What I Wish I’d Known Before Becoming a Full-Time Creator
It won’t be easy, but you might still love it.
I dived head-first into content creation by launching online courses and publishing blog posts when I was 20.
What started as a side project besides my studies and a full-time internship back in 2018 eventually turned into a 6-figure online business that allows me to live and work on my own terms.
But even though I love what I do, this path isn’t always easy.
Here are ten things most creators don’t talk about (but should):
You won’t always feel like doing it
Even though I’m grateful for my business and the opportunities I created through my career, I don’t always feel like creating content.
I’m not always excited about writing a new piece or shooting a video, but let’s be honest: Nobody is excited about their job 100% of the time, and that’s okay.
If content creation is your job, you need to get it done even if you don’t feel like doing it, just like you’d need to get any other job done.
Just because most creators seem to be cheerful and happy all the time doesn’t mean they’re always in love with their to-do list.
You don’t need the most expensive equipment
After I started my journey as a digital entrepreneur in 2018, many of my friends launched small projects around content creation too. And all of them failed miserably.
The difference between them and me?
I started with zero experience and no budget.
They invested in expensive coaching programs and equipment before lifting a finger.
In most cases, purchasing pricy tools and devices is an excuse for not taking action. It’s a form of procrastination.
I recorded my first online courses with my smartphone in the kitchen of a co-working space on a hot summer Sunday so I could be alone there.
Those videos were by far not perfect, but they helped me gain experience and become a better creator without making heavy investments.
My friends who invested in $200 microphones and $1,000 cameras before creating a single piece of content all gave up within less than six months.
It’s an emotional rollercoaster par excellence
Life itself is an emotional rollercoaster every day, but being a content creator is the cherry on top.
One day, you celebrate a successful product launch and make thousands of dollars within a few hours.
The next day, you receive a hateful email from a stranger calling you a fat bitch.
And you’ll likely spend more time worrying about that idiot who sends you a hateful message than being proud of your achievements.
If you’re in it for the long run, you’ll need to deal with a lot of these emotional ups and downs.
You won’t get rich quickly
Content creation is not a get-rich-quick-scheme.
As a creator, your income depends on the number of people you reach and influence. And even if you have a few pieces of viral content, the route to a satisfying and stable income includes consistency.
Most creators rely on organic instead of paid traffic, which means they need to regularly share new ideas and content with their audience.
If you’re looking at content creation as a way to make quick money, you’ll be disappointed pretty quickly.
Nobody got rich because they wrote ten blog posts or uploaded five videos to YouTube. That’s not how it works.
Most people won’t believe in you
If your friends and family members aren’t entrepreneurs and creators, they’ll probably not even understand what you do. And naturally, we don’t trust in things we don’t understand.
They’ll be skeptical and try to tell you that their path is a better one.
My high school friends who were pursuing a medical career were barely halfway through their studies while I was already running a location-independent business and living each day on my own terms.
Is my career “better” than theirs? Hell no.
It’s just my way of doing it.
The difference is that I never told anyone that their decision was wrong.
Most people told me I should finish my studies to be “safe” in case I fail to make money online. I ignored their advice and didn’t spend a second regretting it.
Copy is king
One of the few skills I’d study if I had to start from scratch is copywriting.
As a content creator, you’ll need to write a lot of copy, even if writing per se is not part of your job.
In the worst case, you’ll only write captions for your content.
Ideally, you’ll also write emails for your newsletter and sales pages for your paid products.
Most people think that writing is easy, but the reality is that writing anything that leads to a specific outcome (e.g., a sale) is not simple.
The sole purpose of copywriting is to empower your readers to take action. And even if you’re a writer or YouTuber, at some point, you’ll need to ask your audience to do something: sign up for your newsletter, buy your product, join your course.
Monetizing your content is directly proportional to your ability to write excellent copy.
You’ll need help
Most content creators start as solopreneurs and work on their own. And most of the time, that works well at the beginning.
But if you’re consistent and take your digital business seriously, you’ll soon reach a point where getting help won’t only be beneficial but necessary.
Just because you started as a solopreneur doesn’t mean you need to do everything on your own forever. You can build a team, hire freelancers, and get support from fellow creators.
Denying that you need help will only hold you back and hinder your growth.
Once you accept that you can’t do everything on your own, you’ll experience a huge relief. Additionally, you’ll finally be able to focus on your zone of genius and do the things you’re great at instead of doing everything.
You need to be your own cheerleader
I used to love going to school and studying at university. Looking back, I know that I enjoyed learning because it was easy.
All you need to do is follow specific tasks, and you’re well off. You have a certain amount of content to memorize, and teachers will even tell you how to study and when to start.
You practically can’t fail if you follow their instructions.
Entrepreneurship is the opposite.
Nobody tells you what to do.
And being a content creator is even worse because most of your time is dedicated to tasks that aren’t tied to specific customers or outcomes, so it’s even more challenging to figure out what to do.
As a creator, you might receive positive comments and reviews, but most of the time, these put a short smile on your face, not lasting motivation.
If you want to stay in the game for long enough, you need to be intrinsically motivated and cheer yourself on every single day.
It’ll be tough
Most influencers and bloggers make content creation seem like pure fun. You see pictures on yachts, videos at exceptional locations, and think that they must love every second of their lives.
But that’s not true.
Even though building and scaling a digital business is easier than ever before, it still comes with lots of difficulties.
Ten years ago, standing out on YouTube was easy because there wasn’t much competition.
Five years ago, attracting thousands of readers on Medium was simple because not many people were writing on the platform.
Today, you’re not only competing with a tremendous amount of other creators but also with the decreasing attention span of consumers.
To stand out in the creator economy, you need to be creative, productive, and consistent.
Nobody will become a superfan because they watched one of your videos. And no one will pay for your products if they don’t fully trust you in the first place.
…but it’s worth it
Despite all the ups and downs, I’d choose this path over any traditional career over and over again.
If I have to choose between a few rude emails and an annoying boss who tells me what to do every single day, I’d always choose the nasty emails.
If I have to choose between 10-hour workdays and doing a job I hate, I will go for the long workdays.
Content creation can open so many doors and help you create a business and life you love.
Turning my content into an independent and scalable online business wasn’t easy, but even the journey itself was rewarding and enriching.
I faced many sleepless nights and weekends full of hustle for more than two years, but today, I can choose when I work, where I work, how much I work, and most importantly: with whom I work.
Final thoughts
I’m not sure if I’d have dared to take the leap and start an online business if I’d known all the downsides in advance.
Looking back, not knowing most of these challenges and thinking that it’d be easy was probably why I started in the first place.
Yet, I hope that my struggles and mistakes will help you make smarter decisions and save some time, energy, and money along the way.
This is both a very realistic and encouraging outlook. Thanks for your guidance!
Wonderful post Sinem, so appreciative for your honest doses of reality. There is always a trade-off, but reassuring to hear you would take this path any day over any other.