To receive The Leap’s weekly newsletter in your inbox, click here.
How to: Build a brand with Rashelle Campbell.
You read it, you want it (a full-time gig in content creation).
Hey creators! When it comes to marketing budgets and monetization endeavours, we have good news: the math is mathing. According to Sprout Social, 74% of marketing departments plan on investing a quarter of their budget to content creator partnerships. Even though we’re seeing a decrease in sponsored partnerships (more on that below), the wave toward UGC and original content is still going strong. Now get out there and make those deals!
The world is yours.
– The Leap
Rashelle Campbell: Building a Homeware Brand
Ever thought about launching your own design brand? Rashelle Campbell shares about her first year as a creator, and how her pandemic baby turned into a full-time gig making home goods. In 2020, Rashelle was just looking for a rug she liked. When she couldn’t find one, she decided to make it herself. One thing led to another, and suddenly she was tufting more than 250 rugs in 2021 alone.
An early harbinger of ’90s and early-aughts nostalgia, her brand took off and has now evolved into a new project: Homey, an upscale homeware collection. It’s been a wild ride, but her advice? Be consistent. Don’t take your creative process too seriously. And definitely give back to your community. Read our full interview to follow along.
Little Extras
Good morning to everyone except Instagram. People are not happy about the constant changes, taking to the platform to vent their frustration. And with IG testing yet another feature that pushes video content, we can’t help but wonder if people will give in or give up on the app altogether?
Venture capitalists have entered the chat. VCs are backing services that cater to creators because when they follow the money, it leads them to the creator economy. As business booms for creators, investors want to cash in, too. Better build out that portfolio, bestie.
Raise your hand if you went to a conference and all of the speakers looked the same. Think in Color is changing that. Their annual event on July 27 is focused specifically on amplifying BIPOC women who are entrepreneurs and marketing experts. The best part? It’s free to register and you can replay the sessions after. Um, yes please.
Messenger meets IG for the new Subscribers feature. Since we all know it’s about building a community, not just an audience, this new feature will allow influencers and creators to have intimate conversations with followers in the DMs and have access to “subscriber only” content.
Welcome to the dark side. Being a content creator is great, but there’s a shady belly beneath that glossy exterior. As we play the “game of visibility” and fight to keep up with the algorithm, mental health issues coupled with pay inequality are driving some to push for more regulations and cultural change.
Kendra Y. Hill started from the bottom, now she’s making $2 million a year through her consultancy, Kendra Scale My Business. But it’s not just her bank account growing – she’s helping YouTubers crack the code and rake it in with the right strategy, marketing, and brand management.
Influencer Spons: Canceled?
Creators, there’s a disturbance in the force. With budgets tightening, increasing supply chain issues, and advertising restrictions, it looks like brand deals are becoming more infrequent. But it doesn’t mean you should give up. We (and others) are still super optimistic about the state of influencer marketing, so we’ve highlighted the direction you should take and some strategies to keep in mind while you’re creating content that stands the test of time.
