Economy
How To Make Money Online: The New Creator Economy – Forbes
Want to make money online? It’s no secret that influencer marketing has become a massive industry, thanks to people like the Kardashians. But these days, glitzy digital influencers are out. Creators are in. Equipped with a lot more gravitas, this new generation of creators is working to create a more positive internet culture. The New Yorker explained it best in a recent essay on the topic: “’Creator’ is a term with a more wholesome air, conjuring an Internet in which we are all artisanal blacksmiths plying our digital craft.”
According to experts, there are more than 50 million content creators out there, working in the digital space and making money online—through photography, writing, video, podcasting and more—and all contributing to the new creator economy. One of the architects in the space is Gigi Robinson, a 23-year-old Gen Z digital nomad who is helping redefine this new digital world from the inside out. When Robinson was 11, she was diagnosed with Ehlers Danlos Syndrome, Mast Cell Activation Syndrome and Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome, forcing her to give up her passion for competitive swimming and find a new hobby: photography.
Robinson has translated that passion into a bonafide online money-making business. She is the founder of It’s Gigi, a creative media company focused on making ethical and intentional content for brands like Best Buy and Spotify, where she hosts a GenZ live audio show on Spotify Greenroom called “Everything You Need Is Within.” In addition, she has grown a healthy social media audience on Tiktok and Instagram, where she shares tips on mental health, chronic illness, body image and more. She also regularly lectures on social media literacy and branding to global companies (Meta, Reuters Pharma, Yahoo, Her Campus) and universities (UCLA, USC, UMass, FIT, Baruch).
Most impressive of all, she does it all while traveling the world as a digital nomad. “I am able to find inspiration anywhere I go—all I need is my phone, my camera, my laptop, my hard drive and a microphone,” says Robinson.
Here, we caught up with Robinson to find out how she built her brand, how she has scaled in an ethical way, how she travels with a chronic illness, as well as her tips for how anyone can make money online in the new creator economy.
Origin Story: During high school in New York City, Robinson won award after award for her photographs, including Scholastic, the Dedalus Foundation and the Metropolitan Museum of Art. When she got to college, she needed to make extra money to help pay for rent and school loans, so she used her photography skills to start a side hustle as a content creator. “I had over 10 different brand ambassador roles, meaning I represented, created content, was an event planner and an overall face on campus for brands like Abercrombie & Fitch, Timberland and Smashbox,” says Robinson.
Creating a Business: “I got a BFA in graphic design and photography and am currently working towards my MS in integrated Design, Business and Technology from USC. I wanted to translate the learnings from my degrees into my career as a digital nomad and creator,” says Robinson. “I decided to combine my skills of critique and critical thinking and apply that to storytelling through digital mediums and social media platforms. Now, I teach others how to do the same.”
My Mission: One of the pillars of Robinson’s brand is to help other people feel less alone, whether it’s a struggle with mental health, chronic illness, body image or career. “My diagnosis inspired me to become the person I wished I had to look up to during the rise of social media,” says Robinson. “I’ve committed myself to making content that showcases positivity and confidence across platforms. I focus on how we do things and not what we do.”
Social Media Literacy: Robinson’s interest in social media literacy was sparked in 2020 when companies began posting their responses to social causes including Covid-19, the BLM movement, Asian hate crimes and antisemitism. To her surprise, many influencers were more focused on the paycheck from brands while brands were focused on engaging in conversations around ethical content creation. “This sparked a flame in me, so I started teaching others how to cultivate community across social platforms by creating meaningful content that creates impact,” she says.
Gigi Robinson is a digital nomad with a chronic illness that doesn’t hold her back.
©Gabrielle Robinson
Traveling with Chronic Illness: “As someone with a chronic illness, there are a lot of benefits to traveling and working remotely as a digital nomad. When I first embarked on my journey traveling with two suitcases (one with clothes and toiletries, the other with gear), I resisted acknowledging my chronic illness as a disability because I was ashamed of it. It took me a few years, but I eventually shifted my mindset from ‘What if someone judges me for being wheeled through TSA to the gate’ to ‘What if I don’t have any pain during my flight.’ And that was the moment where I realized that accommodations are only there to help me.”
The Benefits of Travel: “Changing my scenery significantly helps my mental health, but also my physical health,” says Robinson. “Putting my body through traveling allows me to experience places, cultures and climates where I feel best. When I feel my best, I am able to do my best work.”
