Thank you to all who joined this Open Assembly Community Call as we welcomed Fiverr’s Influencer Marketing Manager, Blaine Doherty, and independent workforce expert, Steve King!
New research from MBO Partners found that an estimated 8.1 million independent creators in the U.S. earned money in the creator economy in 2022, and another 2.5 million plan to in the next year. These creators are driving sales, expanding customer audiences, and transforming businesses.
Checkout the conversation below to learn more about the trends driving future Creator Economy growth and the impact these workers are having in the open talent space.
Key points of discussion:
- AI Note Taking Bake Off
- Number of Independent Workers Growing Rapidly
- The Creator Economy Middle Class Problem
- Influencer Marketing Approach
- Fiverr Creator Economy Guide
- Ecosystem Strategies
- Traditional Online Talent Marketplace
- Tools & Utilities
- Customer Sector Distribution & Growth
- Value Shift To AI?
- Freelancer vs Creator
- Creator Community
Register for a free OA Community Membership here, and a calendar invite will follow.
OA Community membership is free to every platform, business, and individual engaged with, or interested in, the Open Talent community. Whether you represent an open talent platform, a business using freelance talent, or you are an independent freelancer, we welcome you as a member of the community. We hope you will engage in the conversations, invite colleagues to join the community, and help the Open Talent Economy grow and thrive.
Watch:
Chat Transcript:
00:08:02 Carin-Isabel Knoop (HBS): that is cool – we can see what team liquid does …
00:10:20 John Healy: old CEO of Kelly was a BIG gamer for stress release and “strategy”
00:17:02 Steve Rader: Never enough breakout time
00:17:18 Carin-Isabel Knoop: We use otter.io a bit and is good
00:17:31 Antonio Sadarić: Reacted to “We use otter.io a bi…” with 👏
00:17:48 Basler-Reeder, Kyle J: Love the breakout networking concept. Implemented it in some of my own events at work.
00:18:11 Vanessa Miller: Reacted to “Love the breakout ne…” with 👍
00:18:36 Basler-Reeder, Kyle J: brb
00:20:41 Julia Berchem: https://www.linkedin.com/in/juliaberchem/
00:21:01 Matt Jensen (MJ): Reconnection links for those who are not already connected: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jensenmatt/
www.33crickets.com
00:21:29 Fay Goldstein: https://www.linkedin.com/in/faygoldstein/
00:21:43 Frankie Wong: linkedin.com/in/frankie-wong-546156a9
00:22:20 Blaine Doherty: Hi Everyone!
00:22:29 Blaine Doherty: Hi Matt 🙂
00:22:38 Brandon Dwight: Steve King: https://www.linkedin.com/in/steveking2/
00:22:39 Matt Jensen (MJ): Reacted to “Hi Matt 🙂” with ❤️
00:22:58 Kathy Hardy: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kathyconsulting
00:22:59 Brandon Dwight: MBO Partners Report: Creator Economy: Staking Out New Territory: https://www.mbopartners.com/state-of-independence/creator-economy-report/
https://www.mbopartners.com/state-of-independence/creator-economy-report/
00:25:32 Fay Goldstein: Quick question. Will this be recorded? Would love to share with with my co-founder after 🙂
00:25:50 Ashley, UntapSocial: @Fay yes we record these and we’ll post the recording on the blog in the next day or so
00:25:54 Brandon Dwight: Transform Work Summit: https://open-assembly.com/transform-work
00:26:04 Vanessa Miller (Graphite): Reacted to “Transform Work Summi…” with 👏
00:26:07 Fay Goldstein: Reacted to “@Fay yes we record t…” with ❤️
00:27:04 Ben Ross: Did you do segmentation joining Generation and Platforms?
00:28:54 Steve Rader: Since this is global income .. do you have a way to show how those income levels fit with the global definition of middle class income (?)… obviously low for developed countries… maybe not in developing…
00:29:30 Balaji Bondili: I wonder if providers like MBO mediate this sector or is this run primarily as an S-Corp business vs. 1099 types
00:30:18 Brandon Dwight: Blaine Doherty: https://www.linkedin.com/in/blaine-doherty-6279389a/
00:30:33 Brandon Dwight: Fiverr Creator Economy Guide: https://business.fiverr.com/cp/fiverr-creator-guide
00:31:33 Steve King: Steve: I should have mentioned this, but our creator economy study is for the US only. So the income levels are for US based creators.
00:32:09 Ben Ross: Replying to “I wonder if provider…”
There are firms that do Influencer Marketing as their speciality, like Whistle Sports but many are independent creators.
00:33:47 Balaji Bondili: Replying to “I wonder if provider…”
I agree, I am trying understand if these are corp to crop/ credit card based transactions vs. mediated transactions with an EoR like an MBO or similar entities
00:33:59 Steve King: Balaji: MBO and others traditional suppliers mediate the freelancer side of creator’s business, but like most of the traditional providers don’t mediate their creator economy business. However, there are a lot of startups and others – including agency firms – that do mediate their creator economy work.
00:34:15 Balaji Bondili: Thank you Steve
00:35:10 Antonio Sadarić: Very interesting Blaine! Curious to hear your expert take on Bud Light move? Backlash or great community engagement?
00:35:33 Brandon Dwight: Fiverr Creator Economy Guide: https://business.fiverr.com/cp/fiverr-creator-guide
00:35:43 Fay Goldstein: I would love to know if there is any research on freelancers’/creators’ “purchasing power”. One pushback we hear for our SaaS platform for freelancers is the worry about their willingness to pay. Anyone have insight into the average budget for productivity/utility tools in the space?
00:35:52 Steve Rader: Reacted to “Steve: I should hav…” with 👍
00:38:38 Balaji Bondili: @Steve – much needed, our typical construct is “worker – employer” But, creators/ influencers dont really have an employer and as such, our typical mediators tend to ignore this space.
