Why 99% of creators are broke 

97% of Creators Are Broke - And Most Don't Know Why

Let that sink in. The top 1% of creators generate over 90% of the total revenue on most platforms. If you're comfortable staying in the 97–99% who are broke, this letter isn't for you. But if you're someone who wants to feed yourself after dumping your brain online, keep reading.

You've been lied to. Told that if you just focus on creating content, six months later you'll be a millionaire. If it worked that way, there wouldn't be millions of creators who can't pay their bills. Dreams alone don't pay rent, and nothing will change unless you change.

The Trap Most Creators Fall Into

Here's what usually happens: you come in with the mindset that your life will change after six months of posting. You go to AI, generate six months of content, post consistently, and then the realization hits. It didn't work. And it won't, because after posting, who do you think is paying you? Ghosts.

Yes, some platforms pay AdSense revenue, but $50–$200 a month is barely enough to cover your bills unless you're living far from the city. That's not financial freedom. That's financial anxiety with a posting schedule.

The wrong strategy most creators follow is content-first, monetization later. It's not entirely your fault, that's what you were told. But if that's the strategy you're following, you're on track to fail, like I almost did.

The most common behaviors I see from broke creators:

• Giving away freebies with no follow-up and no paid product behind them
• Chasing sponsorships before building an audience that actually buys
• Ignoring email list building entirely
• Creating content for months without a single offer or product to sell

If any of those hit close to home, good. That's the first step to changing it.

The endless posting, the algorithm chasing, the refreshing your feed to count likes, these habits will cost you your time, your income, your energy, and eventually your motivation. You'll end up with a few followers, fragile platform-dependent revenue, and when anything changes on those platforms, you're back to square one.

My Story — How I Made the Same Mistake

In early 2024, I fell out of freelancing. I was tired of penny work, work that didn't challenge me. Every side hustle I'd started before, I'd quit after three to five months. This time, I wanted something I could stick to.

One day, a YouTube video appeared in my feed about how people were making money on LinkedIn, $10k a month within six months, 50k followers, the whole pitch. It was November 2024. After watching about 40 videos on LinkedIn strategy, I decided to dust off my seven-year-old LinkedIn account, one I'd barely opened twice a year, and give it a shot.

I set up my profile, posted my first piece of content in December 2024, and followed every piece of advice I'd been given. Six months later, I had made less than $1,000. I was confused. Every post I saw was talking about 20k, even 100k a month. I kept thinking I was doing something wrong.

What I didn't realize then: that creator who went from broke to six figures on LinkedIn? She probably started six years ago.

It was in the last six months of 2025 that I finally started doing what I should have done from the beginning. Instead of cold outreach, some creators say contact 50–100 people a day, which is not in my nature, I focused on creating content that made people reach out to me. I started learning how to build products people actually need. I positioned my offer for the right audience.

The first product didn't perform well. I'm now building a second one, the first I've spent more than 40 hours on. But within those last six months, I reached five figures through my content alone. I stopped tracking likes. I started tracking impressions, inbound inquiries, and email list growth. That shift changed everything.

"I can't write great content if I'm worrying about my rent. Since I started focusing on money, I started doing better work."

I'm not earning the big numbers yet, but I can sit comfortably and write this letter without worrying about what to eat or debts to pay. As a creator just starting, make income your first goal, but not your only goal.

The Big Pivot: Product-First, Content Second

Here's the reframe that changed everything for me: spend your first month creating a product, and the next five months creating content that sells it.

You do not need millions of views to launch a product. You just need enough interested people. When you have a product, your content becomes sharper and more intentional, you stop writing for likes and start writing for customers. That's a fundamentally different standard.

Ask yourself this: How many customers did my content get? not how many likes did it get?

Right now, I spend more time on my product and client work than I do on content. My content creation takes about 90 minutes a day, long-form writing that gives me more than enough for all my platforms for the week. I work less than six hours a day total. The rest goes toward product development and client projects.

If your content creation time is longer than your money-making time, you're on your way to burnout.

When I ask creators who aren't making much money how they allocate their time, the answer is almost always the same: 85% on content, 15% on product. It should be the other way around.

A Practical 90-Day Plan to Go From Content Creator to Product Owner

Follow this step-by-step. Copy and paste it somewhere you'll see it every day, because the brain needs constant reminders.

