Becoming a successful full-time content creator hinges on robust financial management and strategic business practices, rather than solely on audience size or viral success.
Becoming a full-time content creator is
about more than going viral or growing a
really large audience. It's about
understanding how to manage money. I've
been a full-time content creator for
over 7 years now, and in that time I've
collectively made over a million
dollars. And that's profit, not [music]
revenue. I don't have the biggest
audience ever. I just have a few simple
income streams, and work-life balance is
very important to me. You don't need to
be a massive influencer or hustle like
crazy in order to make good money from
[music] content creation. It's actually
more simple than that. It's just about
implementing a few key lessons that will
help you make the money that [music]
you're already earning as a creator go
further. Starting with lesson number
one, write-offs aren't free money.
People who talk about business stuff
love to talk about write-offs, and while
I'm sure you already know that
write-offs aren't just free money, so
that's a write-off. Do you even know
what a write-off is? You might still be
missing some of the implications of what
writing something off really means. To
be clear, a write-off or a business
expense is simply the cost of a purchase
[music] that you made for your business
being deducted from your overall
revenue, which lowers your profit. And
therefore, the money that you'll be
taxed on. But some people become so
obsessed with the idea of writing
something off for their business that
they'll change all of their plans and
financial strategy in order to do it
more. Okay, for example, when I first
started posting about wanting to buy a
new house and specifically [music]
looking for one that has studio space
where I can make my YouTube videos,
someone commented in response, "Don't
buy a bigger house, just rent a studio
because then your rent is 100% a
write-off." While that's technically
true, I think it's kind of missing the
point. First of all, I want to move to a
new house just personally, not only for
a business reason. And second, let's say
I spent $1,500 a month on a studio
rental. Yes, this would be a business
expense, and therefore would reduce my
business income and what I have to pay
tax on. But if I just took this money
and paid it to myself, that would
probably end up being roughly a thousand
dollars a month after the tax I pay on
it that I could have used to pay my
mortgage. And I'd be happier in a studio
in my own house anyway. Or a few years
back when I first got started, a fellow
freelancer in this co-working group I
was in gave me the advice when I was
complaining about my computer, "Just buy
a new MacBook, put it on your credit
card. When you get a new client in a few
months, you'll be able to pay it off."
First of all, I would never advise
buying something on a credit card that
you can't pay off this month. That
aside, if you need to buy a new
computer, then great. You should buy a
new computer. But, if I don't actually
need one, then that's like $2,000 that I
could have kept in my business [music]
and paid to myself. Yes, I would have to
pay personal income tax on that money
before I am allowed to just use it on
personal expenses, but I would be able
to use it to [music] like buy groceries,
pay my mortgage, or invest in my
retirement, stuff that I actually need,
unlike a random new MacBook. Ultimately,
the big draw of write-offs is that it's
money you can spend without having to
pay income tax on it. You've kept it in
your business, you haven't paid it to
yourself. And in fact, it reduces your
tax because it decreases your overall
profit, which is what you pay income tax
on. Obviously, this is a great benefit.
However, the key thing here is the word
business, okay? It needs to be stuff
that you're actually using for your
business. And sometimes, the money is
just better spent on things that you
personally need, like rent and groceries
and whatever. Just because something is
a business expense doesn't mean that you
shouldn't carefully consider it before
you spend the money. I know this can get
complicated for creators and influencers
in particular because truly, there are
so many things that could count as a
business expense or write-off, like even
new clothes and makeup, for example. I
swear, after every appointment, my hair
stylist used to ask me, "Oh, like, do
you want a receipt for this? Like, you
can count this as a write-off, right?"
And I think, honestly, there is an
argument that could be made for a
haircut for an influencer being a
write-off, especially if you're making
specific content about it. Uh but, for
the record, I did pay for that on my
personal credit card.
This is going to be a question for your
accountant at the end of the day,
because truthfully, when you're a
content creator, so much of your
lifestyle is intertwined with your
business that there is actually a lot of
stuff that you can justify as a business
expense. But, don't take my word for it. >> [music]
>> [music]
>> Talk to an accountant. Lesson number
two, you are not your business in a
financial sense. You are not your
business, and you need to separate
yourself from it financially. [music] It
stresses me the heck out when I hear
about content creators just taking their
brand deal or ad sets payments directly
into their personal bank account. We
need to get this sorted out. There are a
few stages to this, though, so let me
talk you through them. Okay, so the
first level is sole proprietorship. This
is what we call it in Canada, but I'm
sure there's an equivalent where you
live. In this type of business, your
business profit is the same thing as
your personal income. So, you simply pay
your personal income tax on whatever
your business profit was that year. This
is the best place to start, and I
personally stayed as a sole
proprietorship up until I was
consistently making more than 100k in
profit a year. This is kind of the
tipping point where the extra accountant
fees for filing your taxes as a
corporation and as yourself starts to
become worth it. Before this point, you
might as well stay a sole proprietor.
