How To Make Money As A Content Creator

27 Mar How To Make Money As A Content Creator

Following on from our “Becoming A Successful Content Creator” blog series, we received a request from one of our readers to spill the proverbial beans on how to actually make money as a content creator. 6 years of nomadic living and full-time travel has to cost a lot, right? So, how have we managed to sustain this lifestyle?

Well, we’ll start by saying that full-time travel does cost money. Of course it does – nothing comes for free. But – putting the first nine months of our journey aside, as we spent that time living off savings (as planned), mostly volunteering and working on passion projects – we’ve been able to make money. In fact, we’ve made more than we’ve spent, all whilst traveling around the world, ticking off items from our Wanderlist.

It’s a crazy thought, and we still sometimes look at each other and wonder how we got so lucky. But luck is only a small part of it, because even though we have been living our dream for the last six years, huge sacrifices have had to be made, and a lot of hard work has had to be done.

For one, we’ve worked everyday. Every. Single. Day. There have been no days off (except of course around the time of our wedding), but because we love what we do, and we get to design the life we want to live, the positives far outweigh the negatives.

We’d also like to mention that if you’re looking for a quick get-rich recipe from us, sadly this is not the post (nor will we ever write that post).

This post is a breakdown of the steps we took and what has worked for us, in order to make this life a reality. It’s the perfect post for someone who feels like taking a risk, and finally diving head first into freelance content creation; someone who believes in him- or herself enough to back his or her idea to become a content creator full time. Someone who wants to prove to him- or herself that designing the life you want to live is possible, all whilst producing creative work that inspires people.

Side note: You do not have to travel the world, creating content like we did – you can do this wherever you are, as the steps still apply – but being free to travel when you want sure does make the sacrifices a little sweeter.

Some recommended reading:

• Why 2021 Should Be The Year You Become A Content Creator
• What Equipment You Need To Start Out As A Content Creator
• Inspiration And Resources For Content Creators

How To Make Money As A Content Creator

Step # 1 : Save As Much Money As You Can

This might seem like a no-brainer (or a little irrelevant as you want to know how to make money not save it), but in order to take a risk and reach for your shiny content-creator-stars, you need a safety net. We saved for over a year before we left on our journey, and the goal was to have enough money to sustain our lifestyle for a year (living on a very tight budget, and doing volunteer work in exchange for food and accommodation). If you’ll have rent to pay, a car to insure, and a family of five to feed, you’ll need to save enough to cover those expenses for a minimum of six to twelve months (that’s to be safe). We’ll say it again because this is very important – you’ll need to save enough to cover your expenses for a minimum of six to twelve months.

As a creative, you need to have that freedom to build your skills, play around with ideas, be free to create, and grow your business, so the last thing you want is to be super stressed and constantly worrying about how to make money and how to cover your existing expenses, rather than pushing your ideas and focusing on being creative.

Step # 2 : Up-skill

Use this time you’ve gifted yourself to learn as much as you can in your creative field. Watch YouTube tutorials. Read books from superstars in your chosen category (and from creatives in other industries). Take online courses. And even just speak to other creatives in your line of work. The more skilled you are in your creative field, the better your work is. We spent the first two months of our journey learning as much as we could about photography and filmmaking. To be honest, we weren’t the best photographers when we left home, but we tried our best to learn as much as we could, and this meant that we would take photos (almost) every day to try and improve. We also did a lot of other creative work (illustrating, cooking, designing), because practicing other creative skills can help you become better at your creative skill.

Step # 3 : Just Do It

No, this is not a Nike campaign – you just need to practice and practice some more. If you’re an illustrator, illustrate as many pieces as you can. If you’re a photographer, go out there, and shoot. Writer? Start a blog, or compile a number of short stories. Practice everything you have learned until it becomes second nature. Create fake briefs for yourself, and think about the best ways to execute them. Challenge yourself everyday. We used to give each other creative briefs (and still do from time to time) as this keeps, our minds sharp and allows us to become better at what we’re doing. 

