Is it Hard to Become A Content Creator?

Last Updated on July 30, 2025 by Jan Barley

Is it hard to become a content creator? 

Creating content seems easy, doesn’t it? However, how challenging is it to become a content creator? Moreover, how much do content creators make and is it worth the effort?

The experts tell us that the $250 trillion creator economy will double in the next four years. Becoming part of that success is a dream for many of us.

When stuck at a desk or your boss is ranting at you, imagining spending your days creating content seems a better alternative. It is, for sure, but there are some essential things to consider.

I’m a freelance writer. Midway through 2023, I lost two big clients, wiping out my income. That’s when I decided to focus on digital marketing and create my own products. However, I’m a widow living in rental accommodation and need a regular income.

After scratching around for work, I have some gigs set up, but I have to pitch every month, so I cannot guarantee the workload. I can’t be **sed to dig deep and get regular work because I am 100% committed to breaking free from the freelance lifestyle. It’s not all it’s cracked up to be.

So, here’s what I intend to do with my content creation. Then, I will share the challenges that I am sure will be relatable.

1. Work on my Pinterest strategy. Pinterest is a fantastic search engine
2. Start a YouTube channel
3. Acquire partnerships with affiliate products I endorse
4. Start working on creating digital products

I quit TikTok and Instagram in late 2024. You reach a point where you realise you can’t do it all without burning out.

Here are the Challenges:

• Cramming my freelance work for two weeks to give me time to work on my projects
• Creating pins to schedule 3/day
• Running my busy dog behaviour business
• Managing my ADHD because I ever procrastinate for days or do too much when I’m in a super productive mode
• Appointments for hair, doctors, dentists, meeting a friend for lunch, eat into my time

Intention minus lack of time = overwhelm.

Realistically, once I create sufficient income from digital and affiliate marketing, many of these problems go away.

Here’s the truth: You never have as much time as you think, and everything always takes longer than you estimate.

The Next Step if You Want to Become a Content Creator

Be prepared for the amount of work involved. After the first month, I was exhausted. Talking to other content creators on Threads, they feel the same. It’s full on. So, it’s vital to find a rhythm that suits your personality, energy levels and time commitment.

If you work full-time, you have a smaller window of opportunity. However, I believe it’s important to cut yourself some slack and commit to what YOU CAN DO instead of focusing on what YOU CANNOT DO.

I commit to do at least one thing daily towards my future. Consistency and determination are the keys to success. In late April, I began promoting an MRR (master resell rights) product but I had misgivings from day one. There are things about the MRR business model that I don’t align with.

Be aware of how you feel about what you promote, If it doesn’t light up your soul, it may be hard to sell.

How I Manage My Workflow

Once I got approved by Journey by Mediavine for ad revenue, I intended to increase my blogging frequency. Sounds great in principle. But, in reality, I couldn’t keep up writing blog posts from scratch, working on a Pinterest strategy and creating to videos weekly for my YouTube channel. Something had to give.

Anyhoo, here is my approach to managing my workflow.

1. Writing Blog Content: After a long search and significant testing, I now create my draft posts with KoalaWriter. It is one of the best I have ever used and saves me around 4 hours for each blog post. There is minimum editing, usually around an hour to fine-tune.
2. Pinterest Strategy: My marketing priority is Pinterest. I schedule 3 pins Monday to Friday and two a day at the weekend. On an Excel doc, I plan what pins to post each day and add the link and the times to post. I split throughout the day.
3. Canva: I create all my pins on Canva, usually in one go. I have around a dozen pin templates and change colours etc.I have studied design to get better and quicker at creating effective pins
4. Video Content: I create AI images on Canva, get royalty-free music from Uppbeat and edit in Capcut 
5. Sceduling: I schedule directly on Pinterest a week in advance and Use Metricool  for Instagram.
6. Instagram Threads: I spend time in the evening on Threads engaging with others and I post 1-3 threads daily.
7. Instagram Stories: I quit Instagram in 2024. I will go back to it for a creative business I’m starting soon. The best place for starting is with Instagram stories and choosing a proven niche that works well on Instagram.
8. YouTube: I’m failing dismally. I need to give something up to start doing tutorials on my YouTube channel, which is pretty much dormant

I reckon that lot takes me around three days. Anyone who says you can create an online business as a content creator in 1-2 hours a day is fibbing. For beginners, that is an unrealistic expectation. With more experience, it may be possible.

Repurposing content can help and batch creating is a better option than trying to do it daily.

In conclusion, It’s not hard to become a content creator, but there are challenges. However, nobody made me aware of these challenges. I’d have coped better had I known. So, I hope this article helps you to manage better than I did during the first few months of content creation.

Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links. I may earn a commission if you sign up for a program or make a purchase using my link.