This post was originally published in The Loaf, a weekly newsletter covering the financial side of the creator economy - subscribe here
Good morning and happy Saturday!
It's been a busy week as Creatorbread officially launched, and weeks like this make me realize the importance of setting boundaries and the harmful effects of 'context-switching'.
If you're not familiar with it, it's similar to multi-tasking but the term context-switching resonates with me more than multi-tasking. It refers to the mental hurdle of moving from task to task and having to gather context around what you're working on to be able to do it efficiently.
To get more work done and to do it to the best of your abilities, focus on the task at hand and nothing else.
Gather that context, knock out the task, and then move on to the next. Your productivity will thank you later.
Anyways, let's get into it.
- Treyton
In creating this newsletter I scroll through countless websites to get different perspectives on what's trending. In this process, I've noticed a trend of companies mentioning the creator economy like it's a brand new thing.
The term 'creator economy' is believed to have originated in early 2011 and beginning last year, search volume for 'creator economy' picked up speed.
The rise of the creator economy in recent years feels like the beginning of a giant shift in media consumption. I don't know about you, but I don't know the last time that I sat down and watched regular TV and consumed regular advertisements.
As consumers respond less to traditional advertisements and have begun putting a priority on having positive relationships with brands before doing business with them, creators are becoming more and more relevant to large companies.
This month, Chipotle launched its Creator Class, "a program that taps some of its most influential fans to take a creator-first approach to promoting collaboration and career growth".
Regarding the new program Chipotle CMO Chris Brandt stated "we are committed to providing exclusive opportunities to our most influential superfans who have done so much to help grow our brand."
We've seen the power of TikTok on showcase in the past year as one Coldstone Creamery employee, Dylan Lemay, began making TikToks during work, grew to 7 million+ followers on TikTok and 2 million subscribers on YouTube in less than a year.
Once the TikTok creator fund launched, he earned as much creating content as he was from Coldstone in just 2.5 months. The owners of the Coldstone store then offered to sell him the shop but he's decided to launch his own ice cream shop in early 2022.
(An interesting note is that Dylan also creates on Snapchat and he earned a little less than 6 figures from one video that reached 1,000,000 views.
When compared to TikTok's payouts, he didn't earn that much with over 100,000,000 views... The moral of the story: not all platforms are created - or treat creators - equal)
Companies like Dunkin' have partnered with the D'Amelio's, this week was the one year anniversary of the viral DoggFace208/Fleetwood Mac TikTok which helped get OceanSpray for eyeballs on their product than any traditional advertisement they've done, Instagram launched a $1 billion creator fund, and Disney is partnering with creators to help them develop their skills and become better creators for Disney.
Money is in motion and as we enter "The Great Resignation", more and more people will enter the creator economy. This is going to lead to a massive shift in how businesses advertise, how people earn their money, and how much brands are willing to pay creators as part of their marketing spend.
Creators are becoming the new celebrities.
They're relatable.
They're authentic.
They show the real sides of themselves unlike the celebrities on TV and movies that we only see on camera - and coming out of the pandemic, it feels as if there's been a shift in consumer behavior across the board as traits like relatability and authenticity are becoming more and more important.
Brands are just now beginning to realize the power that creators have. Because of the shift toward relatability and authenticity, creators have the relationship with the end-consumer, not brands.
Social media accounts from companies are getting less engagement, they catch heat from their lack of tone and awareness, and traditional advertising is becoming less relevant.
As more brands and companies notice how impactful creator marketing and advertising can be, we're going see traditional advertising dollars flow into the hands of creators.
How can you take advantage of this?
One way is to create value for a specific audience or create content around a specific topic.
The reason is because if you have a defined audience, it becomes easier for brands to match their product to your audience, allowing them to pay more because there's a greater chance of producing business results.
Using the prior example of the Ice Cream TikToker, if he was doing those videos at home rather than at ColdStone, he probably could've gotten other ice cream brands to sponsor some of his videos, give him free ice cream, etc.
In return, those brands would have gotten exposure to millions of people simply through this one creator's TikTok account.
Since he was creating niche videos, it would be easy for an ice cream brand to reach out and do business because they know the audience is watching for the ice cream content.
A sports betting company isn't going to reach out to this guy, but they might reach out to someone who constantly creates content around fantasy football or does sports commentary.
Also, as more money begins to flow into the creator economy, it's becoming more important to know your worth as a creator.
Brands are willing to spend millions and millions of dollars on traditional advertising, don't let them take advantage of you just because that money hasn't been available and offered before. Brands are going to undervalue your audience. You're the one who's spent the time and energy building it, not them - don't let them have access without appropriate compensation.
2 min read | by Treyton DeVore
A lawsuit can be devastating to a business, especially a solo creator business.
One misinterpreted piece of content or unlicensed use of a song could put a halt to a budding career.
If you're someone who puts content out online, you're putting your thoughts and opinions out into the world for anyone to consume.
While we don't always have certain intentions behind our words, some people can interpret them in ways that we didn't intend and media liability insurance is designed to help protect creators from potential surprise lawsuits that come with creating content online.
4 min read | by Freelancer's Union
With the hardships from the last 18 months, more and more people came to realize that their current job didn’t suit them and began leaving for greener pastures creating what analysts were calling the Summer of Quitting, with more than 3.9 million people quitting in April, 2021 alone.
Many of those people quit to work as freelancers.
With more financial freedom working for yourself, comes a lot of extra financial responsibility – from sorting out 1099 forms and paying quarterly taxes, to making sure you’re saving enough money for those slow seasons.
A recent study conducted by OnePoll in collaboration with Lili finds that “1 in 3 freelancers spend at least 11 days a year just thinking about their finances.” That’s compared to 1 in 5 people with full-time jobs.
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