some articles continue to make money over time, and when done well and the influencer’s site has a following, this can quickly move into the hundreds of dollars (or more) per month.

Advice: Consider where you can drive the most revenue with this. The right audience volume matters here. So relevant affiliate links in high-traffic blog posts or successful TikTok videos can carry more than their fair load of revenue generation. Of course, an existing blog post can be updated. An older TikTok video can’t – so planning ahead of time is necessary here.

Read next: How to produce and profit from Amazon product videos

Brand deals

Brand deals are scenarios when companies reach out to have an influencer create content on their behalf. This could include:

Advice: Choose the right pricing. High enough for you to make money and feel good about it. (Keep in mind you’ll have to pay taxes, too.) But not too high that nobody will pay it. Make the process as simple as possible, too. I use PayPal and PayPal Invoices for most of these deals and usually require payment up front, though at times I’m open to half up front.

Consider the good old trial-and-error approach: lower the prices of packages that don’t sell and increase the prices of packages that do sell. Pricing research is another option to get this right. 

Consulting or training

This is certainly a page from the Company Content Marketing Playbook. Companies create content to drive awareness and leads of and to their products and professional services. So the content doesn’t make any direct revenues, but indirectly influences other purchase decisions.

Influencers can do the same. The AdWeak X account uses that model. There’s not even a hard sales push, but yet, people reach out to get help with their projects.

Advice: Create content that stands out, shows off your uniqueness and skills, and the money might follow.

Read next: What is an Amazon influencer?

Crowdfunding or donations

This often shows up as “Buy me a coffee or two” buttons and links. Supporting fans can send small amounts to support the influencer.

Advice: Don’t over-ask, but why not try it in high-traffic content areas/platforms. Platforms like Patreon might fit here. 

Platform payouts

When Instagram rolled out Reels I joined their performance program and made a few hundred bucks a month just on my Instagram Reels alone. That worked for a few months and then the problem quickly disappeared.

Other influencers have reported making good bang and then it slowly decreased. So, there’s some money to be made on platforms/networks – especially as new features or platforms roll out.

My advice: Hop on the bandwagon early and hold on for the ride until it’s not worth riding anymore.

Subscription content

Certainly, OnlyFans isn’t for all creators. That’s despite its billing itself as a “subscription platform empowering creators to own their full potential, monetize their content, and develop authentic connections with their fans.”

But subscription content, even in the form of podcast subscriptions, Instagram Channels and the like, might be worth considering.

Pricing and revenue

How much each individual influencer can make is really a crab shoot and depends on their following, audience and even processes. For example, I have templates and automatic responses and even email workflows for all kinds of outreaches and responses.

When people book themselves as sponsored guests on my podcast, the entire process is automated. Calendly is linked to my calendars and tells them when I can do it. When they book, the payment is handled through PayPal, which even does daily automatic transfers to my business checking account.

There certainly are some benchmarks for posts, per DemandSage. Nano influencers on average make just shy of $200 per post. Macro influencers $1,800 and mega influencers/celebrities can make upward of $5K.

But finding that right pricing and content mix that works for you can make or break things. Also, hopping on new platforms and trends can be a goldmine. At one point, I made basically a full-time salary from a new platform. Being one of the first on there helped.

Then you’ll have companies that will try to send freebies and claim that’s worth it.

So, maybe start on the lower end of pricing and never stop creating your own content. That will help drive those deals and other revenue channels.


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