Hello hello hello, my creator nerds!

And an extra special welcome to the 20 subscribers that have hopped on board since the last issue, welcome to the party!

For some context for the new peeps in our fast-growing community, Cmd+Shift+Create is all about getting you fired up to keep creating content. Every Wednesday, I cover a story that’s commanding the creator space, shifting the landscape, and then I cover a creator who is crushing it in their niche and deserves more eyes on their content.

My goal with these weekly issues is to spark conversation, hear feedback and thoughts from you incredible readers, and overall, get the entire community hyped up to keep the content creation ball rolling. So thank you to all the new readers joining our community, I’m pumped to hear from you fine folks as you settle in! If you want to meet me (Luke), reply to this email, and let’s find time to chat, I always love hearing about creator journeys!

Now that we’ve welcomed our new team members, let me tell you what I got going on in my life. We’re about one week away from the corgi puppy coming home, and I’ll be sure to bless everyone with a picture as soon as we know which pup we’re gettin’! At the same time, we’re only a few weeks away from launching the beta version of our creator matching system on CreatorPad (if you want to be one of the first creators in the world with your hands on this tool, reply to this email and I’ll get you on the list 👀), which will be a massive stride taken for our very small team! Outside of that, it’s onward and upward, as always!

Now let’s dive into the latest stories in the creator space!

-Luke

Influencers Commanding Trust 🤳

Influencer marketing brand, Izea, is back with its yearly Trust in Influencer Marketing report, and as always, it’s chock full of goodies. Interviewing over 1,200 people, Izea covers prioritized platforms by different age groups, they uncover how many influencers certain age groups follow, and even shed light on purchasing habits and ad language effectiveness. Let’s check out the details:

• The first stat they jump into is regarding platform usage. I was surprised to find that over 50% of respondents use IG, FB, & YouTube. I thought that this was interesting being that TikTok does not fall into the above 50% range. But I think this may be because only 20% of their interviewee database was between 18-29 years old. Something tells me that number goes up as you lower the age group.

• On this same slide, you can see the usage of social platforms over the last three years. One thing that stood out to me is the usage of every platform across the board has fallen, with the exception of LinkedIn.

• Everyone in the group of interviewees follows influencers, which is no surprise if I’m being honest. I’d be more interested to learn what influencers these folks follow, and what they consider to be influencer content.

• The above stat is even more impressive when learning about how these influencers drive sales to their audience. Over 50% of respondents have purchased a product after seeing it used by an influencer. Now that’s wild and shows the true value of influencer marketing. Work with creators, and get your product into the hands of customers. 🤝 

• The next page makes me smile, because oh my god ad copy can be so bad sometimes. Over 50% of respondents believe that creator content is more influential than traditional ad content.

• Celebrities are out, creators are in! 61% of respondents say that they trust sponsored posts from creators more than an ad pushed by an A-list celeb.

• For folks under 45, the best way to get them to buy a product is by influencer posts. I’m genuinely confused by the fact that people still buy products from TV ads. I honestly couldn’t tell you the last time I watched a commercial outside of the Super Bowl (shoutout YouTube Premium).

• While we know influencer marketing works, as with everything, there are different strokes for different folks. For 26% of girls, TikTok & Insta are the best bets for ad placement. For 28.5% of guys, you might want to align with a creator for a YouTube ad.

I didn’t cover all the nitty gritty, but these were my biggest takeaways from the report. If you want to read it yourself, you can go ahead and check it out here! Did you find any of the above to be surprising or stand out? Let me know your thoughts on this report by replying to this email. I always love to keep the convos rolling!

Florida Bans Social Media for Kids 📵

You read that right, and no this time it’s not a joke. Florida has signed a law that will ban children under 14 from having social media accounts, and at the same time, require parental permission for 14 and 15-year-olds to create accounts on those platforms.

Let’s get into the need-to-know:

• This law, being one of the US’s most restrictive social media bans, prohibits children under 14 from having social media accounts. At the same time, it also requires parental permission for 14- and 15-year-olds. Did someone say fake IDs?

• This law will take effect on January 1, 2025, which gives us plenty of time to saw Florida off of the southern coast of America.

• Jokes aside, let’s figure out the why behind this wild move. This bill presents the argument that children are addicted to socials, and they lack the ability to understand just how addicting these platforms are.

• Honestly, as crazy as Florida’s moves can be, I kinda agree with them here. I don’t think a full ban is the move, but the effects of certain content formats and their addicting nature is definitely something that should be looked at, especially as it’s a relatively new phenomenon.

• Many companies and critics alike are citing the constitutionality of this law based on the means of free speech. But Florida's law is apparently focusing on banning social media formats with addictive features, rather than content itself.

• Although this is a crazy headline, the move to create safer spaces on the internet for children is a super important move and something that should be discussed, and have rules implemented (imho, at least).

There will be a ton of challenges when it comes to carrying out the specifics of this law, but the fact that it was passed may make other states follow suit. What do you readers think about the proposed ban for children? Is this a fruitless battle? Should we just leave things be? And most importantly, how will this be enforced? Let me know your thoughts by replying to this email!

The Nicest Player in the Most Toxic Game 😃 

Meet JebusKrispy!

Before I introduce you to Jebus, this is a reminder to check, and double-check all of your equipment before a recording. I sat with Jebus for about an hour-long interview and realized when I went to write this piece, that the audio wasn’t recorded. 🙃 

So, keep your eyes out for a proper interview with Jebus, but in the meantime, let me introduce you to the nicest person in the world’s most toxic game.

I found Jebus’ channel while watching another creator in the same niche who happened on Jebus during their gameplay. The creator whose video I was watching gave Jebus’ channel a shoutout, and from there, I was hooked.

For the uninitiated, Jebus plays the video game Rust, which is basically hell. It’s full of toxic players, you can’t trust anyone, and everything you’ve worked for can get ripped out right from under you in seconds. Sounds like fun, right!?

Well, while the game can be brutal, players like Jebus are what makes it so great. Jebus is chill & lighthearted while also being a super-talented player, making him the perfect person to create content in this niche.

From his gameplay to his story arcs to his killer thumbnails, and beyond, Jebus is setting himself up for continued success in this niche as he grows and gains more eyes on his content.

One of my biggest takeaways from watching Jebus’ content, and a reason why I believe he’ll continue to see success in his niche, is that he has fun with the creation process. When watching his content, you can tell that Jebus is enjoying the process which absolutely translates through the edits. As mentioned, because this video game can be so frustrating, watching someone have fun while progressing only makes you as a viewer want to start playing yourself.

If you want to be introduced to this hectic game by the nicest guy playing, look no further than Jebus. Be sure to check out his channel and give him a sub to support him on his journey!

 🗞️ In Other News

• Watch out Patreon, YouTube is apparently rolling out a “Members Only” feature, which will allow Shorts creators to hide content behind a paywall. Seems like a good way for Shorts creators to make money, but why not go to a Patreon instead? Own that audience!

• Jimmy Tatro, Nick Colletti, Cody Ko, and friends are back, and this time in a movie… on… Roku? You heard that right, The Real Bros of Simi Valley: High School Reunion will be coming out on Roku, and Wade STILL doesn’t burn.

• Spotify is turning to education with their roll out of video courses. Do I sense an opportunity for edutainment creators? Now that’s what I like to see.

🤔 What Are Your Thoughts?

If I made video content about these topics and stories, would you check ‘em out?! If that’s something that might be interesting to you, please let me know!

🚀 Up Your Career as a Creator

Hope you enjoyed this week’s post. See you next week ✌️