How to Become a Full Time Content Creator (In 5 Steps)

There are many ways to create content and serve an online audience. For example, you can produce podcasts, make YouTube videos, or write blog posts. However, you might be wondering how to make enough money to turn this side hustle into your day job.

If you’re wondering how to become a full time content creator, you have to offer something unique, and publish quality material on a regular basis. Then, you can think about monetization strategies like ads, affilate marketing, and memberships.

In this post, we’ll take a look at the benefits of creating content online. Then, we’ll show you how to become a full time content creator in five simple steps. Let’s jump right in!

The Benefits of Becoming a Full Time Content Creator

Becoming a full time creator requires you to regularly publish helpful or entertaining material that appeals to a specific audience. That being said, there’s tons of flexibility in how you choose to maintain an online presence.

For example, here are some of the most popular types of content creators:

• Social media influencers
• Bloggers
• Podcasters
• Youtubers

Naturally, this list isn’t extensive- you might want to pursue photography or videography, or write content for a platform other than a blog. But, whichever pathway you prefer, you’ll unlock the following benefits:

• Generate a passive income
• Build a community of like-minded people
• Define your own schedule
• Work from anywhere in the world
• Engage with topics and ideas that you’re passionate about
• Partner with brands or other creators that you admire

However, if you’re wondering how to become a full time content creator, it can be challenging. There’s lots of competition since it’s such a desirable role. Therefore, the following tutorial can help you get set up successfully.

How to Become a Full Time Content Creator (In 5 Steps)

Now that you know the benefits associated with the job, here’s how to become a full time content creator in five simple steps.

1. Choose a Niche

If you want to stand out among such a crowded space like the internet, it’s best to choose a specific niche that gives your content a unique selling point. This way, you can also nurture a more loyal following (which can be useful when you’re ready to monetize your platform).

Let’s say you want to blog about health and fitness. To save you having to fight for visibility within this saturated industry, you can focus on a specific area or target a narrow audience like muscle-building for vegans or run coaching for mothers:

Some niches are overly saturated like beauty, travel, and health and fitness. So, you need to provide a clear and obvious reason why people should seek out your content as opposed to all the existing content that’s available.

2. Identify an Audience

The next step to becoming a full time content creator is one of the most important ones- identifying an audience. This way, you can make your content as effective as it can be so that it resonates with the right people.

Therefore, it’s important to study your audience first. What are their problems? How can you solve these problems? What’s the best way to engage with them?

This stage is crucial since it can determine the platforms that you’ll use. For instance, there’s much higher rates of TikTok usage in people aged 18 to 34. Meanwhile, millennials are the generation with the highest share of podcast listeners in the U.S.

3. Cultivate a Strong Brand Identity

Once you’ve identified your target market, you’re ready to cultivate a strong brand identity. Again, this is a great way to make your offer more compelling and unique, so that you stand out against the competition. But, it also builds brand awareness which can help you attract more followers.

To give you an idea, Lucy and Yak is an inclusive fashion company that uses sustainable fabrics, and that much is instantly clear after spending a bit of time on the website:

Not only does the typography, color scheme, and imagery play a role. But, there’s a clear brand voice that’s woven through all of the messaging.

So, if it feels organic to you, you might include more personality or comedy within your content. Or, if your idea/niche is more serious or emotional, it can be a good idea to harness brand values, missions, or stories.

4. Create Quality Content

If you want to become a full time content creator, it’s essential that you actually produce good, valuable material- whether it’s informative, educational, or entertaining. This benefits your search ranking since Google prioritizes content that seems the most helpful.

But, it’s also crucial if you want to keep your audience engaged. Therefore, if you make podcasts, make sure to invest in good equipment and editing software. Meanwhile, if you write blog posts, you can use keywords to match the search intent, and include images to make it more visually appealing.

With this in mind, it’s also a good idea to keep to a regular posting schedule, so that your audience know when to expect new material. For example, when you start out, you might produce one post or video a week. But, once you’re ready to create content full time, you might increase your output.

5. Monetize Your Online Content

The previous steps can help you become a content creator. However, if you want to become a full time content creator (and quit your day job), the final step is to monetize your content. Here are the most popular ways to do it.

Advertisements

If you make podcasts, YouTube videos, or write blog posts, advertisements are a good option to earn money. This involves partnering with brands that share a similar audience to you.

Then, you’ll place ads on your website (or in your episodes or videos) and earn money whenever the ad gets viewed:

Therefore, this method is best for content creators that have a large audience. Plus, it’s important to be aware that ads can disrupt the user experience (UX) and interfere with your content. But, if you’re interested, you can either reach out directly to brands or join ad networks like Google AdSense.

Affiliate Marketing

If you’re wondering how to become a full time content creator, affiliate marketing is a viable monetization stategy. It’s particularly suited to creators with a loyal following, and those that produce written content like blog posts.

In this instance, you’ll join affiliate programs and earn a commission each time a visitor clicks on your unique affiliate link (or makes a purchase). Therefore, it’s best to collaborate with brands that occupy the same niche or audience as your own, so that the offer is actually appealing to your followers.

Memberships

Memberships enable you to make money by offering premium content (or other perks) to paying subscribers. Better yet, you can make some content available for free, and then provide various membership tiers to cater to a wide range of people.

If you run a YouTube channel or a podcast, you can first create a website to support your content using WordPress. For existing blogs, you can transform your site into a membership blog using Paid Member Subscriptions:

This is a free plugin that adds membership functionality to your WordPress website. You can use it to create subscription plans, sell online courses, and restrict access to paying members. And, with the premium version, you’ll gain advanced features like content dripping.

Upon successful installation of the plugin, navigate to Paid Member Subscriptions → Subscription Plans → Add New:

Here, you can give your membership plan a name, description, and set a price. You can also configure specific renewal options, and enable free trials, sign up fees, and more.

It’s easy to add upgrades and downgrades from the Subscription Plans screen. Meanwhile, you can even allow the plugin to create a pricing table for you.

Then, open the post or page that houses your premium content and scroll to the bottom:

Here, you can choose a type of content restriction, and use the checkboxes to select which plans (or users) can view the page.

Conclusion

There are tons of benefits to becoming an online content creator. You can build a tight-knit community and engage with topics that interest your every single day. However, you can also make enough money to quit your day job and pursue your passion full time.

To recap, if you’re wondering how to become a full time content creator, here are the five steps to follow:

1. Choose a niche.
2. Identify an audience.
3. Cultivate a strong brand identity.
4. Create quality content.
5. Monetize your online content with ads, affiliate marketing, or memberships.

Do you have any questions about how to become a full time content creator? Let us know in the comments below!