JUNE 22, 2021

Welcome to The Tilt, a twice-a-week newsletter for content creators who want to be or already are content entrepreneurs. We talk aspiration, inspiration, revenue, audiences, tech, trends, and more to help your content business thrive.

full tilt

The Content Creator Wars: How to Win in a Game of Mousetrap

Spotify just announced its creator fund in association with its new social audio app, Greenroom. Clubhouse, YouTube, and others have made news recently about their new creator funds.

Why are they throwing all that money at creators? They haven’t given a second thought about you in years.

Money. Substack is taking money away from Big Tech. So is Discord. And Twitch. Now, there is a war for creators. All these social and publishing platforms want to woo the next big wave of creators – not to be nice or supporting – but because that’s where they see their future revenue and growth.

Tilt Advice

Think of it like a mouse to cheese. As the mouse tastes the first bite, it’s great until the trap claps down. In your creator case, you’re dead when the platforms change their rules, their algorithms, or your revenue share. And they will because they always do.

If you decide to run to one of these platforms, I have no problem with that. But it comes with a word of warning: Strategize now about how to diversify enough, so you have the freedom to make your own business model decisions.

– Joe Pulizzi

To read all of Joe’s advice on how to be the mouse who avoids the trap, read the longer story, or listen to the Content Inc. podcast.

How a Classical Violinist Built a Content Business on Twitch

Entrepreneur: Julia Dina

Biz: Storioni Girl

Tilt: Violinist on Twitch, playing classical and video game music

Primary Channels: Twitch (17.1K) and Patreon

Other Channels: YouTube (5.7K) Instagram (1.2K) TikTok (147)

Time to revenue: Within a month

Rev Streams: Twitch (partner status), Patreon

Our Favorite Actionable Advice

Don’t assume: Julie thought Twitch was just about gaming, but at her husband’s suggestion, she dug a little deeper and found musicians there too.
Get traction: She had a big spike thanks to a donor’s attention, but she waited until her income stream was consistent before she quit her concertmaster work.
Think first: Given the audience interaction, streamers should establish their stream structure and chat rules from the beginning.

Some of the Story:

In the competitive classical music world, violinist Julia Dina earned a prestigious certificate of violin performance from Yale School of Music. She was named concertmaster for the Huntsville Symphony Orchestra in Alabama.

But Julia stepped off that traditional track to try something new – Twitch. Since launching her channel in June 2020, she has built a following of more than 17K on her Twitch channel StorioniGirl. This past spring, she quit her concertmaster gig.

The focus of StorioniGirl wasn’t music at first. When the pandemic canceled live concerts, Julia rediscovered video games – specifically Minecraft. Not enjoying solo play, she started watching Minecraft builders on Twitch. Her first stream, a test with a single viewer, was all about Minecraft.

Her first violin stream in July 2020 was “awful,” she admits. But even with the bad sound and rusty playing, viewership grew faster than when she was playing Minecraft. Within a month, she earned affiliate status. That allowed her to start making some money from the channel before she became an official Twitch partner.

Not long after, she was streaming on a Wednesday evening, when a viewer named “Sans” donated $300 and asked her to play a violin cover of Megalovania from the role-playing game Undertale. As details of the donation popped up, Julia looked shocked. “Am I supposed to keep playing?” she asked before wiping away a few tears.

A public mention from that donor led to an audience spike, which led to an income spike on Twitch.

Making the decision to leave the orchestra became easier once her income stream steadied in February. These days, most revenue comes from the money she earns on Twitch. She also recently launched a Patreon.

– Sarah Lindenfeld Hall

All the Story: To learn the YouTube identity of Julia’s donor and her insider advice for other Twitch creators who want to be entrepreneurs, check out the longer story.

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

quick talk

Caught on … [Founder@]

“Don’t wait to feel ready as you will never feel quite ready, so just take the leap.” – Binita Shah and Emma Creese

things to know

Money

Substack 5X: That’s the one-year growth rate at the newsletter platform. A half-million now subscribe to a Substack writer. Its top 10 publications collectively earn $20M in annual revenue. (Newsletter Crew; Substack)
Tilt take: That growth is spectacular for Substack and the top pubs. It’s also a good indicator the platform is more widely known, which can be helpful to new creators starting out there.
Not that exclusive: Though Twitch’s Affiliate program is invitation only, the formal calling card isn’t that hard to get (and start earning a few dollars): 50 followers; 500 minutes and seven streaming days over 30 days; three concurrent viewers average over 30 days. (Common Ninja)
Tilt take: Focus on building your audience, not securing the invite. Once you achieve those minimum numbers, Twitch reaches out with their ask.

