The creator economy brings me immense happiness in several ways. One aspect that particularly stands out to me is the number of creatives out there who are sharing their content, pouring their hearts out, and building communities from their craft.
However, as the creator industry is constantly expanding, I believe it’s important for us to take note of this growth and strive to grow and improve ourselves.
We can achieve this by making certain improvements, scaling in different areas, and learning new strategies and we are here to assist you in achieving these goals.
In this post, we will explore some tried and tested methods that can greatly help you improve and simplify your creative process, starting with these five simple things you should be doing in 2024.
Here are the five things you should be doing as a creator who wants to THRIVE online this year:
• Collaboration over competition
• Create YOUR content
• Continue to put yourself out there
• Community and authentic connections
• Share Your Knowledge
COLLABORATE
As a creative, this is something that you need to be doing. Collaborating with other creators can help you tap into new audiences, reach more people, and gain exposure to different perspectives and ideas. By working with other creators, you can share your expertise and knowledge, learn from others, and create content that resonates with a wider range of people.
In addition, collaborating with other creators is a great way to build your network and establish yourself as a thought leader in your industry. When you partner with other creators, you can leverage their audiences, skills, and knowledge to create something truly unique and valuable.
Ultimately, collaborating with other creators can help you achieve your goals as a creator and grow your influence online. So if you’re not already collaborating with other creators, now is the time to start!
If you need help navigating how to reach out to the creators you want to collaborate with, we have a blog post coming up to address it. But for now, just know that you first need to identify the creators whose values align with yours, ensure that you have potential topics planned out, and then you can reach out. You can both work out the rest of the details eventually.
Create YOUR content:
It’s common knowledge that creating content that resonates with your audience is essential for building a successful online presence. However, it’s equally vital to remember that the content you create should also come from your soul.
When you create content solely to please your audience or go viral, you may lose sight of what truly inspires you, your unique perspective, your WHY, and ultimately, the message you want to convey. This can lead to a lack of authenticity and a disconnection from your writing soul.
Therefore, it’s important to find a balance between creating content for your audience and creating content that reflects your creative vision and personal values. When you create from your soul, your content becomes an extension of yourself, and your audience will appreciate the genuine and authentic tone.
Remember when we talked about authenticity and how it is one of your biggest strengths as a creator? Let that always stay top of mind.
So, while it’s essential to consider your audience’s needs, it’s equally important to stay true to yourself and create content that resonates with you. In doing so, you’ll create a loyal following that values your unique perspective and creative approach.
Put Yourself Out There
Another thing that brings me immense joy is the abundance of opportunities for us as creatives to continue to put ourselves out there and even stand the chance to showcase our talents and win exciting prizes.
In 2024, you should seize every chance you get to put yourself out there more. Even if you find the challenges daunting, it is worth giving yourself a chance to try your hand at them. You never know what opportunities might arise from doing so.
And by participating in contests and challenges, not only can you gain monetary rewards, but also the chance to be published, increase your visibility, showcase your uniqueness, and make valuable connections in the creative community.
However, it is essential to be cautious and ensure that the contests and challenges you apply for are legitimate. In the Thriving Creatives Community, we occasionally share credible challenges and contests that are free to participate in.
In fact, we’re partnering up with a magazine to put our members out there more. Very exciting news! More details will be shared in the community soon.
Having heard all this, why not give it a try and put yourself out there in 2024?
Build a Solid Community and Authentic Connections
First and foremost, it is important to understand that the term ‘’community’’ is not just a buzzword, and it is not inauthentic or spammy. Building a community is about creating genuine connections and relationships. If you’re a creator looking to scale in 2024, focus heavily on community building.
There are two aspects to building a community: building authentic connections with other creators and then building a genuine audience.
Collaborating with other creators is a great way to connect with them and build relationships. Build solid collaborations with your fellow creators. When you comment on their posts, make sure it’s genuine. Who knows? Real-life friendships can sprout from there.
On the audience side, it’s important to build genuine connections with your followers and existing audience–no matter how small. Rather than just building a large following, focus on building a community of true fans (as Tom Ross would say) who are passionate about your brand.
This involves truly getting to know your audience, connecting with them, talking with them, listening to them, and understanding them, and you don’t necessarily even need to create a closed community to do this.
For example, Phoenix Blvck is a great example of a creator who has built a community on Instagram. She’s one of the biggest case studies when it comes to community building as a creator and you can learn more than one thing from her brand as a creator.
Salem King is another example of a creator who has successfully built a community on Instagram. We all know him as the creator’s creator. In fact, if you’re reading this right now, you’re probably a part of his community too.
Take all the behind-the-scenes and throwback content he has shared as the nudge you need to do this, too for your brand, to start—no matter how little–-to build a community around the brand that you’re building.
Share Your Knowledge
Yes, this is me saying that you should share your knowledge with other creators, especially if you have been shying away from it for some reason. Off the bat right now, I could mention three different creators from the Thriving Creatives Community who within the last three months, held their first class, hosted their first webinar, their first ask-me-anything session… the list goes on.
But indeed, that has set forth a splendid beginning to that aspect in their individual creative journeys, and we couldn’t be prouder of them. We took it a step further and spoke to some of these creators and one thing rang clear: the lessons, the things they’ll be doing differently, also of course, the new addition to their community members.
So you see, you have a lot to gain, and from where we see it, nothing to lose by taking that next step. Although, it is very important to know that you should be well grounded in what you want to share. Take note of all the prerequisites.
These events have marked the beginning of their individual creative journeys and we are incredibly proud of them. We spoke to some of these creators, and one thing is clear: they have learned valuable lessons, discovered new things they will be doing differently, and have welcomed new members to their communities.
Do note that if you’re considering taking the next step and sharing your knowledge, it’s important to be well-prepared and know what you want to share. Take note of all the prerequisites, and don’t be afraid to ask for help or guidance.
Because I (we) love you, here are a few more things that you should be doing as a creator in 2024:
– Let Authenticity lead. It’s highly crucial if you want to stand out and embrace your unique self in line with the second point in this post. No matter what you do and where your journey leads you as a creator, always be okay with staying true to yourself and your voice.
– Don’t let the fear of NOs, rejection, and failure stop you from pursuing your creative goals. Yes, this part of being a creative can be daunting, it’s important to keep in mind that fear and growth do not work hand-in-hand. So, it’s crucial to keep moving forward, despite the nos and ‘we’re sorry to inform you’ emails. You need to do it for yourself and your personal growth.
– Stop treating breaks as a reward or a rare treat that you give yourself once in a while. Make this year, make today, the day you prioritize taking breaks and stop depriving yourself of them, waiting until you feel you have earned them.
Remember, burnout is a serious issue, one you do not want to be faced with this year. Don’t worry, we have more blog posts on this topic coming up, so subscribe to this blog and never miss a single post.
Key Takeaways
Just in case you raced your way through this blog post, here is the recap you need:
• Collaborate
• Create YOUR content
• Continue to put yourself out there
• Community and authentic connections
• Share Your Knowledge
• Always stay Authentic
• Do it regardless of your fear
• Take breaks often
In Conclusion
As long as you continue to reinvent yourself, continue to learn, and take all these tips into practice, we’d say you’re well on the path to success as a creative and we’re incredibly proud of you.
Also, if you need that accountability buddy, a fellow creative to connect with, push you to be better, and overall a community of like-minded creators from all around the world, Thriving Creatives Community is the place for you. Simply fill out this form to join us today.
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