Canadians are eyeing moves to these cities for more affordable housing
Faced with elevated housing prices, half of Canadians in the country's largest cities are considering moving to places with more affordable housing.
If you’re like many people who are tired of the 9-to-5 grind, you may have dreamed of a life where you can earn passive income from social media while travelling or relaxing on a distant beach.
But just how legitimate are claims by some social media influencers and content creators that the average Jane or Joe can earn passive income from platforms like TikTok and Instagram, if you follow their advice?
I’m here to argue that it’s very possible to earn passive income from social media. However, it’s not as simple and easy as some self-styled gurus make it out to be. It requires time, effort, and quite often, a bit of luck.
Today, almost every major company has at least some type of social media presence. Before coming to social media platforms, many companies were already successful businesses and many of today’s influencers already had some level of fame, notoriety, or influence in their niche.
Not everybody, though.
Take 83-year-old Calgary resident Bill Oullet, for example. Earlier this year, Bill became a viral sensation on TikTok, garnering millions of views for his comedic short-form content. His content is original, funny, and authentic. Now, he’s known around the world.
Going viral can take your small-time social media presence worldwide overnight, and can completely change your life by:
The best part is that going viral is essentially free, other than the time and effort you put into making the content. You can receive the same level of attention that multinational corporations like Coca-Cola spend billions for.
The difficult part is that it’s almost impossible to predict what content goes viral. It’s almost like winning the lottery, which means that it’s not always an achievable goal most people should aim for.
Here’s the good news, though. You don’t need to go viral to create a passive income stream for yourself on social media.
If you’re reading this, you’ve likely seen so-called gurus selling online courses on how anybody can create a full-time living for themselves on social media. The thing about gurus, though, is that they always make things seem easier than they are.
Just like entrepreneurship and starting your own business, creating a successful social media presence that you can profit financially from isn’t easy.
You’ll also have to learn to adapt and pivot when sudden changes come, such as Twitter buying Vine in 2012, or the potential for a U.S./Canadian TikTok ban.
However, if you’re consistent, work hard, and are willing to adapt to changes, there are several time-tested ways that anybody can use to earn passive income as an influencer on platforms like TikTok, Instagram, and others.
Affiliate marketing is one of the oldest ways of making money online. Essentially, you market and endorse another brand’s product through your page. Whenever one of your followers takes your advice and buys a product through your unique affiliate link, you earn a small commission from the sale.
Amazon currently has one of the world’s largest affiliate programs, making it one of the easiest places for social media start-ups to start earning some side money. Once you have a more established presence, you’ll likely find it more profitable to work with larger, more reputable brands.
Once you’ve built a strong organic following for yourself, businesses and brands may approach you and pay you to help bring awareness to them. On a large scale, you’re talking big-name celebrities and sports stars endorsing a makeup brand, fast-food chain, or car brand.
You don’t have to have millions of followers to become an influencer, though.
Smaller, more local businesses often prefer to work with “micro-influencers” who have a strong loyal network of fans, often fewer than 20,000 followers. This can be a great way for you to build a passive income stream by leveraging your knowledge of your own city.
If you have a side hustle or small business, growing your social media presence can be one of the best ways to attract new customers.
Aside from directly promoting your content using TikTok or Instagram, consider making fun, informative content that makes your brand more personal, such as:
While most social media platforms discourage heckling, you may still post links in your bio to other platforms such as Patreon, GoFundMe, Discord, and others where you can accept donations or sell membership programs.
For example, I know a music producer and guitar player who offers a $5/month membership to access his tutorials on mixing music and learning guitar. If you truly consider yourself an expert in a certain niche, this can be a great way to leverage your skill set and earn money as an educator.
Like many things in life, having a career as an influencer is often glamorized. In reality, the average social media influencer isn’t out here earning six figures, jetting around the world, and driving supercars.
Is it possible? Yes.
Should you expect it? No.
If you want to build a passive income stream on social media using one of the time-tested methods I outlined above, it’s going to take time. You’re going to have to learn videography and editing, spend your nights and days off creating content, and stick to a consistent posting schedule.
It will require just as much work as starting your own small business, and you may not see a financial payoff for months or years, while you build your following. But if you truly love it and enjoy it, why not give it a shot?
Unsure of where to start? Entrepreneur and social media expert Gary Vaynerchuck has a great free guide that simplifies how to start making content by documenting your daily life.
Creating an income stream from TikTok or Instagram is an achievable goal. At first, though, it’s not going to be passive. You’ll need to invest time and money into creating content and building your brand.
Even after you’re established, you’ll need to continue to create if you want to keep growing. If you work hard and stay consistent, the payoff is that you can build a career for yourself that you truly enjoy and where you’re not bound by set schedules.
This will all take time, though. I recommend that you stay in your current line of work to keep your bills paid. If you’re truly interested in building an online brand, start doing it in your free time, until you start seeing results. Once you no longer need your job to pay the bills, then you can go all-in on your social media brand.
Not all influencers quit their jobs, though. Starting a social media brand can be a great way to diversify your income or help you expand your personal network while remaining in your current line of work.
Christopher Liew is a CFA Charterholder and former financial advisor. He writes personal finance tips for thousands of daily Canadian readers on his Wealth Awesome website.
Do you have a question, tip or story idea about personal finance? Please email us at dotcom@bellmedia.ca.
Faced with elevated housing prices, half of Canadians in the country's largest cities are considering moving to places with more affordable housing.
Liberal parliamentarians are criticizing Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre over a new video in which he promotes the idea that some Canadians are 'fleeing' Canada to live in Nicaragua because they can't afford a house in this country.
Car manufacturer Nissan has issued a do-not-drive warning for some older vehicles equipped with Takata airbag inflators, due to the risk of explosion during a crash.
A group of prominent former politicians and current academics is asking Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to change his tone on the possibility of arrest warrants for senior Israeli leaders.
An infant has died and three others, including another child, were taken to hospital following an ATV crash in Forties, N.S., on Monday.
Police cleared pro-Palestinian protesters from a main intersection at the University of British Columbia campus in Vancouver on Wednesday.
Canadian figure-skating icon Tessa Virtue is expecting her first child, she revealed via social media Tuesday.
Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre's housing bill has been defeated in the House of Commons with the Liberals, New Democrats and Bloc Quebecois voting against the legislation.
It’s a floating city exclusively home to the 1 per cent, a playground for multimillionaires and billionaires that circumnavigates the world's oceans.
The president of Covered Bridge Chips in New Brunswick is hoping to have his factory rebuilt for late 2025 following a devastating fire last year.
Students and staff at Winnipeg’s Westwood Collegiate had a unique problem to solve this month; how do you lead ducks to water from the school’s courtyard when 12 of them can’t fly yet?
Debby Lorinczy remembers her father as an amazing person and as a man who also made an amazing discovery.
Abigail Strate is a member of the Canadian national ski jumping team and an Olympic bronze medallist. She's also a certified beekeeper.
It's been a long time coming, but one Oilers superfan is hoping this will be the year he gets to touch up his massive Stanley Cup back tattoo.
A man's daring rescue of a newborn wild foal that was trapped after falling down a steep embankment was caught on video over the weekend.
A Winnipeg pinball wizard is heading to the granddaddy of them all – the IFPA World Pinball Championship.
It’s the chance of a lifetime for a group of Ottawa athletes who are getting ready to represent Team Canada at the World Junior Ultimate championships in the United Kingdom.
Parishioners at Holy Trinity Anglican Church are praying for a monetary miracle, as their historic place of worship could collapse at any moment.