Audiences

Spend money: Paid ads can be a good way to raise awareness and increase your audience numbers. Just make sure to pick the channels where your targets consume content. And dig down to the right demographics so you don’t blow the budget. (ACM)
Tilt take: Given the paucity of organic content reaching even your followers and subscribers on some social channels, it makes sense to explore a paid strategy too.
No need for cameras: Repurpose your podcasts into YouTube videos. Convert the MP3 file into an MP4 file, add an image of your brand as the visual, and upload it. Don’t forget to add notes and links to your website in the description. (Inspire to Thrive)
Tilt take: Get the most of your original content. Always have a plan on how to repurpose or repackage it in other formats or platforms.

Tech and Tools

Will you listen on Facebook?: Today’s the day Facebook is rolling out its podcast product for page owners. Hosts can link their shows to the RSS feed to Facebook, which will generate news feed posts for all episodes going forward. (The Verge)
Tilt take: It seems like a smart marketing tool for podcasters to promote their audio content on Facebook with only a little effort in the beginning.
Insights on desktop: Instagram seems to be quietly testing a new feature to let Instagram users check the insights for individual posts from their desktop. (Digital Information World; h/t to Matt Navarra)
Tilt take: Thank you from all of us who dig into analytics on bigger screens.

And Finally

600 or less: Long articles don’t cut it with readers and won’t cut it at Insider. A recent memo says writers should limit most stories to less than 600 words. Too limiting? Write several posts on the same topic when you have a lot to say, the memo reads. (Kerry Flynn, CNN media reporter)
Tilt take: We won’t go on and on. Concise content usually works better with audiences.
You’re the CEO: Act like the CEO you are: 1. Define your value proposition. 2. Position yourself in the market. 3. Have systems to create audiences for life. 4. Have the right plans for your future (and don’t be afraid to revise). (Inman)
Tilt take: Thinking like a business owner is the differentiator between content creators and content entrepreneurs.

shout-out in the tilt

Shout-out to the Geekout newsletter!

Want to do more with your social media presence? Knowledge is power. Geekout is THE most comprehensive newsletter to keep you up to date with trends, new features, tools, and tips for all the major platforms. Thanks Geekout!

Now, you can send the next shout-outs. Spend your $TILT coin to create your shout-out and we’ll publish it in an upcoming issue. See here for details.

we’re a stan for Dan Runcie

It’s time for you all to meet Trapital creator Dan Runcie if you haven’t. He’s a writer with a knack for informing readers on the inner workings of business within the hip-hop industry. Dan started his writing career by drafting think pieces on Medium, which opened the door to working with a handful of leading publications. In 2018, Dan ventured out on his own to create Trapital, emailing weekly updates on industry power moves and players.

The New York Times, NPR, and CNBC have featured Dan’s unique insight and mentioned his newsletter with over 10K email subscribers.

Recently, Trapital launched a service where subscribers pay $100 annually or $10 a month for access to more content and discussion forums. He continues to send free weekly memos to non-paying subscribers.

Why we’re a Stan: While the business of hip-hop isn’t readily discussed, Dan knew there was a need for that sought-after information. We’re also thrilled to see he’s building his new subscription service on his own platform.

the business of content

You just read our Full Tilt feature about the mousetraps of creator funds, hear about it now directly from Joe in his weekly podcast, Content Inc.

In the latest This Old Marketing, Robert and Joe discuss how American Airlines has lost its way and how U.S. users have hit fatigue status when it comes to Video on Demand (VOD).

the tilt team

Your team for this issue: Joe Pulizzi, Ann Gynn, Laura Kozak, and Dave Anthony, with an assist from Sarah Lindenfeld Hall, Shameyka McCalman, and Don Borger.

Build Your Own Cheese Factory – June 22, 2021