How to Make Money with Facebook Live Streams (5 BEST Ways)

You’ve built an engaged community who tunes in your Facebook Live like clockwork. 

Now, you may want to take your streams to next level and start cashing in on those views, likes, and hearts. 

And we’re here to show you exactly how to do that.  

In this guide, we’ll walk you through the 5 ways you can make money with Facebook Live: 

1. Paid Online Events 
2. Facebook Stars
3. In-stream Ads 
4. Meta Brand Collaborations Manager 
5. Subscriptions 

Plus, a bonus tip on how you can leverage live streaming by owning your own platform!

Let’s get right into it! 

Get To Know Facebook’s Monetization Rules 

Before you get started with your live broadcast, it’s important to check your eligibility for Facebook Monetization. 

You’ll only unlock the monetization options listed if you have a business page and meet the basic monetization rules on Facebook. Make sure your Facebook Page, Group, or profiles meet the following:

• Community Standards: this means your posts are considered safe (free from graphic violence, nudity, and hate speech). 
• Partner Monetization Policies: you’re living in an eligible country and can receive payments. This policy applies at the page level, which means that your page will be judged as a whole. 
• Content Monetization Policies: these policies apply at the content level. These are high-level rules that ensure all your content on the page, including Facebook Live streams, are free from sexually explicit content and profanity. 

Facebook changes its rules constantly without notifying creators. So, you need to periodically check the most updated guidelines. 

To do that, head to Creator Studio and click the Monetization tab on the left. 

This page lets you know if you have any violations and which monetization features have been unlocked from your business page. If a feature is available, you can activate it and set it up.

Now, let’s talk about money…

1. Make Money With Paid Online Events 

As long as your page meets the Community Standards and you’re in a country where this feature is available, you’re going to be eligible to use Paid Online Events. 

When this feature is turned on, you can charge a fee for creating a Facebook Event page where you can host your live stream.

For example, you can host a private Facebook Event where you charge your customers for a live Yoga class with real-time feedback from the instructor. 

Paid Online Events are great for:

• Hosting live trainings.
• Creating an online networking event with other influencers.
• Collaborating with other creators for fundraising.
• Engaging with your most loyal followers who want exclusive content.

And speaking of loyal followers, you can give them a more exciting option to support you as a creator… 

2. Reach For The Stars With Facebook Stars

With Facebook Stars, viewers can purchase and send stars along with their comments in a live stream. 

When fans buy Stars, their comments get highlighted in the stream’s comment section where they can outwardly show their support to you and the rest of the community.

Your audience can send as few as 100 stars ($1.40) or as many as 6,400 stars ($99.99). Facebook pays 1 cent for every star you receive. 

This is basically Facebook’s version of Twitch Bits and YouTube’s Super Chat. 

Facebook Stars is true to its name because this is an invite-only feature and is reserved for Facebook’s most prominent “stars.” Stars range from famous bloggers to lifestyle influencers to gaming streamers.  

If you believe you’re a rising star, you can let Facebook know that you’re interested in having this feature. Here’s how: 

1. Go to Creator Studio. 
2. Click on Monetization. 
3. Choose Tools and then Stars. 
4. Click on the “I’m interested” button.

Once you express interest, you have to wait for Facebook to reach out to you and give you access (if Facebook deems you worthy). 

While you’re waiting for your Facebook Stars to get aligned, you can earn some income with our next monetization option. 

3. How To Earn From In-Stream Ads

In-stream ads are short video or banner ads that are shown before, during, or after your live stream. 

In-Stream Ads are excellent for streams that are ad-friendly, like:

• Sports
• Music 
• Gaming 
• Lifestyle (e.g. travel, food, etc.) 

That’s because these types of live video content usually appeal to all audiences on social media, which is why they are considered ad-friendly. 

Once you’re eligible, you can keep doing your regular live streaming schedule without adding any extra effort. You only need to put in-stream ads by default. 

There are 3 types of in-stream ads: 

• Pre-roll ads: 5 to 15-second video ads played before your stream starts. 
• Mid-roll ads: 5 to 15-second video ads played during your stream keep going in a small floating window. 
• Image ads: banner ads that appear at any time during the broadcast under your live stream.

Here’s what that looks like:

To be eligible, you need to meet Facebook’s Video-On-Demand (VOD) and Live videos requirements:

1. VOD: you’ll need to have 10,000 followers, 600,000 total minutes views in the last 60 days, and have at least 5 active videos. 
2. Live Video: you’ll need to have a total of 60,000 minutes from live videos in the last 60 days. Plus, 3 out of the 5 active videos need to be previously live videos. 

Money from in-stream ads can act as great additional income from your live streams. 

Like most ad revenue models, Facebook pays using the CPM (cost per 1000 impressions) method. It’s similar to how you get paid with the ads from your YouTube channel. 

Your CPM depends on many factors, including your location, the type of live videos, and when it was published. US-based streamers are estimated to earn between $2 to $5 per CPM. 

