The Future Belongs to Creators

For many people, budgeting is simple. You take your income, subtract your expenses, and figure out what to do with the rest. Do you save? Invest? Splurge?

As a creator, your life is your business. And that makes budgeting, investing, and managing your money more complicated. The questions you ask yourself aren’t simply, “can I pay my bills and save for retirement this month?” But also, “how much will I owe in taxes?”, “how do I scale my operation?” and “is this a smart business investment?”

While everyone’s business, financial situation, and money mindset are different, there are guiding principles to help answer the tough money questions as a creator, and even help determine if you should be putting a penny down in the first place.

In this episode, Charli, Haley, and Miguel discuss how to get comfortable investing as an entrepreneur, which side hustles to consider if you’re worried about an upfront cost, and the three important questions every creator should ask themselves before spending a dollar.

Key Takeaways

• [00:42] - Have you heard?
  • [01:56] - Instagram will be prioritizing NFTs as an additional place for creators to share their work.
  • [04:13] - In the U.K., it is now illegal for clients to have payment terms longer than 30 days.
  • [07:50] - Meta will continue not to take a financial cut from creators.
• [09:10] - Today’s main topic: Budgeting your time and money as a creator.
  • [10:53] - As a creator, you have to determine what will happen if you don’t see a return on your investment.
  • [12:54] - It can take time to get comfortable spending money on your business. Some wait to invest in their business until they know they’ll see a return or until they’re financially stable.
  • [15:44] - Losing money is a part of entrepreneurship. You have to be comfortable with a little risk or your business will never grow.
  • [18:56] - Just like your retirement investments, you’re in entrepreneurship for the long game. Don’t stop just because you had a down month.
  • [20:03] - On the flip side, you shouldn’t invest in your business irresponsibly. There has to be a business justification behind every investment decision.
  • [24:56] - A business that relies on physical products is financially riskier.
  • [28:24] - Psychologically, people tend to justify escalating their commitment to something based on how much they’ve already invested. To avoid that trap, don’t spend money on your business that you’re not willing to lose.
  • [31:12] - Remind yourself of milestones that your investments have helped you reach. Those milestones help you rationalize future investments.
  • [33:20] - Don’t let perfectionism stop you from launching a business or side hustle. Your business is something you can grow into.
  • [36:02] - Ask yourself what type of business model works for you financially and emotionally. Not all businesses require massive upfront investments.
  • [40:18] - A creator’s money strategy depends on the creator.
• [41:29] - Today’s listener shoutout: ConvertKit writer Isa Adney recently published a wonderful story.
• [42:49] - A sneak peek at next week’s episode.

Quotes

[19:28] - “That’s something that entrepreneurs have to get comfortable with, they just have to get comfortable with being able to zoom out and say, ‘ok I might have a down month this month but it doesn’t mean I should panic and throw in the towel.’ If you can’t do that, then you should not be an entrepreneur.” ~ @haleyjani

[32:58] - “That’s exactly what a psychologist would tell you to do is say, ok, you’re going to spend this amount of money and you’re going to try at it for a year. And if in a year you haven’t passed this threshold, then you need to reassess and not keep escalating your commitment to it. Because at some point it’s just a money pit.” ~ @miguelp.img

[36:37] - “That’s the beauty of being a digital content creator or doing any sort of thing digital online is you really can do it all yourself to get started with. There’s not anything that you have to spend money on in order to get started.” ~ @charliprangley

[40:18] - “Don’t let anyone tell you there’s one right way to budget or one right amount you should be spending on your business as a creator.” ~ @charliprangley

Links

• Watch The Future Belongs to Creators on YouTube
• Instagram<...

You know it, you love it...maybe you’ve never heard of it. Regardless, it’s the first viral trend of 2022 and after a rough few years, embracing something as wholesome as a free word puzzle has felt uniquely refreshing. But what made Wordle the viral sensation that it is? And what’s the best way creators can capitalize on a free service without destroying what made it special to begin with?

Like every success story and every creator misstep, there are lessons creators can learn from the absurd virality of Wordle. From its simplicity and innocence to the big scary question of monetization, this app-less internet game is both fun and a rich topic for discussion amongst creators of every niche.

In this episode, Charli, Haley, and Miguel discuss the wonder of Wordle, why it went viral, how the creator of Wordle can sustain its virality, and what every creator can learn from the success of a free word game taking the internet by storm.

