Can Social Media Make You Rich? Celebrities Who Rose To Fame Through Facebook, Twitter, Instagram And More

Every tech savvy person living in the 21st century is well aware of how they can use social media as a platform to get their opinions across, meet new people and connect with old acquaintances or simply get entertained. But there is another important use of mediums such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube that is not known to many – making money.

If you know your way around the world of social media and have a flair for entrepreneurship, you just need a dash of talent and a lot of patience to transform the platform into a fruitful business. Here are a few ways people have made a career out of social networks:

Video-Making And Photography

We live in an age of visual aids, and it is something that not only satisfies the senses but also is a great way to earn a living. Although you might not find yourself making cash right away, creating videos on a subject that you are good at is one of the tried-and-tested methods of launching one’s career.

YouTube and similar other free video streaming services have become a great medium to showcase anything from one’s love for travel and food to fashion, online tutoring, reviewing products, making people laugh and much more, Dumb Little Man reported. After you have got a certain amount of recognition, you can move to get your channel monetized and start making easy money using your innovative skills.

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The same goes for your photography and selfie-clicking skills. Sites like Instagram, Flickr and Shutterstock are great platforms to show off your snaps-capturing talent and eventually start charging money from people who want to use your pictures.

Copywriting And Editing

If you are adept at creative writing or have a keen eye to spot mistakes in content, you can use social media to promote your talent since platforms like Facebook and Twitter place much value on the written word. If you have the ability to draft a great joke and yet limit it to 140 characters, you might just get hired by the best in the industry, Life Hack reported.

Become An Affiliate

Sites like ClickBank and Amazon let you work for them as affiliates. This means that you would be tasked with promoting various products of your choice and earn a small commission for every product sold through your referral, Entrepreneur reported. The affiliate program works best when one has already begun making a name for oneself. Then, it becomes easier to get your followers to click on the links that you recommend.

Other than these, one can also take up the job of managing the social media exposure of a private company or make a name for yourself by posting music that you have exclusively created on sites such as SoundCloud.

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There are many celebrities whose name you might never have heard of if the social media frenzy had not come along. Here are some of them:

PewDiePie

If you are a video game buff or simply a YouTube user, chances are that you have come across the name PewDiePie. Felix Arvid Ulf Kjellberg, a Swedish video-maker, who adopted the pseudonym PewDiePie once he started his own channel on YouTube, uses his comedy skills to create hilarious reviews of video games, the Talko reported.

Kjellberg dropped out of university to pursue his dream of making a career out of his creativity. Although he had to initially work at a hot dog stand to fund his startup, he soon managed to get a million subscribers within a span of a couple of years. Today, PewDiePie is the most subscribed YouTuber with his videos having being viewed over 10 billion times.

Amalia Ulman

Argentinean-born Amalia Ulman figured out the formula behind celebrities who use Instagram as a platform to expand their fame. After closely studying the trends on Instagram, the kind of hash tags and latest selfie styles used by celebrities, Ulman managed to replicate the same and gather 65,000 followers in a short span of time. After that, there was no looking back for her.

Nash Grier

Nash Grier’s claim to fame are six-second-long videos on Vine that are created with the intention of tickling the funny bone. With millions of followers across multiple social media platforms such as Instagram, Twitter, and YouTube, Grier is no longer an unknown face for teenagers and young adults. Currently, he makes anything between $25,000 and $100,000 for each of his online videos.

Alex Lee

Alex Lee is a classic example of how lady luck can transform one’s life. Lee was working at a Target store when someone clicked his picture without his knowledge and posted it on Twitter, Entrepreneur reported. Soon, his photograph had been retweeted 800,000 times under the hash tag “Alex From Target.”

After becoming a social media sensation, Lee found complete strangers walking up to him during his shift every day and clicking his picture. However, the creepy side effects of his fame soon gave way to positive results when he was invited on “The Ellen Show” and later offered roles in music videos and a movie.

Kyle Ayers

Kyle Ayers proved that if you have the skills necessary to make others laugh, all you need is to be at the right place and the right time. The amateur comedian found himself witnessing a couple breaking up on a rooftop one day that he decided to live tweet under “#rooftop.” The single incident helped his followers grow from a meager 3,800 to over 30,000 in the next five days, Make Use Of reported.