How to Become a Successful Content Creator

I americium a content creator. I make content—mainly blog posts—for the Ahrefs blog, which generates astir ~300,000 visits per period (from Google alone).

How did I go a contented creator for specified a fashionable blog? Well, I’ll speech astir it aboriginal successful the post. But earlier you transportation connected reading, I privation you to cognize determination are galore paths to becoming a contented creator. The way I followed is merely one of them. But since it’s the lone 1 I know, it’s the 1 I’ll share.

Let’s statesman with immoderate fundamentals.

What is simply a contented creator?

A contented creator is idiosyncratic who creates written, audio, video, oregon ocular contented for a integer level similar Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, oregon a blog.

They tin beryllium moving in-house for a institution (like me) oregon agency, freelancing, oregon doing their ain happening (e.g., influencers).

What does a contented creator do?

They make content. (Duh!) Besides that, they may also:

• Create a content strategy.
• Manage a content calendar.
• Research contented ideas.
• Design and edit visuals.
• Record and edit videos.
• Produce podcasts.
• Do basic SEO.
• Have a heavy knowing of the channels they nutrient contented for, including the latest updates and changes.

How overmuch bash contented creators make?

There is nary bounds to however overmuch a contented creator can make.

But however overmuch you marque depends connected whether you’re moving in-house, freelancing, oregon doing your ain thing. You whitethorn besides gain much if you:

• Have taxable substance expertise.
• Have a sizeable pursuing connected the level wherever you make content.
• Have a well-known and well-respected brand.

According to Zippia, the median contented creator wage is $52,000 annually. However, immoderate contented creators person been known to gain up to six figures.

For example, Jon Morrow of SmartBlogger used to complaint up to $2.50 per connection erstwhile helium was freelancing. That’s $5,000 for a 2,000-word post. One nonfiction per week means Jon’s making six figures a year.

Other examples include:

• Nate O’Brien, a YouTuber who earned ~$444,000 successful a year.
• Bill Bishop, who’s making six figures annually from Substack.
• John Lee Dumas, the podcaster making six figures a month(!).

How to go a palmy contented creator

Looking backmost astatine my ain career, I’ve identified immoderate cardinal things that led maine to go a contented creator.

1. Choose a niche to make your cognition and skills

To make content, you request to archetypal person a topic. It tin beryllium anything: finance, football, oregon adjacent Pokemon cards. In fact, I started disconnected penning astir breakdancing.

I chose breakdancing due to the fact that it was thing I was already acquainted with. I had been doing it for astir 8 years astatine that constituent and had accumulated a ton of knowledge. I conscionable needed to fig retired however to share it.

Content instauration is yet not astir just how beauteous your penning is oregon however magical your videos are. Of course, they play a part. But the halfway of contented instauration is astir your ideas. If you don’t person thing to share—or you don’t person the required knowledge—it doesn’t substance however overmuch clip you walk refining your work. People conscionable won’t care.

As bestselling concern writer Morgan Housel puts it:

Good ideas are casual to write, atrocious ideas are hard. Difficulty is simply a prime signal, and writer’s artifact usually indicates much astir your ideas than your writing.

To go a palmy contented creator, you request to commencement with an country wherever you either person existing knowledge/expertise oregon an country wherever you tin make knowledge.

It’s OK if you don’t person expertise right now. On the contrary, it’s a large mode to begin. Document your travel and make contented astir however you’re learning, practicing, and gaining knowledge. People emotion to travel stories of idiosyncratic going from zero to one.

In fact, #buildinpublic is a fashionable hashtag connected Twitter, and it has been a rallying constituent for galore radical who are creating contented and learning successful public.

Finally, the niche you take present is not thing you’re constricted to forever. You tin ever alteration topics arsenic you progress. I nary longer make contented astir breakdancing and, instead, walk astir of my clip penning astir marketing.

But the cardinal constituent is this: You person to take thing to get started—one that matches your strengths and the niche you’re processing your expertise in.

2. Choose a contented instauration accomplishment you’d similar to develop

Next, you person to take a contented format and past make skills successful that area. Types of contented instauration skills include:

• Copywriting/writing
• Graphic design
• Photography
• Video production
• Podcasting

And more.

For example, if your niche is taekwondo, past possibly you whitethorn privation to see processing your skills successful video production.

That being said, playing to your strengths is much important. Creating contented is simply a agelong journey. And creating the benignant of contented you similar connected a taxable you’re passionate astir volition assistance you spell a long way.

This is why, contempt the information that penning was (likely) a unspeakable mean for breakdancing, I inactive chose to spell for copywriting successful the end. The information that I was already funny successful writing—coupled with maine being camera shy—made this determination a no-brainer. In hindsight, penning matched my strengths and has served maine good so far.

If you’re similar maine and privation to amended your copywriting skills, I highly urge these resources:

• The Boron Letters (Book)
• The Adweek Copywriting Handbook (Book)
• Ogilvy connected Advertising (Book)
• The Halbert Copywriting Method Part III (Book)

3. Create a “Do 100” project

There’s nary mode astir it. If you privation to larn however to make content, you have to make content.

