Creator Economy Explained: How to Become a Content Creator

The creator economy is another name for the large number of internet entrepreneurs whose main product is themselves and their distinct talents.

Through online content creation, people can directly reach out to an audience, making money through their own subscription fees or via revenue-sharing agreements with hosting platforms. Brand deals, as well as partnerships and sponsorships with companies, can also serve as a means of income for those working in the creator economy.

Particularly among millennials and those in Gen Z, the creator economy has spread its reach to include everything from influencer marketing to online courses. Whether you’re a dancer planning to record and post your latest routine or a writer looking to send out a new article to subscribers, it’s possible to participate in and profit from the creator economy.

The creator economy has become a fixture of living in the twenty-first century. Here are just three of the core benefits to participating in it:

1. 1. Increased sense of life satisfaction: If you can make a living in the creator economy, it could be easier to say you truly love what you do. Through increasing revenue streams and viewership, you can boost your personal income, follow your dreams, and serve as a beacon of inspiration to the next generation of potential content creators, too.
2. 2. Greater control over your work: Those who participate in the creator economy often have a greater sense of creative control over their work than people who work for more traditional media sources would. Rather than serve as a contributor to someone else’s endeavor, you’re able to pursue your own passion projects in real time at your own speed.
3. 3. Low barriers to entry: Anyone can post to a social media platform or livestream themselves, meaning it’s easy to gain initial access to the creator economy. Still, this low bar to entry can be a double-edged sword—greater access also means greater competition.

As with anything else, certain aspects of the creative economy are less than positive. Consider these potential cons to making a career out of content creation:

1. 1. Difficulty breaking through the crowd: While it’s easy to enter the creator economy, making a full-time living out of it can prove quite difficult. A new creator must compete with millions of other similar aspirants, all while learning how to stand out to the occasionally esoteric algorithms of the platforms they use as well.
2. 2. Heavy workload: Gaining a large following online requires a high degree of dedication with few immediate rewards. There’s a certain element of luck innate to the creator economy—the hardest working people might still never see their content go viral. Regardless, putting in plenty of time and effort improves your chances of breaking through to the next level of success.
3. 3. Reliance on platforms: To utilize online platforms for content creation, you need to rely on their functionality and play by their rules. Different platforms (and creator funds, for that matter) have different stipulations for content creators—some allow for more creative freedom than others. To potentially get around this, you could always collaborate with friends to form a broader startup of your own.

Participating in the creator economy might be difficult at times, but it can also be rewarding and satisfying. Keep these four tips in mind as you attempt to make your mark as a content creator:

• Find your niche. To increase your personal valuation as a content creator, try to identify a niche that fits you or your interests so you can appeal to a distinctive fanbase. Identify subjects or activities you enjoy with some popular appeal and then put a unique twist on them to make yourself stand out.
• Join a community. Collaboration is key in the creator economy. Networking with like-minded people helps you all rise together—the success of one person can easily lay the groundwork for the success of another. Bloggers can link out to each other’s blogs, video creators can make cameos in each other's content, and other types of visionaries can all work together to boost their chances of breaking through to greater popularity.
• Monetize in multiple ways. As with those who work in the gig economy, it can be necessary to seek out multiple means of monetization to make a living as a content creator. Options might include: offering your fans exclusive content for a small subscription fee, partnering with brands to increase ad revenue, selling merchandise through your own e-commerce website, or taking advantage of the crypto and NFT (non-fungible token) boom by creating your own virtual goods.
• Pick the right platform. After you assess your own talents and passions, decide on the perfect platform to put them on display. For example, podcast creators and video game streamers will each likely need to use different software or websites to get their material out there.

Learn how to grow your audience, whether you’re an aspiring vlogger or social media influencer with the MasterClass Annual Membership. Gain access to exclusive video lessons from Ninja, Marques Brownlee, and more.