KOLs Post-Pandemic: How to Expand Monetize Channels

With the arrival of the pandemic, the economy has been deeply impacted globally. As an influencer marketing agency, we have witnessed the ups and downs of the industry. Events and collaborations getting cancelled had put influencers into a crisis state especially for full-time influencers.

However, this pandemic might be a wake-up call to fellow influencers. With limited jobs and opportunity, what else can influencers do to expand their ways to monetize on social media? We have encountered many influencers approaching us asking for photo posting campaigns or jobs even though we offer them the opportunity to do Live Stream. The influencer industry in Malaysia has been immutable for a long time and this is the perfect timing for fellow influencers to explore other channels and re-invent themselves for more opportunity!

You might encounter some of your friends becoming a YouTuber this pandemic, thinking this is the perfect job to earn money with the influence of famous YouTuber like PewDiePie, Jeffree Stars or the highest-earning YouTuber for the past three years,  Ryan Kaji who earns 30 million dollars from YouTube last year. Just post videos, wait and money in your pocket.  But did you know, only approximately 3.5% of the YouTube channels with 1 million views per month are earning 12,000 to 16,000 dollars a year while the rest of the YouTubers are not making minimum wage. This situation applies to other social media platforms too where only the top several percentages of influencers earn money that is enough for living. 

So what should the rest of the influencers do? No worries fellow influencers, we have summarized several ways and platforms for you to monetize besides Instagram and Facebook:

1. Sell your merch!

T-shirt, hoodie, plushie, mugs… The list of merch you can sell to your followers goes on and on. Who doesn't love having a piece of something that reminds them of their favourite people? Selling your line of merch is a great way to build engagement with your followers and earn extra income at the same time. 

You might ask, what if no one buys my merch? Well, that’s the risk of selling merchandise, to bear with the possible loss of funds and piled up inventory that you couldn’t sell. A simple way to solve this issue is to produce your merchandise on-demand. Start with pre-order to observe the response of your followers. Make adjustments and improvements for the next batch of merch.

2. Livestream selling

If you are using Facebook, you might probably notice the rise of Livestream selling in Malaysia during this pandemic. However, Livestream selling is not a new thing. It all started in China where Livestreamer sells products on platforms like Taobao, Weibo and TikTok which gained huge success. 

Back in 2019, our SushiVid team visited China to learn from the top tier live streamer and brought it back to Malaysia. Our offer to the influencer is, they will get paid for every Livestream 

session and commission when products are sold!

3. Online selling

In case you haven’t heard of ConfirmPlusChop (CPC), let us introduce this platform for you to sell products online. Save your hassle to source products. On CPC, you can request to get a free sample from the products you are interested in. Then, review the product however you want. When the product is sold, you get a cut, it’s just that simple! 

Unlike selling your merch, on CPC you don't have to worry about the inventory and delivery issue. Your only job is to promote the products on your platforms to your followers, be it a photo or a video posting. Using Livestream is one of the best ways to boost your sale!

4. Personalized video

Have you ever thought that recording a video and wishing someone Happy Birthday can be a way to earn money? Well, it seems like it is a thing now. People can hire celebrities, influencers or athletes to make a personalized video to wish whatever they want. 

There are a few platforms that offer such service, for instance, Cameo and Memmo. While in Malaysia, influencers can use Holla, a platform under AirAsia and Universal Music Group with the same feature. You can set your price per video, record a short video as requested and you get paid! 

Isn't it interesting to explore other platforms and opportunities to monetize on the Internet? Hope this article can help you to realise that there are more than just photo and video posting jobs for influencers. 

If you're interested in Livestream, feel free to approach us for more information. No experience? No worries! We have just the right thing for you. Introducing our Incubator course - The SV Live Room where our professional speakers will teach you everything you need to know to be a successful live streamer in 2 months. Visit incubator.sushivid.com for more information. 

If you're interested in our online selling platform - ConfirmPlusChop, it is under maintenance at the moment for an upgrade. Stay tuned for a better experience and user-friendly website.

Do you like this article? You may also check out our previous blog post on How To Drive Traffic To Your Website From Instagram With One Simple Tool that could assist you in your career in influencer marketing.