THE RECESSION IS COMING… WHAT CREATORS NEED TO KNOW! | #THINKPODCAST #197
Speaker 2 :
Is being a Youtube creator recession proof and how can you prepare for an uncertain economy?
Speaker 3 :
I'm more worried about Netflix than I'm worried about Youtube when other people get fearful, get greedy. Lean into your content. Phone time will only increase.
Speaker 3 :
There are being a little tighter on their budget and this is a brand that we work with that can be scary to hear that.
Speaker 1 :
Great successes are made in times like this, when people just leaned in, when other people were afraid.
Speaker 3 :
In this episode of the Think Media Podcast, I'm going to be talking with Omar and Nolan and we're going to be discussing some of the trends that are happening in the economy. We're actually going to be looking at a brand new article that reveals some must know data and really kind of exploring this idea of how do you be a recession proof business owner, entrepreneur and content creator. And so welcome back to the podcast. I opened up this article from Mashable and it's not like we have to talk about it and right now everyone is worried that we're going into a recession. I mean, the hype right now is that eggs are super overpriced, and the fanciest place to take a date was a meme I saw was to the egg aisle at Safeway and World Economic Forum found that nearly 2/3 of respondents believe there's going to be a recession in 2023 And so there's a lot of kind of drama. There's a lot of things happening. But on the other side, NPR reports that a lot of analysis think it's just going to be a small R recession. It's not going to be crazy. And right now there are two million fulltime content creators and 46 million amateurs. I know the article they're quoting there. I don't even think that's updated information. Adobe stated that 165 million people joined the crater economy since 2020 So the crater economy is this massive industry. I've got some data here, but I'm just curious. Your hot take when you hear the question, is the creator economy recession proof, Omar?
Speaker 2 :
Little R Recession because we serve a big G God. The first thing that comes to mind honestly is yes, it is recession proof, but it's if you build your content or your creator business. Differently, you're right. Like in many cases articles like this are referring to ad spend or things that other people are paying for you to create content. But the cool thing about content creation is if you have something underneath you own then you can protect yourself and you probably will see an increase in recession. During the recession kind of like 2020 we experienced I think media just a huge boost overall in views and engagement and customers. And so i think the recession actually is going to bring more people on as business owners who have brick and mortar are going to be like I need to be a creator in the recession.
Speaker 1 :
You know what I am looking at is in our YouTube studio. I'm just like when it comes to Adsense, I know that is just one small piece of the pie when it comes to how creators are making money, but I think a lot of creators get scared about. Adsense, because for a lot of people, I'm not saying it's smart to do this, but they solely rely on Adsense. And so one of the things that I was looking at is in 2021 versus 2022 starting at the beginning of the year in like January, advertisers were paying us more I think media to be in front of our content. So, but what was interesting was. You'll see on the screen here about halfway through if you're watching on the YouTube channel. If not, go watch on the YouTube channel as well. But halfway through, the lines kind of crossed and by the end of the year of 2022 advertisers were paying us less, but we still made more money because we have more views coming in. And so is it a huge difference? No, not really, but like we're seeing, you know, 13$ versus eighteen dollars c p m ‘s, which is still pretty substantial. So I guess to answer your question, do i don't know what's going to happen. I'm not worried. And maybe that's just me not knowing a ton about, you know, economics, all that kind of stuff. But just I really think Creator economy, I think Youtubers are like the future. I think it is the future and so I'm more worried about Netflix than I'm worried about YouTube.
Speaker 2 :
It's interesting. You know, a couple things that stood out to me in this was according to Glassdoor, the average amount of money contact creators make is 40, eight hundred dollars and that, was for twenty two What do you think about that?
Speaker 1 :
How much was that?
Speaker 3 :
An equivalent of a forty eight thousand eight hundred dollar, salary the average creator, according to Glassdoor.
