The Tilt presented the inaugural Content Entrepreneur of the Year award this week to Jay Clouse, founder of Creator Science.

One of his nominators, Adam Eskew, shares: “Jay is a truly unique educator. He embodies a rising tide that lifts all boats. He is a student of what works and what doesn’t and passes those lessons along to better other content entrepreneurs.”

So we’ll let Jay be the teacher for today’s Friday 5. It’s based on his Creator Economy Expo conversation about what he wished he had known when he started his content business that years later is on track to make $600K.

1. Start a weekly newsletter: It’s a great creative practice to help find your voice and your perspective. Pick one of two paths: (1) Build it on a unique experience you already have – be a trusted source. (2) Follow a new obsession – be a curious beginner.

2. Study, study, study: Be a student about your chosen platform. It’s easier to earn all As when you take one class than when you take five. Become one of the most knowledgeable people in the world on that topic. More knowledge leads to more insight, which leads to more compelling work.

3. Go hard on Twitter: (Yes, this elicited a few groans from the audience.) Short-form writing is an incredible way to flex your idea muscle and validate ideas. Post one to two times a day and publish one to two threads a week.

Reply to big accounts in your niche where people already talk about similar things. Make sure your reply adds value. Make it thoughtful and discerning. (Jay’s reply to a tweet from James Clear to which the New York Times bestselling author replied. It led Jay’s tweet to earn 20K views.)

4. Repurpose your Twitter content: Turn your best threads into image carousels for LinkedIn. Upload them to Instagram, too (10 or fewer slides). Jay uses Tweetpik, but you also could design your own template in Canva or other design software.

5. Direct social media traffic to your newsletter: Add a tweet in your thread to let readers know how you have a newsletter and how to subscribe. It works well to grow your subscriber base. But don’t stop there. Preview or tease a newsletter topic on social and make subscribe the call to action. Do a similar review promotion after the newsletter goes live.

Among the other things, Jay would do if he was just starting – offer one-on-one consulting or coaching. Services like that are the shortest path to revenue, he says.

See the finalists of our inaugural awards.

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.