How To Make Money Online: an influencer’s guide

April 14, 2016 10:00 am Published by Kirsty Sharman

As Webfluential grows we want to continue to empower all our influencers and give them the means to monetize their blogs/ social channels. This month we feature a few of our top business bloggers/ influencers in an Q&A. They have all mastered the art of being successful online entrepreneurs, which is why we’re asking their advice on how other influencers can grow and become successful online.

Here’s what they had to say:   Jonathan Pollinger, the creator of Intranet Future writes about how businesses can use social media to achieve their objectives, even without a budget. When it comes to social media it’s safe to say Jonathan knows it all.   Q: What’s your advice to influencers who would like to turn their blog/ social channels into a successful online business? A: Get active! Publish blogs; post and tweet regularly and show a genuine interest in your community by engaging with them. Follow, like, share, comment but above all, talk with them.     Q: How can influencers make their blogs more appealing to marketers? A: Publish and post original thinking and or practical advice and tips. Too many marketing blogs and posts are regurgitated news and comments or waffle. Provide value.   Q: What are your top three do’s and don’ts for influencers? A: Do

1. Plan and schedule your posts and tweets.
2. Listen and find out what your community values.
3. Engage with your readers and take a genuine interest in them.

Don’t

1. Just be online. Get out and meet your community face-to-face as well, through talks and networking.
2. Steal other people's thoughts and ideas.
3. Assume that everything you write and comment on is correct. Do your own research.

  George Honiball  is an entrepreneur consultant with 20 years experience in business consulting and line management. He shares his extensive knowledge of both social media and business on Twitter. Q: What’s your advice to influencers who would like to turn their blog/ social channels into a successful online business? A: Keep your content relevant, interesting and establish yourself as a subject matter expert. Make sure that you post content at the right time! Thursdays and Fridays are generally quiet, while Tuesdays and Wednesdays are the best. Know your followers and engage with them online. Encourage feedback and respond publically to questions or comments. Don’t be scared to ask for help. It’s better to learn from somebody else’s mistakes. Surround yourself with the right influencers. Don’t expect and demand favours without giving anything back. Do a lot of research before committing to specific products/services, providers or platforms. Know who your competitors are. Don’t be naïve and think you are the first person to have come up with this idea. Look at their content, website and social media accounts. Buyers are becoming far more selective. They no longer respond to spam with special offers that are not relevant to them (“pray and spray”).   Q: How can influencers make their blogs more appealing to marketers? A: Don’t rehash other people’s work. Create your own fresh, new content. It’s important to have an opinion. Pick sides but also understand other perspectives. Appreciate that there are many views but make clear what you stand for and believe. Be able to explain “why” eloquently and confidently. Have fun and enjoy what you are communicating. If it’s boring to write it will be worse to read. Use practical examples of your life lessons. Don’t talk down but make your followers discover with you. Give your followers a reason to come back regularly. Post different formats of content.  Write but also post pictures and even make videos. The quality does not need to be perfect. Be real. If you say something that offends or is incorrect, admit your mistakes and rectify the matter. Acknowledge other views and opinions and be prepared to give as well. Forge mutually beneficial relationships rather than dictating, believing that you are the only source of all wisdom and knowledge. This turns people off immediately.   Q: What are your top three do’s and don’ts for influencers? Do

1. Have fun! Be positive, optimistic, friendly and polite, even to your followers that disagree, criticise or judge you. Other followers will watch how you handle them to see what you are made of. You cannot hide anywhere on social media.
2. Interact regularly with followers publically. Use humour but never try to be sarcastic.
3. Be a responsible social media citizen. Follow back, respond to messages/emails. Try to be a solution and not a problem. Leave a positive legacy and try to make more friends than enemies.

Don’t

1. Be creepy. Disclosing too much or sharing very personal information can alienate rather than endear you to your followers.
2. Be too serious. You must be able to laugh at yourself and acknowledge your weaknesses and faults. People like to see a real, fully rounded person with faults.
3. Sell too obviously! If you are desperate to make that commission or close that final deal for the month you can be viewed as too desperate. You should only try to sell something that will help to solve another person’s problems.

 

The Money Shed is one of the UK’s largest community, website/blog dedicated to earning money from home. Jonathan Gutteridge created the blog and started his online money-making journey filling out simple surveys online. Over the years he discovered more opportunities to make money online.

Q: What’s your advice to influencers who would like to turn their blog/social channels into a successful online business? A: Be friendly! No matter what social media channel you are using. Don't just post generic content over and over again. Engage with as many people as you can! Content is king. Without  content you won't have the audience and without the audience you won't be able to make any money. Write good, organic, engaging content and over time you will gain an audience. The other big factor when it comes to making money from your blog is trust. Without trust, they won't be clicking on your links!   Q: How can influencers make their blogs more appealing to marketers? A: Make sure their blog is mobile responsive and works and displays well on tablets / mobiles / laptops, etc. Show that you are willing to cover topics that are a bit 'outside the norm'. This will mean that marketers will contact you for opportunities you hadn't even thought of. Post content regularly. At The Money Shed we put up a new post once a week and always see a good spike in traffic on that day as readers expect to see something new to read. If your readers don't know your posting pattern it can be hard for them to know when to come back.   Q: What are your top three do’s and don’ts for influencers? A: Do

1. Be flexible in terms of the content you are willing to host.
2. Be willing to do guest posts on other sites for free to help get the name of your blog out there.
3. Develop a 'personality' for your blog in terms of writing style.

Don’t

1. Ever think your blog design is finished. Always look for ways to better the experience for the readers.
2. Ignore PR. Even if the content they are offering you is paying peanuts make sure you reply and say 'thanks but no thanks'. You never know when you might need them further down the line.
3. Neglect social media. It can take seconds to strike up a relationship with someone and who knows what opportunities that might bring!