Interested in starting a social media business but not quite sure what to start?
The good news is, with a little experience + knowledge in this space, there are so many opportunities to build an innovative product/service in this industry.
We put together a list of 31 profitable social media business ideas (with examples) you can start today!
Here they are:
1. Start an online video editing business ($72K/year)
Sabba Keynejad from London, England, United Kingdom started VEED over 2 years ago, a online video editing business.
- Revenue: $6,000/ month
- Founders: 2
- Employees: 1
- Location: London, England, United Kingdom
Tim and I met during an online hackathon. During the hackathon participants were encouraged to meetup for real. We actually got on really well, and stayed friends and kept spitballing ideas for a startup for years.
At this time, I was a design student at Central Saint Martins and I had recently won a competition for Sony Music creating an interactive music video for the band Hurts with my friend Virgil. Then soon after graduation, I started working as a creative technologist in London for a bunch of different advertising & branding agencies and a few startups too.
2. Become an author ($168K/year)
Nick Thacker from Colorado, USA started Nick Thacker about 4 years ago, a author.
- Revenue: $14,000/ month
- Founders: 1
- Employees: 1
- Location: Colorado, USA
I’ve always been a fanatic reader, specifically in the thriller genre. I discovered Dan Brown as a kid, then James Rollins, and I’ve always love action movies that combine adrenaline and history (think National Treasure, Indiana Jones, etc.).
I decided to write a book (my first was called The Golden Crystal, and it has been re-launched as The Atlantis Stone) when my grandfather passed away. He had always been a strong positive influence in my life, and he, my dad, and I often swapped paperbacks we liked. That first book was intended as a gift for my dad for Christmas, and it was going to be the only one I ever wrote -- just to see if I could do it.
I had no idea what I was doing (arguably, I still don’t…). I just thought it would be fun to combine technology with the discovery of Atlantis… in some way. When I got started, I was naive enough to think that books simply happen, but the book very quickly got the best of me. I took a six-month break and consumed as much as I could on the subject of the craft of writing fiction. I’d never really written anything before, so it was an eye-opening experience to learn about structure, plot tropes, character development, and everything else that goes into a good, cohesive story.
3. Start a recruiting agency ($3.48M/year)
Sharon Koifman from Montreal, Quebec, Canada started DistantJob almost 13 years ago, a recruiting agency.
- Revenue: $290,000/ month
- Founders: 1
- Employees: 26
- Location: Montreal, Quebec, Canada
I started off by running and owning a hosting company called Empire Host. We had about 3K clients at the time support was run from two offices in India with nearly 30 employees.
We were also providing an outsourcing package. Our business solutions were really cheap and to be frank, our results were mediocre at best. Although the service was fine for any mom and pop shop or even an “any results will do” kind of company, we noticed that too often, people who run tech companies actually outsourced to companies such as ourselves even work that went into their core offering - because it was cheap.
At the time, what outsourcing really was, was an arbitrage business. But the concept that people would outsource big chunks of their business to a company that does not provide the same level of communication, process, quality control, and culture just because they’ll save a lot of money, that idea really stuck with me.
4. Start a social media marketing service ($600K/year)
David Schlais from Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA started Vital Traffic Labs about 4 years ago, a social media marketing service.
- Revenue: $50,000/ month
- Founders: 2
- Employees: 0
- Location: Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA
My personal background is in B2B enterprise sales, and at my previous employer, things were going great for the first 2.5 years that I was an employee there. I moved up quickly, was promoted twice, and actually had the opportunity to build out a team. Unfortunately, one day that all changed and I realized that I was deeply unhappy, and after years of trying and failing to start businesses online I thought that maybe it was time for one more go.
Your pot of gold and freedom is out there somewhere, but you will never find it until you start looking for it.
The company I was working for announced that it was being acquired, so I decided to give my old friend Derek a call. Initially, I pitched him on starting a recruitment agency together (both of us had started our careers at an executive search office together). He said that he would think about it, and actually came to me with the idea for an SMMA (Social Media Marketing Agency).
5. Start an online courses business ($60K/year)
Lidiya Kesarovska from The Netherlands started Let's Reach Success almost 8 years ago, a online courses business.
- Revenue: $5,000/ month
- Founders: 1
- Employees: 0
- Location: The Netherlands
Back in 2013, I had already discovered my passion - personal development - and had realized writing is the best way to express myself. So I combined these and started a self-improvement blog.
Starting the blog was the best decision and not giving up on it over the years (even when no traffic or money was coming in) was what helped me move forward.
