In partnership with: Outpost for Ghost publishers

Happy Sunday from Salt Lake City where I’m working at a coffee shop with Project C strategic brain Blair Hickman and posting this weekly links post two day late because I ran out of time during the actual work week. Since launching Project C 17 months ago, I’ve learned that building an independent business is unrelenting hard work, but sometimes I just need to actually sleep on a plane because I’m tired and that the world will generally be forgiving if I post something a day or two late. Right? Right.

I’m reflecting on how this all gets done because I just watched this video from Becca Farsace unpacking her first year as independent YouTube creator:

Becca left The Verge last year for very good reasons – wanting to own her IP and have more creative control. A year later, Becca shares, she brought in $151,570 in year one – mostly from sponsorships, but also with about 25 percent of her income coming from YouTube programmatic, Patreon and a few other miscellaneous sources. (Also, I asked and, yes, Becca confirms this is more than she was making at The Verge. 😉 )

What I love about Becca’s video is obviously the transparency, but also her tips for others contemplating the creator route.

Becca talks about realizing early on that she’s “just not a business person.” So she did sign with a manager who is able to go out and source those sponsorship deals – giving her more time to concentrate on content creation.

About that content creation: Becca posts a video a week and realizes many of those are driven by how she can monetize her work and be attentive to audience trends. But, she says, do things that fill your own cup, too. “Serve your audience, but don’t forget to serve yourself, too,” she says.

A few more tips from Becca:

Thanks, Becca, and congratulations on slaying year one!

📌 A new study from USC Annenberg makes it clear that while Travis and Jason Kelce may be one of the most visible examples of sports stars who have successfully built their own platform, it’s a much bigger phenomenon. The study “maps how this rapidly growing industry is redefining sports media and influence.” Their research identified identified 33 athlete-owned production companies producing more than 370 media properties. Coincidentally, Peter Hamby and Julia Alexander consider this very phenom in the latest episode of The Powers That Be.

📌 At NiemanLab, Sophie Culpepper asks if hundreds of local newsletters identified in a new database are “local news.” Some yes. Others feel more like marketing. But where does one end and the other begin? The line is shifting – or maybe doesn’t matter as the value to the consumer isn’t about news vs. marketing. It’s about utility.

📌 CNN announced the launch of a new “CNN Creators” initiative that will bring work from independent creators to the cable network’s CNN International channel starting Oct. 23. The Publish Press polled their readers about it:

📌 Is launching on Substack a new to-do checklist item when going on book tour? For DealBook’s Andrew Ross Sorkin, it is as he promotes his new book “1929.”

📌 Matt Kaufax, WTOP radio’s resident TikTok-er, won a Murrow Award for feature reporting. You can check out his work here.

📌 Last week I headed to Newsgeist in Phoenix where, among other things, I gave a talk about how I see the future of news and information. It’s only five minutes if you want to watch. (The talk stands on its own, but would have been better if the recording included the slides that went along with the talk):

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📌 Revenue diversifiers take note: Extra Points’ Matt Brown just launched another line of revenue. Extra Points Classroom is a classroom license that gives professors and students access to Brown’s archive, the popular Athletic Director Simulator 4000 game, premium access to the Extra Points newsletter and even some lesson plans.

📌 Patreon CEO Jack Conte says algorithms are net not just for audiences, but for creators.

📌 MKBHD’s Marques Brownlee breaks down his editing process.

📌 Vintage fashion podcaster, writer, TikToker Emily Stochl breaks down how to get comfortable with personal branding:

📹 WSJ’s Julia Munslow leads an online ONA meetup designed to teach journalists how to make “scroll stopping” social video. Scheduled for Wednesday, Nov. 5. Sign up at the link.

✈ Join me Oct. 19-21 in Salt Lake City for the inaugural Business of Local conference.

💰 Ready to take your newsletter revenue to the next level? Sign up now for Revenue 201: From Surviving to Thriving as a Creator Journalist. Taught by me and Blair Hickman and offered through the Knight Center at UT Austin, we’ll kick off the four-week virtual course on Nov. 2nd. Sign up now!

📌 I’m also headed to Philadelphia on Nov. 8th to take part in KleinCamp. If you’re in the Philadelphia area, it’s worth checking out. The conference leans into hands-on innovation thinking and tickets are only $20.

📌 The Boston Globe is looking for a Multimedia and Platforms Producer to publish across Instagram, TikTok, Threads, newsletters, and more. Though, the posting warns, “This role is not about being a personal influencer.”

📌 The Washington Post is hiring for a new role supporting their emerging Creator Network. The Director of Business Operations seems to be a big job – you’ll develop creator partnerships, source third-party vendor opps, source brand sponsorships and oversee the network’s operations.