How to Make Money on Discord: 15 Innovative Ways

Discord, the popular voice and text chat app, has evolved from a platform for gamers to connect into a profitable space for individuals and businesses to make money. With this guide: How to Make Money on Discord: 15 Innovative Ways, you can monetize your Discord server by connecting it to your small business or other online presence.

Originally designed for video gamers to chat while playing, Discord now hosts thriving communities centered around all types of topics, from music to art to cryptocurrency.

Discord offers a massive potential audience with over 150 million active monthly users. Savvy entrepreneurs have discovered ways to monetize Discord servers through clever strategies. This article will explore 15 innovative methods to earn an income on Discord.

The Emergence of Discord as a Money-Making Platform

Discord was launched in 2015 as a solution for video gamers to communicate during gameplay easily. But it has now evolved into a formidable money-making platform. Its initial design, fostering community and real-time communication, has been leveraged by entrepreneurs, educators, and creators alike.

Premium servers, exclusive content memberships, and integrated e-commerce tools have transformed it from a mere chat app to a diverse marketplace. Discord’s monetization features offer a personalized touch as users seek more intimate, direct interactions with content creators and brands.

This evolution not only underscores the adaptability of digital platforms but also highlights the ever-changing landscape of online income opportunities.

Understanding the Discord Platform

The core Discord experience revolves around servers and channels. A server is a collection of text and voice channels organized into topics. For example, a gaming server may have channels for chatting about specific games.

Users can join various Discord servers and seamlessly switch between them based on their interests. Server admins have granular control over permissions, moderation, roles, and more.

The Evolution of Discord: From Gamers to Business Minds

Although Discord started among gamers, its flexible, user-friendly interface appealed to all kinds of communities. Discord servers sprang up for artists, musicians, content creators, cryptocurrency enthusiasts, and more. Even businesses jumped into Discord as a way to engage with customers.

Recognizing this broad appeal, Discord expanded its offerings. 2018 Discord introduced server monetization tools like paid memberships and merchandise stores. This allowed server owners to start earning from their communities.

Seeing the money-making potential, creators, influencers, and entrepreneurs flocked to Discord. A bustling platform emerged where savvy admins could profit from their servers.

Setting up Your Discord Server for Success

To harness the full potential of Discord as a money-making platform, it’s essential to set up your server with a clear vision and strategy. Here’s a roadmap to ensure success:

1. Define Your Niche: Understand your target audience. Whether you’re a content creator, educator, or entrepreneur, tailor your server to cater to specific interests.
2. Organize Channels: Use text, voice, and video channels effectively. Create categories for general discussions, announcements, premium content, and support.
3. Implement Roles and Permissions: Assign roles to manage your community better. This helps segment your audience, offer exclusive content, and maintain order.
4. Integrate Bots: Utilize bots for moderation, welcome messages, and automating tasks. Some bots also facilitate payments and memberships.
5. Engage Regularly: Consistency is key. Host events, Q&A sessions, or game nights to keep your community engaged.
6. Monetization Strategies: Consider introducing tiered memberships, exclusive content, or brand partnerships. Discord’s ‘Boost’ feature can also be a source of revenue.
7. Promote Your Server: Use your other social media platforms, collaborations, or paid advertising to attract new members.
8. Feedback Loop: Regularly solicit feedback from your community. This ensures you’re meeting their needs and can adapt to changing preferences.
9. Safety First: Ensure your server is a safe space. Implement strict moderation policies against harassment, hate speech, and other harmful behaviors.
10. Stay Updated: Discord frequently rolls out new features and updates. Stay informed to leverage the platform’s full potential.

