How to make money on OnlyFans
What is OnlyFans?
For the few of you who might have never heard of it, OnlyFans is a social media platform where influencers are free to post whatever content they decide to—from suggestive pictures to X-rated videos. In exchange for these, their fans pay them money in order to access their private content. What started out as a small influencer platform has now become one of the most important websites out there, with many using OnlyFans as their main source of revenue. According to Forbes, since the beginning of March 2020, OnlyFans registered more than 3.5 million new accounts.
If you too are looking to make money on the content subscription service, you’ll need to know about a few important hacks and tips that will help you stand out from the crowd. Here’s how to make money on OnlyFans.
How to start your OnlyFans account and become an influencer
Although we will focus on exactly how to make money on OnlyFans, you will first have to set up your account and discover OnlyFans’ different features. In a previous article, we covered the different types of OnlyFans influencers and how they charge for subscriptions.
Every OnlyFans profile has the following tabs:
Posts: Where all your content can be seen, from photos, videos, audio, stories, live videos, updates and more.
Photos: Your photos are shown here.
Videos: Your video content is shown here.
Audio: Your voice recordings are kept here.
Likes: Your total number of likes received is displayed here, and it is also where your fans can see your content they liked.
Fans: Your number of fans are shown here but fans themselves (and their usernames) are not visible.
Pick a niche for your OnlyFans content
When creating your OnlyFans account, it is crucial that you make your mind up on four things first. You should think about a fitting name for your account, the kind of content you want to post, how often you will post and your monthly subscription price.
OnlyFans offers niche content such as fitness coaching, adult content, cosplaying, fashion, beauty, gaming, DIY tutorials, cooking recipes, influencer vlogs, modelling, and even more! Knowing exactly what your unique selling point will be is the first step to making a name for yourself on the social media platform, and therefore to making money.
Add content to your new OnlyFans profile
Once your OnlyFans account is all set up, you’ll need to upload some content to it. If you don’t, fans who are willing to pay for access to your content will see that you have none for now, or not that much, which will discourage them from subscribing to your profile. That’s why, before starting you’ll want to make sure that you have a reasonable amount of content available and ready to upload.
To start adding content to your profile, click on the Home icon then go to ‘New Post’. From there, OnlyFans will give you a wide range of posting options such as pictures, videos and audio. Pick whichever you want to begin with, and try mixing it up. Some fans might prefer video content while others might enjoy pictures more.
But keep in mind that your monthly subscription fee is not the only way you can make money on OnlyFans. You can also make money through tips and Pay Per View (PPV) content, which are really important methods to use if you’re looking to make some serious money on OnlyFans.
Ask for tips from your fans
Fans can send you tips by clicking the dollar icon under your posts or they can also tip you through the messages. If you believe you offer subscribers high-quality content, then don’t be afraid to ask them to like your posts and tip you if they enjoy your content!
Go further than that by selling custom content using tips and PPV messages. In exchange for a tip, you can sell both digital content and physical goods depending on your niche. For example, you could sell workout and meal plans in PDF format, recipe books, pictures and videos, or other products you wish to sell to your fans—the OnlyFans world is your oyster!
If you decide to sell on OnlyFans, you’ll need to create a tip menu and list your items for sale plus the tip fee. Pin your tip menu to your profile and ask your fans to let you know what they’re tipping you for in order to define what your best selling items are.
Keep in mind that OnlyFans just changed its rules at the beginning of September, which include a new maximum tip price of $100 for the first four months a user is active on the site. After that point, it increases to $200, which was the standard for all users up until this point.
OnlyFans tip menu example and template
You can buy my workout routines and meal plans by tipping me in the messages. If you are purchasing a physical product, please send me your name and address. Thank you!!!
Tip menu
Digital products:
Standard 7-day meal plan (PDF file)—$20
Standard 7-day workout routine (PDF file)—$25
Custom 7-day meal plan (PDF file)—$70
Custom 7-day workout routine (PDF file)—$75
Physical products:
Top Workouts T-Shirt—$15
Top Workouts Tote Bag—$18
When you send me a tip, please let me know what you are tipping me for, so I can send you the correct item!
Use mass messages to promote exclusive content
You can use OnlyFans’ mass messaging feature to promote exclusive content to your subscribers. Instead of posting content on your feed for future subscribers to see, you can send a video, photo or a message to all of your current fans, which allows you to build a more personalised relationship with them. Only current subscribers will have access to specific content that you upload, which accentuates the sense of exclusivity.
Promote this exclusive content on your other social media channels to attract more subscribers. For example, you could post on Twitter: “For the next week, only my subscribers will receive exclusive pictures of *your content of choice*. At the end of next week, it will no longer be available.”
Keep in mind that when you send a mass message, whoever is in your current subscribers’ list at that time will always have access to the content you promote in the message. Because of this, mass messages are an efficient way to ensure your current subscribers don’t miss out on the exclusive content you have to offer.
Alternatively, if you decide to post exclusive content to your feed using the expired posts feature, current subscribers who don’t check your feed during that time frame won’t see that content, so remember to stick to mass messages so your subscribers don’t miss out on it.
