I Made $3,100 Selling Digital Stickers. Here’s How You Can Too.
I run the @goldenretrievers account on Instagram.
At two million followers, it might seem like I should be raking in cash. But the reality is that monetization has always been my biggest challenge. @goldenretrievers curates dog pictures and videos, and when it comes to curation accounts, your audience follows you for the theme (in this case, Golden Retrievers). This is different from influencer accounts (think Logan Paul, Kim Kardashian, Emma Chamberlain), where people follow to see the person running the account.
Monetizing curation accounts is tricky. Influencers get away with posting ads because the content still revolves around them — their face, personality and shtick. In contrast, post one too many ads on a curation account and you can kiss your engagement rate goodbye. In my case, if it’s not a Golden Retriever, the audience doesn’t want to see it.
To monetize a curation account, you need to sell something strictly relevant to your audience’s interest. In 2018, I created an iMessage sticker pack to see if I could satisfy this criteria. I paid an excellent artist $1,500 + 10% of sales to create 35 cartoon Golden Retriever drawings, maximized for cuteness. I…
