Is Content Creator a Real Job?

Seems like everyone and their brother wants to be a content creator these days. But is it a real job, a small business, or a total crap shoot?

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Two Cents is hosted by Philip Olson, CFP® and Julia Lorenz-Olson, AFC®
Directors: Katie Graham & Andrew Matthews
Written by: Philip Olson, CFP® and Julia Lorenz-Olson, AFC®
Executive Producer: Amanda Fox
Produced by: Katie Graham
Edited & Animated by: Dano Johnson
Fact checker: Yvonne McGreevy
Executive in Charge for PBS: Maribel Lopez
Associate Director of Programming for PBS: Niki Walker

Images by: Shutterstock
Music by: APM

[benvanderkinter]

This video should be part of middle school and high school curriculum. It's important for people to understand the reality of becoming internet famous or a YouTube Superstar who gets to buy Lamborghinis etc.

[luisandrade]

It’s the old saying “the people who make money in a gold rush are those selling shovels”

[UnionParkPlumbing]

I also wonder the longevity of even the successful creators. Even if they don't burn out, is this a career that can last you 10-15 years while making enough while saving for retirement?

[RWoodOutdoors]

As a "hobby level" YouTuber, I can say everything in this video is very accurate. There is definitely a path to make big bucks on social media, but most who "make it" work really really hard to get there. Very difficult to do as a side hustle.

[AkibanaZero]

This entire video was spot on. I spent 4 years on YouTube and Twitch trying to make it (didn't quit my job, don't worry) clawing my way to 2000 subs on YT and barely above 500 followers on Twitch. Needless to say I didn't make enough to even call the income I generated lunch money. I learned a lot about making content and gained a fair few skills I use in my career. Content creation is no picnic and it's not the dream job people make it out to be in their heads. It's easy to get sucked in by the content creator gurus, the tool developers and the platforms themselves but trust me when I say it's rough trying to even turn it into a side hussle. Don't get me wrong. Making content can be a fun endeavor but the emotional toll it takes is quite high. Unless you know for a fact that you'll never get enamored by the attention and purely do it for fun - which, by the way, is a very human thing to fail at - you'll quickly feel like a worthless piece of poop every time your video barely gets a couple of views or your post barely catches any attention.

One thing I feel you got wrong was citing talent as a factor for success. Talent is a misleading term to use as it implies to most people that you need to be born with certain skills and affinities. For sure, we are attracted to particular facial and physical characteristics which are part of our genetics. However, you can become an expert at pretty much every skill if you spend the grueling amount of time required. To that effect, if you already have a skill you're good at and can identify an under-represented market within the platforms you can fill with your skill, then you may have a decent chance at a side-hustle.

[View]

Content creation being compared to the gold rush is perfect. It's not something people should be relying on for any kind of stable income; don't look at the highest earners/most popular creators and assume that can someday be you.

[sahil]

Omg I actually felt so bad at the start for skipping the ad 😭😭

[thedebatehitman]

This was a really informative and worthwhile video, even for someone who has no interest in becoming a content creator.

[Alukian]

A bit late to the party, but one thing I recommend is starting cheap with YouTube. If you check almost any popular YouTuber, you can see extremely low budget videos early on. Just work with equipment you have and as your channel grows, you can upgrade. You will have less pressure to get views (you most likely will not for a while) and because the videos are not as fancy, you will spend less time with each video and avoid burnout. Fantastic video as always (I'm binging them) and I learned a ton.

[CarneadesOfCyrene]

Great video, love all your work! As an educational creator with over 100K subscribers, I would add one more non-financial benefit: the benefit of helping people learn something (that I am sure you, as educational creators yourselves, share).

When I created my channel, it was because there wasn't good content online educating people about philosophy, not because I ever thought I could make money doing it. It is still strange to me that YouTube wants to pay me for just doing something I love, and that mentality (treating it as a hobby, not letting the perfect be the enemy of the good) helps me not feel burnt out too often.

[TomMcMorrow]

This is exactly why I'm not a content creator. It's just not for me even though I love that you guys do it.

Also after 3.5 years unemployed I FINALLY got a job! Thanks to your videos I know just what to do with my finance salary too!

[BrandonBurch]

One of the main reasons I left Instagram was because I was obsessed with likes and follows. It didn't even pan out the way I wanted either. I became disgusted with myself - that I would tie my identity to that. So after a long hiatus from Instagram I nuked my profiles forever.

[HawkinsZhu]

Need to make this a required video for aspiring creators to make informed decisions.

[JenLefforge]

Oh, My Friends, you nailed it. I am a full time youtube creator and fall into that "successful" category and yet still barely make enough to justify the time. So, so very good.

[hermyn]

How you guys don't have millions of subscribers is beyond me. The content is always great and informative.

[tomstestkitchen]

Nice to see you two again. Creating content is a lot of work, it's still just a side hustle for me and I enjoy doing it. I average around $200 a month, nothing to live on but it's nice to have that extra cash coming in.

[sidneyraz]

this was amazing to watch as always but as a creator it’s even better. i’ve been trying to do this for 14 years and only in the past 8 months has it taken off. and it’s only taken off on 1 or 2 platforms. i have a full time job and this is like 2 jobs sometimes. i worked in social media for 5 years and saw the burnout in real time and the toll it takes. my content is really geared towards not being burnt out. i make sure to put my irl people first as much as i can but it takes a toll when things don’t succeed. any way, amazing video and channel as always!

[srajo]

What a great analogy. There's a lot of tools, softwares, and services you need to buy in order just to make 1 content decent. And then there's also issue where creators are chasing algorithms until they burnout and lost their personality.

[CamJames]

this is the best 2 Cents video I've ever seen. Very real and very to the point. I'm going full-time this year and this prompted me to lock in on tracking my revenue even more closely.

[rareblendcars]

Thank you for sharing this video and the harsh reality of being a YouTuber! I am a new creator on YouTube and finding out quickly how challenging this can be. Some people definitely have it easier getting noticed while the rest of us are busting our bottoms for numbers.
I have a full time job and YouTube is just a part time gig, but I would love to be able to make it full time. It’s not easy, but nothing worthwhile ever is! Keep up the great work Two Cents and keep on pushing forward YouTubers!