Podcast Summary
Building value in the evolving media landscape: Success in the media landscape requires building audiences, creating valuable content, adapting to new technologies, and continuously learning and leading.
Media and content are evolving rapidly, and individuals and companies with the ability to build and leverage audiences, particularly in the realm of influencer marketing, can create significant value. Neil Robertson, a successful entrepreneur and investor, discussed his experiences in this area, which included starting and selling several companies and investing in various industries. He highlighted the importance of building things and his inability to stop doing it. The media landscape is changing, with influencers and content creators playing a larger role, and technology enabling new opportunities in areas like esports and digital collectibles. Companies and individuals must adapt and find ways to create and distribute valuable content in this evolving environment. Additionally, Neil emphasized the importance of leadership and company structure, as well as the need to continuously learn and adapt.
The shift towards influencer-led content as the future of media consumption: Companies have built successful businesses worth $30-$40 million by leveraging influencer marketing, and traditional media companies are shifting strategies to recognize this trend. Platforms like Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube are becoming competitors, and the future of media consumption is believed to be influencer-led.
The influencer marketing landscape has evolved dramatically over the past decade, transforming influencers from simple marketing channels to respected content creators. Companies like the one discussed in the conversation have built successful businesses, worth $30-$40 million, by leveraging this trend. Traditional media companies, such as Viacom, AT&T, and Ts, are recognizing the potential of influencer-led content and are shifting their strategies accordingly. Platforms like Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube are becoming more direct competitors to traditional media companies, and the future of media consumption is believed to be influencer-led, as opposed to random discoveries on streaming services. This shift towards individual creators as brands is a significant disruption on a global scale, allowing individuals to build valuable media businesses that were once the domain of large corporations. The competition among well-funded, fast-moving companies to build the most attractive platform for influencers can make it a daunting space for investors and business people, but the potential for disruption and innovation is immense.
Identifying Opportunity in Influencer Marketing through SEO: Leveraging SEO value of influencer content for a scalable business in influencer marketing
The influencer marketing industry presents a unique opportunity to build a scalable business by focusing on the content-centric nature of influencer communities. Brands are increasingly looking to collaborate with influencers, creating a growing marketplace for influencer marketing platforms. However, managing subjective outcomes and debates can make it challenging to scale this business. Instead, my business partner and I identified the potential of influencer marketing from an SEO perspective. Influencers create a vast amount of content that is highly searchable, making it an ideal landscape for building a community-driven business. By following the model of successful community-driven websites in various professions, we set out to build influence.co, a community platform for influencers and brands, leveraging the SEO value of the content produced by influencers. This approach allows for a scalable business with low growth costs.
Exploring new distribution strategies for B2B businesses: As traditional methods become saturated, B2B businesses are turning to hiring sales teams, utilizing LinkedIn, building communities, and exploring alternative distribution channels for effective product distribution.
The landscape of product distribution has evolved significantly over the years, with influencer marketing and affiliate programs being notable game-changers. However, as we move towards more visual platforms like Instagram, and in the context of B2B businesses, finding new and effective distribution strategies can be challenging. Traditional methods like SEO and content marketing have become saturated, and creative unit economics are increasingly difficult to build in B2B software companies. As a result, some companies are going back to basics, such as hiring sales teams and utilizing LinkedIn for lead generation through scraping. While there's a lot to consider when it comes to product distribution, building a community or tribe remains a valuable piece of advice for anyone looking to improve their business. Additionally, exploring alternative distribution channels and partnerships can help businesses stand out in a crowded market.
New Business Opportunities in Unexpected Places: The LinkedIn data scraping industry in the Philippines raises legal concerns, while the rise of esports transforms various industries and creates new opportunities for engagement and experimentation. Influencers like Ninja demonstrate the power of new media.
The world of business is constantly evolving, with new opportunities emerging in unexpected places. For instance, there's a growing industry in the Philippines where people are scraping information off LinkedIn for $4 an hour to create marketing lists. However, the legality of such practices under GDPR regulations is questionable. Moving on to media, the rise of esports is revolutionizing various industries, from building facilities to merchandise and ticketing. Esports is no longer just about gaming; it's about creating engaging experiences for viewers. Games like Fortnite have become cultural phenomena, with millions of viewers tuning in to watch players battle it out. The game industry is shifting to create games that are as interesting for viewers as they are for players, leading to new forms of engagement and experimentation. Influencers like Ninja have become cultural icons, driving massive viewership and demonstrating the power of new media. Overall, it's an exciting time for business and media, with new opportunities arising in unexpected places.
