Thanks for sharing this Tiff. I love the openness of sharing how you make money in this field. I was particularly interested to read because I've intuitively done something similar but didn't have language to describe it. I've tried lots of things to make my education and advocacy efforts sustainable, and the monetizing on the apps never worked great/felt good to me (I did a few sponsored posts and it always left me with a feeling I didn't like). (Patreon was also my first income!). I too make money indirectly through my social media and for some similar reasons.
And I also can't call myself a content creator or "Instagram Therapist" with a straight face 🤣 . Advocate has felt weird for me since I've turned my social media presence into a business (Selling ebooks). I've struggled to describe the work I do--educator, advocate, content creator, entrepreneur. I find myself resonating with all these worlds but also not resonating with them. Anyway...that was a long-winded way of saying, this was super interesting for me to read-thanks for sharing your experiences.
Thanks for sharing your insights. I'm still struggling with making anything near sustainable through social media despite having a decent following and not having any other jobs. I have a little online shop, Substack, and Ko-fi, but I always feel awkward about marketing myself, and it usually isn't very successful.
I'm curious to know more about what kinds of things you consult and speak about.
Btw, was the little blue checkmark worth it to you?
It’s challenging to talk about ourselves. But it’s something that I do everyday that I am online. So, any new products or offerings I have, I turn it into something I already talk about for myself. I am sharing that this is a continuation in some way of what you already know about me. The things you have heard before but in more depth or expanded upon.
I don’t need all my followers to join me, just a few dedicated ones. And that audience keeps my family afloat. And social media is something that drives ppl to other ventures I have.
I speak about the intersections of race and disability a lot. That’s a large portion of what ppl contact me for through my site. I do DEI trainings at companies. I share my story. I consult with ABA companies who serve BlPoC communities. I have discussions with speech therapists and early childhood education professionals on how to be more culturally competent in their work. And a whole lot more. I often tailor it to suit their needs. I do have chats about my book and my son. Many presentations are centered on nonspeaking causes and raising and nonspeaker.
Don’t know if the verification marks are worth it. I applied for about a year for the ones on fb and IG. I couldn’t bring myself to pay for them when they opened that up. So I kept applying. TikTok verification took less than a day to approve. You have to send in all the things that make you a notable person, news articles and journals, tv appearances, etc.
I feel like because so many ppl were taking my words and passing them off as their own, or even going into groups and trying to say I said things I didn’t, I felt like it was one layer of protection for my truth. Ppl would know me as me. So, in that regard, that’s worth it to me.
I feel like since Meta opened it up for paid checkmarks that sours the general public’s opinion of them if they know that person to not be as “big” as they feel that they are to require one. I haven’t come across that issue yet but I have seen actual arguments happen in comment sections over ppl who bought their checkmarks. And I get where the ones paid for them are coming from. I applied for s year, consistently for one. And was denied month after month. I had many articles and journals under my belt when I first started, how can you say I am not notable? Ppl were making accounts similar to mine and the suggestions they gave when they denied me was to block those accounts.
I think the worth of those checkmarks boil down to what you think they are doing for you? And what they ain’t. Your expectations of having one, versus not having one.
Yeah you can still apply for them. I finally got approved the month before they opened it up for paid. Paid on fb only would have worked with my personal page not my fidgets and fries, so I had to apply for it there as well. And TikTok I applied for it.
It does suck that ppl take my work, it sucks.
The work is interesting and challenging and worth all the anxiety it gives me, lol.
Thanks for sharing this Tiff. I love the openness of sharing how you make money in this field. I was particularly interested to read because I've intuitively done something similar but didn't have language to describe it. I've tried lots of things to make my education and advocacy efforts sustainable, and the monetizing on the apps never worked great/felt good to me (I did a few sponsored posts and it always left me with a feeling I didn't like). (Patreon was also my first income!). I too make money indirectly through my social media and for some similar reasons.
And I also can't call myself a content creator or "Instagram Therapist" with a straight face 🤣 . Advocate has felt weird for me since I've turned my social media presence into a business (Selling ebooks). I've struggled to describe the work I do--educator, advocate, content creator, entrepreneur. I find myself resonating with all these worlds but also not resonating with them. Anyway...that was a long-winded way of saying, this was super interesting for me to read-thanks for sharing your experiences.
Thank you for sharing this - it's really helpful. And I'm definitely interested to know about what's in a media kit!
Thanks for sharing your insights. I'm still struggling with making anything near sustainable through social media despite having a decent following and not having any other jobs. I have a little online shop, Substack, and Ko-fi, but I always feel awkward about marketing myself, and it usually isn't very successful.
I'm curious to know more about what kinds of things you consult and speak about.
Btw, was the little blue checkmark worth it to you?
It’s challenging to talk about ourselves. But it’s something that I do everyday that I am online. So, any new products or offerings I have, I turn it into something I already talk about for myself. I am sharing that this is a continuation in some way of what you already know about me. The things you have heard before but in more depth or expanded upon.
I don’t need all my followers to join me, just a few dedicated ones. And that audience keeps my family afloat. And social media is something that drives ppl to other ventures I have.
I speak about the intersections of race and disability a lot. That’s a large portion of what ppl contact me for through my site. I do DEI trainings at companies. I share my story. I consult with ABA companies who serve BlPoC communities. I have discussions with speech therapists and early childhood education professionals on how to be more culturally competent in their work. And a whole lot more. I often tailor it to suit their needs. I do have chats about my book and my son. Many presentations are centered on nonspeaking causes and raising and nonspeaker.
Don’t know if the verification marks are worth it. I applied for about a year for the ones on fb and IG. I couldn’t bring myself to pay for them when they opened that up. So I kept applying. TikTok verification took less than a day to approve. You have to send in all the things that make you a notable person, news articles and journals, tv appearances, etc.
I feel like because so many ppl were taking my words and passing them off as their own, or even going into groups and trying to say I said things I didn’t, I felt like it was one layer of protection for my truth. Ppl would know me as me. So, in that regard, that’s worth it to me.
I feel like since Meta opened it up for paid checkmarks that sours the general public’s opinion of them if they know that person to not be as “big” as they feel that they are to require one. I haven’t come across that issue yet but I have seen actual arguments happen in comment sections over ppl who bought their checkmarks. And I get where the ones paid for them are coming from. I applied for s year, consistently for one. And was denied month after month. I had many articles and journals under my belt when I first started, how can you say I am not notable? Ppl were making accounts similar to mine and the suggestions they gave when they denied me was to block those accounts.
I think the worth of those checkmarks boil down to what you think they are doing for you? And what they ain’t. Your expectations of having one, versus not having one.
I didn't realize that you could still apply for checkmarks after they opened up the paid model. That sucks that people were plagarizing your work.
Your consulting and speaking work sounds really interesting!
Thanks again for sharing your experience.
Yeah you can still apply for them. I finally got approved the month before they opened it up for paid. Paid on fb only would have worked with my personal page not my fidgets and fries, so I had to apply for it there as well. And TikTok I applied for it.
It does suck that ppl take my work, it sucks.
The work is interesting and challenging and worth all the anxiety it gives me, lol.