The Future of The Digital Creator
The future is very much where I’m putting my brand, and the future of entertainment lies in digital influencers working with very small companies that are being created via the internet, like Patreon.com, DistroKid, Epoxy and Stem. It didn’t come easy to me, but I fell in love with communicating with people through the keyboard. I want to provide a digital handshake to the people that I interact with in the online space, and these small businesses help me do that.
I saw the digital space as a challenge; a game that I had to beat.
With all of these numbers and analytics that are available nowadays, its kind of like I’m a character in a video game and I’m trying to level up. I love strategizing and seeing how to get bigger players to share my content or engage with me. In the beginning I just thought it was so fascinating and so fun. I saw the value and I knew that if I got my art in front of enough people, people somewhere would like it. As an artist, you have to believe in your own power and self promote what you do, even if you think people don’t want to hear it. Share your work with everyone you come into contact with. You can look at your analytics on YouTube, FaceBook, Twitter, Tubular and Graphtreon to see which of your content pieces are most salient. These platforms can help you can gain several other interesting insights as well, like what kind of words you should use in your posts, what time of day you should publish content, and so much more.
Almost every successful digital creator is an entrepreneur, and that’s what I consider myself as.
Initially, it was really hard to fill out my LinkedIn bio… “What is it that I do?” I fell in love with learning how to market myself, with social media, and with adjusting algorithms in order to see more. I am a business minded artist and entrepreneur. I also love helping people and consulting my peers. I want to help my peers sustain their careers and show them the steps I have taken to do so, which is my hope for The Hollens Creator Academy. One of the most beautiful things about being a digital creator, however, is that you don’t have to fit in a box. You don’t have to give yourself a well recognized job title, and you don’t have to follow anyone else’s expectations. In the online space, you can really do anything and be anyone that you want to be, and your passion is what qualifies you to do so rather than a fancy degree or decades of experience. You just need to put yourself out there and simply begin.
I could probably never stop making music, but each and every day that I get older, I realize that there is no better reason to get out of bed than to help other people and educate others. My future consists of helping people live their dreams and do what they love, while creating art of my own. What’s yours?
