Smooth Media

We're hiring! 3 months ago, we announced Smooth Media's acquisition of Energy Central. Since then, we've been hard at work diving into the electric utility media world and uniting our teams. One thing is super clear: there is so much opportunity in the industry. Name a trend and it runs through energy–climate change, AI, infrastructure spending, jobs–the list goes on. In the media world that means more companies that need to market their new services. That is why we are hiring a Brand Partnerships Associate to help meet these companies and pitch our marketing services. If you love the idea of working in sales at the intersection of B2B advertising and energy, come apply to join us ?? ?? ??

We're thrilled to share the success of our recent Popular Pays Influencer Marketing Dinner in Chicago!?? This exclusive event brought together some of the brightest minds in influencer marketing for an evening of insightful discussions, networking, and delicious food. A huge thank you to Margot Simon for planning this incredible gathering! We were honored to host an impressive group of industry leaders: Zachary Walker Lia Stewart Leah Marshall Lia Monroy Lauren Bailey Kamil Strycharz Dalton Ulm Colin Richardson Christine Granskog Katie Samuels Emily A. Gregor Katie Samuels The conversations were rich with insights on the current trends and future of influencer marketing. We discussed best practices, innovative strategies, and openly addressed industry challenges and opportunities. A special shout-out to our partners Smooth Media for their support in making this event a success! This dinner is just the beginning! We're excited to continue fostering connections and driving conversations in the influencer marketing space. Keep an eye out for future Popular Pays Influencer Marketing Dinner events coming soon!

We’re thrilled to share the official press release announcing our first acquisition – Energy Central! ?? Energy Central has been a cornerstone in the electric power industry, serving as a premier community platform and media publication. With over 200,000 members, it’s poised at the forefront of the industry’s evolution. This acquisition not only expands our portfolio into a vital and dynamic industry but also underscores our commitment to powering the next generation of business media. A bit about why: - Scope & Scale: The electric power industry is one of the world’s most significant, filled with opportunities due to its vast geopolitical and economic impacts. - Timeliness: With the industry at a pivotal point of transformation towards sustainable energy and innovative technologies, now is the perfect time to dive in. - Community & Content: Energy Central’s robust community and rich content align perfectly with our mission to educate, empower, and engage professional audiences. A heartfelt thank you to Steve and Audra Drazga, who have dedicated three decades to building an invaluable platform. We are excited to continue working together and to propel Energy Central to new heights. Stay tuned for more! ?? Interested in the details of our acquisition? Questions about our future direction? Looking to explore partnerships? Check out the press release attached and feel free to reach out directly or comment below.

We made our very first ACQUISITION? Thrilled to announce that Smooth Media has acquired Energy Central, a leading community platform and media publication for the electric power industry. We couldn’t be more thrilled to merge our teams and further Energy Central’s mission to be a can’t-miss resource for this dynamic vertical. A little more about the why behind this deal → The electric power industry is enormous. Seven of the 10 largest companies by revenue in the world are in energy and commodities. It’s also an industry with vast geopolitical, environmental, regulatory, and economic implications. But the space is changing rapidly. From the shift to cleaner and more sustainable energy to fundamentally major technological changes to whatever happens in November…there’s a lot going on. Energy Central (with its 200K members) is at the forefront of this evolving industry. We’ve got big plans to keep serving energy industry professionals with content powered by a thriving community, keep delivering high-octane partnerships with leading brands, and keep creating a space for electric power leaders to come together. And for the team at Smooth, this marks the start of an exciting chapter. After leaving Morning Brew, we launched Smooth in 2021 with a mission to usher in the next generation of business media—one powered by content, community, and creators that educate, empower, and engage professional audiences. We’ve spent the past three years building a portfolio of niche business media companies and representing knowledge creators with focus areas in tech, AI, finance, the creator economy, and entrepreneurship. Through this acquisition, we're expanding our portfolio to include an exciting and high-potential industry. And a HUGE thank you to Steve and Audra Drazga for spending literally decades (30 years!) on building this amazing community. Much more to come on the future of Smooth and Energy Central. Got questions? Want to hear more about our thesis? Interested in partnering with Energy Central? Hit the comments section or slide into the DMs. Can’t wait for all that lies ahead!

In ~3 years at Smooth Media, we’ve worked with 300+ brands 60+ creators And according to our Notion database, 2,723 campaign deliverables. My favorite part–we get to work with the best of the best.? ? Knowledge Creators at the top of their game, who are putting out informative, educational content, and wanting to build a career out of it. ? Marketers who are pushing the boundaries of creator-brand partnerships. That has put us in a unique position — we get to see how creator marketing is shifting on both sides. Because it feels like we’re at an inflection point: The definition of a successful partnership has changed dramatically, and there are "new rules" that both creators and marketers need to consider to thrive in this new era. It’s something we talk about a lot on our team. So…we challenged everyone to articulate this shift.?The conversation evolved from an off-the-cuff internal Slack thread to what I now present to you as… The Future of Creator Marketing: 5 Trends We’re Seeing Give it a read and let me know what you think!

Who is headed to Open Sauce in SF this weekend?? I'm looking forward to meeting all the amazing makers and creators – Open Sauce is such a one-of-a-kind event that I’d attend just for the experience, work or not. Plus, I’ll be hosting a session on Friday all about newsletters. If you’re passionate about building and engaging with your audience, come join the conversation.

Scenes from London last week ???? Huge shoutout to our partners at Lightricks — it's been incredible to be part of the launch and growth of LTX Studio ?

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Hiring Update: We're looking for another incredible full-time writer to join our team! This time to help us cover an incredibly exciting vertical: ENERGY. AI and electric power are set to be the big players in the next decade. But almost every country is struggling with supplying and distributing affordable, reliable electricity. And we’re excited to cover the people, policies, and companies around this shift. Interested? See the application below??? Know a friend that would crush this? Tag them And be on the lookout for more updates on our entrance into the vertical. Lots to come here???

There are so many people we're excited to hear from at The Newsletter Conference, including Jenny Rothenberg, cofounder of Smooth Media. Get to know a little bit more about her... ???????????? ???? ?????????? ??????’???? ???????????? ???? ??????????????????????: 8 ???????? ???? ?????????? ???????????? ??????????: We power a bunch of creator-led newsletters at Smooth like The Publish Press, Miss Excel’s The Workbook, Salary Transparent Street, Matt Wolfe’s Future Tools, and Tommy Geoco’s UX Tools! ?????? ?????? ???????????? ???????? ????: We talk about our work at Smooth and what we’re seeing in the creator world in our newsletter, Smoothletter: https://lnkd.in/em4-CKJr ????????’?? ?????? ???????? ?????????? ?????????? ?????????????? ???? ??????????????????????? No algorithms in email. It's a push-not-pull platform. The content you create reaches the audience that you “own” access to. ?????? ?????? ?????????? ?????? ???????????????????? ???????????? ??????? Include a carrot to incentivize signups, like an exclusive resource or BTS video. This creates urgency and establishes strong engagement off the bat. ?????? ???????? ?????????????????????? ???? ?????? ?????????????????? ????? 20 ???????? ?????? ???????????????????? ???????? ?????? ???????? ?????????? ???????? ???? ?????????? ???? ???????? ??????????: After School by Casey Lewis ?????? ?????? ?????? ???????? ?????????????? ???? ?????? ?????????? ???? ?????? ????????????????????? The voice of our generation, Neal Freyman.