12 Tips For Becoming a Full-Time Content Creator

Elexus Jionde
3 days ago
6 min read

While I have been dabbling in content creation on the internet since 2011, I became a full-time content creator in the fall of 2016. Nearly ten years later, through consistency, dedication, and trial and error, I’ve managed to build a formidable audience, mainly on Twitter, Instagram, Patreon, and YouTube --without much mainstream help. Read on for 12 Tips to Go Full-Time!

Brainstorm and Ask Yourself A Few Questions

Who is your target audience and what do you hope to convey to them? Who do you plan to serve and attract?
Research your competitors. Depending on the type of content you create, what are other creators in your field doing and how can you set yourself apart?
Think about brand messaging— if someone asked you to describe your brand in one concise sentence, what would it be?
Think long-term. How do you envision your brand beginning? How do you picture it six months from now? How would you like to evolve in a year?

Study the trends and plan ahead.

For example, if your lane is gaming and you know a popular and highly anticipated video game is coming out in a year (cough cough Grand Theft Auto 6), what content can you plan and strategize for the next twelve months in small increments? If you’re a fashion or lifestyle influencer, you should be forecasting trends, staying plugged in with events like the Met Gala, and always looking out for events/news that will generate timeline discourse. Movie and music buffs should be planning around projects that take years to complete as well.

Develop a Cache of Evergreen Content

Develop a core group of evergreen pieces of content that demonstrate your expertise, opinions, or skills on topics that attract people who may not automatically be interested in lifestyle/fashion/gaming/music/etc. Even if you plan to be mostly topical, you still want a few evergreen pieces of content that are always or nearly always relevant. Some examples include:

A Guide To Building a Computer
A Guide to Shopping For a Computer
Where Hotties Study History: A Guide
How to Build a Better Wardrobe
How to Make Your Own Wig for Cosplays
How to Design The Perfect Cosplay
How to Grocery Shop Like an Adult

Do Not Prematurely Announce Your Ideas

Maybe it’s because I was raised at Beyoncé’s teat, but I do not like spilling the beans on what I’m working on. I knew that I was going to work on the decade series since 2017—but I didn’t say a peep for two years. One of the earliest examples that seared moving in silence into my brain was watching a Twitter mutual announce a silk du-rag company when she did not have a website, mailing list, or manufactured goods in place. She executed a great photoshoot that went viral. People were excited—but as the months passed by and the company never blossomed, another woman launched her silk durag company and raked in the customers and money. Even if you aren’t coming out with products, for the love of content creation, you CANNOT execute your ideas faster than someone with more money and resources or a malicious thief utilizing Chat GPT. We live in a world where talentless hacks steal concepts and churn out a product or piece of media in a few days. Move carefully!

Chase Benchmarks

Set important content benchmarks—daily, weekly, monthly, and quarterly. If you want 100,000 followers by the end of the year, how many followers is that a day? If you want 1 million video views on your Youtube Channel by the end of the year, how many views is that a month? What is the average amount of views you get on your videos daily/monthly/quarterly, and how many videos will it take to achieve your goal? Plan accordingly and don't be afraid to pivot when something isn't working anymore.

Build Your Mailing List

On the day that my new website and merchandise went live in Spring 2025, twitter was down. I didn’t fret. Why? I have a mailing list of over 4,000 subscribers who elected to get direct communication from me. I reached my weekend sales goals without a problem. You build your mailing list over time by offering Lead Magnets— think “give me your email for access to this guide on Studying for The LSAT!” A good newsletter includes not just a product for sale, but new information, links to new content, and a reminder of the value that your brand brings to the subscriber.

Create Campaigns For Big Projects

Its October 1st. Lets say you want to premiere a new and important video at the end of this month.You want to post every other day to drum up engagement and new followers. Make a plan featuring 14-15 pieces of content that relate to your Big Project. None of these need to be super difficult or time-consuming. The list should be a mix of repurposed content, instagram stories, tik toks, reels, whatever— with a sprinkle of memes, cosplays, polls, etc. Everything should be related in some way to the Big Project. There’s a small chance that one (or even some) of these low-effort posts will go viral. Plug your details and get people excited for the Big Project.

Know How Much Google AdSense Pays

If you want to go full-time with Youtube, the content of the video affects the RPM (Revenue Per One Thousand Views). Some of the most profitable topics are finances, digital marketing, educational content, making money online, technology, and cars. These make $7-14 per 1,000 views. Other popular niches include beauty, fashion, lifestyle, and fitness, though the RPM is lower, at around $2-4. These rates tend to ebb and flow, so research these over time when planning content.

Switch it Up

If your views on YouTube are looking a little stale, change up your thumbnails. One of the best things I did in 2024/2025 was change the thumbnails on my old video series, Lexual Does The 70s/80s. Views grew by at least 25% across the board and attracted new comments and subscribers. Another suggestion to freshen your collection can be changing video titles and refreshing the descriptions with new keywords when relevant news happens. Best believe when Bill Clinton dies, Lex Does The 90s description boxes will be refreshed.

Consistency on Any App Is Key, But Especially on Patreon!

Do you want to capitalize on monthly subscriptions? This takes time and quality content. Load the page before you go live. You need at least 5-10 posts. There’s no bigger letdown than showing up to someone’s new Patreon page and there’s nothing but a welcome announcement. There must be EXCLUSIVE things on Patreon that your audience can get nowhere else. Factor this in when determining the price of your tiers. To start, your tiers should be reasonably priced. ($1-20) Offer a few exclusive posts for free members as well. The goal is to get them to sign up and then convert them to a paid membership tier. Even though it’s free, it should be valuable! Don’t be discouraged if you don’t immediately get a lot of subscribers. People are probably waiting to see how consistent you are and if you are going to be providing quality. Treat your first subscribers like royalty, perhaps even refer to them as VIP and offer great perks!

Plan and Save For The Future

After you account for taxes and expenses, set a savings goal and open a Roth IRA. Make monthly contributions to both. You can contribute up to $7,000 a year to your Roth IRA, and this tax-free money can compound and grow with the proper financial advisor. As a content creator, what is your retirement plan? This is a very important question that you should take into consideration. In my early 20s, when the revolution seemed imminent, preparing for retirement seemed inconsequential. In my early 30s, as I watch history repeat itself and family members and others suffer from disabilities and emergencies in their old age, I know that I must have a retirement fund. Nobody is coming to save me. If you have family money, massive savings, or other jobs lined up, cool. But if content creation is your passion and you know you’re doing this for the foreseeable future, you need to plan ahead.

Keep a Maintenance List!

Yes, keep a content list and a research list— but beat back the temptation of procrastination by keeping a list of your most boring yet unavoidable tasks. I call this my maintenance list. It includes stuff like:

Change passwords (4-5 times a year)
- Make sure the business is legally compliant (December-January)
- Send out 1099s (December-January)
- Collect My 1099s (January-February)
- Apply For Health Insurance (December-January)
- Price-Shop— If you keep a list of expenses (and you should), every quarter, double check to make sure you’re getting the best deal. There may be a similar service or app that is cheaper