Working and Traveling: “One of the best parts of being a digital nomad is that I am able to delegate tasks to my team while I am traveling. We are completely remote and spread out across the country,” says Robinson. “I send off my content once I have the raw footage and let my team do the heavy lifting for me when it comes to editing and posting. This lets me focus on another pillar of my brand—public speaking.”
Getting Started: “When you are brand new to social media, you have to test out what will work and what kind of audience are you trying to build,” says Robinson. “You should do research to calculate and predict who that might be and create content for that demographic based on your product or business. If you don’t know where to start, begin by making a list of the top 100 creators and 100 pieces of content that resonate with you and your niche. Write out why and then generate a list of things you can write about or make graphics, photos or videos about. This list will evolve as you grow, but that’s the whole point: You want to grow.”
Better Done Than Perfect: When Robinson is coaching people on social media strategy, her top piece of advice is: “Have a better-done-than-perfect attitude. If you spend too much time ideating, you may never actually execute. You just have to start posting.”
Goal Setting: “When it comes to goals, I try to accomplish them within a reasonable amount of time and remind myself that my journey is different than other creators,” says Robinson. “It’s easier said than done but you have to be patient.”
Success Check: “I like to write down or create a deck with everything that I’ve done in any given week or month if I feel like I’m not accomplished to remind myself how much I’m actually doing,” says Robinson.
Robinson’s number one tip: Have confidence in yourself.
©Gabrielle Robinson
Make Money Using Linkedin: Robinson uses Linkedin not only for networking, but also for content creation. “The best way to make money on Linkedin is to network with people in your industry that may post opportunities, and reach out to people you may be able to work for. As a creator, I have successfully landed several partnerships by being connected with campaign managers, influencer and PR managers of companies that I wanted to work with,” says Robinson. “After establishing a good rapport with these managers, I take a shot and ask if they have any partnership opportunities. This could be done for any industry or for any role that needs to be filled—not just the influencer industry. Linkedin also has a team of creator managers (expanding rapidly right now) that invite and guide people that are already somewhat established with content goals and ideas. The managers are there to support creators and help them achieve their goals in expanding their professional presence.”
Use Live Audio: “Live audio is a new form of communication that most of the big social companies are investing in. Think of it as the new form of Snapchat Stories. When that first came out nobody thought it would stick on other platforms, but now it’s the norm. Now live audio conversations are dominating social platforms modeled after Clubhouse, including Twitter Spaces, Facebook Audio, Spotify Greenroom, Linkedin Live Audio and more,” says Robinson. “Live audio rooms are where someone can host conversations on the previously mentioned platforms. The best part: You will often be in a room with thought leaders and have the opportunity to ask them questions.”
Podcasts: “To start a podcast you need to figure out what your competitive advantage is and how you are going to distribute your message,” says Robinson. “Anchor is a free platform that allows you to upload audio tracks, cut, edit, add music, make a cover photo and distribute your show across streaming platforms through an RSS feed.”
Recycle Content: “Take the omnichannel approach: Anything that you have written can be repurposed into content to post across all of your social channels (Tiktok, Instagram Reels, Snapchat Spotlight, Youtube Shorts). By doing this, you establish your personality or business across the internet,” says Robinson. “Everyone used to say that you should stay true to your niche on each platform and avoid reposting content. The truth is not many people are going to remember every post you make. Plus, if it was a best performing post, you never know who may have missed it the first time.”
The New Resume: “I personally believe that websites and social media accounts are the new resume, therefore you should have one singular place that displays your best work. I have found a website to be the most professional because it can showcase different content pillars in different mediums. For example, on my website I have a breakdown of the work I have done to talk about chronic illness on Instagram, body image on Tiktok, my podcast and an entire section where people can book me right on the spot.”
Making Money With Video: “You can find a way to monetize any niche of video content. For example, with food you can use tools to prep the food. For skincare/product/lifestyle it could be something as simple as unboxing or doing a voiceover. These are potential niches that a brand partner would sponsor through a paid promo. Stick with it, stay the course, build a niche and it will come.”
Keep Your Videos Short and Scrappy: “You don’t need a 4K camera, a set with gorgeous lighting or professional editing—you can shoot right on your phone, edit in a free app (Inshot, Videoleap or Splice),” says Robinson. “All you have to do is make something snappy in the beginning, keep the viewer’s attention and repeat it. Post everywhere. And keep the videos short: three- to seven-seconds. Crazy, right?”
