Can you earn a living creating content online?

Earning a living as a digital creator is hard, with nearly 50% of full-time creators making less than $1K annually. 😲

Last week Steph Smith and Calvin Rosser, co-hosts of the Sh*t You Don't Learn in School podcast, did a Quda AMA about the creator economy.

I took reams of notes, here's what I learnt. 👇

1️⃣ What does it mean to be a creator?

The difference between an influencer and a creator is that today you can build a successful business without having substantial influence in the world.

For example, you could have a really niche newsletter that pays your bills.

If you want to make a living as a creator, you have to find out what skills you have that resonate with the market.

Instead of asking “What do I think people need?” or “What type of product are people looking for right now?” start by focusing on the areas you know best.

This is because making a living online is difficult and the ways in which you do it will likely change over time from where you start to where you end.

Even though some big platforms are selling the dream of becoming a creator, it doesn’t mean the majority of people make it.

That’s not to say it’s impossible, but it does require pivoting and staying at it for a couple of years in most cases.

2️⃣ How do I find my niche?

Good news is that with the internet, you have access to so many more niches than ever before.

And so if you start with things you're truly excited about, you’ll probably be able to find an audience out there into the same thing.

For example, there are creators who create content around just Excel or Google sheets, which for some are very boring topics. But creators like
Miss Excel have shown you can reach a substantially sized niche by focusing in on what you know best.

Being genuinely interested in your niche is also important for staying through the ups and downs. Creating content year after year is a long journey.

The best path is to start with your passions and then identify the right channel to actually express that information, whether that’s TikTok, Twitter, blogging, podcasting, newsletter or any other medium.

3️⃣ What should I write about?

Ideas are very transient so it helps to keep track of them. That can be done in
Evernote or any spreadsheet.

Notice which ones come up on a recurring basis, prioritize them and create fuller documents around them.

Instead of guessing what other people want to hear, focus on what you’re excited to write about.

The content that is going to resonate the most with readers is going to be what you know a lot about.

It’s also easiest to write about the topics you’re most excited about in that particular moment. You’ll communicate the emotions you’re feeling in the writing. So your energy for the subject will encourage better writing.

4️⃣ Why is experimentation key?

Even the smartest can’t mind read what people want.

Sometimes you publish something you think will smash it, but for some reason it doesn’t connect.

So don't get stuck in the trap of trying to be a perfectionist.

Build the habit of writing in the first 30 days, get momentum and hone your craft.

Experiment until you find the content that resonates with your audience.

5️⃣ How do I find out if people will pay?

The best thing to do is just straight up ask them, otherwise there’s a risk of getting false positives.

If not, you may be trying to avoid the potential reality that people aren't willing to pay for something you’ve created.

When people find something valuable, if it solves a problem within their lives, they will put their money down.

So the easiest way to tell is just by starting to charge for it.

Another way is to gather data in the market. If other creators are already charging for a product similar to yours, then it’s not so much about validating the idea but about your ability to pitch that idea and produce the content that people want.

6️⃣ What’s the best path to build a monetized newsletter?

Counter to the messaging of companies like Substack, paywalling your content can limit your growth.

Instead, create a newsletter run by ads/sponsorships and make it accessible to everyone.

Grow your audience big then tack on a subscription product as a separate project.

Sam Parr did this with The Hustle which had Trends on the side.

Steph Smith used Twitter and launched her successful book Doing Content Right.

Content is your best asset.

7️⃣ Who should I collaborate with?

Creating with others can be beneficial for feedback, sharing best practices and building momentum.

Sometimes, though, if mutual goals aren’t clear, it can waste a lot of time.

Instead of collaborating for transactional reasons, focus on the things that you're truly interested in then you’ll be a magnet for other people who are creating similar content.

By joining communities of shared interests, you can build a lot of healthy, creative relationships.

8️⃣ How do I get more podcast listeners?

There’s no silver bullet for podcast growth, it’s a very long-term game.

It’s important to have a genuine interest in the topic areas you’re discussing so you’re willing to stay for the long-term.

The easiest way to grow a podcast is to grow in another channel, then convert a % of those people to your podcast.

Steph Smith and Calvin Rosser do that via Twitter and newsletters.

This works because those channels have better discoverability, analytics and growth mechanisms.

9️⃣ How do you manage screen time overload and using tech for creativity?

It’s important to consider how we spend our time online and what we’re trying to achieve with technology.

Some of the smartest people in the world engineer products to capture our attention for long periods of time.

Some helpful ideas to sourcing new ideas without tech:
Read books
Long walks
Carry a notebook

Strict digital detoxes don’t always work, with a reversion to the same behaviour post-detox.

Cal Newport, author of Deep Work, talks about reintroducing tech slowly after a detox to work out what tools are necessary for your work and life.

It's about identifying what your goals are and then identifying what tools allow you to achieve those goals and not going so deep into technology where you're just over optimizing.

1️⃣0️⃣ What’s the future of AI and creativity?

As new AI creativity tools get rolled out, some people will excel at using them.

So even though it’s likely that some tools will replace creative jobs, there’ll also be new jobs for people learning those new systems.

Technology is going to become an increasing force in basically every field.

Over a long enough time horizon, there could be AI-based writers among us where the AI is writing without any human input.

It’s exciting that we're going to have access to more information than ever before.

About Quda

I've built Quda to facilitate knowledge-sharing between experts and curious learners, all in audio. 🗣

Would love to connect with you on Twitter!

The AMA with Steph Smith and Calvin Rosser is live on the Quda tech channel here.