Let AI Create a Cross-Platform Income Strategy for You

Now that you have a list of the social media platforms you want to launch your business on, you need to have AI help you develop a strategy that you can use across different platforms to generate income.

You might start with a prompt like this: “If my goal is to monetize my gardening content strategy on social media platforms without a site of my own, create a precise monetization strategy that covers as many options as possible (like affiliate links, sponsored posts, content creator funds, virtual gifts, etc.) for the best platforms that allow these methods.”

Not every social media platform will allow the same things. For example, if you are using TikTok or Instagram, you aren't going to link out directly from your post in most instances, but you'll use a link in your bio.

There are exceptions on some platforms, like Instagram, if you have a shoppable post. When we present this monetization question to AI, it will give you a specific strategy that you can use to earn money on each platform.

First, let's look at the type of results that ChatGPT provides:

YouTube

• Ad Revenue: Join the YouTube Partner Program to earn from ads shown on your videos.
• Channel Memberships: Offer exclusive content, badges, and perks to members who subscribe for a monthly fee.
• Super Chats and Super Stickers: During live streams, viewers can purchase Super Chats and Super Stickers to support your channel.
• Merchandise Shelf: Sell branded gardening merchandise directly from your YouTube channel.
• Affiliate Links: Include affiliate links in video descriptions and pinned comments.

The results you get from Google Gemini will be very different. It's going to organize it according to different monetization strategies, and tell you which platforms that method will work on, how it works, and give you tips for succeeding.

Here's an example:

Content Creator Funds:

• Platforms: YouTube, TikTok
• How it Works: Platforms like YouTube and TikTok offer creator funds where you earn a share of ad revenue based on views on your videos.
• Tips:
• Create high-quality, engaging content to maximize views and potential earnings.
• Meet platform eligibility requirements (e.g., minimum subscriber count).

It helps to use both of these AI tools whenever you are building your business because they give very different results, and you will eventually have preferences for one over the other, but still try to use them together.

What you can do after you have the basic information is ask AI for a detailed strategy to achieve that type of revenue. So let's pose the question like this: “Starting with YouTube, give me a comprehensive strategy for monetizing a channel about gardening that includes building my follower count up enough to be eligible for monetization, creating content that will maximize views and engagement on this platform, a fast-tracked schedule of content development, the best monetization options to pursue with details on achieving those - and any other tips you feel would help.”

AI is going to come back with information that can set you on the right course to generating 6 figures. On Gemini, it begins with the aspect of building your audience. It tells you to identify 3-5 core gardening topics that you are passionate about such as vegetable gardening, container gardening, and pest control.

The reason for whittling down your core topics is to present you as an expert in those areas. Then, it asks you to research your ideal viewers, whether those are beginners or urban gardeners, etc.

The goal is to be able to tailor your content and the language you use with your audience. Next, it says to make sure your content is optimized for search engines, and keep in mind that YouTube is the second largest search engine in the world.

It also says to create thumbnails and titles that are eye-catching and enticing, to respond to comments and answer questions anytime someone engages with your videos, and to try to partner with established gardening YouTubers for cross promotions and more exposure.

For fast tracking your content development, it's going to tell you to start batch content creation where you film several videos in one session that you can then edit and upload. It also says to use scripts and storyboards for efficiency, to edit with visuals in mind such as engaging transitions and concise information, and to repurpose longer videos into shorter snippets that have broader reach for other platforms.

For the aspect of generating content that maximizes views and engagement, it tells you to make sure you are experimenting with different video formats such as tutorials, time lapses, Q&A sessions, or challenges.

It also emphasizes the importance of visually appealing content with beautiful gardens and close up shots. You are instructed to create seasonal content with planting tips and harvesting advice and to keep the entertainment value high with your personality, humor, and storytelling.

For the monetization prospects, you are advised to get your first 1000 subscribers and 4000 watch hours so that you can unlock the YouTube partner program. You are also advised to start promoting relevant gardening products as an affiliate in the video descriptions and to partner up with gardening brands and sell courses of your own once you are more established.

