Helping creators monetize? 🤩

Hello! 👋

When we stumbled upon Bolu (BB's) content on Twitter, we found her content intriguing! Especially her thoughts on passion, imposter syndrome, etc. As a coach, she understands the importance of discipline, right mindset, and creativity. ✨

Today, we're sharing our conversation with her. 👇

Let's dive into the conversation. 👇

Sunaina: Can you tell me about yourself and what made you become a creative coach?

BB: I'm a creative coach focused on helping creators make profit from their passions. I have to stress here that making a profit from your creativity isn't a must for everyone with a creative output. However, for those interested in building a career for themselves as creative freelancers, I offer support and advice to help them reach crucial milestones. Making that leap to full-time freelancing can be challenging and difficult, especially when you're doing it alone, and worse still if you don't have any business skills i.e., networking, pitching, negotiating or email management, to name a few.

Sunaina: What are some of the services you offer?

BB: My primary offering is 1-1 coaching, namely my Power Hour, where I provide personalised advice on diverse things. I provide insights on getting started, branding, content creation, marketing, social media best practices, and so much more. Over the years, I've found these absolutely fundamental to succeeding as a creator. As this is a personalised coaching session, I'm flexible with what the creator wishes to discuss to ensure they get the very best out of it. I also offer workshops for university groups/societies and community-based creative groups, where I teach finding passion, brand building and growing your brand as a creative freelancer. Alongside, I offer project management and consultancy, for collaborative projects with brands and organisations that need more brainpower to get off the ground.

Sunaina: What's Musta, and what's it doing for creators?

BB: Musta is the talent consultancy agency I've been working under since 2018. The name itself is the short for Mustard Seed, which is one of the smallest seeds to exist, yet the trees grow big, strong and last for years. I chose this name because I resonated with the fact that small efforts can lead to huge results given appropriate nurture — which is what I aim to do. You can also book 1-1 consultations with me via Musta; but we also offer a rolling consultancy programme — four sessions providing ongoing support and accountability to creators who need it the most. We also provide talent management and administrative support for creators, including email management and project management, with the hope of being able to help creators focus on what they do best — create! What we're trying to do is, eventually, create a one-stop shop for creators where they can get the tools and support that they need to succeed.

Check out Musta here. 👇

Sunaina: How long have you been creating content for?

BB: I've been creating content for the past five years, with Twitter being my most preferred medium of choice. I love that the platform forces me to convey sometimes complex advice simply, which made me a better writer and communicator. I've dabbled with other content types, but writing always comes out on top for me. I think the lesson in that, as a creator, is to find what is most natural and comfortable for you — that'll make it much easier to stick to. Of course, there's no problem with pushing yourself to experiment, but without consistency and discipline you won't see desired results.

Sunaina: You help creators monetize their passions. Do you have a criteria on what sort of creators you work with?

BB: Not at all! I love to work with creators at whichever stage they may be. Whilst some experienced creative freelancers may have more structure than beginners, you'd be surprised how many do things the way they've always done them. My job is to challenge those patterns and help them to achieve efficiency so they can get more output for their efforts. On the other hand, I also love working with those just starting out because that's when we can figure out a firm foundation for their offering. You see, to truly be successful in this industry and do the work you love; you need to put adequate systems and processes in place to manage everything from pricing and admin to marketing and client experience.Everything is important — spending time laying the groundwork is vital — that's what I'm here to help with!

Sunaina: What are some of the challenges creators face today?

BB: The creative industry is now more accessible than ever before meaning we're seeing more people identify as creators, which is great for the emerging creator economy. But I think the downside is it's seemingly more difficult to find your niche, grow your audience, monetise your work and stay consistently creative. However, these things can be overcome with a clear battle plan (strategy) and true commitment.

