What is a Content Creator?

As the world changes, so too do the ways in which we work and live. Some careers and jobs become obsolete, while others – like the role of content creator – take their place.

Content creation is not new. Content creators have existed for thousands of years in some form, but the idea of having the title of a “content creator” is relatively recent, and it covers a huge variety of options. Including sites like OnlyFans. If you have a profile on OnlyFans, Fanvue, Fansly or any of the other sites and you’re selling photos and videos, then you’re a content creator.

In this guide, we’re going back to basics. If you’re new to this whole idea of content marketing and content creation, this article will explain everything you need to know:

• What is a content creator
• What are the different types of content creation in the modern world
• How do content creators make money (and how much)?
• Broad tips for getting started as a content creator
• A guide to getting started as an NSFW or adult content creator

Content creation explained

Content creation isn’t complicated. It simply means anyone who is creating content – and that content can be anything that we consume. It could be books, photos, videos, songs, or other audio files – anything which satisfies a need.

Those needs could be educational – we might be looking for content that teaches us something new, whether that’s a skill or a review of a product or just the news going on in the world. It could be entertainment – content designed to trigger positive emotions.

It could be content to excite you sexually, such as the kind of content on OnlyFans or on porn websites. Some people also seek out content designed to rile them up – there’s an odd trend of people looking for opinions that differ from their own, not to learn but instead to scratch an itch of knowing they are ‘right’ and these other people are ‘wrong’.

But that’s a whole other can of worms. For now, you just need to know that content creation is all about making content for people to consume. And when we ask what is a content creator, really we're asking what is a professional content creator, and these are people who find a way to make content and then earn money from that content.

The different types of content creation

There are all different kinds of content that successful content creators use as a way of making money.

Blogging and written content

A lot of people write blog posts or article content around a subject that they’re passionate about. They’ll look to see what people need to know about their passion, and then write articles designed to answer those questions.

Other people blog to be entertaining – like opinion-style columns. And then there are those who specialize in written reviews.

Journalism is a form of content creation too – it’s people writing for newspapers and websites to create content that informs the reader of what is happening in the world.

Podcasting

Podcasting is one of the biggest types of content creation in the last decade. That’s because it’s easier for people to consume than the written word or video – you just need a set of headphones and you can multitask while enjoying the content – and it’s easy for people to create a podcast too.

There’s no video camera or lighting to worry about (although many people do filmed podcasts, this isn’t essential) and you can record podcasts with other people remotely over the internet, saving time and effort to get into the same room to record.

Of course, not anyone can make money from podcasting. You need to be talking about something interesting, and you need to be interesting yourself too. Otherwise, you’re not going to attract the audience you need to be able to monetize your content.

Video content

When you talk about video content, and making money from videos, there are a couple of go-to websites that people tend to use.

YouTube is of course the biggest one, but there are sites like Twitch which specialize mainly in gaming content (video games, actual play roleplaying games and so on, though there is a wide spectrum of channels).

Making video content isn’t easy. Or at least, producing good-quality video content isn’t easy. Anyone can film themselves on their phone but if you want to look good then you need a decent camera setup, good lighting, and a quality microphone – plus the ability (and software) to edit your videos to make them more professional.

Social media content and influencing

Most people in the world are ‘content creators’ on social media because they write tweets, post family photos, shoot videos of tourist attractions they visit and so on…

But many people turn this into a paid career by building up a social media brand that people want to follow. This includes influencers, who turn their own personality into their brand and use their platform to advertise products or services that they are paid to promote.

To be successful on social media you need to be particularly engaging, with a knack for building a following.

Adult content

People have been making homemade adult content ever since the first home video cameras were released. But within the last decade, there’s been a huge spike in opportunities for people to monetize their own adult content through sites like OnlyFans.

For many, it is a huge step to share their adult content with the world. For others, it is liberating and fun from the get-go.

One thing that’s interesting is how adult content tends to be a little easier than some other forms of content creation. If you’re a writer, or a YouTube video maker, or a podcaster, you need to have a good and interesting subject to make content about, and that takes a lot of hard work and time to plan.

If you’re an adult content creator, your ‘theme’ is going to be your body. Yes, you still need to be creative to work out how to vary up your content to keep it interesting, but just by having a nude body to show off, you’re halfway to shooting your content.

Monetizing your content

Taking your passion for creating content and turning it into a career depends on one thing – how you decide to monetize.

This will often depend on the platform you’re using and the type of content you’re creating, but there are a number of ways you can use your power as a creator to earn money. Here’s a quick look at each of them.

One-off fee

Some types of content are well-suited to being paid for outright. Here you’ll charge a fee for each piece of content you create, or for a collection of content.

A lot of the everyday content we consume involves a one-off fee. If you’ve ever bought a magazine or a newspaper, or paid to watch a movie, that’s all content that you’re enjoying with a single one-time payment.

