Making $100k p/m selling Notion templates - Thomas Frank
Mar 15, 2023
auto_awesome
Thomas Frank, a YouTube creator with over 2.8m subscribers, talks about his transition from helping college students to selling Notion templates, making over $100k p/m. He also shares insights on consistency, growing on YouTube, going niche, and building a streaming service called Nebula. The discussion covers productivity tools, revenue sources, and their journey in finding the right payment platform.
Selling Notion templates can be a lucrative business, with Thomas Frank making over $100k per month consistently.
Choosing the right productivity tool depends on individual needs, with simpler tools like pen and paper being effective for straightforward workflows.
Thomas Frank's success on YouTube is attributed to his ability to explain complex concepts clearly, offer helpful resources, and build a strong community.
Deep dives
Thomas Frank's journey as a YouTube creator and entrepreneur
Thomas Frank started out as a blogger and podcaster before pivoting to create YouTube videos on studying and academic performance. He built a successful YouTube channel with millions of subscribers and a large email list. Eventually, he shifted his focus to productivity tools, particularly Notion. He created and sold Notion templates that became a major source of income, making over $100,000 per month consistently.
The importance of finding the right productivity tools
Thomas Frank believes that the choice of productivity tools depends on the individual and their needs. Not everyone requires complex tools like Notion, and simpler tools like pen and paper or basic to-do lists can be effective for those with more straightforward workflows. The key is to find a tool that works for you and helps you stay organized and focused.
The success of Thomas Frank's YouTube channels
Thomas Frank's YouTube channels, especially Thomas Frank Explains, have gained a significant following by providing valuable content on various topics. While he initially focused on studying and academic performance, he expanded to cover productivity tools like Notion. His success can be attributed to his ability to explain complex concepts clearly, offer helpful resources, and build a strong community.
The creation of Nebula and its impact on creators
Thomas Frank is also involved in Nebula, a creator-owned streaming platform that provides exclusive and early access content. Nebula was created by a group of creators who wanted to offer a platform where they could share content that might not be suitable for YouTube or face copyright issues. Nebula provides a supportive environment for creators and allows them to have more control over their content.
Thomas Frank's exploration of alternative payment processors
Following the price increase by Gumroad, Thomas Frank decided to explore alternative payment processors. He considered various options, including SamCart, Thrive Cart, Paddle, and WooCommerce, but ultimately settled on Lemon Squeezy. Thomas was impressed by Lemon Squeezy's API capabilities, webhook data, tax handling, and the ability to customize the tool to fit his specific needs. He has found Lemon Squeezy to be an efficient, reliable, and cost-effective solution.
Today we’re joined by Thomas Frank, a YouTube creator with over 2.8m subscribers on his main channel and 138k subscribers on his Notion-focused channel, Thomas Frank Explains. He started out helping ambitious college students study better and pivoted to the self-help/personal development niche. He’s a creator in every sense, going from YouTube videos to writing books, making courses and even launching his own platform with creator friends. Now though, a good chunk of his income is coming from selling Notion templates, making over $100k p/m consistently.
Timestamps
(00:00) Intro (01:07) Thomas' background (09:28) Going full time as a creator (11:35) Consistency and growth (15:17) How to grow on YouTube (19:12) Why Thomas stopped posting on his main channel (22:25) How a $100k p/m creator business works (25:16) How to grow your business 10x with Notion templates (30:28) Can you go too niche? (31:54) Why not continue with the main channel (33:41) Notion and productivity tools (41:05) Building a streaming service - Nebula (45:13) Switching from Gumroad to Lemon Squeezy (51:17) Outro