What worked and didn't last month as a part time content creator

What Actually Worked for Me as a Creator Last Month: Affiliate Platforms, Content Strategy, and Real Numbers

Part of what keeps the influencer space feeling like the wild west isn’t just how quickly it evolves. It’s the lack of transparency surrounding how any of it works.

Self-proclaimed Instagram experts will swear they’ve cracked the code on how to grow your audience, but most of them didn’t build their platforms as creators. They built them by promising creators the key to growth. Of course, the posts that say “I have the secret” are going to take off. That doesn’t have the same sense of pull as a video about your favorite sunscreen.

Then there’s the money part. One creator with a 100 followers might be making $30k a year. Another with 40K followers could be clearing $300k. And before you’re like there’s no way - I have worked on the commission side of the industry for almost 6 years and I literally see each of these creators PayPal payments.

It leaves everyone feeling a little disoriented, like you have no idea whether you’re doing well or wasting your time.

As I reviewed my own analytics from the past month, I realized it might be helpful to share what worked and what didn’t. I’ve been experimenting with different formats, spending more time on Substack, and trying to clarify what is worth the effort.