ove it or hate it, tipping culture has grown immensely over the last few years. Everyone in almost every service industry now encourages tips as part of their transaction. You deserve that too, and now it's possible to offer right from your personal link page.
Whether you have a bio link setup for your business, freelancing gig, or any other need, a tip jar is a wise decision to create an additional income stream. We’ll show you why and how you can do that below.
What is a tip jar, and why is it a must-have on your link in bio page?
Tip jar integration is a convenient and easy way for your fans or followers to send you voluntary gratuities, commonly known as tips. It’s also a great tool for you to earn extra revenues, no matter what industry or business niche you’ve settled in, whether you’re streaming, coaching, creating music, or selling products/services.
For example:
Here’s how it looks on a link in bio page owned by a content creator, Riles Tech.
Here’s why you definitely need one for your bio link.
To enable a new monetization feature
It’s a new opportunity to monetize your link in bio in a different manner, regardless of whether you already sell and accept payments through it for:
- Physical goods
- Digital products
- Memberships
- Subscriptions
- Donations, etc.
If you still don’t, your bio link may seem underemployed. Give it a job that will generate passive income, let it hold your tip jar.
To sell more softly
Tip jars are the friendliest soft sellers for link pages. Even if it doesn’t have a call-to-action (CTA), it looks like a totally optional choice and earns you extra money without forcing it out of your audience. With a soft CTA, a tip jar appears as a just-a-thought offer:
- Hey there, my digital tip jar is right here, and it’s always open.
- If you enjoy what we’re doing, show your appreciation with a small digital gesture (aka a tip).
- No pressure, but I do accept applause in dollar form.
But still, be careful with CTAs for tipping. Although a compelling CTA is one of the best link in bio strategies for companies and creators alike, make sure it doesn’t feel like begging or pushing. The best strategy would be a delicate nudge and wink (sometimes literal) instead of a push with a pleading and hard-selling CTA like, “Please, send me tips!”
To let people give back
Reciprocity is hardwired into human psychology, which is why people feel happier and more fulfilled when giving back. Why not let them express gratitude via a tip jar from your bio link.
For instance, you may use this phrasing to highlight mutual exchange with people:
If this content helped or supported you, you can help and support me back. Below is a digital portal for your “thanks.”
Expert tips on adding a tip jar as an income stream to a link in bio
First things first—look at other tip jars
How are similar creators or brands collecting tips on their bio-link pages?
Leigh McKenzie, Community Advocate at Traffic Think Tank, believes it’s a crucial step for businesses to analyze their competitors’ tip jars, in particular, especially if they are serious about adding those as meaningful revenue streams. He advises, “Just like you perform competitive research in business for digital marketing, you should analyze tip jar strategies on other link pages in your niche. Take five to ten other tip jars and consider factors like placement, amount, CTA (if any), etc.”
For example:
The Secret Lantern (a book and game store) embedded a tip jar as if extending the “How To Support Us” section at the bottom of their bio link on solo.to.
Pro tip: You can also use an automatic competitor checker to track backlinks to the page with tip jar mentions on social media, forums, blogs, or elsewhere.
For example:
See how @ExitExistentialCrisis refers TikTok users to it: “You can support this page with the tip jar on the link in my bio; your supports mean everything; thank you all…”
Explain the “why” behind tipping and set financial goals
Why should people leave you any tips in the first place? Is tipping really significant to you? How exactly? Perhaps it helps you pay the rent or supports your pet’s lifestyle (or your caffeine addiction). Or, it may inspire you to do more creative stuff (if you’re a creator) and develop new products (if you’re a digital seller).
Type it in your profile information or record an audio/video with your real or voice AI clone explaining the “why.”
For example:
It can be an embedded video clip right below your tip jar, just like here from Josh Schorle, a photographer and tech YouTuber.
Pro tip: To create a more effective bio link page with a tip jar and fill it up faster, make it goal oriented to evoke stronger psychological motivation in your sponsors.
Here are several specific financial goals for creators, freelancers, and businesses:
- My goal is $1,000 to upgrade my gear from [your old tool] to a [newer setup].
- Goal: $645 to keep the lights on (literally—the electricity bill)
- $120 for my personal development course on [your interest].
- We’re gathering $500 for a pop-up booth at the next local event in [your location].
