Why Creators Are Making More Money Off Social Media Than On It
Sierra Fernald just launched her first course, "The Escape Plan"
In 2025, the term 'influencer' no longer tells the full story. According to Kajabi's new State of Creator Commerce report, over half of content creators now identify as entrepreneurs. This is a shift that marks a new era in the creator economy. Unlike the social-first creators who rely solely on brand partnerships or platform bonuses, 'entrepreneurial' creators are building businesses that go beyond the social platforms, tapping into digital products and services to generate real, sustainable income.
Not only are these entrepreneurial creators earning more, they're also feeling more confident. Kajabi's data shows that entrepreneurial creators make 25% more than their social-first counterparts and are 20% more likely to report higher self-confidence and self-esteem. With platform volatility on the rise (for example, fears of a TikTok ban or ongoing political concerns around Meta), creators are actively bringing their monetization strategies off-platform and into their own hands. Perhaps one of the most essential aspects of all, you don't need hundreds of thousands of followers to do it. Some of today's most successful creators are thriving with audiences under 20K.
Hailey Young made $2,000 in her first weekend selling digital products.
When Hailey Young launched her YouTube quilting channel in 2021, she was a stay-at-home mom earning about $500/month through AdSense and affiliate links. 'The idea of needing to double or triple my video output just to increase my income felt impossible,' she says. In 2023, everything changed when she launched her first digital product and ran a flash sale to a long-forgotten email list resulting in an additional $2,000 in one weekend.
That single decision unlocked a six-figure business. 'I realized I didn't need to create more content—I needed to build smarter systems,' Young explains. With funnels and flash sales, she built a repeatable revenue stream that gave her financial control outside of the algorithm. 'Digital products felt like flipping on a money faucet,' she says. 'Now I have real control over my income—and a business I can sustain.'
Sierra Fernald just launched her first course, "The Escape Plan"
Sierra Fernald's journey began with her sharing travel moments online and landing the occasional brand deal. But after years of chasing the algorithm and spending countless hours pitching and negotiating, she realized she needed a better system. 'It was like being in a constant loop of trying to prove my worth,' she says. 'One month I'd land great deals, and the next, crickets.'
Now Fernald is shifting away from brand reliance and into entrepreneurship, building her first course, "The Escape Plan", designed to help others build nomadic, sustainable lives. 'It's not necessarily making me more just yet, but the hope is that it creates breathing room—to create from inspiration, not stress.' Her long-term vision is a business that serves her community directly, without relying on whether Instagram decides to show her content to three people—or 30,000.
Prasha Dutra has generated $850,000 in total revenue.
TEDx speaker and founder of the Believe in Your Brilliance Academy, Prashha Dutra built a coaching business that has generated $850,000 in total revenue, helping more than 600 women secure $200K+ jobs. She's no stranger to the content game—but she's clear about where she places her energy: 'Brand partnerships and content monetization can be unpredictable and often undervalue your expertise,' she says.
Instead, Dutra built a service-based business around her deep expertise in career coaching for women in STEM. 'Many content creators make the mistake of diversifying too early,' she explains. 'The deeper I went into my niche, the more valuable my services became.' What began as a podcast evolved into a high-ticket, high-impact business that has outpaced most influencer brand deals and given her full autonomy in the process.
Entrepreneurial creators are shifting the narrative away from vanity metrics and toward meaningful income. They're building memberships, launching digital downloads, creating online courses, selling e-books, and generating podcast revenue. With more predictability, more autonomy, and often more alignment with their values, these off-platform ventures are turning creators into business owners.