00:41:08 Ashley, UntapSocial: If you have questions or observations, please “raise your hand” with the Reaction emoji and we’ll do our best to get to you!
00:45:06 Steve Rader: You mention new skills… can you say more about how some freelancers using these platforms as a way to upskill/reskill… does your platform include these training programs?
00:46:01 Ben Ross: Reacted to “You mention new skil…” with 🧠
00:48:57 Todd Brous: @Steve and Blaine: Do you see this as a “healthy” ecosystem?
00:49:08 Ben Ross: Reacted to “@Steve and Blaine: D…” with 🧠
00:49:30 Balaji Bondili: Replying to “@Steve and Blaine: D…”
@Steve and Blaine: Do you see this as a “healthy” ecosystem?
00:49:48 Balaji Bondili: Replying to “@Steve and Blaine: D…”
Todd, does that mean there are sharks in the ecosystem for it to be healthy?! 🙂
00:49:56 Todd Brous: Reacted to “Todd, does that mean…” with 👍
00:50:22 Todd Brous: Replying to “@Steve and Blaine: D…”
@Balaji Bondili Yes! #sharks
00:51:04 Ashley, UntapSocial: Replying to “I would love to know…”
Great question!
00:51:17 Steve King: sking@emergentresearch.com
00:52:33 Fay Goldstein: Reacted to “Great question!” with 😌
00:52:48 Todd Brous: Reacted to “I would love to know…” with 👍
00:54:09 Steve King: Healthy is an interesting word:). I think it’s healthy in the sense that a lot of creators are generating income while pursuing a passion. I think it’s less health in the sense that a lot creators earn little and burn out quickly for a variety of reasons. I think as it matures, it will get healthier for more creators.
00:54:29 Vanessa Miller (Graphite): Reacted to “Healthy is an intere…” with 👍
00:54:36 Todd Brous: Reacted to “Healthy is an intere…” with 🤔
00:55:29 Todd Brous: Replying to “Healthy is an intere…”
Interesting. That implies the distribution of income across creators will flatten out. What will cause that?
00:56:37 Bozhanka Vitanova: Have to sign off a bit earlier, so nice meeting everyone!
00:56:43 Brandon Dwight: Reacted to “Have to sign off a b…” with 👍
00:56:53 Link: So nice to meet you!
00:58:06 Steve King: The industry goal is to increase the earnings of low and moderate income creators while the wealthy ones continue to make huge sums of money. I think the jury is still out on whether or not this will happen. Other creative fields suffer from the same issues,
00:58:46 Todd Brous: @Balaji: +1 Generative AI
00:58:54 Steve Rader: Anyone else wondering if this is really a deep fake of Balaji talking? hah
00:58:58 Ashley, UntapSocial: @balaji great question
00:59:08 Brandon Dwight: Reacted to “Anyone else wonderin…” with 😃
00:59:11 Ashley, UntapSocial: Reacted to “Anyone else wonderin…” with 😃
00:59:12 Ben Ross: Reacted to “Anyone else wonderin…” with 😂
00:59:13 Todd Brous: Reacted to “The industry goal is…” with 👍
00:59:19 Steve Rader: So like generative AI to bring up topics of generative AI
00:59:22 Todd Brous: Reacted to “Anyone else wonderin…” with 😂
00:59:27 Ashley, UntapSocial: Reacted to “So like generative A…” with 😂
00:59:32 Link: Reacted to “So like generative A…” with 🤣
00:59:35 John Winsor: Deep Fake.
00:59:45 Steve Rader: Reacted to “Deep Fake.” with 😂
01:01:18 Steve Rader: Got to run, but … as always.. great presentations and discussions. Thanks all!
01:02:54 Todd Brous: @Steve and Blaine: Thank you both for the great presentations and reports!
01:03:11 Basler-Reeder, Kyle J: Thanks for the discussion.
01:03:26 Todd Brous: (I know many artists who would disagree)
01:03:37 San Rahi: Thank you, and great to see everyone!
01:03:50 Antonio Sadarić: great perspective on AI being an extension of the human creator, super healthy mindset
01:04:35 Balaji Bondili: @Antonio, I wish economic follows thet healthy mindset
01:04:45 Antonio Sadarić: Reacted to “@Antonio, I wish eco…” with 👏
01:05:05 Brandon Dwight: Recording of this will be on the Open Assembly blog within a day or two. Thank you all!
01:05:20 Antonio Sadarić: Too much fear behind that change, and not enough hope created, to draw from change leadership best practices
01:05:32 Balaji Bondili: Reduce your employees and use freelancers is healthy for freelancers but not for employees. Buyers will lead with their wallets.
01:05:41 Antonio Sadarić: Reacted to “Reduce your employee…” with 👏
01:06:04 Ashley, UntapSocial: @Jon well said
01:06:13 John Winsor: I love it.
01:06:20 Steve King: @balai I hope so too! But you’re right that the economics have to work out.
01:06:41 Caitlin McGregor // NerdApp: Well said @jon!
01:06:54 Link: here here Jon!
01:07:07 Todd Brous: Reacted to “Reduce your employee…” with 👍
01:07:14 Balaji Bondili: Let’s ensure that we ring the alarm bells for all those people, GenAI is here to stay. Dont coddle them and hide them as that supports the freelance business model.
01:07:23 Bradley Cooper (SASR Workforce Solutions): Thank you everyone! Gotta run!
01:08:40 Brandon Dwight: Base hits win ball games! (That’s baseball for non-US friends)
01:08:56 Julia Berchem: Great to meet you all! Thanks for the invite, Ben!
01:08:59 Blaine Doherty: Thanks for having me!
