Content Entrepreneur of Year Reveals What He Wishes He Did Years Ago

The Tilt presented the inaugural Content Entrepreneur of the Year award this week to Jay Clouse, founder of Creator Science.

“There is not one person in the creator economy that is making a better impact on the lives and businesses of content entrepreneurs than Jay Clouse,” says Joe Pulizzi, founder of The Tilt.

One of his nominators, Adam Eskew, shares: “Jay is a truly unique educator. He embodies a rising tide that lifts all boats. He is a student of what works and what doesn't and passes those lessons along to better other content entrepreneurs.”

So we’ll let Jay be the teacher for today’s Friday 5. It’s based on his Creator Economy Expo conversation about what he wished he had known when he started his content business that years later is on track to make $600K.

1. Start a weekly newsletter: It’s a great creative practice to help find your voice and your perspective. Pick one of two paths: (1) Build it on a unique experience you already have – be a trusted source. (2) Follow a new obsession – be a curious beginner.

2. Study, study, study: Be a student about your chosen platform. It’s easier to earn all As when you take one class than when you take five. Become one of the most knowledgeable people in the world on that topic. More knowledge leads to more insight, which leads to more compelling work.

3. Go hard on Twitter: (Yes, this elicited a few groans from the audience.) Short-form writing is an incredible way to flex your idea muscle and validate ideas. Post one to two times a day and publish one to two threads a week.

Reply to big accounts in your niche where people already talk about similar things. Make sure your reply adds value. Make it thoughtful and discerning. (Jay’s reply to a tweet from James Clear to which the New York Times bestselling author replied. It led Jay’s tweet to earn 20K views.)

4. Repurpose your Twitter content: Turn your best threads into image carousels for LinkedIn. Upload them to Instagram, too (10 or fewer slides). Jay uses Tweetpik, but you also could design your own template in Canva or other design software.

5. Direct social media traffic to your newsletter: Add a tweet in your thread to let readers know how you have a newsletter and how to subscribe. It works well to grow your subscriber base. But don’t stop there. Preview or tease a newsletter topic on social and make subscribe the call to action. Do a similar review promotion after the newsletter goes live.

Among the other things, Jay would do if he was just starting – offer one-on-one consulting or coaching. Services like that are the shortest path to revenue, he says.

Read more here.

The Business of Content

• Joe shares the five key findings for content entrepreneur success . (Content Inc.)
• The boys do a complete roundup of the latest creator economy research , as well as an overview of the keynotes at CEX, all inside the Evergreen Podcast Networks studio at CEX. (This Old Marketing)
• Have you ever received any of this bad advice? (Entrepreneur)
• ?A lesson in failure from a defeated NBA champion ?(SmartCompany)
• 10 tips for starting a small business. (Forbes)

Content Entrepreneur Spotlight

Entrepreneur: Alexis Grant

Biz: They Got Acquired?

Tilt: Guidance for entrepreneurs interested in selling their $100K to $50M businesses

Primary Channels: Newsletter, podcast, reports

Other Channels: Twitter (2.3K)

Time to First Dollar: Secured a newsletter and podcast sponsorships before launch by reaching out to potential advertisers.???

Rev Streams: Sponsorships, grant, reports, fees from advisors and brokers

Our Favorite Actionable Advice:

• Create a valuable, not necessarily big, audience: Though They Got Acquired’s subscriber list has only 5.5K subscribers, it’s valuable to sponsors and advertisers because the readers and listeners are entrepreneurs who plan to sell their businesses in the next few years.
• Stick to the core: Alexis says she gets the itch to add Instagram to the mix, but she resists it because a year into the business, she must stay focused where she started.?
• Find an audience that spends: As you shape your content tilt, target an audience you can help – and who can pay for the content you produce or the advertisers and sponsors who promote their business.?

Read more of Alexis Grant’s story in the longer story.

Or catch her and dozens of other content entrepreneurs who took the stage at Creator Economy Expo with the digital pass. Over 40+ hours of recordings available on demand.

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