⚡ F**k The Finance Talk

Good day fam, and welcome to Creator Crunch—Your personal guide through the wild wild world of Creators 🌎.

If you’re new here, then don’t worry, we’re working hard to get you up to speed, so we’re revamping the site, so you can get all the information and exciting news you need!Ok, let’s get into it.

The last few weeks have been crazy. For some it’s been planning, and restructuring as we transited into a new tax year, for others it’s the goal setting, and reflections as we look back on the first quarter of the year...btw I hope you all smashed your goals? Because we only talk to winners over here js 🤷🏽‍♂️

On a serious note, I thought to myself, let’s kill the finance talk for a minute. I mean talking about finances is important, but what about the content, If there isn’t any content, there isn’t any opportunity right? So I marched up to my bosses office —logged in to slackand threw some docs on the table and screamed — Can we not talk finance today!! We stared each other down...The winds blew, the tension grew and in a breaking silence —I won the fight, and here I am, with today’s Creator Crunch.

Yes we’re not talking money management, so let’s quit all the finance talk for a minute, and get into a few things you have to do as a creator to make sure you preserve what’s important - The content!

The world of a content creator can get crazy quite quickly, from location scouting, to content scheduling, to brain storming, to events and networking, your diary can quickly get busy, and without a solid plan of action, things slowly begin to plato, so in these somewhat quiet moments, here are a few things I think you should do to get ahead of the curve.

Create a clear schedule & mass produce content

I know many of you probably already do this, but for the guys that are new to the game, then bulk content creation is just so useful. Rather than trying to fit that content idea around your busy 9-5, why not on a Sunday morning go to a location, if this is a studio ? then book it out, prepare all the fits, and run through all the ideas.

After the bulking, spend time creating a production schedule. I’d even go one step further to say, spend a good hour putting together all the assets and accompanying pieces together. So for example, I’ve got a video that I want to replicate saved somewhere deep in my gallery, well how about you pull it out, make a note of the song and jot down the edit instructions just as if you’re going to hand it over to an editor, I know this all sounds boring, and maybe pointless, but when you grow to where you are doing 4/5 campaigns and contracted events a week; as I sometimes have found i’ve had to do, then preparing this means you can take 20% off what you’ll make and hire an editor who can support you, and now the onboarding process is much smoother.

This perfectly leads me to the next point.

Replace yourself!

I’ve been running projects, platforms and my own business’ for a few years and one thing that changed how I do what I do, is this very tip that i’m sharing with you now!

As content creators the reality is that, there’s only so much replacing of yourself you can do, but think of all the things you do. Take a moment and take it in. Content planning, opportunity hunting, networking, editing, filming, pitching. The list is endless, talk about managing the finances and those late invoices 😉?! (I know I said no finance talk, but I had to do it, i’m sorry 🤷🏽‍♂️)Nonetheless, you get my point.

Creating content, is nothing more than creating opportunities. And opportunities create more opportunities which create more opportunities, which eventually brings the £££, so if you’re ever too busy to do that / remain consistent then you are slowing down the chance to be seen, to give value and in all honesty to be valued. So at all times — Preserve your ability to create.Maybe it’s time to expand your team, but do it in a way that value ad is maintained.

Let’s talk about that!

Think Big!

Alright so i already bulk produce, I already have the brands approaching me but i’m too busy to be in those conversations, closing those deals whilst creating the content. How do I expand my team on a budget? e.g getting an assistant

If you’re not yet at this stage in your content creating journey then there is no reason to not begin thinking about this, but do allow me to speak directly to those at this cross road, those who are busy enough but not under any management.

Here are a few things I do and can suggest you try, to get a few vital people on board.

1. Be honest.

Transparency with any potential collaborator is key, I usually make clear what the opportunity looks like, how much I may have to play with, I explain where I believe the value add is for them, but also how their addition to the team can bring value to what i’m doing, well in this case what WE will be building.

So this might be that they will be able to access your network, follow you to events or even manage something they want more experience in. This a great way to build together.

In other cases, there might need to be something greater than experience needed — Yes money again. What did you expect from an invoice financing company? 😒

Here’s a monetary suggestion that helped me expand my team quickly.

2. Offer percentages.

So i now have management, who take 20% off everything I make, which for some might look like something small, but it guarantees one thing— Mutual destruction. Or a nicer way to put i... It’s mutually beneficial.

If I don’t get paid, they don’t get paid too, so they’re incentivised to be motivated as it affects them directly. Now usually managers is usually a huge step up, but this usually signals that there is clear value and clear demand for what you’re doing. And some of you are in this stage waiting to be signed, well here’s a tip for you... Find someone and give them a percentage!

This might not be a manager, this might be an editor who can help you do the editing of every brand campaign, so why not offer them 5/10%. I mean if you have 3 brands paying £3,000 each for a total of 15 deliverables to be done in a week, then why not part with that 5% to get peace of mind. I mean that £450 you lose will save you 25 hours of time to do other things, so let it go!

So to round up on this final point, well to go big, you gotta do bold and big things. Take that risk and double down on your craft. After all you’re a business, even though it’s just you in your room, think like an organisation and watch your value increase!

That’s the crunch kids.

Take it or leave it, the choice is yours... But if you blow, you owe me 5% s.

One last thing, do me a favour and click here so you can also add value to other creators within our community. What tips have you found useful on your journey or better yet what do you struggle with. This helps us for future Creator Crunch issues.... Peace ✌🏾

Have an eventful Bank Holiday weekend! 

 J.H