Speaker 1 :
That's awesome. This is something Gary Vee talks about. How we're going into a time where you can make a decent salary doing what you love, talking about things you love, things that interest you and nobody telling you what to do. So yeah, I mean, you know, like I think when you scale it up, you can see this like the large, you know, conglomerate, Youtubers, creators take us some sort of hit. They feel it. But hopefully, I'm even. Obviously if you're wise and you don't, you know you live below your means and you're just wise with your finances and how you have multiple streams of income within your content, you're going to be okay. But I think it's still the recession. Only for me poses the opportunity that people should lean into creating content because people are still going to be on their phones. And during recession, if not, phone time will only increase as depression decreases.
Speaker 2 :
That's a great point, and it says in this article the reason they consider it recession proof or recession resistant, which is a powerful term, is because it's driven by direct financial support from audiences and the creator's ability to connect with fans, which is typically less affected by economic fluctuation. So there's kind of a bubble around creators, and also if they're smart, they need to be earning money in multiple ways, and it states that with sponsored posts. Creators typically net around 100$ per 10.000 thousand followers. Then they also sell merch. They have their own goods, affiliate links and making money off the platforms their self. And So what do you think about that? People always ask how much do brand deals pay? I actually think that it think media we have kind of carved out a brand and a value where we get paid. Pretty significantly more than the views we get, I think maybe because of the quality of the content, because of the positioning, but what do you?
Speaker 1 :
Think you know our community too, it's so, you know, it's so targeted as well and it's kind of like a high, you know, RPM type of niche just typically too.
Speaker 2 :
What do you think about that 100$ for 10.000 thousand followers? That means if you have a hundred thousand followers you get a thousand dollars per post.
Speaker 1 :
It's so hard to like. Every niche is so different. So it really depends on what kind of content you're making. And so, you know, maybe that could be a general number, but like it could be so much higher if you have a very specific targeted audience that is making a lot of money and those people spend a lot of money. You know, just in this article too that we're looking at they mentioned you know, Adsense being and you're from like 3 to 5$ per thousand video views. I'm like. Well, that's true. But I think media, we're making much more than that. It's like we're making.
Speaker 2 :
Twenty thirty forty dollar c p m ‘s twenty dollar c r p m ‘s yeah so you know I think, I think that number is conservative and I think it could be a lot higher and I think brand deals though is kind of underrated when it comes to people finding brands and partnerships that you're already using and partnering with them. You know, it's just such a cool way rather than building your own product. We see a lot of Youtubers right now trying to start businesses, you know, or partner with other businesses. I think partnering is such a smart move, especially when you're already using it, you're already promoting it, you talk about it all the time. It's it just so much friction.
Speaker 1 :
So that, yeah, the tip in that is. One way to recessionproof your content or your channel or what have you is to create longterm deals with companies. Because it would protect you and you could you could plan out financially things because you know what's coming in and it's like there's a contract. But that's funny how you bring that up with like creators wanting to be business owners and business owners want to be creators. Sarah DG brought this up. But there's a line that Drake has and it says music and sports, it's so synonymous because we want to be them and they want to be us. And right now we're living in a time where creators want to be c e o ‘s and entrepreneurs. We have entrepreneurs and c e o ‘s who want to be creators. And it's like this funny clash that's happening that you know, it's kind of like which one are you. I mean can you be both. You know, there's probably some that are, there's better, you're better off probably just staying as a creator. But I don't know it's just like a funny dynamic that we're starting to see.
