NOVEMBER 23, 2021

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.

Features in this issue (view online):

Full Tilt: This Is What the Internet Was Built For
Entrepreneur: Finding a Content Gap Leads to Content Business
Stan: CharliMarieTV Creator Gets Biggest Response by Talking Money

full tilt

Failed Constitution Bid by DAO Indicates Potential for Big Wins in Token-Based Web3

Well, we didn’t win the U.S. Constitution, but the possibilities are still big.

If you don’t know what I’m talking about, here are the details. If you listen to the Content Inc. podcast, I’ve been covering quite a bit about DAOs and digital property rights for content creators.

Last week, a group of investors and crypto enthusiasts launched ConstitutionDAO. Their goal? To buy one of the 13 – and only privately held – surviving documents of the U.S. Constitution from the Constitutional Convention. They raised over $40M.

Crazy, right?

As you probably already know, they did not win. A hedge-fund billionaire won with a $43.2M bid. But ConstitutionDAO’s move is historic in itself:

Largest crowdfund for a physical object that they knew of
First DAO community to work with Sotheby Auctions
Record-breaking money crowdfunded in less than 72 hours
Educated museum curators, art directors, and their grandmothers about ETH and the possibilities of Web3
17,437 members with an average contribution of $206.26

I was one of the 17,437 contributors. It was all very exciting. Just a few months ago, something like this would have been impossible, but now – because of the blockchain and the token – groups of people can easily come together to own a real business and govern themselves.

Why am I telling you all this?

Start thinking of the applications. Want to keep a historical structure in your town? Start a DAO. Want to buy a minor league baseball team? Start a DAO. Now, there are all kinds of legal landmines here, because well, we know nothing about this new legal entity.

That said, THIS is what the internet was built for. Now groups of people can more easily pool resources, own things, and self-govern.

And maybe the best part is the equitable approach. The Bankless DAO blog and newsletter just wrote this. Let me shorten: In the Web3 environment where anonymity is welcomed and encouraged, nothing about your background can be used to prevent you from jumping into a DAO, getting to work, and earning money.

This IS something. We are just getting started. The token, the underlying DAO mechanism, makes this possible.

Do you feel like you never got to take advantage when the internet was in its early heydays? Well, tokenization, and DAOs, could be bigger. They’re the key to Web3. If you are a content entrepreneur, it’s time to pay attention.

– Joe Pulizzi

To read or hear what Joe has to say about ConstitutionDAO, its inclusive impact, and more, read the story or listen to the Content Inc. podcast episode.

content entrepreneur spotlight

Travelers Find Content Gap and Create Lez See The World To Fill It

Entrepreneurs: Steph and Katie Burlton

Biz: Lez See The World

Tilt: Travel and lifestyle community for queer women

Primary Channel: Instagram (70.3K)

Other Channels: YouTube (1.28K), blog (10K monthly visitors)

Time to First Dollar: 2+ years

Rev Streams: Sponsored content

Our Favorite Actionable Advice:

Look at what’s missing: Steph and Katie wanted to travel around the world. When they didn’t find travel information targeted to queer women, they started their content business.
Outsource your weaknesses: Steph and Katie weren’t experts in brand deals, so they hired a professional to help.
Appreciate the unexpected: Moving around a lot meant Steph and Katie didn’t have a lot of queer women friends. Now, their online community is changing that for them and others.

– Kimmy Gustafson

To learn how they got started, built the business, and more, check out the story of Lez See the World.

Know a content creator who’s going full tilt? DM us or reply to this email.

quick talk

Caught on … Twitter

“The key to great writing? Editing.” – Wes Kao

things to know

Money

Fourthwall talk: Creator website-building startup Fourthwall recently took on a $17 million investment round. The company helps creators build their websites, design and vend merch, and sell memberships for content. Creators must ask to receive an invitation. (It mostly works with creators with at least 100K subscribers.) (tubefilter)
Tilt Take: Owned channels work best to build a business. This platform doesn’t take a cut of physical product sales or fan donations. It takes 3% for digital product fees and 5% for memberships.
Know it in audio: Medium has acquired Knowable, the audio course platform. Knowable takes creators through an application process, including a 90-minute topic interview. Its team handles production, editing, and sound design. (Tech Crunch)
Tilt Take: Creators on Medium will want to take notice as they’ll be able to access Knowable’s screen-free audio learning tools. It’s also worth noting the creator’s cut – 30% of quarterly revenue from listens and referred memberships.

