What are businesses' thoughts about the concept of the Creator Economy (and the best way to make money from it) -
As a content creator There are many opportunities to earn money through the sale of products or services, sales of courses, and by promoting content.
Many content creators build on their passions: through blogging creating courses, blogging, or designing merchandise to go with their brands. The sponsorship of content is another excellent method to boost your earnings.
With a little bit of know-how, some statistics to support your argument, and some outreach with a little effort, you'll be on your way to earning more money and making connections that will continue to yield.
How Does the Creator Economy Function?
It is all about the creation of media (education or entertainment information) that is made available via the internet and app websites to people in general. As per Signalfire The Creator Economy is built of "over 50 million artists, creators of content, and community builders such as social media influencers, bloggers and videographers, along with the finance and software tools designed to help them grow and make money."
Creators
Creators make up the core of the Creator Economy. Creators provide the content that people love to consume. From dance videos on TikTok to photos on Instagram, tutorials on YouTube (and all the way to), Creators give us every reason to browse for information, to pass time, and to entertain ourselves.
Creativity is sought-after and continue to remain a need. Creators bring that to the masses.
Consumers
Imagine consumers as creator's customer. In most cases, users do not pay for the content. People vote by their thumbs , moving quickly or stopping on a creator's account to partake of their contents.
While consumers aren't required to make a purchase for contents they like however, they often are affected by the creators of content to purchase goods or services that are either blatantly being presented, or subtlely shared.
Between 2020 and 2021, TikTok creators began displaying the Coldest(tm) containers of water within their 60-second videos. Though the company has not divulged their revenues because of this product placement, based on the longevity of the brand's placement and the number of content creators involved we can conclude that there was at a minimum, modest growth, if not even expansion. If you do a quick search on the internet for the product will show pages and pages of reviews and sales opportunities.
Consumers can be influenced by artists they admire and follow.
Platforms
Platforms for content creation are in flux and can be a part of the same. Vine, for example, was an American short-form video hosting service that allowed users to share six-second long, looping video clips. (Wikipedia.) Vine was a short-lived platform. Other social sharing platforms (like Facebook, YouTube, Instagram, Snapchat, and TikTok) have survived.
Platforms provide creators a place to publish their work, and a built-in audience to take in the content.
Companies
The Creator Economy, businesses are any or a combination of many contributing parties. Creators themselves can develop into enterprises. Social sharing platforms are certainly businesses. But what we want to pay attention to is companies as content sponsors.
Businesses (like the one called The Coldest(tm) previously mentioned) seek out content creators as influencers who they can work with through product placement or sponsorship.
Content sponsorship is part of a business's advertising strategy. Get influencers to use and share your products in order for their fans to become your customers.
The Creator Model for Business Model
Based on our previous definitions, relationships between content creators, their platforms, and business sponsors have the potential to earn revenue for content creators. There are a variety of ways this can happen.
Platform Revenue Sharing
Oft referred to "creator funds," platforms provide more prominent creators with funds to keep producing content. As creators drive the use of their respective platforms, social media giants like Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, Twitter, and yes, TikTok, pay creators to continue to drive traffic.
Advertisers pay platforms for ad place and time. (How many times have you sat through 5- or 15- seconds of ads on YouTube for the chance to view the video?) Platforms rely on creators for traffic. Therefore, content that generates the traffic to your site is worth investing in. That's where you, the content creator, comes into.
Platforms have the capacity to pay willing to pay for media which provides something (information or education).
Affiliate Marketing
Content creators have been part of affiliate marketing since the beginning of social sharing. Armed with affiliate links, 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 purchase from.
Affiliate marketing (like product and brand placement below) works because followers assume that the source of content shares and supports what they are sharing. Sometimes referred to as "social evidence," endorsements and reviews assist consumers to make purchases that are based on the trustworthiness.
Product Placement
Like the coldest Water(tm) example before, product placement is usually discreet. (With this particular example, TikTok users simply had their signature blue bottle in the video.)
Product placement also implies endorsement by the content creator. If you see an individual you admire with the product, it is likely that they enjoy it. Then infer that you'll, too.
According to an article by Elite Daily, the users of platforms become obsessed with the products they've come across through influencer use. For everything from skin care items to storage containers for food, product placement works.
Brand sponsorship
Brands sponsor content. If you're offering an email newsletter, video or podcast blogs, or some courses, brands will pay you to sponsor your material.
