blockchain - wbsdigital

The Creator Economy- more than just a phase

Adam Alia Nabeel Hussein — Sun, 24 Apr 2022 14:45:41 +0000

Some call it the Passion Economy, some go with Creator Economy, but what is it really? A very fascinating movement is unfolding in the lives of those who crave flexibility, freedom and creative outlets at work and in their everyday lives.

Platforms, apps and mediums are being promoted to people with different creative abilities which has led to the rise in the ‘Creator Economy’.

Source: ArmTheCreators.com

In the above image we see that the use of traditional social media platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, etc. are evolving to create more opportunities for creators to monetize their own content with platforms such as Patreon, Kajabi, Teachable, Twitch, etc. it’s evident to see the migration from Web 2.0 to 3.0, this will be the Block Chain / Crypto era.

Manifest this: I’m going to make a living doing and creating what I love and what I’m passionate about.

Source: Pearl Agarwal on Medium

Let’s delve into the Creator Economy movement by taking a brief look at the history of the internet:

Web 1.0: The Internet Age (our lives would never be the same…)

Also known as the ‘Information Age’ where computers and the internet were widespread. It was the age with the height of innovation bringing the internet closer and closer to us, and eventually quite literally in our pockets, through the invention of the smart phone.

Web 2.0: The Digital Age (social media era; picture or it didn’t happen?)

The mainstream use of the internet created the digital age as we know it. This is when Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, Snapchat and YouTube dominated the industry with their ability to allow users to interact online, share content, and explore their creativity. The rise of influencers and influencer marketing was a notable aspect of this era as this was the primary cause to shift from the digital economy to the creator economy. Influencers were being featured in brand endorsements, ads, campaigns, etc. in this era, the social media ‘influencers’ started becoming self-employed people who relied on digital platforms to express, create and earn an income.

Web 3.0: The Creator Economy

The influencers / creators in the digital age who relied on brands to earn an income are now building their own brand based on their unique talent, creative skills, never seen before ideas, topics, and / or their passions. This creates the rise of digital platforms that allow these creators and their followers to connect in a space regarding their niche. This is when platforms such as Twitch (gaming and entertainment), Podia (selling knowledge and courses), etc. come in play.

So, what kind of content can creator’s produce in this economy?

The future is for freelancers. If you can do one or more things you’re passionate about and make it your full-time job, while being self-employed and flexibly working, you’re a freelancer.

The possibilities are endless, I’m a bit overwhelmed myself. People are getting incredibly creative, and surprisingly, there’s always an audience ready to feed on what they have to offer.

Here’s a list of things I put together that freelancers can do which would most likely be huge in the creator economy:

Graphic design
Photography
Videography
Poetry
Writing
Culinary
Motivational speeches, protesting, etc.
Podcasts
Art
DIY’s
Fashion design
Dancing
Singing
Music
Illustrations
Courses (teaching, designing, languages, speaking, anything you can imagine)
Pottery
Comics
Fitness
Yoga and meditation

There’s truly an endless list of infinite options, and I’m sure we’ll be seeing the immergence of many more creative jobs of this kind.

“To be a successful creator you don’t need millions. You don’t need millions of dollars or millions of customers, millions of clients or millions of fans. To make a living as a craftsperson, photographer, musician, designer, author, animator, app maker, entrepreneur, or inventor you need only thousands of true fans.” – Kevin Kelly

If you’re still a bit confused about it all (which I was too at the start), check out this 5-minute run through video explaining what the creator economy is:

Let’s talk Block chain and the Metaverse…

It’s important to understand that the rise of this economy is a result of creators wanting to essentially own their content and the platform they post it on. When the platform makes money so do they.

In order for a content ownership policy to be designed, voting rights come in to play which is done through block chain consent. Not even a president can dispute the consensus reached on block chain.

Let me put this in simple terms, web 3.0 is basically a decentralized country (the metaverse) on the internet with a large population (of content creators and their audiences) and with a democratic leadership system (block chain).

“Blockchain is going to allow information that shouldn’t be free, not to be free. Remember Napster? You could download music for free and nobody, not even the sooks in the band Metallica, could stop you.” Mike Novogratz, Serial Entrepreneur.

The Next Generation

Abdullah Al Ghafri, known as QQQ by his social media followers, took less than a year to reach 1 million followers on YouTube. In an interview with him he says:

“I started everything on Snap chat- it’s an incredible app, Snap chat is different. Why? Because it’s real. These days we go on Instagram and can see many people have about two million – four million followers. They almost show a fake reality. However, on Snap chat, everything is real. I wanted to be a part of the YouTube community; many people encouraged me to do so a few years ago but I waited. YouTube needs a whole team. And yeah, seven months ago I said, I have to start on YouTube, but in very high quality, you know, like more, maybe more than TV. These days, 80% of the kids I’m sure want to be singers. They want to be football players. They want to be on social media dancing or something.”