Key Factors to Consider When Creating Your Discord Server

Creating a Discord server requires thoughtful planning to ensure it meets its members’ needs while being manageable and engaging. Here are some key factors to consider:

1. Purpose and Goals: Clearly define the primary purpose of your server. Is it for gaming, business networking, education, or another niche? Your goals will shape the server’s structure and features.
2. Audience: Understand who your target audience is. Tailoring your server to their preferences and needs will increase engagement and retention.
3. Channel Organization: A well-structured server has distinct channels for different topics, ensuring conversations remain relevant and easy to follow.
4. Roles and Permissions: Assign roles to help manage and segment your community. This can be based on membership tiers, responsibilities, or expertise.
5. Moderation: A successful server requires active moderation to prevent spam, harassment, and other disruptive behaviors. Consider appointing trusted members as moderators.
6. Bots and Integrations: Bots can automate tasks, facilitate games, manage memberships, and more. Choose bots that align with your server’s goals.
7. Engagement Strategies: Plan regular events, polls, or discussions to keep members active and engaged.
8. Safety and Privacy: Ensure that your server settings prioritize member safety. This includes setting up verification levels, enabling explicit content filters, and educating members about online safety.
9. Monetization (if applicable): If you’re looking to monetize, consider strategies like premium roles, partnerships, or sponsored content. Ensure these methods align with your audience’s expectations and values.
10. Branding: Customize your server’s icon, name, and other branding elements to make it recognizable and appealing.
11. Backup and Contingency Plans: Prepare for issues like server raids or technical glitches. Having a plan in place can help you respond quickly and effectively.
12. Feedback Mechanisms: Create channels or methods for members to provide feedback. This can help you continually improve and adapt to your community’s needs.
13. Growth Strategies: Think about how you’ll promote your server and attract new members. This could be through collaborations, social media promotion, or joining server directories.
14. Community Guidelines: Establish clear rules and guidelines for behavior on your server. This sets the tone for interactions and ensures everyone knows what’s expected.

You can create a vibrant, engaging, and successful Discord community by considering these factors and regularly revisiting them as your server grows and evolves.

Promoting Your Discord Server to Attract Users

• Once your server is set up, promotion is key to attracting active, engaged members:
•  List your server on Discord listing sites like DiscordServers.com, DiscordListing.com, Discord.me, etc.
•  Share server invites on related forums, communities, subreddits, and social media.
•  Collaborate with creators/influencers in your niche to help promote your server to their audience.
•  Organize giveaways and special events to incentivize invites and share your server.
•   Encourage existing members to invite friends by rewarding invite milestones.
•  With an organized, promoted server, you can start implementing money-making strategies.

How to Make Money on Discord: Top 15 Ways

1. Sell Products Via Your Discord Server

Sell branded merchandise like t-shirts, hoodies, and other goods featuring your server’s brand and community inside jokes. Teespring, CustomInk, Zazzle, and Spreadshop are popular print-on-demand merch services integrated with Discord.

You can also create digital products like sticker packs, photo filters, and soundboard bots and sell access or licenses to your community. Leverage your existing audience on Discord for a ready customer base.

2. Discord Server Owners can Receive Sponsorship Deals

Big Discord servers with an engaged user base can attract sponsors relevant to their niche. Gaming servers may get sponsors like game studios, gaming gear brands, and game key sellers. likewise for tech, art, music and other communities.

Sponsor perks can include promoted messages, #ad channels, giveaways, special member rewards, etc. The highest sponsorship deals can be $1,000+ per month for leading servers.

3. Run Educational Classes or Tutorials for Paid Members

Offer exclusive paid channels providing tutorials, classes, skill-sharing, and coaching. For example, creators can share pro tips for content creation; artists can hold mini art lessons and programmers can teach coding skills and more.

Set this content apart in private channels that users must purchase a monthly membership to access. This provides ongoing value.

4. Offer Server Subscriptions

Discord’s subscription service lets you charge for special member benefits. You can set tiers with different perks like access to private channels, custom roles, profile badges, increased limits, special privileges, etc.

Subscriptions give members a way to support your server monthly. With a large, loyal user base, even $3-$10 monthly subscriptions can add up.

5. Create a Members Only Area

Make select areas members-only by assigning member roles to users who’ve subscribed or purchased access. This encourages one-time purchases to unlock perks.

Members-only rooms could include exclusive channels, voice chats, info channels, giveaways, movie nights, and more. Offering limited access encourages purchases.

6. Sell Advertising and Promoted Posts

On high-traffic servers, companies will pay to post ads or promotional messages. Establish ad packages based on factors like the number of impressions, channel promotions, custom creatives, sponsorship collaborations, etc.

Promoted posts can come from relevant third parties or be used to cross-promote your own products and services to your existing audience.