Influencer-Platform Dynamics: Competing for Influencer Loyalty: Platforms and influencers compete for loyalty through various monetization methods like ads, sponsored content, subscriptions, direct monetization, and in-game gifting. Companies like Patreon, Facebook, YouTube, and Amazon lead the way in providing influencer-friendly solutions.
The competition between platforms and influencers is heating up as both parties strive to create meaningful relationships and monetization opportunities. Influencers face challenges in scaling themselves and monetizing their content effectively, while platforms aim to provide various monetization methods to win over influencers. Traditional methods like ads, sponsored content, and subscriptions have become common, but new tools like direct monetization and in-game gifting are emerging. Companies like Patreon, Facebook, YouTube, and Amazon are leading the charge, offering various solutions to help influencers maximize their earnings. Ultimately, the future of influencer-platform dynamics will depend on which side can create the most beneficial and sustainable relationships for content creators.
Monetization Shift: Direct Relationships with Audiences: Creators must understand audience preferences and engage on platforms for subscription-based monetization. Platforms aim to attract and retain creators, offering monetization opportunities and non-invasive brand sponsorships. Amazon, with Twitch, is a major player due to streaming, community, and monetization expertise.
The future of monetization for content creators lies in direct relationships with their audiences, as traditional methods like CPM ads have become less profitable. This shift towards subscription-based models will require creators to understand their audience's preferences and engage them on platforms where they're willing to pay. The long-term strategy for platforms is to attract and retain creators, allowing them to monetize their audiences at scale, creating opportunities for non-invasive brand sponsorships. Amazon, with its ownership of Twitch, is predicted to be a major player in this space due to its expertise in streaming, communities, and monetization. This trend towards direct monetization is expected to continue, with brands benefiting from native advertising opportunities and consumers enjoying ad-free content.
Amazon's Influencer Marketing Strategy: Amazon is using its Prime member base and influencer relationships to build a commerce and content distribution network, offering neutral platform for creators and monetization opportunities.
Amazon is leveraging its vast Prime member base and neutral-to-positive relationship with influencers and creators to build a powerful commerce and content distribution network. With native commerce integration, influencers can easily monetize their content and promote products to their audiences. Amazon's strength lies in its ability to offer a neutral platform for creators and its growing infrastructure, which includes a place to aggregate and manage communities. While other platforms like Snapchat and Twitter face challenges in making significant changes and monetizing their offerings, Amazon is quietly assembling the pieces to potentially dominate the influencer marketing space.
Social media and technology disruptions: Facebook and Twitter evolve, Amazon's Twitch acquisition explores new opportunities, Pinterest's potential profitability worth noting, and blockchain's digital collectibles make ownership transparent and accessible.
Social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter are evolving in different ways, with Facebook moving towards more traditional long-form content and Twitter focusing on live streaming. Amazon's acquisition of Twitch is a game-changer, as Twitch's massive scale allows it to explore new opportunities that other companies can't. Pinterest, despite being a smaller player, is also worth watching due to its large user base, potential profitability, and content-centric nature. The world of blockchain, specifically digital collectibles, is another intriguing area. Digital collectibles offer a way to establish unique ownership on the blockchain, which could make them more accessible and appealing to a wider audience. The collectible side of blockchain is a step towards making ownership more transparent and less anonymous, which could help reduce bad behavior. Overall, these platforms and technologies are disrupting traditional media companies and offering new opportunities for innovation.
Disrupting industries with digital collectibles and tokenization: Digital collectibles and tokenization on blockchain enable authentic ownership, transparency, and new opportunities in gaming, entertainment, and other industries.
The concept of unique digital ownership and the ability to trade and lease these digital assets on a decentralized platform, such as a blockchain, has the potential to disrupt various industries, particularly gaming and entertainment. This concept, often referred to as digital collectibles, allows for authentic ownership of items or experiences, such as the ability to play with popular gamers like Ninja in Fortnite. The transparency of blockchain technology provides an information API for these digital assets, enabling back-end players to trade and make transactions directly on the blockchain. Beyond digital collectibles, the tokenization of other real-world assets, such as stocks or property, on the blockchain could unlock new opportunities and create a more interconnected economy. For instance, if Apple shares were tokenized, there could be additional benefits or unlocked features for token holders. Overall, this technology has the potential to create new markets and value, as well as provide more transparency and accessibility to various industries.
