The Business of Content with Simon Owens

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How Eric Newcomer used his newsletter to launch a $1.5 million events business Dec 09, 2024

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My newsletter: https://simonowens.substack.com/

Like a lot of journalists=turned-media–entrepreneurs, Eric Newcomer decided to launch a paid newsletter after leaving his job at Bloomberg in 2020. That model yielded 2,500 subscribers who collectively pay over $400,000 a year to access his newsletter about startups, but that's no longer the biggest part of his business.

Today, Eric generates over $1.5 million a year from the Cerebral Valley AI Summit, a twice-a-year conference that he monetizes through a mixture of ticket sales and premium sponsorships. In a recent interview, he explained the conference's origin story, how he attracts the right mix of startup founders and VC investors, and why he thinks he can replicate its format across multiple tech industry niches.

How the KC Sports Network is building a regional media empire Nov 14, 2024

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My newsletter: https://simonowens.substack.com/

The last few years have been pretty good to the Kansas City Chiefs, what with its multiple Super Bowl championships and a close association with the biggest pop star in the world, but BJ Kissel remembers what it was like to be a fan of the team long before it started regularly winning games. Back in the early 2010s, he began blogging for SB Nation, and he used his success there to eventually land a job as the Kansas City Chiefs in-house reporter. In that role, he did everything from writing web articles to serving as a sidelines correspondent for live game broadcasts.

In 2021, he struck off on his own and co-founded the KC Sports Network, a group of podcasts and YouTube channels that cover Kansas City Sports. Today, puts out 10 different shows and is monetized through a mixture of local and national advertisers.

In a recent interview, BJ explained why he left his job at the Chiefs, how he convinced local businesses to sponsor his shows, where he sees new opportunities for growth.

How Lon Seidman used his tech YouTube channel to build a huge affiliate business Nov 08, 2024

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My newsletter: https://simonowens.substack.com/

Lon Seidman doesn't operate the largest gadget YouTube channel in the world, but he doesn't need to in order to run a successful media business. That's because he remains hyper focused on reviewing non-sexy products that sell in extremely high volumes. This has allowed him to build a highly lucrative affiliate business, not only on YouTube, but also on Amazon Video.

In a recent interview, Lon explained his methodology for picking products to review, how he optimizes his affiliate links, and why he's spending more time posting his content to decentralized platforms.

How to market a book in the age of Tiktok Oct 24, 2024

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My newsletter: https://simonowens.substack.com/

Book publicity is a mixed bag these days. On the one hand, it's never been easier for an author to form a direct relationship with their audience with tools like Substack and TikTok. On the other hand, more books are published each year than ever before, which means competition is fierce. Most newspapers have laid off most of their book critics, but at the same time there's an ever expanding ecosystem of podcasts that are eager to have on book authors for longform interviews.

Probably nobody is more knowledgeable about marketing books in the modern age than Kathleen Schmidt. She spent nearly 20 years working for almost every major book publishing company, and she now runs her own firm that specializes in book marketing. She also writes Publishing Confidential, her insider account of how the book industry actually functions.

In a recent interview, Kathleen walked through nearly every aspect of selling books, from choosing the right cover to courting influencers to advertising on Amazon.

How Alts.co monetizes its massive newsletter with an investor membership platform Oct 18, 2024

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My newsletter: https://simonowens.substack.com/

When people sign up for the Alts.co newsletter, they're looking to read its deep dives into alternative investments like art, baseball cards, and rare books. But the most serious investors in its audience want access to actual deal flow, and to gain that access they sign up for Altea, a high-priced membership community that actually vets potential deals and allows them to invest. Not only does Alts.co generate revenue through the annual membership, but it also charges for management fees and carried interest. In essence, Alts.co is a media company that monetizes via an investment firm.

In a recent interview, co-founder Stefan von Imhof explained why his company settled on this model, how it sources deals, and why he eventually wants to stop selling sponsorships within the newsletter.

How Eric Siu leveraged his hugely popular podcasts to grow his ad agency Oct 17, 2024

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My newsletter: https://simonowens.substack.com/

Eric Siu has a pretty massive audience; his YouTube channel boasts 161,000 subscribers and his two podcasts – Marketing School and Leveling Up – have generated tens of millions of downloads.

But Eric doesn't bother with traditional media monetization models like advertising or subscriptions. Instead, he leverages his influence to drive clients to Single Grain, a marketing agency he owns. As that business grew, he was able to acquire more agencies and add to Single Grain's capabilities, and it now works with some of the world's largest brands.

In a recent interview, Eric explained how he met his co-host, where he found his audience, and why he chose to monetize his content with a services business.

How Keith Pepper turned an Atlanta newspaper chain into a digital-first media company Oct 10, 2024

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My newsletter: https://simonowens.substack.com/

When Keith Pepper bought a chain of print newspapers back in 2020, he received an email from a columnist at the Atlanta Journal Constitution that basically asked if he was crazy. But Keith had a plan for taking a company that generated 98% of its revenue from print advertising and converting it into a digital-first media company.

And he's done just that. Today, Rough Draft Atlanta generates 27% of its revenue from digital ads, and it managed this feat without seeing a significant decline in print advertising. This has allowed Keith to reinvest in the business by hiring more journalists, and it's now stronger than ever.

In a recent interview, Ketih explained how he consolidated all the newspapers under a single brand, his strategy for attracting online ads, and why he's avoided placing his content behind a paywall.

How Block Club Chicago reached 20,000 paying subscribers Sep 24, 2024

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My newsletter: https://simonowens.substack.com/

Layoffs in the local news sector are, sadly, a regular occurrence, but the founders of Block Club Chicago decided they weren't going down without a fight.

In November 2017, the news startup DNA Info laid off its entire staff, and it was only a few months later that three of its editors launched a Kickstarter that raised over $183,000; they used that capital to launch Block Club Chicago, a nonprofit that seeks to put a journalist in each of the city's neighborhoods.

Flash forward six years, and Block Club has a robust news gathering operation that's funded by 20,000 paying subscribers, foundation support, and a growing advertising business. In a recent interview, co-founder Stephanie Lulay walked me through the site's launch strategy, its unique approach to neighborhood-based reporting, and why she thinks Block Club's model can be replicated all across the US.

How State House News charges $4,000 for access to its journalism Sep 18, 2024

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My newsletter: https://simonowens.substack.com/

For much of its 130-year existence, State House News operated as a standard newswire service. Its journalists covered the Massachusetts state government and it then syndicated their content to regional and national newspapers.

But in the late 90s, owner Craig Sandler realized that internet distribution would allow him to sell direct digital subscriptions and vastly expand his customer base. Today, the service charges $4,000 a year to any company or organization whose business is directly influenced by the state's government.

In a recent interview, Craig discussed how he built the direct subscription business, why he decided to sell a majority stake in the company, and whether State House News is shielded from the whims of large tech platforms and AI chatbots.

How Stacker distributes sponsored content to thousands of publishers Sep 11, 2024

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My newsletter: https://simonowens.substack.com/

Most people are familiar with newswires like the Associated Press and Reuters, but a much newer upstart called Stacker has devised a new business model for syndicating content. Rather than charging a fee for its articles, it instead gives away its data journalism to any publisher that wants it. It then charges brands a fee to create and distribute sponsored content across the thousands of media outlets that subscribe to its service.

In a recent interview, co-founder Noah Greenberg explained how Stacker works with publishers, its process for creating sponsored content, and why he has no interest in driving an audience to Stacker's owned and operated website.

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