This transcript was generated from the episode audio and may contain minor errors.
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What is the difference between a creator and an influencer? And also, should you be one of those things? Should you be a creator or an influencer or neither, perhaps, or perhaps a bit of both? Today's listener is curious about the difference between these frequently used terms. I'm sure you've heard the term influencer.
And if you're interested in making courses or offering products or services, you might have heard the term creator. Both of these terms have kind of been on the rise in recent years. So is there a difference? And should it affect how you can make money from a side hustle or small business, which of course is what we're all about here. The podcast is called Side Hustle School.
My name is Chris Guillebeau. Every single day, seven days a week, bringing you case studies, stories, tips, questions and answers, reports from the trenches. They're not always the trenches, but you know, just reports out there of real people who are trying to create economic empowerment for themselves. That's what it's all about. So today, pretty on point, pretty specific.
Should you be a creator or an influencer? What's the difference? How might this affect your future decisions? Detailed question and my answer coming up in just 30 seconds. [Music]
Hello, I'm Leo from Berlin and I've been listening to a podcast for a year now.
Your insights into personal branding are exceptional and I'm hoping to learn more. People use the terms creator and influencer almost interchangeably. And it's quite confusing. Could you break down the difference for me? Thank you in advance for a time and expertise.
- Thank you for the question. I want to give credit right off the bat here to nomadic Matt, also known as Matt Kepnes. I saw Matt recently in New York City at an event I was doing at the Strand. And someone asked a very similar question is what Leo asks here. And I gave a bit of an answer and then I was like, oh, Matt's here.
He might have a better way to answer this. And he actually did like immediately. So here's what he said, kind of paraphrased. He said, a creator is someone who is like, let me show you something or learn from me. Where an influencer is kind of like, look at me.
And I thought, well, that is a great explanation. A creator is someone who's like, let's learn together or learn from me. I want to show you something. An influencer is like, hey, look at me. And in a way it's kind of making fun of influencers, but it doesn't have to be.
I mean, influencers are popular. Millions of people follow them, right? If you think about the Kardashians or whoever it is, you're not necessarily learning from them. They have just created an industry where people are, for whatever reason, having this parasocial relationship and they have built a lot of power and fame that way. So, good for them.
But a creator is someone who produces original content or products like educational courses or art or music. Their focus is on their craft. And they're interested in helping someone learn something or achieve something or do something that they otherwise wouldn't be able to or at least it might be difficult. So, if you identify more as a creator, you want to think about what you can make and what your online store is and what your next course is going to be, how you're going to use a platform like Gumroad or Shopify or Thinkific or many others to sell digital content. And if you're an influencer, then brand partnerships, sponsored content, something like that might be a better fit.
So, your monetization strategy largely depends on whether you're leaning into being an influencer or being a creator. But again, I kind of like Matt's answer. A creator is like, "Learn from me." An influencer is, "Look at me." So, I want to be a creator personally, but no disrespect to any influencers or aspirational influencers out there. Listeners, if you have a question or a comment or an example of your own, sidehustleschool.com/questions. Let me know what you think.
So glad to make this podcast for you every day. New episodes coming out seven days a week. My name is Chris Guillebeau. The podcast is "Side Hustle School." [Music]
From the Onward Project.
