Make Money on Facebook: 10 Ways to Monetize Facebook

You have a personal Facebook account.

You may have a Facebook business page, too.

Until now, you’ve used the platform to share content in hopes it gets people to your website. Or, at least getting them in touch with you for services or direct sales.

You’re getting a couple likes and shares, but it hasn’t translated to sales.

What you want is a way to monetize the social networking site.

This post covers the real ways to make money on Facebook. This requires some extra effort but will ultimately pay off. Use the following for personal or business – they’ll work for both.

Let’s get into it.

1. Promote Your Business, Products, and Services

Don’t have a Facebook business page?

Make one.

The business page becomes your central “hub” to all things Facebook.

Nike -- Business Sales

This is the place where you’ll share content driving traffic to your business site. It’s where you’ll gain feedback for improvements.

There are several ways to make money on Facebook when pairing it with your business:

Funnel Traffic – Create and share great blog/site content for your community like tutorials, guides, reviews, and interviews. This content is shared on your FB page giving followers helpful, insightful, or fun information. Each post is an opportunity to get followers to the site, sending them through the sales funnel.
Live Video – Live videos are perfect for sharing product use, announcing big news, or simply taking questions from your community. This gives a real face to the business. You could hold weekly live chats with followers building engagement – eventually leading to sales.
Share/Engage – Sometimes it’s about keeping your brand on the mind of your audience. Your page could include interesting finds and shares from around the Web. Or, just musing about what’s happening at the business, photos, and videos showing behind-the-scenes.
Ads/Promos – Test the Facebook advertising platform by creating a great ad and targeting lookalike audiences by importing a customer list. Or, use boosted post options to quickly spread content to followers, friends of followers, or target audiences.
Shop — Use the shop feature to create product listings or import products from your store. This lets followers discover products within Facebook while receiving help through Messenger chat and chatbots.

Check out our massive list of Facebook content types that’ll boost engagement. These should give you plenty of ideas to update every day for the foreseeable future.

What else do you need to do?

Interact with the community responding to their comments and messages
Use the platform as a customer service channel by integrating it on your site
Connect with fellow business owners to create joint referral programs

Put the social back in social media – the sales will come as the result of your on-going, engaging efforts with the Facebook community.

2. Sell Stuff on the Facebook Marketplace

The Facebook Marketplace has basically replaced Craigslist as the go-to place for buying/selling goods locally.

It’s a great alternative to popular apps like LetGo and OfferUp.

You can find just about anything on the marketplace – and lots of people buying.

You could:

Sell unwanted items you find around the house
Flip items you find at thrift stores and local markets
Sell other’s items on consignment (taking a cut)
Sell things you’ve made like crafts, arts, and such

The marketplace is integrated with your account so there are no extra steps. This is handy if you want to verify who’d buy your goods – making sure everything is safe.

You do have to deal with some low-ballers, but don’t let that deter you.

We recommend meeting in a public area for the transaction to stay safe.

3. Create a Meme or Niche Group

Meme pages and niche FB groups are quite a popular way to monetize Facebook. These pages attract thousands of users through fun, engaging, and sometimes shocking content. Or, through a shared interest in a topic, lifestyle, business, or general idea.

For the Meme Page:

Crawl the Web for memes, videos, quotes, and interesting finds
Create a stream of shares (pretty much every 20-mins to 1-hour using scheduling tools)
Keep building the page by sharing more and more content
Hold contests, “tag” call-outs, and other interactive elements getting people to engage
Throw in the occasional promotion (yours, an affiliate offer, or sponsored post)

Meme pages need a lot of followers to make money. But, there’s always neat ideas to try especially if you’re having fun interacting with followers.

Your better option is a Facebook group as this collects highly-engaged users.

1,000 strong followers in a private FB group could show higher sales and engagement than a page with 10,000+.

It all depends on the quality you’re putting forth. And, how active you are in the community.

The Facebook group follows the same routine but with a few tweaks:

Funnel users from your site, email list, or professional networks
Include neat incentives to join the tight-knit community like freebies or cross-promotion
Create a schedule for daily discussions and times to self-promote

Brands may reach out offering products and services to review. Or, to include their marketing message as a post to the group – you get to set the prices! This could become a regular money-maker if the group grows while remaining highly-active and moderated (from spam).

If brands don’t reach out: Try contacting them with group stats and/or try promoting affiliate products.

4. Funnel Facebook Users to a Monetized Newsletter

Facebook is perfect for funneling people to your email newsletter.

If you don’t know:

Many people use an email newsletter like they do a blog. They get people to sign up to their email list, then share updates, content, and promotions.

