post

<p>The road to monetization for creators isn’t one clear path with set milestones.</p>
<p>It’s full of twists and turns. Some start selling products with an email list of 500 fans, while others wait until they have 1 million subscribers on YouTube before they do. Just because you don’t have a product to sell yet doesn’t mean you can’t get paid for the content you’re already creating.</p>
<p>Say hello to your Tip Jar.</p>
<p>Starting today, you have the option to create a digital tip jar on ConvertKit and ask your subscribers to support your work. No need to expand your creator tool stack just to get tips, and you get to save big on platform commission fees.</p>
<h2>Set up your tip jar today</h2>
<p>Whether you’ve just started building your email list or you’ve made 100 sales, our new tip jar feature gives you the opportunity to ask your audience directly for support.</p>
<p><img decoding="async" loading="" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-38155 lazy" data-src="https://media.convertkit.com/post/tGahlN8T-convertkit-tipjar-empty.jpg?fm=pjpg" alt="convertkit tip jar" width="1500" height="924" /></p>
<p><a href="https://app.convertkit.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Log in to your ConvertKit account</a> and under Earn, you’ll see the new feature Tip Jar. When you click through, you’ll set it up just like any other product by naming it and customizing the URL—both of which you can edit later.</p>
<p><img decoding="async" loading="" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-38154 lazy" data-src="https://media.convertkit.com/post/n1A5CCZH-convertkit-tipjar-new.jpg?fm=pjpg" alt="convertkit tip jar" width="1500" height="756" /></p>
<p>Once you’ve created it, you’ll be able to customize the landing page, checkout page, confirmation page, and receipt email to your liking. The tip jar offers pre-set amounts—$5, $10, $20, $50—and gives your fans the option of entering their own amount.</p>
<p><img decoding="async" loading="" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-38153 lazy" data-src="https://media.convertkit.com/post/GIY4OjMY-convertkit-tipjar-landing-page.jpg?fm=pjpg" alt="convertkit tip jar" width="1500" height="760" /></p>
<p>When you’re ready to go, publish your tip jar! Now you’ll have a share link that you can add directly to your <a href="https://convertkit.com/instagram-bio" target="_blank" rel="noopener">social media bio</a> or your<a href="https://convertkit.com/vs/linktree" target="_blank" rel="noopener"> link page</a>, as well as the option to embed it on to your website or blog.</p>
<p><img decoding="async" loading="" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-38152 lazy" data-src="https://media.convertkit.com/post/O7vsAW79-convertkit-tipjar-live.jpg?fm=pjpg" alt="convertkit tip jar" width="1500" height="825" /></p>
<h2>How you can use tip jar</h2>
<p>Asking for tips, in general, is a little awkward. You don’t want to be too pushy, but you also want to give your audience the option to do so. Here are a few ways you can incorporate it into your work right now seamlessly:</p>
<h3>Embed it on your website or blog</h3>
<p>For your tip jar to serve you, it needs a spot on your website or blog where your audience is consuming your content, where they’re finding value in what you offer. We suggest adding it to the header or footer of your website or blog, so it’s easily accessible to all your readers.</p>
<h3>Newsletter footers</h3>
<p>More often than not, emails are seen as a distribution channel rather than a content channel itself—and it really should be. Think about how much effort you take in a week to curate your newsletter content. Even if you’re just pulling in new content from your blog, your community, or your videos, that’s still time you’re putting in to create an aggregate and cohesive piece of content that delivers straight to your audience’s inbox. Make it easy for your newsletter superfans to show their appreciation by adding it to the bottom or the footer of your emails.</p>
<h3>Add it to your link page</h3>
<p>We’ve seen so many creators do this, and if you have a tip jar, you should too! Add the link to your tip jar into the<a href="https://convertkit.com/vs/linktree" target="_blank" rel="noopener"> link page</a> you share in your social media bio. Show interested followers all the different offers you have, as well as the opportunity to show you some love.</p>
<h3>Set it up in your visual automations</h3>
<p>Do you run free on-demand workshops? Do you offer free PDF downloads? If you do, this is a great opportunity to include a tip jar to ask for some appreciation if they enjoyed the free content that you offered. Better than that, you can automate this by adding it to your email sequences and tag fans who do give you tips via our <a href="https://convertkit.com/features/automations" target="_blank" rel="noopener">visual automations</a>. With this tag, you can always re-engage them and say thank you for their extra support.</p>
<div id="attachment_38156" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img aria-describedby="caption-attachment-38156" decoding="async" loading="" class="wp-image-38156 size-full lazy" data-src="https://media.convertkit.com/post/7kSrBr1W-convertkit-tipjar-fromboise.jpg?fm=pjpg" alt="convertkit tip jar" width="1500" height="898" /><p id="caption-attachment-38156" class="wp-caption-text">Example of a Tip Jar page from Nathan Barry</p></div>
<h2>Tip jar for all creators</h2>
<h3>For musicians, photographers, and artists</h3>
<p>More than any other creators, <a href="https://convertkit.com/musicians">musicians</a>, photographers, and artists share the content they’ve worked really hard on social media for free. It gives you the reach and exposure you want to curate an audience that follows your work while you build your portfolio and client list. This is an easy way for you to find out who your early super fans are who are excited to pitch in and support your work.</p>
<p>Remember—with our automation features, you can automatically tag anyone who has given you a tip. This tag can come in handy in the future when you do have new content or product releases! Let them know you remembered that they supported you and in return, you wanted to give them early access or a special discount to the new work you have to offer.</p>
<h3>For YouTubers, Twitch users, and streamers</h3>
<p>For vloggers and streamers, going live on your platform of choice is one way you can make money. Whether it’s on <a href="https://convertkit.com/how-to-grow-on-tiktok" target="_blank" rel="noopener">YouTube</a> or <a href="https://convertkit.com/twitch-creator-economy" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Twitch</a>, both platforms give your <a href="https://convertkit.com/how-to-monetize-content" target="_blank" rel="noopener">live audience options</a> to support you in the form of Super Chats and Cheer Chat badges respectively. The downside? You lose 30% to the platform. Take the platform fees back by using your own digital tip jar from ConvertKit, where commissions are only 0.6%. Plus, this gets them on your email list, which gives you more flexibility and control over how you engage with your audience.</p>
<h2>Start monetizing with your own tip jar</h2>
<p>Tip jar can be the gateway to help you start monetizing your audience and give you the confidence you need to build new products and offers. When you’re ready, you can even start selling digital products with <a href="https://convertkit.com/features/commerce">ConvertKit Commerce</a>.</p>


Tip Jar: An easy way for creators to start monetizing

Start selling within minutes

Frances Wong

Creativity feedback loops (and their impact on mental health)

The secret to faster newsletter growth? It’s already in your list