As we concluded at the end of our last article, “The Gig Economy is Dead,” the era of the Gig Economy has come to a smooth but inexorable end. It has been a very important phenomenon, one that has steadily led to a peaceful revolution in the labor market. But now we are faced with an essential question: what’s coming up next?
Gig vs Passion
We do believe that the next big trend in the world of digital goods and services will be the so-called Passion Economy. And we believe that the sooner you start exploring it, the better place you will have in this new ecosystem.
What is it about? Of course, a lot of professional skills are being step by step replaced by robots and artificial intelligence. But there are some things that people do better than robots.
So at the heart of Passion Economy is the ability to monetize individuality and exclusivity. Indeed, Gigs are not going anywhere yet, but the market is evolving, and there are new opportunities to monetize creativity and uniqueness.
First, let’s compare the key points of Gig Economy and Passion Economy:
New platforms for interaction are constantly appearing on the market, and as a consequence, new professions are emerging. This wave is the reason why there are so many “Influencers” and “Bloggers” with their own army of fans. These opinion leaders now have the opportunity to monetize their unique skills.
For example, the top newsletter writer on the paid writing platform Substack earns more than $500,000 per year from subscriptions. Top writers on Podia [a video course creation platform] make more than $100,000 monthly. Mentoring and coaching are also gaining tremendous popularity in the U.S. and other countries.
What is Passion Economy
These new platforms share a few commonalities:
- They’re accessible to everyone, not only existing businesses and professionals
- They view individuality as a feature, not a bug
- They focus on digital products and virtual services
- They provide holistic tools to grow and operate a business
- They open doors to new forms of work
Previously, the service market was built on the standardization of work processes, but now there are emerging and growing platforms that emphasize the differences between employees. The main selection mechanism is based on diversity, not conformity to a standard.
The changes force us to think about the new market conditions and ways to act on them. And the main question is: How should we act in the new Passion Economy in order to achieve the best results?
