To wonder how much influencers are actually making?

[BlackChair]

I mean, there are videos of people just filming their usual family shit…but they have 1,000s of followers and it looks like it’s a full time job.

How much are they making? How hard is it?

I get that it might not be long-term sustainable but for the short/medium-term is it actually quite lucrative? Are we all missing a trick?!

This is semi-lighthearted by the way. It looks easy, lots seems to be pretty vague or generic but perhaps there really is something in it?

Can I ask a really boring question for those who have any experience of making an income from social media - how does this all work with taxes? Would you have to declare all the freebies, travel etc. and pay taxes on them? How do people deal with that side of things?

I can imagine people starting small and as more of a hobby but at some point it sounds like it would be quite a complicated tax situation with many income streams?

I guess there is some kind of invoice arrangement / contact? Give all that to an accountant and let them figure out what’s taxable?

Yeah the scrutiny and criticism is not for me. I can’t think of anything to monetize anyway that doesn’t involve the world knowing my business.

I guess you would have to declare the income but you can also write off a lot of stuff as being g necessary for making content. Eg clothes.

Mr Monkey follows a few running influencers. They seem to make enough to fund their hobby but little more than that.

Dont know how much they make but i know how much they can lie.

You can look them up on social blade and get estimates of what influencers are earning on their channels. Some are very lucrative but that’s not the majority. There are lots making a few quid from aff linking and ads but remember if they are gifted an item or trip that doesn’t pay the bills!

Half of the “Tiktokers” that come up on my feed are as thick as mince, but appear to be jetting off on holiday constantly, having trips paid for by companies, having expensive things sent to them, so quite a lot judging by this. Fair play to them I guess. How sustainable this form of “work” is long term is another matter.

How rude @Hellskitchen24! They can’t be that thick if they’ve made a living like this- you sound jealous.

One American influencer I am aware of lives in what has been described as a $6m dollar house bought for cash, a 5 carat engagement ring and thousands of designer handbags and shoes.

She started off as a makeup artist on YouTube, also does insta and TikTok and now has clothing lines, perfume lines, everything for the home selling to her followers. She is clearly a multi-millionaire by now.

From what I can gather she's been doing it at least 15 years to get to this point, and she seems to post content round the clock. It looks far from easy, as she never seems to switch off.

I’ve used https://snoopreport.com/ for getting a clearer picture of someone’s interest patterns without messing with their account or installing anything weird. The weekly reports make it simple to see trends over time, which helped me keep tabs on changes without scrolling forever. It’s especially handy if you’re trying to keep an eye on kids’ public activity in a low-key way.