Translator: Michele Gianella Reviewer: Elena Montrasio
Raise your hand, if you can answer this question.
What do you do for a living?
Very few, me too.
I can never answer that question
as they call me "the one who makes English videos on IG", or "The TikToker”.
I’m actually a content creator.
Who knows what is the job of a content creator?
Very well.
Anyone who creates content in order to entertain, educate or inform
is a content creator.
Content can be of various kinds:
videos, photos, blog articles.
In fact, creator economy is made up of a multitude of different professions:
youtubers, podcasters, influencers.
Each one with the goal of creating content for their audience.
Many people tend to use the words “influencer” and “content creator”
interchangeably.
And in fact, a lot of people are both one and the other,
although what actually discriminates these two figures
is the purpose for which content is produced and posted.
It’s true that an influencer actually creates content,
just as it’s true that a content creator can influence their audience,
but the purpose of the content creator
is to create high-quality content,
while influencers
aim to expand their community
and sponsor companies' products or services.
"Creator Economy" is the term to describe
how content creators make a living.
Content creators produce and post content,
engage audiences,
turn attention into money, and then monetize. In the past,
it was only the big media that created and disseminated entertainment,
whereas today
anyone with a phone can create content
and via the internet get it to an audience.
We are witnessing the decentralization
of entertainment, education and information.
Today, the creator economy sector is worth one and a half billion euros;
and there are more than 350,000 creators in Italy.
But it’s the growth that is exponential with a +20% rate every year.
Why this exponential growth?
Because 34% of people trust the brands they shop with,
while 64% trust influencers more than brands.
So when companies collaborate with an influencer,
they borrow the trust the community has in this person:
more trust, more purchases.
A content creator is like a shop window,
But unlike a traditional shop window,
that can only be seen by the people who actually walk past it.
a content creator workshop
can be seen anywhere in the world,
and at any time,
Therefore, the exposure is exponential.
This is why more and more companies
are willing to invest in this type of advertising,
rather than opting for more traditional media
such as tv and newspapers.
Collaborating with companies is just one way
content creators can make a living.
You can also receive revenue shares,
which is a part of the income
that platforms like YouTube and Tik Tok earn from ads.
Another way could be
to create physical or digital products or services
and sell them to your audience.
That means being a digital
entrepreneur and 17% of content creators are actually entrepreneurs,
while 39% aspire to become one in the future.
Being a digital entrepreneur
gives you the ability to work when and where you want.
Everyone would like it, right?
However, we need a sense of community
as human beings
and thanks to technology,
today we can find online
groups of people who share our passions.
These groups are called communities.
Communities are created and managed by a content creator.
Platforms become a home
and within these communities
you share and learn from each other.
Communities are a digital home
where everyone is welcome
and which we can access whenever we want
from anywhere in the world.
Being born in 97,
I’ve had access to the internet almost all my life
and content creators have been a fundamental part of my education.
YouTube, I always say, it's kind of the new library in Alexandria.
You can learn almost anything for free,
which is why to date,
online training created by content creators
can be seen as a valuable competitor to traditional education,
especially when it comes to higher education
like universities or specialized courses.
One of the strengths of online training
is that it's free or inexpensive,
because content creators have other ways to earn money.
Plus, content is always fresh and up-to-date.
In a world where change is the order of the day,
it's almost mandatory to stay up-to-date,
and content creators do it exceptionally well.
On the other hand, traditional education
takes months or years to update programs.
But what perhaps most fascinates me about online training is,
you can learn from the top of the industry.
You can take a cooking class with a star chef, without leaving home,
or an acting class with a Hollywood star.
Well, now that you know exactly what Creator Economy means,
maybe some of you will want to become a content creator,
so I'd like to give you a few tips.
The first thing you need to do is find your niche in the market,
which is a group of people
who have the same needs and passions.
To find the perfect market niche for you,
just make a list
of your passions,
your skills
and the needs of the market,
bearing in mind that the market's needs
must be linked to the will of people to spend
and people are willing to spend their money
for three main spheres.
First of all,
people want to improve their economic condition,
then improve their relationships, whether they're friendships or love,
and finally to lengthen their lives.
Very well, having identified your market niche,
you have to start creating content
and the contents that are the most popular
today are short form videos,
therefore short videos from seven seconds to three minutes.
That's because the attention span is decreasing year after year.
"Attention span" means the ability to concentrate
for how many seconds in a row we are able to maintain concentration.
In 2000, the estimate was 12 seconds; today, only 20 years later, eight seconds.
Who has, in your opinion,
a better attention span than ours today?
The goldfish.
Good.
Another piece of advice to give you, when creating content,
is to make it as relatable as possible - therefore, relatability.
What you say or do, or your path needs to be
connected in a way to your audience.
They must mirror in you.
For example, as an English online teacher I don’t only talk about good things,
but also about all the embarrassments
or hardships I’ve had along the way.
Believe it or not, I failed English in 7th grade,
so I’m the living proof we can all make it.
Perhaps the key to success as a content creator,
and also in life, is "pee pee".
Not the one you do in the bathroom though. PP stands for Passion and Perseverance.
Passion and perseverance
in creating original and user-friendly educational content.
Without passion
you'll find it hard to be consistent.
In fact, Creator Economy is also called Passion Economy.
As I said before, content creators
have played in my education a fundamental part
and continue to do so even today.
What I want to convey to you today is,
everyday you can learn something new,
for free, online.
Or you can make your passion your work,
which you can manage via your smartphone from anywhere in the world.
Today, thanks to the web you can find your home
by joining a community or by creating one.
Passion and perseverance.
Thank you.
(Applausi)