It was first just a hobby and I knew nothing about blogging. Over the years, after publishing a ton of content, gaining traffic, learning about SEO, email marketing, social media, and all the ways to monetize a blog, it became a real business.
6. Start an influencer platform ($0/year)
Arielle Frank from Los Angeles, California, USA started Clout Collective over 2 years ago, a influencer platform.
- Revenue: $0/ month
- Founders: 1
- Employees: 1
- Location: Los Angeles, California, USA
I spent the majority of my upbringing in the SF Bay Area a few towns over from Palo Alto. It was an exciting time to live in Silicon Valley-- I distinctly remember the line of people camping out for the release of the very first iPhone as Steve Wozniak rolled up on his Segway to say hi. With an adversarial stubbornness unique to teenagers, I set my sights on the furthest thing I could think of from Silicon Valley and startup culture; working in the music industry.
I spent the first half of my twenties vying for a job in music, and the second half living out my aspirations, spearheading marketing efforts for indie and major labels. Working in music certainly delivered on my original plan to avoid innovation and technology at all costs. Eventually, the limitations of such an environment caught up with me and after two years at Sony Music, I was deeply frustrated by the company’s inflexible and outdated culture.
In an effort to feel professionally fulfilled, I was desperately seeking new challenges outside of work. Around the same time within Sony, we were starting to heavily utilize influencers to market our artists. Through this direct exposure, I was introduced to the world of influencer marketing. At the time, it was late 2015 and I was overcome with excitement for the potential of this new type of marketing. It had all the makings of the perfect storm of opportunity-- no clear best practices, few regulations, & little to no standardization.
7. Start a lifestyle blog ($240K/year)
Brock McGoff from Richmond, VA, USA started The Modest Man over 8 years ago, a lifestyle blog.
- Revenue: $20,000/ month
- Founders: 1
- Employees: 1
- Location: Richmond, VA, USA
I didn’t really know what I wanted to do after college. My dad was an entrepreneur, and I had the spirit, but with no direction. I got a job in marketing/communications and ran a music production side hustle for a while.
I tried my hand at music full time and basically broke even after a year. I read The 4-Hour Work Week and started learning about online business, passive income, WordPress and SEO.
8. Start a social media scheduling tool ($120K/year)
Davis Baer from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA started OneUp about 5 years ago, a social media scheduling tool.
- Revenue: $10,000/ month
- Founders: 2
- Employees: 2
- Location: Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA
In 2012, I graduated from a small school in Pennsylvania called Grove City College, where I got my degree in finance. After graduating, I worked a few jobs in corporate finance and absolutely hated it. The sad part was that almost everyone I worked with also hated their jobs, and would trudge through their misery week after week, motivated only by the promise of a weekend off, or those glorious 2–3 weeks of vacation each year. The golden handcuffs are a very real thing.
I wanted to take advantage of us being small and, as Paul Graham has famously said, “do things that don’t scale” by really wow-ing the users during the onboarding experience.
A few years ago, I had the opportunity to leave the corporate finance world and join a startup that a former classmate from college was starting. I came on board to help with marketing, but took a pretty substantial pay cut from what I was making before, as the founder of that company had only raised a small friends-and-family seed round to get things up and running.
9. Start a podcast ($2.04M/year)
John Lee Dumas from Puerto Rico, USA started Entrepreneurs on Fire over 8 years ago, a podcast.
- Revenue: $170,000/ month
- Founders: 1
- Employees: 4
- Location: Puerto Rico, USA
Before I launched Entrepreneurs On Fire I was working in Commercial Real Estate, which meant I was spending a lot of time in the car driving to show properties and meet with clients.
That’s when I had my own ah-ha moment: why isn’t someone creating a daily podcast for people like me, who have to drive to and from work every day and want to consume inspiring content? … Be the change.
Because I was not a huge fan of the radio, I started listening to podcasts. They were like a breath of fresh air: on-demand, valuable content that gave me advice, tips and tactics about any topic I was interested in for free.
10. Start a photography business ($1.32M/year)
Kyle Nelson from Chico, California, USA started Results Imagery over 3 years ago, a photography business.
- Revenue: $110,000/ month
- Founders: 2
- Employees: 8
- Location: Chico, California, USA
We both had previous experience in another start-up called Soul id which was a social media platform for action sports. We ran the marketing and media at that company which was a blast. After we left that company, we split directions. Eli got involved in the eCommerce industry by starting a brand called Winterial which he grew to hundreds of SKUs. Kyle headed in the media direction and started a commercial photography company where he worked with Fortune 500 companies and small businesses.
