Exploring the Creator Economy: Insights from ConvertKit's 2023 Report

Welcome, brave digital explorers, to the latest episode of the Poddy Report. Today, we're adventuring deep into the realm of the creator economy with ConvertKit's 2023 State of the Creator Economy Report as our compass. 

This treasure trove of insights holds the key to understanding the nuances of your fellow creators' journeys. From defining who a 'creator' is to breaking down the percentages of full-time, part-time, and hobby creators, this report provides a comprehensive map of the creator landscape.

As your trusted guide, I'll be sharing some practical nuggets of wisdom to help you transition from part-time to full-time creator. We'll talk about crunching those crucial numbers, understanding your business revenue vs. profit, and navigating the insurance labyrinth.

And for those of you lying awake at night wondering how long it takes to build an audience, we're here to shed some light and debunk a few myths. So, buckle up for an episode filled with reality checks and inspiration, and remember, the journey might be long, but with persistence and passion, you can conquer your creator dreams. Keep it fresh, keep it fun, and just keep going.

Episode Transcript

Speaker 0 (00:01):
Welcome back to another episode of the Potty
Report.
So this week is going to be somuch fun because I am diving
into ConvertKids 2023, state ofthe Creator Economy Report, and
this is something that I don'tknow if last year was the very
first year they had ever doneanything like this, but I

(00:23):
remember taking the survey andreading it for the first time
last year and it was soinsightful because so many of us
don't know the ins and outs ofother people's creator
businesses, so it's nice to seeeither one you're not alone, or
two there's other peoplestruggling with some of the same
things that you're strugglingwith.
So you can go to convertkitcomforward slash reports slash

(00:48):
creator economy 2023.
And I will put it in thisweek's show notes for all the
episodes, but you can godownload this whole thing.
It's totally free and it's a 47page report, which is why I'm
only covering the surface of alot of these.
But the first thing I wanted tocover is how they define
creator, like who is a creator,and what they said in this

(01:11):
report is creating is innatelyhuman.
From cave paintings to TikToks,we've always wanted to
understand and share ourexperiences, and technology
enables an entirely new reachand opportunity that creators
certainly don't take for granted.
The creator economy is made ofcoaches, consultants, musicians,

(01:31):
artists, educators, influencers, podcasters and anyone else who
earns a living online throughdigital and physical products or
services.
Creators build global audiencesto teach, inspire, connect and
entertain.
So this was so incredible and Ilove that they kinda like
there's so many charts and lotsof data in this entire report.

(01:56):
So if you are a numbers nerd,absolutely go download this and
check it out, because they showlike well, are creators
full-time, are they part-time,are they hobby creators?
And in taking this survey ofthousands of creators, they've
documented how many people are,you know, doing this full-time,

(02:17):
how people are doing itpart-time, and they actually
offered great advice for someonethat is looking to transition
from a part-time creator into afull-time position and they
talked about.
Before you take the leap offaith into full-time creating,
calculate how much money youneed to make or to cover minimum
debt payments, compare yourbusiness revenue versus your

(02:41):
profit, and then aim to have atleast six months of expenses
saved as a financial runway.
Research business financialessentials like taxes and
accounting, and understand yourinsurance options.
I thought this was allfantastic advice and it's
usually something that I see alot of creators thinking about
after the fact.
So don't do that, think aboutit now.

(03:03):
But one of the other things isthey talked about.
Well, how long does it take fora creator to build an audience?
And this is one of the chartsthat I loved, because I think a
lot of people think, oh, ittakes, you know, two months and
then I'll have millions offollowers in this huge audience.
No, it's usually not the case.
For most people, it looks likea lot of people range in between

(03:27):
the one to two year mark andthen I mean there's like 20% and
that's about 10 to 12% is morethan 10 years, so it's a lot.
And then, like the median rangeis between three to five years
and six to 10 years.
So it takes a while.
That's like.
I hope that that's encouragingto you, for those just starting

(03:48):
out, that it does take a while,but you can do this.
You can be a creator and, youknow, create your podcast and do
all the incredible things thatyou're wanting to do with your
content, and it is absolutelypossible.
It just may take longer thansome of the ads that are online
that say, oh, you can do thisand overnight you'll be a

(04:11):
success.
It does take more effort andtime than that, but, like I said
earlier, go download thisreport, because I'm gonna
continue to dig through itthroughout the week and share
the important pieces that Ithink that you should know, but
that's all I have for you today.
So, as always, remember, keepit fresh, keep it fun and just

(04:32):
keep going.