Storytelling on social media platforms is no longer Childs play. Content creators don’t just do it to pass time or as a side hustle. In the next generation, the creator is a full-time job and a primary method to earn income. As technology becomes mainstream and social media has become very much integrated into our daily lives, creators are already monetizing off of web 3.0 and the ‘creator economy’. With that being said, this will be a slow and steady growth for most creators since the new web has still not come into full play as of yet.

Who are the Consumers in the Creator Economy?

The consumers in this economy were social media followers in the previous eras. The creators / influencers bring them along with them on their story telling journey and continue to target their niche content to them. These consumers are very willing to buy products / services from these creators as firstly, they’re a loyal fanbase, and secondly, have admired their work and trust them more than other ads they see from companies who they don’t know personally.

Here are my final thoughts…

The Creator Economy is coming, slowly but surely, in many industries such as graphic design, gaming, entertainment and broadcasting. There may be some influencer fatigue in the beginning stages. I can say for sure I’m quite overwhelmed yet excited by all of this myself, but I see a future where we’re operating in the Metaverse and using crypto as money, though this is still in its infancy stages. it will be exciting to watch the new ‘creators’, ‘freelancers’ and ‘influencers’ be creatively liberated by platforms designed for them and for their niche customers. Because, while social media apps such as Tik Tok, Instagram and Facebook have high rates and a large audience, they benefit more from creators than vise versa.

Stay tuned with news about the Creator Economy, subscribe to this podcast.

References:

https://www.armthecreators.com/mapping-the-creator-economy/

https://bettermarketing.pub/the-creator-economy-will-slowly-then-quickly-migrate-to-web-3-0-3971d5d32f54

https://kk.org/thetechnium/1000-true-fans/

https://medium.com/eximius-ventures/web-3-0-101-c75cda55f0fa

https://slidemodel.com/creator-economy-quick-guide/

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Deep Dive into the world of NFTs

Mahesh Chitrapr — Tue, 12 Apr 2022 09:42:54 +0000

Looking into getting a piece of digital artwork on the Internet for a modest amount and receiving a one-of-a-kind digital token proving your ownership of the artwork. This article will teach you how to get your hands on your very own first NFT, which even huge businesses are dabbling in.

What is an NFT ?

An NFT is a digital asset that symbolises physical objects such as art, music, in-game goods, and films. They are purchased and traded online, commonly using cryptocurrency, and are typically encrypted with the software just like any other digital currencies.

NFTs are unique and each art contains a digital signature that prevents NFTs from being swapped for or equivalent to one another.

NFT have been suggested as a way for establishing ownership over an item that may otherwise be easily replicated. So, when someone purchases an NFT, they are receiving a digitally authenticated receipt proving that they are the only owner of the asset. Furthermore, unlike traditional works of art, NFTs cannot be destroyed since they are recorded on a blockchain identical to cryptocurrencies.

Despite the fact that they have been present for nearly a decade, NFTs are gaining attention rapidly as a popular means to buy and sell digital artwork. Initially, NFTs existed as digital artworks in a variety of forms, such as video clips of memorable sporting events or digital artworks reproductions of high value that were maintained under strict protection.

However, NFTs gained popularity in 2021 and made news when the auction house Christie’s produced a record-breaking NFT sale of 69.3 million dollars for Mike Winkelmann’s digital art “Everydays: The First 5000 Days.”

So how Does an NFT work?

NFTs are a component of the Ethereum blockchain, which houses the vast majority of the world’s NFTs. Ethereum, like bitcoin and Dogecoin, is a cryptocurrency, but NFTs include extra information that allows them to operate differently than cryptocurrencies.

NFTs are supported not just by the Ethereum blockchain, but also by other block chains, such as Tron’s NFT TRC-721, which was launched on December 20, 2020.

Because the majority of the people in the world is unfamiliar with the realm of NFTs, here are some examples of NFTs that exist at the moment.

Graphic Art
Videos
Digital Collectibles
Game skins
Music
Designer sneakers

NFTs are essentially digital collector’s items, like actual collector’s items. So rather than receiving a genuine painting or a unique piece of sculpture, the buyer receives a digital file that only belongs to the owner.

In essence, if an individual possesses an NFT, the person can easily verify that they are the owner using your private key, which is the evidence of ownership that the NFT owner obtains from the NFT creator, which is the certificate of authenticity. The NFTs are built in such a way that future resale provides a possibility for the developer to receive a royalty share.

On the other side, if you are an NFT creator, you get to define the scarcity of the digital objects and have the ability to sell in any NFT market or peer – to – peer, rather than being confined to any platforms or middlemen.

What is the purpose and where is it used?

