Happy Diwali! It's a 'cracker' of a time in the Creator Economy!

Here’s wishing everyone a very Happy Diwali! Hope this Festival of Lights brings an explosion of likes, shares, and high engagement to all your content. May your CTR skyrocket and your subscriber count boom! May your algorithm be ever in your favor! ?????;)

Let's get started with this newsletter!?

Ever wonder what all the hullabaloo about the Creator Economy really is? Isn’t it about Creators making content and Consumers watching that content? So what's the big deal right? Well, let me tell you, there’s a LOT more than meets the eye! There are the Creators, the Channels (aka, Platforms), the Collaborators (aka Brands), the Commerce (aka merchandise, courses, etc), and finally, the Consumers (aka you and me!).?

I call it the -5Cs of Creator Economy’.?

And, I am so excited to share that I’m teaming up with Chris Redmond, to get into the ‘nuts & bolts’ of this fastest-growing economy through engaging and thought-provoking conversations with global leaders like Evan Shapiro, Jim Louderback, Phil Ranta, Fadi Radi, and Meredith Levine.?

Whether you are an emerging or established creator, a small or big brand, or simply a curious passerby, you just don't want to miss this action-packed Creator Economy Week! So mark your calendars right away and stay tuned for more info!?

Spotlight Story

If only I had a ton of fans and followers on my socials like YouTube, TikTok, Instagram, Facebook etc, I would have been thinking about launching a product line to sell to my audience. Perhaps, something that speaks to my content niche. Hmmm… I love photography - so maybe my line of creative photo frames! :)?

We all know that big, mega YouTubers such as Mr Beast, Marques Brownlee, Logan Paul have launched and started selling their lines of chocolates, wallpaper apps, and energy drinks. But what about the not-so-famous-yet creators??

This is what TikTok is set to solve for. By connecting manufacturers to creators of all sizes, it encourages a larger inventory of goods to be available for sale on its e-commerce platform TikTok Shop.?

I think it is a great backward-integration move, where TikTok’ers would not only continue to promote popular products but also be able to build their line of personalized products.

There goes my business Idea! True story. I have been toying with the idea of helping smaller creators make and launch their product lines to their niche audiences. There are existing players in this space, like Pietra. But with the platforms entering the fray, while owning the marketplace, the dynamics shift significantly!?

Research Reports

h/t to Jim Louderback for sharing this brilliant Creator Economy 2025 report from Ollie Forsyth. So many gems in the report. Apart from the context setting on the Creator Economy, the report dives into the AI impact, the top trends for 2025, Creator challenges, and thriving tactics! All this and more. Get a read on it!?

Another interesting report that surfaced this week was the 50 honorees of the Forbes Top Creators 2024. The report takes into account three factors: earning, entrepreneurship, and clout (follower and engagement ratio), creating a formula that evaluates and ranks each creator. No surprise that Mr Beast ranked as No. 1 for the third consecutive year. But there were 16 new entrants too. Cumulatively, these 50 listers earned almost $720 million over the last 12 months - Yes, you read that right!?

With most, if not all the listers drawing a substantial following from TikTok, I am curious about how the impending (?) TikTok ban in the US might affect their fandom. Considering that TikTok is banned in countries that have insane follower growth numbers such as India. If the ban really does go through, it might mean that the next Forbes Top Creators will have several ex-US names too.?

Around the Globe

• Irish University, South East Technological University (SETU) in Carlow, launched the first-ever 4 year Bachelor of Arts (Hons) Content Creation and Social Media course. Read more
• YouTube Shopping Affiliate Program launches in India. Just in time for the country’s biggest festival season that's expected to generate $50.57 Bn in turnover!?
• X’s loss is Bluesky’s gain! Bluesky announces $15 Mn fundraise and creator monetization plans
• After the Amazon-Mr Beast ‘no show’, the tech giant makes another effort to ride the creator economy by investing in the creator focussed firm, Spotter
• Estonia-based startup Modash has raised a $12 million Series A led by henQ, a Dutch VC firm. Modash connects brands with long-tail creators?
• Strong third-quarter results from Alphabet, primarily driven by YouTube grossing $8.9 Bn in ad revenue
• Speaking of YouTube, here’s a quick round-up of the Top 50 Most Viewed YouTube channels globally?

AI X Creator Economy

• Here comes a new kid on the Fediverse block - Loop. A platform for sharing short, looping videos and a competitor to TikTok??
• India welcomed leading AI figures, such as Meta’s Yann LeCun and NVIDIA’s Jensen Huang, signaling the country’s growing influence on the global AI stage.

My Corner

Current status in India: Festival mode ON, diet mode OFF, and my weighing machine just filed for emotional damages!???

Apart from the gluttony, in the past few days, met with some old friends and made some new ones ???? ???? - Hello! Prince Khanna is doing some seriously kickass work in creator marketing between India, UAE, and Indonesia. And Vivek Gour, an absolute pleasure to meet you!

Finally, a lot of backend work going on with Chris for putting together the upcoming Creator Economy Week! So stoked to see this coming together!! ?????????

Dad Joke of the Week?

Since these are eat-all-you-can-eat days - ‘I tried to steal spaghetti from the shop, but the female guard saw me and I couldn’t get pasta.’ ????

Hope you like this free newsletter? I’m still learning and this newsletter is still evolving. Would love your candid feedback. Anything you’d like to see more of, less of or least of! ??

I have held leadership roles in big tech sales & partnerships across Asia Pacific-Japan, North America, and Latin America. I’m a seasoned entrepreneur (EdTech) and a military veteran. I am a business author on the evolving Content and Creator Economy and a LinkedIn Top Voice on Team Management and Creator Economy.

Join our community for a midweek insight into the pulse of the global Creator Economy, delivered straight to your inbox. Email me at [email protected] or swing by www.MetaCogX.me (under construction).

Stay curious, keep exploring!