MARCH 11, 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.

In this issue:

Full Tilt: Lessons of a Social Token Launch
Stan: A Fashionable Business
Please Complete This Survey on the State of Content Creators

full tilt

Lessons Learned 1 Year After the Launch of $TILT Coin

On March 10, 2021, $TILT coin, the official social token of The Tilt, launched. It was five months in the making. In October 2020, I went down the proverbial rabbit hole of social tokens, trying to wrap my arms around this phenomenon.

What was the big deal? The answer, I realized, is the power of the token – the idea that a creator with scarce assets can build and at the same time give property rights to their audience or community. We surely had to take the social token business model for a spin.

$TILT coin launched as an idea (we didn’t have the newsletter yet) on the Rally platform, valued at around 30 cents. Now, the social token has grown into the very fabric of what we do. As of today, we have 1,800 coin holders with a current value of around $23 USD per coin. Our token has consistently been in the top five of Rally creator tokens, and currently sits at the top position.

Have we been perfect with our social token launch? Not even close. But we’ve done better than most. I’ve found $TILT coin holders are our super fans. They feel part of the process. They believe they have a real stake in the success of The Tilt (and myself) – and they do.

Here’s more of what we’ve learned:

Define the benefits for token holders: It took a few weeks, but we were able to find and communicate a clear benefits plan for token holders to communicate. You can find the plan here.

Simply put, depending on the number of $TILT tokens a person holds, they are eligible for weekly token giveaways and access to special channels in our Discord community. Those with at least 20 tokens get VIP benefits, including 50% discounts on anything we offer and access to The Tilt team (including me).

Integrate the token with sales: Having your own currency comes with a lot of responsibility. In other words, your token holders need multiple ways to use it.

At The Tilt, we have worked hard to incorporate $TILT coin as a payment option for our offerings. This includes our merchandise, educational courses, events like Creator Economy Expo, and even things like an autographed book from yours truly. In addition, sponsors also may choose to use $TILT instead of US dollars or other fiat currency.

Let the community earn tokens: This is the area I’ve talked about to more Rally token creators than anything else. From day one, we integrated our primary content product – the newsletter – with the token.

First, all subscribers to The Tilt get $5 USD worth $TILT coin. Second, all subscribers have a personalized referral link included at the bottom of every newsletter. Every time a new subscriber comes through their referral link, they get an additional $5 USD in $TILT coin. We pay these earned subscriber and referral rewards every Friday.

In addition to the newsletter rewards, we pay guest authors in $TILT coin for articles published on our site.

What’s next: I wish it were easy enough to stop there and let the process work. Not a chance. Every day we are looking for more $TILT coin benefits and more ways $TILT holders can use the token. That’s our task for the next 365 days.

– Joe Pulizzi

Do you have ideas on how to make $TILT coin more beneficial? Reply to this email and share with us!

Get the full $TILT coin birthday story.

we’re a stan for … Wisdom Kaye

Entrepreneur: Wisdom Kaye

Tilt: Self-expression fashion

Scene: TikTok (7.9M), Twitter (320.7K)

Snack Bites:

Vogue labeled him “TikTok’s best-dressed guy”
Started as niche of ’70s clothing with a modern twist
Hit big on Twitter before landing strongly on TikTok
Ideas and inspiration come from comments on his posts

Why We’re a Stan: Wisdom Kaye’s passion for self-expression through clothing was the catalyst for the creation of his widely known TikTok, leading to major fashion collaborations and a modeling contract with IMG.

– Shameyka McCalman

quick talk

Caught on … Twitter

“Owning a business is 90% learning on the job.” – The Convoy

things to know

Money

Dashing bird: Creators now get their own dashboard on Twitter. This tool analyzes how creators use its monetization features and how much money they make. Eligibility requires iOS access in US, 10K+ followers, and Ticketed Spaces Super Follows participation. (Tech Crunch; h/t tl;drMarketing)
Tilt Take: Staying on top of your money is always a good thing. Earning your only revenue on a social media platform isn’t.
Buying Twitter: Twitter Shops are in a live test. Merchants can showcase up to 50 products so followers can browse their offerings. (Social Media Today)
Tilt Take: Shoppable opportunities usually aren’t restricted to traditional vendors. Think about how to showcase your content product offerings.

Audiences

Engagement pods: Groups of people agree to engage with each other’s social media posts to show the social media platform algorithm that people enjoy the content. (Better Marketing)
Tilt Take: Platforms think engagement pods are unethical. We think they can be bad for business. Instead, spend time growing an audience that is actually interested in your content.
Untapped market: Older adults are an untapped market across digital platforms. Their numbers are growing across social media. Their spending power also is greater than younger generations. (Search Engine Journal)
Tilt Take: Targeting the younger generation is expected. If your content works for older generations, you might gain better traction focusing on them.

Tech and Tools

Sub app: Substack launched its Reader app on iOS and expects it to be ready for Android soon. It lets subscribers consume the creator’s writings, podcasts, and videos. (CNET)
Tilt Take: If you’re on Substack, make sure to let your audience know they have another way to consume your content.
Amp up: Amazon’s Clubhouse competitor – the Amp app – debuted this week. Creators can sign up to host their own live shows and stream tens of millions of licensed songs from the big record labels and indies. They’ll also be able to talk to listeners and call-in guests. (The Verge)
Tilt Take: If audio is your vibe, check out Amp and let us know how it goes. (@TheTiltNews).

And Finally

Pilot for private: “Record several ‘pilot’ episodes that are never intended to see the light of day … these are ‘practice’ episodes that will allow you to collect feedback … and also get a feel for what works.” (Simon Owens)
Tilt Take: Another tip? Don’t start promoting your very first public episode. Have a few on the playlist so listeners can better understand what you’re doing (and consume more episodes in their first sitting.)
Where credit is due: Instagram’s new feature is designed to ensure traditionally underrepresented creators get proper credit. It allows creator and business accounts to use enhanced tags that allow people to self-assign a profile category to appear in tagged photos. (Blavitv)
Tilt Take: It’s too easy to NOT give proper credit to others’ work. We’re glad to see Instagram make it easier to give credit where credit is due.

the business of content

Try Changing the Marketing Conversation (Content Inc.)
Disney’s New Streaming Mistake (This Old Marketing)
Money Management Tips for Small Business Owners (CommuniCart)
You Don’t Need Anyone’s Approval to Launch (Entrepreneur)
International Women’s Day and Small Businesses: What’s Changed in 30 Years? (USA Today)

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, Shameyka McCalman, and Don Borger.

Token Gifts – March 11, 2022