How to turn humour into cents

You have probably come across the viral video of a woman ranting after being dumped by her boyfriend, and she’s not taking it lightly.

“I cannot be the only one who’s sad after being dumped. His mother will also have to feel the pain. I will call her and lie to her that my ex, who is her son, has passed away so she can also be sad.”

The viral video was done by Natalie Githinji, an actor and online content creator.

The video set her on the path to joining the ever-growing club of Youtubers. But in her case, she doesn’t just welcome you to her channel, but keeps you laughing through her comical skits.

She now has thousands of followers and her videos go viral every so often. Her dilemma is how to leverage her traction and numbers to make cents out of her comical content online.

The Business Coach linked her up with Henry Desagu, an online content creator who’s experiencing massive success online, with a viewership of more than 100,000 and endorsements that have made it possible for him to make content creation his sole business.

According to Henry, here’s how to succeed in turning online content creation into a business.

1. Create authentic content

Content is key because your content is what attracts the audience. An audience wants to interact with subject matter they can relate to. Your content needs to appeal to the target audience your potential client is after. The reason a client approaches you to endorse their product is because you’re communicating to a niche group they’re after.

2. Monetisation options

You can monetise your content via YouTube, or bank on endorsements to make money. With the latter, a client pays you to create content that natively advertises their product and brand.

3. The number of subscribers determines income

To make money off YouTube videos, you need to have at least 1,000 subscribers. And that’s just the beginning. The video sharing platform works by serving your audience with ads, and the higher your subscriber base, the higher the number of ads shared on your videos, increasing your earnings.

If you post at least six videos a month on your channel, and draw at least 100,000 views per video, you can earn between $500 (Sh50,000) and $1,000 (Sh100,000) that month. Your audience reach is also a bargaining chip when it comes to negotiating for endorsement deals.

4. Be consistent

The secret to growing and increasing audience engagement with your content is being consistent. The more consistent you are, the more likely you are to grow your subscriber base, and in turn increase your earnings.

[Ian Dennis is the host of The Business Coach, which airs on KTN Home every Friday at 7.30pm]?