Even though your business is not a
separate legal entity from yourself at
this point, you still should separate
your finances for the sake of proper
bookkeeping. So, you're going to want to
open a separate bank account. You're
definitely going to want to track all of
your expenses, and with that, make sure
you're saving your receipts. [music]
It's easy to neglect these things when
you are just getting started, but it is
all best practice. And when you have
this all down, it'll make sure that you
are prepared to go to the next level,
which is a corporation or uh in the
states they call this an LLC. This is
true legal separation between you and
your business. Your business is one
entity that pays tax on the profit of
your business, and you as an individual
will pay your regular income tax. And
there are various ways that your
business can pay you as a person, but we
won't get into that in this video. I
talk about that in detail in this one if
you want to check it out. So, the
essentials of setting this up, you're
definitely going to need a business bank
account, and this is going to be under
your business's [music] name, not you
personally. And you might want to
consider getting a business credit card.
This way you can earn points on your
business expenses, build credit as your
corporation. And obviously, you don't
want to be running your business
expenses through your like personal
credit cards. The other really important
thing about this is it gives you legal
protection. So, if your business gets
sued, for example, your personal assets
like your retirement savings or your
home won't be at stake. The only thing
your business can get sued for is assets
your business owns. I know this might
all sound overwhelming, but you don't
have to do it all at once. If you're
just getting started, you could open up
a separate bank account at the bank
where you already [music] bank
personally, like the same way you might
open up like an additional savings
account for a specific trip or home
renovation. So, it can still be under
your personal name [music] when you
first get started, important to be
separate, so then you can put all of
your creator earnings into that account,
and any expenses can come out of it.
That way you at least have a clear paper
trail of all of the money flowing
through your creator business. And as
your business grows, you can make a more
separate system for yourself. Lesson
number three, don't depend on social
media alone to make money. While social
media platforms are the way that we
connect with and grow our audiences, you
can't depend on these platforms alone to
actually make you a living. AdSense or
creator fund payouts are just not going
to cut it. You're going to want to
diversify your income streams, and
building yourself a website is a great
place to start. So, thanks to Hostinger
for sponsoring this segment of the
video. Your website is like your online
home as a content creator. You actually
own it, so you're not at the whims of
the algorithm. It helps you be seen as
credible and professional, especially by
brands who might want to work with you
or by your audience and potential
customers. Speaking of customers, with a
Hostinger website, you can sell digital
products, like a course or templates, or
physical products, including
print-on-demand merch. You don't need to
know how to code to make a website.
Hostinger has a really intuitive
drag-and-drop interface, plus a ton of
designer templates to choose from. And
as your business grows and gets more
advanced, you can make use of their
built-in SEO, analytics, AB testing, [music]
[music]
and email marketing tools. There's so
much in there. And what I think is super
helpful for creators is with your
Hostinger website, you also get a
dedicated link in bio site with your
plans. You've got everything you need
with one subscription. So, what you're
going to want to do is go to the link in
my description and select [music] the
business plan for 48 months. That's
going to be the best deal. And I think
[music] Hostinger has some of the best
features for creators who want to
monetize because they've got 0%
transaction fees, so you can keep all
the profit from your digital and
physical products, and built-in email
marketing tools so you can reach your
clients more consistently. You can
search for the domain name you want, and
if you're starting an e-commerce site, I
would recommend grabbing the dot shop
domain name. Finally, make sure you add
my coupon code Katie to get 10% off your
entire order. As a creator, you want to
build a sustainable business that's
going to continue earning you a living
in the long term, and building a website
with Hostinger is a great place to
start. Lesson number four, your rates
should be value-based, not time-based.
[music] Your brand deal rates should be
based on the value of your content and
not on the time that it takes you to
create it. As someone who went from
having a job with an hourly wage to
freelancing, I was really comfortable
with quoting a client based on how long
a project would take me. That's how I
used to do it as a freelance
videographer, and eventually I did
switch to project-based [music] pricing,
but before that, when I started getting
my first brand deals, that's also how I
would come up with quotes for my brand
deals, which is crazy to think about
now. Basically, I thought about how long
it would take me to make the sponsored
content that I would add into my videos,
and then I would charge the brand
accordingly. But the thing is, your time
is not actually what brands are paying
for. They are paying for access to your
audience, your good reputation, the
strength of your recommendation, and
your sway with your audience. All of
these things are otherwise known as your
influence. So, chances are if you are
basing your rates on an hourly wage, you
are drastically undercharging yourself
as a creator. So, how much should you
charge? Well, it's very difficult for me
to even give you estimates because brand
deal rates vary drastically [music]
depending on the niche you're in, the
demographics of your audience, and the
brand who's looking to work with you.
