Making money online is more accessible than ever, but it also means the competition is a lot tougher. Regardless of your chosen field, it requires time, effort and a willingness to learn.

It is also important to remember that success rarely happens overnight. In the beginning, expect to go for long periods of time before you see a real return on your efforts. If you consider yourself a meme expert and want to monetize that talent, here are some of the most important things to consider as you embark on your journey.

Related: Great things take time to build: Four tips for entrepreneurs starting their businesses

Stay connected

This may seem obvious, but its importance cannot be ignored. If you want to be successful in building a meme following, keeping up to date with the latest social platforms is paramount. That means interacting with popular platforms like TikTok, Reddit, and Twitter. It also means looking into the tech space to learn about emerging social media options like Mastodon and Cohost.

Develop a unique name for your meme brand and secure your hold on any platform early on. While many social platforms are quickly dying out, it only takes one or two successes to get your account noticed on the internet.

Related: What Is Mastodon ‘Decentralized Social Network’ & Why Is Elon Musk Ranting About It Already

Follow trends

Staying present on multiple social channels is just the first step. Next, you need to make sure you follow trends. This means meme trends, of course, but it also means staying up to date with current events in various industries, such as technology, politics, and pop culture. Tapping into these aspects will allow you to reach a much wider audience, as a more diverse group will (hopefully) share your content.

See what types of templates (meme formats) people are sharing in your real life circles. Once they’ve reached that point, they’ll likely do well in other groups and social media platforms.

Related: 5 must-know social media trends for franchises in 2022

Choose a niche

Meme about what you know. While it can be tempting to create a meme page that creates content for everyone, that often results in less than stellar shares and retweets.

Instead, find your own style. The best humor comes from the things you know and the groups you associate with. If you’re a parent and think about funny things about your kids all day long, consider using a parenting-focused page. If you are a gamer, making memes about video games like Call of Duty and World of Warcraft will become much easier.

Use free meme tools

The memes are not going to make themselves! The best way to get started gaining followers and going viral is to create memes.

Fortunately, you don’t need expensive programs like Photoshop to create memes. There are many online tools you can use to create memes for free. Some of the best are Imgflip, Make a Meme and Yep.

With these tools, you can use popular presets to create memes, or you can upload your own photos. Uploading your own can be risky as people are less likely to stick with it. That said, getting a successful trend going can be huge for your meme page.

Eventually, you may want to upgrade to real photo editing software. However, there is no rush to do that.

Start monetizing

Ultimately, once you’ve built an audience, you’ll want to figure out how to monetize your efforts. That way you can spend more time growing your brand. And honestly, seeing money roll in is a great motivator to keep pushing.

This requires you to do a handful of things. First, find out what each platform allows when it comes to monetization. Some are different from others.

For example, TikTok has a long list requirements for advertisers. While this doesn’t often affect creators, some do apply to branded content and ad partners. Going against those terms of service (ToS) may result in your account being banned.

Once you feel comfortable with the rules, the next step is to reach out to advertisers, affiliate programs, and brands. If your page is popular enough, they will come to you. Make sure you have an easily accessible business email address so people can reach you.

Related: 10 secrets to going viral on social media

Ultimately, it is possible to create a successful brand around memes. But it takes hard work and a deep understanding of what makes things go viral.

Study your competitors, keep up with trends and use the free tools at your disposal. It’s also essential to keep track of each platform’s advertising rules to ensure your account doesn’t get suspended.