How to Make Money On Instagram

If there’s anything the internet’s brought to the world, it’s the ability to earn a living entirely online. I recently wrote an article on how to get Instagram followers, so this goes beyond that and how you can monetize your following. It’s now time to turn those followers into dollars!

One of the more prominent ways of doing so is via social media platforms like Instagram. This is why you find a steady rise in influencers and brand sponsorships.

But is this the only way to earn money through Instagram?

Let’s take a look at several of your options.

Why Monetize Your Instagram Profile?

Out of all the social media platforms, why should you invest your time and effort into building profits on Instagram? Well, there are several reasons why you should.

For one, it has over 500 million daily users, which means plenty of opportunities to attract attention to your cause (whatever that may be).

Then roughly 70% of US business are using the platform, which brings another opportunity for paid sponsorships.

It’s also worth noting that Instagrammers are more inclined to interact with brands, search for products, and even purchase them. We find that 80% of Instagram users are following at least one brand account.

But how do you leverage Instagram and use it to its full marketing potential? Let’s have a look.

Grow Into an Influencer Status

No, this doesn’t mean you have to grow to the level of a Kardashian or Selena Gomez. But it does mean you need to grow a real audience of engaged followers.

You reach influencer status once you reach 1,000 followers. This is enough to get sponsored by brands in your niche.

Speaking of niche, you’re going to need one if you’re going to be taken seriously as an influencer. For example, you can go into travel, fitness, health, business coaching, lifestyle coaching, fashion, and so on.

By niching down, you can attract a more targeted audience, which is more likely to engage with your content. The level of genuine engagement your posts receive is a prime indicator of how much of an influencer you are.

Quick tips for making your profile stand out to IGers and brands — create posts that have:

• Focus
• Style
• Quality visuals
• Consistent Posts

Ensure you’re regularly updating your feed and engaging with your followers to continue growing your presence.

As you attract and connect with brands, you’ll have a higher chance of being paid to post about their products and services. In some cases, you can earn thousands pers post.

Sell Other People’s Products

Selling products made by other people is an art known as affiliate marketing. If you’re an influencer, you’ll find it’s much easier to sell these products to your audience.

This is because they know and trust you and will be more willing to try the products or services you promote.

The key to pulling off affiliate sales is to be genuine. Talk about the pros and cons of whatever you’re promoting and why you recommend it.

It should also be a product or service that you’ve at least tried once so you can speak on it from experience.

Now, does this sound a lot like an influencer? Well, there’s a key difference between the two. While they both promote the products of other brands, only one is being paid in advance to do so.

As an influencer, you’re approached to talk about a brand or product in exchange for money. As an affiliate marketer, you are paid a percentage of the sales, not in advance.

So you’ll need to consider which products or services you want to promote carefully. They should be popular, affordable, and yield exceptional profits.

For example, you can sell fitness gear, health products, discounts on travel, and fashion items. The products/services should match the nitch you’re in.

Sell Your Artwork

What better place to showcase and sell your artwork than Instagram? You can fill up your feed with beautiful paintings, photography, graphic design, and other visual pieces you may create.

This will attract an audience of art lovers who may wish to purchase your items or even hire you for your services.

Make sure to include a link in your bio so you can reference it in your posts. This will drive more traffic to your portfolio or website where users can purchase your items.

If you’re in photography, you may land yourself a few local clients who want to spruce up their own Instagram feed. In this case, you should use location-based hashtags to get attention from IGers in communities you’re willing to travel to.

Sell Physical Products (that Are Yours)

Have an e-commerce store? Or maybe you handmake jewelry and other crafts. If so, you can put them up on Instagram to find interested buyers.

This is different from affiliate marketing because you’re getting 100% of the profits, not just a percentage. You can make this work by becoming a drop shipper.

With this setup, you don’t have to keep an inventory of the products you’re selling. You just post photos of the products, along with descriptions.

Then when people buy, the warehouse you’re in a contract with ships out the products directly to the customer.

Otherwise, you can make goods and sell them right from your home.

Just take a look at Etsy stores for some inspiration.

Speaking of inspiration, let’s take a look at several Instagrammers who are doing it right.

Shelcy Joseph — Earning $1.6K Monthly

This young lady was on the path to working in a lab as a neuroscientist. But things changed after she had a few soul-searching conversations that helped her to hone in on her true gifts and interests — fashion and storytelling.

Source: Instagram

She’s taken her love for fashion, photography, and writing and turned it into a profitable PT gig. She uses Instagram to publish mini-blogs (captions) and captivating photos.

She also leverages Instagram to drive traffic to her YouTube channel, where she covers fashion and lifestyle. Now, she’s an influencer that helps people live their lives in style.

Her income comes from a mix of sponsored IG posts, YouTube ads and private consultations for social media marketing.

BeardBrand — Started a Store w/ $30

Only today can you jumpstart a business for as little as $30. In the past, you needed thousands of dollars, which frequently required a loan.

BeardBrand proves you no longer need these large amounts to become a success in business. They connected with a dedicated vendor that offers products for bearded men.

Source: Instagram

Their Instagram presence has grown to over 153k. They’re taking advantage of the drop shipping opportunity we discussed earlier.

ShopSoAesthetic — $12k per Month

Now, if you’re looking to bring in larger amounts of money, then you’ll be inspired by Shop So Aesthetic. This is run by Justin Wong, who’s passionate about Harajuku-style fashion.

Source: Instagram

He regularly publishes posts that are meticulously edited with aesthetic appeal. He too uses the dropshipping business model to earn a whopping $12K monthly on Instagram alone.

And he’s running this while still working full-time!

Goals.

Teen Earns $3K Monthly Selling…Slime

Yes, you read that right — slime is selling like hotcakes on Instagram. And they’re sold by a 15-year-old named Theresa Nguyen. She started her business when she was 13.

Source: Instagram

And today, she has over 979K followers who marvel over her awesome slime creations. Some even look like they’re edible.

She directs followers to her website, where she sells the slime she posts on Instagram. And she’s earning over $3K monthly.

Mastering E-Commerce On Instagram

Selling goods online is an excellent way to make money via Instagram. And what’s great about this platform is that it allows you to integrate e-commerce platforms, like Shopify.

This way, you can sell directly through your account. You can upload product photos, descriptions, and prices to separate pages.

Then users can click on the posts and purchase straight from the app.

This makes the process of shopping and buying on Instagram easier for consumers. Anytime you can offer convenience, you have a higher chance of converting.

Start Earning Money On Instagram

As you can see, there are a lot of ways you can earn money using Instagram. You have guys selling products for bears and teens taking advantage of the slime trend (that seems never-ending).

It’s about knowing your audience and finding long-lasting trends that’ll prop your business up for the long haul.

If you need help with growing your IG account, you can leverage a helpful hashtag tool called Hashtags For Likes.

Here, you can pay weekly, monthly for professional assistance with organically growing your Instagram followers. And yes, you’re getting real human followers, not bots.

So check out the plans today to see how you can put your IG account on the path to fast growth!