Nathan Barry, founder of ConvertKit and author of "Authority," shares his journey from earning $150K in eBooks to building a $30M recurring revenue business. He dives into the importance of focus and dedication, revealing the strategies behind ConvertKit's rise. Nathan discusses trends in the creator economy, emphasizing the need for creators to engage audiences effectively and balance diverse interests. He also highlights the challenges of monetization and shares insights on prioritizing growth, calling for a strategic focus to achieve success.
01:05:13
forum Ask episode
web_stories AI Snips
view_agenda Chapters
menu_book Books
auto_awesome Transcript
info_circle Episode notes
question_answer ANECDOTE
Nathan's eBook Success
Nathan Barry earned over $150,000 self-publishing eBooks in 2012-2013.
He used tiered pricing and beautiful sales pages, doubling his revenue.
question_answer ANECDOTE
Early Creator Inspirations
In 2013, Nathan Barry followed creators like Tim Ferriss, Chris Guillebeau, and Jason Fried.
He was inspired by designers Sasha Grief and Jared Drysdale, who transparently shared their eBook pricing strategies.
volunteer_activism ADVICE
Quit or Double Down?
Ask yourself two questions before quitting a project: Do you still want it, and have you given it your best effort?
Align your actions with your intentions and avoid wondering "what if."
Get the Snipd Podcast app to discover more snips from this episode
In 'Authority,' Nathan Barry provides a detailed plan for researching, writing, and selling a book. The book emphasizes the importance of establishing a consistent writing habit, teaching what you know to establish expertise, and implementing effective marketing strategies. It includes practical advice on finding an audience, writing epic blog posts, and pricing your book based on the value it delivers. Barry also discusses post-launch strategies, such as maintaining sales through continuous teaching and writing, and managing updates and refunds[2][3][5].
The App Design Handbook
Nathan Barry
The App Design Handbook is a comprehensive guide that helps transform app ideas into well-designed interfaces. It covers the process of validating ideas, trimming features to the minimum, and sketching interactions. The book is designed for both non-designers and designers to improve their skills in creating user-friendly apps.
Designing Web Applications
Nathan Barry
Designing Web Applications by Nathan Barry provides practical advice on creating web applications that are efficient and easy to use. The book emphasizes the importance of designing for user experience, optimizing for the fewest clicks, and understanding the mental models of users. It covers topics such as avoiding common UX design mistakes, increasing conversions, and simplifying software. The book includes hands-on exercises and real-world examples to help designers and developers improve their web application design skills.
Nathan Barry is a creator, author, speaker, designer, and the founder of ConvertKit. ConvertKit powers the audiences for creators like Gretchen Rubin, Chris Guillebeau, Pat Flynn, Tim Ferriss, Carrie-Anne Moss, and Tim McGraw.
Prior to ConvertKit, Nathan made over $150,000 from self-published books in less than one year. His book Authority is still often referenced within the creator community.
In this episode, we talk about Nathan’s wild year of selling ebooks, trends he’s seeing among creators today, a crucial business model decision every creator should make, and why his relentlessness helped make his decision to double down on ConvertKit look very smart in retrospect.
Creator Science 
