Lack of Funding Options a Roadblock for Creators Seeking to Grow Their Channels

“There is no more profitable investment than investing in yourself. It is the best investment you can make; you can never go wrong with it. It is the true way to improve yourself to be the best version of you and lets you be able to best serve those around you.” ― Roy T. Bennett, The Light in the Heart

The growth trajectory of the Creator Economy is hard to ignore.

Globally, more than 50 million people consider themselves content creators. This is the new generation of micro-entrepreneurs valued at $20+ billion in 2021 with an estimated $100+ billion market growth in 2022, according to Forbes.

Fueled by social media and specialized payment platforms, the Creator Economy continues to grow and morph into an exciting space for Creators and Influencers.

While Creators have the ability to influence people and Influencers have the ability to create, the key difference between the two boils down to intent.

Creators are individuals who put planning, time, effort, editing, and passion into creating video content typically for niche audiences on platforms such as YouTube, Twitch, TikTok, and Facebook.

“An influencer might be the teenager who blows up on Instagram for viral makeup tutorials and starts selling beauty products via sponsored posts. Or the stay-at-home mom turned fashion vlogger who uses her following on YouTube, Instagram, and Pinterest to sell her custom-clothing line,” notes The Atlantic.

Emerging Creators Seeking Funds to Accelerate Channel Growth Have Limited Options

While Influencers are paid by brands, the monetization challenge for Creators seeking to grow their channels is a steeper climb.

Creators such as Mr. Beast, who ranks as the highest paid YouTube star ever, earned upward of $54 million in 2021, and Nastya — an 8-year-old YouTube phenomenon who earns millions — represent just two examples of incredible success that hundreds of thousands of emerging and growing Creators aspire to reach.

To excel at this level of competition, content Creators must go to great lengths to prevail in the fierce race towards greater wealth and borderless influence.

According to Bloomberg’s Erin Lowry: “There are ample options for monetizing one’s skill set without needing the backing of a big company. Newsletters can go behind paywalls through platforms such as Substack, Ghost, or even ConvertKit. Podcasters, musicians, comedians, YouTubers, and anyone else can create a Patreon or Buy Me a Coffee account to encourage their community to financially support their work.”

However, Creators seeking access to immediate capital to grow their channels — and to actually do what they love for a living — is quite limited.

Creators currently have very few options to secure up-front capital. Channel growth capital is often needed to upgrade video and sound equipment, hire editing staff, to invest in a great idea, to launch a product, or to travel to film on location or at events.

Current Emerging Creator Capitalization Options

• Wait for funds to accumulate — Let’s be honest, few inspired Creators want to wait to bring their ideas to life.
• Bank loan — Not only is securing an official bank loan a headache, but it could also be a very expensive option in light of rising interest rates.
• Ask family or friends for money — While a common option, Creators who ask family or friends for capital to grow a channel may put their pride in an awkward state as well as risk the health of personal relationships.
• Get (yet) another job — For part-time Creators, working at a traditional job to become a full-time Creator is tough enough. Getting yet another job to fund channel growth puts them at great risk of burnout. It also reduces creation time even further and drags out a channel’s growth timeline, since they won’t see the bulk capital needed upfront to make necessary improvements in their channel.

In a Yahoo! Insider article, “YouTuber Matthew Beem said he’s still paying off a $20,000 loan he took out to fund a video idea that involved a car belonging to well-known influencer Logan Paul, in the hope that it would help him grow his channel.”

The loan helped Matthew actualize an idea that enabled his channel growth to reach over a million subscribers in months.

And so many more emerging global YouTube Creators would benefit from a wider range of funding opportunities that they have more control over, to grow their individual channels in meaningful ways, connect with Fans, and do what they love.

After all, the passionate drive of Creators is truly what inspires GigaStar. As a startup, we’re preparing to democratize the Creator Economy with an innovative solution to support YouTube Creators in their quest to do what they love and grow closer to their loyal Fans.

Wanna know what we have going on?

While we’re hard at work developing our solution for a 2023 launch, we may be a bit quiet, so check out our website https://gigastar.io/, sign up for launch updates, and connect with GigaStar on social media to stay in the loop!