For example, tech and business-adjacent
channels like my own tend to get higher
brand deal rates than channels that are
in the lifestyle or like gaming niches,
for example. When you have a highly
specific audience, especially one that
has money to spend, advertisers will pay
a lot to reach [music] them. If your
audience is more general, then your
rates will reflect that. I can attest to
this personally because I noticed a huge
difference in brands who reach out and
what they're willing to pay depending on
how highly focused their product is. So,
if a brand that is specifically trying
to reach content [music] creators or
like social media managers or online
business owners, if they reach out, then
they're willing to meet my rates because
they know that I have that very specific
audience. But, when brands like VPNs or
like meal subscription boxes, like the
more generic ones, reach out to me, they
are willing to pay me like 10% of what
those other brands are willing to pay.
And that's cuz when your product is
general, you're just looking to reach a
high volume of people, not a specific
subset of people. And so, their rates
are going to reflect that. Recently,
Alex, an Instagram friend of mine,
pulled her audience, which happens to be
a lot of creators as well, and asked
them about what their follower count was
and how much they charged for a
sponsored reel. So, you can see the
range that she shared on screen here to
get a sense of what people of different
audience sizes are charging. But, even
in this video, she notes that there was
a huge range here. So, I think this is
pretty interesting, but ultimately, it's
just a quick sampling. If you're
interested in creator stuff, though,
you'll probably also like Alex's
content, so you should check her out on
Instagram. But, I've said it before, and
I'll say it again, the best way to find
the correct rates for you is just to
start negotiating with brands. Put a
number out there, see what the response
is, and over time, you'll figure out
what rate you can charge. Lesson number
five, lifestyle inflation is a wealth
killer. So, lifestyle inflation is when
your income increases, but your expenses
increase in tandem with it. Basically,
you start making a bit more money, and
then you think to yourself, "I can spend
more now, right?" In my opinion, the key
to feeling rich is the gap between these
two lines growing. So, avoiding
lifestyle inflation would look like
this. This is what I aim for. You can
see the gap has grown. Our expense line
here has not stayed flat. I'm not saying
that you can never increase your
lifestyle expenses, that you can't allow
yourself nice things. But, as much as
you can, if you can maintain the same
lifestyle that you had before your
income increased, this is the key to
building wealth. Because you can use the
money in this gap to save or invest or
to pay off debt. I really [music] think
that this is the recipe for financial
freedom and early retirement, which I'm
going to talk more about in just a
second. But all along this has been my
strategy. Keep the lifestyle as close to
the same as possible, increase the
income, and then use this money for
strategic purposes. I think content
creators and influencers in particular
are very susceptible to this for three
reasons. For one, your income tends to
grow slowly. Compared to say for
example, if you had a salaried job and
you got a big raise, it would happen all
at once. Like one paycheck is normal,
the next all of a sudden a lot higher.
That allows you to kind of like be more
conscious of it, think about it, and
plan for it, and maybe decide that like
hey, a certain chunk of my paychecks now
I'm going to put towards retirement
savings or debt payoff. There's such an
obvious milestone to kind of trigger
that thought process for you. But for
creators, it tends to more climb little
by little month by month as you slowly
grow your audience. Your AdSense payouts
start getting bigger. Brands are
starting to pay you more for brand
deals. It can really creep up on you.
Hence the idea of lifestyle creep. And
so it's just really easy to start
spending a little bit more money every
month and not really think about the
fact that you're doing it. The second
big reason why a lot of creators get
into this is because we are so
chronically online and we all know that
social media is terrible for comparison.
So as creators, we spend a lot of time
looking at what other creators are doing
and we can let that like seep into our
brains and convince us that we also need
to have fancier clothes, nicer looking
skin, a better car, a better house. In a
way that like if you just spent a little
less time on the internet, you might not
be so influenced to feel that way. And I
think the third reason is when you're a
creator, there's this kind of pressure
to have an aspirational lifestyle or to
make yourself appear successful. This is
especially true if you're in a niche
that like talks about business or even
certain like luxury lifestyle niches. I
feel like there's just this pressure to
[music] really prove your expertise or
like your value through your like
material goods. I honestly feel this a
lot and I have actively tried to fight
against it, but there is this voice in
the back of my head that's like, "Why
would anybody listen to your advice,
Katie? You live in a 500 square foot
apartment and drive a 10-year-old car
that's rusting out at the bottom." And
while those things are true, I also have
the freedom to travel as much as I want.
