The Money Follows Attention
A field guide to how independent media actually gets paid.
Elena Cross1 min read
There is no single revenue line anymore. There's a stack.
The stack
- Direct support — the audience pays the creator, not a middleman.
- Sponsorship — brands rent trust that took years to build.
- Licensing — the back catalog keeps earning while you sleep.
The healthiest independents treat these like a portfolio, not a lottery ticket.