You’ve seen the price of eggs and gas increase, groceries bills rise, and the stock market take a plunge, but what does all of this mean? Economists warn that a recession could be nearing. If so, it’s essential to plan for it. You may wonder how a recession impacts your business as a content creator. Well, a recession would mean that people will be spending less money. If customers spend less, companies make less and will have to scale back on their budgets. This means companies won’t be spending large amounts on marketing, resulting in fewer brand deals for creators and influencers. While this could greatly impact the livelihoods of many creators and influencers, all is not lost. There are many ways that you can recession-proof your content creation business. Here’s how to ensure a recession doesn’t impact your career as a creator.

Diversify your income

While it may seem scary, relying on more than just sponsored content as a creator is important. Taking a break from brand deals might not be such a bad thing, as you can focus on your passions and what you enjoy putting out to the world, and there are so many ways you can monetize your passions. You need multiple streams to survive, especially during a recession. Keep reading for several ways to diversify your income as a creator during a recession.

Sell digital products

The best way to diversify your income as a creator is by selling digital products. Digital products that provide value are recession-proof because they usually have a low price point, and customers can purchase 24/7, allowing you to build passive income. Some examples of digital products you can create and sell:

  • E-books (Think information on how to succeed as a creator/influencer)
  • Templates (If you create beautiful graphics, you can provide Story or social media templates)
  • Printables (Maybe you’re a planner and want to create and sell your own daily/weekly planners)
  • Digital art (If you have design skills, you can create digital art and have your customers print after purchase)
  • Photography (If you have photography skills, there are many websites you can sell your pictures on)
  • Photo pre-sets (If you’re a photographer who knows how to create beautiful filters, sell them)

If you’re looking for a way to grow your brand and create sustainable income, digital products are the way to go.

Create and sell a course

Another way to diversify your income as a creator is by creating and selling an online course. Once you create the course, you can earn from it forever if the information is relevant. As a creator or influencer, there are many things you can turn into a course. A great place to start is by thinking about the questions you get asked often. You could create a course on how to secure brand deals, how to record the best Reels, or how to grow a following on social media successfully.

Offer services

There are many services that you could offer as a creator:

  • Writing services
  • Editing services
  • User-Generated Content for entrepreneurs & smaller businesses
  • Consultations
  • Coaching

Depending on your niche and expertise, you can offer many different services. Get creative, have faith in yourself, and offer your audience some services to add an extra stream of income

Offer a paid newsletter

If you write often and have a lot to say, offer a paid newsletter to your super-loyal fans. If you’re in the beauty space, you could offer a paid newsletter to your audience where you discuss your skincare routine in-depth and any new products you’ve purchased with links and include a discount code for being loyal. If you are in the health and wellness space, you could send out a weekly newsletter with healthy recipes. You could send out a newsletter once per week with this info. If you charged your subscribers $7 a month to access your newsletter and just 1,000 people subscribed, you’re looking at $7,000 monthly.

Offer private-access content

Similar to a paid newsletter, you could offer private-access content by putting the content behind a paywall. Whether it’s written content or video form, you could offer exclusive, valuable content that your audience wants to see and charge them to access it. This is an excellent way for your super-fans to connect with you more and feel like they’re a part of an exclusive club.

Final Thoughts

Creators need to diversify their income whether or not a recession looms. It’s important not to put all of your eggs in one basket. Start small, and focus on building one new revenue stream at a time so you don’t feel overwhelmed. Eventually, you can add in more, and you’ll be well on your way to creating a business that can weather any storm.

How many streams of income do you have? Leave a comment below!