I shipped my camper van to Europe and I
keep it over there so that I can spend
months at a time traveling. I've got a
healthy retirement savings and I saved
up enough for a down payment on my dream
home without having to sell my condo
first, and that's all from content
creator earnings and strategic financial
planning. But all of those things are
more hidden than like fancy cars or
designer handbags, and social media
loves ostentatious [music] displays of
wealth. So, I think there can be a
pressure to perform that, but if you can
deprogram that from your brain and
actively avoid lifestyle inflation,
that's going to be your [music] best
strategy for building wealth as your
income increases as a content creator.
Lesson number six, stop saving and start
investing. [music]
Before I explain this point, I just want
to illustrate why it's so crucial. Last
year, I decided to slow down a bit on
[music] brand deals and work in general
in the second half of the year when I
went on a four-month-long trip to
Europe. I knew that my income would
decrease [music] because of that cuz I
was doing less work. I basically worked
like half time for a third of the year.
You can see here that my revenue from my
overall income streams went down a
little bit from 2024 to 2025. However, I
actually ended up having a higher profit
last year compared to the year before,
and that was because of investments and
lowering [music] my expenses. This is
what I mean when I say investment income
is truly the only form of passive
income. [music] All I had to do was put
money in an account and get my financial
advisor to allocate it appropriately and
I earned money for just chilling in my
van in Europe. As you start making more
money from content creation, instead of
setting it aside in a savings account, I
really want to encourage you to consider
investing [music] it. I know it can feel
scary, especially if you're risk averse
like me, but trust me, if you don't do
it, any money that you leave sitting in
a checking or savings account is
actively losing its value at the rate of
inflation. So, if you're nervous, you
might want to start by looking into high
yield savings accounts. These are
accounts that will typically give you a
relatively small interest rate of
return, but [music] they are very safe.
You know that you're not going to lose
value with your money in there. You
could also look at investing into ETFs,
[music] which is basically like a big
basket of stocks and bonds, which is
also quite low risk because it's like a
bunch from a ton of different companies.
While it's still low risk as far as
investments go, you're going to get a
better rate of return than with an HYSA.
[music] What I would not suggest doing
is investing in individual stocks, like,
you know, Apple for example. That is so
risky and like guys, we are content
creators, not day traders. So, you don't
have to do all of that to invest. It can
be a lot simpler than that. And
especially if you're young and you have
a long time horizon, like, you got to
get that money into investments, okay?
Don't let it languish in your checking
account. I really want to emphasize this
because it's proof that you don't always
need to hustle more, get more brand
deals, do more work. I feel like
especially when you're just getting
started and you're in this growth mode,
it feels like the line is always going
to go up. And while that can feel great,
it's also okay to reach a maintenance
mode. I'm going to be honest, since
2024, I have somewhat plateaued. Like,
2025 is quite similar. 2026 is shaping
up to be the same. It's not the huge
jump that I had from 2021 to 2022. And
I'm fine [music] with that. As time goes
on, I will make more interest off my
investments cuz it just keeps
compounding. And I don't have [music] to
grind as hard as I did back then
because, trust me, like, I [music] was
working like crazy to make this jump. If
you are in the early stages, like, at
this point on the graph, and you feel
like it's going to be a grind forever,
you you can make it that if you want. I
mean, like, I'm not the highest earning
YouTuber ever. You could go off the
charts further than me. But, if you feel
satisfied with what you're making,
you're also allowed to step off the gas
a little bit and make strategic choices.
So, even when your revenue goes down a
little bit, your profit can still go up,
and you don't have to push yourself so
hard. And ultimately, that's why
investing is so important.
>> Ultimately, I work with a financial
advisor that I trust, and that's
probably my biggest piece of advice for
you on that front because they can help
guide you through this with your own
specific situation in mind. Content
creation is the ultimate mix of business
and art. You need to be creative if
you're going to come up with good ideas
and create content that people actually
want to watch, but you also need
business skills if you're going to turn
this into a career that actually earns
you a living. Most people tend to
naturally excel in one [music] or the
other, but generally not both. So, if
you're a creative person here watching
because you want to develop the business
skills to make this into a career for
yourself, I just want to encourage you
and let you know that you've already got
like the hardest part to find of that
formula. I personally think business
skills are a lot easier to learn than
creativity. And look, you're in the
right place because I have got a lot of
videos where I've broken down my income
and my business model over the years.
So, you might want to watch this one
next if you want to learn more. In it, I
talk more about the difference [music]
between sole proprietorships,
corporations, how to pay yourself, all
of that good stuff. And make sure to
check out Hostinger if you want to build
your [music] own website. As always,
thank you so much for watching. I hope
you're having adventures and following
your dreams, and I'll catch you in the
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