Audiences

No fear here: Alex Garcia hasn’t seen any hit from the feared iOS15 impact on email. His open rate has grown 12%. How? He says it’s using the same emoji to lead every subject line, asking for a reply in the welcome email, using a sender image that’s him (in GIF form), doing A-B-C subject line testing, and segmenting the audience. (Marketing Examined)
Tilt Take: Great advice for all newsletter creators.
Women majority: Unlike the rest of the podcast-listening population, women make up the majority (56%) of Black American listeners, according to new research. Why? Black women see podcasts as an ideal medium to seek community, a Sirius XM executive says. (PR Week)
Tilt Take: See your podcast as a conversation with your target audience. You’ll do better at developing a community, not just a listenership.

Tech and Tools

Algorithm analysis: Twitter talks publicly about investigating its own algorithms. A fall report found its algorithm amplified more tweets from right-wing politicians and news outlets than content from left-wing sources. Last summer, it hosted an open competition to find bias in its photo-cropping algorithm. (Platformer)
Tilt Take: We like Casey Newton’s realizations: Twitter is betting public participation will accelerate and improve its findings. And responsible AI is hard because no one, not even the platform, fully understands the decisions made by algorithms.
Google adds insights: Google Ad users may soon benefit from testing to aggregate top-performing search query themes for your campaign performance and to provide audience insights to understand which creative your customers respond best to. (Social Media Today; h/t tl;dr marketing)
Tilt Take: It’s nice that Google is taking the information your audience gives them and telling you. (Sarcasm included.)

And Finally

Fill out the form: Newsletter creators may want to spend a few minutes to answer questions from the Newsletter Crew for its first-ever study of the industry. You’ll also get the report when it’s ready. (Newsletter Crew)
Tilt Take: Keeping a pulse on your sector of content businesses is a must.
Bold move: Bolding or underlining text indicates to Google’s search crawlers important text in a paragraph, Google’s John Mueller has confirmed. (Search Engine Journal)
Tilt Take: Don’t bold or italicize a bunch of words. Do it deliberately to help your readers and SEO will follow.

we’re a stan for Charli Prangley

Seven years ago, Charli Prangley posted a video about how she started a T-shirt business to her YouTube channel CharliMarieTV. Today, the creator has over 204K subscribers, viewing her weekly takes on career trends, important tools, and creative advice in the design industry.

A skilled web and graphic designer by trade, the 32-year-old is a designer and creative director of ConvertKit. In her solo content business, she shares her industry knowledge on job titles, wireframing techniques, and design bonuses and benefits. Last year, her salary video received the most praise, becoming the catalyst for others to reveal their salaries on YouTube.

We’re a Stan: Charli’s tilt isn’t just advice for those in creative industries; it’s being transparent in the advice she gives. That authenticity is key to connecting with viewers and building a community.

– Shameyka McCalman

Discover how much CharliMarie earns and her advice for creators looking to do brand deals in the longer story.

the business of content

Content Creators, DAOs, and Your Future (Content Inc. podcast)
NFTs for Marketing: Stunts vs. Utility (This Old Marketing podcast)
SMB Companies Beware: The Ransomware Hunter Is Aiming at You (Security Boulevard)
Why Branding Credibility Is Essential in Creating a Brand Identity (Forbes)
Apple Introduces Business Essentials (Small Business Trends)

the tilt team

Your team for this issue: Joe Pulizzi, Ann Gynn, Laura Kozak, Marc Maxhimer, and Dave Anthony, with an assist from Kimmy Gustafson, Shameyka McCalman, and Don Borger.

We, The People, of Web3 – November 23, 2021