7 tips to help you get paid as a creator

Often creators don’t think of themselves as the small business that they are. Business manager Belva Anakwenze works with creators all the time and has 7 expert tips to make sure you’re thinking about all the ways you can monetize and get paid for your creative work.

This video is intended as knowledge-sharing, not tax, financial, or legal advice. Always consult with tax/financial/legal professionals to determine what's best for your business.

Transcript:

Belva Anakwenze:
Hey, creators. I know you're all about your creative endeavors and making money doing what you love, but are you treating those creative endeavors like a business yet? What I mean is, are you really thinking about all the ways that your work experience and expertise can be monetized? There are tons of ways to bring in revenue. You may have to get a little creative and think outside the box to find ways to cultivate revenue in your unique niche. I'm going to help you by giving you seven tips on how you can get paid for your creative work. I'm Belva Anakwenze, and I work with creators every day, helping them with financial and business decisions and of course how to monetize their work.

And remember, y'all, this show is for informational purposes only. Everyone's financial situation is different. So consult with legal and financial professionals to make sure you've got the full picture for your business.

All right, my first tip. Search for brand partners who understand you and your creative
endeavors. Work with them for a flat fee to mention or discuss their brand in your content. Reach out to the brands directly and pitch yourself and your audience. Even if you don't have a Kardashian-level audience, your followers are important to companies in your space.

Next, seek out work-for-hire projects or commissions. Be sure to think about how you can do this in your particular niche. If you are a chef, can you host private dinners? If you are a magician, can you perform at events? And if you are a musician, can you create music for brands, et cetera? You get the idea.

Third, use membership platforms. I'm a little biased since this is a Patreon show, but Patreon and other membership platforms do make it possible for creators to generate reliable revenue on a consistent basis. It could be easy to modify your creative endeavors to create exclusive content for your membership base. Lots of creators simply get their patrons early access to the work or exclusive access to behind-the-scenes content.

My fourth tip, try revenue sharing. Lots of creators built audiences through social media
platforms. Just make sure that your free videos, podcasts, and other works are on platforms that offer revenue sharing. For instance, YouTube offers revenue sharing through AdSense. Some simple tricks to maximize revenue sharing are to repurpose, repackage, and repost content to get them a longer runway to earn dollars. Consistency and frequency are the key here.

Next, try creating digital works of art if you don't already. You can begin to dabble in the world of non-fungible tokens or NFTs. If that's not really your thing, an easy entry point is just to create digital downloads based on the content you are already making. For example, if you're a musician, maybe you can offer a digital print from a video of one of your concerts.

Another big suggestion is creating merch. You can monetize your brand, key phrases, or images by creating physical products. I have seen clients make t-shirts, beanies, coffee mugs, journals, and more. There are several creative platforms and dropshipping companies that make offering merch much easier than ever before. For example, membership platforms like Patreon can help you get started with merch easily. If you love interacting with your audience and sharing your process, this next way to monetize your art may be perfect for you.

Begin teaching your fan base and others your methodology. You can do this by writing and selling informational books or teaching classes at a community college or in an art space. You can create videos and a curriculum that your audience will pay to watch at their leisure, or you can even teach live virtual classes. Remember, these are only the tip of the iceberg. You are a creator, so get creative on how you monetize your art form.

As you experiment with monetization methods, make sure your goods and services will stand out. Do a survey of the competition. Is there room in the marketplace for your particular goods and services? Do you need to change your branding or your marketing to let your audience know that you are now teaching classes or you have a new awesome merch or that you're moving to a membership platform? And make sure you're pricing your creative work correctly.

You can do this by gradually making price adjustments to see what works best. If you raise the price, do you get fewer sales but more revenue, or vice versa? Be sure to use data and metrics to track which tactics work and adjust accordingly.

I hope these tips help you as you start to find new revenue streams for your creative work. But as you explore these tips, just remember, you're worth it. Know your worth as a creator. If you're worried about asking for money for your creative content, you are not alone. Many creatives have issues pricing their work and knowing their worth, but it's not personal. It's business.

And remember, every business is different. Make sure you ask a financial professional to help you plan for your specific needs. Tell us down in the comments below how you're getting creative with monetizing your work, and make sure you like this video and subscribe to this channel for more helpful financial tips and tricks. As always, go be creative with your business.