The Rising Dragon: Facebook
*this article is from the Creator Intel Newsletter.
Facebook has become a behemoth for organic monetization for short form video. For a long time, Meta was playing catch up to Tiktok on short form video with its release of Instagram Reels and eventually, Facebook short-form video feeds. That meant that for a while the audiences on the platform didn’t know how to engage with that style of content, and Meta hadn’t really invested much in paying creators to produce content. Well, not anymore.
Creators are now making tens of thousands per month in organic revenue from cross posting their short form videos onto their Facebook pages (note – this is not the same thing as cross posting an Instagram Reel to Facebook). One client earns $20,000 per month for 100M monthly views – all from short form video! I don’t expect this to last as more creators jump into the action, but who knows?!
Every time you make a video for social media you are creating an asset. Make sure you post it across all the different short form platforms as you can build a following: Tiktok, IG Reels, Facebook, YouTube Shorts, and even Snapchat and LinkedIn (I think LinkedIn is a sleeping dragon, but more on that another time).
How else to monetize your platform?
Besides organic monetization, brand deals (including affiliate marketing) still remain the best way to make money as a creator. Make sure to create a media kit that’s ready to go with analytics, testimonials from past brand partners, and unique selling points of your brand so you can send it to any potential brand partners.
I’ve also heard that Tiktok Shop can be lucrative (one client earns thousands per month from it). Amazon also offers affiliate programs (and another client earns hundreds of thousands per year from affiliate sales there).
If you don’t have time to pitch yourself to brands, then working with an agency might be the move for you. Reach out if you want an intro to some agencies I recommend!
Creator-led Businesses
Being a creator means you’ve built a successful marketing machine that you can leverage as a funnel for other ventures. So it should come as no surprise that creators are building successful businesses – whether that means marketing their own products, services, or companies directly to their audiences.
The types of companies creators lead vary, but usually fall into the following buckets:
Digital course, newsletter, or digital product (e.g., I sell a $5 guide to getting into law school)
Membership based community
Apparel (clothing)
Makeup, skincare
Food (coffee, chocolate, etc.)
Physical goods (toolkits, custom cleaning supply/products)
Creator economy businesses (law firms, monetization tools, etc.)
As you can glean from the above list, there is no one-size-fits-all for genres of creator-led businesses. We go after any niche that fits our interests and passions.
Building a company outside of creation is a great way of diversifying your income stream away from reliance on brand deals and social media platform monetization, both of which can change on a dime. If you feel burnt out from constantly hustling on social media to produce more content and be endlessly creative, then the next step may be to build a business based on your social media presence (I realize the absurdity of how this sounds but what better way to cure burnout than by building another business? Ha!).
Another benefit is that by creating another company, they can then “compete” for your time and energy, and you can leverage them against each other, focusing only on what you enjoy most. If you as the leader have already launched businesses outside of creation, others are well on their way. If you want support in building these businesses then reach out anytime!
OTHER NEWS:
A fellow creator has launched a service providing mental health services dedicated for content creators, called Creator Care (we love mental health here!). Check it out at revivehealththerapy.com/creatorcare/
Social Currant (a client of ours) has launched a marketplace to match creators with organizations doing social impact brand deals. If you’re a creator doing this kind of work, you should check them out at socialcurrant.co!
Need a lawyer? If you need legal help – even for non-creator business – drop me a line. I’ve got other lawyers in my firm who can support you on things like corporate, real estate, litigation, and much more.
Friendly reminder to remit your estimated taxes to Treasury so that you don’t get hit with a penalty next tax season!
S corporations tend to be the optimal tax/corporate structure for creator businesses. Talk to your accountant about this if you haven’t already, and if you need an accountant, reach back and I’ll link you up with one.
Can We Help?
As a quick reminder, we help with much more than just brand deals. We can draft employment agreements, handle entity formation, file trademarks, draft demand letters, send cease and desists, negotiate startup financings, and facilitate settlements.
