AUGUST 16, 2022

Welcome to The Tilt, a twice-weekly newsletter for content entrepreneurs.

In This Issue: Did you know imposter syndrome can actually be a positive signal? Discover why we stan for a creator making $1K a month. And LinkedIn is coming for you.

full tilt

How To Deal with Imposter Syndrome

If you feel like an imposter in building a content business, it means you’re doing something right, says Kim-adele Randall, co-founder of International Imposter Syndrome Awareness Day.

“I actually think imposter syndrome is the symptom of being an insecure overachiever,” Kim-adele says. “You only get it when you’ve achieved something.”

The Tilt’s Joe Pulizzi agrees. “You can be the biggest, most powerful creator on the planet, and you still feel like you haven’t made it quite yet,” he says. “You just have to say: ‘Look, everyone feels that way.’”

Though imposter syndrome arises in any job, it often hits content creators who see others building online, says author and podcaster Chris Ducker. “We shouldn’t be looking to compare maybe our seventh or eighth step on our journey with somebody else’s 70th or 80th.”

Life-threatening illness brings aha moment: Kim-adele began her work life as a hairdresser.

She pivoted to a successful career in business and is now a speaker, author, and podcaster. However, she always felt she didn’t deserve the accolades because of how she started.

Decades later, she realized the effect when dealing with a potentially life-threatening illness and wrote a letter to her young daughter in case she didn’t survive.

“It was in that moment that it suddenly hit me that the voice we talked to ourselves becomes the voice we teach our children to talk to themselves,” Kim-adele says. “And it broke my heart. I found, if I survived, I would find out why I’ve been so cruel to myself and how I could change the words that I used, so that wasn’t what I left for my little girl.”

Ask these questions to reframe your thinking: The moment you feel like you’re no good at a task, Kim-adele says to ask yourself:

What evidence is there that I can’t do this? It’s OK to acknowledge you may not do it perfectly.
Is there any evidence that I might be able to do this? “Find all the times you got it right,” Kim-adele says.
If I were talking to the most important person in my life, what advice would I give them?

Do these things to quash imposter syndrome: Before it overtakes your mind, Kim-adele says awareness is key:

Talk about it.
Get your hive to thrive. Find the people who will be honest with you and kind to you. (They don’t have to be the same person.)
Embrace the word “yet.” Don’t say, “I can’t do this.” Instead, say, “I can’t do this yet,” or “I’m not good at this yet.” It means you want to find a way to do it, Kim-adele explains.

– Sarah Lindenfeld Hall

Find out who else has experienced imposter syndrome, the effects, and more.

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we stan for Kesi Irvin

Entrepreneur: Kesi Irvin

Biz: Kesi To and Fro

Tilt: Responsible, affordable long-term travel

Scene: Website, Instagram (16.3K), Facebook (715), Twitter (459)

Snack Bites:

Ivy League graduate Kesi Irvin makes a fraction of her former Wall Street salary, has no permanent place of residence, and can fit her life into a backpack small enough to qualify as a carry-on bag.
She has spent seven years as a digital nomad, visiting 68 countries on six continents.
Though she started her blog a year into her travels, it was a few years before she turned it into a content business.
Brand collaborations are her primary source of income.

Why We Stan:

Kesi is a great example of building a business that makes her life possible. She earns about $1K a month through a variety of revenue streams, which funds her digital nomad life.

– Leo Bonacci

Get Kelsi’s content entrepreneur lessons and more in the full story.

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

things to know

Money

Blue news: Twitter Blue now costs $4.99 a month – a 67% increase from its original $2.99 price tag. They say, among other things, it’s so they can provide features people have been asking for. (Matt Navarra)
Tilt Take: Can’t wait to see what those requests were (#sarcasm.) Side note: Don’t just think about price in relation to what your business needs; think about what your existing customers will be willing to pay, too.
Sales homework: List every reason someone might not buy (subscribe, follow, etc.). List every counterargument to those reasons. Add the latter to your website. (Josh Spector)
Tilt Take: This exercise also helps you realize more about your audience.

Audiences

Snap this: New research finds most Snapchat users rely on it to keep in touch. (Social Media Today)
Tilt Take: It’s important to look beyond user stats for any platform to understand why they use the platform. Just because there may be lots of users doesn’t mean it’s a good place for your business.

Tech and Tools

Click it: LinkedIn now lets users add clickable links in the form of buttons on photos and videos they post. It also added visual templates to create visually engaging posts. (PC Mag)
Tilt Take: Creators have power, and LinkedIn wants them to use it for the good of LinkedIn, too.
Apple buy: Apple is expected to do a deal with podcast producer Futuro Studios to fund the development and production of future podcasts. Apple gets first right of refusal to turn any of those podcasts into film or TV shows. (The Verge)
Tilt Take: Always read your contracts to understand exactly what you’re getting and, more importantly, what you’re giving away.

And Finally

All business: LinkedIn’s APAC head of creator management Pooja Chhabria: “(Creators are) also thinking about what their careers will look like 20 years down the line and how they build their brand not only as a creator but also as an entrepreneur and business owner.” (Marketing Interactive)
Tilt Take: Here, here!
Kangaroo bust: The startup intended to be “Roblox for stories,” Kangaroo is shutting down after raising $3.3M last year. They had brought on several creators with big followings to help launch the app. (The Information)
Tilt Take: Big investment doesn’t guarantee success. It’s hard to get an audience to change their behavior, particularly when competitors already have HUGE head starts.

the business of content

How to Increase the Value of Your Content Business (Content Inc. podcast)
Could You Sell Your Content Marketing Division? (This Old Marketing podcast)
How will Inflation Reduction Act affect small businesses? (USA Today)
Read some tips on achieving balance in startup life. (AfroTech)
Keep learning on your entrepreneurial journey. (Small Business Trends)

the tilt team

Your team for this issue: Joe Pulizzi, Pam Pulizzi, Ann Gynn, Laura Kozak, Marc Maxhimer, and Dave Anthony, with an assist from Sarah Lindenfeld Hall and Leo Bonacci.

Imposter Turn – August 16, 2022