7. Get Tips Through Donations or “Support Me” Links

Enable tipping to allow your community to support you and sustain the server. Popular options are payment links/buttons directing users to donation services like PayPal, BuyMeACoffee, and Ko-fi.

Donation incentives like special roles, badges, and perks can further motivate financial tips from engaged members.

8. Provide Paid Individual or Group Coaching

Monetize your expertise by offering personalized coaching sessions. For example, a music production server could sell one-on-one mixing advice. A fitness server could provide workout plans.

You can also create paid mastermind groups. Arrange scheduled calls focusing on goals like business growth, content strategy, accountability, productivity, etc.

9. Organize Paid Online Events

Host special virtual events like workshops, classes, meetups, performances, talks, etc., that users buy access to. Collaborate with expert guests for more appeal.

Promote the exclusivity of limited-seat events to encourage sign-ups. Online events have the potential for global reach and higher profits.

10. Enable Premium Roles and Badges

Discord lets you create custom roles that users can pay to obtain status, title, and special privileges. Selling roles provide recurring income as roles renew each month.

Similarly, custom profile badges purchased by users signal supporter status. With enough perks attached, roles and badges can become coveted status symbols on your server.

11. Provide Paid Community Support

Let users pay for individualized support around your server’s focus area. For example, a programming server could charge for code debugging; website builders can assist with client sites, etc.

Paid support provides value to members while earning income for maintainers. Establish paid support tiers based on response times/depth of help.

12. Sell Your Development or Customization Services

For developers and designers, provide paid services like custom Discord bots, themes, add-ons, integrations, and modifications for other Discord servers.

You can list service offerings targeting server owners looking for custom work. Your own server provides examples of your expertise.

13. Monetize Your Bot

Develop useful Discord bots and charge recurring fees for access. Bots like BanProtection, TeamSpeak, Rythm, and Pokétwo rake in money via premium tiers.

Offer free limited usage to get users hooked, then paid subscriptions for full access. As the bot provides value on multiple servers you can scale up profit.

14. Create Exclusive User-Generated Content Channels

Enable users to pay for adding their own text/voice channels focused on specific games, topics or use cases. Revenue comes from users sponsoring channels.

For example, a gaming server could let users add their own channels just for their game clan or group to hang out in. Custom channels boost engagement.

15. Launch a Discord-Based Community

Build an entire business around running a premium Discord community. Charge monthly membership fees providing access to channels with your business-focused content.

Offer community benefits like networking, mastermind sessions, expert talks, coaching, and insider info. Paid communities can become service-based businesses.

Discord For Your Small Business

Discord offers your small business a versatile real-time communication, collaboration, and community-building platform. With features like voice channels, screen sharing, and integrations, businesses can streamline operations, engage customers, and foster a cohesive team environment in one user-friendly space.

Purpose	Feature of Discord	Benefit to Small Business
Communication	Text and Voice Channels	Enables real-time communication among team members.
Direct Messaging	Allows private one-on-one conversations.
Collaboration	Screen Sharing	Facilitates presentations and collaborative work.
Voice Channels	Enables brainstorming sessions and meetings.
File Sharing	Attachments in Channels	Easy distribution of documents and media.
Community Building	Public and Private Channels	Engage with customers and create a community around the brand.
Feedback Collection	Poll Bots	Collect feedback and opinions from team or customers.
Task Management	Task Bots	Assign tasks, set reminders, and track progress.
Announcements	Announcement Channels	Share updates, news, and important information.
Integration with Tools	Bots and Webhooks	Automate tasks and integrate with other business tools.
Training and Onboarding	Video and Voice Channels	Conduct training sessions and onboard new employees.

Best Practices for Monetizing Discord Servers

Discord has emerged as a powerful platform for communities, gamers, and businesses in the digital age. With its growing popularity, many server owners are exploring ways to monetize their spaces without compromising the user experience. Here are some best practices to consider when looking to generate income from your Discord server.

Engaging Your Discord Community

An engaged and active user base is the foundation of any successful monetization strategy. Users who are invested in your community are more likely to support monetization efforts, making engagement a top priority.