As these creators prove, you don't need a massive audience to pull it off. As these three creators show, success in the creator economy isn't about follower count, it's about building something sustainable, intentional, and truly your own.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Forbes
an hour ago
- Forbes
Why Tech, Not Headcount, Should Power Scalable Hiring
Kehinde Fawumi, Principal Product Leader at Amazon. Built and scaled multiple products across startups, scale-ups and Fortune 500 companies. When hiring needs surge, most companies respond in the most familiar way—by hiring more recruiters to hire more people. What happens when growth slows or reverses, though? If 2023 taught us anything, it's that scaling up is only half the equation. Organizations must also build the capacity to scale down without destabilizing their recruiting operations. Between 2020 and 2022, industries such as e-commerce, big tech, pharmaceuticals and healthcare expanded headcount at unprecedented rates. By 2023, as growth momentum stalled, many organizations were forced into significant layoffs. Amazon cut approximately 27,000 roles, Meta eliminated about 21,000 jobs, Google reduced its workforce by around 12,000, and Microsoft followed with a similar reduction of 10,000 employees. Recruiters were often among the first to go because recruiting operations at many companies remain people-intensive. When hiring slows, the workforce powering those operations is often deemed surplus. This reveals a key imbalance: While companies know how to grow fast, they often struggle to scale down efficiently and sustainably. Tech As A Force Multiplier To break this cycle, companies should adopt technology not as a replacement for people but as a force multiplier. The objective is to reduce reliance on manual effort across the hiring journey, enabling recruiting teams to scale hiring activity up or down rapidly, efficiently and without significant disruption. By embedding automation and intelligent tools throughout the recruiting life cycle, organizations can: • Increase Efficiency: Reduce time-to-hire, cost-per-hire and recruiter workload. • Improve Effectiveness: Identify and engage high-quality candidates with greater accuracy. • Enhance Experience: Provide faster, clearer and more engaging interactions for candidates. • Advance Equity: Reduce bias by basing hiring decisions on structured, science-backed assessments. A tech-enabled recruiting system could flex smoothly with changing hiring needs and wouldn't require mass hiring or mass layoffs to function. While many companies have begun integrating technology into their hiring processes, most still fall short of full automation. A common issue is disconnected systems, where tools don't integrate, data doesn't flow and processes become fragmented. This leads to inefficiencies, delays and poor experiences for both candidates and recruiters. Building A Smarter Hiring Stack Over the past few years, I've led teams building recruiting platforms that needed to survive market volatility, from hypergrowth phases hiring hundreds monthly to sudden freezes lasting quarters. These experiences taught me that resilient recruiting systems require intentional design from day one. At inception, I researched external recruiting teams across industries and engaged our internal recruiting teams to understand core requirements. This revealed four essential aspects: predictive accuracy (identifying high-quality talent most likely to succeed), efficient operational scalability (handling 100 hires or 10,000 equally well without breaking budgets), equity (giving every applicant equal opportunity) and efficiency (optimizing time and cost to hire). Features that contribute to these core requirements are prioritized as must-haves. Other features that improve convenience without moving the needle are classified as nice-to-haves such as dashboard views, niche integrations and aesthetic enhancements. The most complex challenge I faced was recognizing top talent in its many forms. Partnering with industrial-organizational psychologists, we discovered that traditional screening missed exceptional candidates such as career changers, self-taught professionals and those with nontraditional backgrounds. We improved through adaptive online assessment technology that adjusted questions based on responses, scenario-based simulations for testing problem-solving ability and multiple competency pathways like asking engineering candidates to fix faulty code rather than write from scratch. Technology amplifies rather than replaces human capabilities, and it has enabled our recruiting teams to scale their impact without scaling headcount. Our platforms handle repetitive work like screening, evaluation, communication and scheduling so recruiters can focus on relationship-building and closing candidates. We designed explicit handoff points where technology passed qualified