Howdy y'all, Trent Knox here, Creator Economy Consultant. 

You may be curious how I became a Creator Economy Consultant. 

Well, I'm a content creator, a content producer, and a publisher. You might be wondering what does that even mean, and how are those roles different from being just one or the other. 

In this series of blog posts, I will break down the definitions of content creator, content producer, and content publisher, so as to help those reading understand the key differences. Readers will get insight into their role within the Creator Economy and the benefits associated with each role. 

The following blog is the second part in the series, we’ll be covering the Content Producer.

Without further adieu, let's get into it. 

What is a content producer?

A content producer is someone who creates digital content for other people or brands. They are not the owners of the content, but rather the service providers who help others with their content needs. They often work as freelancers or contractors for clients who hire them for specific projects or tasks.

Content producers can also produce content in various formats and niches, depending on their skills and expertise. They can also collaborate with other content producers or creators to create more complex or diverse content.

There’s also a hybrid role which blends the purpose of Content Creators and Producers, that role we will label here however we’ll define that label later. We label these hybrids as User Generated Content Creators or UGC Creators. Generally, Brands will hire Content Creators to produce content that will be used in their marketing & advertising campaigns.

The path to professionalism as a Content Producer has evolved greatly over the past decade. The path to pro in the past required much more physical engagement than it does today. Content Producers are emerging from all over the world with the help of virtual engagement. Brands are able to discover talent via freelancer marketplaces like Fiverr, UpWork, Legitt, and others without the need to overly compensate an agency to facilitate the work. These marketplaces offer a variety of quality from quick & cheap to detailed & luxurious. These days the best brands have a multivendor strategy where they incorporate both freelancers & agencies into their production. It’s important to keep in mind that many agencies are essentially middlemen between Brands & Freelancers rather than full service agencies with full time staff. Therefore the old saying, “You get what you pay for…” is not always the truth. Many times brands hire agencies and are extremely disappointed in the lack of professionalism. Therefore there is a balance to be weighed between partnering with an agency and delegating an internal staff member of the brand to organize Freelancers to facilitate their content production needs.

There are two primary forces that are driving the need for Content Producers, the first is the outbound sales in which Content Producers are reaching out to Brands to sell their services. The second is Brands reaching out to Content Producers to purchase their services. These forces can come to fruition in many ways however the biggest driving factor for the success of Content Producers is their Content Portfolio. Content Producers portfolios will vary from producer to producer, however generally speaking their biggest lead magnet is their website. That being said, these days their website is becoming less important and their social media is becoming more important. The reason being that Brands are looking to see that Content Producers understand not only the pre-production and production services, in addition they understand the post-production services that include the distribution of the Content. Brands want to see that Content Producers are publishing content that drives growth metrics.

In summation, Content Producers facilitate services that produce content that meets the needs of Brands. Content Producers can be both independent freelancers or creative agencies; that maintain a directory of freelancers or staff of creatives. 

Top Monetization Platforms for Content Producers:

Local: Craigslist - a privately held American company operating a classified advertisements website with sections devoted to jobs, housing, for sale, items wanted, services, community service, gigs, résumés, and discussion forums.

Regional: Alignable - a platform where business owners build trusted relationships through business networking and networking events. 

National: UpWork - a platform that connects businesses with independent professionals and agencies around the globe.

International: Fiverr - a platform that connects freelancers to people or businesses looking to hire, encouraging a wide range of services in a free market.

Virtual - LinkedIn - a business and employment-focused social media platform that works through websites and mobile apps

Top Content Producers of each Platform:

Craigslist: Varies by Locality, take a look: Craigslist Creative

Alignable: Varies by Region, take a look: Alignable

UpWork: Evan Fisher over $1.8M in earnings through UpWork

Fiverr: Varies by Service, multiple earners over $1M, take a look: Fiverr

LinkedIn: Gary Vaynerchuk - 5M Followers