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Platforms are finally waking up to something business books have always said: incentives drive effort.

And ‘exposure bucks’ haven’t excited creators in a long time.

Snapchat, TikTok, Substack, Flip, and now Meta are making considerable strides to pitch their platforms as a great place to build an audience and media businesses.

After a handful (or more…) of missteps with creators over the past decade, can they win them back?

Also in this edition:

• Fixated Fixes Up $12.8m in Funding (Disclosure: I’m the CBO/Partner!)

• Best Buy Bets Big on Creators

• Reddit Crowned Fastest Growing Social Network

• AI Avatar Ads Arrive

• Job ops from Amazon Games, Pinterest, and The Sociable Society

• …and a dank creator economy meme by yours truly!

Let’s get into it.

NEWS:

Facebook Wants Your Stories

Late last year, Facebook launched a more simplified and expansive creator monetization program in beta.

I’m in the program and despite being someone who has always been hard on Facebook’s treatment of creators, my experience has been fantastic.

Not just video monetization, but text and photos too. And, to be honest, my photo revenue has exceeded my video revenue.

But now with the announcements that Stories, the short, multi-media daily slideshow, will be monetized as part of the program, the question returns:

Is this more temporary hype or a real home for building a content business?

My hot take: Get excited, but proceed with caution.

Once the program is launched widely (though you can still get into the beta by applying here), it is, at worst, a great platform to syndicate all of your content and, at best, a primary place to build an audience.

Why Facebook?

Because it’s one of the very few actually social social networks.

You can post content, but you can also DM, share to pages, send to your family and friends, and build interactive groups.

And with the monetization success we’ve seen on Snap with stories, I see no reason Facebook wouldn’t be similar.

If you abandoned Facebook in the past after getting burned (as well you should have) it may be time to revisit.

Until they pivot again, of course.

Fixated Gets a Big Check

Fixated, the talent representation firm focused on building generational content businesses around creators, scored $10m in funding (on top of $2.8m in 2024) from private equity firm Eldridge, whose portfolio also includes A24, The Dodgers, and The Hollywood Reporter.

And, most importantly, they have me as their Chief Business Officer and Partner (hold for applause…)

But, separating myself from the story, this comes in a year with a flood of announcements around creator economy companies being acquired (Sixteenth by Whalar, Electric Monster to BRAT, Grandview to TPG, Bottle Rocket Managment to Night).

Is the creator economy going to go through a massive roll-up period?

My hot take: Yes. It has to.

Let me state the obvious: creator management is getting hard.

It’s no longer in a place where you can ‘sign’ your five best creator friends, then reach out to influencer marketers on LinkedIn to land a few brand deals, and call it a day.

Talent representation is moving towards business-building.

And that costs money and requires expertise.

Far more than the ‘dorm room hustles’ of COVID-era management orgs.

If you’re a more prominent creator and your talent reps are just doing brand deals, that’s no longer sufficient.

You need content, infrastructure, and entrepreneurial expertise to survive.

Best Buy’s Creator Gambit

Best Buy is under a lot of pressure from ecommerce giants like Amazon and Walmart, so how do they survive?

Focus on creators, of course!

On their Q4 earnings call, they staked their valuation on custom creator pages, where creators can not only earn commissions selling goods on Best Buy, but have a landing page much like a social network.

Smart or cringe?

My hot take: Smart, essential, necessary.

I’ve seen others complain that their biggest competitors, Amazon and Walmart, already play this game.

But that doesn’t mean they shouldn’t do it too.

Best Buy is far more verticalized than that group, so true electronics fans, creators and buyers alike, could be attracted to a more focused destination.

They will have to lean hard into the premise. Reviews akin to CNET? Search by formats including unboxing or tutorials? High value creator gifting?

I’m sure they’ll figure it out.

The only way to assure a failure is to ignore what makes them unique: their consumer electronics focus.

It’s not you, it’s your platform

Your newsletter content is top-notch. Your social media game is on point. Your aspirations are through the roof. Yet you’re stuck on level one.

We’ve got bad news (and then really good news): your newsletter platform stinks. And beehiiv can get you where you want to be.

Most newsletter platforms leave the growth and monetization aspects of content creation to the creator. But that’s like trying to drive a car with no wheels. 

Beehiiv’s platform is built for growth, so you can scale at the speed your content deserves with features like paid subscriptions, referral programs, and an ad network that connects you with global brands like Netflix and Nike.

It’s time to ask yourself: if your newsletter platform isn’t doing enough for you, what are you going to do about it?

Get growing with beehiiv today.

FAME & FORTUNE:

Reddit has a subreddit directly into my heart, and with the recent press that their revenue is growing faster than any other social network, there are loads of opportunities for creators to market and grow. Check out my recent Grow 1% newsletter for some strategies!

AI ads are flooding platforms like Meta and Google, but it’s getting harder to tell. Take HeyGen or AvatarOS, for example. Sans a few awkward hand movements and weird inflections, the AI presenters are passable as human. And (won’t say who) but I’ve already heard of one major creator using these platforms to handle their brand shout outs.

Huge congrats to my friends at EarnOS* for surpassing 1 million creators who have registered to their platform. It’s a ‘pay by result’ marketing play where you can not only ensure results for your campaign, but earn from every engagement referred users complete.

Learning about your audience is a great hack for more/better brand deals, but asking followers to fill out huge surveys isn’t very effective. Enter Opinari*, where you can release beautiful, visual micro-surveys and monetize with post-survey ads. Try it out by telling me your favorite super fan monetization platform here!

*newsletter receives affiliate commissions

INDUSTRY HIRING:

Amazon Games needs a Principal - Strategy, Talent & Content Services. Quick tip: if Bezos asks you to play Uno, let him win.

The Sociable Society is looking for a VP, Creator Management. Introverts need not apply.

Pinterest wants a Sr. Industry Manager, Entertainment. So get ready to make aesthetic Deadpool boards!

MEME ZONE:

Thank you for reading! If you enjoyed this edition, give it a share and if you get someone to sign up, I’ll send you my ‘10 Rep-Friendly Ways to Monetize Today!’ deck!

Until next time, protect yo rep.