The Creator Spotlight Podcast

Today’s guest is Alex Emery, a creative director and content strategist who spent the first 8 years of his career at Sky Sports before leaving 2 years ago to work with creators. His first client was John Nellis, a YouTuber with 5,000 followers at the time — they’ve since increased that number to 1.74 million and counting, and Alex is working with John full-time.00:00 Intro 01:10 Getting into the world of football content 04:43 Tripling the growth of Sky Sports YouTube channel 07:27 The partnership with John 13:52 Combining the business and creative mind 16:24 How the business operates 18:41 How big is the team? 20:05 Producing content from in-front the camera 24:49 Why John Nellis is the best to work with 29:50 Growing and reinvesting into the business 35:10 The importance of the title and thumbnail 37:34 The myth behind "retention editing” 40:46 How the channel is monetized 44:27 Why you should delete your old videos 46:09 How much money is the channel making? 48:23 The work/life balance of a content creator 51:54 The goal for the channel 55:52 YouTube vs TV

Today’s guest is Caitlin Dewey, creator if Links I Would Gchat You If We Were Friends, a newsletter she started nearly 11 years ago, when she was the social media reporter for the Washington Post. She wrote it for 2 years, taking a 4-year break before bringing it back in 2020; earlier this year, she decided to go all-in and make it her main gig.We spoke about the particular challenges of being a creator-journalist, how to write an actually good links aggregation newsletter, and choosing to build a lifestyle business instead of a media empire.00:00 Introducing Caitlin Dewey03:27 The Origins of the Newsletter06:16 Taking a Break and the Pressure of a Rebrand13:36 Building a Community With Readers17:53 Building a Good Salary From Subscriptions19:49 The Definition of Creators vs. Journalists27:42 Bring Back Comfortable Middle Class Lifestyles32:59 Collaboration in the Newsletter Community37:37 The Painful Art of Content Planning43:21 Substack's Shift in Business Model50:13 The Craft of an Aggregation Newsletter53:19 Fake News Is Now Just News

Tommy Clark, a B2B social media expert and founder of Compound Content Studio, began his content journey while studying nutrition. He shares how he inadvertently built a successful agency and reflects on the dynamics of team building. Discussions shift to the art of viral posts, emphasizing trendjacking and audience engagement. Clark also explores striking a balance between personal branding and business management, revealing strategies for creator-led monetization and the evolution of YouTube for trust-building and lead nurturing.

Ryan Gilbert, creator and writer of the newsletter 'Workspaces' joins us for episode 28 of The Creator Spotlight Podcast. Workspaces: workspaces.xyz 00:00 From supply chain to tech startups 04:31 Building a niche from scratch 10:57 Monetizing with affiliate links 12:42 Abandoning a career to pursue content 16:32 The acquisition and reacquisition of the newsletter 25:08 Monetizing the newsletter is harder now 28:22 How the newsletter grew to 13k+ subscribers 35:35 The stats 37:12 The best home-office setup so far 40:30 Balancing personal and brand identity 44:12 Strategies for newsletter growth 47:02 Reflecting on success and future plansIntro music produced by J. and Doug Organ

This week we speak with Rachel Karten, the woman behind every social media manager's favorite newsletter, Link in Bio, and an excellent social media consultant herself. 00:00 Getting started with food Instagram04:39 Advice for working with brands09:02 Winning and judging Webby awards14:05 Building a newsletter for content creators, Link in Bio25:03 Growing an email audience of 65k+35:50 Being a good social media managerIntro music produced by J. and Doug Organ.

This week we are joined by Michelle Curb, co-founder and editor of Gloria (hellogloria.com) Michelle is an expert in leading monetization for online media brands — she's been doing it for most of two decades.00:00 The Gloria newsletter 05:50 Getting started in online media 08:52 IS it hard to sell a media company? 14:15 Monetization and stats 15:58 Building an audience online 24:52 “I don’t want to be online” 27:38 Day in a life of a media founder 39:21 How to monetize as a creator 45:35 Looking forward and back

On today's pod we talk building a career in soccer journalism, the women's game, producing one of The Athletic's flagship podcasts ("Full Time with Meg Linehan"), and plenty more.00:00 Why Theo pursued soccer journalism 08:23 How much does soccer journalism pay? 17:24 How to tell the real story 23:36 Newsletters are the future of journalism 39:11 The stats 41:17 Building a newsletter into a sustainable business 47:01 How to get better at podcasting Intro music produced by J. and Doug Organ

Cole Derochie, creator of the Today in Design newsletter, shares his intriguing journey from an accidental designer to a thriving content creator. He discusses the evolution of his daily design newsletter, emphasizing content curation and community engagement. Derochie reveals his strategies for writing efficiently and monetizing with sponsorships, while balancing family and professional commitments. Additionally, he highlights the importance of Twitter in growing his audience, with clever tips for boosting engagement and creating compelling content.

Sean Devlin, a media entrepreneur and founder of Nice News, shares his inspiring journey from zero to 820k newsletter subscribers in just three years. He reveals the biggest mistakes in newsletter design and why positive content is essential in today’s media landscape. Sean discusses strategies to engage subscribers effectively and the role of social media in audience growth. He also dives into monetization tactics and emphasizes the importance of unique, uplifting stories. A must-listen for aspiring newsletter creators!

Ambreen Ali is a tenured and accomplished journalist as well as Founding Editor of Central Desi, a local newsletter focussing on the South Asian community in New Jersey. She joins us for episode 22 of the Creator Spotlight podcast. Central Desi: centraldesi.beehiiv.com 00:00:00 Ambreen Ali - putting journalism first 00:05:02 Growing a local newsletter 00:14:07 Why being a journalist is difficult 00:22:02 Is society losing its media literacy? 00:28:53 The best and worst of tradition journalism 00:35:26 Why prisoners should be taught journalism 00:39:39 Making a local impact 00:43:26 Not wanting to be a “creator” 00:52:00 Monetizing journalism is hard 00:57:43 Advice to other creators Intro music produced by J. and Doug Organ