What Do Online Video Creators Value?
Or: "The Portrait of the Artist as an Actual Human Person With Needs"
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Fortune, Fame, Fun.
You’ll hear the ‘3 F’s as the primary drivers for online video creators behind closed doors at every major talent agency, management company, digital agency, or platform.
Get rich.
Get famous.
Enjoy the ride.
But when you start actually communicating with creators, you realize this is a drastic oversimplification. Sure, these three F’s are all great. But there are a lot of other F’s that matter a lot.
Freedom
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In the early days of your creator career, you have endless freedom. Nobody tells you what to do, when to do it, or whether what you’re doing is any good.
And suddenly, people are telling you you ARE good.
Anyone who has spent too much time in Las Vegas knows that you don’t bail on a streak. So the moment someone like a manager, a brand, an agent, or even the police tell a creator they have to change their ways, they’ll push back.
But this can be wonderful, particularly for brands who understand the benefits of true collaboration. Give the creative the freedom to create in their voice and you’ll look like a rockstar to your CMO (or you picked the wrong talent in the first place).
Feeling Secure
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Another deep, dark secret of online video creators: most understand it could all disappear tomorrow.
Why?
Because they’ve watched it happen a bunch of times.
I’ve been working with primarily YouTube creators for 10 years. Someday over a pint, I’d love to share with you all of the stories of repossessed mansions, bankruptcies, lawsuits, ‘cancellations’, or, worst of all, algorithm shifts, but this isn’t the forum for that. Just remember that very few digital video creators see their numbers constantly up-and-to-the-right. Once they reach some level of fame, it often looks like a stock market ticker day-over-day with big jumps and big dips. Sometimes these peaks and valleys are rooted in logic, but often aren’t.
When working with a creator, remember to always value their business and brand first. Don’t do anything that can hurt their career or take advantage of their fanbase. Sometimes, the fans don’t come back.
Fervor
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Loads of online video creators are just deeply addicted to one subject matter.
For many vloggers, that subject matter is ‘themselves’, but I digress.
Some of the best content you’ll see online is passion-driven. The first channel I truly loved on YouTube was The Angry Video Game Nerd around 2005.
I was (and am) absolutely in love with retro video games. Although James hilariously makes fun of these games, his depth of knowledge shows his affinity for the subject matter.
And you’ll see that across genres: education, make up, style, even home repair. A lot of creators just want to share their passions and online video provides an excellent outlet.
Faction
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When you’re a popular online video creator, you’re part of a club.
I’ve gotten to peak behind the curtain and let me tell you: they’re having a lot of fun.
There’s a shorthand to their introductions. When I go to a convention I have to shake someone’s hand then hear a 10 minute pitch about how their shoppable video format isn’t going to fail like the previous decade of shoppable video formats.
When creators meet creators, they say stuff like, “Didn’t you do that video with the giraffe? That was hilarious!”
It is creators meeting creators like fans.
And they’re all young, have a ton of money, and nobody to tell them what to do. It’s the most exclusive club on Earth where you can only be voted in through the love of everyone else on Earth.
Filmmakers at Heart
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Time to age myself. When I was in high school, my friends and I would shoot VHS videos on the weekend and watch them in JJ’s basement.
There was no YouTube, but there was something magical about creating something.
We often forget that YouTubers, TikTokers, and even live streamers are putting an incredible amount of critical thought into their creations. They’re directors, art designers, producers, writers, and stars.
It’s a craft. And like all professional crafters, online video creators want to be good at it. I’ve seen YouTube millionaires toiling over sound queues on Adobe Premiere or the brightness of their fill light.
The user-generated content generation are all self-taught filmmakers.
Finally…
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I could list hundreds more, but I think I’d run out of ‘F’s. It’s most important to remember that online video creators have a lot of shared values, but without understanding the nuances of what they value the most, you could make the mistake of forcing initiatives on them that don’t meet their goals.
That’s why it’s of the utmost importance that professional online video creators get a strong manager (hint: most, even at the highest levels, do not have a strong manager) who can shape their career in a way that keeps them goal-oriented, happy, and thriving.
Author Phil Ranta is the Chief Operating Officer at Wormhole Labs in Los Angeles, California. He has built some of the largest creator networks in the world at Facebook, Fullscreen, and Studio71.
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Fantastically Fell Fritten Farticle... oh right, that last F is one to many. 🤓
Thanks Phil, I really like reading your longer writings and I'm happy you expanded here.
Creators are yet not often enough seeing themselves as businesses. That is changing now that we are going from baby steps to little steps. In time and with proper guidance and also a better more organized and experienced support industry, it will happen and hopefully remove the fear for that one remaining F... the big F in chat. 👍
Good read, thanks Phil. As I commented on LinkedIn, nuance is such an important concept for people to understand when working with creatives. Many CMOs are numbers-oriented people obsessing over their own brand so much that they don't appreciate (or care about) the impact their elbows can have. Remember the scene in Ford v Ferrari where the "brand above all else" ends up building one legacy while destroying that of the creators? The sponsors need to be responsible.
p.s. Small typo in ¶3 of Feeling Secure.