I’m thrilled to announce that Lulu has acquired The Tilt, as well as our event, Creator Economy Expo (CEX).

Readers of The Tilt newsletter are very aware that Lulu has been our strongest supporter since The Tilt’s launch in April 2021. Lulu has been a recurring sponsor of this newsletter, held the title sponsorship for Creator Economy Expo, and this year sponsored our third annual Content Entrepreneur Benchmark Research. 

@Luludotcom acquires @TheTiltNews and Creator Economy Expo from founder @JoePulizzi. #ContentEntrepreneur #CreatorEconomy Click To Tweet

Personally, I’ve been paying attention to Lulu for years as a self-publishing alternative that not only gives authors their share of revenues and profits but direct access to first-party data from customers (instead of giving it to places like Amazon). But when Lulu invested in teaching authors about the complete business model of content entrepreneurship (beyond books), I fell in love with them. 

When we launched The Tilt two years ago, much of our education was built around the “three legs of the stool” for content entrepreneurs. The first is building a platform and a regular audience. The second is expanding audience growth opportunities through in-person and digital speaking opportunities. The third is becoming the leading expert in your particular niche through a published book. 

Platform. Speaking. Book.

It’s a simple business model that, frankly, works and continues to work. The marriage between The Tilt/CEX and Lulu will help us continue to assist content creators to create truly exceptional content business models based on these three pillars.

You can read about all the details in the news release, but I want to make sure I answer some key questions coming from the community.

What happens to The Tilt newsletter?

The Tilt newsletter will remain free and continue to publish the business of content every Tuesday and Friday. The team, including Ann, Laura, Marc, and Dave, will continue in their roles.

What happens to Creator Economy Expo?

CEX, the content entrepreneur event that brought 350-plus creators to Cleveland this year, will return to Cleveland in 2024. We will announce the official date soon.

CEX Never-Ending Ticket holders will retain all their current rights, including complimentary access to CEX ’24 and beyond.

What happens to Joe Pulizzi?

As some of you know, this is my third official sale of a company (SocialTract in 2010, Content Marketing Institute in 2016, and The Tilt/CEX in 2023). My goal with this sale is to continue doing what I love and am good at and leave the business side to someone else.

This is where Lulu comes in. Lulu will continue to invest in and support The Tilt and CEX with time and resources, while I will continue to write more books, host my two podcasts, and remain in my role as host and event programmer for Creator Economy Expo.

In addition, I will work with Lulu on launching a new imprint specifically designed for content entrepreneurs through The Tilt. The new imprint will provide newsletter creators, podcasters, YouTubers, and other content entrepreneurs a hands-on service to publish their print book, ebook, and audiobook. To be one of the first authors considered, go to TheTilt.com/Publishing. 

Starting the next chapter

In summary, today is an exciting day for The Tilt and CEX team. We believe that our newsletter and our event provide real value for expert content creators, and this partnership with Lulu ensures we have the resources to continue delivering quality education, research, and networking opportunities.

Thanks again for all your support as a community. It truly means the world to me.

About the author

Joe Pulizzi is the founder of The Tilt, author of seven books including Content Inc. and co-founder of speech-therapy fundraiser, The Orange Effect Foundation.