Key Takeaways

• [01:07] - Have you heard?
  • [01:30] - TikTok is testing a paid subscriber model for creators.
  • [02:22] - Instagram is launching subscriptions.
  • [06:29] - YouTube CEO Susan Wojcicki wrote a letter to the YouTube community with a breakdown of YouTube’s priorities for 2022 and a recap of impressive creator stats from 2021.
• [08:33] - Today’s main topic: what can we learn from the virality of Wordle?
  • [10:59] - Wordle is an addictive game with no barriers to entry.
  • [14:37] - Wordle has given people a lighthearted excuse to check in with one another.
  • [15:26] - The sharing function and scarcity of a one-game per day limit also contributed to its virality.
  • [18:05] - There’s a compounding effect on the relevancy of something by the size of its adoption. In other words, something can be very fun, but if it doesn’t become embedded within a cultural wave, it won’t take off.
  • [18:57] - There’s value in something that doesn’t immediately concern itself with monetization.
  • [19:41] - Wordle has a universality to it that creators can apply to their own services.
  • [23:54] - Starting a consultancy, including a TiPJAR, and capturing email addresses are great ways to monetize a free service without sacrificing integrity.
• [34:31] - Creator callout! Noah from ProvocaTeach is launching a new site and has learned to code.
• [35:58] - A sneak peek at our next episode.

Quotes

[17:11] - “There’s something very interesting and special about the fact that this is a thing that’s going viral when the sharing link doesn’t include a link to the project itself. You have to be invested to figure out how to play it yourself.” ~ @charliprangley

[19:49] - “A lot of times we’re talking to creators and we’re asking them to niche down, get really specific to their audience and don’t worry about the size of your niche, and niche down, niche down, niche down. Wordle’s really interesting because it’s totally universal. Everybody talks, everybody uses words, everyone writes. So I guess my lesson for creators is: what’s universal inside your niche? What’s universal inside your small little audience?” ~ @haleyjani

[18:57] - “There’s value in the success of the thing itself and not thinking about the full monetized pipeline. If the creator had thought, ‘Before I release this to the public, what sort of thing can I build around it to make something that makes money?”; that would have made it less interesting to people, it would have created barriers for people, which then would have made it not as viral which then maybe would have made it never take off.” ~ @miguelp.img

Links

• Watch The Future Belongs to Creators on YouTube
• TikTok
• YouTube
• Facebook
• Instagram
• Patreon
• Meta
• Twitch
• Josh Logan
• The Future Belongs to Creators 115: The Realities of Trying to Make It in Music with Josh Logan
• Wordle
• Josh Wardle
• Wordle Is a Love Story
• Slack...

Creator or not, we’ve all experienced burnout to some degree. You throw yourself into a side passion or new business and before you know it, you’re struggling to stay motivated and downright exhausted. While the feeling is familiar, many of us are less familiar with what leads to burnout besides simply “overworking”, how long it takes to bounce back from burnout, and the best ways to rest and recover.

As creators, burnout is often exacerbated by the constant feedback we receive, positive or otherwise. Listening to a never-ending loop of opinions about everything you create is enough to exhaust the toughest among us. But are there ways to combat the inevitable commentary that comes with being a public creator? And how can you recharge without falling back into burnout the moment you start working again?

In this episode, Charli, Haley, and Miguel discuss the recent ConvertKit article, Creativity Feedback Loops, outlining why creators face an uphill battle with burnout, how some creators are addressing feedback burnout head-on, the plus side to frequent feedback, the right way to rest, and what creators should consider before monetizing their passion.

Key Takeaways

• [00:27] - Have you heard?
  • [00:37] - ConvertKit just released a report entitled State Of The Creator Economy 2022 that covers a holistic overview of the creator economy, including data and statistics on creator types, status, gender distribution, monetization, and more.
  • [02:32] - Twitter has created a space for “super followers” only.
  • [04:14] - The co-hosts of the podcast Reply All are leaving Gimlet, a podcast network that was recently acquired by Spotify. They’re not the first podcast hosts to leave post-acquisition.
• [08:26] - Today’s main topic: Creativity Feedback Loops.
  • [09:29] - Online feedback is ruthlessly honest. While difficult to swallow, it can be incredibly constructive.
  • [10:51] - Data shows that Gen Z creators in particular are expecting kindness from their followers more than ever before. In fact, Gen Z creators are choosing their platform based on said platform’s enforcement of respectful comments.
  • [12:26] - While negative feedback can be helpful, it can also be the thing that tips you over the edge and propels you into burnout.
  • [13:55] - Burnout isn’t something you recover from quickly – so it’s important to be mindful of how you’re working and how often you’re giving yourself a break.
  • [15:31] - As a creator, ideas are your currency. To keep the ideas flowing, you have to prioritize rest. In other words, resting is investing in your business.
  • [17:24] - Having a full-time job takes the pressure off living and breathing your craft 24-7 just to survive.
  • [18:58] - Balance means something different to everybody. You have to figure out what works for you.
  • [21:01] - Learning to say no can save you from burnout.
  • [24:03] - Intellectual burnout can be just as challenging for creators as physical burnout.
  • [24:38] - The idea of monetizing creativity in itself induces burnout.
  • [25:56] - You have to go into life as a creator with the clear understanding that creativity is a business. The business side of monetization is incredibly draining for some. To avoid burnout, consider outsourcing those aspects of your life.
  • [28:10] - Sometimes you have to walk away from something good to avoid burnout.
• [30:37] - Today’s listener shoutout: Melanie is a video creator currently working on a documentary series on her YouTube channel. She recently posted her 11th episode.
• [31:47] - Craft & Commerce 2022 is coming up! The first live conference since Covid began.
• [34:11] - A quick sneak peek at next week’s episode.

