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.
Why I'm done playing the algorithm game
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Yesterday, I wrote a newsletter about the merits of running a paid newsletter on Kit and Substack. A reader asked why I’m using Substack if I already run this newsletter on Kit. They also wanted to know why I’m creating a Telegram group, which I teased in that newsletter. I started my email list on MailChimp back in 2015. I moved to ConvertKit in 2016 as it’s a better fit for creators. I use ConvertKit (now Kit) because it’s connected to Become a Writer Today via landing pages and forms. I spent a few years building that website with a team of writers. When people visit my site, I offer them a book to join my newsletter. It still gets traffic today, but it’s not my primary focus (more on why in a moment). I sometimes run Facebook Ad campaigns and send traffic to a landing page connected to Kit. They also hook me up with sponsors, and I attract subscribers organically via the Kit Creator network. I also use Kit to email students of my courses. Except for organic growth, none of this is possible on Substack. In 2020, I experimented with Substack. Then, I turned off my paid publication, exported my subscribers, and moved them to this email list. I’m using Substack again because I like how the platform is evolving. Many creators are active on it, and it’s a friendlier place than other networks, like X. You can also take your audience by exporting your list. I’ve done this at least twice. I’m publishing and syndicating content from my list to Substack. It only takes an extra five minutes per newsletter. In other words, it’s not either/or. It’s both! So why I am I creating a Telegram group for creators? I’ve gone viral a few times since I started creating online. It’s fun, but I’m suspicious of algos. I invested heavily in SEO for years. Then, in 2023–4, Google changed its algo and killed the web traffic of smaller publishers. I watch 80% of my web traffic disappear. Like hundreds of other publishers, I let a team of writers go because of Google’s changes. SEO today is nothing more than an algo, and algos are unreliable. Don’t let anyone tell you otherwise. I’m more interested in building an algo-proof audience. Today, that’s an email list and, potentially, a private Telegram group. It’s my form of digital insurance. My goal for Telegram is to share snackable insider content that helps creators earn a living. It’s also a nice way to get feedback from readers via polls, quizzes, and other content types. Write on, |
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.
I tested Google Gemini’s content creation capabilities. I wanted to see how it stacks up against ChatGPT and Claude for creating business copy. Google Gemini offers two interesting “gems” (think custom GPTs) for content creators: Copy Creator and Writing Editor. Copy Creator helps write taglines, mission statements, and social media posts. Writing Editor focuses on fixing grammar and improving content structure. I put both through their paces using content from my daily newsletter. When I fed...
Your existing content is like an untapped gold mine - most creators keep digging new holes instead of mining what they already have. I’ve spent years writing online, It can easily become a full-time, low-paying job if you keep digging. One method for getting around this problem is building a content library of your greatest hits. It’s easier to repurpose content if you have a library that you can draw from. Another method is tracking a few key weekly stats across each channel so you can see...
I spent years obsessing over niche selection. When I was a Forbes columnist, branding myself as “the productivity and leadership guy” seemed like a safe bet. I covered topics like time management, leadership, and getting sh*t done at work.I mapped dozens of hot niche-specific topics in a spreadsheet and published articles like: The Fastest Way To Accomplish More This Week How To Use The 4 Ds Of Time Management 4 Common Mistakes New Home Workers Make I wrote about these topics not because they...