This post contains affiliate links

I recently shared my How to Gain 1k followers on Instagram a month post on my Instagram stories and so many of you asked to see a How to Make Money on Instagram post too; so here it is. I have to declare that making money on Instagram is a bit wild; each month it can range from £20 to over £2000. There is absolutely no consistency to my income as a content creator and Blogger which is why I am a part time Blogger and Content Creator and have a part time office job too. The dream is to one day be a full time Blogger and Content Creator but at the moment I am just enjoying it as it comes. I hope this helps you to understand the world of making money on Instagram a little better.

Brand deals

As a Content Creator brands will reach out to you to promote their products. A lot of the time they will state that they want to gift you a product in exchange for a review and feature on your Instagram; so many creators don’t realise that you can actually charge for this. Don’t be disheartened if you haven’t received any of these emails yet, (Make sure you have your email address within your Instagram bio so that brands can email you) but you can always reach out to brands you would like to work with instead.

The issue with making money as a content creator is that the amount you can charge varies dramatically and no one is willing to discuss their rates. I personally charge no less than £300 for an in feed post currently, with over 11k followers and 28% engagement rate. The photo above will take you through to a reel I recently created for a brand that I charged £600 for; the only way people can start having confidence to charge their worth is if people are honest. You can also charge for stories and reels. I even know of content creators that charge for a shoutout for other content creators. When you are working with brands it is important to state Ad at the beginning of the post wether it is gifted or paid work. You can be fined and even banned from Instagram if you repeatedly don’t declare Ad’s correctly.

If a brand states they have no budget then you can reply with something along the lines of “I am happy to receive *product* but cannot guarantee promotion on *page’s name* as this is reserved for paid promotion.” or you can politely decline the product all together and ask them to get in touch if a budget becomes available; sometimes they will get back to you with another promotion that is actually paid. Most often though you will be ghosted and that’s okay; it happens to us all.

affiliate links

Affiliate links can make you a steady income. I share affiliate links for any products I can and will squish them in organically. For example I will share a photo of an outfit and then share affiliate links for the items within that outfit. There are a number of different affiliate sites that you can join; some are free and some charge an upfront fee. Starting with the free sites; I personally use stylink, which pays you a set amount per click but if someone purchases through that link you won’t receive a percentage. A stylink account can add up super quick and I make roughly £150 per month on here, some months it can be a lot less or a lot more. It completely depends on how many click throughs you can get.

LTK is the second platform I use which is free. You can link individual items like stylink but you will only get paid if someone purchases through you link and that payment will be a percentage of that sale. So depending on the amount of click through or sales you get it will usually be best to share the LTK link. With LTK you can also create a little shop of pieces you own and people can follow you on there and see new purchases you have made etc. You can check it out here.

And lastly I use Awin; Awin is the only paid affiliate service I have signed up too but I love it. It has so many stores on there compared to stylink and ltk but you do have to pay in £5 to start. You get that back within your first payment so its like a little advance. Personally I would recommend signing up to all 3 as they can all bring you a monthly income; the more the merrier.

linking your blog

Linking your blog to Instagram can really help boost your income. If you don’t currently have a blog you can check out my How to create a Successful Blog post which will walk you through setting up a new blog. If you already have a blog there may still be steps on there worth a try to help really boost your blog. You can make money through your blog with Brand Work, Affiliate links and Advertising. Sometimes brands will even pay you a high fee for coverage on Instagram and your blog. Ezoic is the platform I use to set up advertising on my blog and have been loving the extra income each month. By sending people through to your blog to click a link you are then in theory doubling your income as you are also being paid by the advertisers on your blog as well as the affiliate links. Win Win!

selling products

Another revenue income is selling. If you run a little shop on Instagram then promoting yourself is always going to be a high priority but if not you could sell your time, your unwanted clothes or anything you make. If you didn’t want to do anything like that you could create a little amazon shop of your favourite products and link it in your bio. You can earn a small commission through this passively. Meaning you aren’t actively trying to sell sell sell. Passive income is the ultimate income as it can be made even when you are asleep in bed. You put in the work in the beginning and watch the money come in.

highlight links

Make sure you are using your highlights to their best ability. I have recently created Links highlights over on Instagram for each season and holiday and try to update regularly, usually I would share an affiliate link and after 24 hours they would disappear and I would then be asked to share it again so now all of the Spring Clothes I have shared over the past couple of months are now altogether and ready to be clicked. This has then turned affiliate links into passive income as they are always there and accessible.

cash back referrals

If you ever shop online you have probably heard of cashback sites; it took me so long to join one as I have trust issues when it comes to things like this but honestly it is safe and so good. Every time you spend online check the cashback site and literally click the link and voila, you’ve learnt cashback. This can then be taken out. So how do you make money through Instagram with this? You can refer friends to the site and they will get an amazing £10 credit added to their account and you get £30!! It adds up so quickly and you can take this out as cash or credit for any shops that you love. It’s a really great way for everyone to get that little bit extra cash on purchases made. You can sign up for FREE here.

credit

Credit is not strictly making money but it can add a lot of value to your life. We personally use Gousto and love it so much that I share it regularly along with my referral link. If someone signs up using my link they get an incredible 65% off and I get £20 credit to spend on Gousto; this can add up super quick and means I get to pay for my families food through Instagram. It really is incredible and we have found so many amazing recipes through Gousto. You can get credit referrals for places such as Bloom & Wild, Papier, QVC, Lucy and Yak, Neom and Yoto. You can click on any of the links there to join. They can all add up very quickly and you can use your credit for Christmas and Birthday Presents or just a special treat every now and then.

Making money as a content creator or blogger isn’t as easy as some people make it seem. I have now been blogging for 12 and a half years and have only started bringing in money in the past 3 years as previously I really had no clue. I would love to help as many people as possible start bringing in a little income, especially at the moment with the cost of living crisis. Feel free to ask me any questions you may have, I would love to answer if I can.

Katie x