Parting Words: “If you are starting out on social media, my number one tip is to have confidence in yourself,” says Robinson. “When you don’t speak about your business and your work, you won’t grow, people won’t recognize or see your work, and therefore you will not get opportunities to make money online. Even if the video gets zero views, stay the course and continue posting—you never know what is going to go viral and land you a partnership.”
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German politicians and business leaders, despairing a weak economy, are lately broaching a once taboo topic: claiming their compatriots don’t work enough. They may have a point.
German Finance Minister Christian Lindner fired the latest salvo in this fractious debate last week when he said that “in Italy, France and elsewhere they work a lot more than we do.” Economy Minister Robert Habeck, a Green Party representative, grumbled in March about workers striking, something a country beset by labor shortages “cannot afford.” (Later that month train drivers secured a 35-hour workweek instead of 38, for the same pay.) Signaling his opposition to a four-day work week, Deutsche Bank AG Chief Executive Officer Christian Sewing in January urged Germans “to work more and work harder.”
Canada stands to bear a greater economic burden than the United States if Donald Trump wins the upcoming presidential election and imposes promised tax cuts and tariffs on all U.S. imports, a new report warns.
The analysis released Tuesday by Scotiabank Economics says if Trump returns to the White House and follows through on his vow to slap a 10-per cent tariff on all imported goods — with the exception of China, which would face a 60-per cent carve-out on its U.S. exports — and countries retaliate with their own, there would be “substantial negative impacts” on the U.S. economy. GDP would likely fall by more than two per cent by 2027 relative to current forecasts, while inflation would rise 1.5 per cent, leading to a two per cent interest rate hike.
In Canada, the economic impact would be even more stark with an expected GDP drop of 3.6 per cent, given its reliance on trade with the U.S. Inflation and interest rates would also be pushed up for the next two years — 1.7 per cent and 190 basis points, respectively — the report suggests.
“What Trump is looking to do is much broader, and much more concerning, than the tariffs he imposed during his first term,” said Scotiabank’s chief economist Jean-François Perrault, who authored the report.
The report also serves as another reminder that Canada needs to urgently address its issues with lagging productivity, warning the problem makes Canada more vulnerable to economic shocks brought by trade policy changes in the U.S. and abroad.
Perrault says it’s far too late to fix the problem in time for the U.S. election in November.
“It takes a long time to change direction on productivity,” he said in an interview. “Maybe you can make up some ground over the next few quarters, but we need massive amounts of progress to get to where we need to be (to withstand U.S. economic shocks).”
Trump’s policies seen as more likely than Biden’s
Although the analysis examined the impact of policies proposed by both Trump and U.S. President Joe Biden, it focuses more on the fallout from Trump’s promises.
That’s because they’re not only more potentially harmful, Perrault said, but also because they’re more likely to be implemented than Biden’s vow to raise the corporate tax rate.
“There’s really no appetite in the U.S. right now for any kind of tax hike,” Perrault said.
Implementing a change to the corporate tax rate would require Biden’s Democrat party to control both chambers of Congress — a scenario seen as highly unlikely, given recent polling. Trump’s proposals, meanwhile, are seen as more likely to be implemented quickly and without congressional approval, particularly his expanded tariffs.
During his presidency, Trump imposed tariffs on about US$50 billion worth of Chinese goods imported to the U.S., later expanding to another US$300 billion, sparking a trade war with China. Many of those tariffs have remained in place under the Biden administration.
Trump also slapped tariffs up to 25 per cent on imported washing machines, solar panels, steel and aluminum in 2018. Canada and Mexico were later exempted from the steel and aluminum tariffs in 2019, although the Canadian aluminum tariff was briefly reintroduced in 2020.
U.S. government data shows those tariffs — none of which were legislated or approved by Congress — have cost American manufacturers more than US$230 billion as of March 2024 and have shrunk the U.S. economy by 0.3 per cent.
Trump has repeatedly claimed tariffs serve to punish unfair trade practices from other countries, despite agreement among economists that they raise prices for American consumers, and says he wants to expand them to 10 per cent on all imported goods from every country if he wins in November. He has also said he will seek a 100 per cent tariff on imported cars, and carve out a 60 per cent tariff for Chinese imports specifically.
