Becoming an influencer and making money from it is an increasingly popular goal for many people today. With social media platforms like Instagram, YouTube, TikTok and more, everyday people are able to build large followings and potentially monetize them. However, becoming an influencer and earning an income from it is not necessarily easy or quick. So how long does it actually take to start making money as an influencer?
What is an Influencer?
An influencer is someone who has built a reputation and audience around a specific niche or industry. They have a wide reach within their niche and can affect the opinions and purchases of their followers through their recommendations. The key platforms that influencers build followings on are:
- Instagram – Photo and video sharing platform where influencers showcase lifestyle, fashion, beauty and more through high-quality imagery.
- YouTube – Video platform where influencers create long-form tutorial and entertainment style videos within their niche.
- TikTok – Short form video app where influencers create bite-sized entertaining video clips.
- Blogs/Websites – Influencers may have blogs or websites where they write articles and tutorials about their niche.
Someone is considered an influencer once they have established credibility and built a sizable following in their niche. Usually having at least 10,000 engaged followers is seen as the threshold for becoming an influencer.
How Do Influencers Make Money?
There are several ways influencers are able to monetize their audience and make an income from their accounts. Some of the most popular income streams for influencers include:
- Brand Sponsorships – Partnering with brands to promote and advertise their products/services to their audience. This may include dedicated posts, product reviews, giveaways, affiliate links and more. Brand deals and sponsorships are one of the biggest money makers for influencers.
- Affiliate Marketing – Earning a commission from promoting other brands, products or services using special tracking links. The influencer earns a percentage of any sale made through their affiliate link.
- Merchandise – Creating and selling custom branded merchandise like t-shirts, hoodies, mugs, pins etc. Fans are keen to buy merchandise from influencers they love.
- Memberships/Courses – Offering exclusive memberships and paid courses for their most dedicated fans to purchase and gain more personalized attention.
- Ad Revenue – If they have a YouTube channel or blog, influencers can monetize their content by allowing ads to be displayed and earn revenue based on impressions.
Most influencers utilize a combination of these income channels to monetize their audience and brand. But brand sponsorships tend to be the largest and most lucrative stream of income in most cases.
How Long Does it Take to Start Making Money?
When it comes to making money as an influencer, there is no definitive timeline. Several factors come into play such as your niche, the size of your audience and how effective you are at monetizing them. However, most influencers don’t start earning income until they hit a certain follower count threshold.
Here is a rough guide to when you can expect to start making money based on your follower count:
Follower Count | Income Expectations |
---|---|
1,000 followers | Little to no income potential at this size |
10,000 followers | May start to get free products to review and test. Hard to monetize followers at this size. |
25,000 followers | Can start earning some revenue through affiliate links and partnerships. Potential to earn a few hundred dollars per month. |
50,000 followers | More established audience. Can likely earn $500 – $2,000 per month through consistent branded sponsorships. |
100,000+ followers | Significant earning potential in the thousands per month. Top tier brand deals and campaigns. |
500,000+ followers | Major influencer status with very high earning potential. Multi-thousand dollar deals. |
1 million+ followers | A-list influencer status. $10,000+ per post and massive income potential. |
As you can see it takes time to build up both your audience size as well as authority in order for brands to take interest in partnering with you. Most influencers don’t start earning a meaningful income until they pass 25,000 engaged followers in their niche.
Other Factors that Affect Income Timeline
There are other factors beyond just your follower count that impact when you’ll start earning money and your overall income potential as an influencer:
- Niche – Some topics like beauty, lifestyle, and fitness tend to be more lucrative for influencers compared to niches like crafting or gaming which don’t monetize as well.
- Engagement – It’s not just the follower count, but how engaged your audience is, measured by likes, comments, shares etc. High engagement leads to better monetization.
- Location – Your location impacts the brands and opportunities available to you. Influencers in major markets like L.A. tend to earn more.
- Demographics – Factors like age, gender, income level of your audience impact how appealing they are to brands.
- Content quality – Great content leads to higher engagement and better brand partnership opportunities.
- Reputation – Being known as a top authority in your niche leads to more lucrative deals.
It’s important to focus on building high-quality, engaging content, and actively networking with brands in addition to growing your audience size. Influencers who focus solely on vanity metrics like followers often struggle to monetize their accounts.
How Much Do Influencers Make?
Influencer income can vary tremendously based on audience size and other factors. But here is a look at the earnings potential of influencers at different follower counts:
Follower Count | Estimated Earnings Potential |
---|---|
10,000 | $100 – $500 per month |
50,000 | $500 – $2,000 per month |
100,000 | $1,000 – $5,000 per month |
500,000 | $5,000 – $10,000 per month |
1 million | $10,000 – $100,000+ per month |
These numbers account for an influencer’s entire income from brand sponsorships, affiliate marketing, merchandise, memberships, ad revenue etc. As you can see it takes hiting the 500,000+ follower mark to start earning a full-time living strictly from influencer income. However, many are able to supplement their income with as little as 25,000 engaged followers.
Typical Rates for Sponsored Content
When it comes to sponsored posts, the typical rate is around $1 for every 1,000 followers. So someone with 100,000 followers could charge around $100 per post. Some other example rates are:
- 10,000 followers = $10 per post
- 50,000 followers = $50 per post
- 250,000 followers = $250 per post
- 1 million followers = $1,000+ per post
Of course, rates also depend on your industry, content quality and negotiation skills. But the $1 CPM (cost per thousand followers) is a baseline rate to expect.
How to Make Money Faster as an Influencer
While building an audience and starting to monetize does take significant time and effort, there are some strategies you can use to speed up the process and start earning sooner:
- Consistently network with brands in your industry to pursue sponsorship opportunities
- Offer promotions and discounts to attract brands for your first few deals
- Partner with micro-influencers in your niche to cross-promote content
- Focus on building highly engaging content vs. vanity metrics
- Diversify your income streams (merch, affiliates, memberships, etc)
- Analyze your analytics to create content that drives higher engagement
- Consider working with a multichannel network for brand deals
Remaining focused on creating high-quality, value-driven content for your audience and actively pursuing brand deals will make the biggest impact when it comes to expediting your influencer income.
Conclusion
Becoming a successful influencer and earning a lucrative income does not happen overnight. It takes significant time, effort and strategy to build an audience, establish credibility and monetize your followers effectively. Most influencers need to hit 25,000+ engaged followers before they start generating a meaningful income. And it typically takes building up to 500,000+ followers to earn a reliable full-time living from influencer work alone.
Factors like your niche, content quality and audience engagement also greatly impact your timeline to earning income. Remaining persistent, networking with brands, diversifying your income channels and offering promotions can help you start monetizing faster. But have realistic expectations that it takes time and effort to build an influencer brand that generates lucrative earnings.