Teacher Chris Ulmer and his students wanted to share what life was like living with disabilities/neurodiversities. No publishers were interested in their book idea. They started creating videos.
Six years later, Special Books by Special Kids is a multimedia experience that has netted over 2 billion views on social. It’s also a nonprofit formed by Chris and his wife Alyssa Porter five years ago – the same year Chris left his teaching job to work full time on SBSK.
While direct donations are possible on their website, SBSK has a Patreon community (2,100+ patrons, $11,000 monthly revenue). “The SBSK Patreon will allow us to create video interviews free from the dependency on social media platforms and their ever-changing policies,” Chris and Alyssa write. (That’s music to The Tilt’s ears.)
As Chris writes, “We believe that when you take the time to hear someone’s story and view life from their perspective, you learn and grow as a human.” (More music to our ears.)
Check out Special Books by Special Kids: YouTube (2.97M), Facebook (3.6M), Instagram (672K), Patreon (2.1K)
The Tilt Takeaway: Don’t let your business’ future depend on gatekeepers. With powerful storytelling, you can grab – and grow – an audience and do incredible things.
About the author
Ann regularly combines words and strategy for B2B, B2C, and nonprofits, continuing to live up to her high school nickname, Editor Ann. An IABC Communicator of the Year and founder of G Force Communication, Ann coaches and trains professionals in all things content. Connect with her on LinkedIn and Twitter.
