Hindustan Times ST (Mumbai) - Brunch
Love and learning for content creators
A new book authored by millennials sets out the rules of the game
Imagine you’re an aspiring author and can refer to a book about the mistakes made by well-known authors, who used their learnings from those errors to build their careers. While such a book doesn’t really exist, two people working in the current scene of content creation on social media have written a guide for people interested in this vocation.
Keeping it niche
Booming Digital Creators, written by Harsh Pamnani and Manish Pandey, is based on the learnings and advice of current content creators. During the first lockdown, the two authors made a list of creators, got in touch with them with questions, and put the guide together.
“We based the first part of this book on content creators from different niches— Ujjwal is a gamer, Kavita is a chef, Team Naach comprises dancers. We will use the same concept through parts two and three of the guide,” says Harsh.
One of the stories in this guide comes from
Ashish Chanchlani. He had wanted to become an actor. But after being rejected several times, he started a Youtube channel to showcase his talent. Another creator who shared his story for the guide is Nikunj, aka Beyounick. He is a Govinda fan who loves Johny Lever, too. Based on this, he started doing skits and posting them on social media.
“Until content creators arrived, we only saw Bollywood actors and creators as celebrities,” say Harsh and Manish. “The main difference between the two kinds of celebdom is that actors or cricketers don’t necessarily use the products they endorse, while content creators do. This makes them much more real and strengthens their bond with their audience.”
Harsh adds, “Also, creators focus on a particular niche, which helps creativity and uniqueness, and allows them to bond with their fans. It also helps them improve in a focussed area.”
The writers reckon that the number of content creators in India will increase by 20 to 30 per cent by 2022. It’s all about quality, consistency and adding value, they s points will fall away.
Though numbers are important, they aren’t everything when it comes to niches, the writers claim. “For example, five million is a respectable number for comedy content but maybe 1k is good enough for finance. Numbers shouldn’t decide who’s a star and who’s isn’t,” they explain.
“THE KEY IS TO START WHEN YOU STILL HAVE A DAY JOB AND ONLY QUIT WHEN CONTENT CREATION STARTS PAYING YOUR BILLS” — HARSH PAMNANI AND MANISH PANDEY, AUTHORS
With reach comes responsibility
Content creators take social responsibility very seriously and need to be quite level-headed. They try to match their actions with what they put on social media. The best part? They don’t think they are celebrities. They also take feedback seriously. “They know they can’t be monotonous, so they are experimental and always trying to see what will work for their audience. And they value their audience’s time,” the duo add.
The key is to start when you still have a day job and only quit when content creation starts paying your bills. Also, you need to realise that you can’t do it alone, says the guide. Most times, you do need someone to handle the marketing aspect of the job. Millennial and Gen-z creators are very different in the way they make content, say Harsh and Manish.
“It’s clearly visible in the way they make content. Gen-z doesn’t fear anything, which makes them much more outspoken and bigger risk-takers. When it comes to understanding the technical aspects, Gen-z has the upper hand and their maturity is quite visible,” Manish says. That’s because millennials have learnt on the job while, thanks to those millennials, Gen-z has a basic blueprint available.
karishma.kuenzang@hindustantimes.com Follow @kkuenzang on Twitter and Instagram