Today, tomorrow, or next year, you’re going to buy something from a creator. Or you’re going to support their work by clicking on an ad, opening their sponsor-supported emails, or leaving a comment on a social media profile of theirs.
You’ve probably already done some of these things (thanks for opening this email, by the way!) and you’ll be doing it more often in the future. Because the creator economy is inescapable, much as some people may hate it.
VC funds pour millions to fund creators directly, not to mention the other millions they shed to finance solutions for creators. A recent analysis of The National Endowment for the Arts and the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis says the creator economy arts and creative-culture jobs contribute more than $763.6 billion to the U.S. economy, more than agriculture or transportation. This is the highest estimate I found, so it’s to be taken with a grain of salt.
Whatever the actual number may be, one thing is clear: (some) creators are thriving. But what does the future hold in store for them? Who’s going to thrive and who’s going to be left behind?
I said this before, in a previous analysis of the creator economy: when the entry barrier is low, the growth barrier is towering.
There are two things that will fuel growth in the medium run and one that will hamper it:
Prediction #1: Broad topics and large audiences spell success
Riches may be in the niches but real wealth and success belong to generalists. Or to creators who choose broad topics of expertise.
Quick caveat: I think success goes beyond your bank account. The BIGGEST promise of the creator economy is that, after the growing pains are gone and your brand is mature, you will be able to make a decent amount of money with minimal effort. That amount varies from person to person but the desire to put in less effort is constant.
I’ve written about niching down before. The short of it is that a tiny niche may sound like a good idea in the beginning but it comes with a very low ceiling. You’ll get to your audience cap much faster than a generalist.
This goes for any type of business, but it’s extra painful for creators because:
- Your clients will outgrow you. This is the end goal, after all. They bought your course on TikTok ads and, ideally, they now master this field. If all you specialize in is TikTok, perhaps you’ll be able to sell them one or two more products until they’ll only consume your free content. Which leads me to:
- You’ll have to keep chasing new clients, which doesn’t sit well with the promise that you’ll have to put in less and less effort as your audience grows.
- You’ll get bored of your own content before your audience does. Tight spots do that to you and you burn out much faster if all you have to play with is a tiny slice of a broader topic.
True, non-hustled success will belong to creators who consider their clients’ LTV (Lifetime Value) from day one.
There are two ways to increase LTV:
- Cater to an ongoing need (best-suited for services and B2C digital products)
- Go broad
Let’s explore them both.
First, a personal example: I was able to grow my digital marketing agency because our core offer (content writing and copywriting) is an ongoing need. We invested in keeping our clients loyal and some of them have been with us for more than seven years.
There are currently 427 files in our biggest client’s folder. 427 pieces of content we created for them in five years — quite a steady revenue stream. Steady clients are a B2B company’s bread and butter, as they allow you to spend less time on lead generation.
But creators don’t offer services (or, at least, their services aren’t the biggest revenue drivers for them).
B2C creators — those who help you improve your life, not your business — have it easier. A fitness coach or a health expert can sell multiple courses, PDFs, or programs to the same client. You always need help in those areas.
In B2B, creators are outgrown by their clients much faster. Unless you can help them with more than one teeny-tiny compartment of their business.
Businesses (the good ones, anyway) aren’t compartmentalized. A TikTok expert’s clients also use other social media platforms. It would be much easier for them to buy courses or digital downloads about other social media platforms from the same creator whose style they already like. With time, most creators will end up diversifying because their audience demands it.
In fact, most of the biggest creators out there cater to large audiences and/or broad topics:
- Sahil Bloom offers life and personal development advice that’s applicable to…pretty much everyone.
- Justin Welsh talks about solopreneurship (or the creator economy) to people who are solopreneurs or think about becoming solopreneurs (a huge chunk of current employees and “traditional entrepreneurs).
- Dan Koe brought life advice into his already wide focus on business products.
- The new army of AI experts speaks to nearly everyone who spends time online because we all care about AI to a certain extent.
- Miss Excel (Kat Norton) seemingly specializes in one solution, Excel. But she has SUCH a broad audience that she can afford to (who doesn’t use Excel? Who doesn’t hate the steep learning curve it comes with?). Plus, she also brought the woo-woo, mystical side of her front and center.
