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Creator Talks

Creators want recognition from the UK government

Published 9 months ago • 2 min read

Hi! Welcome back to Creator Talks. Here’s your 3 things happening in the creator economy I think you should know about.

​I tested a new collaboration tool on YouTube - this is similar to how you can collaborate on posts on Instagram. I got the chance to test this feature with my friend and fellow creator, Leena Norms, and I am very excited and curious to see how this might change how YouTubers collaborate. It was a bit of a clunky user experience to add a collaborator - I had to send Leena a link on WhatsApp rather than it all happening in the YouTube Studio app, but I’m hoping based on feedback that will change. We didn’t have full access to “shared exposure” (video appearing on both channels) and perhaps this is coming or collaborations are meant to feel more like “tagging” another channel. Things I’m interested in:

  • shared revenue (Leena, want to invoice me for half of £4.29? 😅)
  • LONG FORM collabs - what creative opportunities will come from this?
  • adding more than two channels to the collab
  • options for a tagging style collab or a full blown co-owned collab (depending on the video)

What do you think? What would you use the collaboration feature for?

​CreatorFest tickets are on sale - CreatorFest is back for a second year in London on 23rd October. It used to be the Influencer Marketing Show so it is a very brand/agency heavy event although their rebrand to CreatorFest is them trying to be more creator centred. I went last year and I would say it is worth going to, especially if working with brands is a big part of your creator income. Tickets for creators are currently £95 (already increased from £65 and I imagine it will keep increasing the closer the date gets). Full disclaimer: I’m on their advisory board - it’s an unpaid role but it does mean I am regularly in the room with the event organisers and can help shape the event. So tell me what you want to see from CreatorFest and I will share it with them. And of course, let me know if you’re planning on going!

​The Creator Consultation - this feels huge but we’ll see if anything comes of it. YouTube surveyed over 10,000 UK creators for this report that focuses on the challenges creators experience and offers recommendations for the UK Government and other parts of the creative industries. It calls for the government to formally recognise the creator ecosystem, HMRC to have a category for “Creators” and the broader creative industry to better represent and collaborate with creators amongst many many other things. I’m very excited by a survey on this scale done by a platform as large as YouTube. Ball's in your court, Starmer.

​Simon Clark​

I've been a creator on YouTube for 15 years now, and in that time my content has evolved from making study vlogs to talking about my PhD research to my current videos talking about the climate crisis. I describe my content as "improving your climate literacy", going beyond the headlines and providing social, scientific, and historical context to big news and ideas in the world of climate.
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My biggest challenge at the moment is trying to scale up my operations. I currently make 2-3 public videos a month, 1-2 patreon exclusive videos, and 1-4 vertical videos for YouTube Shorts/Instagram/TikTok. That's already a lot but there's just so much more to talk about! And this is a critical time for social change.
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I am currently the bottleneck and need to a) bring on some specialised help to write and produce more short form content, and b) find a strategy to make that short form content pay for itself.

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Creator Talks

by Hannah Witton

A short and sweet newsletter for ambitious and overwhelmed creators who want to feel fulfilled in their careers. I try and find interesting and useful stuff in the creator economy that is actually relevant to creators 🧡 Written by Hannah Witton, OG creator and creator mentor.

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