The difference between being a creator and being an influencer (that I've just learnt)

When in reality the majority of us want influence...

Over the past couple of months, probably because I’ve been at creator-focused events like Cannes Lions, people keep asking me the same question.

“Are you a content creator?”

I post on LinkedIn five times a week. I have 64,000 followers. I generate 80% of my leads from my content.

Yet, every time someone called me a content creator, I felt offended. My immediate reaction: no, I’m not an influencer, I run a business.

Until last week.

What I was getting wrong

Last week I went to Creator Fest, an event in London built around the creator economy. I went to a talk by Grace Andrews, a loud and proud content creator and previously Marketing Director at Diary of a CEO.

She said something that completely reshaped how I think about creators.

I’d assumed being a creator was the same as being an influencer when they’re two different things.

An influencer builds trust through relevance and inspiration. They give people access to their life and in turn, people aspire to be like them in some sort of way.

A creator builds trust through skill, and value. They build a following based on their work itself, or their expertise.

I want to make it clear, there is nothing wrong with being an influencer. When I was at Edinburgh University (many many years ago), I dreamed of being a fashion influencer. I took photos of my uni fits every day, hoping people would want to dress like me. They didn’t lol.

But that is very different to what I do now. I’ve built a skill in building personal brands on LinkedIn, built a business around it, and now teach others to do the same.

But at the end of the day…

Influence is the whole point

Building a personal brand is an attempt to build influence. This is true whether you’d call yourself a creator, an influencer, or neither. Nobody builds a presence online hoping to stay unknown.

That literally defeats the point.

You build a personal brand hoping to influence someone in different kind of ways. To think like you, to follow you, or buy from you.

A creator might influence someone to buy a service or product they built themselves. An influencer might encourage someone to buy a product they love, made by a brand paying them.

Influence is the name of the game either way.

The biggest difference is that for a creator or let’s say a creator-entrepreneur, influence is not the most important element. Their personal brand sits on top of their business as a tool, it’s not the foundation. Entrepreneur first, personal brand second. Posting is an additional way to get paid for a skill they’ve already built, not necessarily a career of its own.

What’s holding people back

The majority of people think like I used to. They believe being a creator means becoming an influencer, and they avoid posting or building a brand because it feels like they’re chasing clout. Like they’re trying to escape a 9 to 5 and get famous for being famous instead.

This shows up everywhere. Founders worry it will make them look less serious. Employees worry it will look like they want to be somewhere else. Professionals early in their career worry it looks try hard.

All of them are wrong.

Being a creator means building attention, demand, trust — things that strengthen your position, whatever that position is. It helps you become known, it speeds up how fast people trust you, it accelerates your success.

What building a personal brand actually gives you

Demand is the most common thing people mention when they talk about personal branding or becoming a creator, but demand isn’t the whole picture.

Building a personal brand whether you’re an entrepreneur, at school, a full-time employee or launching a side hustle builds you a safety net. A safety net that is even more important in our world of constant change.

I know this firsthand.

Two years ago, I was leading the marketing department at a start-up I had given my blood, sweat and tears to. Almost two years into the role, they fired me with no warning. I spent two months applying for jobs and couldn’t get anywhere near one. That’s when I started building my personal brand. I had no choice but to bet on myself but also, I refused to be reliant on an employer again.

Being a creator means building something that belongs to you, something no one can take away.

A personal brand gives you authority you never have to ask permission for. People stop checking your job title before they trust your opinion. They stop asking for case studies or proof, because you are the proof.

You gain negotiating power in every direction. You start building an inbound life where opportunities come to you. Every conversation changes, whether you’re talking to a client, an investor, or a future employer. You stop being the person asking and become the person attracting.

Demand is the visible result. Security, authority, negotiation power and opportunity build up underneath it.

Your one tiny action this week

Challenge a belief you’ve been holding onto. Mine was that a creator and an influencer were the same thing, and that belief held me back.

Since changing my mind, I see content creation in a new light. I feel different about it, more like building a business in its own right.

What’s something you’ve always believed that might be keeping you stuck?

Maybe you believe posting online is cringe. Maybe you believe building visibility is scary. Maybe you believe changing careers now would set you back.

Name it. Talk about it. Get past it.

Before you go

The label matters way less than you think. Creator, influencer, professional building visibility, whatever gets you moving, call it that. What matters is whether your influence is built on something that outlasts a single post.

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That’s all for this week.

Love,
Mischa x

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P.S. Want to learn more about how I can build your personal brand on LinkedIn? Add me on LinkedIn and DM me saying “PB”.

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