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Hey! Welcome to Creator Economy NYC — the premier place for all things creator economy in the Big Apple.

In today's newsletter, I'm breaking down how creators work their way up to making money beyond just brand deals and affiliate links. We call it "Commerce Mountain" — a BS-free guide to building something that's actually yours in 2025.

A quick ask before we dive in: Can you help me shape Creator Economy NYC in 2025? All I ask is that you share what you want more of here — it takes 5 minutes and would mean the world to me (which you can do after reading).

Now, let's dive in…

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BROUGHT TO YOU BY BEEHIIV

The foundation every creator needs (learned from experience)

Before Creator Economy NYC, I started my career in this industry by launching a newsletter with my brother, and it taught me one crucial lesson: owning your audience is everything.

That's exactly why I use beehiiv, the newsletter platform behind this very email you're reading. Like me, beehiiv believes in freeing creators from algorithm dependency, giving you the tools to build genuine, lasting connections with your community.

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I've lived this journey — now it's your turn! Grow your brand with the most powerful newsletter platform on the planet.

CITY SPOTLIGHT

Monetize your following by stepping onto “Commerce Mountain”

Let's cut through the BS: If you're a creator, you want to know how to actually make money from your content. Not just brand deals or affiliate links, but building something that's actually yours.

During our final NYC panel of 2024, Shopify's Jacob McCourt broke down something we’ll refer to here as "Commerce Mountain" — and it's the clearest roadmap I've seen for how creators should think about building a sustainable brand and business.

Here's what caught my attention: it's not about jumping straight into launching products or forcing sales on your audience. It's about taking the right steps at the right time. Think of it as your guide to climbing from "making content" to "making money" without losing your audience (or your mind) in the process.

The path up commerce mountain

Now what makes this framework so compelling is how it naturally aligns with a creator's growth journey. Unlike traditional business models that often require significant upfront investment, the Commerce Mountain approach allows creators to build while earning, learning, and maintaining their creative independence.

Let's break down each stage of the climb:

Base camp: affiliate marketing

The journey typically begins with affiliate partnerships. As Jacob noted during our panel, "When you're building your communities on vertical video platforms, you're renting eyeballs." Affiliate marketing becomes your first step toward ownership of your business relationship with your audience.

This stage is crucial because:

• It lets you test what products genuinely resonate with your audience without inventory risk

• You learn about your audience's purchasing behavior and price sensitivity

• It provides initial revenue while you build your foundation

The first camp: brand partnerships

The ascent continues with brand partnerships, a stage that our panelist AmandaRachLee leveraged brilliantly. "I had been doing YouTube for so long, up until that point, I was very on that hamster wheel, posting every single week," she shared. But brand deals provided her the capital and insights needed for her next move.

This stage is characterized by:

• Higher revenue potential than affiliate marketing

• Opportunities to build your business acumen

• A chance to test different product categories with your audience

The summit push: owned products

The summit represents owned products — whether physical goods, digital products, or services. But timing this push is crucial. As Jacob emphasized, "The time has to be right, and your community has to be ready for it."

Our panelists exemplified different approaches to this summit:

• AmandaRachLee transformed her artistic content into a successful stationery brand

• Elliot Choy built Copyright from initial merch tests into a full-fledged apparel brand

• Brett Conti is currently documenting his ascent with Beleaf Tea, showing the climb in real-time

Why this framework matters

The beauty of the Commerce Mountain framework lies in its flexibility and risk management. Each stage builds upon the previous one, providing crucial insights and revenue that fuel the next step.

It's not about rushing to launch products — it's about ensuring you're ready for each stage of the climb.

Personally, I'm taking these lessons from both affiliate and brand partnerships into 2025 as I work on developing owned products for Creator Economy NYC. Your feedback and engagement have been invaluable in shaping what's coming next, and I'm excited to climb this next section of the mountain alongside all of you.

Use these final weeks of 2024 to audit where you are on the mountain and set realistic goals for your 2025 ascent.

Your Commerce Mountain is waiting. The question is: which camp are you aiming to reach in 2025? Lemme know!

CITY HAPPENINGS

We’re in the process of prepping a ton of programming for 2025. While a lot is in the works, some tentative dates have been mapped out.

And the beautiful thing is that you can RSVP to get on the list early to here →

INDUSTRY HAPPENINGS

Vegas is calling!

You might remember that mixer we did with Creator Economy Live back in July at the Marriott Marquee — the one where Nadya Okamoto shared her journey and got real about building a brand on social.

Well, Creator Economy Live is back for their flagship conference, and this time they’re taking over Vegas! And if you're tryna imrpove creator ROI or tryna to crack the code on influencer partnerships, this is the place to be.

I’ll be there, and you should come join me February 4-5 to hang with folks from Disney, Google, Fenty, and like 40 other brands and agencies you'd actually want to meet.

And because you’re part of my crew — get 20% off with code 20CENYC.

PICKS & PERKS FOR YOU

Start a newsletter: It’s time you own your audience and start a newsletter. Get 20% off your first 3 months on any beehiiv paid plan. This comes after a complimentary 30-day free trial, exclusively for you! Snag it here →

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Get shareable clips in seconds from long form: I’ve been using OpusClip to easily create high-quality clips from our panels. It’s a game changer — I just paste in the YouTube recording, and boom, I get 20-30 ready-to-share, polished clips. Try it out here →

*Siftsy is something I’ve co-founded, and working to make it the best damn tool out there for influencer marketers and brands.

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STAND CLEAR OF THE CLOSING DOORS PLEASE

Thanks so much for reading! Let me know what you thought by replying back to this email. And if you filled out the feedback form, thank you so much. Enjoy the holidays and I will see you next week!

Talk soon,

Brett