The prevalence of social media in our lives has opened many doors to success that would scarcely have been dreamed of in the past. And, by “the past”, we could be talking as recently as fifteen years ago. But, while there is an abundance of success stories from platforms like YouTube and Instagram, Facebook rarely is rarely brought up in this regard.
Sure, Facebook is an important tool in getting success on other platforms—you have to promote those YouTube videos somewhere, after all—but what about a more direct approach? Can you make money on Facebook?
The short answer is yes. There are several ways to make money through Facebook, ranging from “a little extra cash” to “this is my job now!”. In this post, we’re going to outline a number of ways in which you can start earning cash through Facebook. So let’s dive in!
How to Make Money on Facebook
With well over two billion users and a well-established advertising platform, there is certainly plenty of money floating around Facebook to be shared. Here are nine ways for you to get your hands on some of it.
Become an Influencer
We’re starting here because this is probably one of the most common ways in which people want to start making money online these days—the influencer route. Making content for an army of fans and making money from that content is the present-day version of being a celebrity, though much more attainable than being the next Tom Cruise or Lady Gaga.
It’s not nearly as well advertised as things like Facebook’s advertising platform, but Facebook does have a system in place for content creators to make money directly, and it comes in three parts.
Brand Collaborations
Brand Collabs Manager is Facebook’s system for bringing together popular content creators and brands in a managed environment where everyone can feel safe from… well, safe from being ripped off.
Essentially, Facebook ensures the brand is getting a legitimate content creator with an active audience while making sure the content creator gets paid for their collaboration efforts.
In order to qualify for this, you need to have at least 1,000 fans on your page and at least one of the following; 15,000 post engagements or 180,000 minutes watch time over the last sixty days.
That being said, even if you don’t qualify for Facebook’s system, you can always make brand deals directly with brands if you have the audience and negotiation skills.
In-Stream Ads
Much like YouTube, if you are creating video content on Facebook and you are seeing high enough levels of engagement, you can benefit from in-stream ads, earning you a small amount of cash per impression or click.
The criteria for monetising your content in this way is to have a fan or business page with at least 10,000 followers, at least 600,000 watch-minutes across live, on-demand, and replayed videos, five on-demand or previously videos published, and you must meet their policy guidelines.
Fan Subscriptions
Fan subscriptions are essentially Facebook’s answer to services like Patreon, and other platform’s solutions like YouTube Memberships. The criteria for this is a little simpler than the other options; you need to have at least 10,000 followers and at least 250 returning weekly viewers.
Once you meet those criteria, your fans can choose to pay your a regular fee for exclusive content.
Promote Your Services or Business on Facebook
Moving on to more indirect ways of making money through Facebook, if you have a service to offer or a business you are running, Facebook is an excellent platform for advertising your wares.
Like any good advertising platform, Facebook puts a lot of effort into making it so you can get your ads in front of exactly the right kind of people because paying to show an ad to someone who is not interested in what you are offering is a waste of money. Their rates are competitive compared to alternatives like Google Adsense, and you can generate a lot of traffic using this method.
Crowdsource Your Blog
If you run a blog—or you are thinking of starting one—Facebook can be an invaluable resource for researching your posts. Now, we’re not suggesting you start ripping posts directly off of Facebook and claiming them as your own. That would be wrong.
Facebook is full of groups put together with specific purposes in mind, and those groups are populated by people who are ready and willing to give their opinions and advice. If you are a little stumped for ideas, you can always ask questions in a relevant Facebook group. As long as the group is active and has plenty of members, you’re practically guaranteed to get answers.
Sell Things on Facebook Market
If you’re more interested in selling goods—or even if you just want to have a clearout of some of your old stuff—Facebook Marketplace is an effective way to do so.
Facebook Marketplace is heavily location-based, making it easier to find things that are local to you. This lends itself well to sellers who are perhaps looking to move on something like furniture they no longer need, or electronics they have outgrown. If you are running a business, it can also be a good way to build a local customers-base.
Become a Facebook Marketplace Re-Seller
Facebook Marketplace works both ways, of course, and you can buy just as easily as you can sell. You will often find things cheaper on this platform because of the local nature. Sellers have more of a “garage sale” (or car boot sale if you’re in the UK) attitude towards their items.
This presents an opportunity for someone interested in selling items because you can often find things on Facebook cheaper than those same items would be on something like eBay, or Amazon. You can then buy those cheaper items from Facebook Marketplace and sell them on platforms like eBay and net yourself a little profit!
Find Bugs
The technology behind Facebook is obviously critical to the success of the platform. And, with so many people’s data being at stake, Facebook knows how bad something like a data breach or fatal error could be for business. For this reason, Facebook has a “bug bounty”, where they essentially offer a reward for users who can find problems with the platform.
You will need some technical expertise for this—we’re talking security flaws and other vulnerabilities in Facebook’s systems, not simply reporting a link not working. The above link contains all the details about what Facebook considers a legitimate vulnerability, but if you find one, the minimum reward is $500!
Become a Social Media Manager
If you have a flair for social media—and, of course, your talents extend to Facebook—you could market yourself as a social media manager. Companies, and even individuals, are increasingly willing to pay people to take care of their social media presence for them, growing audiences and keeping them out of trouble. If this is something you would be good at, Facebook presents a huge opportunity to make money. And you wouldn’t be limited to just one client in this line of work.
Create a Popular Facebook Group
If you have an area of expertise—whether it be a professional thing or an area of deep interest on an enthusiast level—you could start a Facebook group centred around that subject matter.
This will require plenty of active participation from you, sharing your expertise and encouraging others to do the same. Once the group has reached substantial numbers, it can be a powerful tool for promoting things. And you, as the founder and established expert of the group, will be in a prime position to take advantage of that.
Become an Expert
Of course, you don’t need to create a group to establish yourself as an expert in something on Facebook. Posting helpful content on your area of expertise will likely garner interest from those people who seek that knowledge, and that can be parlayed into something more profitable.
It could simply be a way to funnel traffic from Facebook to your website or business, but it could also be the start of something. For example, you could start out answering questions on Facebook, and then move onto a podcast or YouTube channel with your already-established user-base.
Final Thoughts
Like all platforms on the Internet, Facebook is an invaluable tool for making money. And, like most platforms, there are several ways to go about making that money. The trick is finding the method that suits you the most.
For example, if you do not like dealing with people directly—and especially if you are not a fan of negotiation—you should probably steer clear of selling things through Facebook Marketplace. Similarly, if you do not have expertise in developing online systems like Facebook, you probably shouldn’t put much hope in the Facebook Bounty program.
And, most importantly, remember that nothing happens overnight. With a few very lucky exceptions, Facebook success takes time and effort, so don’t be discouraged if you’re not rolling in money by the end of your first month!
