Sharing a milestone!

My team and I made $1 million selling @NotionHQ templates in a single year (Jan-Dec 2022).



Here's a look at:



- Our full income/expenses breakdown
- Traffic stats
- The apps and tools we use
- Marketing strategy
- How we'll grow in 2023

For context, we sell two premium @NotionHQ templates:



- Creator's Companion (launched Aug. 2021)  - complete planning/project management system for YouTubers and content creators



- Ultimate Brain (launched April 2022) - all-in-one producitivity system w/ notes, takes, etc.

Creator's Companion also has multiple editions - a Base edition, Ultimate Tasks edition, and a bundle edition with Ultimate Brain.



Revenue breakdown:


- Ultimate Brain: $760k
- Creator's Companion/Ultimate Brain bundle: $298k
- CC Ultimate Tasks: $86k
- CC Base: $17k

One finding I can share right now:

Bundling works.

The Creator's Companion/Ultimate Brain bundle outsells the other editions by a 3:1 ratio, and results in much higher average order value.

You can see all the templates here: https://thomasjfrank.com/templates/

I broke down my exact strategies for audience-building, marketing the templates, and optimizing the sales pages here:

https://twitter.com/TomFrankly/status/1523730922633191424

To show how those template sales fit into the overall business, here's a breakdown of all our income sources for 2022.

I personally like seeing expenses and profit in breakdowns like this, so I'm also including those as well with the top expense categories highlighted.

I also want to share what I find to be the most interesting chart - our gross and net income over the last 6 years.

- 2018's big jump came from signing with @WatchNebula Talent and getting a sponsor on every video

- 2019's jump came from launching my @skillshare class

Interestingly, our revenue growth from 2019-2021 was relatively small.

My sponsor rates grew steadily each year, and I released classes, but we didn't do anything that really moved the needle in those years.

(2020 has lower net revenue due camera/server investments)

P.S. - if you're a creator and want to learn how to maximize your sponsorship income, I wrote a (stupidly long) thread on it:

https://twitter.com/TomFrankly/status/1542228333080956929

It wasn't until I finally launched my own products and started promoting them that our revenue really jumped up.

Even more interestingly, I didn't promote these products on my main channel AT ALL.

In fact, I haven't published a video on that channel in nearly a year.

This means that we effectively doubled our revenue by going all-in on a much smaller niche channel.

Proof that More Views =/= More Money.

If you can niche down and become the go-to resource for a specific audience, that can be far more powerful than 10x higher views.

This focus also necessarily meant neglecting other income sources (and my main channel).

Our revenue from affiliates, sponsorships, Skillshare courses, etc all dropped compared to 2021.

But the template revenue more than made up for those drops.

Lesson: https://twitter.com/AlexHormozi/status/1522939320708984832

If you'd like to see the performance of that smaller channel (Thomas Frank Explains), I detailed it in this thread:

https://twitter.com/TomFrankly/status/1604961079481798656

For additional context, here's the sub/view growth for 2022 for Thomas Frank Explains:

- Subs: 43,000 to 110,000 (67,000 added)
- Views gained: 3.43 million
- Videos published: 13 long-form, 2 Shorts

Our top content during 2022:

- Video going over Ultimate Brain (inspired by @Derek_Fitness' hyper-lengthy videos going over every ingredient in his pre-workout products)

- @NotionHQ AI video

- OLD task manager tutorial from 2020 (remaking that one soon)

I also continued focusing a lot on blogging.

I try to create a written version of most Notion tutorials I do, since some people prefer to learn through text rather than video.

Unfortunately I unwittingly broke my analytics in late November, so these stats are for Jan-Nov.

Some context on these stats:

I've been creating content since 2010. I went full-time in 2012, made my first hire in 2016, and currently have a team of 8 people (including myself).

This is a long-game business. If you're trying to do something similar, sticking it out is key.

Here's a look at all the tools we use to run our Notion template business:

- @lmsqueezy - checkout/delivery
- @circleapp - support community
- @ConvertKit - email marketing
- @pipedream - automations
- @testimonialto - testimonials
- @FrontHQ - team email
- @loom - screencasts

I've also spent years build a fast, optimized website that does well SEO-wise. That stack:

CMS: @WordPress + @elemntor
Host: @Vultr HF instance deployed through @gridpane
Speed: Server-level Nginx page/Redis object cache, @Cloudflare, @FlyingPress_
Monitoring: @uptimerobot

I'll note a few things:

- We're running at scale, so some of these tools are expensive
- I have two developers on staff
- I know how to code

You don't need to use these exact tools as a beginner. In fact, @thejustinwelsh makes more than I do with simpler tools.

If you are a beginner and want a no-code approach, try these:

Checkout: @lmsqueezy (easy to use and charges half what Gumroad does)

Site: @NotionHQ + @NotakuHQ or @super_

Email: @ConvertKit

Automation: @make_hq (@pipedream is much more code-heavy, though cheaper)

P.S. - we're working on a Notion resource detailing the features, fees, and Merchant of Record status of nearly every payment platform out there.

It launches very soon and will be free; follow me if you don't want to miss it.

Finally, strategy.

My business strategy remains largely the same:

- Establish an evergreen sales funnel (I don't really do launches or big sales pushes)

- Get to stable income

- Use income to subsidize the creation of free, epic resources

This has been my strategy since I hit $5k/mo in passive affiliate income back in 2012 via a massive WordPress tutorial.

Instead of trying to grow that affiliate income through more WordPress tutorials, I used the income to build a library of content on academic success.

I didn't want to make a paid course on how to get good grades. I wanted to make the best library of free content on how to do so that the world had ever seen.