Step # 4 : Give Yourself Space To Play

All work and no play makes for an uninspired (and frustrated) creative. Even though you’ve given yourself all this “time off”, you’ll more than likely want to fill the time as much as possible with practicing, executing briefs, and up-skilling (because you read our previous three points and you’re inspired to turn this into a career and make money as a freelance creative). Great! But don’t forget to also step away every now and then to simply enjoy life. You may think it’s counterintuitive, and you’re not being productive, but you’ll be amazed at what a little time to travel, drink good wine, go for a hike, bake, and colour in your adult colouring book will do for productivity.  Playing can sometimes be just what your mind needed to finally have that “A-ha!” moment that will bring your best ideas to life.

“All it takes is a little distance. Work matters, but we often allow day-to-day events at work to give us more anxiety than they are worth. Getting oneself into a play state, however, masks the urgent purposefulness and associated anxiety of work, increasing efficiency and productivity.”

Stuart Brown, from Play: How it Shapes the Brain, Opens the Imagination, and Invigorates the Soul

Step # 5 : Create a portfolio

Some of you might have a portfolio already and that’s great. Can you add to it? The best portfolios are ones that speak to you as a creative. Think about the clients you want to attract. If you ultimately want to work with five star luxury hotels, then go visit one for the day and shoot it. Want to become a food stylist? Visit your favourite bakery and home decor store, and create some striking scenes (or better yet – bake the goods yourself and use bits and pieces from your home). Do everything you can to make sure the work you show on your portfolio is the work you want to be doing.

One thing to keep in mind, though, is to not let the creation of your portfolio take up too much of your time. A lot of creatives spend far too much time nitpicking and re-working their portfolio. “Analysis, paralysis” as my old boss used to say. Let the work in your portfolio do the talking, and remember that it’s only one piece of the big picture puzzle to ultimately make money and become a successful content creator. 

Step # 6 : Pitch yourself for free

This is the most important step (in our minds) and it was the key to our success. Remember how we told you to save and make sure you have a safety net? Well, this is the reason why. There are so many talented creators out there – just think about all the photographers you see on Instagram, and how saturated the talent pool is. One of the best ways to a) gain trust with a client, b) test your skills, and c) create a portfolio, is to pitch yourself to brands.

Offering your services for free may seem daunting, and maybe you feel it’s procrastination when you should be looking for ways to actually make money, but the idea here is to prove to a brand that you can do the work, and that you are willing to go the extra mile to please them, so that you can (one day soon) be top of mind when paid opportunities arise. You’ll also get a chance to create that portfolio piece that was missing so you can ultimately service the clients you want to work with.

We worked with one of the biggest hotel brands in the world (not mentioning any names here, but a quick Google should reveal it) purely as a trade exchange for the first three jobs. It was an amazing opportunity to prove (not only to the client, but to ourselves) that we could deliver the work at an exceptional standard, that we were professional in our approach, and that we were a pleasure to work with (their words, not ours). We then secured a paid-campaign that lasted a whole year and allowed us to travel to nine countries on five continents. It was incredible and we’re still so grateful that they took a chance on us that first time so that we could prove ourselves.

Remember that all a client wants, is someone that makes their lives easier, and if you can do that, then you will be top of mind for the next job, and the next one, and the next one. It all comes down to the relationships you build, and your infectious can-do attitude. Of course, not every free gig or trade exchange will result in paid work, but if you keep grinding, and keep creating beautiful work, you will be rewarded and your inbox will soon be full. 

Step # 7 : Keep Hustling

Our business has grown year on year – you can see a graph of our various income streams from the last six years, below (please excuse the sudden drop in year six due to the tourism industry crashing entirely due to COVID-19, SMH). But what’s important to know is that we didn’t stop pushing, up-skilling, or pitching ourselves during those five years of growth. We’ve had to rethink some things now due to COVID, but that’s a blog post for another day.

It’s going to take a long time, and you may not see results straight away, but we’re here to remind you (and maybe even give you that last push you need) to keep your goals in sight and keep moving forward. 

We’d love to know if you found this post helpful and / or interesting, and if you’d like to see more content like this from us? We’re HTH any aspiring creatives, so let us know in the comments.

C&S

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