In this day and age, content creation need not be a mere hobby — it can be a lucrative and fulfilling full-time career. As per the Influencer Marketing Report, the Indian influencer industry is predicted to be valued at ₹2,200 crore by 2025.
A simple Google search would tell you that there are content creators with a net worth of over ₹100 crore. So it comes as no surprise that a lot of people with 9-to-5 jobs imagine jumping on the ‘influencer’ bandwagon, even if it's not full-time.
But how does one start?
In an exclusive conversation with CNBC-TV18, Rohit Raj, a trailblazer in the digital entertainment industry, shares insights on carving a career path in this ever-evolving realm.
With a career spanning over a decade in the entertainment industry, Raj tried his hand at event management as a student, and things worked out in his favour. While organising feasts as a college student, Raj met Bhuvan Bam. They partnered to form BB Ki Vines Productions.
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Over the years, the company has produced Dhindora on YouTube, Taaza Khabar on Disney+ Hotstar, Rafta Rafta on Amazon Mini TV, and Takeshi's Castle on Amazon Prime Video.
Their most popular production, a YouTube channel, BB Ki Vines, has garnered over 26 million followers in the past nine years. "We just started really early and I think once content was something which resonated with so many people that it reached them through various mediums like WhatsApp, Facebook, and other places. Some of his videos were also being circulated through USB and LAN in college hostels. So I think it's mostly content that travelled and helped people discover the side of the world."
But is content creation a lucrative business now?
"I believe content creation is in progress, that new genre or new vertical or new hobby that in the coming years you would see everybody doing. In the coming few years, we'll see people talking about their profession in a way where somebody would say I'm a teacher, and I'm a content creator."
Raj believes that while content creation is a very lucrative career, it's also something that people will do for some sort of escape or some sort of visibility, for some sort of experiment. "And if you do it right, if you do it with maximum persistence, I think it can become lucrative because there's a thin line between doing content for fun and doing content for money."
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However, he stresses that the day one starts doing content for money, the journey becomes tougher. "Till the time you're doing it for fun, that's when your audiences will also have more fun and then money will automatically flow in at the right time. So I feel it's a very lucrative career and in the coming years, you will see almost every second person being a content creator while they do their primary job."
For aspiring content creators, Raj advocates embracing social media platforms as catalysts for self-expression and professional advancement, urging creators to harness their creativity and authenticity to captivate audiences in a cluttered digital landscape.
For monetary gains, where does one start — YouTube or Instagram?
"YouTube definitely. It's now with charts and everything. It's easier to get subscribers and get more viewers. But if you're doing it for monetary gains, YouTube is the first place where you after 1,000 views in some 4,000 watch minutes, can start to make ad revenue. Instagram will still take a lot of time for you to make brand revenue."
Explaining the difference between the two platforms, Raj says, "YouTube should be the first platform because one day you get to tell long-format stories and also use the shorts platform to show shorter content and make ad revenue from maybe your first month or the first day or a year later. But on Instagram, the journey is going to be relatively tougher though there's a lot of shareability but money is not something that Instagram will pay you as it's not there in their model."
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And what if one doesn't have the financial backing?
"In today's day and age, the internet is one of the cheapest items in our country. So one thing that you need, most importantly is the internet. And to access that internet, you need a smartphone. And today, it doesn't matter what quality you get. You'd still be able to shoot decent videos in a decently lit environment."
According to Raj, these are the basic requirements to start shooting. "You can always borrow from your friends and family. You can ask them to act in your videos, or for them to just pull the camera for you. So your initial investment doesn't need to be super high-value production. It can be as simple as how Bhuvan started back in the day, nine years back."
He suggests doing content creation as a side hustle initially. "And when you start to feel that this content creation journey is really flourishing and it's getting enough money (for you to start thinking that you can) leave my existing job. I think that's when you can start doing this."
Despite the challenges inherent in the digital entertainment industry, Raj remains optimistic about its growth trajectory. He envisions a future where digital content creation becomes increasingly personalised and pervasive, offering boundless opportunities for creative expression and professional fulfilment.
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