At this time Kyle wanted to be able to get back in the start-up world, grow a large brand and a team of like-minded creatives and innovators. So like any entrepreneur, he jumped on Google and started to search for media companies that were also technology-based companies as well. That is where the inspiration of starting a digital agency that solely focused on the media portion for brands and product companies came to life.
Culture is the centerpiece of a successful company. Creating a place for employees to come to work and enjoy what they do, the environment and who they work with will pay long term dividends.
11. Start a graphic design business ($90K/year)
Junaid Ansari from Mumbai started Draftss almost 3 years ago, a graphic design business.
- Revenue: $7,500/ month
- Founders: 2
- Employees: 12
- Location: Mumbai
We have been running a design agency for the past 10 years as a side business. After gaining inspiration from some of our competitors in this domain providing a productized service, we came up with an idea for an even better process that is more optimal and efficient bringing out better results at a more affordable cost comparatively.
The most effective method we tried for our validation was initiating a conversation with every person who visited our website to understand more about what they were looking for and what would make Draftss an ideal provider for their needs.
We wanted to productize the design and code service domain, where a design team is like a product subscription. You buy a Design or Code subscription and equip yourself with a design or/and development team that can get everything done for you. Subscribe when you require projects to be completed, unsubscribe once you are done.
12. Become a youtube personality
Examples of a successful youtube personality:
Here are some great videos on how to get started with a youtube personality:
For further info, check out these books and products:
- How To Become A Youtube Superstar: Quick Start Guide
- How To Start A Youtube Channel For Fun & Profit
13. Become a social media consultant ($90K/year)
Examples of a successful social media consultant:
Here are some great videos on how to get started with a social media consultant:
For further info, check out these books and products:
- Social Media Marketing Workbook: How To Use
- Social Media Management: Persuasion In Networked Culture
Check out all of our social media consultant case studies ➜
And for some real world inspiration, give Amanda Shepherd's story on creating Social Media Manager Society a read:
I’m Amanda Shepherd, the owner and lead mentor at the Social Media Manager Society. Aside from social media consulting to businesses in the food, beverage, and hospitality industries, I created a program to teach other women how to run successful social media businesses so they can have the time and financial freedom they’ve always wanted!
I quit my 9-5 and in one year made almost $100,000 working an average of four hours per day - and still growing!
14. Become a social media merchant
Examples of a successful social media merchant:
Here are some great videos on how to get started with a social media merchant:
- Social Media Marketing, Web Development, Graphic Design, Merchant Services - Your Digital One-Stop.
- Using Social Media And Blogs To Sell Merchant Services
For further info, check out these books and products:
- Social Media Marketing Workbook: How To Use
- How To Start A Social Media Business And Earn $100,000 Per Year Working From Home
15. Become a social media influencer
Examples of a successful social media influencer:
Here are some great videos on how to get started with a social media influencer:
- How To Become An Influencer In 2020
- How To Become A Social Media Influencer? How To Work With Brands
For further info, check out these books and products:
- Social Media Marketing Workbook: How To Use
- Social Media Marketing 2020: Build Your Brand And Become
16. Start a social media analytics business ($1.2M/year)
Juan Pablo Tejela from Madrid, Community of Madrid, Spain started Metricool almost 5 years ago, a social media analytics business.
- Revenue: $100,000/ month
- Founders: 2
- Employees: 17
- Location: Madrid, Community of Madrid, Spain
Both my wife and I are software developers. We decided to start building software that helps bloggers understand the results of their content and its impact on social media. My wife had experience as a blogger and for me, digital marketing is one of my passions, as well as Internet businesses. At the time, I had 14 years of experience in software development with different companies and I felt confident that it was time to build our own project.
My way of managing the business is quite conservative and prudent, I often question whether or not I should have taken a more aggressive path when it came to investments and funding.
It all started as a side project because we both had our respective jobs. Metricool was initially offered at no cost as an experiment. However, in a short time, between 4,000 and 5,000 people had signed up, which encouraged us to make the jump and test a new business model based on a Premium subscription. We included some professional features focused on social media managers and the results were promising. Six months later, we reached a monthly recurring revenue of $3,000 which was the final push to help us decide that it was the right moment to dedicate more time to the project, quit my day job, and start building a team to boost the growth.
The business started with $10,000 that we had earned during the first few months of Metricool. We contributed an additional $10,000 from our family savings and $30,000 that my mother lent us. We wanted to avoid external financing (such as Venture Capital or Business Angels) because with 50k and some recurring revenue we could proceed even if it was a little slower at first.
