Another Wednesday, another newsletter. What’s going on, peeps?!

I have absolutely zero idea how it’s already March. I feel like I just moved to Colorado a few weeks ago and winter still hasn’t set in, but alas, summer approaches yet again.

While I’m not ready for the summer (ski season can’t be over, it just started 😨), I am very excited for things to come this spring.

From CreatorPad updates to personal adventures, this sunny season spells growth for myself and the world around me. One of those pieces of growth is in the form of a tiny little corgi puppy. While he’s currently about the size of a baked potato, he’ll be home in about a month and you already know I’ma use this lil dude as engagement bait.

Want puppy pics? Share this newsletter. 😈

Jokes aside, my girlfriend and I are super pumped for the new pup (and newsletter mascot), and I can’t wait for even more big things to come with CreatorPad and beyond. Speaking of CreatorPad, have you seen the new additions of the waitlist spot tracker and referral links to your pages? Check it out if you haven’t already!

Now let’s dive into the stories that are commanding, shifting, and creating the creator space. 😎 

Meta Stepping Up 👏 

Down but not out, Facebook is looking to pull in more creators with their expanded monetization opportunities. While not many think about going to Facebook to post, or even consume content, Facebook knows how to bring in the big girls and boys: the big bucks.

Whether expanding tools or adding new ones, let’s see how Zuck and Co are shaking things up.

• No more caps on monthly income: This one is wild to me because I can’t even believe a monthly cap was placed on Facebook creators. Again, they do mention that they’ll remove this cap for “eligible creators” (honestly who knows what that means), but regardless, at least it’s a step in the right direction. This update should be rolled out by mid-March, and I’ll give them some credit here, they do say it will roll out to “most creators” in the program. Again, vague, but that’s Meta for ya.

• More creators, more countries: Facebook mentions in this blog post that it will be expanding its “Performance Bonus” to creators in even more countries. The Performance Bonus is an invite-only program that helps select creators earn more money off of their FB content. Creators in Italy, France, Germany, Spain, Colombia, Argentina, Peru, the Philippines, Thailand, and Indonesia will now have the opportunity to get invited to this program.

• Performance-based payouts: Facebook continues its effort to pay out creators based on their post’s performance rather than based on the ads played on their content. This will push even more creators to repurpose, as good content will continue to permeate all platforms through repurposing, especially if it can earn creators more money.

Facebook is also set to add insight into all of these changes for their creators, so no one is feeling lost with any of the transitions rolling out. While Facebook was king and fell to the ugly duckling of content platforms, it’s cool to see them starting to cater to creators (better late than never, right?) and help folks in other countries earn more money through their content and passions.

Do you believe this is too little, too late for Facebook? Or can the social giant pull more creators back in and start to rise in popularity again? Let me know your thoughts, I would love some more opinions from the whole community on this one!

Major Shift from the Beast

This one is gonna be short and sweet, but I gotta call it out when literally the biggest creator and content trendsetter in the world calls out a new trend.

Remember hearing about the “Beastification” of YouTube? Where there are about a dozen cuts every three seconds, lots of yelling, over-the-top challenges, and just general extra-ness?

Yea well, Jimmy says it’s time to call it quits. In a recent tweet, MrBeast says:

Having this shift called out should be yet another wake-up call for creators who are making hyper-fast-paced, loud, and over-the-top videos to start exploring the sides of content that truly grasp audiences: storytelling, personality, and this might be the weirdest one, but I’m going to say time to consume and reflect on what has been consumed.

For so many years, the norm was having fast-paced content shoved down your throat so you can get to the next piece of content that will do the same, forcing you into that doom scroll flywheel.

Taking more room to emphasize care for craft will only allow deeper audience connection, more artistic and beautifully captured content, and actual takeaways rather than just having a few minutes of your day filled.

I’ve said this a lot over the last two years, but I’m seeing the shift to OG YouTube making a comeback. Personality will reign true and entertainment will likely turn to more backyard, low-lift content, rather than multi-million dollar productions (ok, maybe not in MrBeast’s case, specifically, but I’m speaking more generally across the space).

