Is it possible to earn a full-time income with less than 50,000 followers?

The short answer is yes. But how?

Austen Tosone, a microinfluencer and podcast host, shared the various ways she earns a living, with 23,000 YouTube subscribers and 16,000 Instagram followers.

Tosone has been self-employed for nearly 5 years. Like Tosone, there are creators who have established full-time careers with micro followings by diversifying their income streams.

Here’s a breakdown of Tosone’s 8 income streams as a creator in 2025:

Tosone started selling digital products a few years ago. She has two primary platforms for selling digital products: her own website and Etsy. In 2025, 1% of her income came from digital product sales.

On her website, she sells creator resources, including invoice templates, a rate sheet, a campaign wrap-up template, and more.

Through her Etsy shop, she sells wedding-planning templates she created in 2024.

In 2025, 2% of Tosone’s income came from consulting. Last year, she decided to scale back her one-on-one consulting with brands and content creators. Instead, she focused on digital products, a digital course, and free informational videos.

She booked fewer clients in 2025 than in previous years and raised her rates.

Tosone also earns income through platform incentives, such as TikTok’s Creator Rewards Program and Instagram and Facebook Reels bonuses.

In 2025, 3% of her income came from platform incentives. Tosone said that several years ago, this was a top revenue stream for her, thanks to the now-defunct Pinterest Creator Rewards program.

Tosone said platform incentives generally only pay off for consistently viral videos or for longer videos that reach over 100,000 views.

This is both an active and passive income stream for Tosone, and in 2025, 5% of her income came directly from education. For her, this is when a brand or company hires her to teach a workshop.

Tosone also sells an SEO workshop and a digital course.

Tosone uses the platform LTK for affiliate marketing. In the LTK app, she can list links to her favorite and most-used products. In 2025, about 5% of her income came from affiliate marketing.

For paid research studies, she works with the company User Interviews. Several tech companies, particularly in AI, are seeking to connect with creators to better understand their workflow pain points, she said. In 2025, 13% of her income came directly through completing paid research studies and product testing.

Tosone said that, typically, she’ll be paid via PayPal or a gift card for Amazon or Uber.

Tosone earns ad revenue through the YouTube Partner Program and her blog ad network, Mediavine. In 2025, 13% of her income was through ad revenue.

As a lifestyle creator, Tosone has worked with several top brands. In 2025, she worked with brands like Dove, The Knot, and Drunk Elephant. Working with brands through sponsored content was Tosone’s top revenue stream in 2025, making up 38% of her income.

In addition to earnings, Tosone has several recurring expenses as a content creator, including a virtual assistant who supports her podcast, an SEO team for her blog, one-off contractors such as photographers, and an accountant for tax preparation. She also pays for several software programs like Canva, Riverside, and Opus Clip. Tosone does not work with an agent or manager.

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