Adult fan platforms don’t usually use this model as their main income option for creators, but many sites do allow creators to set up content that can only be viewed with a one-time fee payment. It may be a longer video or a collection of videos that you charge for.

Some sites even let you create a store alongside your content, to sell personal items.

Subscription

Another popular option for monetizing content is the subscription model. Here, you grant access to your content to anyone who signs up for a subscription fee, and then as long as they keep their subscription active, they can freely enjoy your work.

Streaming platforms like Netflix or Apple TV+ use this exact model – you keep your payments going and you get to watch as many movies or series on the platform as you like.

And this is the main monetization option for most adult sites too. The idea is that you fill your profile with adult photos and videos that you’ve created, and then users can access this for a recurring payment fee. As soon as they decide to terminate their subscription, they lose access.

This then drives you to make sure you’re always adding fresh hot content so that you keep people signing up for a subscription, and you continue to make money in the long term.

Affiliate marketing

Affiliate marketing works well for a number of content creators, but in order to be truly successful from a financial perspective you need to work really hard to build up an audience.

Affiliate marketing is where you, as a content creator, talk about a product or service in detail and then refer people to buy it through an affiliate link. You then make money from that, either because you’ve created leads for the company, or through actual sales.

As a content creator, this is a tricky one to balance. You need to be able to talk positively about products and services in a way that encourages people to want to go and find out more. But you have to be honest about them too, otherwise your credibility is ruined and people won’t trust you enough to follow any links you’ve added to your content.

There are some forms of affiliate marketing within adult fan platforms too. As a creator, you can often refer your users to other creators, and earn a portion of the money from those people. You can also refer brand-new creators to the fan platform, and you’ll typically earn a set percentage fee of all their earnings for at least 12 months, often permanently.

Advertising

Outright advertising is another way that people make money from their content when they’re a creator. This is where the creator, or the platform they are using, inserts adverts into the content. Every time a consumer clicks on an advert, the creator makes money.

Overt advertising in this way is a challenging market. For example, on websites, a lot of people now have ad blockers installed to prevent adverts from appearing. If you’re a blogger and you’re trying to write articles that are interesting, you may make very little money if most of the readers aren’t seeing the ads on the page.

It’s the same with YouTube and similar websites. Adverts can be circumvented by people who use an ad blocker or who pay for YouTube Premium. And while you would still earn some money from Premium users, you need a huge following to make it big on YouTube, and there’s a ton of competition.

Overt advertising like this is rare in the adult fan platform world. Adult content creators don’t tend to place adverts in their profile – it’d be really off-putting to anyone who just wanted to see their nude content.

Indeed, adverts like this often annoy the people consuming your content, so you must be careful to balance everything if you use this model. You don’t want to bombard users with ads and drive them away, as then you’ll never make any money.

Tipping

It might sound fanciful, but there are many ways that content creators can earn money through tipping – where consumers choose to pay money to support the creator even when there is no obligation to do so.

Many writers or vloggers will set up a tip jar through a website, encouraging people to drop them a small donation if they can to help keep the content coming. And if you’re an engaging person, creating entertaining or informative content, then you may be surprised by just how willing some people are to tip even when they don’t see a reward for doing so, beyond a simple “thank you”.

In the world of adult content creation, tipping is huge. Even if you’re already taking a subscription payment from someone, and asking them to pay extra for bonus content such as direct messages or special videos, some consumers will want to tip you.

Why?

Well with digital content creators (adult and safe-for-work), the audience like to feel a connection to the creator. They want to feel like they have a special bond. And with adult creators, they will tip you because they want to feel like they are closer to you.

A lot of adult creators make much of their income from tips from their biggest fans. Obviously, you need to put the work in to be engaging enough and to make the consumer feel special. You also need a bit of luck to find consumers with the right kind of disposable income. People can’t tip you if they don’t have the funds to do so.

How much do content creators make?

There’s no simple answer to how much content creators make. It depends on the type of content you make, and how successful you are – which relies on your niche, your audience size and a whole host of other factors.

You could be someone creating all kinds of engaging content, but if you don't have the target audience in place, then you may fail regardless. Or you might have a fantastic audience ready to follow your personal brand, and you know the subject matter for your entertaining or educational material, but you lack the skills to execute it well.

And these can all mean you earn very little.

As a rough guide, creators will usually start very slow with their earnings, but bloggers, podcasters and YouTube creators can earn hundreds of dollars a month – potentially up into the thousands.

And it's the same for an adult content creator – you can make thousands if you hit the right target audience with your niche, and you're making high-quality content that meets their needs.

Many successful content creators on sites like OnlyFans will charge around $10 per month for access to their content, so with 100 subscribers you're making $1000 every month – although there are costs involved, including a 20% fee for the platform (this varies but 20% is average).

