With the internet, social media, streaming services and more at our fingertips, it's easier than ever to start your own side hustle centered on curating your own content. As the demand for content—especially niche content about a specific subject or area of expertise—continues to grow, thought leaders and creators can establish themselves in the online space and even develop a loyal following, leading to potential revenue opportunities through advertising and sponsorship deals.
However, for those unfamiliar with the process, it can be difficult to figure out how to monetize your content, especially early on. To help, eight members of Young Entrepreneur Council discuss their top tips for monetizing your content.
Young Entrepreneur Council members recommend tips for monetizing your online content.
Photos courtesy of the individual members.1. Promote Paid Courses
If you’re truly an expert in your field, then you can offer a step-by-step approach on how to accomplish whatever your specialty is. Feature some free content if you can, but at the end of the day tease it with a call to action for your paid stuff. It should work out well. - Andrew Schrage, Money Crashers Personal Finance
2. License Your Content
One thing you can do is license your content. There are a few different ways to go about licensing your content, and the best one for you will depend on your goals. One way to license your content is to sell exclusive rights to it. Another way to license your content is to sell nonexclusive rights. This means that the buyer can use the content, but you are still free to license it to someone else. There are a few different ways to go about this too. You can sell the rights for one-time use or you can sell them for a set period of time. You can also charge a royalty every time the content is used. All these are options you can use to monetize your high-quality content. - Blair Williams, MemberPress
3. Create A Membership Site
A very effective way of monetizing your content is by creating membership sites. Let your audience read your introduction, but allow only the members of your site to access the full blog post. If any non-member wants to read it, ask them to be a member first by making a small payment. But the trick in making this tip work is to be able to hook your audience with a very powerful intro. If the opening isn't strong enough, people won't want to continue reading further and your monetization efforts won't be successful. - Josh Kohlbach, Wholesale Suite
4. Include Affiliate Links
Affiliate marketing is far from dead. In fact, it continues to grow year over year. If you're going to monetize your blog content, make sure you're including relevant and demographically targeted affiliate sales links. There are products and services that cater to almost every niche and interest. If you're writing about IT and personal computing, make sure you're sprinkling in affiliate links to deals on consumer electronics. Just be honest and let your reader know that you get a portion of the sales and that the affiliate companies support your writing. - Amine Rahal, IronMonk Solutions
5. Offer Optional Premium Content
If you have expertise or experience in a given niche area, why not share your knowledge at a small price? Most people would gladly pay a small premium to access expert-level content in their niche of interest. For instance, you might include a series of videos, tutorials, courses or subscription-based newsletters with industry tips. Sometimes you can also offer premium content in the form of a one-time digital download. This strategy is targeted toward a specific group of people—those interested in your niche—and they’re likely going to invite people of the same interest to your site. - Candice Georgiadis, Digital Day
6. Advertise To A Specific Audience
When monetizing your online content, it's important to target a specific audience and know what they're looking for. Ads are annoying to most people unless you show them exactly what they want. Researching your customers will allow you to create ads, content, campaigns and products that speak to their interests and encourage them to engage with your brand. As a result, you'll be able to create profitable content that's guaranteed to sell. - Stephanie Wells, Formidable Forms
7. Sell Content Packages
Build out content appropriate for delivery in multiple contexts and platforms. People want blogs and white papers, of course, but isn't it so much better to have video scripts to accompany the written messaging and teasers in the form of graphics? If you participate in the marketing of the content from the start, by offering collateral in a total package, you are able to charge a premium price for it. All your client has to do is upload and copy and paste. If you wanted to take it an extra step, you could license these packages, but as a beginner, content packages that are marketed in advance are a great way to make your content profitable. - Matthew Capala, Alphametic
8. Upsell More Detailed Content
A powerful way to monetize your content is to share a part of it for free to your online audience and then offer a more in-depth explanation via online courses and e-books. You can make such added content more personalized to create value. It's important to build your readership first and to create real value for your audience. You have to offer something that people need and that can solve their problems. By building interest in your content, you can upsell more detailed and useful material. In the process, you'll grow an engaged community and monetize your work too. - Syed Balkhi, WPBeginner
