More and more young people want to earn their living as content creators. And it is becoming easier to start a career as a content creator and to make a living without a college degree. After all, you only need a smartphone to get started.
If you ask teenagers or people from Generation Alpha (born between 2010 and 2024) today about their career aspirations, fewer and fewer are interested in traditional jobs and training paths. This was noted by the platform Whop.com in a survey of 2,000 people.
And that you today don’t have to pursue a traditional profession or complete a degree is particularly demonstrated by Generation Z. Because some people from Gen Z are already earning millions without having studied or completed training.
Many millionaires from Generation Z have grown up as influencers
Who from Gen Z is earning millions? There are several well-known examples of people who all belong to Generation Z and earn millions as influencers, including:
- Charli D’Amelio became famous through dance videos and is estimated to have a net worth of 23 million US dollars.
- Addison Rae became famous on TikTok through dance videos, is now an actress, entrepreneur (cosmetic brand), and her net worth is estimated at 15 million US dollars.
- Emma Chamberlain became known through YouTube and is now also active as a model, podcaster, and brand ambassador. Her net worth is estimated at 12 million US dollars.
Successful content creators who have not taken a traditional educational path all have one thing in common: they have built a community that is so engaged that they can rely on its ongoing support to grow their reach.
Freddy Nager, communications professor at the University of Southern California, explained to the English-language magazine Fortune that it is important to cultivate your own fan base. Because that is how you would earn money:
It is important that they try to nurture their fan base. Otherwise, the only way to reach their own followers is to boost their posts and buy ads. Many people did not become creators to spend money. They wanted to earn money, but the platforms also want to earn money.
And that is an important strategy for building influence and trust. You do not need a college degree for this. Especially in the USA, high loans are often taken out for education in order to later secure a well-paying job to pay off the loans.
How many wealthy influencers are there really? There are actually no absolute statistics; the numbers can only be estimated.
Statistics, however, say that about 15% of all influencers according to market analyses achieve monthly revenues of more than 5,000 US dollars. However, there are also statistics that suggest the number of millionaires could still rise. The Institute of the German Economy writes:
- Slightly more than ten percent of influencers earn more than 100,000 dollars a year.
- Another 11% earn between 50,000 and 100,000 dollars annually. Those who want to become millionaires must maintain such incomes over several years.
- Media reports and individual cases show that some well-known influencers (e.g., on YouTube or Instagram) have dropped out of their studies in favor of their careers, but there are no official statistics on this.
For a long time, Generation Z was seen as the demographic group wanting primarily office jobs and leadership positions to earn high salaries. But instead of studying and looking for top positions, there is now a shift among the first of Generation Z: Many are now looking for work, and there are good reasons for that: Generation Z has just made a tough decision: they are starting to work
