by 
Are you a blogger, video creator, or podcaster?
Are you wondering how creators are making money?
Look no further.
In the first study of its kind, Social Media Examiner commissioned a comprehensive study of more than 4,300 creators.
In this report, you'll discover:
- The most common ways creators monetize their work.
- What produces the most revenue for bloggers, video creators, and podcasters.
- How creators will be changing their monetization plans over the next year.
- How bloggers, video creators, and podcasters differ in their money-making strategies.
- How more experienced creators monetize.
- How often creators publish.
- How bloggers, video creators, and podcasters plan on changing their publication frequency in the coming year.
Who's behind this study?
The world's leading authorities on blogging, video creation, and podcasting helped produce this study. It was commissioned and written by Social Media Examiner's founder Michael Stelzner, author of the annual Social Media Marketing Industry Report and the book Writing White Papers.
The following individuals were instrumental in creating this study:
- Tim Schmoyer: Tim is a leading authority in the video creator community and founder of VideoCreators.TV.
- Darren Rowse: Darren is a leading authority in the blogging community and founder of Problogger.com.
- Cliff Ravenscraft: Cliff is a leading authority in the podcasting community and founder of PodcastAnswerMan.com.
Special thanks to Ray Edwards, Leslie Samuel of Become a Blogger, and Interview Valet for helping collect creators for this study.
How do creators monetize?
For many of the creators we studied (28%), the blog posts, videos, and podcasts they create don't make money. However, for some creators (29%), it's their main source of revenue.
For those creators who actually make money from their content, advertising is the number-one way they make money (50%), followed by selling their own products (46%) and services (42%).
See the chart below for the various ways creators monetize:
Bloggers are more likely to sell their own products (50%) and services (49%) than accept advertising (39%).
Video creators overwhelmingly monetize by advertising (71%), followed by selling their own products (36%) and services (27%).
The Conference You've Been Waiting For
As a small business marketer, you can probably only pick one or two events to attend each year. Get an unbeatable conference experience and expert training at Social Media Marketing World in sunny San Diego, California—from your friends at Social Media Examiner.
🔥 As a valued reader, you can save $600 on an All-Access ticket if you act now! Sale Ends Tuesday! 🔥
CLICK HERE TO LEARN MOREPodcasters mostly tend to monetize by selling their own services (63%) and products (62%), followed by paid speaking (39%). Only 31% of podcasters make money via advertising.
What makes creators the MOST money?
When asked to select the single method that makes them the most money, creators indicated that advertising was the most lucrative source of income.
However, services and products followed closely behind. In fact, the spreads were so close that 81% of creators agreed that one of these three makes up the biggest source of revenue.
Bloggers make the most money by selling services (31%), followed by selling their own products (26%).
Video creators make the most money via advertising (46%), followed by selling their own products (19%).
Podcasters make the most money through selling their services (39%), followed by selling their own products (24%).
Has the money increased in the last year for creators?
Simply said, yes! Half of all creators are making more money today than they did 12 months ago. Only 13% said they are making less.
More podcasters (59%) saw an increase in their revenue over the last year than bloggers or video creators.
Are creators satisfied with the revenue they're making?
We asked creators to rate their agreement with the statement, “I am satisfied with the revenue my content is currently making.”
A significant percentage disagreed! Only 24% agreed they're satisfied with their revenue. A significant 62% are NOT satisfied with their monetization income.
Simply put, creators want more.
How will creators change their monetization plans over the next year?
Here are the top four areas where creators plan on increasing their monetization activities:
- Selling their own products: 67% of creators plan on doing more of this.
- Advertising: 58% plan on increasing their ads.
- Consulting/services: 55% have plans to do more here.
- Brand deals and sponsorships: 50% plan on working more with brands.
Podcasters overwhelmingly (80%) plan on selling more of their own products in the next year.
How do new creators monetize compared to the most experienced creators?
We analyzed creators who monetize and have less than a year of experience, and compared them to creators who monetize and have more than five years' of experience.
The key to interpreting this data is to remember that more experienced creators may have figured out more lucrative revenue models.
Here are the top two ways new creators monetize:
- Bloggers: Selling their own products (53%) and advertising (47%)
- Video creators: Advertising (48%) and selling their own products (48%)
- Podcasters: Consulting/services (58%) and selling their own products (56%)
Here are the top two ways the most experienced creators monetize:
Attention Agency Owners, Brand Marketers, and Consultants
Introducing the Marketing Agency Show–our newest podcast designed to explore the struggles of agency marketers.
