DECEMBER 28, 2021
Features in this issue (view online):
- Full Tilt: End-of-Year Wrap Up
- Entrepreneur: Content Business Does Double Duty
- Stan: Diversification Is Key for This Lifestyle Content Business
full tilt
Most Popular Full Tilt Titles in 2021
We know how much you like Spotify’s Unwrapped and other end-of-the-year popularity stories. So, we created The Tilt version for you. Here are the Full Tilt features that you and your fellow content creators and entrepreneurs found most open-worthy in 2021. (It’s only nine since The Tilt just launched in April.)
Interestingly, they cover various topics, from NFTs and creator coins to marketing, distribution, SEO, and more. Want to know the most opened title? Head to July.
April: Demystifying NFTs and Creator Coins
Should you get in the token game? Not if you see it as a get-rich-quick solution. Creator coins and NFTs are long but important plays for content entrepreneurs. How do you start? Create an extremely loyal audience and following.
May: Adding This 1 Thing Can Make All the Difference
The one thing? A content mission statement. Grounded by your content tilt, create it by answering these three questions: Who is your specific target audience? What will you deliver to your audience? What’s in it for the audience?
June: Sorry, Marketing Mandatory
We recommend a more-than-one-channel focus for your marketing. Go to where your audience already is talking and sharing about your topic. Interest-specific groups on social media can be great for this. Get a feel for the room, then start talking. But don’t talk all about yourself.
July: Check Mark Me
Fortunately, many of the principles to grow a solid content business are what’s needed to get verified by Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, and Twitch. You need to have an audience and credible content that attracts the attention of third parties on and off the platform. (The full article includes the step-by-step instructions for each.)
August: Sparks Igniting Entrepreneurial Flame
In the first-ever 2021 Benchmark Study on Content Entrepreneurs research, the most frequently picked answer to the benefits of content entrepreneurship? Freedom (78%).
Right behind freedom? Pursuing their passion, cited by 73%.
September: 1 Channel or Bust
Only one in four full-time content entrepreneurs say they have a primary content distribution platform, according to The Tilt’s 2021 benchmark content entrepreneur research. Seventy-two percent say they do not.
Pick a primary content distribution platform. Devote most of your time, effort, and money to growing your audience through that channel. And if you’ve been reading The Tilt, you know the next piece of advice: Make that primary channel one that you own.
October: Why Solo Creators Have the Edge
The Tilt founder Joe Pulizzi returned to the event that started it all, Content Marketing World. Afterward, he shared his keynote takes. Frankly, because content entrepreneurs have no politics or red tape, you can make decisions faster, almost immediately, which is a huge advantage over what larger enterprises can do. The next great media models are coming from small players like us, no doubt.
November: Optimize Now
SEO for content creators can help you attract traffic to your relevant, high-quality content who are more likely to take an action you want them to take. That’s probably why, according to The Tilt’s 2021 content entrepreneur benchmark research, SEO (56%) is the most frequently used tactic by content entrepreneurs.
December: Gift Me
With The Tilt community’s input, recommended gifts for content entrepreneurs included fountain pens, paper, subscriptions for coffee, health monitors, and $TILT coin.
– Ann Gynn
Go to the article’s web version and bookmark it, so you can read up on what you may have missed.
Tilt News
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Early bird rate of $495 ends soon, so register today.
content entrepreneur spotlight
Content Business Does Double Duty
Entrepreneur: Katie Grissum
Biz: Katie and the Snoots
Tilt: Pet advocacy
Time to First Dollar: 2 years
Primary Channel: TikTok (2.3M)
Other Channels: Instagram (19K)
Rev Streams: Sponsorships, viewer donations, TikTok Creator Fund
Our Favorite Actionable Advice:
- Combine personal and professional: Find an opportunity to grow your individual content brand in a way that also connects with your employer. (Just make sure it’s OK with them first.)
- Add more meaning: Katie was sharing videos of her dogs when she realized the power of that viewership and connected it to her advocacy for pet adoption.
- Go for revenue quickly: Though you won’t be able to quit your day job, apply for the platforms’ creator funds as soon as you meet the criteria to jumpstart your revenue.
– Kelly Wynne
All the Story: To learn Katie Grissum’s advice for content entrepreneurs and what content really resonated, 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
“Be easy to work with and make it easy for brands to pay you.” – Dennis Kennedy
things to know
Money
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Direct dollars: Creators’ revenue streams are either indirect (like YouTube ads) or direct (like Substack, Twitch subscriptions, tips, etc.). What’s the best for creators seeking a middle-class (or higher) living? Direct payments. (The Way We Work)
Tilt Take: We agree. Platforms on which you can directly access your audience are essential to building a long-term content business.
Audiences
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Custom thanks: Super Thanks on YouTube debuted last summer, letting viewers donate one-time payments for videos on demand. Creators couldn’t comment beyond the automated, “Thanks!” Now, YouTube is experimenting with customizable comments. (tubefilter)
Tilt Take: A personal thanks is much more appreciated by an audience than an automated posting.
Tech and Tools
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Reuse time: TikTok is testing a “repost” button. Creators can repost the clip and reshare it on the following and for-you feeds, along with any comments the poster added to the clip. (Social Media Today)
Tilt Take: It’s often good to repackage or reshare content so it can reach audiences who may have missed it the first time.
And Finally
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Slow growth: Meta’s Bulletin newsletter platform has grown to over 115 in six months, with more than half having an audience of over 1K free subscribers. (Bulletin; h/t tl;dr marketing)
Tilt Take: If a giant platform like Meta can’t grow a substantial newsletter library or audience in six months, that’s not a good sign for a thriving future.
we’re a stan for Sarah Stevenson
Sarah Stevenson picked up her camera and began vlogging her life in 2013, frequently mentioning her hormonal skin-care issues, fitness routine, and healthy eating habits. The Aussie’s channel, ironically titled Sarah’s Day, has maintained a strong following over the years, garnering thousands of views on most of her videos and gaining 1.53M YouTube followers.
Over the last five years, the wife and mother of one (soon to be two) transitioned into more family-friendly content, such as daily excursions with her son and life running multiple businesses. She also began The Health Code podcast with her now-husband Kurt. The content creator also has an activewear collection, White Fox, named after her son, Fox.
Why we’re a Stan: Sarah’s early and primary work centers around her content with a YouTube channel, Instagram handle, and podcast. But she also has expanded her products to encompass a clothing collection and products inspired by her healthy lifestyle.
– Shameyka McCalman
the business of content
- 7 Keys to Building a Loyal Audience with Content [Special Episode] (Content Inc.)
- NFTs, Advertising, and Football Collide (This Old Marketing podcast)
- 7 PR Growth Strategy Tips for Startups in 2022 (Entrepreneur)
- The Biggest Small Business Story of 2021? Blockchain (The Guardian)
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, Kelly Wynne, Shameyka McCalman, and Don Borger.
Get more of the Full Tilt stories on TheTilt.com.
Know a content creator who’s going full tilt? DM us or email [email protected]
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