Just a moment...

In the past few years, startups like Substack, Patreon, and Shopify have created alternative ways for creators to build businesses online through direct transactions, rather than advertising. This shift exposed a simple fact: in an ad-driven world, creators were generally under-monetizing their audiences.

Creators will be the new big-box retailers. Your favorite YouTuber or TikToker might become your go-to store for everything from gadgets to groceries.

Firstly, people will increasingly identify with and trust other people rather than starting with a specific type of product or impersonal brand. We're putting the individual’s brand and their company’s brand forward. We compare Shopify and Etsy—there’s a difference in how overwhelming it is to go to somebody's Shopify store that you trust, vs. goin... See more

if people now cultivate their own personalities in order to sell products and build a community, brands need to figure out what it is that they are doing. Originally created by companies to give selling a face and a human emotion, retailers are getting killed by their own customers. People are increasingly more likely to build their own brand — and... See more