How I Make Money as a Nano-Creator

I'm not TikTok famous. I don’t have a blue checkmark on Instagram, nor am I a LinkedIn Top Voice.

But I have a modest following across all three platforms, which I have been able to monetize.

I’m what some influencer marketers might call a nano-influencer, comfortably in that under-10K follower range. (I prefer the term nano-creator, but potato, potahto.)

It’s not a full-time income — this year, I’ve netted around $3,000 directly from my content. But that’s if you don’t consider the spin-off work that has come from my social media presence, like freelance writing gigs and podcast hosting.

Since I create content outside of my full-time job at Buffer and don’t spend more than a couple of hours a week on it, I’m pretty proud of that.

Even more so because I haven’t been focused on it for very long. I started getting a bit more serious about monetizing my work in 2024, a little over a year ago.

I’ve always loved creating content and had already built up a modest following on Instagram and a growing one on LinkedIn. I’d also just started experimenting with TikTok (you can read more about how I got to my first 1,000 followers on TikTok here).

In that short time, I’ve learned a lot about monetizing as a nano-creator. I thought I’d unpack some of that here.

So: if you’ve ever wondered whether it’s possible to turn a small, engaged audience into income — it is! You don’t need a massive audience, but you do need strategy, consistency, and a strong, authentic voice.

Let’s talk about it.

Why nano-influencers have a unique advantage

I’m not rushing to ‘beat the algorithm’ or ‘maximize my growth.’ That’s because I feel like I’ve found a sweet spot in the nano-influencer category, at least for my bandwidth.

I have the capacity for around three posts across platforms per week. This, I’ve found, is enough for modest growth on Instagram and TikTok, and moderate on LinkedIn.

Keeping within this cadence — and therefore, follower range — also allows me to actually connect with the folks who enjoy my content. I can thoughtfully respond to messages and comments, rather than post and ghost.

Which means my engagement rate is really good, if I do say so myself. For example, the engagement rate for my last sponsored post on Instagram was around 5.8%. According to Buffer’s Instagram Benchmarks data, the median engagement rate for my follower category is around 4.1%.

Many brands find the higher engagement rates that smaller creators can offer to be far more beneficial than dizzying follower counts.

That’s not the only reason to partner with nano-creators, either. Let’s review them all:

• High engagement rates. As I unpacked above, a smaller audience usually means a tighter-knit community.
• Authenticity. People follow nano-creators because they’re relatable. We’re not “influencers” in the celebrity sense — we’re friends who happen to share tips, reviews, or behind-the-scenes peeks.
• Cost-effectiveness. To be candid, we’re more budget-friendly for brands that don’t have much money to spend on influencer campaigns. For a brand, working with 20 nano-creators might bring better ROI (return on investment) than one big influencer.

The main ways I make money as a nano-influencer

There are loads of ways to monetize on Instagram, TikTok, LinkedIn, and beyond. Think affiliate programs, brand partnerships, or even direct monetization on the platform.

I’ve not fully explored all of them yet, so this overview is not the be-all and end-all (definitely check out the guides linked above for more ideas). Rather, it’s a look at what’s working for me right now.

Brand partnerships and sponsored posts

This is the most obvious (and most talked about) income stream, so let’s start here.

I have dabbled in sponsored content on Instagram over the years, but it was inconsistent and never amounted to much. More often than not, it was a product-for-post trade exchange.

(Now that I’ve wised up a bit, I’m hesitant about deals like this. Free leggings are great, but they aren’t going to pay the bills! I’ll touch on this again later.)

Also, Instagram is no longer my heavy hitter. There’s been a boom in interest in LinkedIn creators over the past few years. I’ve seen relatively fast growth there, and it’s my primary platform right now.

LinkedIn has really started investing in creator functionality (which I chatted about with Callie Schweitzer, LinkedIn’s Head of Scaled Programs, about in this episode of Buffer Chat podcast). This, in turn, has opened doors for both creators and brands, on a platform where users tend to have more buying power.

In other words, it’s a fast-growth space that influencer marketers are keeping a close eye on.