Quotes

[14:28] - “It can take weeks, months, or even years to really recover from burnout depending on how burnt out you are and what sort of situation is waiting for you after whatever break that you take. So you have to be really mindful about setting yourself up for success when you take those breaks.” ~ @miguelp.img

[16:38] - “Having rest when you're burnt out versus having rest as margin for yourself to give space to relax and have ideas are two very different stages of being. You’re not going to get the ideas when you’re burnt out – that’s your recovery time.” ~ @charliprangley

[26:02] - “You have to go into the creator world, if you’re looking to monetize your creativity, with the understanding and realization that being a creator is a business. So if you don’t have all of those business inputs figured out, then you’re really going to struggle [with burnout].” ~ @haleyjani...

ConvertKit Storyteller Isa Adney has always loved to learn. Although she aced high school, Isa’s family couldn’t afford a traditional four-year university, so Isa dove into community college and later snagged a scholarship to complete her Bachelor’s and earn a Master’s in Education. With a higher degree in learning, Isa’s passion for education is obvious.

But now that she’s an established writer, telling stories at ConvertKit full-time with a few published books under her belt, why pursue any further education? Why spend the money for a degree if you’ve already reached so many professional goals? For Isa, pursuing an MFA is about continuing to develop as a writer, building a community of like-minded creators, and following in the footsteps of writers she admires. While this decision has worked well for Isa, returning to school isn’t right for every creator, especially considering the skyrocketing costs of a degree.

In this episode, Charli, Haley, Miguel, and Isa discuss why a formal education can be incredibly valuable for creators across disciplines, knowing when higher education is the right choice for you, and why there’s more to school than textbooks, teachers, and a shiny diploma.

Key Takeaways

• [02:06] - Have you heard?
  • [02:20] - YouTube is adding live rings to their avatars for live streams.
  • [04:16] - LinkedIn is launching its own podcast network.
  • [05:45] - Creators’ earnings, rates, and audiences are continuing to grow.
• [09:02] - Today’s main topic: How can creators decide if education is right for them?
  • [09:27] - Isa’s experience at a community college shaped her views on higher education and her belief that unpopular options are sometimes the best options.
  • [13:25] - Although Isa’s an established writer, she still sees value in continuing her education. She’s hungry to grow and develop as a writer and is seeking a community of fellow writers to connect with.
  • [20:27] - Community college is a great option for avoiding debt, especially if you’re unsure which career path to take.
  • [24:22] - Different from many online courses, formal education holds you accountable and allows you to foster that community more easily.
  • [29:06] - Online course creators can learn from the formal education system. For example, more courses should incorporate community within the curriculum itself.
  • [31:38] - For so long Isa hesitated with pursuing her MFA because she never saw herself represented in programs. Doing your research and finding a good program fit is incredibly important.
  • [33:01] - If you’re a creator toying with the idea of higher education, research creators you admire and see where they learned what they learned.
• [36:06] - Listener shoutout! Elizabeth Sloane of ConvertKit and Remotely Well now has 7 subscribers that she doesn’t know personally.

Quotes

[15:07] - “There’s quite a few creators – and there’s a longer list that I could share –who are making a living full-time as a creator, and doing courses, and higher education is actually where they got their ideas, where they learned what they now teach.” ~ @IsaAdney

[17:25] - “I felt comfortable. I felt comfortable as a writer, I felt like it was getting easier and easier, and if you’re a real artist, real creator, you don’t actually like to stay there too long. You’re like, I want to grow, I want to get better. I’ve taken every course that I can find, I’ve read every book, and I still know there’s more that I could learn.” ~ @IsaAdney

[18:40] - “The world of writing is changing, the world of the creator economy is changing and writing is a huge part of it and I wanted to see what I could learn, and then bring it over into this new world.” ~ @IsaAdney

[28:49] - “I’m already seeing a difference and it’s so fun because it puts a different lens when you’re learning. You have this other filter where you're also immediately translating it to your life, to your workplace, to things that could make you money. So I think that’s been hugely helpful.” ~ @IsaAdney

Links

• Watch The Future Belongs to Creators on YouTube
• Isa Adney
• Bonnie Christine
• Isa’s story on Bonnie
• YouTube
• Twitch
• Facebook
• LinkedIn
• 

  

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