• Host Regular Events: Organize events that resonate with your community’s interests. This could be weekly game nights, monthly Q&A sessions with experts, or even contests. Such events not only keep the community active but can also attract new members.
• Create Engaging Content: Content is king, even on Discord. Share exclusive articles, videos, or tutorials that cater to your community’s niche. This provides value and can be locked behind premium memberships for monetization.
• Foster a Welcoming Atmosphere: A positive, inclusive environment encourages users to participate and stay. Recognize and celebrate community achievements, and ensure that new members feel welcomed from the get-go.

Building and Nurturing Your Discord Community

A server’s value is directly proportional to the strength and activity of its community. A vibrant, cohesive community can significantly amplify monetization efforts.

• Foster Positive Interactions: Encourage members to interact positively. Highlight and reward constructive contributions to set a precedent for the kind of interactions you expect on your server.
• Manage Conflicts Proactively: Disputes are inevitable, but how they’re managed can make or break a community. Establish clear community guidelines and ensure moderators handle conflicts fairly and sensibly.
• Encourage Active Participation: Active members are the backbone of any community. Consider introducing mechanisms like leaderboards, badges, or special roles to reward and recognize the most active and helpful members.

Complying with Discord’s Monetization Policies: A Must-Do

While monetizing your server is exciting, ensuring that all efforts align with Discord’s official policies is paramount. Non-compliance can lead to penalties or, worse, server deactivation.

Key Rules to Remember:

• All transactions must be legal and transparent.
• Avoid tactics that could be perceived as spam or aggressive advertising.
• User data is sacrosanct. Never misuse or sell user information.

It’s always a good practice to familiarize yourself with Discord’s official monetization policies. This ensures that your monetization strategies are both effective and compliant.

Diversifying Monetization Strategies

While not in the initial outline, it’s worth noting that relying on a single monetization strategy can be limiting. Diversifying your income streams can lead to more stable and sustainable revenue.

• Premium Memberships: Offer premium members exclusive content, roles, or perks. This could be in the form of early access to content, special badges, or even exclusive chat rooms.
• Affiliate Marketing: If it aligns with your community’s interests, consider partnering with brands or services for affiliate marketing. This way, you earn a commission for every sale made through your server’s referral.
• Donations and Tips: Platforms like Patreon or Ko-fi allow creators to receive direct support from their community. If your members find value in your server, they might be willing to support it financially.

Monetizing a Discord server is a delicate balance between providing value and generating income. By keeping your community engaged, fostering a positive environment, and ensuring compliance with Discord’s policies, server owners can successfully monetize their platforms while maintaining a happy and active user base.

Frequently Asked Questions: How to Make Money on Discord

What is the most profitable way to make money on Discord?

The most profitable method varies based on your audience and niche. However, many find success through premium memberships, where users pay for exclusive content, roles, or access to specific channels. Partnering with brands for promotions or using affiliate marketing can also be lucrative, especially if the products or services align with the server’s theme.

How can I attract more users to my Discord server?

To attract more users:

• Promote your server on other social media platforms.
• Collaborate with influencers or other Discord servers.
• Offer unique and valuable content or experiences.
• Engage in community events or partnerships.
• Ensure your server is listed on Discord server directories.

What is an Example of a Popular Discord Server?

One popular server is the “Official Fortnite” server, dedicated to the game “Fortnite.” It’s a hub for players to discuss the game, find teammates, and stay updated on news and announcements. However, there are many popular servers across various categories, from gaming and hobbies to education and communities.

How do you get paid by chatting on Discord?

Directly getting paid to chat is uncommon. However, some servers or individuals might offer payment for moderation roles, community management, or expert consultations. Another indirect method is through “chat rewards” in servers where active participation might lead to earning points or virtual currency, which can sometimes be exchanged for real-world rewards or money.

Is Discord a Good Way to Make Money Online?

Discord can be a viable way to make money online, especially if you have a strong, engaged community or unique content to offer. However, it’s essential to prioritize the community’s well-being and experience over monetization. Successful monetization on Discord often comes as a result of genuine community-building and providing value to members.

If Discord isn’t a good fit for you, there are plenty of other ways to make money on your phone and online. For example, you may explore how to make money on Snapchat or how to make money on Facebook or other instant messaging apps.

Image: Depositphotos

This article, “How to Make Money on Discord: 15 Innovative Ways” was first published on Small Business Trends