Speaker 2 :
In a little bit, I'm going to ask you your kind of tactical tips of how you would prepare for an uncertain financial year. But this block of the article I think is important to talk about and it's all about some of the trends that we're seeing in influencer marketing. And this is a really great sign because even though some people are certainly saying deals are being canceled for certain creators and that it feels like there is some companies that are pulling back and they're spending, but. Here's what the data is telling us. Just in the US alone, there is estimated to be four point six billion dollars. Spent on in twenty three that is doubled what they spent just five years ago. So there's more money going into the system. 65 % of brands expect to increase their budget for influencer marketing. That's more money going into the system to creators. And what they're also seeing is that trust. Is the huge key to people actually making purchases, and Nielsen's Consumer Trust Index reports that 92 % of consumers trust influencer marketing over traditional advertising. And a new study shows that 53 % of people say they'd be more likely to buy a product if it's recommended to them by a member of their community they belong to, like a content creator. Finally, the influencer marketing content delivers 11 times better ROI than traditional advertising methods, according to Forbes. So what do you see? The opportunity is for upstart creators that maybe feel like there's an uphill battle for getting started and in uncertain times when it comes to. All of this money and opportunity flowing into brands wanting to work with and sponsor creators nolan well,
Speaker 3 :
I think you know Kyle and I we were meeting with a company that we work with that think media and you know they mentioned that this year you know the top you know execs are saying that they're being a little tighter on their budget and this is a, you know a brand that we work with and so that can be scary to hear that because you know you have big brands that. You know, you think they're doing well, making a lot of money, but they are pulling back a little bit. It can be kind of intimidating, but my optimism is that creators, I think will always win in the end. If yeah, we talk about reputation and staying true to your character if you don't sell your soul to the good deal just because it's bringing in the paycheck because. One company is, you know, the company you like they they're not spending as much right now. But some other company is you know, we're looking the whole FTX thing and like they're going all out, they're giving you cash. You know, you get the check and you don't really back it. But you know, I think what creators need to do is live below their means, save up cash, continue producing content. More people are going to keep watching content and figure out this whole. You know as things change I think creators can still thrive and just stay true to who you are and don't just do stuff for the money. That's like that. Just one of the things that we, I think media when we work with bands, we want to make sure we really align with them. And so you know, we work with some really cool brands that we used just before we ever signed a brand deal with them. And I think I think people can get too early into brand deals. And ultimately though I am optimistic that creators you know what will do well, but just like they got to keep that in mind.
Speaker 1 :
Yeah, I mean where I hedged and it's just kind of the season this will be like the second recession I'd I would live and live to see. And saw how it affected my family in 2008 and but then now I'm seeing how you can make a decision to not even let it affect you. Like how about when people are pulling back lean in Warren Buffett. Warren Buffett says when other people get fearful, get greedy, like lean into your content, like go upload like make a decision to like gas the pedal and create more, create more value in you that you become recession proof that like if you wanted to start something you could and people would flock. And I think there's just so much power in that if you have the attention, you have the audience or you're building that audience that you can, you can do it gives you the freedom to do what you want so that when the world is doing its thing, you could combat that with something you know. You know I think. You know we see it now like what a what a blessing it is to be educators in content as the world's moving into this direction. But we were just saying true to ourselves we leaned into our gifts that God has given us and that's being honored by our way being to serve an audience and so. And now we can get creative like OK recession like, should we do in person stuff? Should we do like intimate stuff? Should we create more programs? Like it just allows for actual create more creativity? Because they say that it's often times in constraints you actually become more creative. And so I think it's more or less just leaning into the season. Don't let it. I don't think the fear, don't be motivated by fear. I would say lean into the opportunities I love Alex Mosey tweeted this a little bit ago, he said. Opportunity only looks like opportunity when you look back and missed it. Because when opportunity is presented, it looks like risk. So what are maybe some risks you could make in this recession? And I know that sounds backwards, but you know, Wealth's made in times like this. Or, you know, also great successes are made in times like this when people just leaned in when other people were afraid.
