How Millennials are Creating New Sources of Income
Millennials, also known as the “Net Generation” or “Generation Y”, are people born between 1980–2000 (according to Time Magazine). Some argue the last Millennials were born in 2004. These people are currently between the ages of 19 to 39 and grew up fully immersed in the Computer and Net era therefore growing up at a time when the world was becoming more connected than it had ever been thanks to the ever expanding reach and influence of the Internet (Y2K WAS LIT!!). Our parents and the whiners of the old guard would tell you we are entitled, lazy, don’t value hard-work and have unhealthy relationships with our devices but honestly, they’re just haters because they don’t understand Twitter and still need us to do basic things like creating PDF documents (IN 2019!!!!).
Millennials have grown up with and watched the evolution of multiple technological advancements giving them an understanding of their uses, benefits, possibilities, opportunities, risks & limits. Some have become engulfed in all that development and taken it a bit far, doing the most with it all but that’s a conversation for another day.
Generation Y has essentially grown up in an era of independence, self-reliance and a culture of “holding your destiny is in your own hands while carving out your own path” and as such they have come to be known as a rebellious generation that has refused to follow in the footsteps of the previous.
Just as their parents before them, some Generation Y members believe in the value of a 9–5 job, the concept of spending 10,000 hrs in a chosen field gaining expertise. In the same vein, a few believe in the independence of work and not being beholden to “The Establishment” and working for “The System”. Then there are those who choose to spread their wings and dabble in all their interests while monetising those interests to create multiple sources of income for themselves in this era of mass consumption. One thing they all have in common is a need for financial independence and an unshakable determination to attain it.
Advertising during this era has also had to evolve to keep up with the constantly evolving millennial thereby making Generation Y the generation that has been exposed to an incredible amount of advertising (honestly though, it has made us crazy, impatient consumers with diverse tastes. But the average millennial consumer is so market conscious, it’s scary). These consumers in turn, have been paying attention, studying, and are fully aware of these structures that have taken advantage of their need for connectivity and consumption of everything from products to information. A lot of them have now figured out how to game the system to their benefit.
Social Media Strategists are pretty much experts that now exist as a result of this. Micro targeting has become key in advertising, knowing how millennials stay connected and understanding their needs, demands and evolving tastes makes for a very lucrative line of work if you can help brands make sense of the convoluted web of connectivity millennials exist in and the social spaces they occupy. This level of connectivity has also led to the creation of new markets and industries controlled by a very diverse and complex pool of consumers sharing their opinions, tastes, reviews and opinions on their consumption habits from all ends of the earth.
There’s a market for almost anything now and millennials have been able to capitalise on that shift.
“Influencers” serve as curators and tastemakers and have become invaluable in advertising. These are people who have been able to turn their likes, hobbies and lifestyles into appealing platforms that connect with vast majorities of people across the world promoting fashion, photography, culinary arts, healthy living, sports, etc.
The need for instant access to information and learning has also allowed for video tutorials to become invaluable tools and serve as crash courses to other fields, skills and hobbies for people with matching interests. Many millennials have created money streams from selling these skills and hobbies serving as teachers on the internet, creating instructions and tutorials on everything from makeup tutorials, furniture making, trading, to book making.
Combining skill sets also allows for maximising one’s value in the digital age. Many millennials wear multiple hats by combining, for example: Photography with Social Media Marketing — they help brands to strategise and control every aspect of their marketing process. Add some copywriting to those hats and you have a one man/woman agency. Freelancing gives a lot of people that fit into this category the ability to make the most out of these multiple streams of income without the need to commit to one thing or place. Remote work has become a major trend as a result and lets be honest, running shop from your bed sounds better than sitting in a cubicle for hours (for some).
More than 60% of the population is below the age of 30, a lot of them haven’t been to school and they are claiming that Nigeria is an oil producing country, therefore, they should sit and do nothing, and get housing, healthcare, education free.
A president (the current Nigerian President) out of touch, with NO IDEA how today’s millennials function said those words but it would shock him if he read reports on the industries millennials are thriving in and dominating. A little push and empowerment would help strengthen these industries and in turn help the economy, but unfortunately our leaders are too busy playing Whack-A-Mole with our nation’s most valuable resource, the youth.
Here’s my message to all the young hustlers out there, why wait for empowerment when you can take things into your own hands and become a master of your own.
“Who wan carry last?” as they say.
Samson is Chief Creative Officer at 3wp.io. Want to become a master of your own? Let’s get working.
