Emily Pitcher is a 23-year-old video game developer and UX designer. In April, she was fired from Meta. Now, he pursues content creation as his new hustle. Pitcher shared how he quickly grew his audience and how he makes money.
Emily Pitcher, a 23-year-old video game developer and UX designer, is still adjusting to life as a content creator after losing her job as a designer at Meta.
In early 2023, Pitcher, who goes by Sondering Emily online, began posting regularly on Instagram and TikTok.
“When I first created content, it was just about promoting my game A taste of the past”, as well as its game studio, Study SonderingPitcher told Insider.
His first videos about game development went viral and he began to build an audience. But Pitcher realized he didn’t just want to post about making games, he wanted to create content about the gaming industry and its culture, gaming memes, reviews of “cozy games” and a deeper look into his life like 20 years old “navigating being an entrepreneur and life in general”.
Then, in April, Pitcher found out he was among the thousands affected by Meta’s historic job cuts. His passion for creating gaming content soon turned into a business.
“I’m 23 years old, unemployed, and I have no idea what I’m doing with my life,” Pitcher said in a clip he posted in May. “But I know the Internet is a magical place that connects people.” The short, vulnerable video garnered more than 1.4 million views on the app.
In less than a year, Pitcher has built an audience of nearly 100,000 followers on Instagram, where he said he’s had more success than on TikTok (Pitcher has about 52,000 TikTok followers).
Pitcher usually tries to post four to six times a week, sharing almost exclusively video content.
“Posting a reel a day is the most effective strategy for me,” Pitcher said.
Working at Meta didn’t unlock all the secrets to success on Instagram, Pitcher noted. But having worked on Instagram’s search tools, Pitcher knows how important search engine optimization (SEO) is to getting discovered within an app.
“I will say that working on Instagram gave me a more informed view on how to caption my videos because I would specifically try to caption them so they were what people might be searching for,” Pitcher said.
In his own words, Pitcher aspires to be a “Pokimane of video game development” after watching Pokimane, a game streamer with over 9 million Twitch followers, had been “a pioneer in the game as a woman”. Pitcher said she wants to be a source of similar inspiration for young women of color getting into technology and game development.
Make money as a gaming influencer
Like many influencers, Pitcher’s main revenue stream is brand deals.
Pitcher said he looked to other creators for advice as he navigated his first brand deals. Specifically, she followed a Notion template to track sponsorship offers created by fellow game creator Kat Liente, a TikTok creator with over 521,000 followers.
“In terms of deciding a rate, it’s honestly a little arbitrary,” Pitcher said.
Pitcher said that before he even started accepting brand deals, he had inbound deals offering him more than $2,000 for video content and Instagram stories.
“That gave me a starting point,” Pitcher said. “Why don’t I charge a little more than that? Because you always know you’re going to get a deal.”
Currently, his starting fee for sponsored content is about $2,000 for a video post, he told Insider. (Insider has verified Pitcher’s fees with documentation.)
In addition to brand deals, Pitcher said he makes some cash from TikTok’s video ad revenue program. But Pitcher doesn’t make money directly from YouTube through its AdSense program or Instagram.
“I don’t get paid at all for the videos I make,” Pitcher said, explaining how he missed the window of Instagram’s Reels Play Bonus program that was paying some creators thousands for viral posts.
“I really want to diversify my income streams,” Pitcher said, especially given the turbulent economy. “I’ve been hearing from a lot of creators that brand deals are drying up, so knowing that, I want to expand.”
In July, Pitcher launched a Patreon for paid content and plans to sell merchandise in the future. He said he’s also in the process of developing a new video game, but that’s years away.
“People aren’t going to buy anything from me or my game any time soon,” he said. “They’re really in it for the long haul.”
Read the 1-page media kit that Pitcher sends to brands:
Pitcher uses a 1 page media kit.
Courtesy of Emily Pitcher
Pitcher’s media kit includes a short bio, demographics of her audience, Instagram analytics, and “signature topics” she creates content about. Also make sure to include your contact information.
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