There are many TikTok creators' entire accounts are focused on Amazon "finds" that they would like you to purchase and experience. And in many cases, those products can sell to you through endorsements. The benefits of sponsored content are both for the brand and the consumer.
Most often, companies seek to fund content that is in relation to the products and services they offer, but this isn't always the case. Brands with larger reach, such as Coca~Cola as an example have sponsored events or content just because they perceive opportunities for selling, and the content will be seen by many. The most well-known CocaCola commercials depicted a footballer "Mean Joe Green" drinking a Coca~Cola at a football game. The majority of athletes don't drink similar to those at sports occasions, however this commercial hit the mark with consumers, and is still referenced more than 40 years after the fact.
Most brands, however, prefer to promote content aligned to their services and products. If you are offering online training on photography, for instance it is possible to seek sponsorships from photography-related goods and platforms like photo sharing websites for professionals, professional cameras, and equipment for photography.
The courses that offer cooking recipes and other content could have sponsors with the manufacturers of kitchen utensils, food preparation appliances, as well as food and beverage brand names.
The more closely aligned with your brand's content and the greater your target audience, the more likely a brand will say yes to sponsorship possibilities.
Collaboration with sponsors to Monetize Your Content
Though sponsors could be interested in working together, it's much more likely that (at most when you're starting out) you will have contact potential sponsors. There are things you will be required to know prior to that to ensure that you make your presentation professional, and be equipped to answer any questions they might have.
Develop Your Sponsorship Offerings
Start by deciding what your sponsorship offerings will be, and how much you want to make a charge for your sponsorship. Consider all the content you provide, how often you update it, and then how much you want to set the fees for that.
Certain content you should include in sponsorships
- Main site
- Instruction
- Lessons
- Blog posts
- Newsletters
- Podcast episodes
- Social media posts
Define the time span of sponsored content:
- Per blog post
- Per social post
- Lesson or course
- For newsletters
- Per podcast episode
- For a specific period of time: weekly, monthly, annually
Make a landing page for your website (or a downloadable PDF) outlining the sponsorship opportunities. Then, you can direct your advertising efforts to this page, and any inquiries you receive.
Create the Media Kit
The media kit of your company is the perfect opportunity to shine! It should include all of the necessary elements that showcase your company's image. It can include information from your About Us page, but shouldn't be as much a narrative as easily digestible data chunks. Brief paragraphs and bullet points are great in a media kit.
Include:
- Statistics on brand names
- What number of students attend your classes?
- How many site visitors you've got
- The number of subscribers to newsletters
- Podcast listenership
- Information about the course (how many classes? How many lessons?)
- Audience demographics
- Following social media on a platform
- Information on the brand
- Logo
- Tag line
- Testimonials
- Timeline of when you started to where you are now with growth
An effective media kit can help potential sponsors decide whether your company is a suitable match for their needs, as well as the best place to channel their sponsorship funds.
Make a List of Interested Advertisers
Spend some time creating a list of potential sponsors/advertisers. Use a spreadsheet to add the website address, email address (or Contact page), person to contact (if you have one), phone number, as well as any other relevant information.
Create an email to send to prospective advertisers (or to include in the text of their contact forms) outlining your personal identity, the brand you've created as well as the sponsorship opportunities you're relaying. (You may also apply the same script loosely for phone calling potential sponsors.)
Make notes in a column of your spreadsheet of the date of your outreach, and then any subsequent conversations you may have with sponsors and the outcome.
The ability to keep all this information together will allow to streamline your outreach as well as ensure you're missing out on any potential opportunities.
The Future of the Creator Economy
Since the invention of the printing press through the most recent social media platforms as well as the possibility of publishing anything you want to online the internet, content is consumed in large volumes.
As young people get older using technology for creating a lifestyle that is self-managed grows. The ability to think creatively and understand the various ways in which content can generate revenue can allow to live a nomadic lifestyle (van living, DIY, as well as bicycling to name a few) as well as funding the dreams of those who have no money (like small , sustainable farms, tiny homes, and photography) in addition to supplementing daily job opportunities with passive income (like sponsored content, e-commerce merchandise) as well as course development).
The future of content is now, and you're at the edge of creating something truly amazing (and earning a profit to do it).
Use our Creator Business Canvas template and create your own sustainable financial viability through the creation of content that matches your passion!