Speaker 2 :
It's really good, yeah. I think the best way to respond to recession, I think for me, you got to guard your mindset. If you are in a negative mindset that has you just worrying and not being productive, that's not productive if all you're doing is watching and reacting and fearful. But if you're productive and posting content, there's an opportunity there I think to create multiple streams of income. You know, they mentioned near fifty k being kind of that average salary for a content creator, which depending on where you live, having freedom and maybe that being one of your main income streams. It's pretty amazing. And then the fact that you can scale that up as you increase your skills. But they mentioned a creator, Sarah Renee Clark. I actually was able to connect with her at Vidcon this past year, finally, for the first time in person. And she diversified the ways in which she brings money, including ads, sponsored content and then she has an art channel. So she started selling her own coloring books, planners, color palettes, and other art supplies that go along with her artistic focused. Social media recessions. And that's one of the reasons she isn't too worried about a potential recession because she has multiple streams of income and so they've they've created something they can sell. They've diversified. And by the way if you haven't checked out our 21 video tips.com we actually have a free training where we connected with a bunch of our creator friends and they were just sharing some of their best strategic information. To stay at the front of the game when it comes to video content creation monetization. And so if you want to learn from some of the think media voices as well as some of the best and brightest in the industry, then we'll of course link that up in the show notes or just get the free training at 21 video tips.com But lastly, I think it's about learning new skills. Recession I think is an opportunity and that's just not our idea. Warren Buffett recently in October was cited in saying of 2022 that. The best way to be inflation proof, because that's another one of the fears, right, is what's the value? The inflation's high. The value of the dollar doesn't go as far, he said, was to learn a new skill and to become better at what you're doing. Because your skills cannot be taxed, your skills cannot be inflated away. So if you're learning new competencies, if you're learning video, if you're learning communication or video podcasting, or you're learning your camera, you're learning all the stuff. Especially when people are maybe binging on fear and worry. You could be binging on education becoming more valuable and not to just to maybe survive the next couple years and make it, but then to launch out of the next couple years with massive momentum and thrive off of the energy you created because of skilling up. Nolan, do you have any final thoughts in relation to tips you'd give for people to prepare for this next year?
Speaker 1 :
Yeah, I think, I think leaning into your skill sets is huge because there's, I went to VID Summit and I just realized like how many creators are hiring, how many creators need video editors, need vertical videos cut up. Like I felt like everyone I talked to, they they're looking to expand. And that also just shows where the creator economy is going. And So what I'd say is, like, if you're someone like me five years ago, 10 years ago, you love making videos. You love watching YouTube. You're like I could see myself as a YouTuber, like continue to develop those skills and you might be going to school right now or you just might be you know have your job. But like keep building those skills and watching content like this and filling your mind too, as you know with positive put good stuff in your ears. Gary talks about that so much. It's like and so continue to put good things in. Continue to develop that stuff because. Like we're hiring what we are building the team. There's so many creators we know that are hiring and building the team. And so I think there's there is opportunity just even beyond if you might be a solo content creator right now that you also might just be looking to get into it. And that's what I did. I just got started with think Media and i love what I do and I got started and I wasn't. I joined a YouTube channel, Sean had think media and I joined and started editing and filming some stuff. And I think that is like I think more people need to do that. I've learned so much about YouTube, literally everything. I mean, I've learned about Utah. I've been able to do this full time. Now it's like. It's so fun for me. And I've been able to develop the skills not by becoming a YouTuber, but by working for a YouTuber. And I think more people need to work for Youtubers and like, don't go to college, work for a YouTuber, learn YouTube and then eventually you can do it on your own. Or you just might find like a tribe like me that you connect with and you're like, dude, let's build this together. And you know. That's i think that's like, I I've just seen it with Iraq and his team and they're building creator now. And there's a ton of different options, ton of different people out there who are building things so much bigger than these. What used to just be solo creators in the bedroom, webcam hit record post. The creator economy is blowing up in so many different areas.
Speaker 3 :
That's smart, inspiring. That actually kind of gets me pumped because. If times are tough, it's smart to team up, strengthen numbers, and not just work for a YouTuber, but literally 100 % of the business owners and entrepreneurs that I network with. And this is a pretty big group in multiple different settings. And no hyperbole, not oh exaggerating like 100 %. No, 100 % of them need a YouTube channel manager. They need somebody that will kind of be the. Shredditer, or at least just the producer that takes their content they put on Dropbox and then gets it on YouTube. Edited title, thumbnail. If you develop this YouTube skill set, it's so valuable and I think that's different than a lot of people are thinking. A lot of people are thinking, I just want to be the personal brand and be on camera. And even if that's true, probably one of the best pathways to get there is link up with somebody else. You could get paid in the process, paid to learn. Because you're getting to do the thing you want to get better at. You get to experiment. Try to beat your previous best, no matter who you're working for. If it was seven out of 10 before, you get to work on the next hook to try to get it to be 3 out of 10 and have a better video and learn titles. And so developing the skill set of the crater economy and being employed and earning money off the crater economy may not be your Adsense account. It may be freelancing and maybe getting hired by somebody else.
