Do you want to grow a profitable content business? If so, join 25,000 readers. I share daily insights about personal brand building, writing online and growing a profitable business. It's for creators, coaches and business owners.
How I Escaped The Content Hamster Wheel
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Hi Reader, You can create content to get paid. Or you can get paid to create content. It’s a subtle shift, but it’s a profitable one. For example, some creators write articles or create content for social media networks. They earn money from display ads like Google AdSense or get paid through Medium, YouTube, or Facebook partner programs. I followed this model for a few years. I mainly earned from ads. I also enjoyed a good run on Medium for a few years. This model for creators requires volume. You’ll need to publish dozens of articles and blog posts every month. Most of them will flop. That’s the nature of writing social-first content. I only got this model working because I hired a team of freelance writers. Working with this model is like stepping onto a hamster wheel. And today, it’s much harder to keep it spinning. Thanks to AI, the barrier to entry is low, and competition is fierce. I got off the hamster wheel a while ago. Other creators? They get paid to create content. They’re not bothered by chasing likes and shares. And they don’t rely on partner programs to grow their business. A creator who gets paid to create could run a paid workshop once or twice a month. On it, they teach something they’re good at. They explain how they do what they do and how their audience can get the same results. They know what their ideas are worth… and they don’t need an algo or partner program to tell them otherwise. Here are a few examples:
Typically, this type of creator runs their workshops for paying clients, but they also invite their wider audience to buy tickets. If enough people take them up, the creator runs the workshop. Later, they turn ideas into content to attract future clients. That way, this type of creator gets paid to create content. What type of creator do you want to be? If you’re sick of the content hamster wheeI, I want to invite you to join the Pro Creators Only Community. We can add an extra $3-5k per month to your creator business in 3-6 months by creating online and landing high-ticket clients. Do it without sacrificing the freedom you need to enjoy your money. Reply “I’m In” to learn more. Write on, Bryan Collins |
Letters From the Desk of Bryan Collins
Do you want to grow a profitable content business? If so, join 25,000 readers. I share daily insights about personal brand building, writing online and growing a profitable business. It's for creators, coaches and business owners.
Hi Reader, I spent the past few days preparing my content strategy for 2025. Here’s what it’ll look like: Spend 30 minutes every day writing this newsletter Rework my newsletter for Substack and as posts for LinkedIn Publish 1–2 notes per day on Substack Publish 1–2 educational videos per week on YouTube Spend 30 minutes per day engaging with other business owners on LinkedIn and creators on Substack Publish insider content on my private Telegram group for creators I picked LinkedIn because...
Hi Reader, I started my email list years ago on MailChimp. I quickly discovered that monkey-branded piece of software is best for e-comm brands. I moved to Kit and spent dozens of hours testing parts of my newsletter, including subject lines, content formats, and segmentation. Oh, how I geeked out on segmentation. Most of these types of tests did little for my business. Take list segmentation It's a powerful strategy for some creators. But, it's also a black hole of hard work. I got sick and...
Hi Reader, Most creators and business owners are chasing the latest AI tools and bots for content ideas. After dropping the kids off at school, I spend ten minutes reading an odd website from the 1990s: the Drudge Report. Matt Drudge set up the gossipy news aggregation website in 1995… before Google. It still attracts nearly one hundred million visitors every month. If you ever wasted hours agonizing over the look and feel of your newsletter or personal website, the Drudge Report looks the...