Many artistic types, from King Bach to Ariana Grande, turn to content creation because it’s fun, flexible, and allows them to relate to an audience. While most people use content creation as a sort of side hustle, we all know a person or two who’s turned it into a full-time gig. Let’s get into how much you can really make creating content.
As the name implies, a content creator is anyone who makes content and puts it on the internet. Content creators can be influencers, podcasters, short-form content makers, singers, teachers, bloggers, YouTubers, visual artists, and anything in between. Realistically speaking, most full-time content creators do at least two of these things. Even if they primarily focus on one platform, they may cross-promote; many TikTokers post the same content on Instagram Reels, for instance, and many podcasters now post video footage of their episodes on YouTube.
How to Become a Content Creator
Most of the money that content creators earn comes from the audience who consumes their content. These payouts depend on how many followers they have and their ability to connect with and inspire these followers to tune in.
1. Pay straight from platforms
There’s a small amount of money to be made just from content alone. For instance, TikTok pays popular users per view via Creator Rewards (formerly known as the Creators Fund). While this may seem like an enticing option, it’s unlikely that money from Creator Rewards alone is helping anyone pay rent. TikTok will shell out 40 cents to $1 per 1,000 views, depending on the size of the channel.
2. Advertisements
Certain platforms like YouTube and Spotify allow you to put ad breaks in your content. While you don’t get to choose what ads the platform plays, you do have control over where those ad breaks go and how many of them you’d like per video. How much you get paid for these kinds of ad breaks (as always) depends on the size of your audience and whether or not they skip through these ads. Eligible YouTube channels, for example, can expect to earn $5 to $15 per 1,000 ad views (not video views; you don’t get paid if somebody skips through the ad). Spotify has a slightly higher payout, offering anywhere from $18 to $25 per 1,000 downloads.
3. Brand deals
Brand deals happen when companies reach out to content creators (or vice versa) about collaborating to advertise their product, usually for a flat-rate payout. Some brands are specifically interested in working with creators in their niche, but others seem to reach out to anyone with a sizable following. (Spend any time on YouTube and you’ll notice every channel, culinary or otherwise, seems to have a HelloFresh brand deal.) Depending on the influencer’s following, these brand deals can be pretty hefty: While small content creators, with fewer than 10,000 followers, may only expect to make $10–$100 per ad on Instagram, a creator with over 1 million followers may be pulling up to $10,000 per post.
Brand deals can also come with the opportunity to use affiliate links. Creators can earn a small cut of the profit if any of their followers purchase a product directly from their personal link. (Affiliate links to Amazon, for example, typically offer a 1% to 10% commission of the sale.) While brands are usually the ones to reach out to creators for deals, you can also submit yourself if you feel you’re the right person to work with a brand.
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4. Paid subscriptions
Platforms like Patreon let creators post exclusive content for paid subscribers. This can be an attractive option for content creators because it allows for a sense of stability or a more predictable monthly income than the more volatile ad revenue or brand deals. Many creators on Patreon offer tiers as low as $1 a month, and the site seems to imply there’s no upper limit, meaning you can technically charge as much as you want. You’d be surprised what people will do for content they enjoy and the artists behind it they want to support!
5. Selling related goods or services
Another way creators can make money is by selling things related to their internet persona. Some might be very literal, such as visual artists selling their prints online, while some might be more abstract. Depending on their niche, content creators might put out an e-course about their area of expertise or offer paid services related to it—such as web design, private lessons, and individual coaching or consults. Some popular creators even manage to successfully sell their own merch!
According to ZipRecruiter, the average content creator salary is just above $116,000/year, ranging from approximately $29,000 to $129,000. Glassdoor reports a median number that is slightly lower at $63,000/year, ranging from $47,000 to $85,000. Creator pay can land anywhere from “buy a coffee” to “buy a new house” money, although the latter is definitely the exception, not the rule.
The highest-paid Instagram influencers can bring in a staggering millions of dollars per post. Look a little closer though, and none of these accounts are “normal” people: Sure, you can earn $2.55 million per post—if you’re Selena Gomez. But while you shouldn’t quit your day job the minute you decide to take content creation more seriously, there is hope. Alitu, a podcast editing platform, reports that creators with over 10,000 followers can expect to earn between $1,000–$10,000 a month from a combination of the above strategies we mentioned. Sure, it’s not $2 million a post, but it’s more than livable if you find yourself on the upper edge (or even in the middle!) of that range.
Ultimately, content creation earnings are a bit of a crapshoot. For every wildly financially successful content creator, there’s an equally engaging one who can’t seem to gain the following they need to make money. But don’t let that discourage you. Some people manage to make quite a bit of money—why not you?