👋🏽 Doors Opening

Hey! Welcome to the Creator Economy NYC newsletter — your weekly dose of actionable insights and strategies to help you build, monetize, and scale as a creator.

Big announcement: I'm excited to share our first IRL event of the summer in partnership with Visa! We're diving deep into creators as small businesses. Because yes, we mean business.

This partnership has been months in the making, and I’m beyond excited to bring it to life for our community. More details and RSVP below.

Last week, I went from Cannes Lions straight to VidCon ("CannesToCon", if you will). Today, I'm sharing the biggest lessons from VidCon and what they mean for our NYC creator community.

Let's dive in.

 🫶 Brought to you by Shopify

What used to take $1,000 and months now takes a night

At our CENYC event in December, creator and entrepreneur Brett Conti shared something with us that hit home:

He’d been sitting on an idea for a while. He wanted to launch something of his own: a tea brand called Beleaf. 

But like a lot of creators, the logistics of setting it up to sell always felt like a roadblock. Until it didn’t.

“I built my Shopify site in one day,” he told us. “What used to take $1,000 and months of coding now takes a night.”

That’s what made it real. Shopify provided him with the infrastructure to bring the idea to life quickly, without the usual friction.

A brand he’s proud of, built from scratch, now out in the world. Ready to scale.

If you’ve got an idea sitting in your notes app, maybe it’s time 👇

✍️ Spotlight

Why knowledge is the new currency

Quick shoutout: My VidCon and Cannes trip was made possible by Creators HubSpot Media - HubSpot's in-house influencer agency offering collaboration, distribution, and editorial respect (not just traditional advertising). Consider joining the program and checking out some content from Cannes right here.

Walking into VidCon, I had no idea I'd be watching our Creator Economy NYC community members take center stage and prove everything we've been discussing at our events. The future belongs to creators who educate.

Panel 1: From views to value: the rise of education in the creator economy

The panel: Erin McGoff (career coach), Jess Ramos (data creator), Olivia Owens (partnerships at Teachable), and Jayde Powell (creator and content strategist)

The big question: How are creators monetizing their expertise, and what does it look like to build sustainable businesses around education?

What sparked their success

Each panelist had a lightbulb moment when they realized their audience was hungry for more than just free content:

Erin's realization: "I was getting so many DMs, hundreds and thousands a week of people asking me for one on one career coaching. They just wanted more than they were getting from these 60 second videos."

Jess's approach: "In the data space there's not a lot of women out here making content... I just wanted to come in and spice things up and like teach really technical, complex things, but in a more fun and approachable way."

The pattern: Every successful knowledge creator starts by noticing a gap, exactly what I see happening with creators in our NYC community who've found their unique angle.

The transition from free content to paid content

Creators' biggest fear: "If I'm already giving all of this free content and value on my social channels, what does it look like for me to put a paywall behind that? Why would people go and pay me for the education when they're already getting it on my channel for free?"

This resonated deeply because it's the exact question that comes up at nearly every CENYC event.

Jess's answer: "I realized people wanted my personality. They wanted a course that wasn't boring, that was very industry focused versus like something dry from academia."

Erin's take: "It's not like there's anything in my course that you can't find online. You can go on YouTube and find all this stuff, but it's about putting it all together in a nice little package where they know at the end of 30 hours I'm going to have completed this thing."

Panel 2: LinkedIn means business: inside the B2B creator boom

The panel: Aneesh Lal (LinkedIn talent manager), Brendan Gahan (runs a LinkedIn creator marketing agency), Greg Rokisky (creator marketing at Sprout Social), Morgan Ingram (LinkedIn creator), and Jasmine Enberg (industry analyst)

The big question: Why is LinkedIn becoming the most important platform for B2B creators, and what do brands actually look for when partnering with creators there?

This hit close to home because LinkedIn has been a major focus for our community, and several CENYC members are crushing it on the platform.