candidates to humans (the final decision makers) with rich context for improved decision making. Addressing The Tough Questions Naturally, introducing technology into recruiting raises valid concerns, many of which deserve thoughtful attention: What about algorithmic bias? What if AI tools produce false or misleading results? Does this reduce the human connection in hiring? Will recruiters become obsolete? These questions define key responsibilities: • Measure Progress: Companies must establish clear metrics to evaluate how AI and automation affect hiring outcomes, bias and candidate satisfaction. They should review these metrics continuously and make adjustments based on data. • Bias And Fairness: AI systems are only as good as the data they're trained on. If left unchecked, they can reflect or even amplify existing biases. Companies should prioritize regular audits, inclusive datasets and ethical guardrails to ensure fairness and accountability. • Human Connection In Hiring: Technology should not replace people but reposition them. Recruiters can shift their focus from screening resumes to building relationships, influencing candidate decisions and championing the employer brand. AI can do the heavy lifting; people can focus on what truly matters such as trust, storytelling and closing. • Compliance And Accessibility: Any recruiting technology must meet regional labor laws and accessibility standards. This includes accommodating candidates with disabilities and ensuring equal access across geographies and demographics. • Data Privacy: Recruiting involves handling sensitive personal data. Tools must comply with global privacy regulations such as GDPR and CCPA and prioritize transparency, candidate consent and secure data practices. Final Thought Hiring is among the most consequential activities any company undertakes. Too often, however, the systems behind it are brittle—swelling during periods of hypergrowth and collapsing under the weight of a downturn. In today's dynamic talent landscape, our recruiting infrastructure must evolve. It needs to be as adaptive and resilient as the businesses it supports. We should stop treating hiring systems like staffing agencies and start designing them to be scalable, measurable, secure and candidate-centered. By embracing intelligent, ethical and well-integrated technology, companies can future-proof their recruiting function and deliver efficient, effective and equitable processes at scale. Forbes Technology Council is an invitation-only community for world-class CIOs, CTOs and technology executives. Do I qualify?
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
HelloFresh and No Kid Hungry Launch Hunger Hero Campaign to Combat Summer Hunger
HelloFresh rallies support to raise awareness and fight hunger with new 'Hunger Heroes' initiative – including TikTok stars and chefs Tini Younger, Eitan Bernath and more. NEW YORK, June 23, 2025--(BUSINESS WIRE)--HelloFresh, the world's leading meal kit provider, and No Kid Hungry, a campaign focused on ending childhood hunger, announced today the "Hunger Hero" campaign to raise awareness of rising hunger across the US. The meal kit brand is tapping celebrated online chefs and dedicated hunger relief advocates, including Tini Younger, Eitan Bernath and Becca and Justin Schwartz, to serve as ambassadors of the campaign and raise awareness of childhood food insecurity during the summer months, inspiring others to join in the cause. In the US, 1 in 5 kids face hunger. This staggering reality is only heightened during the summer months when kids are out of school and lose access to the dependable nutrition they get at school during the academic year. Impending cuts to SNAP and other critical programs, coupled with a looming crisis for food banks, threaten to make the issue even worse. Galvanizing Hunger Heroes to Help Fight Food Insecurity Through a combination of social- and event-led initiatives, the Hunger Hero campaign will provide individuals with a call-to-action to help address childhood hunger in their own communities. HelloFresh kicks off the program today with a series of distribution events in New York City, NY; Atlanta, GA; and Phoenix, AZ where families can access free HelloFresh meal kits filled with nutritious, family-friendly recipes, along with vital resources on summer EBT, SNAP benefits and information on where to access support through No Kid Hungry. Each event will be joined by a notable "Hunger Hero," an influencer, chef, and or "foodie" who is actively committed to fighting food insecurity in their own communities. Tini Younger, who volunteers in her own backyard at Atlanta Mission, Eitan Bernath, a high-level supporter of the United Nations World Food Programme; and Becca and Justin Schwartz, who actively volunteer with Feed My Starving Children by hosting community volunteer events with their followers, will all serve as Hunger Heroes, providing