Embracing Entrepreneurship in the Creator Economy

Written by Oliver Buckley, Ph.D. candidate at the University of Liverpool, UK

Content creators—individuals who grow an audience and monetize their online content—are at the center of the thriving creator economy, a global market valued at over 200 billion USD and comprising more than 50 million people worldwide (Peres et al., 2024). What was once the niche realm of hobbyists uploading personal videos to the Internet has now evolved into a professional market offering significant opportunities for income generation and reshaping how we think about content, branding, and contemporary business models.

Despite seismic valuations and booming popularity, questions still loom over the creator economy, including about the longevity and sustainability of content creation as a career path. An industry survey by WifiTalents (2025) revealed that the average content creator’s career spans less than five years, highlighting that creators face substantial challenges in transforming passion projects into lasting, scalable ventures.

For marketing scholars Alexander Edeling and Simone Wies, this warranted further investigation. In their study, ‘Embracing entrepreneurship in the creator economy: The rise of creatrepreneurs,’ Edeling and Wies provide a novel conceptualization of content creators as entrepreneurs, identifying the various business models that creators use and the key drivers of entrepreneurial success within the creator economy. In doing so, they draw on complementary research interests in marketing, finance, and innovation, as Edeling notes: “Simone and I are a bit like twins in terms of research. We are good friends who influence each other… [and we like] bringing different perspectives in from different disciplines.”

This study was inspired by research Edeling and Wies conducted on the creator economy, where they “talked with agency owners, influencers, creators, with so many different people and there was always this theme that came up, about [content creation] being a business, being a venture, and opening up monetization opportunities.” The study intrigued them, causing them to wonder how exactly creators grow careers by venturing their content creation. At the same time, after searching the vast literature on entrepreneurship, they came to a realization: “Some of the literature that deals with characteristics of entrepreneurs is useful for content creators, but much of it is not… so we thought, okay, what actually distinguishes these entrepreneurs in the creator economy from traditional ones.”

This combination of field insights and a literature gap led the research team to investigate how content creators evolve into full-fledged entrepreneurs—or, as they dub them, “creatrepreneurs.”

“Content creators are individuals who leverage digital platforms and… tools to create, publish, and share their content, with the objective to engage and build an audience. ‘Creatrepreneurs’ are the ones who create and deliver digital content to capitalize on [monetization] opportunities, aiming to expand their audience to a scale that allows for generating sustainable revenue.”

Simone Wies

The “creatrepreneurs”

Edeling and Wies use the portmanteau “creatrepreneurs” to refer to individuals within the creator economy who are strategic about their content creation activities and demonstrate certain hallmarks of entrepreneurship.

They introduce this concept because, traditionally, content creators have been perceived as unlike classical entrepreneurs. However, Edeling and Wies found compelling empirical evidence that, in fact, many creators now operate as entrepreneurs.

But what makes “creatrepreneurs” distinct from classical entrepreneurs? Edeling and Wies identify these three major differences:

1. The entrepreneur = the brand

   Creators rely on their personal brand, making them inseparable from the venture itself; their identity, values, and personality define the venture.

2. The relationship = the product

   The relationship between the viewer and the creator becomes the core of the product that creators offer.

3. Passion > profit

   Classical entrepreneurs are driven by a desire to create value, but Edeling and Wies find that creators routinely prioritize intrinsic satisfaction and passion for their work over capital.

“[The creator economy] is not this Wild West where a few kids randomly earn thousands of dollars anymore… By now, it’s much more professionalized, much more structured and established—and that was really interesting for us to realize.”

Simone Wies

Creatrepreneur venture models

Edeling and Wies noticed nuances emerging in the approaches creators used to build their content creation businesses, which led them to develop seven creator venture models. For example, “we had one creator who was a contestant in a TV dating show and his follower count skyrocketed after being a participant in this show… [He] basically became famous from one moment to another.” This exemplifies the “ephemeral opportunity” venture model, where professional creators gain sudden popularity through another channel and leverage temporary interest to build a social media presence. In contrast, the “professional” model reflects the steady grind of a full-time YouTuber or podcaster who methodically grows an audience and strategically utilizes multiple revenue streams, such as ad revenue, sponsorships, and merchandise, until their content creation pays their salary.