If you privation to amended your contented instauration skills, the champion mode is to really marque thing and enactment it retired there. Yes, it is scary. Yes, it volition wounded to get feedback. But you person to spell done this signifier to go a palmy contented creator.

To tackle the above, I urge creating a “Do 100” project. This is an thought that was popularized by my friend, Visakan Veerasamy. Basically, perpetrate to making 100 of X, wherever X is the contented instauration accomplishment you privation to improve.

Here’s the magic of Do 100 Thing: the archetypal 20 mightiness look similar crap, and you mightiness deliberation you’ll ne'er get amended if you bash 1000, and past fig 30 turns retired amended than you thought imaginable (h/t @shrinetothevine) pic.twitter.com/Kz8cISI5Yk

For example, if you’re trying to excel astatine making short-form videos, past perpetrate to creating 100 TikTok videos. If you’re writing, perpetrate to crafting 100 tweets oregon penning 100 blog posts. If you’re learning photography, station 100 photos connected Instagram.

The crushed wherefore this works is twofold:

• Commitment – A task is simply a forcing hand. No much procrastination oregon changeless deliberation. This is the crushed wherefore challenges similar #tweet100 and #ship30for30 are truthful popular.
• Volume – A ceramics teacher divided his people into 2 groups: One was graded solely connected the quantity of enactment they produced, the different connected the prime of work. The result: The radical graded for quantity produced works of higher quality. Quantity leads to quality. The much you create, the amended you become.

My communicative is akin too. While I didn’t telephone it a “Do 100” task backmost then, I committed to sending an email a day, 5 days a week, to the subscribers of my breakdance blog. I yet wrote implicit a 100 emails. Looking back, I present recognize this task truly skyrocketed my penning skills.

4. Get a occupation arsenic a contented creator

After moving my breakdance blog and moving for an (eventually unsuccessful) startup, I was hired arsenic a content selling manager astatine ReferralCandy. At ReferralCandy, a large portion of my enactment was to make blog posts. But it wasn’t simply immoderate blog post. I had to make blog posts that were portion of a content selling strategy.

Because of my enactment astatine ReferralCandy, I yet joined Ahrefs—and this is wherever I’ve been for the past three years.

You don’t person to get a occupation to go a palmy contented creator. But I don’t regret this path. After all, a contented creator’s occupation contiguous is nary longer conscionable astir content creation. It involves galore parts of marketing.

Working astatine aggregate companies has introduced maine to important marketing skills like contented selling and SEO. It has besides helped maine to larn however to program and make contented arsenic portion of a coherent marketing strategy. All of these tin lone service to amended your illustration arsenic a contented creator.

I highly urge picking up these skills too. Use this resource to get started oregon ticker this course:

The astir nonstop mode to get a occupation arsenic a contented creator is to look for unfastened occupation positions. With your “Do 100” task arsenic your portfolio, you’ll beryllium successful bully lasting to get one. Look done these job boards and spot if you acceptable the jobs’ criteria. Expand your horizons a little—positions similar “content selling manager” oregon “content strategist” could beryllium bully matches too.

Networking is important arsenic well. I got my jobs astatine ReferralCandy and Ahrefs due to the fact that I had met and befriended some the heads of marketing. Don’t overcomplicate this. If you’re learning from idiosyncratic close now, scope retired and convey them for their content. This is however you tin kickstart a narration with idiosyncratic you admire.

5. Furthering your career

As you advancement on your vocation way and people more, you’ll statesman to summation a estimation successful your niche. You whitethorn adjacent physique a decent pursuing on the way.

If you’re interested, you tin see branching retired and playing with antithetic projects. For example, you whitethorn privation to freelance for different websites. If that’s the way you’re pursuing, I urge speechmaking this post by Nick LeRoy. While it’s specifically astir SEO freelancing, astir of the principles tin beryllium applied to immoderate signifier of freelancing.

There are different monetization opportunities too, too freelancing. Ideas include:

• Product sponsorships and advertising
• Speaking engagements
• Substack oregon different forms of subscriptions
• Online courses
• Books
• Affiliate marketing
• Ecommerce, e.g., mounting up your ain store to merchantability merchandise

The world’s your oyster. Play astir and spot which 1 matches your condition and context.

Final thoughts

As a contented creator, you ne'er halt learning.

You request to enactment up to day and larn astir the changes successful your chosen niche, arsenic good arsenic the platforms you’re creating contented for. You besides request to enactment existent connected what your assemblage wants to see.

Finally, arsenic you larn much and more, you’ll commencement to make tastes and opinions. You’ll statesman to fig retired what works and what doesn’t. This volition beryllium what makes you basal retired from the hundreds and thousands of different contented creators.

Did I miss retired connected anything? Let maine cognize on Twitter.