Many creators start out posting for fun or as a side job, while they have another part- or full-time job to pay the bills. But at some point many find content creation more fulfilling – and even lucrative enough – so they start thinking about the possibility of turning content creation into a full job.
In a recent chat with other News Creator Corps alumni, three NCC Collective members broke down how they made the decision to go full-time, what some of the biggest adjustments were when making the shift and what advice they would give to someone thinking about making the jump to do right now to set them up on the path for success.
Deciding to go full-time
One of the biggest factors in deciding whether to dedicate yourself full-time to content creation is financial, but it’s not the only one.
Kary Van Collins, who creates androgynous and non-binary lifestyle content, left a corporate job a little over a year ago to become a full-time creator.
In deciding to go full-time, Van Collins evaluated their finances over what they had earned over the past several months and whether it was something that they could survive on. The decision was also a joint one with their spouse who they share things like a mortgage with. The fact that Van Collins could also get on their spouse’s medical insurance also helped them make the jump to full-time sooner.
But while ensuring all the practical things helped make the jump, a gut feeling about what they wanted to be doing day in and day out played a major role in the decision.
“I definitely was kind of in the mindset of I need to slow down a little bit,” they said. “I am burnt out…. This is kind of woo-woo and cheesy, but I feel like I try to listen to my gut because I’ve learned that I’m the type of person that if something is not in alignment and I’m not meant to do it I will find reasons why I’m annoyed or it doesn’t make sense or whatever….So I really try to listen to that.”
Laura, a Denver-based creator focused on food for her platform New Denizen, recommended evaluating your lifestyle and deciding how comfortable you will be with a potentially simpler one.
“The way that I live my lifestyle is pretty, like, I don’t need much, so being comfortable with not living some type of lavish lifestyle, or, you know, doing all of the things,” Laura said. “I think I’m okay with that… .And that’s just a personal decision that you have to make for yourself.”
Becky Bullard, who covers local and Texas politics and policy for her platform Democrasexy, decided to go full-time despite not having the support of some of the people closest to her.
“There’s a risk to do something where there’s not a clear path ahead of you,” Bullard said. “A lot of times, it is not the people who are very close to you who are going to be the ones who are most excited and supportive for what you’re doing. And so, in my case, my husband was not really overjoyed with the amount of energy and focus I was pouring into my work.”
Bullard said she tried for a while to make things work – balancing another job and her content.
“That wasn’t gonna happen,” she said. “And so I did have to leave that marriage in order to keep doing the work that I’m doing, but a very poetic thing happened. We signed a divorce settlement agreement, and then less than 48 hours later, I [found] out that I had won the Next Challenge for Media and Journalism, including the grand prize. And altogether, that came with $75,000 in grant money that I could put toward my business … .Obviously, like, that was a hard decision, but I couldn’t not do the thing that I was put here to do, you know? And I did get the validation that it’s correct for me to keep working at it.”
The biggest differences between part- and full-time content creation
Laura said the self-promotion needed to go full-time and solo was a major adjustment.
“As absolutely cringe it is to talk about the things that you’re doing to your audience, to other people, I found that I needed to do that a lot more,” she said. “When I started going full-time, [I needed to have the confidence to tell] people, ‘Yes, I do this as a job’ and being proud of that work, but then also telling people that I do this work and I am open for opportunities.”
Van Collins said being a business owner on their own for the past year has resulted in more confidence, flexibility and agency.
“I do more of what I want now.” they said. “When it comes to leisure time and spending time with my family and stuff, I have more ability to do that, and I think that a lot of it is a mindset shift, because when I was working a corporate job, I was just a little somebody in a large organizational chain, and now I am running my own business, and I’ve built so many good connections with people, and I think that now I’m not afraid to advocate for myself and my business and if there’s an opportunity that I want to go after, I will connect with somebody and I’ll ask for it.”
Bullard said learning how to take herself seriously as a business was an important part of going full-time. For the final round of the Next Challenge judging, she had to send in a business plan.
“And I was like, ‘Oh, these people are taking me seriously as a business owner, so I need to take myself seriously as a business owner,’” Bullard said. “And it’s hard when we’re the only one doing all the things, and I certainly think of myself as a creative person, first and foremost, and not a business person, but it made me realize that ‘Wow these institutions believe in me as somebody who can create a sustainable business,’ so let me take myself more seriously in that vein, and not just in my creative talents. so that I can continue to keep doing the creative work.”
Bullard hired a business coach and through the process learned to focus on a couple of revenue strategies that would be the most sustainable for her business to grow instead of just throwing a bunch of money-making strategies at the wall like spaghetti to see what sticks.
“Now I have a clear blueprint for how to make my business more sustainable instead of just being so diffuse trying to experiment so much,” Bullard said. “Because I am taking myself more seriously, I’m like, okay, I need to really focus on the things that are my top priorities, and feel okay about saying no, and also trust that saying no doesn’t mean that opportunities will stop coming, it just means that I’m able to really focus on the things that I need to put my full attention to in this moment.”
What you should do now if you’re considering going full-time
If you’re considering going full-time, but haven’t made the leap yet, Bullard, Van Collins and Laura have a few suggestions of things you should start doing now to help prepare yourself.
“I would say start, spending a good amount of time, maybe 10 minutes a day, building relationships, whether that’s on LinkedIn or Instagram or in person, going to events,” Van Collins said. “I have gotten so many of my opportunities by showing up and just connecting with people and having conversations.”
Laura suggested getting a solid idea of what you want to accomplish when you go full-time, like a specific project you want to work on first with a timeline.
“I think that’ll give you a lot of clarity, because as solopreneurs, there’s a lot of confusion of, what am I supposed to do now?,” she said. “So, before you sort of make that leap, have an idea of what you’re going for, and maybe even have a schedule in those first few months of what you want to accomplish by this date, just to have the feeling that you have momentum, and have a direction that you’re aiming towards.”
Bullard recommends going through the book The Artist’s Way, which has a 12-week program on creativity, to help get clear on why you’re doing what you’re doing.
“I don’t know, man, it just attracts some magic to you, and I pretty much credit that with how I ended up winning that big prize, and just can’t recommend The Artist Way enough.”