How Social Media Can Make You Money

“There’s so much drama on Facebook.”

A buddy tried to convince me of the drama on Facebook. I had no idea what he was talking about. I joke around and have fun on Facebook. Sometimes I tag my friends in my travel pictures to make them jealous. I share most of my articles on there. I never find myself in social media feuds because there’s too much exciting stuff going on in the world to bother with arguing with people online.

Did you know that you can make real money from Facebook? Did you know that social money can make you money and help you become better with money? I want to show you how…

It’s pretty rare to meet someone with no social media presence. Once in a blue moon I’ll make a new friend who claims to not have social media. I usually assume that they’re lying or that they do something illegal.

How many people are exactly on social media? According to Forbes:

“Just the sheer number of active users on social media can make your jaw drop. Facebook has over 2 billion, Instagram has 800 million and Twitter has about 330 million monthly active users.”

I want you to use social media to get better with personal finance. I also want you to make money off social media.

(Side note: what are the odds that as I write this article Roseanne decides to tweet something offensive that gets her entire show cancelled?)

(Side note #2: I’m not going to discuss those ads that you see from “experts” who want to help you find what sets your soul on fire. We’re all annoyed with that.)

How can social media make you money? Let’s look at real life examples…

Check out our episode of Studenomics TV on this topic…

Throw events and promote them on Facebook.

You can use Facebook to host events and spread the word. These events can then generate money for you based on how well you promote and what you’re selling. You can charge entry to the event (like local pro wrestling shows) or sell items at the event.

Trevor is a transit history nerd at Transit Bricks. He created trains out of Lego and goes around promoting them while discussing the history of Toronto transit. He has used Facebook and Instagram to build up his following. He recently hosted an event that had articles written about it in local media. At this event he showed off his train set and he sold his own merchandise (posters, post cards, and other images).

Below is an example of the interest that this one event generated. Trevor ended up selling hundreds of dollars worth of merchandise and he grew his following.

Become an Instagram expert.

I highlighted how Talia makes real money from being an Instagram expert. Through becoming highly popular on Instagram, Talia was able to become an expert that gets hired for consulting work. She earns this money on top of what her main account offers (help with meal prep).

There are also thousands of accounts making money off Instagram through promoting their own products or pushing affiliates. You ever see those, “sign up through my link for $5 off” posts? These people are working for an affiliate commission.

Promote your services on Facebook, gently.

Linsey of Linseyknerl.com often finds freelance writing gigs through social media.

How does she do it?

“I’m 100% freelance content for brands now, so this is how I’ve been focusing my marketing efforts. Just staying relevant and super professional on my social channels.”

Below is an example of a message in Linsey’s mailbox:

Please note the keyword, “gently.” I’ve definitely spammed my followers in the past. If you offer a service, you can easily let your followers know about what you’re offering.

In some cases, you can find paid work from being in the right place at the right time. You never know who’s out there looking to hire someone.

Host a Twitter Chat.

You know those Twitter chats that you see sometimes? Tom Drake gets paid to host them. Here’s exactly how it happens:

“I’ve made up to $3,000 hosting a single sponsored Twitter chat. There’s more to it than just the hour spent online, including meetings with the PR company and promoting in advance, but it was the 57,000 followers built up over nearly a decade that led to those deals. All the major Canadian banks, fintech companies, and PR companies follow my account at @MapleMoneycom and will reach out for me to host a twitter chat or at least to participate. Even simply participating to answer questions in a non-host role can bring $300-$1,500 for what often turns out to be roughly 30-50 tweets.” — Tom Drake, founder of MapleMoney

If you’re stuck on growing your following on Twitter, you read up on how to get more Twitter followers. The solutions are all out there.

It’s impressive what kind of money is out there in the social media world if you’re willing to jump in and get involved.

Those are just a few of the ways that you can make money from social media. I avoided the obvious strategies of selling detox tea on Instagram or trying to promote your life coaching business through Facebook ads.

Now I want to help you get better with personal finance through the use of social media.

How do you use social media to get better at personal finance?

Learn from the best.

I try to study the best marketers on every platform to see what they’re doing differently to stand out. There’s a reason that some folks manage to explode in popularity while others get left behind.