This means that If your Facebook Live gets around 10,000 views, you’ll get roughly between $20 to $50. It might seem small, but it can quickly add up, especially if you add brand sponsorships into the mix.

Speaking of which…

4. Boost Stream Revenue with Brand Sponsorships

Partnerships with brands are among the most popular ways for content creators to make money online, even before live streaming became a thing. 

If your content is considered safe and great for general audiences like food, travel, and education then brand partnerships can be a good way for you to make more money from your live streams! 

Facebook released Meta Brands Collab Manager, which is a “free marketplace to help brands and creators learn more about and connect with each other.” 

As a creator, you can: 

• Browse and respond to project briefs from brands you support. 
• Submit your portfolio, media kit, and insights from past partnerships.
• Manage everything in one place, from finding new deals and managing existing partnerships to getting customized insights.

You can agree with a brand partner on how you want to promote their product, including mentioning it in your live streams. These posts show up in the newsfeed with the label “Paid Partnership.”  Facebook users can click on About this Partnership to learn more about the brand.

To qualify for brand collaborations, you’ll need at least 1000 followers and at least one of the following…

• 15,000 post engagements 
• 180,000 minutes of video views 
• 30,000 1-minute views for 3-minute videos

….in the last 60 days. 

If you meet those requirements, you can set your starting price per project or content. Brands and advertisers will see this when they view your portfolio. 

For partnerships to be really lucrative you need to have a big audience and always be networking to get those deals. 

It’s hard work but once you score a big project, the payoff could be huge!   

That’s why it’s best to have a more reliable revenue stream.

5. Get Recurring Revenue with Facebook’s Subscriptions

The subscription-based model is the holy grail of making money with Facebook Live because it provides creators with a recurring income. Previously called fan subscriptions, Meta has renamed it to Subscriptions. 

Facebook Subscriptions charges your fans a monthly recurring fee to access exclusive content. Qualified creators can have the “Subscribe” button on their page. They are great for creators who have:

• A large, active, and engaged following. 
• Eager fans who want to have more special access. 
• Exclusive live streams that they can add as value for subscribed followers. 

You can customize what your subscribers get, such as exclusive live streams, special badges, and discounts to your other paid offerings. 

To be eligible for Subscriptions, your Page must have 10,000 followers or 250+ Return Viewers and one of the following…

• 50,000 Post Engagements
• 180,000 Watch Minutes

…in the last 60 days. 

Once you meet all the requirements, you’ll be able to set up the monthly subscription fee. 

Income from Subscriptions varies greatly and depends on the niche you’re in. 

The most popular niche is gaming, where some streamers are earning more money from Facebook than Twitch! Gamers need to qualify for the Level Up program first and have a Gaming Video Creator Page that meets the Level Up criteria. 

Once they’re eligible, on average, full-time gaming streamers on Facebook can earn $2750- $5500 per month. 

While there are plenty of monetization options for content creators with Facebook Live, the requirements are pretty high. Plus, you have to share the revenue with Facebook.

In fact, Facebook promised to let creators keep 100% of the revenue until June 2023 (except for payments done on iOS Store and Google Play Store).

After that, revenue sharing rules are unclear. Facebook’s algorithms change almost daily, making your livestream income even more unreliable.

The good news is, we have a solution for you…

Have More Control with Your Own Standalone Membership Site 

As a creator, you want the money you make from your content to be more stable and within your control. That’s why combining Facebook Live with a membership site is the best monetization model.

This is where we come in. 

Uscreen is an all-in-one video monetization tool that lets you build a membership site around the live streamed video content you create.

We give you the same monetization options that Meta provides, like:

1. Subscriptions: you can charge a recurring fee (i.e monthly, quarterly, or yearly) for viewers to access your videos.
2. Paid Online Events: you can host live events as part of the subscription or charge an additional one-time fee.

But the main difference is that you own your streaming platform. This means you keep 100% of the profits, forever! 

Since the start of the pandemic, live streams on our platform have grown by a whopping 1,468%! 

Better still, we’ve helped over 25,000 creators make a living off their content and go on to earn an average of more than $12000 a month!  

You can learn more about subscription memberships work and see some great examples from successful creators, across 4 different niches, on the Uscreen platform. 

Wrapping It Up 

To recap, here are 5 ways to make money with Facebook Live: 

1. Host paid online events. 
2. Get donations from Facebook Stars. 
3. Play in-stream ads. 
4. Partner with brands. 
5. Switch on Subscriptions. 

Remember that each monetization feature has unique requirements. Check Creator Studio to see which ones you’ve qualified for.

On top of that, you can make use of your Facebook following and take charge of the money you make by launching your own streaming platform with Uscreen.

That way you can earn a reliable income and own your audience! 

It’s simple with Uscreen.

Build, launch and manage your membership, all in one place.

Start Free Trial