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- [ON BRAND] The future of the creator economy
[ON BRAND] The future of the creator economy
+ content & community building tips from some of the biggest news out there.
Alexandra Manderstam
June 09, 2025
In partnership with
Hello from NYC!
I’m writing this from the lobby of the Hoxton in Williamsburg, sipping a glass of cold white wine after a full day of meetings with founders, creators, and potential investors. Living my best Carrie Bradshaw life.
If 2020 me - working at the Hoxton in London and feeling totally lost - could see me now, she’d be proud. Your life can change wildly in just a couple of years with clear intentions and consistent action.
I came to NY Tech Week with 3 goals:
Catch up on what’s changing in the creator economy, digital business, and AI space. (We’re diving into all of it below, it’s juicy.)
Connect with female founders building some of the most exciting businesses out there. (I interviewed a few of them, their stories and best content + business tips are coming soon.)
Validate what we’re building with Self Made. We’re just a few weeks away from launching the first version and it’s going to make audience-building way easier.
I’m leaving the city more inspired and clear than ever.
This Thursday, I’m hosting a free workshop to help you get that same clarity and build a personal brand that actually leads to dream opportunities.
You’ll walk away with your core messaging, a system for content, and a strategy to grow.
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Interesting things from last week
The best things we’ve read, watched and listened to.
Anthropic just released a prompting guide for Claude and it’s a good one. I’ve been using Claude more and more for creative writing and can’t get enough.
The social media recession is upon us.
Longer read to enjoy with your weekend morning coffee about how taste & curation matter more than ever.
The Future of Creator Economy & Community Building.
I went to two key events during NY Tech Week focused on the future of the creator economy:
Beacons.ai hosted a panel on creators + AI, featuring Sammi from Social Currency (I shared her podcast recently, so worth a listen if you’re into business) and Neal, the CEO of Beacons.
Shopify’s Soho event with Avni Barman from Gen.She and Ankur Nagpal, the founder of Teachable (he’s now building Carry to help you manage your business finances & taxes).
The creator economy is growing at such a fast pace. From under $200B this year to projected $500B by 2030, now is the time to get your slice of the pie.
I took pages of notes. Here’s what’s stood out:
About the future of the creator economy…
Content - market fit is so important. This is when your content deeply resonates with a specific audience because it solves a problem, taps into a desire, or reflects their identity. You know you have one when people engage with your content & share it or save it without prompting.
No shame in using AI. It’s especially helpful for research, social listening and scaling content production. To enhance your creativity, not to replace it.
There’s an education gap in AI so creators and founders can actually use it well. Any AI-obsessed takers? 👀
Everyone wants to be a creator. The space is only getting more crowded, so:
You need a clear differentiator
You have to know your audience deeply
Your content needs to either entertain, inspire, or educate
You have to commit to your content strategy and keep refining it
B2B is a huge opportunity for creators. LinkedIn video is where TikTok was in 2020.
You need to have a vision. You win if you know what you’re trying to win.
Over 1 million creators now make over $100K/year, compared to only ~3,500 actors. This is wild.
How to build a community that sticks
Community makes a product or audience more valuable but community alone doesn’t pay bills. It needs to be attached to something monetizable.
URL is for scale & exposure, IRL is for depth & retention. In-person is SO back - events, hangouts, and meet-ups build trust.
Where you host it matters. Go where your people already are. Don’t force a migration. Your community can live on Instagram if the majority of your audience is there already.
Paid communities only work if you’ve already built trust with your audience. They’re hard to start from scratch.
Know your numbers: if 1% of your community converts, how many people do you need in your orbit?
When posting content, start with the platform that feels natural to you and where your audience already hangs out. Always build your newsletter. It’s your only real asset. Socials can disappear.
Repost across platforms. Optimize for each one — there’s no “best platform,” just best-for-your-audience.
Your personal brand is your biggest leverage. Your audience can bring hires, funding, and early clients. Build in public, you never know who’s watching.
The story behind your brand matters just as much as the product. Repeat yourself constantly. People don’t remember unless you repeat yourself 1000x.
Consistency wins. Keep showing up, even when it’s not working yet.
With content, throw things at the wall. When something works, rinse & repeat until you build a brand around it.
If you’ve been posting for a couple of months and you’re not seeing results, your content isn’t working. Change it, don’t just do more of what doesn’t work.
Understand the algorithms. The first 100 views are the test. If it doesn’t hit, it won’t scale. Borrow winning content frameworks from creators outside your niche.
FREE WORKSHOP
Build A Profitable Personal Brand
You’ve got the audience. Or the business. (or at least the idea).
Now it’s time to turn that into a profitable personal brand.
In this free live training, you’ll learn:
How to build in public without burning out
How to turn your story into sales
Why most personal brands stall and how to fix yours
Plus, I’ll walk you through the exact method I use to help creators + founders grow their brand and business at the same time.
🗓 Thursday 12th June
⏰ 10AM PST / 1PM EST
💸 Free, but you need to register
We’ve created free tools to help you level up your personal brand this year. Grab both of them below.
Obsession-Worthy Brand Guide
Your blueprint for a personal brand that connects and converts. Downloaded 3,000+ times and rated 5 stars, it helps you show up with clarity so your content actually lands.
On-Demand Personal Brand Strategist
Get a powerful ChatGPT prompt + five follow-ups to clarify your positioning, grow your audience, and create content that drives results.
