Okay, it’s important that we get one thing clear.
There is a lot of money to be made by being a Content Creator, but this guide isn’t about how to become an entertainer on social media.
If that’s the type of content creator you want to be then just go record yourself doing goofy things.
Oh, and follow trends.
What you’re going to learn about here is how to become a content creator who uses their knowledge to help people become better.
Better at what?
That’s for you to decide.
Here at Odd Noodle, I take a different look into building a business and I will share it with you.
I use my knowledge to help make you money online.
One of my good friends sells freezer meal guides and makes over $10,000 a month doing so. That’s the knowledge that she shares.
If you’re already freaking out thinking that you don’t have the knowledge to share to make any type of money, don’t worry. I’ll cover all of that.
Are you ready to get started?
Then let’s get started.
What Is a Content Creator?
There is no need for a fancy definition here.
A content creator is someone that creates content online to build an audience.
That’s a simple answer to the question of what content creators do.
Why would anyone want to do that?
To make money.
It’s okay to want to make money.
Money is oxygen.
Maybe they don’t want to work a 9-5 for the rest of their lives or maybe they want to retire early.
Or maybe they like the idea of making money around something they love.
Or maybe they want more freedom.
But the main goal is to make money so that you can decide your own future. That’s why Struggle College exists.
This leads us to the next question…
How Much Do Content Creators Make?
From $0 to millions of dollars.
There really is no limit because there is one simple formula that applies to all Content Creators.
Audience x Offer = MoneyHow much money you make as a content creator is determined by the quality of your audience and the quality of your offers.
It’s important to note that I didn’t say QUANTITY of your audience. There are people with hundreds of thousands of followers on social media that make less than someone with just 5,000.
People often fall into the trap of thinking that they can’t make any money as a content creator unless they have a really big audience.
That’s not true.
You simply need the right kind of audience.
In fact, if you only had an audience of one then that means you have one customer which means you made money.
It works out like this because your audience aren’t your followers. They aren’t your subscribers.
Your audience is the people that will want to buy from you.
Buy from you? What are they buying?!
Usually some type of digital product or service.
Digital products are the best because they are infinitely scalable. You never run out of inventory; if done correctly, they don’t take up much of your time.
How Do Content Creators Make Money?
There are so many different ways to make money online it’s not even funny.
I tend to go with digital products because of what I said above.
But here are some other things people do:
- Ads. Think about the content creators with YouTube channels that have ads on them.
- Affiliate Marketing. This is when you sell someone else’s products or services.
- Sponsorships. Brands want to get in front of audiences so they’ll pay you to get in front of yours.
There are more but those are the big ones outside of digital products.
But if I’m being honest, I don’t care about those. Sure, with some of my brands, I incorporate those methods, but they are never my main source of revenue.
Why?
The real money is in selling your own stuff.
As I mentioned before, it is more scaleable and doesn’t have a ceiling on how much you can make. How different would your life be if you were making $100,000 a month?
It’s not easy building an Odd Business if you don’t control how most of the money is made.
(Pssst…if you want to read about my bigger goal of making $100 million in 3 years then go and check out this post.)
How can you get started doing this?
7-Steps to Become a Content Creator That Actually Makes Money
Understanding these steps doesn’t mean you’ll find success being a content creator.
Everyone can understand these steps. That’s my job to make this look simple.
But simple ain’t easy.
And what I mean by that is you will need to execute these steps. You’ll need to be consistent. And eventually, you need to get good at them.
So if all of that makes sense to you then let’s begin.
Step 1. Pick a Niche
Choosing a niche can mean picking a topic that you want to talk about for a long time but I like to look at it as you choosing a person that you want to help.
Do you need to be knowledgeable about the topic? Not at all.
In fact, one of the best routes that you can go with becoming an online creator is by going with the Craftsmen Approach.
This is where you share what you’re learning as you’re going through it. In the startup world, they refer to this as building in public.
But what kind of niche do you pick?
I’m going to make it easy for you.
Choose from one of the 3 Egos:
- Health
- Wealth
- Sex (relationships)
I’ve helped people build successful careers as online creators talking about homeschooling, quilting, freezer meal prep, and other things not related to those three things.
However, everyone wants to be healthy. Everyone wants more money. Everyone wants to be loved.
So those are the easiest niches to get involved in and you know people spend money in them.
And don’t be fooled into thinking that it is just three niches. The 3 Egos are comprised of MILLIONS of niches.
For example, you might talk about the Ketogenic Diet and fall under health. Or maybe you want to talk about productivity which falls under wealth.
As long as your topic leads to MORE of one of the 3 Egos then you’re setting yourself up to be in a good position.
But again, maybe you want to talk about quilting and that’s fine. You can make money doing that. It just presents a different challenge and that’s all you need to understand.
