The Truth About Content Creators (It's Not What You Think)
Content creators are more resilient than you think.
And most content creators are earning far less than you assume.
I've been creating content for over 3 years now, and in that time, I've worked with or got to know creators all across the spectrum, from people with a thousand followers to those with over a million. I've worked with creators who've genuinely become millionaires from this stuff and others who've never earned a single penny.
In reality, most LinkedIn creators fall into one of five buckets.
Bucket 1: The Do-Gooders
A huge majority of creators fall here. Most creators in this bucket earn either zero or less than $1,000 per year. Despite this, they produce daily short-form content, weekly long-form posts, record videos, and lay their thoughts and experiences out there for everyone, people they know and people they've never met.
They earn a few dollars here and there from the occasional sponsored post, a handful of paid newsletter subscriptions, affiliate marketing, or maybe the rare paid speaking gig. (Most speaking is unpaid, often just travel expenses.)
But the money isn't the motivation. They share their stories because they genuinely want to help. Their reward? Connections, helping others, and the satisfaction of making a difference.
Some in this bucket also create content to build their personal brand and improve their career security. Money isn’t the immediate goal; longevity and opportunity are.
These creators grind for years, with many people assuming they’re "making bank," but the truth is most of your favourite LinkedIn creators are making next to nothing.
Bucket 2: The Small-Reach Sellers
These creators dream of becoming the next Alex Hormozi or Justin Welsh.
They’re mainly creating content to sell something. Helping people might happen, but it’s really a byproduct of selling their product or service.
Their posts often follow the same format, long personal stories with a call-to-action like "message me if this resonates." The audience tends to be other small-reach sellers or potential customers, creating a kind of unofficial, informal engagement circle.
You'll rarely see deep interactions between the do-gooders and the small-reach sellers. They might engage occasionally, but it’s usually surface-level.
At best, maybe the top 1% in this bucket could earn up to around $20k a year. Most, though, earn far less, frequently jumping from one product or service to the next.
Bucket 3: The Grown-Up Do-Gooders
These are the creators who started in Bucket 1 but got quite big. They're the 1% of the original do-gooders.
They built a sizeable following by consistently providing genuinely valuable, honest content, exactly the kind of audience brands adore. Having spent years sharing value for free, these creators start looking to monetize their effort. Courses, newsletters, YouTube channels, they try it all.
For some, it clicks, and they move on to real financial success. For many others, monetization leads to a bit of stagnation. Their audience senses the shift from purely valuable content to monetized content. Growth slows, and many creators feel discouraged or even quit at this point.
Some of these creators might see between $10k and $50k per year, but realistically, the majority will earn around $1k to $5k annually.
Bucket 4: The Ones You Read About
These creators usually come from Bucket 2 or Bucket 3, the small-reach sellers who figure out genuinely valuable content, or the grown-up do-gooders who master monetization without losing their audience.
They’re the top 0.1%. The creators earning anywhere from $50k to well over $1 million annually (and yes, I've genuinely seen this myself, working with some of the biggest tech creators out there).
These are the keynote speakers, the people getting press coverage, and the creators you probably follow everywhere.
They're incredibly rare. They’re the exception, not the rule.
Bucket 5: The For The Love Of It Creators
This group mirrors the grown-up do-gooders but they’ll never have an interest in monetization.
They simply love creating content. Their engagement is authentic because their passion and lack of financial incentive shines through.
Brands and conferences desperately want these creators, but they rarely manage to persuade them.
Final Thoughts
Look at the creators you engage with regularly, I guarantee you can easily place them into one of these five buckets.
For 99% of creators, creating content is essentially a second job. It’s a huge time investment, usually without meaningful financial returns.
I’ve had people assume I'm doing this for the money, if only they knew. For most of us, this started as a way to build our brand, improve career security, and genuinely help people. Sometimes, I need to remind myself why I started.
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