17. Start an influencer reporting tool business ($102K/year)
Bruno Bornsztein from Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA started InfluenceKit about 3 years ago, a influencer reporting tool business.
- Revenue: $8,500/ month
- Founders: 3
- Employees: 0
- Location: Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA
I started building web applications in Ruby on Rails in 2005, after several years of hacking together things in PHP, HTML, and Wordpress. In 2006, I launched Curbly.com, which was meant to become a social network for people interested in interior design and DIY (sort of what Houzz is today).
Over time, Curbly evolved into a pure blogging business - we hired writers, created content, and sold advertising and sponsored posts. InfluenceKit was really the result of an internal tool I developed to manage our entire blogging process at Curbly. It worked so well for us that eventually, I decided to turn it into a product.
My background in running a blogging business for more than ten years gave me a deep understanding of many of the needs of our potential customers. I knew most of their pain points and could speak about them in terms that resonated right away.
18. Start a social network
Examples of a successful social network:
Here are some great videos on how to get started with a social network:
- Ask Jay - Starting A Social Network
- Question: How Do Build A Social Network If I'm Not A Programmer?
For further info, check out these books and products:
19. Become a community manager
Examples of a successful community manager:
Here are some great videos on how to get started with a community manager:
For further info, check out these books and products:
- Online Community Management For Dummies
- The Community Manager's Playbook: How To Build Brand Awareness And Customer Engagement
20. Become a social media customer support representative
Examples of a successful social media customer support representative:
Here are some great videos on how to get started with a social media customer support representative:
For further info, check out these books and products:
21. Become a socia media copywriter
Examples of a successful socia media copywriter:
Here are some great videos on how to get started with a socia media copywriter:
- Social Media Copywriting Tips - Write Social Media Posts That Sell Without Sounding Spammy
- Social Media Copywriting Course: 7 Habits Of Effective Writers
For further info, check out these books and products:
22. Become a content strategist
Examples of a successful content strategist:
Here are some great videos on how to get started with a content strategist:
For further info, check out these books and products:
- Epic Content Marketing: How To Tell A Different Story, Break Through The Clutter, And Win More Customers By Marketing Less
- Content Marketing Works: 8 Steps To Transform Your Business
23. Become a tik tok personality
Examples of a successful tik tok personality:
Here are some great videos on how to get started with a tik tok personality:
For further info, check out these books and products:
24. Become an infoproduct marketer
Examples of a successful infoproduct marketer:
For further info, check out these books and products:
- How To Start A Profitable Authority Blog In Under One Hour
- The Beginner's Affiliate Marketing Blueprint
25. Become a live streamer
Examples of a successful live streamer:
Here are some great videos on how to get started with a live streamer:
- 6 Things Every New Streamer Needs Before You Start Streaming!!
- Pokimane's Top 5 Tips For Small Streamers!
For further info, check out these books and products:
- The Live-Streaming Handbook: How To Create Live Video For Social Media On Your Phone And Desktop
- Live Streaming Kit: How To Live Stream Online For
26. Become an event promotor
Examples of a successful event promotor:
Here are some great videos on how to get started with a event promotor:
For further info, check out these books and products:
- Event Marketing: How To Successfully Promote Events, Festivals, Conventions, And Expositions
- Event Planning: Management & Marketing For Successful Events: Become An Event Planning Pro & Create A Successful Event Series
27. Become a meme markter
Examples of a successful meme markter:
Here are some great videos on how to get started with a meme markter:
For further info, check out these books and products:
28. Become a social media tutor
Examples of a successful social media tutor:
Here are some great videos on how to get started with a social media tutor:
- How To Start Social Media Marketing (4 Essential Tips For Beginners)
- Facebook Marketing For Tutors - How To Find Students Without Paying For Ads!
For further info, check out these books and products:
29. Start a virtual assistant business ($12K/year)
Examples of a successful virtual assistant business:
Here are some great videos on how to get started with a virtual assistant business:
- The Ultimate Guide Starting A Virtual Assistant Business
- How To Become A Virtual Assistant In 2 Weeks!
For further info, check out these books and products:
30. Become a public relations rep
Examples of a successful public relations rep:
Here are some great videos on how to get started with a public relations rep:
For further info, check out these books and products:
31. Become an affiliate marketer
Examples of a successful affiliate marketer:
Here are some great videos on how to get started with a affiliate marketer:
For further info, check out these books and products:

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