Becoming a content creator is no easy task.
Unlike many professions, it is not always as simple as learning it in school and finding out about the industry as a whole. There is no clear path to becoming a content creator, and due to the fluidity of the industry, it can be a difficult one to grasp.
What was best practice last year might have changed in the current day, and it is an industry based on what is trending and what is socially accepted and wanted, so it can be vastly more demanding than most other jobs.
With that in mind, there are a few ways to help learn the industry better and not just know where to fit in but where you would like to fit in and what kind of content you would like to create and the impact you want it to have.
So here are a few tips on becoming a content creator.
Read About The Industry
A great way to understand the industry is one of the most basic and standard things people will recommend to you, but they say it because it works. Read up on the industry, find out best practices, attend a course for creatives, and learn how the industry works.
You will find that it teaches you more than just the basics of what you need to know, but something like a creative course will help you build contacts and offer inspiration on what form you want your content to take and how you want to tackle the industry.
Knowing current best practices will help you build upon your content well from the offset and give you a solid foundation to connect with your audience.
Find Your Unique Voice
One thing the content creation market is known for is saturated content. As the industry grows, you must find something unique you want your content to say.
Finding your voice and understanding what you want to say doesn’t have to be groundbreaking and completely industry-changing, just something that is yours and almost builds a brand around your content.
Like with any successful product, make it clear what you do that’s different from that of other brands. Why should people invest in you and your content?
Giving your ideal audience what they want in a voice that’s consistent and uniquely your own will make you stand out.
Write Anything, Whenever You Can
One of the most challenging aspects about becoming a content creator is starting, and it is the most simple and yet crucial advice anyone can give someone is just to start writing: write anywhere, write anything!
You are only going to be able to get anywhere when you start. The content doesn’t have to be at its best, no one is in a first draft, but you learn from it. You take each draft as it comes until you feel like you have a finished product.
Find something you are passionate about and start there; writing is always easier if you’re interested in your topics. And if you’re working your way up in the industry, find a way to make subjects that don’t inspire you engaging for yourself. Because if you’re bored writing your content, your audience will be bored reading it.
That’s not to say, once you’ve built that confidence, you shouldn’t challenge yourself and write about something you might struggle with to truly build upon those skills and be the best content creator you can be.
Find Your Content’s Purpose
Much like finding your unique voice, you also have to find a purpose for your content and what you want your content to do. Often, people who create content offer only commentary rather than real solutions for people.
This is usually content that dries out quickly when looking to build an audience and create impactful and long-lasting content because many people want genuine substance that helps them somehow. They want content that offers an answer, not something that leads to more questions.
Whether it be a simple answer such as the best restaurants to visit in their local area, or even bigger answers along the lines of giving people help on how to focus their lifestyle and become healthier both physically and mentally.
Many people don’t have time for themselves, let alone others, which is why they want to read something that could genuinely make their life that little easier.
Collaborate With Established Creators
A great way to get ahead of the curb and start building your audience is by working with someone who already has an established audience.
This is very dependent on the type of content you are creating on how easy this is to work but working with someone who has an audience is a great test run for yourself to find whether your intended audience is resonating with your content.
One vital thing when doing this is ensuring that it comes across as natural as possible; collaborations that don’t make sense detract a new audience from you and can also harm the collaborator’s current audience, so you have hindered yourself before starting.
Overall there is no clear path to becoming a content creator; it is ultimately an individual journey.
The most important thing to remember is there are people along the way that can help you and help you build upon your audience base to make a real, impactful difference within the industry; you just have to look for them.