So it's no surprise that investing in LinkedIn growth kicked off my monetization journey, and it was pretty organic, too.

Over the past few months, I’ve partnered with several brands, all of which contacted me (more on this below). They were mostly interested in my LinkedIn content, but most of them were keen to bundle Instagram and TikTok into the deal as well.

Freelance opportunities

This is more of an indirect win of my social media presence, but it has afforded me opportunities I’d not have had without it. Being a nano-influencer has helped me land freelance work.

That’s not just content writing, either. My content about podcasting and brand communities has helped me land a steady, part-time gig as a podcast host and community advisor.

For me, freelance services often bring in more income than partnerships do. If you’re a nano-creator with another skillset (design, copywriting, photography, etc.), lean into this. Share your work publicly, and you might be surprised at who comes knocking.

Affiliate marketing

My affiliate marketing earnings have been small — seriously, like under $5. Still, this feels like an area of untapped potential for me, particularly since income here is a little more passive.

It also lends itself super well to content I love creating about my cosy desk set-up.

Before I get ahead of myself: Affiliate marketing is a system where you earn a commission when someone buys a product or service through your unique referral link. The customer gets a recommendation they trust, the brand benefits from the sale, and you pocket a small percentage.

Win-win-win.

I’ve set myself up on Amazon Associates, which allows me to create tracking links for the products I share. I’ve created a little storefront of products I love and would wholeheartedly recommend on my Buffer Start Page. (You can create your own Start Page for free, by the way!)

If someone buys a product after following one of my affiliate links, I’ll earn a small percentage of that sale.

Amazon Associates does have some fairly low rates (I won’t earn more than 3–4% for most sales), but it’s tough to beat for ease of use. Most folks already have Amazon accounts, and there’s little to no friction for them when it comes to buying.

The downside is that I’m based in South Africa, and there’s no local version of the program. My SA followers make up a good chunk of my audience and are less inclined to shop there. US, UK, and EU-based creators will definitely have more luck here.

And Amazon is far from the only option — I’m actively exploring affiliate programs offered by my favorite tools and tech, where the rates are far better for creators. I’ll be sure to share when I have cracked that!

How I find brand partnerships (or how they find me)

Brand partnerships are my most direct and lucrative source of income and non-creator, so let’s dig in here a bit. The $3,000 I mentioned at the top of this article? All earned from brand partnerships in 2025.

You’re probably thinking this involved a fair bit of cold outreach — but it didn’t, interestingly enough. I’ve never actually landed a brand partnership from pitching a brand. I have done so here and there, but never successfully. (My phenomenal teammate Tami Oladipo has, though — more on that in her guide to landing your first LinkedIn partnership here.)

Pitching might still be absolutely worthwhile for you, so definitely give it a bash if you’re just starting out with monetizing.

For me, though, there are a few things that have worked far better for landing brand partnerships. Here is what I recommend for nano-creators looking to work with brands.

1. Get clear on your niche(s)

There’s a reason you hear this advice from loads of creators. It works! Still, choosing a niche doesn’t have to mean painting yourself into a corner.

Even if it’s several connected niches (you could call these content pillars, too!). For me, that’s marketing, remote work, productivity, and tech/tools. They’re connected enough to make sense under one brand (me), but give me the freedom to experiment.

For example, if a productivity software brand were looking for creators to partner with and came across my profile, they wouldn’t be put off by my posts about cozy working or my home office.

But if they find themselves bogged down by a mishmash of content about gaming, books, and musical theatre (some of the other great loves of my life), they might question brand alignment.

2. Post about brands you already love

Your pitch is going to reach a very crowded inbox. But an engaging reel about a brand you’d love to partner with? That will definitely make their team sit up and take notice.

I’ve found that tagging brands in authentic, non-sponsored content often sparks a conversation. For example, sharing how I use a particular tool in my workflow or why I swear by a certain product has led to reposts, DMs, and eventually paid partnerships.

