The Business Of Content Creation With Joy Kendi
Passionate about creating authentic content, Joy Kendi attended our April Masterclass to give tips specific to how to turn your content creation into a paying business. Joy started by covering everything from how she started as a creator to how she works with brands, who’s made it in Kenya, and the earning potential of a creator.
While the concept of living as a full-time content creator might be intriguing, it takes a lot of time, dedication and hard work to build up the kind of audience that makes it feasible — and that's just the start.
Joy’s love for fashion and makeup inspired her to get to where she is today and this inspiration enabled her to captivate her audience by showcasing new brands and trends in beauty, fashion, lifestyle and travel. Joy undertakes marketing campaigns for various businesses that result in increased sales as well as providing reach and exposure.
Joy’s 9 Tips On Content Creation Business
Keep yourself flexible by experimenting with different types of content. Do not structure yourself into one small thing because it will make it hard to get opportunities in different fields. Incorporate why people follow you, and what content they are interested in.
How to get clients; Decide who you want to work with, the hashtags they use, and cater your content to look like what they are pushing. Force these clients to know who you are and they will notice your work.
Have a Rate Card Figure out where you are in the engagement spectrum and come up with your rate card using standard rate calculations but putting in mind the Kenyan market is different from the other markets.
Always be willing to negotiate with brands on your rate card, don’t say no to them.
Understand what the client wants to sell.Figure out what the message is and the product is. Find out the best form of delivery and deliver on that. You can now embark on the production aspect, it is a good idea to learn how to do stuff by yourself from how to use a camera, how to shoot great quality and how to edit. Your equipment does not need to be the best but learns how to get the best out of it. Self-sufficiency as a content creator is key and economical.
How to build your audience is a slow and steady process. There are collaborations, highly recommended working with people in the same industry as you. Not highly recommended, buying followers and post promotion as it is an expensive habit that when you don’t, you will plunge into. Put your foot on as many platforms as possible and stay consistent as this gives clients more value which also increases your financial value.
Managing your finances: Save money by treating your earnings as the only money you can make. Payments sometimes are not consistent and also do come days after you have finished the job. Always read the contract to understand the terms of payment.
Be professional, simply abide by the contract, and do deliverables on time.
Understand the business side of the content creation world from negotiation, management, understanding how agencies work, whom to contact and costs of production.
Build a complete profile so that brands can understand what you do, specialisation, stats from past work and companies you have worked with. Have a professional email language; it is better to have your official name as your email address and also change how you introduce yourself to agencies/brands, get straight to the point.
No matter where you are in this industry, be patient. It is a marathon, not a sprint. It is hard to blow-up overnight.It may work out for a few, but for many, it’s a slow game. Things come to you when they are supposed to come to you -Joy Kendi
Full video below, enjoy!!