Aside from this, I think there are two potentially bigger challenges. The first is AI - I must admit, I was hugely skeptical of ChatGPT and the likes when they first came onto the scene. I witnessed countless examples of this technology duplicating and replicating creative work i.e., scriptwriting, graphic design and photography. I was concerned because I saw creatives losing roles, contracts and opportunities to bots. However, as with most things, brands have quickly realised authentic ideas require a level of sophistication that only expert creativity can offer. In addition, I've seen creatives go from fighting against these new technological advances to actually considering how they can use them to enhance their work. For example, quite a few deaf creators always brought to our attention how much of the content we consume actually isn't accessible to the deaf community — transcription AI has simplified that process, meaning that for creators who have adopted this, their content can reach more people. Another example is that something that would usually have taken hours like making trailers for a YouTube video or podcast, can now be done within minutes. This not only speeds up creativity, but allows it to reach further as the content is carefully curated and styled by the technology. I would challenge creators to think about using what's out there to enhance what they have to offer.

Sunaina: How significant is the role of women in shaping the future of the creator economy?

BB: Research suggests women take home about 77% of creator payouts from influencer marketing. In terms of content, women dominate almost every field, from lifestyle to business and beauty to activism — their influence is indeed real and undeniable. From an equity standpoint, this is great news, as it's no secret that women are underpaid in almost every sector, so it's great to see them shining here. Female creators are able to disrupt traditional media, which has historically been dominated by men, by rewriting the rules, amplifying the voices of women worldwide and inspiring us to break free from the clutches of society. I am proud of the women leveraging their platforms to start brands, businesses and organisations, tearing down conventional business barriers for female founders as they grow. Female creators also offer a diversity like never before, championing inclusivity and shattering stereotypes along the way of what women 'can' and 'should' do. They are at the forefront of collaborations — with brands and other creators alike — demonstrating how to build communities and expand your reach. Even when it comes to online trolling and harassment, they are teaching how to be fierce, report and handle untoward situations, helping to make the world a better place. In essence, they are paving the way for a new generation of people interested in going against the grain. That's the true beauty of it, and I think there's still more of that to come.

Sunaina: Do you remember the time you made your first dollar?

BB: Absolutely! So, I launched myself through a Twitter thread — I told people who I was and what I was offering. It went semi-viral; off the back of that, I offered a bunch of free consultations in order to build up testimonials/UGC. I didn't anticipate the response I'd get, but soon I was booked solid for a few weeks. The reviews I was getting inspired more people to book, so I put up a link for paid consultations. Didn't get a bite for a while, and my free consultations were coming to an end. People love free things, right? My confidence was shaken slightly; then, I got the email that perked me right back up! I just couldn't believe someone was willing to pay me £10 to talk to me for an hour. But this didn't just happen by luck. When making the transition from free to paid, you have to focus your energy on being able to communicate your value clearly. Once I did that, the door of paid consultations finally unlocked, and I started to turn a profit.

Sunaina: Got any advice for beginner creators?

BB: My core piece of advice is to be realistic. I'm of the opinion that to be a successful creator, you need three things: time, passion, and resources. If you have just time and passion but no resources, you'll fail. If you have resources and passion, but no time, you will also fail. Resources don't necessarily mean money — it could be contacts, community, venue/location, platform or even just access to information. Proper execution requires all three. Without investing time into your idea, it'll remain just an idea. Without passion for your idea, you'll be easily discouraged and lack resiliency to keep going. Without resources you wouldn't have the insight to use what you have to get what you desire. All three are equally important, but here's where the realism side of things comes in.

Sunaina: What does the future look like?

BB: For the creator economy, I'm looking forward to the rise of seemingly "unpolished" content that is entertaining, accessible, but most importantly, relatable. We've got self-confessed lazy SAHM recording themselves cleaning up their houses, elderly sharing their favourite evening meals, young men sharing self-care tips — even couples showing off their latest DIY or renovation projects. Because of creativity, they all have a way to share their outlook on life, and that's what's really special about it. Such creativity breeds a lot of comfort, which goes a long way in breaking the negative stigmas attached to content especially on social media. I've decided to do my part and put my money where my mouth is by providing more support for the emerging creatives out there. I look to launch a comprehensive Creator Academy and Fund within the next 18 months so that even more people can embrace creativity — not just as an output or function but truly as a way of being.

So, that was our conversation with BB! Follow her on Twitter to know more!

That’s it for this week! We’ll be back with another story next Tuesday. 👋🏼

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