Loosely-held thought:
I truly believe it is easier than ever to make a living as a content creator.
However, the increased visibility of "content creator" as a job makes people THINK it's possible to do so in literally any niche or genre.
And that's just not always true.
A couple things lead to this over-confidence:
1) It's easier than ever to get started.
The gear is cheaper than ever, there are way more tools, and tutorials for literally everything are free.
2) You can point to examples of successful creators in nearly every niche.
This leads more people than ever before to TRY.
Additionally, people try to make a living in more ~niches~ than ever.
It feels like you can make it in literally any genre.
But then most people fail to get to a level where they can earn significant effort from their content.
So they quit.
This leads to a sentiment I often see in the art and commentary communities:
"Making it as a creator is HARDER than ever."
This can be backed up with points like:
- Top creators are spending more than ever on each video
- Top creators have whole teams
- Niches are saturated
I've seen videos on the "Mr. Beastification of YouTube"
They make the assertion that every successful creator is spending insane $$$ on each video, building entire sets, buying warehouses, and giving away giant stacks of money.
(which just isn't true)
What I think is actually happening is this:
- More people than ever are trying, in more niches than ever
- Some creators don't understand just how long it can take to succeed
- Some creators don't understand how to monetize beyond AdSense or Patreon
Additionally, people who don't bother to look past the obvious top examples come to believe that you have to copy Mr. Beast to be successful.
They don't notice the literally 99% of full-time creators who are not doing Mr. Beast-style content at all.
They don't notice people like @traversymedia building an entire empire by teaching people programming... though screen recordings that don't even have a face cam.
You can do with with a computer, OBS (free), and even just use your phone as a mic.
It's much more about skill.
There are some hard truths here:
1) It has ALWAYS been very hard to make it in certain niches, especially those in the arts
2) Certain opportunities that used to exist have gone away (e.g. Instagram tweaking their algorithm to favor video over art and photos)
However, I still stand by my belief that it's easier than ever to earn a living as a creator.
You just have to be smart about it.
First, your niche matters. Sorry, but it does.
I'm not saying certain niches are impossible, but some are much easier than others.
You can draw or make music, and you can share your art to people on dozens of platforms.
But nobody owes you a living just because you do so.
Especially in the world of the arts, the lion's share of the money and rewards tend to go to those at the top.
The distribution is EXTREMELY biased towards those deemed "best".
Understanding this lopsided distribution is very, very useful.
I highly recommend reading Cal Newport's post on the "Superstar Effect" on @tferriss' blog, which explains it (and how to hack it).
It's a hugely perspective-shifting article.
tim.blog/2010/07/27/the-superstar-effect/
In other niches, that distribution is not so extremely biased.
E.g. you don't need to be the world's best accountant to make a living.
Why?
The world's best accountant can only serve a few clients at a time.
The world's best singer can serve EVERYONE.
This doesn't mean you need to become an accountant.
What it ~does~ mean is that you need to get smart about your niche – in two key dimensions:
1. What gets you visibility?
2. What drives your economic engine?
The problem is that most creators only think about #1 – visibility.
They worry about views and subscribers, and then expect that the income will come from the platform they publish on - e.g. YouTube AdSense.
But AdSense earnings are relatively small.
And some platforms/formats don't pay much at all.
I see people complaining all the time about how they got 30 million views on a TikTok video or YouTube Short and made like $0.50.
They think the platform owes them more money for the exposure their content got.
And maybe the platforms should pay more! But they currently don't. That's the reality we live in.
Meanwhile, @themissexcel is posting TikToks with far fewer views, but earning $100,000+ every month from them.
She's not earning that money directly from TikTok.
Instead, she understands that TikTok is the DISCOVERABILITY part of her business.
Then she links to her own products in her bio, and makes 6 figures a month doing so.
Unlike most creators, @themissexcel has considered both visibility AND economic engine.
These are two separate things, and she's made the smart decision to build an economic engine out of her own courses and products.
But what about the arts?
@mishaperiphery of @PeripheryBand is a great example here.
Periphery currently has 372,000 monthly listeners on Spotify, which is a big number but... *checks notes* ...probably not enough to pay the rent.
So Misha and his bandmates have expanded past simply making records and touring.
They've done paid music camps and music production courses, launched a guitar pedal company, and sold a line of drum VSTs called Getgood Drums. (which rock btw)
The records and tours are for visibility.
The pedals, VSTs, courses, and camps are the economic engine.
I highly recommend watching this interview @olaenglund did with Misha for more on this:
Also, I'll say this plainly for the folks in the back:
Visibility is MEGA-IMPORTANT for your economic engine.
Getgood Drums' VSTs are awesome, but to a certain degree they don't actually have to be.
Many people will buy because their favorite band, Periphery, made them.
In effect, their art – the music – is pulling double-duty as indirect marketing for their products.
The art builds the audience, which slowly grows fond of them as creators, and is hence primed to buy any products they create.
The big lesson here is that you must view yourself as a business.
You need to think about marketing, sales, and product.
How can you get more visibility?
How can you drive more customers to what you're selling, and how can you get each customer to spend more?
If you're relying on AdSense to earn money, you have merely outsourced your product development and sales departments to YouTube...
...and you're going to get comparatively meager returns as a result.
And that's the rub.
You might not want to think of yourself as a business.
You might just want to make your art and share it.
That's fine. But in that case, you need to accept that creating will likely remain a hobby for you.
The only way it won't stay a hobby is if you can build an audience so large that that the:
✅ Completely hands-off
✅ Platform-owned
✅ Not-in-your-control
...monetization options can support you. And that takes a very large audience indeed.
Alternatively, you can take some time to learn about running a business.
You can develop your own products, work with affiliate programs and sponsors, or offer freelance services.
And then you can make a living ~without~ needing millions of views and a massive audience.
This path isn't easy.
It requires a lot of time spent learning (widely), honing your skills, and understanding your audience.
It still involves BUILDING an audience, which does take time.
You need to learn what you can provide that your audience is willing to pay for.
You might – like @PeripheryBand – need to dedicate some of your attention to product development.
This means you might not be able to spend ALL of your time making art, because (in business terms) your art functions as marketing for your products... which also take time to make.
However, this path is VASTLY more accessible to the average creator than trying to get to millions and millions of views.
It's also far more sustainable. Fame is fleeting.
Anyone smart with a huge audience is planning for the time they become far less relevant.
Start by understanding funnels:
twitter.com/TomFrankly/status/1537161742324748288
I'll also recommend this thread on sponsorships and brand deals.
Most of the concepts here apply to ALL types of monetization.
twitter.com/TomFrankly/status/1542228333080956929
Lastly, I'll plug Business 101 for Creators on @WatchNebula.
This is NOT an audience-building course. It covers the un-sexy stuff: Setting up a business entity, bookkeeping and accounting, minimizing taxes, and hiring.
It's also literally $5 lol
nebula.tv/business-101-for-creators
I wrote this thread on a whim, but it feels like a missed opportunity to not promote that course.
I worked very hard on it, it's very useful information, and also you should be on @WatchNebula anyway because it rocks.
Anyway, TL;DR:
- Consider both visibility and economic engine
- Be patient; success in the creator economy is long-game (I've been at this for 12 years)
- Understand that niche choice matters
Happy to answer questions. Follow me or don't; I'm not your dad.