Subscribers are here because they’re willing to pay you to get extra access to you and your content, access that they wouldn’t normally get from other social media platforms, so use the private messages to engage with fans and post exclusive content of you they won’t see anywhere else, which is exactly how you build up an OnlyFans following and make money.
Make the most of OnlyFans Pay Per View (PPV) messages
Sending out Pay Per View (PPV) messages to your subscribers on OnlyFans lets you send price-locked messages to your fans, who can then view them only if they pay the price you’ve set up. Through PPV messages, you can send photos, photosets of up to 20 photos, audio tracks and videos. The minimum price you could set used to be $3, however, OnlyFans just announced at the beginning of September that the rules had changed.
The new rules include a $100 cap on paid private messages, compared to $200 before, and a $50 cap on PPV posts for creators who don’t charge a subscription, compared to $200 previously. OnlyFans is also lengthening the pending payout period from seven to 21 days for creators in 14 countries, including India, Belize, the Dominican Republic, Mexico, and Venezuela.
Speaking about the new changes, OnlyFans said they reflect an “evolving process” that’s meant to “ensure payment protection for both content creators and users.”
While you can send PPV messages to many of your subscribers, you can also send them to a specific subscriber who previously requested a custom picture or video. For example, if you have a subscriber who requested a custom video for $80, you would send the PPV message to that fan exclusively.
To send a PPV message on OnlyFans, click on the envelope icon on the top of the page, which will take you the chat page. There, click ‘New Message’, then tick the ‘All Subscribers’ box and click ‘Next’. Once you’re on your messages, write your message and attach the media you wish to send, and click on the price tag icon to add your price for the content. Click ‘Send’ and you’re all done and ready to go!
Before accepting to pay for your price-locked content, fans will already be able to see what type of PPV content you have sent without seeing the actual content itself.
For example, if you sent someone a locked photo, they will see a blurred out preview, the word ‘photo’ as well as the number of photos included in the message and the price to unlock it.
If you have a free OnlyFans account, you can also price-lock your posts, which will require your subscribers to pay for that particular post before viewing it.
6 easy hacks to improve your OnlyFans profile
1. Interact with your fans
While it may sound obvious to some, having conversations with your subscribers is something that many OnlyFans creators overlook. But interacting with your fans, especially those who speak to you in the first place, is key to gaining more subscribers. Engaging with them is the best way to show them that you care, and we all know that engaged fans are the ones who will continue paying your monthly membership!
2. Schedule your content in advance
Again, this should sound evident. By creating and scheduling your content in advance, you’re making sure that your feed is constantly being updated with a regular flow of content. You can schedule photos, videos, audio and updates. Planning ahead not only gives you more free time to work on personalised PPV content but also keeps you ahead of the curve. What happens if you have a full day of content-making in your schedule but you end up feeling sick on that day? That’s when you can turn to your backup content.
3. Link a domain name to your OnlyFans account
While this step is not necessary, buying a domain name and redirecting it to your OnlyFans account could help you bring even more traffic to your page.
4. Be consistent, and patient too!
If you go a long time without posting content or interacting with your fans, they are more likely to cancel their subscription, so make sure to post content regularly and talk with your fans every day if possible. Update you feed at least every 2 days (if not more often), even if it’s just a photo or a simple status update. In other words, show your followers that you are active so they feel like paying your monthly price is worth it.
With this in mind, all good things come to those who wait, as they say. You need to approach and treat your OnlyFans account like a business, which means that it will take you some time to get things going. If you get discouraged after a few days of posting on the platform, then OnlyFans is probably not for you.
5. Create a custom welcome message
Send an automated welcome message to every new fan who subscribes to your OnlyFans. In order to be able to do this, you’ll need to activate the ‘Welcome Message For New Fans’ feature in your settings.
6. Create a sizzle reel
Once you’ve made sure to populate your page with your content, you can also create a short promotional video, also called a sizzle reel, showcasing your best content snippets. Having a sizzle reel on your profile shows new subscribers your best content, letting them know your value straight away. Pin your sizzle reel to the top of your profile for all of your subscribers to see, and make sure that it is no longer than 2 minutes.
If you already have another pinned post such as a tip menu, you won’t be able to pin both posts. Instead, upload your sizzle reel as a story and save it permanently as a highlight. Your highlights will always stick to the top of your profile, so everyone can see it first.
5 tools to use to promote your OnlyFans profile
1. OnlyFans promotional campaigns
OnlyFans lets you run promotions by offering fans a discounted subscription. You can set discounts to expire on a certain date, set it for new subscribers only or even to expire after a certain number of people have signed up. You can even make your account free for a while if you think this strategy might help you gain more fans rapidly.
As you might have guessed, discounted subscriptions encourage fans to subscribe to your account and decide if they are satisfied enough with your content. If not, they can cancel their subscription’s renewal. If they like your content, you will now have a regular subscriber who will pay your normal price once their promotional month ends.