- Noaphinion (Noah Smith) is an economist, which inherently comes with an endless supply of fresh and historical topics and a huge audience who wants in on the scoop.
I’ve had a lot of strategy sessions with creators or solopreneurs recently. One thing stood out more than anything: my clients are looking to diversify. They feel the ceiling nearing and they need to make more room to grow.
The good news here is that diversification and pivoting are entirely possible. As you evolve, your offers and your content evolve as well. Even if you started out within a tiny niche, you can (and should!) outgrow it.
Prediction #2: Content curation will be an industry in its own right
You’ve seen it on Buzzfeed (the division that is NOT bankrupt yet) — all they did was take information from elsewhere and curate it: cut the fluff and the meh and only show you the good stuff.
The Morning Brew (the newsletter that curates news for its readers) has more than 4 million subscribers. Across their entire eco-system (Money Scoop, Emerging Tech Brew, Money with Katie, Future Social, and others), a whopping 6 million people line up to read curated news.
With AI commoditizing content, it will be easier than ever to produce millions of words every day — for nearly everyone.
Users are (again!) those who will have a hard time navigating the increasingly crowded online world. More than ever, they will need their news, their entertainment, and their information curated by people or institutions they trust.
This is why you’ve noticed sections dedicated to curated content in most of your favorite newsletters and Ideas to Power Your Future makes no exception.
Sure, it’s hard to beat The Morning Brew, impossible even for a solo creator. But you can always spice up your content by adding a curated section to your newsletter or your social media calendar.
Prediction #3: Organic growth is almost off the table for new creators
As this space gets more crowded by the minute (remember the towering barrier?), growing a business 100% organically is getting harder.
The last bastions of decent organic reach, TikTok and LinkedIn, now make it harder to get visibility IF you don’t already have a strong following and historically good engagement levels. And, as much as it pains me to say, there’s only room for so many newsletters in readers’ inboxes.
Organic growth is a badge of honor for many successful creators and I find that puzzling. Any marketing or advertising tactic costs money (or time), so why the stigma on paid growth?
I tout my agency’s 100% organic growth because this is what we sell (organic growth through content and copy) and it makes sense to walk the talk. But I’m not opposed to ads as a general rule.
My recommendation is to start considering ads (not necessarily PPC) if you want to grow your creator brand. I’ve always been frugal with business expenses but I think the era of organic growth is sunsetting.
How to use this in your business
1. Broaden your scope
Did you start out on a tiny niche? What other complementary fields can you tap in? Examples:
- Copywriter → brand strategist
- Notion expert → operations specialist
- LinkedIn writer/advisor → social media expert
2. Consider customer LTV from the beginning
Before you launch your first product, think about this: can you piggyback on it later? Does it fit well with your three- or five-year strategy? Can you tie it to a future cross-sell or upsell opportunity?
3. Ads and other growth drivers
PPC and newsletter sponsorships are the fastest way to fuel growth for creators these days. Other routes you can try:
- Good ol’ organic social media (bank on it NOW, while a modicum of organic reach is still there)
- Referral programs (by the way, remember that you can always use your personalized link at the bottom of this email and win cool prizes, including a strategy session with me!)
- Partnerships and cross-promos with other creators
- Guest appearances in podcasts, interviews, and more (but this is reserved for creators who already have some traction)
- Guest posting
Before I leave to ponder all this, a final caveat: these predictions live firmly in the land of speculation. A brand-new social media network that launches tomorrow may render them all moot. And yes, I know there and there will be exceptions to each of these — a few “unicorn” creators will be able to grow organically and thrive on a tiny niche.
These predictions are meant to help you prepare for a probable future because no version of the future can be certain. If anyone tells you they know exactly what will happen tomorrow, run the other way.
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Adriana’s Picks
- My friend Gabe is on a mission to help 100K freelancers escape the time-for-money trap. How? Through a newsletter packed with actionable growth advice. Subscribe here!
- Instagram is launching a Twitter competitor that will allow for 500-character posts, have strict safety controls, and be compatible with decentralized platforms like Mastodon.
- OpenAI CEO Sam Altman testified before a Senate Judiciary subcommittee. Looks like legislators are moving faster with AI than they did with social media. Remember how long it took them to get Mark Zuckerberg there?
That’s it from me today!
See you next week in your inbox!
Here to make you think,
Adriana
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