Days 0–15: Audit & Small Bets

• Audit your audience and your top-performing content
• Pick one offer to test, a micro product priced between $5–$50
• Write a one-page sales pitch and a short email sequence
• Run a one-off pre-sell campaign to your email list and social channels

Days 15–50: Validate & Ship

• Run the pre-sell, collect feedback, and early testimonials
• Build a simple delivery format, PDF, video, or template
• Set up a basic checkout page using Gumroad or Stan Store
• Use an email platform like Kit (ConvertKit) for automation so you can sell on autopilot

Days 50–90: Scale & Systemize

• Turn your validated offer into a repeatable funnel: lead magnet → nurture → sales
• Add an upsell or membership option
• Set weekly financial targets and track simple metrics: conversion rate and revenue per subscriber
• Post and promote your lead magnet in your content at least three times a week
• Improve your welcome and nurture email sequences as you go

Which Monetization Model Is Right for You?

For creators with small but engaged audiences, the fastest path to real revenue comes from three models:

• Digital products, create once, sell repeatedly
• Services (freelance or consulting), monetize skills you already have
• Pre-sales, validate before you build

These work because they don't require mass reach or long ad funnels. A small, engaged audience can generate meaningful cash quickly when you have the right offer in front of them. Pick the path that fits your current schedule and audience size. Start simple, then scale.

How to Launch Your Product the Right Way

If you build a product no one asked for, launch it, and expect sales to pour in, you'll wake up to nothing. Here's how to do it properly.

Pre-Sell Before You Build

You don't need to finish the product before you start selling it. Pre-selling validates your idea so you don't waste weeks building something nobody wants. I made that mistake once. Now, every product I create gets pre-sold first.

Create a simple sales page on Gumroad or Stan Store. Send your email list a message letting them know the product is in development and they can get it at a lower price before the beta release. You can sweeten the deal with a one-on-one call or any add-on that gives early buyers a reason to act now.

Keep Your Launch Assets Minimal

You do not need a fancy landing page for your first digital product. Gumroad works fine and takes no more than three hours to set up. Your welcome email sequence should be three to five emails, no more. Keep it simple enough that you can maintain and improve it as you go.

Create two social posts to introduce your pre-sale to your social audience. Don't over-promote on social, people will unfollow fast. A short demo video on your sales page helps too; it lets people see exactly what they're buying and builds trust.

Use Testimonials and Scarcity — Ethically

People buy what other people are already buying, especially when others are speaking well of it. Collect testimonials from early buyers and feature the ones that describe a specific result your product helped them achieve.

Use scarcity when launching, let buyers know the first 20 people get a special bonus, or that early access is at a lower price. But be truthful. If you say an offer ends on a certain date and it's still available the next week, you've taught your audience they can't trust you.

If you need to extend an offer, be transparent: let your list know the deadline has been extended briefly, clearly explain why, and clarify what the original buyers get that new buyers won't, keeping your word to the people who acted first. That kind of integrity builds a loyal audience that trusts you every time you launch something new.

Tools and Platforms to Get Started (Keep It Simple)

You don't need the latest, most expensive tools to make money online. You need three things:

1. A social media platform
2. An email service provider
3. A place to host and sell your product

For email: I recommend Kit (ConvertKit). It was built by a creator for creators. You can send newsletters, build automations, segment your list, and more. Send at least one newsletter per week and include your product link at the bottom, every email becomes a free ad for your product.

For selling your product: You don't need to be a web designer or pay thousands for a custom page. Use one of these:

• Gumroad - great for digital downloads
• Payhip - good for digital downloads and online courses
• Stripe - for more direct payment processing

Start simple. You can scale later. In the beginning, you need speed, not perfection.

Pricing and Positioning: Keep It Straightforward

You've heard all the pricing advice, don't go too high, don't go too low, do the math, follow the rules. Here's the simple version: look at what your competitors are charging, price close to that, and beat them with your offer.

The three common pricing tiers to consider:

• Micro offer: $7–$49 — low barrier to entry, great for building trust and getting your first customers
• Flagship course: $97–$499 — your core educational product
• High-ticket offer or service: one-on-one coaching, consulting, or done-for-you work based on skills you already have

Most creators start with the high-ticket option because it leverages existing expertise. But regardless of where you start, the pricing is secondary. What matters is that someone actually buys what you're selling.

You Can Do This — But You Have to Change the Game You're Playing

You did not get into this to become a starving artist. You got into this because you wanted freedom, to do work you love, on your own terms, without being crushed by financial anxiety. That goal is real, and it's achievable, but not by playing the algorithm game everyone else is playing.

The creator economy is not a hunger game you win by posting the most. You win by building something people can buy. Start with one product, one platform, one email list, and make your content work for that product, not instead of it.

You know what needs to change. The only question is whether you're going to change it. The steps are laid out in front of you. Follow them, come back to this letter when you need a reminder, and stop waiting for the algorithm to reward you with a life it was never designed to give you.

Build the product first. Let the content sell itself. Stack the income. Then scale.

P.S. I also have the 90-Minute Writer, stay awake for that. It's the first product I've invested more than 40 hours into building. If you're serious about this, start there.