Previous generations sought to be doctors or lawyers, then investment bankers or venture capitalists, today, it seems like everyone wants to be a content creator, aka influencer.
To me, the creator economy is really about the storyteller/entrepreneur. Someone who is passionate about a topic, theme or category, and then devotes their time, attention and energy to find their voice, to build a community in the hopes of eventually being able to earn a living from it. It’s not for everyone, but as I frequently get questions from aspiring storyteller/entrepreneurs, the following framework may help you find your course to success. The framework are the 5 W’s, namely: Why, What, Who, Where and When?
I) Why?
Why is the single greatest question to ask when considering any endeavour. When seeking an outcome, it’s important to be honest with ourselves. What drives people?
At a high level, humans balance the following three variables.
But more specifically, at different points in your life, you are driven by what you lack. Some of those things are a means to an end, some are intangible, other intangibles. The grid below was an exercise we did when I taught entrepreneurship at McGill, to help students find a project and business to pursue.
There are no right or wrong answers, but you have to be honest with yourself:
Are you chasing fame. There’s no shame.
Are you chasing money. Go get that honey.
Are you seeking respect. That sounds perfect (ok, I’ll stop the rhyme game).
Human beings struggle between past and present, which reminds me of this epic quote from Milwaukee Bucks’ superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo:
“When you think about the past, that’s your ego.
When you think about the future, that’s your pride.
When you think about the present, that’s humility.”
It’s perfect normal if you seek something in the future because of an insecurity from the past. Again, the key is to be honest with yourself, because every action and gesture has to reinforce why you’re embarking on this long adventure. And make no mistake about it, it will be a long journey for even the seemingly overnight successes are 10-years in the making. The single most important trait required to succeed is persistence
Things that scale overnight are not necessarily sustainable, and things that are sustainable take time to scale. Everything will take longer, cost more, cause you more headaches and heartbreaks, and that’s part of the racket. If things were simple, everybody would be successful at it.
II) What?
Michael Milken once said “The best investor is a social scientist.” Indeed, if fifteen years ago, anyone who thought that
- “The Big Bang Theory” would go on to become the #1 show on broadcast TV, or
- Marvel Cinematic Universe would become a socio-cultural juggernaut,
we would have thought they were crazy. But as kids who grew up reading comic books became decision-makers on Wall Street, Madison Avenue, Hollywood & Silicon Valley, and more importantly, consumers of content who would control the world with their remote controls, wallets and mobile devices, then “Geek culture became pop culture.”
I personally had no ambition to become rich or famous, but I wanted to be respected and trusted as a media entrepreneur and operator, so I bet big on our four pillars. Yes that requires vision, ambition, execution, persistence, resilience and focus, but it also means luck and timing.
But most storyteller entrepreneurs want to be the face and voice, so it’s thus important to know how to finding your voice. The advice I give them is what I tell entrepreneurs and job seekers.
1) Principle of Specialization: In what field are you the Wayne Gretzky/Michael Jordan?
2) Sum of the Parts: What kind of environment do you perform in the best? Fit and culture matter.
3) Comparative advantage: What industry/sector do you have considerable domain expertise?
1 is focused more on the individual, 3 on the macro environment. But ultimately, you’re not telling a story as much as selling a feeling, positioning yourself as the domain expert. This isn’t that dissimilar to the most successful brands:
In media, you cannot be everything to everyone. The most successful media brands had a very specific product/market fit. For example:
Even since that article, other success stories like the Joe Rogan Experience are very niche and specific in their scope. You need to pick something you know more than others, but also something you’re passionate about, because you have to be willing to do it for years before anyone notices.
So it’s not just passion, but also:
- Demand vs Supply Would you do it “for free?” (not that you should, but…)
- Are you willing to commit 2-3-5 years?
- Do you have a comparative advantage?
- Then… sure, also: are you passionate about this?
It will take time, but over time, you will improve, become more comfortable and master all aspects of it. Be it in investing, entrepreneurship or storytelling:
III) Who?
For me, I wanted to build a team, an organization and a company. For others, they may want to become stars. It’s fine. But regardless, you will need a support system, and that means you can rarely build a franchise alone.
For content creators, this means deterring if they want to go at it alone, or find the yin to their yang. Whether it’s on air collaborative talent, or someone behind the camera, think of what your strengths are and find a person or people to cover your weaknesses and gaps.
IV) Where?
Where, in the context of storytelling, does not just mean moving to Los Angeles to be close to Hollywood, but mainly, what platform. Storytelling on YouTube is wildly different than on TikTok. Depending on your theme, category, audience, style, length etc., you need to both experiment with different platforms, but commit to one and adapt your formula to it. But mainly, you have to go where the audiences are, and these days, that usually means a platform.
When I started WatchMojo, I didn’t focus on YouTube on day 1. But very quickly, it was clear that YouTube was the future of media & entertainment.
V) When?
Short answer, now! The truth is it’s great and beneficial to take a bit of time and research the market. There are, quite frankly, no original ideas. All creative and commercial works can trace their inspiration to something preceding it. We didn’t invest top 10 lists (hat tip, Moses, and his Ten Commandments). But we mastered it and adapted it for the YouTube generation. Ultimately, no amount of planning will replace doing. As Steve Jobs said, “perfect is the enemy of good.” You will feed and thrive off of the feedback of your community, but to build your community, you will need to create content first. Some will laugh, you will cry, but when said and done, you’ll find your voice.
The name of game is to stay in the game (“survive to thrive”) but you have to get in the game first.
Hope this was helpful.