The Rise of the Creator Economy - What’s its Future?
After graduating from university and moving to Los Angeles, no one would hire me. I was so desperate, I went door to door down Melrose Avenue looking for a retail job in LA’s high end fashion boutiques (turns out, they weren’t interested in a kid with J.Crew tucked into his bootleg khakis, selling high fashion). Then fate kicked in and a fledgling social network called me for an internship. They saw that I had a Blogspot blog and wanted to discuss an online marketing role with me.
My career in online marketing inadvertently began because I was an amateur content creator. Ever since then, I have continued to create content as a hobby. I dabbled with a YouTube channel in 2009, blogged every Sunday from 2012-2014, launched my first podcast in 2014, and the Sidedoor podcast in 2020. I love creating content and storytelling. But it’s never been my full-time job.
Slice was built with this experience in the back of my mind. How can we help creators transition from amateur enthusiasts to full-time professionals, to a long-term career?
Our company’s internal northstar is based on the idea of helping creators make money, grow, and build a successful business. In order for us to do this, we need to understand creators and where the creator economy is going.
Channels Change, Creators are Forever
At my first real, full-time job at a digital agency, I carved my niche within the company because I knew the “blogosphere” and Mom bloggers better than anyone else. When I launched my first digital agency, I tried to build a platform called “[Sic]Nation,” in an effort to better connect brands and bloggers. For the most part, blogging is dead. But the creator economy is alive and well.
YouTube was acquired in 2007 but didn’t hit its stride with creators until years later. Instagram started out with photo sharing, but has transformed into a juggernaut for creators. Vine had a moment and then TikTok exploded.
This trend will continue until the end of time. People have an inherent desire to be creative and be heard. But most are not skilled. These products and tools make it easier than ever to be a creator. You don’t even need to speak on TikTok for video content, they’ve popularized lip syncing and turned that into memes.
We are in the middle of an incredible creator renaissance. We can feel the world of work shifting right in front of our eyes. What does this mean for the creator economy?
What Does the Future Creator Look Like?
While the next TikTok has probably not been created yet (sorry BeReal) and I’m not smart enough to predict where creators will be creating content next, I can see the writing on the wall for how content creators will behave in the future.
Content creation is no longer a hobby. It’s not just a job. It’s a career path and a viable one at that. That path is going to widen as the entire ecosystem matures, giving creators the tools they need to be successful.
We live in an age where kids grow up not wanting to be an astronaut, but a YouTuber. Content creation is now an embedded part of today’s youth. Editing video, audio, and photographs will not be a unique skill. Soon it will be viewed like someone writing down Microsoft Word as a skill on their resume; this isn’t special, it’s expected.
We are going to see a wave of content creators set out to build careers in content at an early age, not stumble upon it like half of today’s current generation.
Creators as Brands
Creators are the new A-list celebrity. Charlie Dimilio and her family hired one of Hollywood’s top talent agents to help build their media empire. Matty Benedetto, of “Unnecessary Inventions” fame was featured in Captain Morgan Super Bowl commercial. Logan Paul has transitioned from controversial YouTuber to podcast host and co-founder of Prime energy drinks.
Creators are still driving revenue through brand deals, but they’re starting to look at the bigger picture and see the opportunities beyond creating content on just one channel. MrBeast is a beloved YouTuber and his brand has extended into a ghost kitchen, a chocolate company, and he’s allegedly been in talks to raise $150 million USD for his company.
But these are the mega stars. They’re one in a million, right? No. They are the trendsetters. They are blazing a trail that millions of other creators will follow over the next decade.
Just like every startup doesn’t turn into an Apple or Google, doesn’t mean there isn’t a lot of quality of companies being created every year. We are going to see an explosion of creator led businesses over the next decade.
Why Does This Matter?
The future of work is rapidly changing. Covid accelerated this. Too many people assessed their quality of life working a 9-5 job. The Great Resignation is a precursor to The Creator Rebellion (aka people will rebel from the 9-5 to be creators)
The bar to becoming a content creator has lowered. The playbook for success is clearer. The tools to support creators are becoming more abundant, and the social “permission” to be a full-time creator is widely accepted.
Instead of suffering through life with one paycheck and a boss you resent, people are seeing they can maintain their current lifestyle, if not improve it, by creating content and diversifying into 2-3 revenue streams. Start with a TikTok channel, expand to a podcast, and merchandise. Now you have your own media business
The opportunity for a flexible lifestyle and increased financial stability will lead the upcoming wave of independent creator businesses.
The next ten years are going to be an extremely exciting time for the creator economy. Unlike the gig economy, which promised flexibility in your career, but ultimately alienated gig workers financially, the creator economy is going to fulfill that promise, with a different output.
Individuals are going to take control over their careers and lives like they never have before. Being a content creator is the new entry point for entrepreneurs. Instead of creating a brand and using social media to market it, people will start on social media and expand to being a brand.
I expect to see a ten-fold increase in content creators turned entrepreneurs in the next ten years.
Photo by Catherina Schürmann on Unsplash