What Do Businesses Think of the Creator Economy (and the best way to position yourself to earn from it) (and how you can position yourself to earn from it)
As a content creator There are many opportunities to earn money through sales of goods or services, sales of courses, and via sponsored content.
A lot of content creators are able to build upon their passionsthrough blogs, course creation, and developing merchandise for their brand. Sponsored content is another great way to increase your revenue.
By combining a few bits of know-how, some statistics to support your argument along with some networking, you will be well in the process of earning more money and making connections which be a source of income.
What is the Creator Economy? Economy Function?
It is all about the provision of information, content (education, entertainment, and information) presented through the web and app websites to the general public. As per Signalfire, the Creator Economy is built of "over 50 million independent artists, creators of content and community builders including social media influencers, bloggers and videographers, along with finance and software instruments designed to assist them with growth and monetization."
Creators
Creators make up the core of the economy of creators. Creators produce the content people love to consume. From dancing on TikTok to pictures on Instagram, tutorials on YouTube (and all of the rest), Creators give us each and every day a reason to look, to learn, to keep our attention, and enjoy ourselves.
Creative content will always be wanted and will continue to be a demand. Creators provide that content to the masses.
Consumers
Think of consumers as a creator's customers. In most cases, users aren't charged for contents. Consumers vote with their thumbs , moving quickly or stopping on a creator's account to take in their content.
Though consumers might not actually purchase the content they enjoy however, they often are guided by creators of content to purchase goods or services that are blatantly distributed, or are subtly being offered.
Between 2020 and 2021, TikTok creators began displaying The Coldest(tm) water bottles on their 60-second videos. Although the company has not divulged their revenues because of this placement of their product, based on the longevity of the placement as well as the sheer number of content creators involved it is likely that the placement was at the very least, a modest amount of success - if not existential increase. An internet search of the product will reveal numerous pages of sales and reviews opportunities.
People can be influenced by creators they follow and admire.
Platforms
Content creation platforms are in flux and can be a part of the same. Vine was one of them. was an American video-hosting service that allowed users to share six-second long videos that looped. (Wikipedia.) Vine has been in short supply. Others social-sharing platforms (like Facebook, YouTube, Instagram, Snapchat, and TikTok) have endured.
Platforms allow creators to share their content, with a built-in audience that can enjoy it.
Companies
The Creator Economy business can be any one or a combination of many contributors. Creators themselves can grow to be enterprises. Social media platforms can be companies. But what we want to concentrate on is the role of businesses as content sponsor.
Companies (like the one called The Coldest(tm) that was mentioned earlier) seek out content creators for influencers they can partner via product placement or through endorsement.
Content sponsorship is a part of a business's advertising strategy. Engage influencers and spread your brand's message in order for their fans to turn into your clients.
The Creator Model for Business Model
As you can see from our definitions above, the relationships between content creators, their platforms, and business sponsors have the potential to provide income for creators of content. There are a variety of ways it could happen.
Platform Revenue Sharing
Often called "creator funds" platforms pay more popular creators for their continued creation of videos and other content. Because creators like these have a major impact on the usage of their social media platforms, giants, such as Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, Twitter, and yes, TikTok, pay creators to ensure that traffic continues.
Advertisers pay platforms for ad space and airtime. (How often have you sat through 515 or 10 second advertisements on YouTube in order to see the video?) They rely on their creators for traffic. So having content that drives the traffic to your site is worth investing in. And that's where you, the creator of content, step into the picture.
Platforms are waiting to compensate you for media that provides something (information and education, as well as entertainment).
Affiliate Marketing
Content creators have been part of affiliate marketing from the moment social sharing began. With affiliate links in hand, Bloggers, YouTubers and Facebookers and more share about products and services that they utilize in their posts, then share their affiliate links with their followers, which they can use for purchases.
Affiliate marketing (like product and brand placement below) is effective because the followers believe that the content provider both shares and supports the content they share. It is often referred to "social proof," endorsements and reviews aid consumers in making purchase decisions based on trust.
Product Positioning
Similar to the Coldest Water(tm) instance, product placement is usually subtle. (With this example, TikTok users simply had their signature blue bottle within the clip.)
The placement of a product also indicates an endorsement from the creator of the content. When you observe an individual you admire with an item, then you're likely to assume they like it - and infer that you'll as well.
According to an article by Elite Daily, platform users become obsessed with items they've found via influencers. From skin care products to food storage containers, the placement of products is effective.
