$768k a Year as a FT Creator

Bran Flakezz Income Streams

ICYMI—Bran (@bran__flakezz) recently shared that he earned $768k in 2024 as a full-time content creator. He creates primarily lifestyle and commentary content.

See his full interview on the Networth and Chill Podcast. ⤵️

Let’s break down his income streams and where we think he could make even more.

Brand Deals

Brand deals make up the bulk of his income. While he doesn’t say the exact percentage, he stated in this video that brand deals are the primary income source.

TikTok Creator Rewards Program

Bran is a major advocate for the Creator Fund, earning him $4.8k in one month alone. Because this isn’t commissioned by his management, it’s pure profit he gets to keep.

Affiliate Links

Because Bran’s content style doesn’t involve heavy product integration, he says he doesn’t make much here. The most he’s made in one go was around $2k when a digital camera he shared went viral.

Podcast

Bran co-hosts Between Us Girlies, a podcast about navigating a chaotic life in your 20s. It doesn’t look like every episode is sponsored, bur some are (more brand deal revenue).

Where Bran Could Expand

$768k from primarily brand deals is incredible, but Bran could definitely diversify. Three income streams Bran (and you) should consider:

Trips

Bran’s ahead of us on this one with his upcoming Bran Trip (a play on brand trip…love it). He’ll be bringing a group of his followers on an influencer-brand-trip-style vacation in Philly.

@bran__flakezz

LET’S GO #philly #philadelphia #influencer #tiktok

This could work for various audiences—really any group with a shared interest.

EF Ultimate Break allows for private influencer-led trips, although you won’t make a profit here. If you sell a certain number of spots, your trip is free though.

Trova Trip, on the other hand, lets you set the price of your trip (aka choose your profit margins). If you want to price the trip higher and earn more, you can.

Digital Products

Bran’s transparency about his growth makes him an outlier. People want to learn from him. Why not launch a coaching program, course, or guide?

Assuming 1% of his following purchases, here’s what his revenue could look like for:

• $9.99 guide → $99,900

• $397 course → $3.97M

• $2,500 coaching program → $25M (although there’s no way he could take on 10k clients here)

Equity/Investments

Poppi recently sold to Pepsi for $2B and it has people wondering—did Alix Earle invest in the company, and if so, how much did she make?

(In case this is the first you’re hearing of any of this—Alix Earle is a popular lifestyle creator. She invested in Poppi, a prebiotic soda company, last May. It’s unclear how much she invested.)

One investing expert creator made the following estimates:

• $100k investment last May at a $2M valuation cap (0.005% of the company)

• Stake worth roughly $800k at the time of $2B sale (assuming no dilution)

• She’ll keep around $400k after capital gains tax

If creators are able to, strategic investments in growing companies could turn into their largest income stream.

Here’s a great article on influencer investments to get you started.

Quick Note

Bran started creating content in 2021. It’s taken him 4 years to get to this point.

In 2022, he made $37k in 5 months (roughly an $88k salary).

Remember: It takes time to grow. Play the long game.

How IG Reels are Ranked and Recommended

Instagram recently updated their ranking and recommendation system. They published this article sharing the changes, but we’ll break them down here:

Signals

IG uses signals like watch time, retention, shares, likes, and comments to gauge whether your video is something people might like to watch.

Audience Matching

IG looks at people’s interests based on their engagement. If your content matches their interests, your content may be pushed out to them.

How Content Disperses

When you post a Reel, IG shows it to both followers and non-followers. However, among non-followers, it is initially shown to a small audience of people IG thinks will enjoy it. If this audience enjoys the content, it will be shown to a wider audience.

This process was designed to “level the playing field” when it comes to distributing content based on engagement, but just creator follower count.

Focus on Reshares

Based on this article + a recent video from Head of IG Adam Mosseri, it seems there’s a focus on resharing content. Creating shareable videos may increase your reach.

IG’s Bottom-Line Recommendations

IG recommends the following playbook for success:

1. Post regularly.

2. Create content that can stand on its own. Each piece should make sense to people who may not know you.

3. Monitor your View Rate. Make sure a decent percentage of people are watching beyond the 3 second mark. (On TikTok, a 50% view rate at the 5 second mark is an indicator the video will take off. Not sure what the formula is on IG yet.)

Quick Links

🤖 Platform experimenting with AI generated comments.

💰 LinkedIn creator making $10k/mo. Here’s her playbook.

🗣️ Feedback form to send brands after working with them.

This Week in Creator Studio

This week in Creator Studio (our free Discord community) we’re interviewing Brett Dashevsky—founder of Creator Economy NYC.

His company is the industry’s leading network and knowledge hub, connecting thousands of content creators and industry professionals through in-person events and insightful media.

See ya next week,

Karat