By Nathan Barry: Author, Designer, Marketer
5
5353 ratings
The podcast currently has 78 episodes available.
In today’s episode, I sit down with investor, entrepreneur, and content creator, Sahil Bloom (in front of a live audience) to unpack the key strategies and lessons that will help you achieve longevity and sustainability in the creator economy.
Sahil has had a fascinating journey, transitioning from the world of private equity to making a name for himself in the creator economy (his bi-weekly newsletter alone has more than 400K subscribers). Upon entering this new sector, Sahil found himself occupied with the question of how to ensure longevity and set about putting together the ideal business operating system for content creators.
In today’s conversation, you’ll get a behind-the-scenes look at how Sahil built a thriving ecosystem as a content creator by acquiring businesses that would resonate with his audience and partnering with the right collaborators. You’ll also hear Sahil’s answers to live audience questions where he sheds light on finding the right partner, knowing when to pivot, and the future of the creator ecosystem.
In this episode, you'll learn:
Links & Resources:
The Sweaty Startup
Wait But Why
Justin Welsh
Tim Ferriss
Sahil Bloom Links:
Sahil’s website
Follow Sahil on LinkedIn
Follow Sahil on Twitter
Follow Sahil on Instagram
Follow Sahil on YouTube
Follow Sahil on TikTok
Subscribe to Sahil’s newsletter
Today, I talk to Darrell Vesterfelt, who is a longtime friend who helped grow ConvertKit in our craziest growth times (from $100,000/mo when he joined to $500,000/mo in just over a year).
Darrell is one of the best marketers I know. He is the Founder and former CEO of Good People Digital, the Co-Founder of Homestead Living, and Co-Founder and COO of the School of Traditional Skills.
In this episode, Darrell breaks down the goal and execution of an online summit that accumulated an astonishing 101,000 attendees as a brand-new brand! Tune in to find out why you can’t have a marketing strategy without value and vice versa.
In this episode, you'll learn:
Links & Resources:
Homestead Living
Homestead Living on Instagram
School of Traditional Skills
Homesteading Family
Good People Digital
Everything Worth Preserving
Darrell Vesterfelt Links:
Darrell’s website
Follow Darrell on LinkedIn
Follow Darrell on Twitter
Follow Darrell on Instagram
In today’s episode, I’m joined by PJ Taei, Founder and CEO of Uscreen, an all-in-one video monetization platform for content creators that helps them build their brands and grow their businesses.
The creator economy has changed a lot since PJ first founded Uscreen in 2015. And in that time PJ has managed to grow Uscreen to $20 million a year in revenue, representing sought-after clients and their channels, like Yoga with Adrienne and Justin Rhodes’s streaming platform, Abundance Plus.
Our conversation gets into some pretty fascinating topics, like what to do when major competitors enter your field, the trial and error involved in getting your pricing right, and why true fans are so valuable for content creators looking to monetize. PJ also sheds light on what motivated him to bootstrap his company and expands on why it’s so important to stay in touch with the needs of your customers as you grow!
In this episode, you'll learn:
Links & Resources:
Uscreen
Uscreen on YouTube
PJ Taei’s Links:
PJ’s website
PJ’s email
Follow PJ on LinkedIn
Follow PJ on Twitter
Follow PJ on YouTube
Listen to PJ’s Podcast
In this episode, I talk to Susie Bulloch, who runs Hey Grill, Hey, which started as a wildly successful food blog (to the tune of a million dollars or more a year in revenue). Then she did something that I absolutely love: she used her online business to kickstart a physical products company. Her sauces and rubs company in the barbecue space is now about to overtake the blog in revenue.
The online world of content creation is vastly different to the product manufacturing space, and as Susie explains, she is grateful that she didn’t know too much before she made the transition. Her top piece of advice for anyone interested in doing the same thing is to make products with the intention of fulfilling a need, not just because you have an audience online.
Susie describes herself as “terrifyingly driven,” and during our conversation, she talks about how she went from “I could never” to doing it all, the importance of celebrating business milestones, the value of having someone ask you, “Why?” regularly on your entrepreneurial journey, and her goal of increasing the representation of women-owned brands in the barbeque space!
In this episode, you'll learn:
Links & Resources:
Hey Grill, Hey
The Grill Squad
‘The Billion Dollar Creator’
Susie Bulloch Links:
Follow Susie on Twitter
Follow Susie on Facebook
Follow Susie on Instagram
Follow Susie on YouTube
Subscribe to Susie's Grill Squad
Today, I sit down with the Head of Deliverability at ConvertKit, Alyssa Dulin, to shed some light on the often mysterious game of getting your email into the right inbox. Alyssa's expertise about what creators need to focus on and the most recent developments in the email marketing space can truly take your company's reach to the next level!