You own this list effectively letting you make money without a website – neat, huh?

Combine these two to start:

The goal is sending people to a landing page using your personal, fan page, or ads. There, people can subscribe to your email list – often paired with a free course or download though not always necessary.

Try monetizing Facebook and email lists like this:

Share great content on your FB page and/or promote posts building a big following
Sign up for email marketing services
Create a simple website using site building tools or a landing page
Include your opt-in form (provided by the email service) on the page
Create the basic email sequence (thank you, confirmation, and first email)
Start funneling followers to this email list through content, shares, and mentions
Treat the email like a blog while promoting stuff or selling premium sponsorship

Only a small percentage of people will click links in your email (around 2-3%). But, if your list is in the thousands, then you could create a couple sales each time you promote something!

5. Sell Promoted or Sponsored Shares

An active group or business page with authority and reach attracts sponsorship offers.

Promoted and sponsored offers are when you’re paid to promote a brand.

The process typically goes like this:

A brand gets in touch through your contact details asking if you’ll promote them
You negotiate the offer – setting prices and terms – then they pay
You schedule and share the promotion – usually theirs unless negotiated

These opportunities crop up all the time especially if the page/group has targeted users. A brand wants their products or services in front of those targeted fans vs going through paid ad channels.

This is the basis of influencer marketing.

How can you find these sponsorship opportunities if they’re not getting in touch?

Send a relevant business or brand an email about your page, stats, and opportunity
Consistently content and media creating a high engagement (likes, shares, comments)
Build out your page/group so it’s showing up in Google and FB internal search (popular!)
Create a media kit and inquiry blurb letting others know you’re open to the idea
Mention it on your portfolio or blog/website as a service

There are some sponsorship marketplaces, but these take a cut. It’s better you reach out to interested brands. Or, they come to you – let you negotiate higher pricing and better terms.

Remember: You need to disclose your sponsorship if you accept otherwise it’s legal troubles and possibly “burning” your audience.

6. Promote Affiliate Products and/or Services

Position yourself effectively and you can make a lot of money promoted affiliate products.

For those that don’t know:

Affiliate marketing is when you get paid to promote other people’s products. You earn a commission for every sale you help generate. Often, this is 5 – 10% of the sale.

Don’t know where to start with affiliate marketing on Facebook? Do this:

Research what people are buying, talking about, and sharing
Check the top-sellers list on Amazon, eBay, Wayfair, and other online markets
Find and join affiliate programs related to your topics and audience
Fill in the partner details, get your affiliate link, and create a promotional plan

Affiliate programs are free to join – it’s very likely your favorite brands offer one.

These let you make money on Facebook promoting everything from makeup and shoes, to electronics and financial services.

How can you promote these products?

Content Shares – Create content for your website/blog and share it on your personal and Facebook page. This directs friends, extended connections, and followers to the page. They can read a review, tutorial, or list of tips clicking through to the affiliated product.
Ads – This leverages content and site pages with the Facebook advertising platform. Here, you’ll combine compelling headlines and copy with images. This ad links to your page where visitors can discover your affiliate promotions.
Groups – Operate a group? In a group allowing promotions? You could promote the product directly (we don’t recommend this because it irks people). Or, as with the others, send people to a helpful content piece for them to discover the promos on their own.
Video – Share a YouTube video on Facebook getting people to go to the YT page or channel. The affiliate links are included in the YT video description. Or, linked to a page on your site. This tends to add extra value since video is highly interactive.

If this is something you could get serious about then we recommend our free Affiliate Marketing Guide.

The guide provides a complete, step-by-step to finding your niche, joining affiliate programs, and promoting offers to make money online. You can use the same principles to make money on Facebook!

Note: You’ll want to disclose your affiliation just as you would on a website or blog.

7. Land Freelance Work and Side Gigs

Combining Facebook and Freelance/Side Gigs is a match made in heaven.

Facebook is, after all, the largest social network with more than 2-billion users. There’s more than one chance to land a client!

You’ll want a few preliminary items before landing clients:

A portfolio website to show your skills, services, and provide contact details
A Facebook business page so you can use promoted posts to spread the word

We recommend you start a blog, too, as this will help drive organic traffic. WordPress is a fantastic platform to build a portfolio site with all it’s portfolio themes and plugins.

Where do you go to look for clients and gigs on Facebook?

Business Facebook groups
Buy/Sell/Barter FB pages
Direct messaging businesses
Regularly contribute to groups
Promoting your best content

Pitch services with a goal in mind while conveying your value.

It helps to redirect prospects to your portfolio site where they can find reviews and case studies exhibiting your skills. Or, simply scheduling a follow-up discussion you can hold over-the-phone or using FB messenger.

