An influencer has openly shared how much money she earns through social media, after finding that the taboo issue was rarely discussed by those in her industry, despite mass intrigue.
Star Holroyd has nearly 700,000 TikTok followers and more than 54,000 Instagram followers. She took to TikTok two days ago, to break down all her social media income between April and June this year.
"This is not clickbait, I'm literally going to tell you," she prefaced the video, adding that she was aware she would likely get trolled in the comments, due to the topic of money being involved.
Holroyd said she made the video because she's asked about it a lot and "not very many people talk about this in the content creator industry."
For the TikTok influencer, the app's "Creator Fund," which allows users to earn money for receiving views on videos, was her first source of income. At the end of March, her Creator Fund had £634.11 ($873.63) in it, which went up to £1,000.81 ($1378.84) by the end of June, meaning she earned £366.70 ($505.21) in that time. Holroyd was making between £2 ($2.76) and £33 ($45.46) every day.
Her second income source was her freelance work for a company, who paid her to start and grow a TikTok account focusing on British slang. She didn't specify how much she earned for these videos, likely because she was under a contract, but added that she has since stopped.
Affiliate links offered another financial stream for Holroyd, in the form of "swipe ups" on Instagram. Links mean followers can click on the items through her account, and if they buy it, she earns a percentage of the sale. According to her, different companies offer different rates but it's generally between 8 and 12 percent. Holroyd estimated that she earned around £400 (about $550) in the last three months, and her screengrab purported to show that she earned $82.99 ($114.34) in the last week.
The majority of Holroyd's money comes from her ads and sponsorships. "This is where I made most of my money," she confirmed, adding that her contracts would not allow her to specify how much individual sponsorships were. She was however able to give the monthly totals.
In April, she earned £5,000 (over $6,500) before tax and her manager's commission, but earned £1,700 (around $2,300) in May—which she said was less than her previous full-time job wage. In June, Holroyd took in £7,800 (nearly $11,000) in ads and sponsors, again before tax and commission, making her April to June total £14,500 (nearly $20,000) for her ads.
"As you can see, it changes dramatically month to month, and I have no job security," she said.
Holroyd's openness about her influencing income has been received well online. Although influencers make a career from documenting the majority of their lives, this is one area that is commonly held back.
Other industries can use tools like Glassdoors to gage exactly how much someone can be expected to earn in a role, but the same can't be done for influencing. Social media influencing has become a more feasible job route for some in recent years, as the influencer marketing industry has grown into a financial powerhouse, with an estimated market size of $13.8 billion worldwide, according to Statista.
Newsweek contacted Star Holroyd for comment.
Uncommon Knowledge
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Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
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