How to Become a Content Creator: Where to Start

 Find your passion, find your niche. Learn how to become a content creator with this comprehensive guide. 

Being a content creator is about more than just producing videos, writing articles, or sharing posts. It's a journey of self-expression, creativity, and entrepreneurship that comes with its own set of challenges and opportunities.

If you’ve dreamt of becoming a content creator but don’t know where to start, you’re not alone. There are many platforms, formats, and niches to choose from. 

In this guide, we’ll guide you through the steps and help you find your niche.

What is a content creator?

According to PartnerStack, a content creator is anyone who creates educational or entertaining material to be shared through any medium or digital channel. Content creates worlds and conveys ideas. A content creator is the one who makes it their business to share these ideas with those interested in consuming them. 

This can be done physically, such as in the production of magazines, posters, billboards, and ads. Or digitally, with formats like blog posts, infographics, memes, videos, and social media posts.

As a content creator, you can choose to be an influencer, blogger, vlogger, podcaster, creator-educator, etc. Your content can be educational, entertaining, promotional, creative, or made for fun. 

What are some common content formats?

What comes to mind when you hear the word “content?” Is it a YouTube video? An Instagram reel? A blog post? A commercial?

All of these examples are content. Content falls into a wide range of formats, including:

• Mixed Media: Content that combines elements of text, visual, audio, and video formats
• Video: Videos, animations, tutorials, vlogs, documentaries, and webinars 
• Interactive: Quizzes, polls, games, surveys, and interactive graphics
• Audio: Podcasts, music, sound effects, and spoken-word recordings
• Text: Articles, blog posts, essays, stories, and other written content
• Visual: Images, infographics, illustrations, diagrams, and graphics

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How to become a content creator

To become a content creator, you’ll need to decide what type of content you want to create and for what audience. Then, it’s a matter of consistently generating quality content that engages your audience and keeps them coming back for more. 

Let’s explore the details of this process. 

#1 Choose your format

If you’re thinking about how to become a content creator, you probably already have a format in mind. And truthfully, you’ll probably use more than one throughout your content creator journey.

But there should be one that’s primary to start‌ with.

For instance, if you want to create a personal finance course, you’ll need to start by asking yourself some questions.

Do you want your course to be text, visual, or audio?

Answering the first questions will determine what format you need to use to create your content.

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• If video content is the goal, you’ll need a basic camera and lighting setup.
• In the case of audio,, you’ll need a microphone and a digital audio workstation (DAW) such as Pro Tools or Audacity.
• If text, you’ll need a good old-fashioned word processor and design software to make it look pretty. Or a content management system to post it on a website, depending on how you want to deliver your course.

As mentioned before, you may use all three at one point or another. For instance, you may decide to create your course as a series of videos but later add a workbook or transcripts to your course materials. 

Another element to choosing the best format for you is understanding your comfort level with the different formats.

If you are camera shy, for instance, your course could be a series of e-books or podcasts. Video could come later or not be involved at all.

You get to decide what’s right for you.

Choosing your format homework

Use your notepad and write down the answers to these questions:

1. What is the primary product I want to make?
2. Which format serves this goal the best?
3. Which format am I the most comfortable with?
4. Which format do I have the most technical skill in?
5. Which format do I already have the resources for?

#2 Choose your platform

Your platform is determined by the type of content you choose as your format and the kind of creator you want to be. If you want to make comedic, entertaining content, for example, video will be your best format. Therefore, you’ll want to focus on short-form video social media platforms like YouTube shorts, Instagram Reels, and TikTok.

Pro Tip: Keep in mind that you should repurpose your content. This means making one piece of content work for you on multiple platforms.

For instance, you can make one comedic skit and upload it to all three video content social media platforms. You’ll get more reach with one piece of content. But be wary of spreading yourself too thin too fast.

Choose one to start with. Then, expand as you get a larger viewer base and become more comfortable with content production.

Choosing your platform homework

Use your notepad and write down the answers to these questions:

1. Which platform(s) best suit the content formats you’ve chosen?
2. Which platform are you ‌most familiar with?
3. Which platform is best for your goals? (monetization, reach, rapid growth, etc.)
4. Which platforms make content distribution easy?

#3 Choose your niche 

A content “niche” is a specialization. Your niche will be your area of concentration for content topics.

For instance, mental health, personal finance, content marketing, parenting, and DIY home repair are all niches.

Instead of choosing a niche in general, you want to focus on niching down.

This means taking a broader category and breaking it down into a topic that's more targeted and specific.

Many creators have a hard time finding their niche, so we’re dedicating the next section to it.

How to find your niche

Finding your niche can take a little time. And you don’t have to choose one and stick with it forever. It’s okay to make a variety of content at first until you find what you are good at. 

Start finding your niche by clarifying the following questions. 

