My Next Big Thing: PostMarket
The tool internet creatives have been waiting for...
This full post can be found on PostMarket’s blog here.
Hello hiii! I’ve got big news to share. Being a digital creator is not a job, it’s a complete nightmare. With most “creator economy” startups solving problems that simply don’t exist for those who really live this life. Until now!
After working in stealth, I am excited to discuss the next phase of my life’s work: licensing for social and digital content. I’ve poured my heart, soul and money into what I’m about to tell you.. so please, would you read along?
High-performing, relevant and safe content is essential for brands and businesses to grow their channels online. But the complexities of copyright laws and lack of monetization tools, has meant that most user and creator driven content is either stolen, reposted for free or custom-made for advertisers, the latter often taking months to complete.
This is why we created PostMarket.
PostMarket is an online platform for licensing social and digital content. PostMarket makes it safe, easy and quick to license *any* piece of content from across the web. PostMarket facilitates consent, credit and compensation for online content through our customizable rights and terms options that protect both buyers and sellers. Today, I’m excited to share that our private beta for PostMarket is officially live!
We’re redefining how users monetize and manage their copyright online, making it easier for businesses and creatives to make money together. No Barrier to entry for monetizing your content. No follower minimums and no minimum spends.
It’s ready. It’s glorious. It’s truly game changing.
Be sure to join the waitlist as we gradually welcome new users to the platform here.
PostMarket Origin Story
After growing meme pages and channels for brands, businesses and celebrities, I am exhausted and burnt out by the lack of creator revenue streams outside of custom-made advertisements. On top of that, my highest performing posts are often stolen by large syndication networks, publishers and brands. I have asked myself for years: what is the point of creating and owning a large content catalog of digital assets that aren’t earning any recurring revenue on their usage? Is the fate of every content creator to become an advertising agency forced to create sponsored posts at the expense of their own engagement? For more on this topic, please read my piece: Memes & Monetization: Can You Make Money from Memes?
After hundreds of millions of followers on Instagram and a million more on TikTok, I reached a ceiling on growing viral organic social media pages like nobody else. I kept running into the same problem around revenue streams and usage rights. I spent the last two years working for a payments technology company that specialized in benefiting online creators. I’m excited to bring PostMarket to life, hear your feedback and continue building.
Why Licensing?
Currently, there’s no way to earn revenue on existing social media content, despite the recommended number of posts per social media platform increasing 170% (YoY). The constant creative content churn required by dominant social media platforms is a fast-track to burnout and social media fatigue for content creators and social media users. We need to change our current concept of online ownership and the way we earn money online. This means facilitating a new way for us to earn money from the content *that has already been posted* online. Earning money on content that’s already been made? This is sustainability, people.
The current monetization model for content on the web is in direct conflict with our ability to create meaningful aesthetic work. Advertising-based business models do not help artists or creativity flourish. Of the 2 million full-time creators, approximately 75% of their income comes from brand deals. This means that creators need to find sponsors, write contracts, and create sponsored content, aka advertisements, just to pay bills. But imagine how creativity can flourish when creators aren’t forced to focus on promotional brand content to make a living. Licensing with PostMarket unlocks an entirely new revenue stream.
Content you want to make is content that should be making you money.
Copyright Enforcement is Heating Up Across Platforms
😇Make Your Legal Team Happy 😇
U.S. Copyright Laws control ownership, use and distribution of creative works. PostMarket makes it easy for online creatives to facilitate copyright protection on their work.
The purpose of U.S. Copyright Laws are to provide creative protections so we can get paid, which enables us to create more work. These laws are meant to foster intellectual creativity, allowing for people to gain recognition for their work and earn a living. Copyright law is not meant to stop creative work from happening. Copyright is meant to foster more creativity, especially on the internet, where virality gives value and users can easily control consent, credit and compensation like never before.
For PostMarket, we partnered with top legal experts from Wilson Sonsini to develop a suite of modular licensing agreements that protect both buyers and sellers from takedowns and unauthorized use. All licenses, along with their assets, can be managed through your own centralized dashboard.
PostMarket licenses are never in perpetuity.
Even if creatives like the free promotion that comes with reposts, you can simply set the price for your content to $0. Having a licensing agreement in place means creatives are protected against unauthorized use of your content for porn, drug sales, NSFW, misinformation and more.
Know Before Your Post
Every brand, business, publisher, startup and creator should know if they are violating copyright laws before they post. Copyright violations result in account shutdowns, fines of $200 to $150,000 per work infringed and even jail time. Ruh Roh!
For cash strapped startups or companies with single person social teams, it’s important that you have proper approval and consent to post any content you did not create yourself. I made this quick graphic but you should consult a lawyer if you’re unsure.
PostMarket Features: Creating a New Standard for Creative Works Online
Protecting creative work online is our life’s work. This means giving creatives full control over the pricing, terms, attribution while maintaining full ownership of their work. PostMarket is great for creatives, social media users and rights holders who have content catalogs they want to license out or have been asked for the repost or use of their content. Creatives can license their content to anyone, not just buyers on our platform.
Introducing: PostMarket Profiles
Your PostMarket profile allows you to upload your content, set your own terms and pricing to facilitate easy and safe licensing agreements that ensure consent, credit and compensation for all of your online content.
Have you been asked for permission to repost? Has your post been stolen? Has a brand reached out to work with you but you don’t have time to create custom content each time?
PostMarket allows you to license your…
YouTube clips
IG Reels
Tweets
Substack articles
Podcast episodes
TikToks
Memes
Pet videos
Blog posts
..whatever!
Introducing: PostMarket Offer Links. Make the internet your content library.
The next tool I’m excited to share with you is our Offer Links. Offer Links allow any potential buyer the ability to generate a licensing agreement for any piece of content across the web.
PostMarket is great for brands, businesses and publishers looking to grow their channels and license relevant, safe, high performing content across the internet. Any buyer on PostMarket can license *any* piece of content online, not just other PostMarket users.
With PostMarket Offer Links, businesses can now safely license and use any piece of content they see, agnostic of any platform.
Want access? Join the Private Beta.
Through our private beta, we will be allowing creators, brands, publishers and social media users onto the platform to test and use our newest licensing tools. These tools are built for both parties in mind and are just some of the many tools we have on the way.
If you’re one of the hundreds who have already reserved your username, your onboarding email will be hitting your inbox shortly.
Be sure to join the waitlist and I’ll let you in: here. Be sure to follow PostMarket on Twitter @postmarket.
Liz Hagelthorn is a social-first storyteller and meme-maker with a diverse background in meme culture, technology, and organic virality. Liz is the CEO and Founder of PostMarket, a licensing platform for social and digital content. Liz is best known for leading creative for the largest pseudonymous meme network on Instagram, overseeing creative strategy across 127 accounts with 300M followers and reaching 1.2B people per month. Most notably, Liz was the face and creator behind the @girl account. She led the network’s acquisition in under two years.
Liz has held positions at Google and Twitter, and works with high-profile startups and celebrities to develop viral organic growth strategies, Liz graduated with a Bachelor of Arts from the University of California, Berkeley. Follow her on Twitter @lizhagelthorn.
For further reading:
I was recently interviewed my PCMag for my Kardashian piece! Read the full article here.
