Making a living as a creator shouldn’t be some elusive thing. And what’s the best way to learn how creators are making it work? To go behind-the-scenes. These bi-weekly interview issues are like having coffee with your favorite creators. If we haven’t met before, I’m Amanda Smith. I write about solopreneurship and the creator economy.
Good morning. Just when you thought you’d seen every imaginable creator niche and nook of the internet. This week’s creator is bringing the physical labor lifestyle to YouTube.
If you’re worried about AI and the white-collar collapse, you’ll dig this one.
🌀 What’s new in the creator world?
YouTube x Gemini partnership
A new Gemini-backed platform known as Creator Partnerships will pair advertisers with creators.
The era of equity
Equity participation is now part of the creator conversation.
Meta and Google lose civil case
The big tech giants are liable for the mental health decline of a 20-year-old woman, awarding her $3M.
🤝 This edition is kindly brought to you by Libsyn
Power your podcast with Libsyn - trusted by 250,000+ creators for over 20 years. Join the community of successful podcasters growing faster, earning more, and creating more impact. We continue to lead the way in podcasting innovation.
Libsyn has the tools you need to reach loyal listeners including:
- Diversified podcast monetization
- Industry-best analytics
- Seamless multi-channel distribution
Carl Murawski
Carl Murawski built a 200K+ YouTube following for anyone who does physical labor for a living.
He’s spent his entire career in trades and now talks about tools, working-class life, trade school alternatives, and succeeding as a skilled laborer, especially in the AI era.
His mission? To bring back the dignity of trade work.
Constructing his creator career
Murawski started out as a mechanic right out of high school, then transitioned into electrical in 2004 – a career he still works in today. He began making YouTube videos in 2016.
“It’s been slow and steady over the past ten years. In some ways I feel that I should be much further ahead, but then I remember that this is a side gig at best,” he said.
“There have been certain topics that have been more popular than others, leading to more growth at times but overall, it’s been growing more year-over-year.”
While Murawski said he’s seen murmurs about the AI effect causing a spike in blue-collar work, it’s still early days. His most popular video – how to make cheap boots look expensive – is from eight years ago.
Creator time vs. trades time
Murawski wakes up an hour early each day to clock some video editing time. He films on weekends while his wife takes the kids grocery shopping.
“My entire creator career has been built in the margins, but I’ve always wondered what could be possible if I were able to dedicate all my working hours to it," he shared.
The YouTuber works solo without a team, although he does bring in different thumbnail artists as needed. He admits he could bring in a video editor, but he enjoys that part, so doesn’t outsource.
It’s a surprisingly simple workflow for a big YouTube channel.
Marketing strategies & revenue steams
Murawski has an email list of 20,000 subscribers but rarely sends out emails. He doesn’t do any marketing or run ads.
His revenue streams include:
40%: Affiliate sales
40%: Sponsorships
20%: Advertising revenue
He’s working on releasing his first (physical) product this summer, which will be a solution to the worst problem he’s seen in the field: portable toilets without running water.
“I've developed a dual-packet solution with a personal wipe in one packet and hand cleaning wipe in the other. This solves the issue of poor quality (or missing entirely) toilet paper, and no way to wash your hands. It will hopefully restore a little dignity to those of us who have to use these terrible facilities,” Murawski said.
Murawski was featured in Business Insider as the narrative around blue-collar work grows. His career is a case study in the evolving role of a creator.
Predictions + takeaways
AI is going to have a huge impact on the creator space, but not in the way you might expect. People will question everything they watch and desire for authenticity will grow.
There will be a semblance of a return of the early days of content creation.
Due to the recent lawsuit against YouTube and Meta, he predicts that the platforms will reign in targeted recommendations in the form of suggested videos. This will usher in a more old school YouTube vibe.
How's the depth of today's edition?
As always, hit reply if something in here hits home.
Want content shaped around your priorities? 🔥Make it happen here.
Speak soon,
Amanda
P.S. If you want to get a feature about your own IP, reply to this email. If you’d like to reach our newsletter audience (founders, creators, and marketers), click the button below.
If you’re new here, I’m over the moon you’ve joined us! To help me craft content that’s actually useful (and not just noise in your inbox), I’d love it if you took 1 minute to answer this quick survey below. Your insights help shape everything I write.
✨ Insane Media is more than one voice
Dive into our other newsletters - where psychology meets the founders, e-commerce marketing, Human resources and AI trends.
