Instagram: How a dog can earn $125k on social media

This pup earns far more than you and me. Photo / Getty Images

Coconut Rice Bear has a follower-following ratio most influencers could only dream of and it's providing a lucrative income for the handsome Samoyed. Well, for her owner anyway.

The white four-year-old pooch has amassed 363,000 Instagram followers but her internet reach doesn't stop there.

She's also on Facebook, Twitter, has a YouTube channel and even a TikTok profile.

"She's the queen of San Francisco," Coconut's owner Chuck Lai told the San Francisco Chronicle.

"It's strange because people think they know her. We can't walk down the street."

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The Game of Thrones maybe over but I will always be your Coconut Rice Bear of House Samoyed, first of her name, Queen of hoomans, Protector of the SEVEN chimkins, the Mother of Rao Raos, the Khaleesi of the great white shoobs, Catcher of balls, the Breaker of sticks!

A post shared by Coconut Rice Bear (@coconutricebear) on May 20, 2019 at 1:30pm PDT

Lai has used the Samoyed's "playful and silly, but a little dramatic" charms to attract companies for sponsored posts.

She's been paid by a dog harness maker and even a personal finance website, earning about $150 per 10,000 followers.

Coconut's savvy business team want to limit the sponsored posts to two a month. With her followers, that means she can pocket about $5400 a post, which adds up to a staggering potential annual income just shy of $125,000.

That's about the same salary a general practitioner earns.

Coconut — well, Lai — even sells merchandise on her website with items including a poster and a calendar. A mug with a photo of Coconut running beside the Golden Gate Bridge is fetching nearly $30.

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The new Shoober service is powered by @puglifeharness for safe, no pull adventures! #AD #sponsored #puglifeharness ~ It’s on sale for 50% off! Go to... puglifeharness.store/coconutricebear ~ We love this harness. It’s stylish, super easy to put on/take off, helps stop pulling, reflective for night visibility and is very comfortable! ~ Song: Buddy Musician: @iksonofficial

A post shared by Coconut Rice Bear (@coconutricebear) on Aug 2, 2019 at 7:11am PDT

Lai said he originally created social media accounts as a fun way to document his best friend's life.

Her audience accrued naturally until a Hong Kong social media website, 9GAG, posted one of her videos and the pooch's followers shot up by 50,000.

Lai told the publication he spends a couple of hours a day editing videos, constructing posts and engaging with the hundreds of thousands of fans.

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[sound on] Why are you so freaking cute? Well, I finally answered your question! 😉 😂 Music: Early Hours Musician: @iksonofficial

A post shared by Coconut Rice Bear (@coconutricebear) on Jul 29, 2019 at 9:48am PDT

I know what you're thinking because I was thinking the same thing. My dog is obviously cuter than any other so surely I can turn a financial loss — thanks to all those trips to the vet with a gutful of sticks — into a money earner I'd otherwise need a medical doctor's degree to pocket.

But Lai says the changing Instagram algorithm makes it harder than ever to build a profitable following.

He told the San Francisco Chronicle that Instagram was still the most lucrative platform but said the video equivalent TikTok was now the easiest to grow an audience.

On the platform, you select a song to accompany your video and other users can stumble across your posts by searching for the music played.

Lai says it means you're much more likely to land in users' feeds because of this.

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Doin me a sprint on these beautiful tile steps! ~ Song: Hey Look Ma, I Made it by Panic! At the Disco. ~ These steps date back to the early 1900s. After decades of neglect, they were cracked, damaged and had graffiti on them. After a 7 year beautification project, the tile steps were completed in 2015. I think they did a great job!

A post shared by Coconut Rice Bear (@coconutricebear) on Jun 29, 2019 at 8:34am PDT

Coconut is clearly a handsome pooch, but her owner doesn't want his best friend taking all the credit for the lucrative income.

Lai said most of the success is due to him building a connection with the huge following.

"Videos and captioning, that's what everyone likes these days," he said. "You're giving a voice to your dog."