Creator Hierarchy of Needs

Dear subscribers,

Creators have a hierarchy of needs as they grow. Understanding these needs helps you build products that creators love:

These needs form a hierarchy because creators typically need to tackle a lower-level need before moving to a higher level one.

Let's explore each need from the perspective of a creator who's starting from scratch.

When you're just getting started, find a niche at the intersection of:

Start with what interests you because curiosity drives competence. Once you find a topic that you want to explore further, look for people who are passionate about it on social media and follow their conversations.

To really stand out, you need to find a niche within a niche. For example, instead of doing video reviews for new movies on YouTube, you might start by reviewing Korean movie thrillers with twist endings. I just made that up, but the point is - the more specific your niche is, the more unique your content will be, and the more you'll separate yourself from everyone else.

Here are a few creators who successfully found a niche:

Once you find a niche, you need to publish frequently - anywhere from once a day to once a week. Here's an example of why publishing frequently matters:

Dunkey is a popular YouTuber who uploads gaming videos every week. He recently shared a video called "I'm Done Making Good Videos" with this chart:

Dunkey's weekly uploads couldn't compete with creators like Markliplier who upload daily. After Dunkey shifted to a daily schedule, his channel views have grown 344%.

The reality is: On ad-supported platforms, you can often grow faster by publishing good enough content frequently vs. great content sporadically.

The constant pressure to publish content can put a drain on your mental health. Many creators struggle with anxiety or depression while trying to hide these feelings from their fans.

That's why it's important to take breaks, connect with people on a similar journey, and be open to professional help (e.g., from organizations like Rise Above the Disorder).

Publishing frequently helps you identify what content resonates the most with your fans. Look at your analytics at least once a month to find the content that received the most fan interactions (e.g., likes, comments). Be on the lookout to publish more of what's working and less of what's not.

If you only focus on publishing content, your growth will quickly plateau. You also need to interact with fans to get them invested in your success. To interact with fans, you can:

By interacting with fans, you're showing them that you care about their support. Going the extra distance to make your fans feel special can make all the difference (as long as your fans don't make unreasonable requests).

Collaborating with other creators is one of the best ways to grow because it introduces two fan bases to each other. To find another creator to collab with, you can:

Once you find a few creators you want to collab with, get to know them through Discord, Twitter DMs, and other channels. Start planning a collab, which can be simple or complex depending on the platform. On TikTok, for example, creators can collab with a few taps by doing a duet or stitch. On YouTube, however, collabs may require weeks of planning to create a video together.

You've built a loyal fan base by publishing frequently, interacting with fans, and collaborating with other creators. Now it's time to focus on making money.

Chances are, you publish content on a large media platform like YouTube, Instagram, Twitch, or TikTok. These platforms offer many ways for you to make money (e.g., ads for YouTube and subscriptions for Twitch). It's fine to rely on a media platform for paychecks early on, but you should take two important steps to diversify your revenue as soon as possible.

First, you should look for brand sponsorships, a major revenue stream for many creators. Consider getting an agent who can help you find brand contracts in exchange for a percent of the deal. Agents might reach out to you or you can ask other creators for referrals.

Second, you should move your fans to an owned community. On media platforms, you're only "renting" your audience. At any moment, the platform can change its algorithms or policies in a way that hurts your earnings. That's why you should start seeing these platforms as top of the funnel channels to send fans to a community that you own.

An owned community has three attributes:

Many creators also use Discord to make it easy for fans to talk to each other. Surprisingly, I haven't found an owned community tool that meets all of the criteria above.

Creator monetization can be a separate post by itself, so I’ll close with a list of ways that creators can make money:

Once you have multiple revenue streams, you'll likely need help managing your business. Many creators hire a manager to help with their finances, scheduling, and career in exchange for a 10-20% share of their earnings. Startups such as Stir and Karat also help creators run their businesses so that they have more time to focus on creating content.

Creators at the top of the hierarchy have built a personal monopoly. They can use their massive fan base to enter the mainstream and jump start new ventures (e.g., TV shows, book deals, and even burger chains). Charlie D'Amelio (TikTok) and MrBeast (YouTube) are the obvious examples, but a top creator on a smaller platform can also find mainstream success.

As a creator, it's hard to build an audience without finding a good niche, and it's hard to make money if you haven't built an audience. Try to tackle each need in rough priority order to work your way up to a personal monopoly.

I wish you good luck on your journey!

Thanks to Victoria Sun for collaborating with me on this post.