Creator Etiquette™
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Apr 1, 2026
The Only Professional Development Content Creators Need
The Only Professional Development Content Creators Need
00:00
09:34
Transcript
0:01
Hi, everyone. It's Gigi Robinson, and if you are subscribed to this channel, you can expect a lot of changes because I am coming back after, I think, not one, two, three, but maybe four years of a YouTube hiatus.
0:15
I stopped posting on YouTube because I realized I wanted to create educational content about the creator economy, and I had a lot of work to do as I built my company, Host of Influence, before relaunching this channel.
0:28
Whereas before, it was all lifestyle, and maybe I will go back to my roots one day. But for now, we are going to be talking about all things Host of Influence.
0:41
On a personal note, this is my new official setup, and you may be like, "I've never seen this before."
0:48
That's because since my last video that I posted on YouTube, I moved into an apartment with my boyfriend in another state, which is something I never thought I would say. So, you know, that's a life update for sure.
1:02
But I've also already been here for, like, a year and a half already, which is crazy, so I'm just getting out of my own way, getting back to YouTube.
1:12
Also, since we last spoke, my children's book, A Kids Book About Chronic Illness, moved over from A Kids Co. to DK Books and Penguin Random House, which is huge.
1:25
And as of today, February 4th, 2026, I submitted query letters for my book proposal. Ah! So excited about that.
1:36
Will definitely share more about that entire process, how I prepped myself, and of course, keep you guys along on the journey as I hopefully get a book agent, land a book deal, and write my book.
1:49
You may see a pink sign behind me that says Host of Influence, and you're like, "What the heck is that?"
1:54
Well, I am going to tell you, but it really came about because in 2023, I ended up hitting a roadblock where I saw a lot of things happening in the creator world that I wasn't really happy with and satisfied with, and I also didn't see anybody talking about.
2:14
So I decided to make a second LLC because, you know, one wasn't enough, and I decided to really dig deep in building a foundation literally for almost two years before I actually had my first paying client.
2:28
And that also goes to show that success does not happen overnight, and your wins don't happen overnight, much like content creation. And this show will talk a lot about authenticity.
2:40
It'll talk about creator etiquette, which I will share a lot more about.
2:44
But ultimately, this is going to be a go-to place for anybody that wants to learn about the creator economy, learn about creator etiquette, what that means, how to work with brands, how to get press, how to get verified, how to handle situations that you're uncomfortable with, how to be a solopreneur, and so much more.
3:03
So I'm really glad you're here. And of course, as I mentioned, I may go back to my lifestyle roots, but for now, I'm just feeling like Professor Robinson over here. So from now on you can call me that.
3:16
Something I am so proud of in January 2026 is that I hit half of my revenue that I made in 2025 by the end of January, which is mind-blowing to me because really it just came from a place of confidence and energetics and stopping myself from having negative thoughts about if things would or wouldn't work out.
3:41
And I also added four new team members to my business, so you know, the more the merrier. Let's go. Host of Influence. It's Gigi.
3:49
We're, we're prepared to take over, and I am going to be speaking at a couple of amazing conferences this year, traveling to Austin for South by Southwest, traveling to France for Cannes Lions in June.
4:02
And I will also be at the AdAge Next Gen Summit, hosting a creator simulation to help brands and creators learn how to communicate effectively and pitch original, very thought-provoking, hard-hitting, and hopefully heavily converting partnerships.
4:21
So stay tuned for that. That was a very exciting end to my January and start to my February.
4:28
As I mentioned before, I came up with the idea for Host of Influence almost two and a half years ago, and that is very crazy to say. It was, I think, June of 2023.
4:40
I was signed with one of my dream management companies for a couple of months. Some revenue was coming in. I had landed some great partnerships, and my team was at an all-time high of nine people.
4:53
And I absolutely love leading a team. I love h- having people supporting different areas of my business. Um, I'll do a whole other video on the breakdown of exactly what that was.
5:04
But there came this point the first week of July, so essentially Q3 was starting, and I distinctly remember having a little bit of a mental breakdown because
5:19
I realized the payment terms in some of my contracts essentially were not going to pay me out until the brand approved my final post and it went live.
5:32
That meant that even if I finished the content and I sent it to the brand, until the brand approved it, which could be six months later, I would not get paid.And I was waiting on over five figures for this partnership, so I was expecting to be able to financially support myself and save for months and to pay my team.
5:55
And what ended up happening was that I had to borrow money from friends and family, which does happen to a lot of content creators, and I really have never told this story because for a while I was ashamed of it.
6:07
But the reason I'm telling it today is because financial literacy as a content creator is just as important as creating the content itself, especially because the foundation of Host of Influence is helping you take your story and turn that into a sustainable business.
6:27
If you're not willing to actively look at your content on social media as a business, I'm gonna tell you right now, you will hit a burnout cycle, whether that's a financial one, a creative one, or just like you've hit your capacity, you're like, "I do not know if I can keep doing this.
6:44
I'm exhausted." Because I've been there, not just that one time. I've been there time and time again, and I've realized there is no easy way to win at content if you don't build it with a system.
6:57
So aside from that, if I'm going back to twenty twenty-three and I'm really thinking deep about that, I started brainstorming every single thing about the business of the creator economy, of being a content creator full-time that I could.
7:12
And this ranged from like, why the heck do creators not have websites? Why do they just have link in bios? It's stupid.
7:19
It's literally so stupid, and we will do an entire episode about websites and my preferred website choices, why I think link in bios are dumb, um, and so much more.
7:29
I also was thinking about the fact that a lot of creators don't think outside of content creation. They just wanna stay online doing brand deals. Okay, it's twenty twenty-six.
7:41
A lot has happened since twenty twenty-three, including TikTok being officially in the United States over other countries. And as a result, it pushed everybody to say, "You know what?
7:54
I absolutely a hundred percent need to own my IP." Well, what does that mean? We will again be doing another YouTube video about that. So you stay tuned because that one is going to be a must-watch.
8:06
Another problem I saw is content creators just wanting results really quickly, whether that's a blue verification check, whether that's press opportunities, speaking opportunities.
8:17
Nothing happens overnight, but I can promise you successful creators do this all strategically and on a specific schedule.
8:26
And ultimately, I came to realize that most content creators are not confident in their story and what they can offer to other people.
8:35
At the end of the day, you have started creating content for a specific reason, and if you don't actually know why you're creating content, that is going to be the key reason you're not getting booked for brand deals, and you're not getting opportunities outside of your content creation on social media.
8:52
And one of my superpowers is helping guide you learn how to harness your story and monetize it. So welcome to Host of Influence. I cannot wait to have you here.
9:05
This is going to be such a fun ride, and I can't wait to dive in much more specifically with the creator etiquette frameworks that I've built and of course, a lot of informational episodes.
9:18
I'll also be doing a corresponding newsletter where you can get the highlights of these videos without watching a thirty-minute YouTube video because let's be real, some people just wanna read something really quickly instead of a video.
9:29
And you can follow us at Host of Influence on all social platforms.
Creator Etiquette™
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