Their seven venture models reveal the spectrum of content creators’ entrepreneurialism and highlight the distinct nature of entrepreneurship in the creator economy.

“One thing that was personally quite surprising… I thought if you have some financially wealthy backing behind you that it would help, but we got the feedback that no, wealth is really not one of the main drivers [of success], which I found interesting.”

Alexander Edeling

Implications for aspiring creatrepreneurs

Building a lasting, scalable venture in the creator economy requires more than just regularly posting content online. Edeling and Wies provide four important considerations for aspiring creatrepreneurs based on their empirical research. These are:

1. Be strategic from day one—Edeling and Wies encourage aspiring creatrepreneurs to “Find your niche and be differentiated enough, and then produce high-quality content.”

2. Collaborate with other creatrepreneurs—As Wies puts it: “It’s usually helpful to get your foot into something through collaborating with other people who are already part of that bigger network…, and there are also geographic hubs where creators meet, or they move to that area to be part of that network.”

3. Safeguard your mental health—Edeling and Wies recommend that creatrepreneurs “deal with [the looming threat of burnout] by taking breaks,” but note that it remains unclear “what the actual impact of [taking breaks] is, such as what it does to engagement and audience growth.”

4. Explore funding options—“Just a few years ago, financiers didn’t really know how to value things… But now, there are more funds, investors, and experts who can help.”

Key takeaways

For brands, successfully partnering with online content creators necessitates a shift away from transactional sponsorships; today, it often means partnering with entrepreneurial business founders who can shape the perceptions and purchasing behavior of vast consumer communities. For researchers, an exciting frontier lies at the intersection of emerging online business models, entrepreneurial person branding, and psychological well-being. Finally, for aspiring creatrepreneurs, achieving lasting success requires adopting strategic business practices, cultivating a supportive network, and prioritizing personal health and well-being.

Read the paper

Interested in reading all the details about how creators build businesses in the creator economy? Click here to read the article in full.

Want to cite the paper?

Edeling, A. & Wies, S. (2024). Embracing entrepreneurship in the creator economy: The rise of creatrepreneurs. International Journal of Research in Marketing, 41(3), 436–454. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijresmar.2024.07.003

References

Peres, R., Schreier, M., Schweidel, D. A., & Sorescu, A. (2024). The creator economy: An introduction and a call for scholarly research. International Journal of Research in Marketing, 41(3), 403–410.

WifiTalents. (2025). Creator economy statistics. Retrieved June 3, 2025 from https://wifitalents.com/creator-economy-statistics/.

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Meet Alexander

Alexander Edeling is Associate Professor of Marketing at KU Leuven, Belgium. His research interests are the interface between marketing and finance research as well as the digital economy.

What motivates your research?

“I like the international side—you are able to collaborate with people from all over the world and also compete internationally… Publishing and conferences are a little bit like our little World Cups.”

If you were not an academic, what would you be?

“Early on, I wanted to be a professional athlete… I think I wanted to be a football player, specifically a goalkeeper. Then, I think during my high school, I really wanted to be a journalist because I like to write, and I did an internship at a newspaper; in a sense, academia keeps me close to that by still being in the writing business.”

Meet Simone

Simone Wies is Professor of Marketing at Goethe University Frankfurt. She is an empirical modeler who focuses on firm-level marketing strategy questions with an emphasis on the financing dynamics and performance effectiveness of such strategies. A substantial part of her work focuses on firm innovation as crucial to marketing strategy.

What motivates your research?

“Doing research is the best job in the world if you’re creative and curious to learn new things… you are constantly exchanging ideas with smart people and you have the privilege of just studying whatever you want—often topics with real societal relevance.”

If you were not an academic, what would you be?

“I once had a phase where I wanted to be a detective, but I’m easily scared and can’t stand blood. If I picked now, maybe I’d be a medical doctor—I like interacting with people and doing something relevant. But realistically, I probably would have strayed on the consultancy path.”

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This article was written by

Oliver Buckley

Ph.D. candidate at the University of Liverpool, UK