Why LinkedIn is different

Brendan's take: "LinkedIn is a way less saturated ecosystem [compared to other platforms]. So you can have really big impact without having to do anything totally outrageous."

Aneesh explained the unique advantage: "LinkedIn is the most affluent audience by far. It's the most trusted platform... you can go down to company level. You can see titles, you can see if my content is resonating with the right audiences ahead of time."

What brands look for when partnering

Aneesh's "Three C's" framework:

• Credibility: Do you have real depth in your subject matter? "If we're selling sales tech to sales audiences, have you actually sold before?"

• Character: Do you maintain a good reputation? "How do you conduct yourself professionally? There are ethical considerations that matter, especially in the corporate world."

• Charisma: Can you actually engage an audience? "You can be credible and have good character, but if you don't have the ability to garner and retain attention, that's not someone we can serve up to brands."

LinkedIn content strategy advice

Aneesh's advice on format: "You need to constantly be testing these four mediums: video, text-based posts, single images, and carousels."

Here's the reality: While LinkedIn has been pushing video lately, video impressions have actually gone down for many creators in recent weeks. If you go all-in on video but don't achieve good engagement, LinkedIn's algorithm will negatively impact your overall reach across all your content. Diversify your formats!

The bottom line

Walking through VidCon, I kept thinking about where our Creator Economy NYC community sits in this evolution. We're at the exact inflection point these panels described. In fact, we have already had these panel discussions!

At our recent events, I've watched creators transition from chasing brand deals to building education-first businesses.

The shift is happening right here in NYC, and it's exactly why our upcoming Visa event on creators as small businesses feels so timely.

🎪 City Happenings

MIXER & PANEL: Creators mean business (with Visa!) - July 21st

The world is finally catching up to what many of us already knew: creators are small businesses.

Today's creators face the same challenges and opportunities as traditional entrepreneurs. Yet too often, they're still treated as hobbyists. That's changing.

We'll dive into the journeys of two standout creators forging their own paths, and hear from Visa's Head of Small Business on why they're officially recognizing creators as small businesses.

Plus, plenty of time for mixing and mingling with NYC’s top creators and industry leaders.

VIRTUAL EVENT: How to WIN on Pinterest - July 10th

Most creators are missing out on Pinterest's potential. We're teaming up with Pinterest on July 10th for a free virtual workshop featuring NYC creator Jessica Morrobel (@travelingwithjessica) who's built a thriving business using Pinterest.

You won’t want to miss this. It’s time to LEVEL UP!

📚 Resources

COMING SOON: "F*ck It, Create It" Course (Early Access)

I've been heads down working on our first creator education course: "F*ck It, Create It."

It's designed to break through the mental barriers that keep you stuck in planning mode instead of creating mode. Because most creators don't fail because of bad ideas. They fail because they never start.

I’m looking for early testers to help shape the course. Jump in early and get a limited-edition hat plus access to resources, challenges, and community accountability.

2 FREE resources to accelerate your creator growth

The Creator Goal Setting Guide: A simple but powerful document to help you declare who you want to BECOME in 2025.

The Creator Accountability System: Your visual companion for consistent creation in 2025 (I’m using this now to send one newsletter a week!)

🤝 Industry Conference

Creator Economy Live East is coming to NYC August 5-6.

This influencer marketing conference hosts brands like NBA, Hulu, Southwest Airlines. With speakers from Hilton, SHEIN, FOX, Nespresso, United Airlines. It’s stacked.

I'm partnering with them because it's actually worth your time. And you get 15% off a ticket with CENYC15.

Snag your ticket, and see you there →

✌🏽 Stand Clear of the Closing Doors Please

Thanks for reading! VidCon reinforced something I've been saying for a while: the creators who treat their work as education and their presence as a business are the ones building something sustainable.

Also, my birthday is Monday! Looking forward to celebrating another year of building this community with all of you.

LFC(reate),

Brett