It’s essentially a live demo of how you’d showcase them if they did pay you. From the other side of the fence (I’ve worked on influencer campaigns as a marketer), partnerships are just so much better when the creator genuinely loves the brand. If I were kicking off a new campaign, I’d pick a small, sincere creator over a macro-influencer who has never heard of my product every single time.

So post about your favorite products, services, and brands. It’s great content anyway, and it might get you on their partnership team’s radar.

3. Be as professional as you would in your day job

Once you’ve kicked off a conversation with brands (or vice versa!), be professional.

I learned this from another Buffer Chat episode with Jayde I. Powell. She touched on how brands were surprised when she behaved professionally, and it stuck with me (thanks, Jayde!).

That means:

• Reply timeously.
• Meet deadlines.
• Have a professional system for your ideas and content reviews (really — don’t copy and paste things into DMs where there is no way for the brand to comment or make suggestions).
• Follow up. Share links to posts when they are live, share post performance before brands ask you for numbers.

It might sound really obvious. But when creator work is not your 9 to 5,  it’s really easy to slip into quick, casual responses via DMs, and missing deadlines.

Basic professionalism is the table stakes for closing a deal. Or, as happened in my case, booking a new, longer-term partnership after a smooth first collaboration. Yay!

4. Try a creator marketplace

A huge unlock for me has been signing up for Passionfroot.

Passionfroot is a marketplace that connects creators with brands. You set up a profile like mine that acts almost like a digital media kit, list your rates and offerings, and brands can reach out directly with collaboration opportunities.

It streamlines the back-and-forth (think contracts, briefs, and payments) so you’re not juggling everything over email or DMs.

It’s not the only option out there, either. Platforms like Aspire, Collabstr, and Grin also act as intermediaries between creators and brands, each with slightly different features. Some take a commission, while others charge brands to list opportunities — so it’s worth experimenting with a few to see which feels right for you.

Through Passionfroot, I’ve already completed one partnership with a brand that found me on there. I’ve also received about a dozen more requests — most of which I turned down because they weren’t a good fit or I simply didn’t have the time. Still, it’s been brilliant in terms of visibility and options.

What I’ve learned about pricing and value

One of the trickiest parts of making money as a nano-influencer is figuring out how much to charge.

I’ve made mistakes here — underpricing myself, saying yes to free products when I should have asked for payment, and comparing my rates to creators in totally different niches.

For transparency, my rates typically fall between $300 and $600 per post, depending on the scope.

Here’s what I’ve learned:

• Know your worth, but stay flexible. A smaller budget isn’t always a dealbreaker if the brand offers something else valuable (like visibility or long-term partnership potential).
• If a product exchange is good for you, go for it! It’s not my thing right now, but it might work for you. It can also be a lightweight way to start building a portfolio.
• Packages are a great way to boost income. This could look like sharing three posts at a slightly lower rate over several weeks, or throwing in another platform or two at a slightly higher rate. In the case of the latter, it won’t involve much extra work for you, but could double or triple exposure for the brand (which is why you can charge more — win-win).
• Be clear on usage rights. Sponsored posts don’t automatically mean brands get to use your content in their own ads. It’s standard to charge extra for ad usage — after all, the brand is leveraging your likeness, tone, and trust. A good rule of thumb is to charge 50–100% of your base rate per month of usage (so if you charge $400 for a post, you’d add another $200–$400 for each month the brand wants to run it as an ad).

Don’t let imposter syndrome get in your way

Whether you have 1,000 followers or 10,000, if you’ve nurtured that community, that is enough!

It’s easy to feel like having a smaller following isn’t worth much, but I’d argue that, in some ways, it’s worth way more.

If you take one thing away from this article, let it be this: don’t let imposter syndrome stop you from getting started.

If you have any questions about getting started with monetization as a nano-creator, I’d love to help! You can find me (of course!) on LinkedIn, TikTok, and Instagram, as well as Threads.

More resources for nano-creators

• How to Get Your First 1,000 Followers Across All Major Social Media Platforms: The Ultimate Guide
• 7 Simple Habits to Help You Get Better at Creating Content More Consistently
• How to Create Your Own Influencer Media Kit (+ Examples from Creators)