Increases the earning capacity of Creators

The most common use of NFTs nowadays is in the field of digital content. This is due to the fact that the industry is now in a state of disarray. Platforms are sapping content producers’ income and earning potential.

When a creator shares their work on social media, the platform earns money by selling adverts to the artist’s followers. They earn exposure in exchange, but exposure alone does not cover the artist’s expenditures.

However, NFTs pave the way for a new creator economy in which creators retain control of their work rather than handing it over to the platforms that promote it. Ownership is ingrained in the content and the creator has the advantage.

When a creator manages to sell their work, the money goes straight to them and If the NFT is sold by the new owner, the original creator may indeed be entitled to royalties. Since the creator’s identity is part of the token’s metadata, which cannot be changed, this is ensured every time an NFT is sold.

Potential to improving the game experience

Game makers have shown a lot of interest in NFTs. NFTs may be used to keep track of who owns what in-game items, drive in-game economies, and deliver a variety of other incentives to players.

Like In many regular games, you may purchase in-game items that can be used in your game. However, If the item was an NFT, you can recover your investment by auctioning it once the game is over and if the creator is lucky and that item is more appealing at that time, the creator can even make a profit.

As producers of the NFT, game makers can receive a royalty every time an item is bought and sold on the market. As a result, a more mutually advantageous business model emerges, in which both players and developers profit from the subsequent NFT market.

This also implies that even if the creators stop supporting a game, the items you’ve gathered continue to stay as yours. As a result, in-game artefacts become digital collectibles with a significance beyond the game.

Making Domain names more notable

The Ethereum Name Service employs NFTs to provide Ethereum addresses the flexibility to names like thisismywallet.eth that are easier to remember. This implies that instead of a more technical domain like 0.X098781, you might ask someone to pay you ETH via the customised address

This functions in the same way as a domain name on a website does, in that it makes an IP address more relevant to the company. ENS names, like domain names, have a particular value based on their length. Unlike domains, ENS does not require a domain registry to permit ownership transfer. Instead, you may use an NFT marketplace to sell your ENS ids.

NFTs in the world of Advertising and Branding

Nothing has sparked as much interest in the marketing of brands as non-fungible tokens (NFTs) in the past year. Some companies are utilising NFT collectables or special editions to generate new income streams, increase brand loyalty, and raise funds for a great charity, while others have used them to promote their brand, tell a narrative, or reach more customers

While they gained interest in 2021, they are expected become mainstream instrument in the marketing industry in 2022. Brands like Asics, Clinique, Taco Bell, Coca- Cola regardless of their industry have started using NFTs in novel ways to advertise new product launches, increase social media following, support a campaign, or demonstrate support for a charity or cause.

Coca-Cola produced four NFTs, animated, one-of-a-kind digital artworks that give multi-sensory experiences and unlock surprise goods for the first owner upon purchase. The surprises included a ‘Coca-Cola Bubble Jacket Wearable’ that can be worn in virtual reality platform Decentraland, which was designed to build anticipation and provide entertainment value.

How to buy NFTs

Getting your first NFT can be summarised into these simple 4 steps.

Step 1: Purchase Ethereum from a regulated broker or exchange, such as Binance, eToro

Step 2: Create a Metamask wallet and deposit your ETH into it.

Step 3: Link to an NFT marketplace like Crypto.com

Step 4: Using the ETH in your metamask wallet buy your first NFT

Setting up a cryptocurrency wallet is the first step in purchasing an NFT. There are many of alternatives to select from, but an Ethereum compliant wallet is the best place to start.

The following are some of the websites that sell NFTs like Rarible, Foundation, OpenSea.io

There are two approaches of selling NFTs. You can do it by owning an NFT. An NFT can also be minted by the person selling it. NFTs may be created on sites like OpenSea, SolSea, and others. After minting the NFT, it may be listed for sale on any of the sites.

The future

Even as NFTs rise in popularity, there is always the chance that the bubble may burst, just as there is with any other asset class. NFTs may be the hottest thing in town right now, but they still have a long way to go before being generally accepted and become mainstream, just like any new technology. Despite the staggering amounts of money injected into the economy, NFT remains to be a niche commodity that may prove to be a passing interest.

However there is still more that is yet to be explored in the realm of NFTs with major developments coming through. If you are looking for more information on NFTs or seeking to invest the below mentioned podcast could be a good start

Sources:

Codedesign. 2021. How brands are using NFTs?. [online] Available at: [Accessed 12 April 2022].

ethereum.org. 2022. Non-fungible tokens (NFT) | ethereum.org. [online] Available at: [Accessed 12 April 2022].

Kane, I., 2022. TRON introduces NFT standard TRC-721. [online] Dappradar.com. Available at: [Accessed 12 April 2022].

Sardana, S., 2021. NFTs: what are they and why are they so popular?. [online] Moneyweek.com. Available at: [Accessed 12 April 2022].

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