513 - What Does It Actually Mean To Be A Creator?

The phrase “creator economy” gets used everywhere these days.

But what does it actually mean to be a creator?

Is a creator someone who earns money directly from YouTube views, sponsorships, Patreon supporters, advertising, or brand deals?

What about the entrepreneur who creates content for an audience of only a few hundred or a few thousand people, but uses that content to build relationships that lead to clients, customers, products, services, speaking opportunities, or other forms of business?

And what about the person who simply has something meaningful to say and feels compelled to put it into the world?

In this episode of Podcast Answer Man, I’m joined by my longtime friend Matt Mundt for a wide-ranging conversation about what it means to create today.

Matt has spent more than 20 years working in Christian radio, music, digital marketing, and content creation. More recently, he has been creating on his own behalf, experimenting with YouTube, building projects with his son, and helping cultivate a growing community of creators in the Nashville and Franklin, Tennessee area.

We start by talking about how Matt defines the creator economy and why people choose the creator path in the first place.

From there, the conversation opens up into a much bigger discussion.

We talk about the difference between creating content that becomes the business itself and creating content that supports a business you already have.

I share why some of the most financially successful creators I have known over the past 20 years never needed massive audiences. In some cases, a relatively small audience of exactly the right people can create an extraordinary business.

Matt and I also explore what happens when someone starts creating simply because they love it, suddenly begins making significant money, and then has to figure out how to think like a business owner.