Like to post online videos? FameBit can make you money

MANHATTAN BEACH, Calif. — If you make online videos and like to post them on YouTube, Instagram, Vine and other social networks, Agnes Kozera wants you to call her.

Her website, FameBit, marries brands with social media "influencers," folks with an online following, and pays them to either mention their brand in a post, make an unboxing video or produce an online spot for them.

"Our talent is making on average from $2,000 to $30,000 a month," says Kozera, who is a co-founder of the Santa Monica-based company.

Previously, folks needed a minimum of 1,000 YouTube subscribers to their channel to qualify and sign up. But on Saturday, Kozera says she opened up the 1,000 minimum to any social network. So if you have 1,000 fans on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Vine, Tumblr or YouTube, you can participate.

Brands like Adidas, L'oreal, Marvel, Disney, Fiji Water and GameFly work with FameBit. "They're looking for videos. We're providing these brands with content."

To start with FameBit, go to the famebit.com website and register. From there, you'll see that various brands are looking for folks to work with them. For example, Liz Belford Cosmetics will pay $250 to $500 to make a tutorial for the brand, Everlasting Waistband is offering $100 to $250 for wearing its product in videos or photos on Twitter, Instagram, Vine and YouTube, and the Bohemian Guitar company is offering as much as $500 for musicians to hold the guitar in an Instagram post.

FameBit takes a 20% commission for its services.

So if you're the type who likes to make "un-boxing" videos and show them off on YouTube, "why not get paid?" says Kozera. "This is an opportunity to work with brands, and the audiences appreciate it."

Brands expect that the social media influencers will like the product, but don't demand a 100% positive review, she says.

Brands "are on board with influencers mentioning pros and cons and pointing out what they don't like as long as the video is on the whole positive," she says. "The content itself doesn't have to be fully glowing — a lot of the videos are not 100% positive."

But doesn't brand involvement in the creative process cheapen the value of a review, if we know it's been paid for?

Kozera says that's "a fair concern," but "the answer goes back to how well the products they (the creators) endorse fit into what they already like, their personality, etc. It's up to the creators to convey that authenticity to their audience because they are the ones who have the power to choose wisely who they partner with." It could "cheapen the value of the review" if it was done wrong, and if brands partner with the wrong creators, she says.

"But I also think that when the partnerships are based on mutual goals and likes and a cultural fit, then in those cases it doesn't cheapen the review."

To get started, start sifting through the various proposal offers from brands at FameBit.com. "It's like applying for any job," says Kozera. "Just be passionate. There are a lot of opportunities out there."

Follow USA TODAY Tech columnist and Talking Tech host Jefferson Graham on Twitter, @jeffersongraham.