• The first thing to do when choosing a niche is to take stock of the things you know about. Have you worked in publishing for a decade? Did your parents own a restaurant growing up? Have you been obsessed with the history of a certain time or region?

Your areas of knowledge are a perfect place to start when choosing your niche.

How specific can you get?

Creativity thrives under constraints. You may think you’ve picked a niche, but when you sit down to create your content calendar, you discover it’s still too broad — you don’t know where to start.

This is why your niche needs specificity. 

Moreover, many people in your target audience are going to be looking for content on something specific, not general. 

For example, creator Tori Dunlap’s podcast The Financial Feminist isn’t about personal finance in general. Her niche is specifically financial best practices for women.

Agencies like Fusion Medical Staffing don’t offer recruitment in general. They specifically target the medical field, creating content for particular job roles like travel nursing, home health, and long-term care. 

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Specific niche homework

1. Narrow down your list of potential niches into specifics 
2. Analyze how many niches hit all four considerations
3. Choose your favorite as your new niche OR
4. Start making content in two or more until you find your favorite

The more you do, the more you’ll know. One niche may start clicking with you more than the others, and you’ll know you’ve found your content home. 

Niche knowledge homework

1. Make a list of your greatest areas of knowledge

Include:

• Obscure trivia
• Experiences
• Academics
• Hobbies
• Etc.

#4 Grow your audience

Once you’ve worked out your format, platform, and niche, it’s time to start building your audience. As we mentioned before, your niche informs who your target audience is. Now, the work of attracting them begins. 

The trick to this is multifaceted. To start, you’ll want to focus on a few key things:

• Competitor research
• Organic traffic
• Your email list

Competitor research will tell you several things you need to know. 

1. What content and keywords your competitors are ranking for (that you aren’t)
2. What keywords your target audience searches for most often
3. What content is most valuable to your competitors

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The results of this research will provide you with the answers you need to start creating content that will not only satisfy your target audience but also help you rank alongside (or outrank) your competitors. And that brings us to the next piece of the puzzle: organic traffic. 

Organic traffic will flow your way once you start ranking for valuable keywords. Visitors will click on your content, read it, and share it. You’re on your way to growing a loyal audience and customer base. 

Finally, you’ll need to include a subscription form on your website to start building your email list. It’s the best way for you to bridge the gap from website visitors to brand ambassadors. 

Besides focusing on your website, you should try your best to engage your audience and grow your following list. Of course, you can always employ paid advertising techniques. However, for a more long-term strategy, consider focusing on organic results as well. 

That is why you always want to share content that is the most helpful and relevant for your audience. You can engage with your followers by responding to comments, participating in discussions, and sharing helpful resources. Those resources might as well be presented like lead magnets so you can actually generate leads and monetize your content further. 

And, of course, if you are looking to grow your audience, you cannot overlook partnerships and collaborations. Consider finding other creators in your niche and partnering up with them on shared projects. This will be a win-win for both of you, as you both will be exposed a new audience. 

Grow your audience homework

1. Conduct competitor research using a tool like Ahrefs or Semrush
2. Create content that fills the content gap between you and your competitors
3. Install a subscription form on your website to start building your email list

#5 Monetize your content

The presence of 8 billion people on earth guarantees that somebody somewhere is going to be interested in just about anything.

But if your goal is to grow your subscriber base and monetize your content, there are some key points to consider. 

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• It takes the average creator over six months to earn their first dollar online, but after 17 months, they earn enough to support their lifestyles 
• The more niche your topic and audience, the more expert you and your content must be
• A whopping 59% of beginner content creators haven’t monetized yet
• There are many ways to monetize your content:
  • Affiliate marketing
  • Selling products
  • Sponsorships
  • Memberships
  • Ads

Successful creators and influencers agree by a landslide 69% that brand deals (such as sponsorships) are their biggest money-makers. 

That said, you can use one, some, or all of these tactics. Explore each one and see which is the best fit for you, your content, and your audience. If you change your mind, you can always switch it up later. 

Monetize your content homework

1. Research different monetization tactics
2. Choose one or more to try on your website 
3. For each tactic, track your expenses vs returns to calculate your profit
4. Eliminate tactics that aren’t profitable and double down on ones that are

Conclusion

Content is an integral part of business in the 21st century. You have as much right as anyone else to share your content-creation skills and amplify your voice.

Think carefully about what format and platform is best for your content. Next, choose your niche by getting clear on the crucial questions we outlined above. Finally, grow your audience and decide whether you’re ready to monetize your content. 

You’re on your way to becoming someone’s favorite content creator. So get your ducks in a row and start creating! And if you are looking for an all-in-one platform to monetize your skills, share your content, and become a successful creator, consider Uteach. 

Learn more about Uteach features and how the platform can help you become a successful content creator.