What do you readers think of this change? Is MrBeast trying to skirt the copycats so he can continue to remain the king of this content? Or is he truly making the transition? Being that he’s a creative through and through, I think he truly will make the shift, and we’ll see the rest of the internet follow suit.

👀 Exclusive Opps

As we all know, I love sharing opportunities with our community, especially if it means creators making more money and gaining more insight. So in this issue, I’m teaming up with Canopy to get you readers some potential monetary gains.

Canopy has partnered with the American Influencer Council (AIC) to shed light on the current state of creator-brand partnerships through a quick 3-minute survey.

So, if you’re looking for an opportunity to make some quick cash, complete this survey by Sunday, March 31 to be entered to win a $200 Amazon or Visa card!

And I’m dropping a bonus opp for all my NYC peeps! 🥂 

I’m gonna have FOMO, but I love Canopy and NYC so I have to shout this one out. Canopy will have a Creator Panel & Mixer on March 26th at the Shopify Studios in New York. Interested? RSVP Here!

New, Yet Nostalgic 😌 

Gorgeous. Moving. Emotional.

These are just three of a literal spinning wheel of adjectives that I could place on Jason De Leon’s content. Y’all already know I have a soft spot for cinematographic approaches to storytelling, and Jason’s beautiful content is no different.

While I just found Jason a week or two ago, I feel like I’ve been watching his content for years now. Something about the color, the vibe, the narration, and beyond suck you in and make it feel like the video you’re watching is shutting out the world around you. It’s captivating content, to say the least.

Like dude, how are you going to give me frisson from a showreel?! This is just one example of the absolutely unreal emotions evoked from Jason’s content.

Although Jason’s YouTube channel is a mixed bag of self-reflection, work showcases, commercials, short films, and beyond; when watching his content, you can’t help but feel like the amalgamation of these mediums are all culminating towards something great. Watching Jason’s content makes it feel like you’re on the cusp of something with him, and it makes every upload that much more exciting.

Whether it be his cinematography or editing, personal stories or stories made from scratch, it’s going to be no surprise when we learn that Jason is working on major projects or making massive strides on YouTube.

If you’re ready for some inspiration on your content, look no further than Jason’s channel, this will get you fired up to create this week, just like it did for me.

Keep up the incredible work, Jason!

Check out Jason’s channel

🗞️ In Other News

• YouTube mega group, the Sidemen moving away from chicken dinners and towards your balanced breakfast with the launch of their new cereal brand, Best Cereal. Honestly, growing up with cartoon characters all over cereal boxes, I’m open to a world where creators are jumping on the sugary sensation.

• Did someone say even more creator-based F&B? The Nelk Boys just made an expansion on their hit hard seltzer brand, Happy Dad, with the addition of Happy Dad Hard Iced Tea.

• Instagram is still feeling shameless when it comes to ripping off its competition. IG is apparently testing a SnapMap-like feature that allows you to track your friends.

• A Premium/Monetization tab just popped up on X, but it seems as though most X creators are either stuck on pending or have been paused for weeks. Shaky start to say the least, maybe we can get Elon trying to stroke MrBeast’s ego again to get a stride ahead here.

• Florida is still trying to ban social media for kids under 16. Ah yes, the only thing kids love more than social media, having politicians tell them what they can’t do! This will go swimmingly, I’m sure.

🤔 What Are Your Thoughts?

Do you want me to cry? Cause I’ll cry!

Super super massive thank you for the kind words shared by Jamie Lim! Hearing feedback and love like this gets me so fired up to create.

While I absolutely love writing and covering creator news and getting us all pumped up to create, receiving feedback and hearing that you readers get value from my writing is what makes it all worth it. So thank you so much again, Jamie. This got me hyped up and ready to write this week, and it’s all thanks to you!

🚀 Up Your Career as a Creator

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