Sweet Tips on How to Sell Yourself as a Content Creator in Nigeria

If you want to sell as a content creator, you must learn how to create fantastic content. 

It may sound on the nose, but hear me out, the first skill any good content creator has is the ability to appeal to human instinct. Did you know that human psychological response to content generally is what makes people want to consume your content? And most people like content that gives them a sense of who they are.

Additionally, 69% of people engage with online content to fulfil personal desires, and 84% share information about matters that interest them.

To sell yourself as a great content creator, you must do the following:

Develop Your Skill Set

Content creation is mostly influenced by changes in the technological space. New technologies across the various forms of media – Text, audio, visual, graphics and videos, spring up regularly to either enhance or disrupt the existing space.

While Instagram was blowing up with influencers, TikTok came right along and changed the game while creating a chance for new sets of influencers and content creators.

You may try to develop the basic skills required to be a writer, an audio artist – voice over, music producer, or singer. Your content may be more visual, like graphic arts, cartoonist, or the performing arts.

The next thing you need is to take advantage of the technological trends. Fortune always favours the first set of individuals who can take advantage of the digital tools provided by any given platform at any given time.

Build an Online Profile

Whether it’s Twitter, Medium, LinkedIn, TikTok, Instagram, YouTube, or perhaps you decide to create a web page and get an email listing, your profile provides a digital footprint. It serves as your CV in the content creation market.

These days, as we try to forge a balance between our work and our private life, we realise that our life becomes our work.

My friends and family and my social community get a sense of who I am and the issues I care about, and in the same breath, I find self-fulfilment and get paid for it.

We like to think that we can curate a completely different online life, but in the end, our instinctive reaction to online content reflects our truest self. Yikes, I wonder what my excessive use of emoticons speaks of me.

Thin Lines Between Fragile Concepts

Everyone with a smartphone is creating some form of content but is anyone with a smartphone a content creator?

You’re probably reading because you’re considering a job in content creation. I mean, here we are in 2021, where job adverts promise easy money from the comfort of your home or your phone. You know those ads that end with “all you need is a smartphone and access to the internet”. Yes, those.

Suppose anyone with a smartphone can curate content and upload it to different digital platforms. Then it leaves us wondering who these content creators truly are and why is there such high demand for content creators?

I remember a friend passively commenting on the level of passion with which Nigerians make Youtube content. It’s hard to miss one of those – Hi guys, welcome to my youtube channel.

Defining Content Creation

Imagine the web like a mirror world and all the social networks are like different regions, and the individual websites are like landed properties. Content then are the materials that fill up the many rooms within each apartment block.

By extension, a content creator is someone who curates appealing content for digital space. Emphasis on the word appeal.

You appeal to the individuality of your audience, to their values and nuances.

Humans have basic needs.

• Self-preservation
• Social networking
• Sex
• Information

The best contents appeal to a combination of these needs.

There’s a reason image attracts more than text. It has little to do with reading and more to do with our basic instinct for sensuality and attractiveness. So brands play with colour, the human skin, and even words that appeal to these senses. Don’t go religious on me; put it in any media and see the result. The most exciting subject to humans will always be humans.

Most businesses naturally produce their content but may require a skilled manager to organise and maintain its digital world. Remember, the web has been described as a mirror world. Don’t look that up, as I’ve only just thought of it.

Types of Content Creators

Before delving into the world of content creation, you need to understand the various types of content creators and the possible career path of content creation.

Majorly, the content we consume online falls into four categories, text, image, video, audio. These categories can be merged depending on the experience recreated on any media platform.

As you grow your trade, you might find the need to separate your private media from your business handles, and for some, branding may come as quite a challenge. Nevertheless, I got you covered with this article on choosing a brand name.

Content Writers

These are the creative writers that fill the blogs and websites with text, so when you open Wikipedia or www dot, whatever rocks your world, the search engine can bring to your device all the beautiful words of a diligent writer or someone who’s attempting to be one.

You can write for a fashion blog, a business site or a general knowledge platform like wikiHow.

Your Super Power includes:

Knowing Tech stuff like SEO even though you flunked your science subjects — yeah, life creeps on you like that. Your other superpower is reading voraciously and consuming pages and pages of text, and being able to boil it all down and feed it back to your audience in a way they understand. Oh, did I mention that you’ll need to improve on persuasion? You’ll need it if you intend to grow into a content writer—I hear that’s where the big fish swim.

Visual Artist

These video platforms make it easy to learn the basic skills of video editing. It’s not so hard; most platforms take great pride in their user-friendliness. A smart way of saying even if you’re daft, you can work your way around this app.

Your superpowers include:

Performing. The ability to ridicule yourself for my delight. Or to flaunt your grace and humanity in the form of dance, drama, or pose.

Audio Artist

Thanks to mashups and covers, humanity has had the privilege to experience a wide array of vocal prowess.

Composers and producers flaunt the best of their work, and we’ve never said thank you—well, here’s to you for thrilling our ears.

Need I spell out your superpowers? Would you mind not making me?

Creative Artist

The untalented talents of the industry. The ones who can take bits and pieces from all others and put them together.

Well, Can We Talk About Money Already!

I was getting carried away.

After all, the goal is to make money; that’s why I was hired—to tell you the many ways you can explore this market.

Take every advantage you can to build a network. You’re a content creator, and the digital marketer is your zone. Reach out to that prospect on LinkedIn or any social media, pitch to them and don’t forget to show your track record by dropping a link to your social media page—wherever that is to you.

Teachers

I’m running out of subtitles okay, bear with me.

Now I don’t mean traditional teachers but teachers; nonetheless, these groups of individuals serve perhaps one of the greatest needs of humanity—the need for knowledge.

If you have something to say, don’t let it die with you that on that camera write that article however badly edited it may be on second thought don’t put out poorly edited text. Call me; I’ll be fair with the price. What are experts for? Winks.

Final Words

Every day, you’re a content creator; you are given a chance to live that elevator pitch moment across multiple platforms with a multitude of prospects—Carpe diem.