FEBRUARY 8, 2022

Welcome to The Tilt, a twice-weekly newsletter for content entrepreneurs. Each edition is packed with the latest news, strategies, and tactics, plus inspiring creator stories and exclusive education, all to help you create, grow, and monetize better.

BROUGHT TO YOU BY:

Features in this issue (view online):

Full Tilt: Quantity Is Quality
Entrepreneur: TikTok Builds Podcast Audience
Stan: Poetry on Paper

full tilt

Content Quantity for Content Creators Brings Quality

For a content creator, quantity is quality.

Trust famous author and screenwriter Ray Bradbury: “Quantity produces quality. If you only write a few things, you’re doomed.”

Publishing more frequently gives you more reps. You accelerate improvement. You gather more feedback from your audience. And you provide a richer sample to the search algorithms. You give your prospective audience a better chance of discovering your content and getting to know you.

Quantity requires consistency, though. You can’t postpone content creation until you get those legendary three uninterrupted hours. Content creation must become second nature. It only happens when you do it every day.

Let’s look at the most effective systems to become a consistent content creator. (Should we just refer to that as a C³?)

Block that time: You can’t just put a sticky note with the directive: “Write” on your screen as a reminder. No, you need to know when you will do it and for how long. Schedule that time on your calendar. Don’t cancel these appointments.

Be a perpetual idea generator: Sitting down without knowing what to create is the doorway to creator’s block. You need an ever-expanding idea repository: Immerse yourself in your niche, participating in communities, studying, experimenting. Analyze the feedback on your content. Take time to reflect on future content possibilities. Choose a tool to collect your content ideas before they fly away.

Worship the outline: Take some time to outline your chosen idea. It should tell everything your content needs to include. When you create, you should only choose how to show it.

Start stupidly small: Science shows the effective way to build a new habit is removing the resistance, as Steven Pressfield calls it. This means starting very, very, very small – 50 words or 15 minutes.

If you aren’t yet a consistent content creator, implementing all these suggestions simultaneously is too much. Create a battle plan.

– Alberto Cabas Vidani

To learn the battle plan steps, the one-tooth floss method, and why perfection isn’t possible, read the longer story.

content entrepreneur spotlight

3 Spooked Girls’ Tara Voshell Respects Victims in True Crime Storytelling on TikTok

Entrepreneur: Tara Voshell

Biz: 3 Spooked Girls

Tilt: True crime stories that humanize the victims

Time to First Dollar: Few months

Channels: Podcast, TikTok (580.8K), Instagram (8.6K), YouTube (711)

Rev Streams: TikTok Creator Fund, Patreon, merch, sponsorships

Our Favorite Actionable Advice:

Lead with empathy: Treat the subjects of your content as you would a friend. Humanize and honor them.
Work with brands like you: Enter into brand deals when their values and goals align with yours.
Find a sub-niche: True crime content is popular, but 3 Spooked Girls stand out because they focus on the victims and tell lesser-known stories.

– Kelly Wynne

All the Story: To learn more about 3 Spooked Girls and the content business, check out the longer story.

Know a content creator who’s going full tilt? DM us. Or email [email protected].

quick talk

Caught on … Twitter

“Being a creator is no less than being an entrepreneur. Experiment fast, fail faster, and scale fastest.” – Jeetendra Ajmera

things to know

Money

Zillion ways: Online creators are part Hollywood producer, part small business owner, and all hustle. As Chrissy Chlapecka says: “Some people really underestimate the work that creators do. I wish they would understand more that this is a real career.” (The New York Times; h/t James A. Gardner)
Tilt Take: NYT coverage of creators as business owners says a lot for the growing opportunities for content entrepreneurs.
Film school: The profitable Creator Now online film school for would-be YouTubers raised $3M in seed funding. (tubefilter)
Tilt Take: The business of creating creators is big, and we expect it to grow exponentially.

Audiences

Frowny face: Facebook experienced its first-ever decline in daily active users in Q4 2021. Why? The platform’s user growth already had stalled in North America and Europe. Now it seems to be running out of users in the rest of the world. (USA Today)
Tilt Take: Oh, and young people who wouldn’t be caught using Facebook.
Ask to learn: 53% of Workweek’s newsletter subscribers complete a four-question survey when they sign up. The data provides insight to help Workweek expand its product suite and enrich the experience. (Adam Ryan)
Tilt Take: Give it a try. Even subscribers who don’t fill out the survey won’t be bothered by the (optional) ask in a welcome email.

Tech and Tools

Look up: Creators on Twitter soon can look under the notifications tab to see all their Super Follower interactions. It’s being rolled out on iOS. (Twitter)
Tilt Take: It’s always good to give prompt attention to your paid subscribers, and this tool will help.
Go for 90: Instagram tipster Alessandro Paluzzi says the platform is exploring allowing the Reels max to go from 60 to 90 seconds. (xda developers; h/t tl;dr Marketing)
Tilt Take: Once again, a platform idea to go short is now going longer to try to keep and attract audiences. (Remember when Twitter was just 144 characters?)

And Finally

Perception is reality: “The design of the internet lets you harass and harm people without ever once interacting with them directly. Even if you’re trying to defend them.” (Wired)
Tilt Take: This reminder bears repeating. No matter how well-intended, think before you reply on social media.
Snapped up: Snapchat added 13M daily active users in Q4, rising to 319M overall. (Social Media Today)
Tilt Take: Take that, Facebook. This is where the younger generations connect.

we’re a stan for Orion Carloto

A voracious reader in her youth, Orion Carloto dreamed of publishing her own book someday. In 2014, the Southern girl reached online fangirl status when she posted heartfelt poetry on Tumblr and Instagram.

In a 2020 interview with No Filter, the two-time published author says her poetry book started as an Instagram account. “I picked up film photography as a little side hobby, [and] I found myself taking photos of these moments that I felt were sacred to me,” she said. “It occurred to me to create this account, to post these very boring snippets of my life, but add a story to it, to really explain why I thought taking that photo was important to me and whatever memory it brought back.”

Why we’re a Stan: Orion Carloto turned her relatable and poetry-inspired Instagram content into a book and then used social media again to create buzz around her novel.

– Shameyka McCalman

the business of content

Saying No to NFTs? Try Practicing First (Content Inc.)
Spotify’s Rogan Pains (This Old Marketing)
Why Link Building Is Still an Important Marketing Strategy in 2022 (Small Business Trends)
The Worst Startup Advice You’ll Hear When Starting Your New Business (All Business)
Sales of Small Businesses To Close 2021 Top Pre-Pandemic Levels (Small Business Trends)

the tilt team

Your team for this issue: Joe Pulizzi, Ann Gynn, Laura Kozak, Marc Maxhimer, and Dave Anthony, with an assist from Angelina Kaminski, Alberto Cabas Vidani, Kelly Wynne, Shameyka McCalman, and Don Borger.

Are You a C3? – February 8, 2022