The most likely scenario — a continuation of Trump’s 2017 tax cuts beyond their 2025 expiration combined with across-the-board tariffs — would see Canada’s GDP stay three per cent lower long-term, and just over one-per cent lower in the U.S.
The Scotiabank report says the economic harm from the tariffs can be reduced on both sides of the Canada-U.S. border if Canada and Mexico negotiate an exemption with the U.S. under the Canada-United States-Mexico Agreement (CUSMA), which replaced the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) during the Trump administration.
Scotiabank predicts in that scenario, Canada’s GDP would only fall by 1.4 per cent in the short term — half the drop forecast without an exemption — and 0.3 per cent in the long term, while U.S. GDP would fall 1.7 per cent and 1.2 per cent, respectively.
Perrault says he’s “hopeful” such a carve-out could be negotiated, even though Trump would likely insist on further concessions that benefit U.S. trade. That “bigger stick” approach could be somewhat limited compared to the contentious CUSMA negotiations, however.
“Trump owns CUSMA, so he wouldn’t be in as much of a position to throw it away,” he said. “So maybe we get a little bit of a break.”
The report also examines the impact of Trump’s repeated vow to mass deport roughly 10 million undocumented immigrants living illegally in the U.S., which Perrault admits would be “politically and logistically infeasible.” It would also be economically harmful, the analysis found, permanently reducing both U.S. employment and GDP by three per cent, though the impact on Canada would be negligible.
The analysis says Canada and the U.S. could see additional economic impacts due to a number of scenarios it didn’t explore, including China retaliating to tariffs by unloading its U.S. Treasury holdings; further debt ceiling and budgetary crises in the U.S.; Trump’s appeasement of aggressive foreign adversaries like Russia and China; and domestic civil disorder regardless of who wins the U.S. elections.
Perrault said the findings also underscore the key difference between Trump and Biden as Canadian trade partners.
“Biden seems to view negotiations from a collaborative approach: how can everyone come away with a win?” he said. “Trump doesn’t see it that way. He’s very much in the mindset of, ‘How will this benefit me?’”
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More than six months into the devastating Gaza war, its impact on the Israeli and Palestinian economies has been huge.
Nearly all economic activity in Gaza has been wiped out and the World Bank says the war has also hit Palestinian businesses in the occupied West Bank hard.
As Israelis mark the Jewish festival of Passover, the much-vaunted “start-up nation” is also trying to remain an attractive proposition for investors.
The cobbled streets of Jerusalem’s Old City are eerily quiet. There are none of the long queues to visit the holy sites – at least those that remain open.
Just after Easter and Ramadan and right in the middle of Passover, all four quarters of the Old City should be teeming with visitors.
Just 68,000 tourists arrived in Israel in February, according to the country’s Central Bureau of Statistics. That’s down massively from 319,100 visitors in the same month last year.
While it may be surprising that any visitors pass through Jerusalem at a time of such tension, many of those who do are religious pilgrims from across the globe who will have paid for their journeys well in advance.
Zak’s Jerusalem Gifts was one of only a handful of stores on Christian Quarter Street in the Old City, which is situated in occupied East Jerusalem, to have bothered opening up on the day I passed by.
“We’re only really doing online sales,” says Zak, whose business specialises in antiques and biblical coins.
“There are no actual people. The last week, after the Iran-Israel escalation, business dropped down again. So we are just hoping that after the holidays some big major miracle will happen.”
It’s not just in Jerusalem’s Old City that they need a miracle.
Some 250km (150 miles) further north, on Israel’s volatile border with Lebanon, almost daily exchanges of fire with Hezbollah since the war in Gaza began have forced the Israeli army to close much of the area and 80,000 residents have been evacuated further south. A similar number of Lebanese have been forced to leave their homes on the other side of the border.
Agriculture in this part of Israel is another economic sector that has been hit hard.
Ofer “Poshko” Moskovitz isn’t really permitted to enter his avocado orchard in the kibbutz of Misgav Am because of its proximity to the border. But he occasionally ventures in anyway, walking wistfully among the trees, to gaze at all of his “money falling on the ground”.
“I must go to pick in the orchard because it’s very important for the next season,” Poshko says. “If I don’t pick this fruit, the next season will be a very poor one.”
He says he is losing a lot of money because he can’t pick the avocados – around 2m shekels ($530,000; £430,000) this season, he says.
