How to become an influencer
How much influencers make, brand deals, how many followers you need, and more
Updated
To become an influencer, start with a niche you could post about for years without getting bored. If you're already the person your group chat asks about a topic, that's a reasonable place to begin.
Then pick one main platform, post on a schedule you can keep, and talk to the people who show up. Trust comes first and money comes second, from brand deals, affiliate links, and things you sell yourself like courses or a paid community.
Most creators don't earn much yet. In Influencer Marketing Hub's 2025 survey of more than 3,000 creators, more than half earned under $15,000 a year. Brand deals were the main source of income for 49% of creators, down 10 points from 2023.1 Income from brand budgets and platform algorithms can vanish in a quarter. This guide spends most of its time on income you control.
I also love that it’s off of social media! It really was the confidence I needed to go ahead and start a community!
What an influencer does
An influencer makes content for a specific audience and earns enough trust that people act on what they recommend. Workouts, recipes, travel tips, parenting advice, personal finance: the topic matters less than the trust. Brands pay to borrow that trust. Your audience buys from you because of it.
Creator and influencer mean roughly the same thing, and people use them interchangeably. A creator is known for what they make. An influencer is known for who listens.
Choose a niche and a platform
Your niche tells people what they get by following you. Fill in the blank: I help [who] [do or feel something] through [type of content]. For example, "I help busy parents cook healthy dinners through 15-minute recipe videos."
Fitness, food, travel, beauty and fashion, parenting, personal finance, pets: all of them work. What matters more is whether the people who follow that topic already spend money on it. Skincare fans buy skincare. Runners buy shoes, watches and race entries. Some very large audiences are worth surprisingly little because nobody in them buys anything.
Start on one platform and learn it properly before adding others. Where you post matters. In the same survey, Instagram creators reported the highest average income. TikTok is easier to start on, but it had more creators at lower income levels.1
How influencers make money
Most influencers end up combining several income streams:
- Brand deals. A company pays you to feature its product. What you can charge depends on your audience and engagement, and the deals dry up when marketing budgets do.
- A paid community. Followers pay monthly for closer access to you, like live sessions and members-only content, plus a place to talk to each other. The money arrives every month from people who already know you.
- Affiliate commissions. You take a cut when someone buys through your link. Easy to set up, and each sale pays a small share.
- Platform payouts. Ad revenue and creator programs pay by views, on terms the platform can change whenever it likes.
- Digital products and courses. Guides, templates or a full course. You keep most of what they earn, and selling the next copy costs you nothing.
If you post sponsored content, the Federal Trade Commission requires you to disclose any financial, employment, personal or family relationship with a brand, including free or discounted products. The disclosure has to be hard to miss and part of the post itself, and simple labels like "ad" or "sponsored" work.2
How many followers do you need?
There's no official number, and the question is less useful than it looks. Brands weigh engagement and audience fit alongside follower count. If you're selling something of your own, you don't need a big audience at all.
Kevin Kelly's essay "1,000 True Fans" makes the math concrete: 1,000 fans spending $100 a year each is $100,000.3 A paid community is the most direct way to test that idea. The calculator below starts with brand deals, then adds a paid community, and shows what you'd keep after platform and payment fees.
Influencer income calculator
Start with your brand deals, then add income your followers pay you directly. Your first 14 days on Heartbeat cost $0.
Profit after your free trial
$0/yr
| Line | Grow, per year |
|---|---|
| Revenue | $0 |
| Heartbeat plan | $149 |
| Heartbeat transaction fee | $0 2.5% |
| Stripe processing | $0 |
| Profit | $0 |
Your first 14 days are free, no credit card, with full Grow features.
Profit is revenue minus Heartbeat and Stripe fees (2.9% + 30¢ a charge), before taxes and other costs. The Heartbeat share is your plan plus its fee. Brand deals are paid outside Heartbeat. Example numbers, not an income promise. See pricing.
What creators charge for a paid community
Brand deals pay by audience size and the platform sets the rate for views. A paid community is the one income line you price yourself. The Heartbeat range below is what creative communities charge, and the calculator works it out for your audience, your hours and the income you want.
Creative & Arts memberships on Heartbeat
Typical $45/mo. The middle half charge $22 to $100, the bottom tenth $10 or less and the top tenth $270 or more.
84 paying communities. Provisional, September 2026. Every industry
Price your membershipBuild income you own
Brand deals are a fine place to start. Someone else decides when they happen. These offers let followers pay you directly:
- A paid community. A home base for your most engaged followers, who pay for closer access to you and to each other. Heartbeat covers the mechanics: live events, courses, automated workflows so you aren't sending the same welcome message a hundred times, and flexible pricing.