Speaker 2 :
Huge opportunity. Yeah I would just probably my I go toward encouragement Bible says don't grow weary in doing good for in due season you'll reap a harvest. And a preacher once said the world says there's Four Seasons but God says there's five seasons. Five seasons because there's due season. You know and. You don't know when that time is. If you creating, if you're putting out that good content and you're putting out valuable stuff, maybe your value is entertaining and you're making people laugh in a time like this. Like talk about the opportunity to bring joy into a season that's people are being experiencing depression and things like that. I would say don't quit the good work that you're doing for in due season and the season could be regardless of a recession.
Speaker 1 :
I think that people kind of listening to this too, like we're very optimistic about where things are going and like we see the growth of it, but then like we're also sharing how times are getting tougher and brands aren't paying as much. And so people are confused like, wait, how are you guys hiring A-Team but brands aren't paying you as much. Just kind of what are your thoughts on like because i go to more people are watching our content than ever before. So like we're still growing certain. There's always going to be you know, a little bit of fear there or a little bit of pullback. But you know, it just takes me back also to the season of 2020 when you kind of doubled down just with content and a lot of people were not spending as much, they weren't hiring new team members. And you went in the opposite direction and I don't know if it just reminds me of that season, if you wanted to touch on that.
Speaker 1 :
Yeah, I mean that mentality too was huge that season. And one of the terms we came up with was wartime verse peacetime leaders. And so a mindset shift that if times are tough and uncertain, you need a new operating system for that new season. You can't do what you did yesterday. And so in peacetime, things are a little bit different, maybe a little bit more lacks. You mentioned living a little bit more frugal, being a little more wise and strategic. You have a whole another level strategy if it's wartime. So I think that's one mentality. And then Omar mentioned it earlier as well. I think that in a recession, there really is 3 options. You can flee, you can freeze or you can fight and a lot of people run away. They totally shrink back. Because it's preservation. But the problem is, if that's what you do, you definitely are not going to take any ground. You also just freeze. And some people just, I'm not sure what to do. They think about making a move, they think about starting a YouTube channel. They just debate it forever. Again, you're not going to get any results. The only way to actually score a point is to fight. You got to be on offense. You do need a good defense to win games, and that would be that. Caution, frugality. You said take risks, but they're calculated risks. But offense is underrated. I think that people, there's something about pushing in, there's something about pressing forward. And there is something about the data will always tell us that the majority of people are going to flee and they're going to freeze. So it actually ends up being kind of a blue ocean strategy in times like this. You know, Joe Rogan started his podcast in 2009 People go, oh, easy yeah well, he's Joe Rogan today. You know, he's interviewing all these no oh, he's on fear factor, dude. Nobody watched fear factor. Like, what do you mean like? That's like, he's been in it. He's been doing it. He started it in 2009 and he has been doing it for 13 years, you know. And so you starting your thing, where are you going to be 10 years from now, 13 years from now? Airbnb, Uber, these different things started all in recessions. A lot of innovation can come out of a time like this. And it's the fact that in any adversity or challenge, there is a seed of equal or greater opportunity. If you see it, if you put in the work for it, if you punch fear in the face, you know, I heard, I heard it said that all that courage is fear. That said, it's prayers. Like courage is not the absence of fear. It's just actually moving forward with the fear that you feel. And so ultimately, do it scared. Do it smart. But if you're connected with good information and you're leaning in right now and just use the extra time. So much of the YouTube career, the content creator career, like what if I get laid off? Well, if you get laid off, apply for a few jobs and then hustle all day every day building up a crater economy YouTube channel like. You can look at that gap in your time as a big opportunity to fill it with learning, with education, with the next thing. If you do have a job but you're uncertain, then hustle and your after hours to learn new skills, start that side hustle thing. Most content creators build their, you know, side hustle after they're nine to five, they work on it from eight to three in the morning or whatever it is. You just that's the sacrifice season that it takes and so. The way we frame it, I think it think media this next year is full of opportunity. I mean, every day on Instagram, I'm like rise and grind. It's a new day full of new opportunities and new possibilities. That is a mindset. That is a perspective. And no matter what the economy is, that is our mode of operation.
