3 Key Takeaways From The Publish Press’ Creator Economy Report

Creators Colin and Samir sitting down in black and white on a green and blue gradient background.

Colin Rosenblum and Samir Chaudry, the pair behind the creator-centric Colin and Samir channel on YouTube and The Publish Press newsletter, have built their platform on their passion for creating. Samir graduated college in 2012 and started The Lacrosse Network on YouTube to cover college sports. When Samir saw Colin’s videos on the same topic, he convinced him to move to LA. The rest is history; a legendary creator partnership was born and, although their topics have evolved along the way, the duo has been going strong ever since.

Today, Colin and Samir use their platform to inspire others to create. Their successful YouTube channel crossed the 1 million subscriber threshold while they were on-stage at VidSummit in a made-for-streaming moment that was completely authentic. In 2021, they launched The Publish Press, which covers the latest creator news and they also podcast The Colin and Samir Show in partnership with LinkedIn.

They provide deep dives into creator success, offering advice and trend analysis for aspiring and experienced creators alike. They’re known for their insightful interviews with creators like Marques Brownlee, MrBeast, and Lilly Singh, getting them to open up in a way that only fellow creators could manage to do. 

In a fast-moving industry, it can be incredibly difficult for creators to get the information they need to succeed without falling behind. With the first creator economy report by The Publish Press, creators now have detailed, thorough insights to lead them to success.

From tackling burnout to building a team, here are some key takeaways from The Publish Press’ report to spur influencers on their journey. Be sure to check out the full report for even more learnings. 

Takeaway 1: Creator burnout is real

The definition and criteria for burnout was revised by the World Health Organization in their 2019 update in the ICD-11. Characterized by fatigue and exhaustion, increased cynicism about your job and less focus or efficacy when on the clock, burnout was experienced by up to 77% of workers in 2021, according to Deloitte

Creator burnout is sadly no different. More and more content creators have been open about their struggles with burnout—even YouTube giants like Emma Chamberlain have taken breaks from the platform for their mental health.

Burnout shouldn’t be underestimated or ignored. If you’ve been experiencing the symptoms of burnout, it’s important to step back and recognize what you’re feeling. 

Burnout shouldn’t be underestimated or ignored. If you’ve been experiencing the symptoms of burnout, it’s important to step back and recognize what you’re feeling. 

If you’re dealing with creator burnout, here are a few Jellysmack recommended ‘first aid’ tips and long-term solutions that may help:

  • Let it out. Recognize what you’re feeling, and accept you don’t have to work a nine to five to struggle with burnout. While there are common root causes of burnout, every person is different. Don’t compare your mental health to another creator’s.
  • Step back. It’s okay to take a break. Identify your most important commitments. Whether this is posting for your audience or producing branded content, make sure you narrow down what’s most important. After you’ve defined your most important tasks, decide on what you need to heal and communicate it clearly. Whether you want to reduce your posts per week or need a full few weeks off, don’t be afraid to articulate your needs.
  • Establish boundaries. Before you get back to work, create some guidelines for yourself. This could be as simple as limiting the number of hours you spend on social media in a day or taking a long-term approach and scaling back to a four day workweek.

For more insights on creator burnout and how to move forward, you can check out The Publish Press report here. If you’re struggling with a more severe case of burnout, you can always connect with a mental health professional, check in with your primary care physician or call a help line for support. 

Takeaway 2: Many hands make light work

If anyone knows about the difference between Hollywood representation and building a creator team, it’s me. As an actor, I can attest to how important the agency model is for performers looking to get into new audition rooms. But as a creator and marketer, it’s clear the same system doesn’t apply as effectively to influencers.

There are many options for representation and monetization, but ultimately, as outlined in The Publish Press report, creators are best served by partnerships that go beyond negotiation and deal flow. To get more out of relationships, creators can expand their team beyond management. Content creators today are their own mini-media companies; getting partners involved can simplify the content creation process from top to bottom, mitigate burnout and scale businesses. 

Creators Colin and Samir sitting on a white couch looking at each other on stage at VidCon 2022
Colin and Samir share how Jellysmack’s solutions can help creators at VidCon 2022 in Anaheim.

From our experience working with hundreds of top creators, here are some helpful team members that you can bring on as your business expands:

  • Manager. You can still have your manager as part of your team– just be realistic about what your partnership will look like. They’re there to help you with brand deals by representing and pitching you for opportunities, and they negotiate your payments and contracts. An agent or manager will help you strategize next steps for your business and lend professionalism to your brand partnerships.
  • Optimization professionals. With more and more people using TikTok as a search engine and YouTube already being the third largest in the world, getting an expert who can optimize your video content for search is essential. Beyond SEO, optimizing your content for each specific platform can help increase performance, too.
  • Graphic designers. If your thumbnails aren’t getting a great click through rate, it might be time to bring in a pro. Graphic designers can also help you refresh your branding as a whole and create custom assets to make your online presence pop.
  • Producers, scriptwriters, and researchers. Not every piece of content needs to be scripted, but getting help for long-form content can help you focus more time on filming. You can also repurpose longer videos into short form content.
  • Editors. If you get bogged down by video editing or just want to level up, you can always bring in an editor who you feel reflects your style and can elevate your content.

Building a team of subject matter experts is a great way to build a sustainable business model, and creators can learn more about the future of creator businesses here. Bonus tip: Jellysmack also has solutions to help

Takeaway 3: Mentorship matters

Platforms like YouTube and TikTok have given creators across the world a chance to build an audience. Recently, short-form content has increased discoverability and virality for influencers. With some creators building audiences overnight, it can be incredibly overwhelming to not only handle it on your own, but figure out how to turn that audience into a revenue-driving business. This is what makes mentorship so important.

While there are some formal courses on content creation and monetization, platforms and trends change so rapidly that it can be hard to provide training and education that’s up to date. As more and more creators expand into edutainment and build businesses around their knowledge, up-and-coming creators have more resources to learn from the best. 

Nas Daily, Jellysmack creator partner, launched his creator course called Nas Academy at Nas Summit.

The need for creator mentorship has never been greater. There’s an opportunity for creators to shift into educational roles to help guide the upcoming creator generation. 

A mentor can help you deal with a lot of issues specific to the industry, like:

  • Figuring out how to monetize across platforms
  • Raising your rates
  • How to handle a large influx of new viewers or subscribers
  • Finding trusted creator partners or team members
  • Dealing with burnout and creating a sustainable career


If you’re in need of some guidance, a good place to start is studying up on creator success stories. Colin and Samir have in-depth videos “about creators, for creators,” and they’re completely free on their YouTube channel.

Want more creator insights?

The creator economy is complex and trends can be set and abandoned at a breakneck pace. Before you move forward in your career, take time to reflect on some of the biggest issues and possible solutions facing the industry today. If you’re ready to read the full insights, check out The Publish Press report on the creator economy by subscribing to the newsletter.

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