Monetizing A Small Platform
We all start with zero following, which means we have to figure out how to monetize and build up a small platform if we want to make it as creators, small business owners, or affiliate marketers.
When I started out a few years ago, I thought the goal was to just get my blog as big as possible and as quickly as possible. Until I started learning about the different monetization strategies, I truly believed you needed 100,000 followers or monthly readers to make money.
Now I obviously know that’s not true as someone who makes six figures online with 8,600 Instagram followers and a blog that gets around 10,000 website visitors a month.
So let’s break down the strategies you can try to deploy to make big money with a small reach.
Strategies
Deeper Communication
The key to making money with a small audience is retaining your audience. The best way to do this is by growing your email list.
Yes, it’s absolutely an option to grow your social media following instead of your email list, but there are a few reasons I don’t recommend that.
With a social media following:
There is no guarantee that your whole audience will see your content.
Your social media post can be personalized for them.
After a few hours, more people they follow have posted, and your content is no longer on their feeds.
How do you grow your email list when you’ve got a small reach?
Include an email list opt-in freebie in every blog post.
Include one email list opt-in freebie in your stories each week.
Include an email list opt-in freebie in your videos each week.
Pin an email list opt-in freebie to your Pinterest each week.
You’ll never get everyone to sign up for your email list opt-in freebie, so don’t get discouraged if you’re only seeing 5%, 10%, or 20% of the people who saw the freebie actually signing up.
You can absolutely reuse email opt-ins if you are seeing success with them, I have one email opt-in freebie I’ve been giving away for years to get people to subscribe to my email list, and it has been converting new subscribers for years.
To create email list opt-in freebies, I usually use Canva to create some kind of PDF, or I create an email course just right inside my email list service provider. If you don’t have an email list service provider, I like ConvertKit they have a free trial, and it’s very easy to create landing pages to advertise and collect sign-ups for your freebie whether you have a blog or don’t.
You can check out ConvertKit here.
Connection
Once you’ve got someone to follow you or join your email list, the next thing is actually connecting with that person. Don’t worry you don’t have to reach out to everyone personally. What I mean is you need to start showing up regularly and gaining the trust of your audience.
The way you develop a connection is by creating a strategy before you start selling.
What I mean is after you read this blog post, you should plan out how you plan to monetize your platform, then, once you have your monetization plan, it’s time to build a foundation.
When it comes to your monetization strategy, you need to know a few things:
Who are you trying to connect with and help? Describe the type of person in detail, the type of things they are interested in, and what they might need help with.
What type of monetization do you plan to pursue right now? Plan out the one type of monetization you plan to work on first.
What exact product types do you plan to recommend? Write down the exact types of products you plan to recommend.
What does someone need to know before they buy from you? What would you have wanted to know before you bought that very item? Write that down.
From there, the goal is to create content that connects with the audience (aka builds a foundation of trust with them) you want to connect with and answer question 4 above for them before they buy before you ever ask them to buy anything. That way, they are ready for your recommendations.
Repetition
People need to see a product on average seven times before they purchase it. In marketing, this is called “The Rule of 7”. This means the more you talk about the same product, the more people are going to be like, “Okay, I really do need to try this thing.”
For this reason, I recommend picking a few different niches and recommending products within those niches over and over for a while before recommending new things.
For example: Have you seen people talking about the 40oz Stanley cups? The reason so many people talk about these cups and talk about them over and over again is that they make so many affiliate sales of this product since people have started to hear more about it and trust it.
If I only talked about every affiliate product I link one time or every product I sell, I would make very few sales. Most of my sales come from people hearing me talk about something over and over again.
So don’t give up, stick with the same products for a while. Try talking about them in different ways and see how that works for you.
How can you monetize using these strategies?
Affiliates
When you have a small audience and not a lot of content, getting approved for affiliate programs can be a real challenge. There are a few programs almost anyone can get into. Those being:
Amazon Associates
Rakuten
Amazon is great because so many people shop there already, so they trust the platform, which makes it easier to make sales.
Rakuten is great because it is a cash-back service. Essentially you create an account and install the app or Google Chrome plugin, and whenever you shop and activate Rakuten, you’ll earn cashback on your purchase.
Basically, it works something like this: Rakuten is an affiliate of that company, and because you purchased through their affiliate link, they are sharing the commission with you. They work with basically all the big brands like: Ulta, Walmart, Old Navy, Macys, Urban Outfitters, and so many more.
The good thing about Rakuten is that if you want to recommend products from somewhere like Walmart but you weren’t accepted for their affiliate program, you can still link to the product on Walmart’s website but then say something like, “Oh, and if you use Rakuten (which is totally free) you’ll get 10% back from your purchase plus a one time $30 when you spend $30 if this is your first time using it, as long as you sign up with this link” so it kind of makes it like you can be an affiliate for any website they are an affiliate for. This is a strategy I used a lot when I first started and couldn’t get approved for like any affiliate programs.
All you have to do with Rakuten is sign up, you can sign up by clicking here. Then after you log in to the website, you should see a “Refer a friend and earn $30+” button on the top of the page that is where you will go to copy the link to put in your blog posts.
Once you’re on the Rakuten website, you can search through all the stores that offer cashback. It’s actually a really great website, and I truly use it myself all the time. I recommend if you’re a heavy online shopper like myself, just install the app on your phone or Google Chrome Extension. Then when you’re shopping on Google Chrome, it will pop up and remind you to activate it before you check out so you can get your cashback.
This sounds sponsored, but I promise it is not lol.
What to do if you want to join other affiliate programs.
There are so many affiliate programs that are idolized by influencers like RewardStyle (AKA LikeToKnowIt) or Amazon Store Front (AKA Amazon Influencer Program) that are actually pretty hard to be approved for.
My advice is to go ahead and apply for any program you want to be part of, and then if you get denied, reach out to them and ask why. Then keep a spreadsheet or document somewhere of the programs and why you got denied. Then check it every so often to see if you now meet those requirements if you do reapply.
Products & Services
Probably the best way to monetize a small audience is by selling your own products or services. These can range from digital products to having an online shop to offering some kind of coaching or consulting.
The reason this is the best way to monetize a small audience is that you get to keep 100% of the proceeds, and because of that, you’ll have to sell less than you would through affiliate links.
However, you can’t just pick a product on Alibaba and drop ship it to your audience or create a not-so-great digital product. The product or service needs to do these things:
Help your audience in some way.
You can clearly explain why this will better their life in some way.
Be helpful to a large or semi-large group of people.
The reason is what we talked about above, you are going to be able to connect with your audience on this topic and talk about the product often in a way that feels natural. If you are just trying to create a product to make a quick buck, your audience will sense that, and likely won’t bite.
Closing
Hopefully, this post was helpful, if you have any questions about specific situations you are facing, feel free to comment below or DM me on Instagram: ByTaylorStanford