Join show host and agency owner, Brooke Sellas, as she interviews agency marketers and digs deep into their biggest challenges. Explore topics like navigating rough economic times, leveraging AI, service diversification, client acquisition, and much more.
Just pull up your favorite podcast app, search for Marketing Agency Show and start listening. Or click the button below for more information.
- Bloggers: Consulting/services (59%) and selling their own products (51%)
- Video creators: Advertising (55%) and consulting/services (52%)
- Podcasters: Selling their own products (62%) and consulting/services (56%)
Here's how new creators are making the most money:
- Bloggers: Selling their own products
- Video creators: Advertising
- Podcasters: Consulting/services
Here's how the most experienced creators are making the most money:
- Bloggers: Consulting/services
- Video creators: Consulting/services
- Podcasters: Consulting/services
It's interesting to note that consulting/services offers the most revenue for the most experienced creators regardless of medium.
What monetization methods do creators want to learn more about?
Creators are most interested in learning how to sell their own products (58%), followed by accepting advertising (56%), and then striking deals with brands and sponsorships (53%).
Video creators most want to learn about brand deals and sponsorships (62%).
What other forms of content do creators create?
Many creators don't limit themselves to just one type of content. Here's an analysis of the different types of content creators make:
- Bloggers: 36% of bloggers create video content, 17% do live video, and 8% podcast.
- Video creators: 26% of video creators also create blog posts, 24% use live video, and 7% are also podcasters.
- Podcasters: 55% of podcasters also blog, 40% use video, and 31% are using live video.
How often are creators publishing content?
We asked creators how often they create content each month. Here are the averages across all creators:
- Blog posts: 7 times a month
- Video (not live): 6 times a month
- Live video: 3 times a month
- Podcasts: 3 times a month
For those who most identify as bloggers, here are their averages:
- Blog posts: 9 times a month
- Video (not live): 4 times a month
- Live video: 2 times a month
- Podcasts: 2 times a month
For those who most identify as video creators, here are their averages:
- Video (not live): 10 times a month
- Blog posts: 5 times a month
- Live video: 4 times a month
- Podcasts: 2 times a month
For those who most identify as podcasters, here are their averages:
- Podcasts: 7 times a month
- Blog posts: 6 times a month
- Video (not live): 4 times a month
- Live video: 4 times a month
How have creators changed their posting frequency in the last year?
We asked creators if they're creating more or less content than they did a year ago. Nearly half (47%) said they're creating more videos than they did last year.
Bloggers (53%) said they increased their blog post frequency.
Video creators (61%) upped their video posting frequency.
Podcasters (49%) have increased their podcast frequency.
How will creators change their publication frequency in the next year?
Over the next year, creators plan on increasing their publishing frequency for video (74%), blog posts (66%), live video (58%), and then podcasting (34%).
Bloggers plan on upping their blog post frequency (75%) and videos (70%).
Video creators plan on increasing their video publication frequency (79%) and use of live video (62%).
Podcasters plan on more frequently publishing videos (73%) and live videos (71%).
Where do creators want to improve their knowledge?
The top three areas where creators would like to improve their knowledge are how to grow their audience (86%), how to monetize their content (75%), and how to refine their content skills (69%).
How big are creators' teams?
Most creators operate as solos or have very small teams.
What is their gender?
The creators we studied were slightly more likely to be male (53%).
However, when broken down by creator type, some interesting results emerged:
- Bloggers tended to be female (55%).
- Video creators skewed heavily male (69%).
- Podcasters also skewed heavily male (74%).
What are creators' ages?
The creators we studied tended to be more heavily skewed toward age 40 and older.
When broken down by creator type, however, we found some interesting results:
- Podcasters were overwhelmingly age 40 and older (73%).
- Most video creators were evenly distributed between ages 20 and 59 (77%).
- Bloggers were mostly age 40 and older (68%).
What country are these creators from?
The creators we studied were from mostly English-speaking countries as follows: United States (52%), United Kingdom (7%), Canada (6%), Australia (4%), and India (4%). The remaining 27% were spread across more than 100 countries.
Other study details: This survey was conducted between August 15, 2017 and September 1, 2017. We studied 4,335 creators, of which 2831 were bloggers, 2625 were video creators, and 517 were podcasters. As the above data reveals, many creators focus on more than one medium.
What do you think about this research? Please comment in the box below.
3 Days of World-Class Training—Zero Travel!
Travel to Social Media Marketing World off the table? Get all of the great content at a fraction of the price with an On-Demand ticket.
That’s full access to recordings of every keynote, workshop, and session—the ones people travel thousands of miles to see. Don't wait. Get your On-Demand ticket and enjoy actionable content that you can watch anytime, anywhere.
