How big Creators should monetize

(2 min read) Got a big audience (or trying to grow one)? Here’s how to think about monetizing when the time comes.

Author

Avi Gandhi
October 29, 2024

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Most Creators want to have a big audience eventually; if you’re reading this and already have one, kudos for the accomplishment! But a big audience doesn’t mean you can do anything and it will work. 

I’ve seen Creators with big audiences launch consumer products that sold all of 10 units before getting shut down. I’ve also seen Creators with big audiences launch memberships that grew to $50,000 in monthly recurring revenue (MRR) within a few weeks.

The difference?

The first picked the wrong monetization model for their type of content.

Creators’ business models should change as their audiences and content changes, just like companies’ products should change as technology and consumer preferences change.

Last week, we talked about how Creators with smaller audiences should monetize.

This week, we’ll do the same for Creators with large audiences.

Let’s get into it!

V2.0 Creator Monetization Framework - High Reach

Casual Audience, Low Impact

  • Strengths - Lots of people consume your content.

  • Weaknesses - You’re likely dependent on the algorithm for views, as people aren’t actively looking for you or your content. Your content might be entertaining, but it doesn’t provide utility outside of entertainment. Since your audience is big, you also don’t have much bandwidth to serve audience members individually. Run ads because your scale makes it a nice semi-passive base revenue stream.

  • Example - Viral comedy short-form Creators

  • Outcome - Mainstream brands will want to partner with you for exposure and brand lift, even though you probably won’t directly convert sales. 

  • Recommendation - Advertisements, sponsorships

Casual Audience, High Impact

  • Strengths - Lots of people consume your content, and that content creates value beyond entertainment (e.g. learning, earning, belonging).

  • Weaknesses - While the audience derives value from the content beyond entertainment, they aren’t so passionate that they consistently seek it out. Thus, you’re at the whim of the algorithm. You also don’t have bandwidth to serve audience members individually.

  • Example - Educational Creators like Miss Excel. This is where I would put Creator Logic which, with 40,000 subs, is relatively large for a newsletter.

  • Outcome - Niche and mainstream brands will want to partner with you for exposure and brand lift. Your audience will also be interested in products you offer as long as they fit into your niche and offer meaningful value aligned with the value provided by your content. Run ads because your scale makes it a nice semi-passive base revenue stream.

  • Recommendation - Advertisements, niche sponsorships, niche products that directly align with the value of the content

Intense Audience, Low Impact

  • Strengths - Your audience will do almost anything you say, as long as they feel like you’re giving them a good reason to do so - and there are a lot of them. Congratulations - you command an army!

  • Weaknesses - You’re not known for any particular area of expertise, so your content is likely fairly broad and/or entertainment-based. You also don’t have bandwidth to serve audience members individually.

  • Example - Personality-driven vloggers like David Dobrik and Hype House

  • Outcome - Brands will want to partner with you, and you may get a lot of repeat business from them because you have the potential to actually drive measurable ROI on their spends - but beware! Promote too much, or too “inauthentically”, and your audience intensity may wane. Fewer, bigger partnerships are probably better. You should consider selling tickets and merch, so your audience can rep that they are your fans - just make sure whatever you sell ties in to what your audience loves about you. You could also probably make good money from a paid community where your fans hang out and talk about you, with you popping in every once in a while to say hi. Run ads because your scale makes it a nice semi-passive base revenue stream.

  • Recommendation - Ads, a few large sponsorships, apparel, tickets, community

Intense Audience, High Impact

  • Strengths - You’ve got basically everything going for you - this is the summit!

  • Weaknesses - Everyone below you is coming for you, so whatever you do has to be high-value and low-risk. You also don’t have the bandwidth to serve audience members individually. 

  • Example - The top Creators in any given category or niche - e.g. Critical Role for D&D / tabletop gaming or Alex Hormozi for entrepreneurship. 

  • Outcome -  You can probably do anything, but the best thing to do is to move a ton of product.  Brands will pay a huge amount to partner with you, and you should do a few big partnerships, but you should also sell stuff - ideally, launch a brand selling products that align with your content. Provide the launchpad for it, hire great operators, and let them scale through other channels into the mainstream. Run ads because your scale makes it a nice semi-passive base revenue stream.

  • Recommendation - Ads, a few large sponsorships, digital products, memberships, launch a brand

What do you think? Reply to let me know!

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Written by Avi Gandhi, edited by Melody Song,
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