Still, that's more than enough business to earn you a decent starting wage, which you can then look to develop and build on. Successful content creation sees you establish a platform and then grow it from there. The limits on earnings for professional content creators are almost non-existent because there is always a bigger audience you can chase.

The bottom line is that successful content creators can easily earn enough to live on as their full-time job. And while many people may look to find a content creator job for another company – becoming social media managers, or digital content producers – many people prefer to become freelance content creators and work for themselves.

The benefits of working as a freelance content creator

So, why has this role of content creator become so popular in the modern digital world? What is it about content that makes it such an attractive career?

There are a lot of reasons, including that earning potential. But for a lot of freelance content creators, it's all about the flexibility that the career offers.

Successful content creators understand that they can manage their roles effectively around their life, working when it suits them without a negative impact on their earnings.

When you're a digital content creator, your hours are your own. You choose how much work to put into your role. And the beauty of freelance content marketing is that much of the work can be scheduled in advance.

You aren't tied to your laptop 9-5. And that, for a lot of people in the modern world, is huge.

Your content creation process can be happening while you sketch out ideas from bed, working on your digital marketing strategy using notes. You can schedule social media posts well in advance, ensuring you have time to remove or edit them if needed.

A lot of people have the content creation skills needed to work from a phone too – you might be doing some work while you wait for your coffee order, or jotting down thoughts on new marketing strategies when you wake up in the middle of the night.

Content creation is perfect for anyone with different commitments in life. You might be a parent, who needs to manage your content strategy around your child's busy schedule. Or you might have a second job that you enjoy, and you don't want to compromise.

A lot of content production can be done at obscure hours, too. Web content writers who like to wake up early could be working on a blog post at 5am. You can make YouTube videos late into the night if you have the right lighting in the room. Social media platforms are available 24/7 if you need to reply to messages.

This flexibility isn't the only boon, but it's one of the main reasons people want to become successful content creators.

How to get started as a content creator

 There are some generic tips you need if you want to become a content creator, regardless of which digital platforms you choose to work with.

Picking the right subject

You need to find the right topic to base your content on. You might have a personal interest in a particular industry, or just be brimming with content ideas for a hobby you have. But the creator economy is flush with people creating content, many of whom will be doing the same thing you're doing.

So find a niche. Find something that makes your content as individual as possible. And if you're an adult creator, this is even more important, as you need to appeal to a specific target audience who may be looking for amateur content, or mature content, or feet content. Being broad here won't help you build that presence.

Thinking like a strategic content creator

It's no good just trying to create content quickly without any kind of approach. Many digital content producers will work on the idea that churning out as much as possible is the way to go, but you're being inefficient, and potentially alienating your audience by overwhelming them.

Instead, put a proper content strategy into place. Work out a schedule for your work, and stick to it.

If you're able to, try using search engine optimization to see what your target audience is interested in and create content tailored to those search terms. This even applies to adult creators – find out what people think is hot, and if you're comfortable, make content for those people.

Use social media posts as research too – ask people what they want to see more of, and then incorporate that into your content marketing plan. Your social media accounts are full of potential paying customers, so use them as a focus group.

Working on your production skills

Nobody is perfect at making content, so try to develop your talents. You can practice writing at volume to develop your writing skills or use online courses to learn about video editing and graphics images. Indeed you can use video platforms like YouTube to learn about how to YouTube.

Building a social media presence

It's almost impossible to be a digital content creator that makes good money without a solid brand on social. You don't need to be a full-blown social media influencer, but platforms like Facebook and Reddit are essentially the search engines for content marketing. Content creators need an audience – and they find one through social channels.

The only way to get people to pay for your quality content is for them to find it in the first place. So get yourself active on social media and you'll be on the right path when you start sharing your content with the right people.

How to get started as an adult content creator

 As a summary, let's look specifically at the role of an adult content creator. After all, here at Follower, this is what we specialize in.

Our marketing teams know all about the world of OnlyFans and other fan platforms, and we are the experts in helping budding content creators to get started with their dream careers.

Here's what you need to do:

1. Find a niche that you're comfortable working in. Don't make content that makes you feel uncomfortable!
2. Create your content to the best standard. Engaging content is well-lit and, for video, has good-quality sound too. Add a couple of cheap lights and a microphone to revolutionise your content.
3. Get to work building that social presence – carefully. A lot of platforms ban adult content, so don't upload a nude video to a YouTube channel, or post extreme content on media channels like Instagram or Twitter that could see you kicked off the site.
4. Post to a schedule – track when your fans are online and aim to post at those times, but be regular, so that your fans know when to expect new content
5. Engage with your fans – chat with them and be friendly, as this is the only way to make them want to stick around.

We've got a ton of guides on Follower specific to setting up a new OnlyFans or making the most money, so be sure to browse to learn more.