Although they provide a living for thousands of people, agriculture and tourism account for relatively small parts of both the Israeli or Palestinian economies.
So what does the wider picture show?
Last week ratings agency S&P Global cut Israel’s long-term ratings (to A-plus from AA-minus) reflecting a loss of market confidence after increased tensions between Israel and Iran and concerns the war in Gaza could spread across the wider Middle East.
That loss of confidence was also reflected in falling Israeli GDP – the total value of goods and services produced in the economy – which decreased by 5.7% in the last quarter of 2023. Many Israelis though say the country’s renowned high-tech and start-up sector is proving to be more “war-proof” than expected.
The coastal city of Tel Aviv is only 54km from Jerusalem. More pertinently, perhaps, it’s less than 70km from Gaza.
At times, you’d be forgiven for forgetting – however momentarily – that Israel is embroiled in its longest war since independence in 1948.
Families make the most of the early summer sun to play in the surf, couples eat lunch in the many open-air beach restaurants and young people strum away on guitars on the green spaces between the coastal road and the Mediterranean.
The backdrop is a city that is economically active and physically growing fast.
“They joke that Israel’s national bird should be the crane – the mechanical kind!” says Jon Medved, founder and CEO of the online global venture investment platform Our Crowd.
An engaging character with an overwhelmingly upbeat view of his world, Medved tells me that, “in the first quarter of this year, almost $2bn was invested in Israeli start-ups… We’re having one of the best years we’ve ever had. People who are engaged with Israel are not disengaging.”
Medved insists that, despite everything, Israel is still the “start-up nation” and a good option for would-be investors.
“There are 400 multinational corporations that have operations here. Not a single multinational, has closed its operation in Israel since the war.”
To an extent, Elise Brezis agrees with Mr Medved’s assessment.
The economics professor at Bar-Ilan University near Tel Aviv acknowledges that despite the last quarter’s GDP figures, Israel’s economy remains “remarkably resilient”.
“When it comes to tourism, yes, we have a reduction in exports. But we had also reduction in imports,” says Brezis. “So in fact, the balance of payments is still okay. That’s what is so problematic is that from the data, you don’t really feel that there is such a terrible situation in Israel.”
But Prof Brezis detects a wider malaise in Israeli society that isn’t reflected in economic data.
“Israel’s economy might be robust, but Israeli society is not robust right now. It’s like looking at a person and saying, ‘Wow, his salary is high,’ […] but in fact he’s depressed. And he’s thinking, ‘What will I do with my life?’ – That’s exactly Israel today.”
If the outlook in Israel is mixed, then across the separation barrier that divides Jerusalem and Bethlehem the view from the Palestinian side is overwhelmingly bleak.
Tourism is especially important to the economies of towns like Bethlehem in the occupied West Bank.
While some people are still heading to Jerusalem’s sites, in the place where Christians believe Jesus was born tourism “stopped immediately” after 7 October last year, says Dr Samir Hazboun, chairman of Bethlehem’s Chamber of Commerce and Industry.
That’s when Hamas attacked Israeli communities near Gaza, killing about 1,200 people, mainly civilians, taking about 250 hostages and sparking the current war.
There’s huge dependence and reliance on Israel’s economy here – but Israel virtually closed off the landlocked West Bank after 7 October and this has had a disastrous impact on the life and work of many Palestinians, Dr Hazboun says.
“The Bethlehem governorate right now is closed,” he says. “There are around 43 gates [in the Israeli security barrier] but only three are open. So with between 16,000 and 20,000 Palestinian workers from our area working in Israel, immediately, they lost their income.”
The chamber of commerce says that the revenues from local Palestinians working in Israel amounted to 22bn shekels ($5.8bn) annually.
“You can imagine the impact on the economy,” says Dr Hazboun, who is particularly concerned for the prospects for younger Palestinians the longer the war continues and more the Israeli and West Bank economies decouple.
“The younger generation now are jobless, they are not working. Many of them are talented people,” he laments.
“In June I’m expecting around 30,000 new graduates from the Palestinian universities. What they will do?
In Gaza itself the economy has been completely destroyed by six months of war. Israel’s relentless aerial bombardment and ground operations have killed 34,183 people, mostly women and children, according to the Hamas-run health ministry.
Unlike in some parts of Israel, where there is optimism around being able to ride out the storm and continue attracting investors, in the West Bank and Gaza there is little hope things will return to any kind of normal.
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