Nigerian creators have been urged to move beyond building influence online and develop structured businesses around their creative work, with speakers at PodFest Naija 2026 highlighting business knowledge, ownership and legal protection as key to helping creators retain more value from their work.
The call was made on Thursday during a technical panel titled “The Creative Economy: From Informal Influence to Formal Ownership,” held at Harbour Point, Victoria Island, Lagos.
Speaking on the need for creators to understand the business side of their work, Salem King said creators with similar audience sizes could earn significantly different amounts because one understood how to monetize their influence better than the other.
“It’s normally a knowledge problem. That person who earns five times more knows something that the other person doesn’t know,” Salem said.
He identified negotiation, pitching, sales, brand selection and platform strategy as some of the areas creators needed to understand alongside their creative skills.
Salem also advised creators to build assets beyond social media platforms, arguing that their reputation and relationship with their audiences could provide more lasting value.
He went further to explain the importance of this saying, “The most valuable asset a creator has is their reputation. And reputation doesn’t live on any platform.”
Other speakers on the panel also stressed the need for creators to understand the value and ownership attached to their work, particularly when dealing with contracts, brands and digital platforms.
They highlighted the need for stronger legal backing to protect creative work and ensure creators understand their rights, licensing arrangements and other agreements governing the use of their content.
The panel also examined the impact of artificial intelligence on creative ownership, with speakers raising concerns around originality, attribution and the distinction between human-created and AI-generated content.
The panelists further emphasized that follower counts, reach and impressions should not be the sole measures of a creator’s value, but should be considered alongside the impact, commercial value and ownership attached to their work.