- Our monthly sustainability goal is $300: Help us plant X trees. (Or: Sponsor X free consultations for someone in need.)
Try reverse psychology
Did you know that some people can’t resist doing the contrary of what they’re told?
That’s what reverse psychology is about. It means you should encourage the behavior by advocating the opposite: “You can simply ignore this tip jar and pretend it’s invisible. Seriously.” Or: “Please, whatever you do, don’t fund my dog’s addiction to peanut butter.”
Now, people have to click and send you tips.
According to Rob Gold, VP of Marketing Communications at Intermedia, “Reverse psychology isn’t about trickery or manipulation when it’s respectful and playful rather than aggressive. As a communicator, I’ve learned that sometimes the most compelling messages are the ones that don’t ask directly but wittily tap into people’s contrarian spirits yet give them the freedom to decide. And such a reverse call-to-action can likewise help you transform a tip jar on your link-in-bio page into a real revenue stream.”
For example:
Here’s a non-pushy CTA with a hint at reverse psychology from VIRO TV: “Click if you want to. Don’t want to? Then just ignore it.”
Recognize your supporters
If financial goals are only psychologically spurring people to top up the tip jar, there are things that will also contribute to physical (visible or even tangible) motivation.
These can be incentives or appreciative content pieces like these:
- Creative titles: Bronze, Silver, and Gold Supporters
- “The Most Generous Sponsors” spotlight
- Behind-the-scenes photos or videos
- Mystery perks: “For those tipping $20+, I’m sending a digital surprise—a unique poem or limerick!”
- Free downloadables: PDF, ebook, template, etc.
Pro tip: Edward White, Head of Growth at beehiiv, also emphasizes the importance of personalization when recognizing and incentivizing your tip jar donors. He remarks, “Individual recognition for tipping is a powerful springboard for relationship growth. It may be just a personalized ‘thank-you’ email opening with something like, ‘Hi [Name], your tips totally made my day! Thanks a million!’ It’s those kinds of moments that recognize and validate your personal connection with everyone separately, not collectively as a group of supporters.”
Alternatively, if you run a business, you may design a branded custom T-shirt with the supporter’s name printed on it. It’s a mini-experience that can strengthen your customer relationships. What’s more, it lets your fans become your brand ambassadors (the T-shirt has your branding elements, remember?).
How to embed and customize a tip jar on your link in bio in solo.to
Step 1: Enable the tip jar and connect it with Stripe
So, let’s start setting up a tip jar on your bio-link page at solo.to.
Go to your Page Editor and turn on the Tip Jar toggle under Integrations.
Then, click the “Connect” button to start accepting tips via Stripe.
Note: You might also need to complete the onboarding process on the platform if you don’t have a Stripe account yet.
Step 2: Decide on tip amounts
At solo.to, you can add up to three custom sums to your tip jar or leave the default ones, such as $5, $10, and $20.
For example:
To add a revenue stream to his bio link, Jonathan, The Professional PT, created a tip jar with options for $5, $10, $20, and Custom amounts to let visitors indicate their preferred amount.
Note: The maximum tip amount is $999.
Step 3: Pick the right position
Finally, choose where you’d like to display your tip jar: at the top or bottom of your bio-link page.
Let’s look at a few musicians placing their tip jars differently.
Top
Check out this link in the bio by HUSKI BASS, a music artist and DJ.
Bottom
Another musician, Brian Smith, placed the tip jar at the bottom of the page.
Pro tip: As a former web designer, Tomas Melian, SVP of Marketing at DiabetesTeam, insists on top-of-the-page positioning. He explains, “The average scroll depth on web pages is somewhere between 60% and 80%, and only half of users typically scroll down to the bottom. That’s why I’d recommend embedding tip jars higher. Ideally, at the top to generate more conversions and revenues.
Either way, it would still be better to test both variants and analyze clicks to see which placement converts more people.
It will be even easier if you use a page cloning feature at solo.to: place it at the top on one page and at the bottom on the other.
Ready to create a tip jar for your link in bio and earn extra revenue?
It’s time for your bio link to generate not only traffic (and maybe sales) but also tips. Let your page visitors thank you by dropping a few dollars in your creativity (or business) fountain before they scroll away.
Log in to your page (or register if you don’t have one yet) and start making passive income with a tip jar.
