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I unexpectedly found myself in the "successful creator" bucket since a few months ago so I might be able to speak to this. I write the top paid technology newsl

I unexpectedly found myself in the "successful creator" bucket since a few months ago so I might be able to speak to this. I write the top paid technology newsletter on Substack, bringing in enough to pursue this writing - or, as many call it "creating" - full-time. Despite being considered a successful creator, I don’t think that “creator” is a real thing - at least not a category anyone can, or should aim for. Being a creator means the content that you create gets significant enough attention. What you do with this attention is what really matters. To be a successful creator and not burn out, you need to build a one-person business that is both profitable, and sustainable. Doing this is much harder to do than most people realize. It's something that is hard to just "wing it". At the same time, winging it is exactly the strategy that most creators are following. The reality is that most creators don't think of what they do from a business, or sustainability side. No one is telling people who accidentally became successful creators to think of this as a business, or side business. I'm not surprised so many creators end up burnt out, or surprised that on a crowded market with no real differentiation or long-term strategy, they start losing attention they once had. What helped me is how I had been planning to start a company for some time. I did the studying and research on what it takes to run a business. I'm still doing what I was preparing to do so: but instead of running a venture-funded startup, I'm doing a bootstrapped, one-person business. One that many people refer to as being a creator.

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charcircuit 5y ago
>you need to build a one-person business that is both profitable, and sustainable. Most successful creators are not a one person business. Things like editing, thumbnail making, writing, can be done by other people for you. Doing everything yourself can just eat up all of your time.
- gregdoesit 5y ago
  When I say one-person business, I mean a business that has one full-time employee which is the case for me. Of course you need to invest in contractors, tools and other things that give your leverage, given your time is limited and you want to use it as efficiently as possible. I work with a copyeditor for my writing. I contract on an hourly basis, doing a few hours per week. My editor is far more efficient at what they do than if I did it. If my business grew large enough, this contract role - and perhaps other ones - might become full-time roles. But that size or workload is far enough away in my case.
zoover2020 5y ago
Thanks for the great articles and of course fixing the EU wage gap with techpays. Keep it up Greg!
mr_tristan 5y ago
Recently, I've started getting into Youtube again, but following a couple of different hobbies much more closely; woodworking/making, and photography. What you describe is echoed by a few of them, namely, they do not really attempt to make a sole living purely off of Youtube. Instead, Youtube is kind of a marketing channel for them with auxiliary advertising revenue. Basically, they sound a lot like you, in that they're all running a small business, typically as opposed to pure client work. But I don't think any of them see Youtube as a basis of their revenue; it's more of just another marketing channel. A couple of different takes on this: - Sean Tucker, photography: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dI02c5DnRUg https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dI02c5DnRUg - Lincoln St Woodworks: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fDxs5Y13rlk https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fDxs5Y13rlk I suspect the best generalization is the "1000 true fans" approach, where they're just trying to use different media to just contact those true fans. And build a business around that interaction, and just monetize everything else they can

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charcircuit 5y ago

>you need to build a one-person business that is both profitable, and sustainable. Most successful creators are not a one person business. Things like editing, thumbnail making, writing, can be done by other people for you. Doing everything yourself can just eat up all of your time.

gregdoesit 5y ago
When I say one-person business, I mean a business that has one full-time employee which is the case for me. Of course you need to invest in contractors, tools and other things that give your leverage, given your time is limited and you want to use it as efficiently as possible. I work with a copyeditor for my writing. I contract on an hourly basis, doing a few hours per week. My editor is far more efficient at what they do than if I did it. If my business grew large enough, this contract role - and perhaps other ones - might become full-time roles. But that size or workload is far enough away in my case.

zoover2020 5y ago

Thanks for the great articles and of course fixing the EU wage gap with techpays. Keep it up Greg!

mr_tristan 5y ago

Recently, I've started getting into Youtube again, but following a couple of different hobbies much more closely; woodworking/making, and photography. What you describe is echoed by a few of them, namely, they do not really attempt to make a sole living purely off of Youtube. Instead, Youtube is kind of a marketing channel for them with auxiliary advertising revenue. Basically, they sound a lot like you, in that they're all running a small business, typically as opposed to pure client work. But I don't think any of them see Youtube as a basis of their revenue; it's more of just another marketing channel. A couple of different takes on this: - Sean Tucker, photography: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dI02c5DnRUg https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dI02c5DnRUg - Lincoln St Woodworks: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fDxs5Y13rlk https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fDxs5Y13rlk I suspect the best generalization is the "1000 true fans" approach, where they're just trying to use different media to just contact those true fans. And build a business around that interaction, and just monetize everything else they can