Earning money as an influencer is NOT for the faint of heart or the lazy. If you remember, I recently posted about the importance of investing in yourself and mentioned that I’ve been taking the LadyBossBlogger course, How to Make Money As An Influencer. Now that I’ve had a few weeks to digest all of the content, I want to share some of my biggest takeaways that I’ve learned about earning money as an influencer!

There is more than one way to make money

Maybe this seems like an obvious one, but it seems like most people assume that bloggers and influencers get all of their money entirely from sponsored posts and affiliate links. The truth is, there are so many more ways to earn money as an influencer! 

There are way more ways to work with brands than just doing a sponsored post, for example, you can create content for them to use on their own social channels, or you can do sponsored videos or ads. You can also create your own product to sell, such as an e-course, and promote it. You can sell your own freelance services.

It’s important to diversify your income streams! 

Like I mentioned, I’m learning there are so many ways to make money as an influencer, and it’s important to utilize multiple strategies to find what works best for you. The most successful influencers have a combination of income streams that make up their earnings as a business. 

After reviewing the Lady Boss Blogger’s course, I’ve found several new ways to earn money that I wasn’t previously utilizing. I discovered some new affiliate programs, and I just sent out the third pitch email I’ve ever sent!

Joining the right affiliate programs is important

There are TONS of affiliate network programs out there, you need to do your research and join ones that are going to be the best fit for YOU and your brand. In the Lady Boss Blogger Course I took, Elaine Rau lays out a bunch of popular affiliate networks with information about using them, so you can make the most informed decision for yourself!

Planning is crucial

From creating a content calendar to staying organized and on top of your collaborations, planning out your content ahead of time is absolutely necessary to run a successful business as an influencer.

I already was using a content calendar to plan for regular Instagram posts, but something new I’ve started doing since taking the course is planning for sponsor content as well. This includes coming up with concept ideas that I can use to pitch myself, planning creative photoshoots and writing sessions, and organizing my calendar better.

If you earn money, it’s a business… which means you must pay taxes!

Ok, this one I did already know, but taxes are one of those things that scare the living shizz out of me because I’m terrified of doing them wrong! I literally have my dad help me every year as I’m doing them haha. 

I’ve taken a bunch of social media courses before, and so far Elaine’s course is the ONLY ONE that talks about paying taxes as an influencer that earns money. She keeps it simple so it’s easy to understand and lays out the basics you need to know for paying taxes as an influencer, such as what form you need and how you need to pay them quarterly using income estimations.

Something else that I learned about is tracking my expenses better along with my income as an influencer. Previously I had just been tracking my income, but as a business, you are eligible for all sorts of deductions based on your expenses used for your business! 

The course lays out a huge list of potential expenses that can be used as deductions, such as your website, costs for equipment or materials needed for content creation, any business tools you might pay for, and more. The list is super helpful!

The amount of earning potential you have depends on how much effort you put in! 

This might be an obvious point, but it’s the most important one to remember. The more you reach out to brands, apply for partnerships, ask for campaigns, organically post about things you love, etc., the more opportunities you open up for yourself to potentially bring in money. 

If you’re serious about earning money as an influencer, then you need to start prioritizing your business and creating opportunities for yourself. I highly suggest taking Elaine Rau’s course How to Make Money as an Influencer to give you a really good jumping-off point so that you have all the information you need to be successful with earning. 

I actually have a discount code for you that will give you 40% off the course price (woo!), just use code: JESSICASOLIS at checkout!

Here are some other amazing resources Lady Boss Blogger has for you to check out:

Thanks again to Elaine Rau and LadyBossBlogger for sponsoring this post!

XX Sunny