- A course. Take the question your audience asks every week and turn the answer into lessons. People can work through it at their own pace, or you can run it live with a group.
- Digital products. Templates, guides, meal plans, presets. Cheap enough to be an easy first purchase.
- Live workshops and challenges. A paid workshop or a 30-day challenge gives people a deadline to join by, and a look at what your community is like.
At least 60 paying communities on Heartbeat were started by creators who built an audience first, then gave their most engaged followers somewhere to gather. Across the platform, Heartbeat has paid out more than $27 million to creators from the people who follow them.
Turn followers into paying members
- Go live and talk to your audience. Comments, replies and live Q&As tell you what people want help with. That's your offer.
- Build an email list. One algorithm change can halve your reach overnight. Your email list stays yours.
- Open a founding-member waitlist before you launch. Early backers get a lower price. If they pay for something that doesn't exist yet, you have your answer. Heartbeat includes paid waitlists on every plan.
- Run a free event. A free live session lets followers see what your community feels like before they pay for it. Heartbeat events can be opened to non-members, so there's nothing to join first.
Set up the business side
Register the business, open a separate bank account, and put money aside for tax, because nobody is withholding it from brand payments or product sales.
For brand deals, get a written agreement covering deliverables, deadlines, payment terms, how long the brand can keep using your content, and whether you can work with competitors. That last term matters. Creators sign one deal, then find a better one they can't take. Disclose every sponsored post the way the FTC describes, and keep a record of what you were paid or given.
Common questions
Do influencers get paid?
Yes, though most don't earn much. In Influencer Marketing Hub's 2025 survey of more than 3,000 creators, more than half earned under $15,000 a year. Influencers get paid through brand deals, affiliate commissions, platform payouts, and products they sell themselves, such as courses and paid communities.
How many followers do you need to be an influencer?
There's no official threshold. Brands consider engagement and audience fit alongside follower count, and selling your own products works with a small, engaged audience. Kevin Kelly's "1,000 True Fans" essay shows that 1,000 people paying you $100 a year adds up to $100,000.
Can you get paid with 500 followers?
You can. Brand deals are harder to land with a small audience, but affiliate links, digital products and a paid community don't require a minimum. A few hundred followers who pay you can be worth more than a big audience that only watches.
How do influencers make money?
Most combine several streams: brand deals, affiliate commissions, ad revenue and creator programs, digital products and courses, and paid communities or memberships. Brand deals were the main income source for 49% of creators in 2025, down 10 points from 2023, so many creators are adding income they control.
Do influencers have to disclose sponsored posts?
Yes. The FTC requires influencers to disclose any financial, employment, personal or family relationship with a brand, including free products. The disclosure must be clear and part of the post itself, using simple words like "ad" or "sponsored".
What does it cost to run a paid community on Heartbeat?
Heartbeat starts with a 14-day free trial with no credit card, and plans start at $49 a month. When members pay you, Heartbeat charges a transaction fee based on your plan (5% on Build, 2.5% on Grow, 1.25% on Scale) on top of Stripe's card processing fee. The calculator on this page shows both.
What is a micro influencer?
A micro influencer usually has between 10,000 and 100,000 followers, and a nano influencer has fewer than 10,000, according to Influencer Marketing Hub. Smaller creators tend to have more engaged audiences: its figures put average engagement at 5.60% for nano influencers and 2.05% for macro influencers, which is why a small audience can still support a paid community.
How do you become an influencer with no followers?
Pick a niche you know well, choose one platform, and post useful content on a steady schedule. Reply to every comment and message early on, since those conversations build trust and show you what your audience wants. Start an email list or a small free community early, so the people who find you can reach you without the algorithm in the way.
How do you make money on TikTok?
TikTok's Creator Rewards Program pays for qualifying videos of at least one minute. To join in the US you need to be 18 or older, have at least 10,000 followers, and have 100,000 video views in the last 30 days. Many creators also earn from brand deals, affiliate links, and by sending followers to a course or paid community they own.
How do small influencers get brand deals?
Start with brands you already use and mention naturally, and pitch them with a short media kit that shows your audience, engagement and past results. Engagement and audience fit often matter more than follower count. Get the terms in writing, and disclose every sponsored post the way the FTC requires.
How can influencers earn money without relying on brand deals?
Sell to your audience directly. With a paid community, a course, digital products or paid workshops, followers pay you, and no brand budget or algorithm decides what you earn. Heartbeat puts a paid community, courses, live events and payments in one place.