assistance and awareness about the issue. Beyond hosting these events, each Hunger Hero will call upon their followers to commit to fighting hunger — whether through donating to No Kid Hungry, volunteering at a local food bank or even simply raising awareness in their own communities. For every like, share, or comment on campaign-related posts, HelloFresh will make a donation to No Kid Hungry in support of their vital work feeding families year-round up to $10,000 from June through August. The meal kit brand will also be running a social media campaign spotlighting everyday hunger heroes — including food bank leaders and educators — to spotlight the important work they do every day and inspire the brand's followers to join in the cause. "From my time volunteering at Atlanta Mission, I've met many families trying their best, but struggling to put meals on the table," said viral chef Tini Younger. "Fighting food insecurity is deeply important to me. Being a part of this campaign is not just about food. It's about dignity, joy and the chance for kids to be kids." "Every day, we're witnessing more families struggling with hunger — and during the summer months, the need becomes even more urgent," said Adam Kalikow, Senior Vice President and Managing Director at HelloFresh US. "That's why we're doubling down on our efforts to help close the summer hunger gap. By partnering with some notable 'hunger heroes' like Tini, Eitan, Becca and Justin, we're able to bring more attention to this growing issue while making a tangible impact. We invite everyone to get involved and look forward to spotlighting hunger heroes across the country — those stepping up and making a real difference in their communities." "We're incredibly thankful for the continued support from HelloFresh to combat childhood food insecurity," said Allison Shuffield, Managing Director of Corporate Partnerships. "At a time of increased need, the support from corporations like HelloFresh is that much more important to ensure children are not going hungry this summer." To learn more about how HelloFresh and No Kid Hungry are fighting childhood food insecurity and to join the Hunger Hero movement in the action, please visit or @HelloFresh on social media. ABOUT HELLOFRESH HelloFresh is the world's leading meal-kit company, providing customers with fresh, high-quality ingredients to cook delicious meals at home. By delivering pre-portioned ingredients and easy-to-follow recipes directly to customers' doors, HelloFresh helps busy individuals and families enjoy home-cooked meals without the hassle of meal planning and grocery shopping. HelloFresh was voted the Most Trusted Meal Kit Delivery Service in America from 2021 through 2023 by Newsweek. For more information, visit or follow HelloFresh on Facebook, X, Instagram, or TikTok. ABOUT HELLOFRESH GROUP The HelloFresh Group is a global food solutions group and the world's leading meal kit provider. The HelloFresh Group consists of eight brands that provide customers with high quality food and recipes for different meal occasions including HelloFresh, Green Chef, EveryPlate, Chefs Plate, Factor, Youfoodz, The Pets Table and Good Chop. The Company was founded in Berlin in November 2011 and operates in the USA, the UK, Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg, Australia, Austria, Switzerland, Canada, New Zealand, Sweden, France, Denmark, Norway, Italy, Ireland and Spain. In Q1 2024 HelloFresh Group delivered over 272 million meals globally. HelloFresh SE went public on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange in November 2017 and is currently traded on the MDAX (Mid-Cap German Stock Market Index). For more information, visit ABOUT NO KID HUNGRY No child should go hungry in America. But millions of kids in the United States live with hunger. No Kid Hungry is working to end childhood hunger by helping launch and improve programs that give all kids the healthy food they need to thrive. This is a problem we know how to solve. No Kid Hungry is a campaign of Share Our Strength, an organization committed to ending hunger and poverty. View source version on Contacts Abigail Dreherprusa@ Sign in to access your portfolio
Bloomberg
4 hours ago
- Bloomberg
Apple Crashes Tech's Formula One Party as Money Behind ‘F1'
Welcome to Tech In Depth, our daily newsletter with reporting and analysis about the business of tech from Bloomberg's journalists around the world. Today, Austin Carr reports on the tech industry's branding effort with Formula One racing, including Apple's backing for a new movie to be released later this week. Perplexity's suitors: Meta held discussions with artificial intelligence search startup Perplexity AI about a possible takeover before moving ahead with a multibillion-dollar investment in Scale AI. And Apple executives have held internal discussions about a potential bid for the startup, seeking more AI talent and technology.
