Your passion has potential, capitalise on it

The emerging force behind India’s passion economy is Gen Z that is using technology to make a living by direct support from the people they serve. While the future of marketplace is unknown, the rise of the passion economy could be an opportunity to create marketplace with passion-driven verticals.

Globally, this industry is worth more than $38 billion currently, where people are monetising their skills and hobbies to earn income. Around 4-5 years ago, creative education and following one’s passion was in the backlight of every sphere, especially with regards to generating economy.

However, the pandemic allowed Gen Z with more time to focus on their passion and creative identity. With increased internet interaction and growth over social media platforms, the rise of a creative community and a passion-driven economy was only a matter of time.

It is crucial to note that the riders of the passion economy trend are simply engaging with their audience for a brand and not the other way round.

Most content creators are basically communicators who’re exploring various mediums to put across their niche to their audience, be it visual, audio, text, and/or video. This opens up a whole new arena of opportunities for enthusiasts.

Pursue passion at a scale

Whether it is a podcast, livestream or a story interaction, creators, creative influencers, and educators have started to make a difference in both the creative as well as money-making sphere. From social journalism, fashion and styling, make-up to jewelry making, and UI design, content creation is for all. 

Passion economy has stirred the interest of the audience as well as the investors, where increased audience interaction leads to increased interest of investors.

Students are now delving into upskilling their skills that they’re passionate about and convert them in capabilities to become micro entrepreneurs.

Creating value for a skilled Gen Z

The growth of passion economy at an accelerated rate can be attributed to the surge of social media where the creative insights and education are interlinked to create economic interest. The days of a brick-and-mortar education being the only option for college graduates is long gone.

The higher education landscape has been constantly evolving to meet the needs of an increasingly diverse student base, including motivated students who may face hurdles in pursuing a traditional college education.

With the continuous additions to the varied array of job opportunities, students have started to opt for their interest areas in terms of job search.

As such, with appropriate content, exposure and investment through the proper channels, they can capitalise on their creative outputs and take a step forward towards building their niche.

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Discoverability and Monetization

The Passion Economy has created jobs that people find interesting. From online business shops, new modes of online teaching and interactive marketing tactics, the passion business can take many routes. We are living in an economy where non-consumers interact with non-producers and exchange the virtual goods i.e. the content.

As such, there have been leading digital platforms which invest in these interactive sessions and thus, help the creator create a profile for monetary benefits. Students, aspirants, and people in general now can monetize their skills, passion, and ideas. Finally, mundane 9 to 5 job structures no longer exist.

Through proper marketing and monetisation of creative outputs, the students can effectively increase their connections and outreach, thereby bringing in the entrepreneurship experience in the best possible form.

While most people until very recently had to choose between earning well and their passion, that is certainly not the case anymore. This present form of passion economy has slowly been gaining momentum and is seen to be making its way into the future capital market as well.

Content creation might become the only true profession in no time since it has the potential to interlink art, passion, business, and profits.

With more time invested online by consumers, brands are realising the value of building owned, independent niche communities. Though it is still in the early stages, the genesis of India’s passion economy lies in Gen Z where they are ready to explore their passion and capitalise on this promising industry.