By running a promotion, you have a chance to prove to a potential subscriber that your content is worth the full price. If your usual pricing is expensive, this strategy will only work if the content you upload is of high quality. You need to prove to your fans that your high price tag is worth it, and offering them a discount first might help them realise that.
2. Snapchat and Instagram
In order to gain more subscribers to your OnlyFans account, you can also use social media to promote it outside of the platform and reach more potential subscribers. Most online marketers follow the one cent per follower rule (or $100 per 10,000 followers). However, you can occasionally pay $25 to $50 for promotion from influencers with 100,000 followers.
Snapchat is a great way to start if you’re looking to promote your OnlyFans account. Start by looking for popular Snapchat accounts with viewers who would be interested in your content. If you run a fitness account for example, look for fitness influencers. If you produce adult content, look for adult influencers—you get the gist.
Once you have chosen a fitted influencer, make sure you ask them to send you a screenshot of their insights. This is an important step because, according to Snapchat, only creators with large audiences have access to the insights feature. This will also allow you to see how many views their stories got over the past week and month, the total time users have spent viewing their profile, the percentage of male and female users viewing their stories as well as the demographic information you will need about their viewers. Having access to this information can confirm whether the Snapchat influencer you’ll pay to promote your OnlyFans has the right audience for you.
When looking for a potential Snapchat account to reach out to, look for someone with at least a million views in the last month—the more impressions your promotion gets, the more clicks and subscribers you will gain.
When it comes to online marketing, the average conversion rate commonly falls around 2 per cent, so you can use this to predict the number of subscribers you will gain from a promotion after receiving your influencer’s insights.
With a 2 per cent conversion rate, 1,000,000 impressions should get you around 20,000 visitors. From those 20,000 visitors, at least 400 should convert to subscribers. Depending on your selected influencer’s insights, make sure to pay for the expected 2 per cent conversion rate, not their impressions.
If you’re looking to promote your OnlyFans profile on other social media, then Instagram is another good option. Just like on Snapchat, you could either reach out to Instagram influencers and see whether they can share your page, or you could also use your own Instagram account to promote your OnlyFans through your Story.
When posting a Story on Instagram, if your account contains adult content, make sure your Story doesn’t contain nudity, otherwise you might risk getting banned or shadowbanned. One thing remains a problem here. How do you link your Story to your OnlyFans account? If you have more than 10,000 followers on Instagram, then you will be able to add a ‘Swipe Up’ link to your Story. Same applies if you have the verification blue tick next to your Instagram handle.
If you haven’t got either of these, try promoting your OnlyFans through a post. Post a photo, gif or video relevant to your OnlyFans content, and in the description add a caption including the words ‘click the link in my bio’. Since links in post captions are not clickable, you need to direct viewers to your bio link, which can be clicked on. Again, if your OnlyFans account contains nudity, make sure not to post any nudity to your Instagram profile. You can always crop out the nude parts or cover them up with large emojis so your content doesn’t get taken down by Instagram.
3. Reddit
Although Reddit is a strange and confusing place, it is also a great platform to use for promotion. Start by creating an account and look for subreddits that are related to the type of content you post on OnlyFans. Once you’ve selected a subreddit that works, make sure you read the subreddit’s rules as some subreddits allow self-promotion while others don’t, which might be a bad way for you to start on Reddit. Try to promote your OnlyFans account on a few subreddits in order to increase your exposure.
When sharing your page on Reddit, because links in Reddit post titles are not clickable, add your profile link in the comment section after posting. Since you will probably be posting photo content, you will not be able to add a description to your post, so make sure your potential new subscribers can reach your OnlyFans profile easily. And use a catchy title for your post!
This type of promotion usually works better for influencers, gamers and adult content creators.
4. YouTube
If you have a YouTube channel, you can promote your exclusive OnlyFans account directly to your YouTube subscribers. Add your OnlyFans link to your description and tell your viewers to subscribe if they want to view your exclusive content. After reading our Beginner’s guide to SEO, try to post videos on YouTube that include the high potential keywords your soon-to-be subscribers may be looking for.
You can also decide to collaborate with other Youtubers so that both can promote each other’s OnlyFans accounts. The best way to promote your OnlyFans account is to create a video related to either the platform itself or the content you provide.
5. Collaborations with other OnlyFans creators
Finally, you can promote your OnlyFans by working with other OnlyFans creators. Tip other influencers in exchange for them promoting your account to their followers. Before doing this, remember to check how many fans the creator you’re reaching out to has.
Conclusion
OnlyFans is a premium example of how to monetise content with subscribers driving the output. It has become the ultimate platform for nurturing micro-communities and fan engagement, which ultimately makes it a great way to make money. That is, if you have exclusive content to offer your fans in the first place. This should be your main learning from this how-to: work on your content and which niche it fits in first, then start posting consistently and interacting with your fans in order to maintain your subscriber count.
OnlyFans’ business model and immense popularity among its community are both indicative of a wider change in behaviour. Young entrepreneurs on the platform are shifting from direct-to-consumer to direct-to-fan interactions. This newly found level of intimacy gives you the chance to engage with your fans and target them more effectively than ever before, so be sure you make good use of it because brands definitely will soon too.