Brand sponsorship
Brands sponsor content. Whether you're providing a newsletter, video podcasts or blog entries, yes, even courses, brands will pay you to sponsor your material.
A lot of TikTok creators' entire accounts are focused on Amazon "finds" that they want you to buy and try. It is not uncommon for the products could be sold by leveraging endorsements. It's a win-win for both the brand as well as the consumer.
Most often, companies seek to fund content which is related to their products or services they offer, but this doesn't mean that it is always the case. The larger brands, like Coca~Cola such as CocaCola, sponsor events and content simply because they see opportunities for selling, and the content will be seen by lots of. One of Coke's most famous commercials featured a player from the football team "Mean Joe Green" drinking Coca~Cola in a soccer match. It is not common for athletes to drink drinks like that at sporting events, but this commercial hit the mark with consumers as well as being re-used more than 40 years after the fact.
Most brands, however, tend to seek sponsorships for content that is in alignment with their offerings and products. If you are offering online training related to photography, as an example then you could seek sponsorships from products or platforms like photo sharing websites that cater to professional photographers, cameras, and photography equipment.
Courses offering cooking or recipe-related content may have sponsors in the makers of kitchen equipment, cooking tools and food preparation equipment, as well as food and beverage brands.
The closer to your brand's content and the greater your audience is, the more likely a brand is to say yes to sponsorship possibilities.
Collaboration with sponsors to monetize Your Content
Although sponsors may be interested in working with you, it's most likely (at least when you're first beginning) you'll need to reach out to potential sponsors. You'll be required to know prior to doing this, in order to make your presentation professional, and be equipped to answer the questions of potential sponsors.
Develop Your Sponsorship Offerings
The first step is to decide the sponsorship options you will be, and how much you'll make a charge for your sponsorship. Consider all the information you publish, and how often you post, and then how much you'd like to establish the fees for that.
Certain content you should include in sponsorships
- Main site
- Courses
- Lessons
- Blog posts
- Newsletters
- Podcast episodes
- Social media posts
Define the time span of the sponsored content:
- Per blog post
- Per social post
- Lesson or course
- In the form of a newsletter
- Per podcast episode
- or for a specified period of time, such as weekly and monthly.
Make a landing page for your website (or a downloadable PDF) with a description of sponsorship opportunities. Then, you can direct your all marketing efforts towards this page, and any inquiries you receive.
Design a Media Kit
The media kit of your company is the perfect opportunity to shine! It should contain all the elements necessary to show off your company's image. You can incorporate information taken from your About Us webpage, but it isn't as big as a story as easy to digest information bits of information. Short paragraphs and bullet points make great additions to the form of a media kit.
Make sure you include:
- Statistics on brand names
- How many students are in your courses?
- How many site visitors are you getting?
- Amount of newsletter subscribers
- Listenership to podcasts
- Course information (how many lessons? How many lessons?)
- Audience demographics
- Followers of social media per platform
- Brand information
- Logo
- Tag line
- Testimonials
- The timeline of your beginning to where you are now with the growth
A good media kit will aid potential sponsors in deciding if your brand is a good fit for them, and the best place to spend their sponsorship dollars.
Develop a List of Potential Advertisers
Spend some time creating a list of potential sponsors/advertisers. Make use of a spreadsheet to include their site and email address (or the contact page), person to contact (if you have one), phone number, as well as any other relevant information.
Create an email to send to advertisers you're interested in (or for use as the part of the contact form) outlining your identity, the brand you've created, and the sponsorship opportunities that you're promoting. (You can also use this as a loose script for calling prospective sponsors.)
Write down in a column in your spreadsheet of the date you conducted the outreach and any additional conversations you have with sponsors as well as the result.
The ability to keep all this information in one place will help to streamline your outreach and make sure you're not being left out of any possible chances.
the Future of the Creator Economy
From the invention of the printing press, to the latest social networks as well as the possibility of publishing anything you want to online, content continues to be consumed in massive amounts.
As young people get older and become more savvy, the use of technology to create a lifestyle that is self-managed grows. Creativity and understanding the different ways content creates revenue allows for nomadic living (van life, DIY, as well as bicycling to name some) as well as funding the dreams of those who have no money (like small sustainable farm, tiny houses, as well as photography) in addition to supplementing daily work with more passive earnings (like paid content, e-commerce products) as well as course development).
The future is content, and you're on the precipice of creating something truly amazing (and being paid in the process).
Download our creator business canvas template to build your own personal path to sustainable financial viability by creating content that matches your interests!