Here's a question: do you collaborate a lot?

Whether you do or not, the world is calling creator economy as collaborative economy. And it's happening — from moghul creators to nano creators, everyone's racing to get a share of this pie.

With over 200 million creators in the world, creators are hustling (and struggling) to carve a spot for them. Collaborations come in handy as it's beneficial for both parties, and reach a larger audience. Remember, engagement is currency today.

👉 Read: Do creator economy and attention economy belong together?

WordPress states, "More than 45% of full-time content creators say the pressure to post everywhere causes burnout, followed by content fatigue at around 44%.” The same report mentions about 13% of full-time content creators consistently have extreme levels of stress, followed by part-timers at 9%.

While it's true that creators face extreme burnout for myriad reasons, creating content, ideating, and reaching new audience are major reasons. Very few discuss these — and how collaborations can somewhat help!

What does collaborative economy mean?

In traditional terms, collaborative economy implies an economic model based on sharing, swapping, trading, or renting goods and services, often facilitated by online platforms. It illustrates a shift from traditional business models to peer-to-peer interactions, allowing individuals to monetize their existing assets or skills and consumers to access goods or services on a temporary or as-needed basis.

A collaborative economy is known to promote sustainability, resource efficiency, and community engagement. Remember, barter system? That's how collaborative economy functions.

But, wait: how does this matter to creators?

In creator economy, collaboration refers to something similar — two creators come together to build something each of them excel at and also lack. Precisely why you piggy back on each other's following.

When two nano or micro creators collaborate, it's largely for reasons such as art of expression, audience engagement, experimentation, and very little to do with monetization.

Apart from creator collaborations, brands also prefer multiple creator collaborations, considering high impact and reach. A Sprout Social survey states marketers rank generating engagement (62%) and reaching new audiences (60%) as their top two goals for creator marketing.

If we're being honest, both are possible through collaborations. ✨

Read the entire post.

Talking about iconic collaborations

Prime Hydration is the first thing that comes to the mind when someone mentions creator collaborations. Logan Paul and KSI collaborated to launch this brand, and the website states: We created PRIME to showcase what happens when rivals come together as brothers and business partners to fill the void where great taste meets function. These flavored-drinks are now available across the world, and the duo collaborate with other creators time and again.

The Conversation states, "In the UK, there have been purchase waves across the country, with stores constantly selling out of restocks. The popularity and shortage of Prime led to buying restrictions set by supermarkets, with some people reselling the drink – originally priced at £24.99 for 12 bottles – for over £1,000."

Watch this video to find out the Prime Hydration madness. �

Some creators come together for a greater cause.

Team Trees brought together the whole of the internet, social causes, NGOs, and creators like Linus Sebastian of Linus Tech Tips, Brody Animates, Alan Becker, Try Guys, Marques Brownlee, etc. This initiative raised funds from Elon Musk, Jack Dorsey, Marc Benioff, Alan Walker, and Marshmello. Teamtrees has already planted 17 out of 22 million trees across six continents.

Why should you collaborate?

3 simple reasons: cross-promotions, content diversification, and learning from each other.

But the more significant reasons — and the ones that'll yield long-term results — is build reliability and lessen the chances of burnouts. Creators often find themselves comfortable in the company of other creators primarly because their lives are tangled with each others' and they speak the same language. Collaborating with each other will only make the solitary journey of creating a little less lonely.

I honestly think creators with voice and substance should be willing to collaborate and lend their space to small influencers or creators from lesser represented areas of the society. You can't grow creator economy alone, right?

If we talk purely about brand collaborations, did you know 67% of creators have never collaborated with a brand?

Linktree's Creator Report (2022), that surveyed 9,500 creators, mentions this stat. We think it's one of the real reasons why nano creators take time to monetize. You've got to collaborate and do multiple barter collaborations before you land brand deals. I mean, let's also bust the common myth here: you don't have to reach a certain following to start collaborating.

Now, the question remains: is creator economy really the new collaborative economy or should it become one?

I know, I took you through a whirlwind of thoughts to get to the actual question, but what are your thoughts?