JUNE 13, 2025
content entrepreneur spotlight
Unexpected Entrepreneur Cheryl Tan Pivots Business To Video Content Niche and Finds Success
Entrepreneur: Cheryl Tan
Business: Cheryl Tan Media
Tilt: Video content for long-term plays
Primary Channels: YouTube, newsletter
Other Channels: LinkedIn, Instagram
Time to First Dollar: Day one
Revenue Streams: Self-paced online courses, workshops, boot camps, one-on-one consulting
Favorite Actionable Advice:
- Wait to quit: Cheryl started freelancing while she kept her broadcast journalism job to vet her entrepreneurial ideas.
- See pivot possibilities: Cheryl Tan Media started by offering public relations services. Then, she saw the potential to narrow her tilt to video-related training for clients.
- Curate a mix of products: In her program library, she offers free content and lower-priced asynchronous courses, such as Camera Ready in 5 Days Challenge ($9) and Get Access to Video Kickstart ($27), which can be accessed immediately. She also promotes her signature and one-on-one consulting services and invites visitors to book a call.
- See content as a marketing tool, too: Evergreen content, such as blog posts, YouTube video tutorials, and podcasts, can help prospective clients see how you think, how you can help them, and what results could be experienced. It’s been a powerful tool for Cheryl’s business.
– Lauren Vassallo
Read the story of Cheryl Tan.
tilt publishing book club
Congrats to Dr. Christi Barb on the release of her book, Thinking About Speaking, and joining the Tilt Publishing family. Her research-based approach to refining spoken communication goes beyond surface-level pronunciation drills, exploring the deeper cognitive aspects of speech. Designed for English language teachers and learners alike, Thinking About Speaking provides the foundation that bridges gaps in traditional speech instruction, empowering speakers to make lasting changes. Buy it today from her site!
- Finding the point … “Not knowing your book’s aboutness as you begin to write is not a problem, but a prompt,” says Stephanie Duncan Smith. [LitHub]
- Kids write … Written Out Loud and Lulu partner to help the youngest authors get published. [Lulu]
- Louder audio … Audiobook sales increased 13% in 2024 over 2023. We’re guessing that’s news to Justin Moore’s ears. The Tilt Publishing author recently released the audio version of Sponsor Magnet. [Publishers Weekly]
things to know
Money
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Half-billion jobs: YouTube’s broader creative ecosystem generates the equivalent of more than 490K full-time jobs. That includes creators, editors, production assistants, media strategists, and third-party companies such as Patreon and Linktree, according to a new report using data from Oxford Economics. [Digital Information World]
Tilt Take: That’s a broad ecosystem, but it shows the big (and growing) impact of a creator economy. -
Beats the main: Ad revenue from creator-driven platforms like YouTube, TikTok, and LinkedIn will be greater than ad revenue for media companies and traditional studios in 2025, according to a new forecast by WPP Media. [Business Insider]
Tilt Take: When audiences change their content consumption behaviors, advertisers follow along. Now, advertisers may be more receptive to smaller creators’ pitches.
Audiences
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Read it: Spotify will now produce show transcripts automatically. If creators want, they can upload industry-standard transcript formats with time stamps and speaker names. [Podnews]
Tilt Take: Transcripts also can be transformed into other content formats, from social media posts to full-length articles.
Tech and Tools
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Slide in: Meta is testing the addition of DMs to Threads, separating those messages from the connected Instagram account. [Social Media Today]
Tilt Take: Direct communication with your audience can be great for cultivating the connection.
And Finally
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Government recognition: US representatives launched the bipartisan Congressional Creators Caucus this past week. Its goal is to ensure that Congress puts resources and protections in place to support this new era of startups. It’s something Matthew Patrick (MatPat) has been championing for a while – getting Capitol Hill to recognize the needs of creators. [Tech Crunch]
Tilt Take: Bipartisanship on anything these days is newsworthy. But this recognition indicates the power of the creator economy. (See first and second TTK above.)
business of content
- If I Had to Start Over, Here’s the Plan (Content, Inc.)
- The Future of AI and What Creators Need to Know (This Old Marketing)
- 7 Steps to Publishing Your Book (Publish & Prosper)
- Watch a session from CEX 2024: How to Set Strategic Prices to Drive Revenue Even with a Small Audience — Austin Church
Get more of the Full Tilt stories on TheTilt.com.
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