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Whether your primary creative outlet is video, writing, audio, or social media, monetizing your content isn’t a one-time effort. You could focus on earning income by offering subscriptions or partnering with brands. However, you may have even greater success by repurposing your content to create multiple income streams.
Your audience wants to engage with you in different ways. As you think about how to monetize content, you can remix your content on a variety of platforms that engage your followers wherever they’re at. As you repurpose your content, you can also increase your ability to earn revenue from it.
Read on to learn about strategies for repurposing your digital content.
Building an income-generating ecosystem
Some creators define themselves by their area of expertise, such as personal finance or fashion. Or they focus on one medium or platform, such as videos or a blog.
If that’s you, consider thinking of yourself as the owner of a content-creating business. Once you embrace an entrepreneurial mindset, you can set up an income-generating ecosystem of content that diversifies your sources of income.
The two main components of an income-generating ecosystem are:
Income from your audience. This may take the form of subscriptions, membership fees for gated content, merchandise, fees for advanced classes, or one-on-one consultations.
Income from brands. This is income earned through advertisements, product placements, sponsored content, and affiliate marketing programs.
Think about how to layer those forms of income on top of one another. If you publish a newsletter that goes out to paid subscribers, consider partnering with a brand to create a feature that you’ll include in one issue of that newsletter. Or send subscribers a resource guide that includes affiliate marketing links, which will earn you a commission if any of your members click on that link and purchase a product.
Repurposing your content to generate passive income
Another way to think about monetizing your content is to break your revenue into new income and passive income.
New income covers content that you create and post to your chosen platforms. You earn this income through subscriptions or branded partnerships.
Passive income is the revenue you make from reused content, sometimes long after you have created it.
Every time you create something new, think of how to reuse content to generate passive income afterward.
Here are a few scenarios where you could repurpose content to generate passive income:
Gather together newsletters or blog posts on a given topic and repackage them as a white paper or e-book. You can then sell that book through the ecommerce section of your website for as long as the content remains relevant.
Archive the video and audio recordings from your live webinars. You can then sell access to each webinar separately, or post them in a members-only section of your website so people who have paid the membership fee gain exclusive access. Squarespace makes that easy when you add Member Sites to your website.
Feeding one income stream into the others
The last stage of creating an income-generating ecosystem to make money off your digital content is to feed each income stream into the others. This may take some effort to set up initially—you may want to create new content channels to market your work—but it allows you to reuse your content efficiently and reach new followers who are willing to pay for it.
The more strategically you think about how to repurpose content, the more income streams you can combine.
Here are a few sample scenarios of how to feed income streams into each other:
If you have a podcast that you partially fund with advertising, you could also invite listeners to visit your website, where they can support your work by paying for a subscription. You can then create an email newsletter that lets subscribers know about new podcast episodes and promotes products that you endorse using affiliate marketing links.
Consider cross-posting some of your videos on different social media channels. Then you can collaborate with brands on other types of social media posts, as well as through video. You could also make t-shirts or other merchandise to sell through your website, and share the link in your videos and creator Bio Site, using Unfold for Squarespace.
The opportunities are only limited by your creativity. Use each digital platform to promote other revenue-generating content you create. The key thing to remember: Don’t ever stop marketing yourself.