When you are given this advice, you can take any of that and ask AI for more details. So let’s start with the unlocking of the YouTube Partner Program. We’ll ask Gemini the following: “Create a schedule for quickly building my first 1,000 subscribers and 4,000 watch hours. I want this done fast, so give me the topics and schedule that would get me to those numbers in the shortest amount of time possible.”

Gemini is going to give you an aggressive (yet not guaranteed) schedule for a 60 day timeline. It is done by weeks, like this:

Week 1:

• Monday: "Beginner Gardener Mistakes (and How to Avoid Them!)": Address common pitfalls faced by new gardeners. (Shorter video, high engagement)
• Wednesday: "Top 5 Fast-Growing Vegetables for Beginners": Provide actionable tips for success. (Visually appealing, showcase variety)
• Friday: "Life-Saving Gardening Hacks for Busy People": Cater to viewers with limited time. (Fast-paced, solution-oriented)

Right now, you are simply getting the strategy and schedule in place. In the next section, we're going to go over how to work with AI to get this content up and operational for you so that you are earning money with these ideas.

You can ask AI for help with other tips that it gave you. For example, one of the tips was about collaborating with other gardening YouTube channels. So you can prompt AI like this: “As a new gardening channel, give me a list of prospective collaboration accounts who might be open to working with me, an idea for each, and what I should say to them.”

Initially, Gemini doesn't return any specific channel names, but instead gives advice that is categorized by smaller niche gardening channels, mid sized gardening channels, and large gardening channels.

The advice looks like this:

Mid-Sized Gardening Channels:

• Channel: "[Gardening with Alex]" (Focuses on organic gardening practices)
• Collaboration Idea: "Organic Pest Control Solutions for Your Garden" (Split-screen Q&A or shared video)
• Talking Points: Hi Alex, I'm a big fan of your organic gardening approach! My channel focuses on helping new gardeners achieve success. I'd love to do a Q&A video with you addressing viewers' questions about organic pest control.

Now let's take a look at what ChatGPT did when we prompted it to give us a comprehensive strategy for monetizing a YouTube gardening channel. It's advice is to focus first on building that follower count for monetization along with the proper watch hours.

Like Gemini, It asks us to clearly define our niche channel definition, to get branding for professionalism and possibly create an engaging channel trailer, as well as optimizing our channel name for search engines.

It lays out a content strategy where we are posting two to three times per week, engaging with comments, and collaborating - the same as Gemini. It gives slightly more detail on the type of content we should be creating, such as DIY projects that are creative like building your own raised garden bed or creating your own compost bin.

It adds a little more detail to drawing attention to your channel and developing that follower count that is needed, not only emphasizing thumbnails and titles, but also adding a strong call to action that encourages viewers to subscribe and developing playlists that encourage viewers to binge watch videos on your channel and help you achieve that 4,000 hour count.

Instead of just giving you the topics each week, it gives you a weekly task list. The first month looks like this:

Week 1-2: Setup and Planning

• Set up your channel and social media profiles.
• Plan your first month of content (8-12 videos).
• Script and storyboard your videos.

Week 3-4: Initial Content Creation

• Film and edit your first batch of videos.
• Optimize video SEO (titles, descriptions, tags).
• Schedule uploads and create promotional content for social media.

As you can see, if you are using both of these AI tools at once, you're going to get slightly different advice that complements each other well, even if there is some overlap. The idea of creating playlists for binge watching and achieving hours is unique with ChatGPT, and something Gemini did not clue us in about.

When you are looking into the platforms you should work on, don't forget about podcasting. You can start a free podcast on Spotify, and use AI to not only map out your podcast topics, but also write a script or brainstorm an outline of talking points that you can use to generate in-demand audio shows that you can monetize.

You can even create a video podcast that you then upload to YouTube and extract excerpts of to upload on short form video social media platforms like TikTok. For this purpose, you may want to have slightly better equipment, but some people do record theirs on their smartphone and upload it without any fancy editing or techniques.

The monetization for podcasts are slightly different. For example, you can have a subscription fee for subscriber only content and other perks. You can allow advertising on your podcast that you get paid for, and listeners will donate and tip to your podcast as well as purchase merchandise that you sell.