July 25, 2025

Welcome to The Tilt, the newsletter for content entrepreneurs from Tilt Publishing. We’re also the hosts of the 2025 Content Entrepreneur Expo in Cleveland, Ohio. If you’re a serious author, creator, or entrepreneur, join your peers for the best CEX to date!

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Money

Agency deals: Brand requests for creator agencies of record are up 10 times over last year, says one exec, “The era of patchwork partnerships and borrowed budgets is giving way to strategy, accountability, and the infrastructure to match.”

[Digiday]

Tilt Take: As brands get more professional about creator deals, you should too. It also may help establish more standardized deal pricing.

Million-dollar Patreon: The Joe Budden Network’s podcasting venture on Patreon earns more than $1M a month with 70K paid subscribers. It also earns several million from ads. [Podnews]

Tilt Take: Business models for third-party platforms where creators retain their intellectual property rightly attract entrepreneurs.

Audiences

Who sees you: Meta added more insights for creators on Threads. Tap the icon at the top left on mobile or click the menu on the bottom left on the web to learn where people saw your posts and more details about your followers and post interactions. [Threads; h/t Social Media Today]

Tilt Take: Input the data into a generative AI tool with this prompt: “Write a profile of my Threads users.” Then, see how well it matches your target audience. If it doesn’t, should it? Or should Threads be part of your distribution lineup?

Tech & Tools

Granular vision: Instagram is testing a feature to show like counts for each frame within a carousel. [TechJuice]

Tilt Take: Getting more specific data is always helpful to understand what really works in the big picture.

And Finally

Green data: Reddit ads buyers can now import the cost data into their Google Analytics. It unifies reporting and makes performance comparisons easier. [Search Engine Land]

Tilt Take: Whereas the Instagram news above lets you drill down, the Reddit news gives you a wider view. When you’re investing in ads, it’s even more critical to know what works best in an apples-to-apples comparison.

Someone is writing on a tablet with a stylus.

5 Things Every Successful Content Entrepreneur Should Do

It’s back to the future. With one month to go until Content Entrepreneur Expo, we pulled five pieces of advice that work for content entrepreneurs at any stage. Want more? Read the original article and join them and more than two dozen other experts presenting at CEX in Cleveland, Ohio.

1. Make a bio that resonates

Katie Brinkley, author of The Social Shift [a Tilt Publishing book], says it’s too easy to write your bio or profile on social media and forget it. However, it helps people determine who you really are and what you do. It’s critical to keep your bio current with what you do best and who you serve. Tell people why they should explore your social media and other content.

Excerpt from A Social Strategy for Real Life

2. Adopt a 2-platform strategy

Jay Clouse, founder of Creator Science, advises entrepreneurs to start by using two platforms with which you’re already familiar. One should be what he refers to as a “discovery platform,” like X, TikTok, or Instagram. The second should be a relationship platform, like an email newsletter or a podcast. The discovery platform helps you reach a larger audience, whom you can then refer to the relationship platform, where you build trust.

Excerpt from Prioritize Long-Form Content

3. Prioritize relationships; no budget required

Chenell Basilio, founder of Growth in Reverse, encourages entrepreneurs to focus on their relationship with the audience. She thanks every newsletter operator who recommends her, and she’s grown her newsletter to 40,000 subscribers without spending money on ads.

Excerpt from Reverse-Engineered Success Grows to 40K Subscribers

4. Take 1 step at a time

Amy Landino, high-performance brand coach, built her business one revenue stream at a time. For example, after adding speaking to her service lineup, she saw an opportunity to publish a book based on the same topics.

Excerpt from Build Revenue One Stream at a Time

5. Act differently

Jay Acunzo, host of How Stories Happen, says you shouldn’t be satisfied with helping your audience or acting like an expert: Be a visionary. Act like an explorer. Lead your listeners somewhere.

Excerpt from Forgettable to Favorites: How To Make Standout Content

– Ann Gynn

What advice do you have for your fellow entrepreneurs? Reply to this email and join the “hallway” conversations at CEX where the networking always leads to learning.

🎥 No Replay. No Rewind. Be There Live.

This year at CEX 2025, there will be no video on-demand — which means the only way to soak in the insights, strategies, and big ideas from our incredible speaker lineup is to be in the room where it happens.

Don’t miss the chance to learn, connect, and grow alongside fellow creators and entrepreneurs.

📍 Join us in person at CEX 2025 — because some things you just have to experience live.

And be sure to use discount code TILT100 to save $100 off the current ticket price.

No More Excuses: Take the Misogi Challenge (Content, Inc.)
The Mullet Content Strategy (This Old Marketing)
Printing Money: How to Turn Subscription Content into Books (Publish & Prosper)
Thought leaders don’t just follow trends — they write about them. Be the expert with Tilt Publishing.
ICYMI: How To Navigate a Second Career as a Content Entrepreneur

Persistent work … Learn the habits and processes of acclaimed writers. [Lithub]
No lemonade stand … Fifth grader turns his first book into a business. [Oklahoma State University]
Regular payments … Authors can offer subscription services. [Lulu]
More revenue … Listen to how an author wrote his book and 10x’d his revenue. [Lewis Howes]