Find a successful person in your field and study them. Watch what they do, how they do it, and when they do it. This doesn’t apply only to online marketers. The best in every field are on social media. Take a step back to observe.

Join Facebook groups.

One thing that I’ve been trying to get better at is Facebook groups. There’s a Facebook group for everything out there. I recently have joined groups for intermittent fasting, podcasting, and wrestling shows in Ontario.

There’s a group for every unique passion and walk of life. Try to surround yourself with like-minded folks. I’ve come to realize that you can’t force your drinking buddies to care about your new business or to give you feedback on your new training routine.

Share your goals.

I recommend that you share your goals on social media so that your friends know what you’re up to and so that you’re forced to be accountable.

I also believe that pressure creates diamonds. This is why I’m not afraid to post bold content occasionally. I started doing this with my fitness many years ago. I posted pictures from wrestling events where I was topless. I obviously wasn’t in the best of shape and I needed that reminder. I trained and improved my eating until I was proud of my results.

Look for opportunities.

“I’m really desperate for work right now.”

I saw someone post this the other day. People then gave him suggestions and he had the nerve to give them excuses. He wasn’t willing to travel far for work nor did he have many qualifications under his belt. I found this to be strange.

The key is to look for opportunities instead of begging or complaining on social media.

How do you look for opportunities?

• See what’s working for friends.
• Look for struggles.
• Think of ways that you can make more money.
• Track companies in your field.

Save pictures of things you want to have.

I don’t want to get all lame about visualization and visualizing your goals. I do believe in visual reminders of your goals though. The trick is to always think about what you want.

I save pictures on Instagram of places that I want to visit. I look at this when I feel like slacking off or if I find myself losing focus.

Make friends/grow your social circle.

Social media has made it ridiculously easy to stay in touch with everyone. I’m visiting a friend next month who I met in Cancun 12 years ago. We kept in touch through MSN Messenger and Facebook.

Yes, there are many weirdos trying to sell you on pyramid schemes. Ignore them.

Try the following instead:

• Don’t alienate yourself with offensive content. You don’t need to share every conspiracy theory that you come across.
• Stay in touch with people who you meet.
• Like/comment on stuff.
• See what’s going on around the world.
• Try to be positive.
• Check in on friends.
• Stop ranting and raving about everything.
• Don’t be passive aggressive.
• Don’t share political rants.

Random note: I followed this guy once for updates about wrestling shows. He would just share political memes and go on rants. I mean this is acceptable once in a blue moon, but five times a day just isn’t necessary. It shouldn’t be a full-time job to keep up with you. Why would you want to spend your entire day arguing politics on Facebook?

Share what’s going on with you.

You doing anything cool? You working on something that you’re proud of? Share it! Let us see what you’re up to.

You never know who’s watching.

How do you start making money on social media?

Pick one platform and go all in.

Before you do anything I want you to focus on a platform to grow your business. I know that it’s tempting to try to get on every platform at once. It’s important to remember that when you work on everything, you work on nothing. My problem is that I loitered on so many platforms over the years. It’s important that you decide which platform you want to get good at. You know your own strengths. If you don’t like taking pictures then Instagram might not be for you.

Have something to promote.

What do you want to promote? What’s your thing?

You want to be known for something. You need to have something that you sell (unless you get massively popular and just sell space).

I struggle with this myself. I talk about too much general stuff. It’s important to have something very specific that becomes your thing.

WHAT’S YOUR THING?

Find your thing and go all the way with it.

Be helpful and fun.

I get that life isn’t always fair and that it can be attempting to rant on social media about every injustice in society. There’s more to life than complaining though. Life gets stressful enough as it is. You don’t have to spend your days arguing about climate change with complete strangers. Try to be helpful and fun. Then watch how much more enjoyable social media becomes.

I’ve found wrestling gigs through content that I’ve shared on Facebook live.

If you want more, check out this post on starting a blog to have your own homepage.

The whole world is on social media. Figure out how to make this work for you. Stop being lazy. Stop complaining about how you don’t understand social media. Nobody really understands it. We’re all doing our best to figure it out. Use social media to make money or to at least get better with your money.

“Success in any field, but especially in business is about working with people, not against them.” — Keith Ferrazzi