AWeber Blog The creator economy in 2025: 9 experts on how to survive and thrive

The creator economy is a growing sector where individuals use digital platforms to create and share content, build communities, and, ultimately, make money. In 2024, the creator economy is valued at a whopping $250 BILLION and is expected to nearly double by 2027.  This booming sector offers unprecedented opportunities for creators who know how to navigate this dynamic and evolving market. But how do you know you’re doing it right? Things change fast, and staying informed of the industry's latest best practices can be a full-time job.  To help you navigate your way to the top of the creator economy, we reached out to nine experts. Each one of them knows the ins and outs of the creator economy, so we asked what they think the best moves are for content creators in the next 6 - 12 months. Specifically, we asked them four major questions: 1. How concerned are you about the economy in the next 6 - 12 months, especially for creators?2. Could you rate that concern on a scale of one to ten, with one being the lowest?3. What are you doing to adjust your business to adapt to this new environment?4. What do you recommend other creators do right now to survive and even thrive through the next year or so? How worried are they? Surprisingly, the experts we talked to aren’t losing any sleep over fears of the creator economy tanking any time soon.  Five of our nine experts weren’t concerned at all (1-2 rating) Three of our experts feel things could go either way (5-6 rating) The average score of everyone’s rating for how concerned they are? Just 2.9 out of 10. Just check out this word cloud of their answers: What stands out? Creators, sure. Content, yep. What else? Community. Help. Support. Audience. People.  Across the board, every one of our experts gave pretty much the same advice: build a community. Find a group of people who genuinely appreciate and value your work. Get to know that community really, really well.  Solve their problems. Connect to them.Then – and only then – offer them paid solutions and support for those problems. Why “focus on building a community” is great advice  People who are well-connected, visible, and contribute to communities tend to have more opportunities. The people they are connected to “know, like, and trust” them, so they’re aligned with that golden rule of sales and marketing. They get more work, even in downturns. And they’re well-enough connected to know when and how to pivot if that becomes necessary. Those are the key takeaways from the answers we got: Most of these creators/advisors aren’t very worried about how creators will fare in the future, and they recommend every creator focus on building a specific audience/community. But a lot of other issues came up. For that, it’s best to let these nine experts speak for themselves. 1. Samantha North, PhD Content Strategy Coach for Expertise-Led Service Businesses SamanthaNorth.comLinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/northsamantha/ How concerned are you about the economy in the next 6-12 months, especially for creators? Could you rate that concern for me on a scale of one to ten, with one being the lowest? I’m not overly concerned. The way I see it, creators who have a hyper-specific niche that solves a genuine problem for people, will still be able to build and grow an evergreen online business. The trick is to identify unique problems that you as an individual creator are ideally positioned to solve. In most cases, online creators also have the advantage of a lean business model with low overheads and easy to pivot if needed. What are you doing to adjust your business to adapt to this new environment? Previously I did most of my marketing via SEO, but I’m now expanding my presence across multiple platforms, including search, social, YouTube and of course building my email list. My goal is to create what I call a “brand universe” rather than just having a presence in organic search, even though that’s still very powerful. I believe this is the best way to guard against algorithm updates and the like. Otherwise, businesses will always need more leads, and I help them get those, so I'm not overly worried about my business model itself. What do you recommend other creators do right now to survive and even thrive through the next year or so? My advice is to make sure you build an authentic brand online, rather than relying only on one narrow platform. Diversify as much as you can, using AI to help you if needed. Alongside building your brand, put your community at the forefront. Your ideal client pain points should form the jumping off point for most of your content strategy, and of course your product or service itself. 2. Juan Galán Politi Social Media Expert / Coach ShootWithJuan.comInstagram: shootwithjuan How concerned are you about the economy in the next 6-12 months, especially for creators? Could you rate that concern for me on a scale of one to ten, with one being the lowest? I don't think there is anything to be concerned about. The creator economy is a thriving economy. More and more people are finding they can turn their passion or hobby into a full-time career and build successful online businesses with little or even 0 investment. People are consuming more content than ever, whether it is through social media, blogs, etc. Content creators that are smart about it can easily start monetizing their online audiences and their content. I'd rate my concern for this question as 1. What are you doing to adjust your business to adapt to this new environment? It's been a crazy year for business growth and it's grown to levels I would have never imagined. What did I do? I built an online community around a specific topic, addressed my community problems with my content, and offered solutions. I'm more adjusting myself to this rapid business growth, rather than adjusting my business to a new environment. Very excited to continue seeing it grow. What do you recommend other creators do right now to survive and even thrive through the next year or so? Honestly, the best thing any creator looking to succeed can do is to build a strong online community. Choose one platform (ideally one in social media) and start creating consistent content and building relationships. Once you have a decent community (not saying you need thousands and thousands of people) but a decent, engaged community, they can start thinking about how to offer "paid solutions" to the main problems anyone in their community has. 3. Shawn Fink Business Coach and Spiritual Consultant for soul-led creators and entrepreneursShawnFink.comlinkedin.com/in/shawnfink/ How concerned are you about the economy in the next 6-12 months, especially for creators? Could you rate that concern for me on a scale of one to ten, with one being lowest? I am holding steady around a 6 right now. In many of my circles, the pinch is definitely already under way and it’s hard to say which way it will go at this point. I would like to have trust that we’ll be able to steer clear of it but it’s definitely a worry. What are you doing to adjust your business to adapt to this new environment? I have been reducing my expenses for a few months now and trying to run a lean business machine. I am also planning to talk to my bank about a line of credit to use if things take a downturn. I am also adding in a few other revenue streams that might be more recession proof.  The biggest thing I did when the pandemic seemed to slow things down was take on a more consistent client that I know will be good for a while. I call it my side hustle but it’s a higher paying and more consistent remote client for me to work for around the edges of my coaching business.  What do you recommend other creators do right now to survive and even thrive through the next year or so? First, you always have to do what you need to do to feel safe and secure. So if that means look for a part-time job, so be it. Family comes first in my world. As does the mortgage. The great thing about being a creator is that it can always happen in the margins of our lives -- get up early, stay up later. Being a creator doesn't stop in a recession. But paying your bills should always be a primary focus. There’s no shame if you have to work at Starbucks to make ends meet. Your financial wellbeing is such a huge piece of your overall well being. So tend to it like it’s a priority not an afterthought.  Second, start creating safety nets -- like a line of credit from your bank or through another lender -- and perhaps a bit of a cash infusion right now before the bottom drops out. If it doesn’t, you’ll be in good shape. If it does, it will buy you a few months.  Diversify. What else can you do in the meantime to ensure you have some income coming in? Can you target a different but stable industry right now to get you shored up for upcoming months?  Finally, ask for help. You’d be so surprised who is willing to help you when times are hard. We forget that resilience evaporates in solitude. We need to help each other. We’re meant to help each other. So reach out and share your story and what you need.  4. Paula Rizzo Media Consultant, Author, SpeakerPaulaRizzo.comPaula’s Checklist to Become a Go-To Media Expert How concerned are you about the economy for the next 6-12 months, especially for creators? Could you rate that concern for me on a scale of one to ten, with one being lowest? It's always important to keep your eye open for what's happening in the world and how it might affect your business. I'm about a 5 on a scale of one to 10. It's definitely concerning and something to keep an eye on but I won't be doing anything drastic.  What are you doing to adjust your business, your marketing, or your content to adapt to this new environment? I was a network tel