A YouTube creator with 350,000 subscribers explains the 5 main ways she makes money as an influencer and entrepreneur

• Entrepreneur and YouTube creator Amy Landino, who has 359,000 subscribers, explained which online platforms and revenue streams she focuses on.
• Landino has a YouTube channel, a podcast, two books, and a Patreon account where she offers exclusive content to her followers. She is also the cofounder and owner of the video production house AfterMarq.
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When Amy Landino began making online videos in 2011, her focus was on her YouTube channel AmyTV (359,000 subscribers).

But as other money-making platforms have come to prominence, Landino - like many other successful influencers - has expanded into multiple revenue streams to grow her business.

Landino now has a podcast, two books, and a Patreon account where she offers exclusive content to her followers. She is also the cofounder and owner of the video production house AfterMarq, which she runs with her husband Vincenzo.

But how does she decide which to focus on? She said the key has been listening to her audience.

"The key thing I think we are all doing in business is to make everyone try to feel special," she said. "The only way to do that, is to make it feel like you are really talking to them. If you can accomplish that through media, you can create a very dedicated and loyal audience - that's business."

Her team now consists of an executive assistant, content manager, video editor/YouTube consultant, podcast editor, and graphic designer specific to creating Instagram and Twitter graphics.

Landino broke down which platforms she's active on, when she launched each, and how she's able to monetize her content across all of them.

From a single YouTube channel, to publishing two books, launching a podcast, and creating an account on Patreon

After discovering her passion when making a friend's wedding video, Landino started her YouTube channel in 2011. There, she posts videos like time-management tips, hacks for waking up earlier, and how to stay organized.

That same year, before she started to earn money on YouTube, she funded her business by offering one-on-one client work on video content marketing and business coaching.

"In a way, I've been my own sponsor since the beginning of 2011," she said. "The client work that I was doing was how I was able to facilitate making the videos to market myself. I was marketing a business at the time, not being an influencer. I kept my job, but kept creating."

She began attending speaking engagements in 2015, which she said later gave her the idea to publish a book similar to the topics she discusses (like video production and vlogging). She now has two books, which she sells on Amazon, "Vlog Like a Boss" which she started working on in 2017, and her most recent book, "Good Morning, Good Life: 5 Simple Habits to Master Your Mornings and Upgrade Your Life," which she released in December.

After she launched her first book in 2017, she said she no longer had the time to work with clients and instead shifted to making money full time as an influencer.

In late 2018, she started a podcast and later expanded her digital business further by creating an account on Patreon in mid-2019.

"Patreon is something that I dragged my feet on," she said of the platform, which allows creators to charge fans a monthly fee for certain content.

Developing multiple revenue streams with ads, consumer products, sponsorships, and speaking engagements

Landino earns money by speaking at events, promoting brands on social media, having ads on her YouTube videos, from Patreon, and from her books.

"Sponsorships are top 1 or 2, but speaking is also a very big revenue stream for me," she said. "Patreon is rising very quickly and a little bit of money on AdSense, affiliate sponsorships."

She promotes brands through influencer marketing campaigns on Instagram, YouTube, and on her podcast.

She has 55,000 followers on Instagram and has worked for brands like Fabletics and Mazda. Instagram influencers with similar followings to Landino have told Business Insider that the average rule most influencers will follow when they first start out is to set their sponsored post rate at $100 for every 10,000 Instagram followers.

Some creators sell merchandise to their followers like T-shirts or other apparel. But Landino said her books are her version of a consumer product and she "still makes quite a bit" from her first book. Within the book, she promotes her "masterclass," which she sells on her website for $497.

"I don't want to suddenly have T-shirts with my name on it for no reason," she added.

What she offers to paying subscribers on Patreon and how she earns revenue from it

Patreon is Landino's newest source of revenue, but is growing fast, she said.

On Patreon, memberships are tiered, and creators have the ability to build a system and price points that they think will work for their audience. Patreon receives a percentage of the income creators earn through the membership, "plus an industry standard rate for processing payments from your patrons," according to its pricing page.

Landino said the key to a successful Patreon is looking at it like an opportunity to build an intimate environment with your audience and to offer them special value. She offers videos, chats, and livestreams to her 282 paying members. Every time a subscriber goes up a tier, they are offered the rewards in the tiers below.

Here's a breakdown of Landino's Patreon tiers:

Tier 1: "Shine On." This tier costs $4 a month and includes morning routine, productivity, and motivation tips.

Tier 2: "Rise & Shine." This tier costs $8 a month and includes Q&A live streams, access to early announcements, and early access to her second book/writing process.

Tier 3: "Shine Bright Like a Diamond." This tier costs $14 a month and includes monthly live trainings, time management tips, inside access to her YouTube videos, and access to her paid guide on vlogging.

Tier 4: "Shine like a Boss." This tier costs $197 a month and includes career coaching, access to a Slack channel to communicate with members and Landino, among other benefits.

"With the people in the last tier, we are really able to help make payroll around here," she said.

For more on how to become a successful influencer, according to YouTube and Instagram stars, check out these Business Insider Prime posts:

• 3 YouTube influencers who made over $20,000 from a single video explain how - and it's not just about view count: We spoke to YouTube creators Kevin David, Paul Kousky, and Alyssa Kulani who broke down how they earned over $20,000 from a single YouTube video.

• Top YouTube creators explain the 4 main ways they earn money, and how lucrative each is: Creators on YouTube earn revenue a number of ways. We spoke with four creators who broke down how they make money.

• A Harvard student with 300,000 YouTube subscribers shares exactly how much money she made in 2019 as a college influencer from ads: Sienna Santer, a second-year student and YouTube influencer with 302,000 subscribers, shared how much money she made from Google's AdSense in 2019.