Deliverability has always been a huge part of what we offer at ConvertKit, and Alyssa unpacks the most important pieces of this puzzle, covering sender reputation, effective cadences, and setting and delivering on expectations. As with so much of our philosophy, it is all about playing the long game over short-term wins and shiny statistics.
You’ll get a look behind the scenes at how the world of email actually operates and evolves, the important conversations that happen between providers, as well as some helpful practical tips and common mistakes to avoid. Be sure to join Alyssa and me for this illuminating chat.
In this episode, you'll learn:
Links & Resources:
ConvertKit's Creator Network
Eventbrite
Warby Parker
Emma
CM Group
Tim Ferriss
Susan Cain
James Clear
Bitly
Spamhaus
M3AAWG
Figma
Substack
SparkLoop
Alyssa Dulin Links:
Follow Alyssa on Twitter
Listen to Alyssa's podcast
Subscribe to Alyssa's newsletter
Today I’m talking with Thomas Frank. Thomas built a YouTube channel called College Info Geek to over a million subscribers. Since then, he’s rebranded and grown the channel to nearly 3 million subscribers. He’s also built a massive business around courses and Notion templates.
In this episode we talk about making a pivot as a creator. Thomas has an interesting and understated approach that’s worked quite well. We also talk about the Notion templates he’s selling, the YouTube productivity channel he started strictly about Notion, and how it’s driving hundreds of thousands of dollars in sales per month.
Thomas also explains why it’s easier getting started on YouTube today than it was 10 years ago, and I get Thomas’ candid thoughts on how Gumroad’s new pricing has affected his business and creators in general.
In this episode, you’ll learn:
Thomas’ Links (H5)
In this episode I talk to Brian Feroldi. Brian is an incredible creator in the investing space. He Tweets about money, investing, and self-improvement. He also has a free newsletter with over 40,000 subscribers.
Today Brian talks about his recent experience migrating his newsletter to ConvertKit. He’s also a member of the ConvertKit Sponsor Network. I haven’t said much about the Sponsor Network, so Brian shares how he’s using it to book sponsors.
The bulk of our conversation, however, is about Twitter and how he’s grown his account to over 400,000 followers. Brian has an interesting idea using your Twitter profile as a sales page, and he explains why conversion rates are important. We also pull up my Twitter profile and Brian gives it a tear down live on the show.
In this episode, you’ll learn:
Links & Resources (H5)
Brian’s Links (H5)
The podcast is back! Today I’m talking with Turner Novak. Turner is someone I’ve followed for a long time. He has an amazing Twitter account where he drops hilarious memes, talks about life as an investor, and makes fun of venture capitalists and founders.
He also posts deep dives on companies like Snapchat about how their earnings work, what’s going on in TikTok ads, and a lot more. It’s an interesting balance, and he does all this while investing in early-stage companies as a venture capitalist.
In today’s episode Turner and I talk about how he creates content. We get into how he uses his funnel to raise capital, and how to generate the highest return on investment (ROI) for your audience. We also talk about how he grew to 130,000 followers on Twitter, why he failed to get a job in venture capital and had to start his own firm, and how to create a successful newsletter.
In this episode, you’ll learn:
Turner’s Links & Resources (H5)
In this episode I talk to Katelyn Bourgoin. Katelyn is a creator and entrepreneur. She’s built several successful companies and agencies, and built a consultant company that she later sold.
We dive into why customers buy, and how to market and sell to them through the Jobs-to-be-Done framework. Katelyn has a wealth of marketing knowledge she shares with us today.
We talk about different business models. We get into why you should focus on selling checklists, cheat sheets, and outcomes rather than the traditional video courses. We also talk about how she grew her newsletter to 10,000 subscribers, and got to over 50,000 followers on Twitter.
In this episode, you’ll learn:
Links & Resources
Katelyn Bourgoin’s Links
In this episode I talk to Laura Roeder. Laura and I have been friends for a long time. I’ve learned so much from her, and it’s great to have her on the podcast.
Laura started an online community and a course called Creating Fame. She’s done a bunch of stuff in the internet space. She’s one of the people who’s been doing it since the early days.
She got into software with a company called MeetEdgar, which is a social media scheduling service, and grew it into a successful company before selling it. She recently started another company called Paperbell. Paperbell is the all-in-one software that solves all the problems of running a coaching and consulting business.
There’s so much to learn from Laura. I love her direct, blunt style. She’s given me great advice over the years, and you get to tune in as we jump on a call, hit record, and start catching up.
In this episode, you’ll learn:
Links & Resources
Laura Roeder’s Links
The podcast currently has 78 episodes available.
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