Revolutionizing Community Rewards with Tokenization of Assets: Tokenization of assets, specifically security tokens, offers a scalable solution to reward community members with tradable tokens based on a percentage of a company's common shares. This mechanism can be compared to employee stock options and offers a simple alternative to traditional stock ownership for global companies.
The tokenization of assets, specifically security tokens, has the potential to revolutionize the way communities and their early members are compensated for their contributions. This concept, which can be compared to employee stock options, allows for the creation of tradable tokens based on a percentage of a company's common shares. These tokens can be earned through participation in the community, and the owners retain them without paying taxes until there's a liquidity event. This mechanism offers a simple and scalable solution to rewarding community members, especially in cases where traditional stock ownership is not feasible. However, challenges remain, such as finding ways to provide compensatory income to token holders. Companies that might face the most disruption from this trend could be those that provide essential services on a global scale, particularly those based in the US, as they have the ability to reach and displace local competitors.
Transitioning from flat to hierarchical structures: Embracing 'tours of duty' and focusing on quality content can help manage growth and engage employees in evolving organizations. Adaptability, authenticity, and audience understanding are key to effective leadership and content creation.
Leadership styles and organizational structures have evolved, particularly in the context of smaller, networked organizations. However, as these organizations grow, they may need to adopt more hierarchical structures to effectively manage larger teams and operations. This transition can be challenging for a new generation of leaders who have grown up in non-hierarchical environments. Instead of viewing employee turnover as a personal failure, embracing the concept of "tours of duty" can help foster a more productive and engaged workforce. Additionally, creating high-quality content requires a deep understanding of the audience and the ability to provide value through authentic and engaging storytelling. Embracing new technologies and platforms can help expand reach and impact, but it's essential to prioritize quality over quantity and stay true to your unique voice and perspective. Overall, effective leadership and content creation require a balance of adaptability, authenticity, and a deep understanding of the needs and desires of the audience.
Focus on engagement and community in content creation: Successful content creators build relationships and facilitate conversation, creating authentic content that separates publicly available info from privately available info, and using different channels as part of the marketing funnel.
Successful content strategies focus on engagement and community rather than just raw volume. The most successful content creators think beyond just producing content and consider how it facilitates conversation and builds a community around it. The future of content lies in creating content with soul and authenticity, rather than just filling the internet with soulless content for searchability. The influencer strategy adopted by Ritholtz Wealth Management, where they build relationships with influencers and hire them, is a great example of this approach. This strategy allows companies to separate publicly available information from privately available information and use different channels as part of the marketing funnel. The bottom line is that as consumers become accustomed to paying for content, creators will start to hold back some information and use different channels to drip content down the funnel. This shift towards a more strategic and community-focused approach to content creation is the future.
Subscription-based content consumption is the future: Invest in quality content from experts in their respective fields for a successful subscription-based business model
The future of content consumption lies in subscription-based models, much like the success of ringtone businesses in the past. Quality content, whether it's from a journal or any other source, is worth paying for. The speaker emphasizes the importance of investing in the work of those who put in a lot of time and effort. The restaurant industry, despite its allure, is a notoriously difficult business, and the speaker learned the hard way that success in one industry does not guarantee success in another. The speaker's experience in the restaurant industry was a humbling experience that taught him the importance of expertise and focus in business ventures. In essence, the future of content consumption will be subscription-based, and individuals should invest in quality content from experts in their respective fields.
Discovering joy through physical skills: Learning new physical skills can lead to happiness, personal growth, and unique experiences, contrasting digital learning.
Constantly learning new physical skills can bring happiness and fulfillment beyond what digital learning can offer. The speaker shares his experience of discovering a passion for motocross after being shown the ropes, leading to numerous challenges and even injuries. He emphasizes the importance of physical mastery and the unique feeling it brings compared to digital learning. Additionally, the speaker reflects on the kindness of a mentor who allowed him to be involved in a business, which significantly influenced his career path. Overall, the discussion highlights the value of hands-on experiences and the impact they can have on personal growth.