You can go one further with landing gigs:

Create a fantastic offer with an eye-catching image
Fill in the details of your work and effort in the body
Promote the post to users (like local businesses or people interesting in X)

Your promoted posts act like a flyer on the community board.

Will it work? Possibly!

You’d be surprised how many people and business owners keep an eye out for talent. This is especially true in local groups so get your name out there and see if anyone is willing to pay for your skills!

8. Do Facebook Marketing for Businesses

Small business owners usually don’t have time to manage their Facebook activity. They’ll pay hundreds, sometimes thousands, each month for social media managers to handle it for them.

Here’s the thing: You’re likely an expert at Facebook by way of always using it.

You could position yourself as a service provider by contacting small businesses:

Send an FB message to a neglected small business FB page
Check if local businesses websites have Facebook linked and if they’re updating
Reach out to friends, family, and business contacts asking if anyone needs help

If you could land one or two business accounts – each paying $50 – $100 a week – you’d pull in some decent money.

This could scale if you’re helping to drive sales. And, really get the engagement going.

Here’s how to get into making money by providing Facebook marketing:

Brush up on your Facebook marketing skills and learn about the business
Learn how to use tools like Buffer (to schedule posts) and PicMonkey (to create great photos)
Pitch the idea to small businesses in your community or through referrals
Fix up their business page with updated information, a new cover photo, and features
Publish great content, engage with the followers, and forward leads to the business

You could scale this to handle all their social media marketing if you show results! You’ll only need about 15-30-minutes a day to manage the page. Not too bad a money-maker, right?

9. Make a Few Bucks with Referral Programs

Many of your favorite apps and websites offer referral programs.

These brands and companies will pay if you bring in new users – usually through:

Money deposited to your account (or check)
Bonus points and app credits
Gift cards and coupons
Extended services and rebates

The ones to look for are those you’ll actually use giving you a better understanding and ability to promote the app/service to others.

What are some favorites of ours?

Swagbucks – Where people can do surveys, view media, and make money
Robinhood – Where people get into stock trading and investments
Ibotta – Where people can get cash back for grocery and online shopping
eBates – Where people get cash back for online purchases

Ibotta, for example, pays $5 – $10 for every new referral. This is one of the easiest referral programs because it saves them money through everyday purchases.

You’re not pushing a hard sell on something people don’t really want.

Here’s how we’d recommend promoting referrals to make money on Facebook:

Share your experience using the app and include the referral link/code
Create a Facebook group about saving money and budgeting with it as a regular promo
Write a stellar review and get it shared (and promoted) on your profile + fan page

You won’t replace your 9-to-5 but it is a great way to make a few bucks here and there especially when you’re already logged into Facebook.

10. Create and Sell Facebook Video Creation Services

Most businesses cite video marketing as an incredible channel and opportunity.

We couldn’t agree more seeing the prolific rise of YouTube, Twitch, IG, and video sharing.

Video media will likely replace written blog posts in the future. It’s the perfect medium for content and promotions.

But…

Small businesses are stretch on time and resources. They’re also not that great at creating videos.

This is where you come in.

First, read, understand, and bookmark these guides:

Can you create a video using your phone? Do you like posting videos to Instagram? Or, are fully invested in video creation using tools? If so, then you’ve got an awesome money-making Facebook opportunity.

There are several Facebook video types you could offer:

Vlogging
Interviews
Event Coverage
Promotional
Tutorial
Review
Testimonial

We recommend reaching out to small business offering your video services. This could include direct contact while browsing Facebook business pages.

Or, be part of a promotion through your fan page — or using marketplaces like Fiverr.

Fiverr Video Marketplace

Consider pricing video services by the hour, or by the project.

Kudos if you can work with a local business offering the full suite of video services. You could swing by their offices, shoot the raw video, edit/format it, and shoot it back.

Don’t got time to visit offices?

Edit RAW – Create the video from the raw footage they send you
Screencasts – Record your screen using Screencasting tools
Skype/Hangouts – Record their content via video conferencing and edit later

They may give you access to their Facebook page to upload video – this is a great opportunity to pitch social media management services!

Which Way to Make Money on Facebook Will You Use?

This post covered 10 ways to make some money with your Facebook account, pages, or simply knowing how to use the platform. Some are easy, others take serious effort.

Ultimately, you should always try to drive Facebook traffic to your website or blog as this gives you more control. And, an opportunity to get people to buy stuff, subscribe to a newsletter, or leave reviews.

But…

If you’re solely looking for ways to monetize Facebook, our list should give you plenty to work with. So, get started and see what you can do with that account!