Step 2. Choose Your Audience
If you didn’t do this in step 1 then you definitely need to do it in step 2.
And if I’m being honest, this is where people struggle the most because choosing your audience means you can’t be generic.
You can’t just say you’re talking to Moms because not all Moms are the same.
You need to pick a sub-group of a sub-group of Moms.
For example, you may decide you talk to working moms who homeschool (yes, this can fit under the Wealth Ego). The content that you create for that audience is going to be slightly different than the one where you talk to all parents who homeschool.
For example, your target audience sees the general homeschool advice given and it works great IF you get to stay at home and have all of the time in the world.
But because your audience has careers, they need their advice tweaked a little bit and because your advice caters more to them, they are going to listen to you over the general homeschooling gurus.
It might seem counterintuitive but the best marketing strategy for you is to hone in on a specific audience. Over time you can expand it, but start small because those are the people that need to feel heard.
Step 3. Choose Your Platform
In a perfect world, you could just write on your own site and people would flock to you.
But we don’t live in that world anymore. Now, people live on social media (for better or worse).
That means you need to go out and meet them where they are at.
If you despise social media I completely understand. There is some vile stuff on there but you’re a Content Creator, not a consumer.
Your job is to produce amazing content for the platform. Not spend all day consuming.
So if you decide to get started with TikTok, while it might be fun to watch people do goofy things, your role is to create content to get people to notice you.
To understand if it’s worth your time to invest in any of the social networks, just do a search for people talking about the things that you want to talk about.
Platforms such as TikTok and YouTube work for pretty much any niche due to how they work while other networks like Twitter and LinkedIn work better for some niches than others.
Step 4. Create Content
This is the part that will become your life. Content is the currency of Content Creators.
Without content, you die.
I mean the answer to the question of what is a content creator is right there in the name. A person that creates content and if you aren’t creating that content, then you don’t exist.
That sounds a bit harsh, but it’s the reality of things.
The struggle that many content creators face is being able to push out great content consistently.
It’s not easy doing TikTok videos, Twitter threads, newsletters, and blog posts. Don’t worry, I’m not saying you need to do all of those things…yet.
If you want to make sure you don’t fall behind when it comes to generating content that converts, be sure to read The Future of Content in the Creator Economy.
You don’t want to create content that simply exists. You want to create engaging content that your audience feels they got some type of value out of.
As long as you can follow a content strategy then you’ll be okay.
Step 5. Build an Audience That Pays Attention to You
The Odd Business Framework consists of 4 steps:
- Get them to notice you
- Get them to pay attention to you
- Get them to trust you
- Convert that trust into money
Most online creators think that step 1 is the most important, but it isn’t.
It’s step 2. If you can’t get people to actually pay attention, I mean really listen to you, then you’re going to struggle.
This is why it is so important to understand the audience that you are talking to. There are millions of creators out there trying to grab the attention of people.
The creators that are able to do so are the ones that know who they are talking to.
Step 6. Show Them That You Are Their Guide
This might be a tough pill to swallow as some of you are just so humble or shy, but you need your audience to think that you can be their guide.
The person that will help them become the better version of who they want to be.
If they don’t believe that you can be their guide then they’ll go and find someone that can be that person.
Now don’t get it twisted. I’m not asking you to become a cult leader. I’m just saying that when someone in your audience thinks of a problem that they have, then they need to think of you first when they want a solution.
Sometimes this can be as easy as ranking at the top of a search engine. Other times it means producing 100s of pieces of content until your audience sees that you’re the person to go to.
So how much do content creators make? It depends on how many people they can get to believe that they should be the guide for them.
Step 7. Create Offers That Level Your Audience Up
The final step is creating offers that level your audience up.
People don’t spend money on things that won’t improve their lives. Just because you’re great at producing digital content or maybe you have some talent with graphic design, that doesn’t mean that people will buy your offers.
They need to know that these offers are going to take them to the next level.
If so, then they’ll become interested.
If not, they’ll go elsewhere. It doesn’t matter how much they like you.
And don’t worry, there are a ton of different types of digital products that you can create.
Content Creation Is the Game
The joy of making a living as a content creator is the fact that you get to make content around the things that you enjoy.
It’s hard to find a better life than that.
If you stay on YouTube enough you can find people doing videos on the most random things.
I can’t tell you how many hours I’ve lost watching a guy fix the hooves on cows.
And he loves it!
That’s amazing.
Becoming a content creator gives you the opportunity to find the freedom that so many people in this world want, but feel they can’t achieve.
So how do you become a great content creator? Let’s recap:
- Pick a niche
- Choose an audience
- Chose a platform
- Create content
- Build an audience
- Become their guide
- Create offers
There you go.