How Ben McCarthy built a Salesforce-focused media company with 400,000 monthly readers
Apr 25, 2024
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Ben McCarthy shares how his blog on Salesforce evolved into a booming media company with 1M pageviews/month. He delves into monetization strategies, niche content creation, team growth, and future plans for expansion into other cloud technologies.
Building a successful media company can start from personal blogging and grow organically through niche audience engagement.
Monetization strategies for media outlets include webinars, white papers, and sponsored content targeting specific industry audiences like Salesforce customers.
Future growth for media platforms involves diversifying content formats, expanding into related tech sectors, and maintaining community trust and relevance.
Strategic hiring, community engagement, and industry trend alignment are crucial for operational expansion and lead generation in media companies.
Deep dives
Origin Story and Niche Focus
Ben McCarthy unintentionally started a media outlet focused on Salesforce after blogging about his product usage. His blog attracted a significant audience through Google searches, eventually evolving into a leading Salesforce resource generating over 1 million page views a month. The niche audience's passion for Salesforce fuels the success of Salesforce Ben's content, driving organic growth and trust within the community.
Salesforce Ecosystem and Specializations
The Salesforce ecosystem comprises consultancies, customers, and independent software vendors (ISVs) providing specialized services. Consultancies implement Salesforce products for clients, ensuring customization to align with business needs. Customers like Coca-Cola employ Salesforce professionals to manage and optimize their Salesforce orgs. ISVs offer apps on the Salesforce App Exchange, integrating functionalities and generating substantial revenue.
Monetization Strategies
Salesforce Ben monetizes through webinars, white papers, and sponsored content with ISVs targeting Salesforce customers. By providing valuable courses and certification materials, Salesforce Ben expands revenue streams. The sizable audience's trust in the brand and comprehensive Salesforce content encourages successful lead generation for advertisers, establishing a mutually beneficial platform for monetization.
Content Diversification and Growth Strategies
Future objectives for Salesforce Ben include diversifying content formats, enhancing social media engagement, and refining email newsletters to offer broader value beyond self-promotion. Strategically aligning content with changing industry trends like AI integration in Salesforce ensures continued relevance and audience engagement. Salesforce Ben's expansion potential includes exploring partnerships with other cloud technology sectors while maintaining a primary focus on Salesforce.
Operational Growth and Community Engagement
Salesforce Ben's operational expansion from a solo venture to a 20-person team involved strategic hiring, including technical and content delivery roles. The platform's community-focused approach drives outbound while maintaining a strong inbound strategy for lead generation. Initiatives like live events and party sponsorships at major Salesforce conferences aim to enhance community engagement and lead generation opportunities for ISVs.
Future Expansion and Market Positioning
While potential exists for creating a multi-cloud technology media platform, the current focus remains centered on Salesforce due to its vibrant community and evolving technology landscape. Salesforce Ben looks to capitalize on emerging AI trends while maintaining exclusivity within the Salesforce domain. Future growth may involve expanding to cover other tech ecosystems while prioritizing depth and relevance to the core audience.
Personal Growth and Leadership Transition
Ben McCarthy transitioned from full-time consultancy work to leading Salesforce Ben, leveraging operational expertise within the media company. Strategic hires, including family members, and organization of interactive events exhibit Salesforce Ben's dedicated community engagement approach. Ben's insight into industry trends and brand positioning underscore the platform's future potential for growth and influence within the Salesforce community.
Engagement Sustainability and Monetization Longevity
To ensure sustained community engagement, Salesforce Ben prioritizes diverse content formats, personalized event experiences, and strategic market positioning for advertisers. The platform's future revenue streams include course offerings, partnerships, and potential industry expansion, maintaining a balance between organic growth and innovative monetization approaches. Embedding trust within the Salesforce community fuels long-term sustainability and brand loyalty for Salesforce Ben.
Ben McCarthy didn’t set out to create a media company focused on Salesforce, he just began blogging about his use of the product as a way to document the various use cases he encountered. As it turned out, there were thousands of other people who were encountering those same use cases, and via Google searches they began landing on Ben’s blog posts.
Fast forward 10 years, and he now runs a 20-person media company that generates over 1 million pageviews per month and is the most authoritative resource for Salesforce customers.
In our interview, we discussed why there’s such a huge audience for Salesforce content, how he monetizes with webinars and white papers, and whether he wants to launch more media outlets centered around other cloud technologies.
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