As a content creator, there are certain things you need to do to be successful. While some people may think that success is all about talent. The truth regarding talent is that it takes more to succeed than being good at your job. In fact, hard work beats talent when talent doesn’t work hard. To make more money, you need to possess specific skills and characteristics, and put those skills to work.

Here are eight things you need to become a successful content creator:

A Strong Work Ethic

Creating quality content takes time and effort. If you’re unwilling to put in the time, you won’t be successful. A strong work ethic is important because it shows that you’re dedicated to your craft. Your work ethic makes a big impression on potential clients, who are more likely to hire someone they believe is committed to their work.

It also means you’re more likely to produce high-quality content. This is important because clients are often willing to pay more for well-written and informative content. Finally, a strong work ethic can help you build a reputation as a reliable content creator. Again, this is important because clients are more likely to recommend someone they know is reliable and trustworthy.

Marketing Skills

Great content is just a tiny part of the process – you also need to know how to market it. If people don’t know your content exists, they won’t be able to enjoy it. Do you talk about your content? Do you let people know you’re in the business?  Are you active on social media? Being great at creating content isn’t going to get you noticed. Being out there, in people’s faces and in people’s spaces, is what is going to get your content noticed, and land you clients or help you make a sale.

High-Quality Content

This one is self-explanatory. Creating content that people want to consume is part of what will make it feel like high-quality content to the consumer. It’s okay to create something fast and easy, once in a while. But quality content takes time dedicated to design, creativity, proofreading, revision, and finally, putting it out there. If you struggle to find ideas, this is a great area where done-for-you content, or PLR (private label rights) content can jumpstart your creativity. 

A Strong Personal Brand

Your target audience will engage with content from someone they feel like they know and trust. So if you can build a strong personal brand, you’ll be more successful as a content creator. Strong brands are also about finding the right audiences. The Pink Briefcase is a pretty specific brand, aimed primarily at female owned entrepreneurs. It’s not that I don’t like men. I LOVE men! Particularly my husband. But I don’t think a woman should have to act or look like a man in order to get paid like one. So all my content is feminine themed, and uses feminine energy to make my points. What’s your brand?  And are you consistent across all your content?

A Willingness to Learn

The world of content creation is constantly changing. Therefore, you need to be willing to keep up with the latest trends and technologies if you want to succeed. I learned how to use Photoshop this past year and I absolutely LOVE IT!!!  Canva is great, and I continue to use Canva to deliver my done-for-your templates to people so they can edit and revise colors and graphics to find their personal brand.  But Photoshop is awesome at creating layered graphics and customizing fonts. 

Persistence

Becoming a money-making content creator is not a get-out-of-work-card; creating content takes time and effort. You won’t achieve overnight success – it takes hard work and dedication to make it in this field. Malcom Gladwell says it takes 10,000 hours of work to be an overnight success. I personally have spent years learning how to be the best writer I can be, learning SEO, learning how marketing works, etc.  It’s not hard to learn. But it takes time. Keep going!

A Passion for What You Do

If you’re not passionate about the content you create, it will be difficult to find success. On the other hand, people can tell when someone is genuinely passionate about their work, and they’re more likely to engage with that content. It’s important to create content that is aligned with your mission, vision, and values. If not, you’re selling your soul short, and the customer is going to notice. Alignment is critical to business success, so find out what makes your heart sing and do more of that.

An Understanding of Your Audience

Knowing your target audience and what they want to see is essential to content creation. If you can understand what your audience wants, you’ll be more likely to create content that resonates with them. For example, the Pink Briefcase creates content mostly for female entrepreneurs and our audience knows that. It wouldn’t help to start posting content that talks about golf, fishing, cars, or football. Not that women can’t or don’t enjoy those things. It’s just not our primary focus when we’re working on our businesses. That’s why you’ll see articles about communication, work/life balance, unexplainable fatigue, goal setting using vision boards, etc. 

To recap, there are several things you need to become a successful content creator. While some are obvious, others are often overlooked. But, if you can focus on creating high-quality content and promoting it effectively, you’ll be well on your way to content creation success. Just remember achieving success means you must progress toward your goals by doing the work needed. There’s no shortcut to becoming an overnight sensation. But, put in the work, and you’ll eventually see the payoff.