Hence using passive income as a subsidy.

I'm leveraging that same strategy now as well.

Once we hit $100k/mo in template revenue and I was able to hire @balance_wtf to handle our customer support, our focus for the rest of 2022 went to free, yet massive content projects.

The first was my @NotionHQ formula guide - a complete, 42,000-word technical reference that covers every formula function.

That took about 4 months of full-time effort to write, and it's completely free.

https://learn.thomasjfrank.com/notion-formula-reference/

After that, we started on a massive Notion API tutorial, which will finally launch this week.

The video is over 2 hours, and the article version will likely crack 20,000 words.

I'm well aware of alternative actions I could have taken to make FAR more money...

...but these are resources that I want to exist in the world.

And from a strategy standpoint, I want to offer my audience a soup-to-nuts trove of answers on any possible Notion question they could have.

I believe that leads to market mindshare, which leads to long-term profit.

I also believe money is a resource that should be used to gain knowledge and fund useful and interesting projects.

That's all it is - a resource.

Therefore, it shouldn't be maximized if it comes at the cost of stagnating your learning or abandoning helpful projects.

This year, we'll continue our push to publish as much useful free content as possible, inching closer to that comprehensive library of answers for anyone who wants to learn Notion.

Additionally, I have a couple of other things I'm focused on, strategy-wise:

First, I'm investing a significant amount of our revenue into a brand new project.

I can't talk about it yet, but if you're a nerd like me... you're going to love it. Details coming soon.

Second, I'm investing in experts who can help me up my game.

I recently invested in website/landing page roasts from @jayclouse and @helloitsolly, both of which were mega-helpful. HIghly recommended.

I'm also continuing to seek out new friends who are also business owners. Iron sharpens iron.

I want to wrap up by shouting out my amazing team. I couldn't do this without them, and I love working with them. Go follow them!

- @yomartholomew & @eliwimm (dev)
- @mar15sa (ops)
- @tonystoodios (editor)
- @balance_wtf (support)
- @RansomPatterson (content/research)

Additionally, huge thanks to @Iolachristina, who interviewed me for @BusinessInsider about this milestone!

https://www.businessinsider.com/made-1-million-in-annual-revenue-selling-notion-templates-online-2023-1

As always, let me know if you have any questions on anything covered here. I love sharing what I've learned.

I also started a wiki site where I'm slowly brain-dumping everything I know about being a full-time content creator, which you may like: https://creator.thomasjfrank.com/

$1 Million in Notion Template Sales

Loosely-held thought:

I truly believe it is easier than ever to make a living as a content creator.

However, the increased visibility of "content creator" as a job makes people THINK it's possible to do so in literally any niche or genre.

And that's just not always true.

A couple things lead to this over-confidence:

1) It's easier than ever to get started.

The gear is cheaper than ever, there are way more tools, and tutorials for literally everything are free.

2) You can point to examples of successful creators in nearly every niche.

This leads more people than ever before to TRY.

Additionally, people try to make a living in more ~niches~ than ever.

It feels like you can make it in literally any genre.

But then most people fail to get to a level where they can earn significant effort from their content.

So they quit.

This leads to a sentiment I often see in the art and commentary communities:

"Making it as a creator is HARDER than ever."

This can be backed up with points like:

- Top creators are spending more than ever on each video

- Top creators have whole teams

- Niches are saturated

I've seen videos on the "Mr. Beastification of YouTube"

They make the assertion that every successful creator is spending insane $$$ on each video, building entire sets, buying warehouses, and giving away giant stacks of money.

(which just isn't true)

What I think is actually happening is this:

- More people than ever are trying, in more niches than ever

- Some creators don't understand just how long it can take to succeed

- Some creators don't understand how to monetize beyond AdSense or Patreon

Additionally, people who don't bother to look past the obvious top examples come to believe that you have to copy Mr. Beast to be successful.

They don't notice the literally 99% of full-time creators who are not doing Mr. Beast-style content at all.

They don't notice people like @traversymedia building an entire empire by teaching people programming... though screen recordings that don't even have a face cam.

You can do with with a computer, OBS (free), and even just use your phone as a mic.

It's much more about skill.

There are some hard truths here:

1) It has ALWAYS been very hard to make it in certain niches, especially those in the arts

2) Certain opportunities that used to exist have gone away (e.g. Instagram tweaking their algorithm to favor video over art and photos)

However, I still stand by my belief that it's easier than ever to earn a living as a creator.

You just have to be smart about it.

First, your niche matters. Sorry, but it does.

I'm not saying certain niches are impossible, but some are much easier than others.

You can draw or make music, and you can share your art to people on dozens of platforms.

But nobody owes you a living just because you do so.

Especially in the world of the arts, the lion's share of the money and rewards tend to go to those at the top.

The distribution is EXTREMELY biased towards those deemed "best".

Understanding this lopsided distribution is very, very useful.

I highly recommend reading Cal Newport's post on the "Superstar Effect" on @tferriss' blog, which explains it (and how to hack it).

It's a hugely perspective-shifting article.

https://tim.blog/2010/07/27/the-superstar-effect/


In other niches, that distribution is not so extremely biased.

E.g. you don't need to be the world's best accountant to make a living.

Why?

The world's best accountant can only serve a few clients at a time.

The world's best singer can serve EVERYONE.

This doesn't mean you need to become an accountant.

What it ~does~ mean is that you need to get smart about your niche – in two key dimensions:

1. What gets you visibility?
2. What drives your economic engine?

The problem is that most creators only think about #1 – visibility.

They worry about views and subscribers, and then expect that the income will come from the platform they publish on - e.g. YouTube AdSense.

But AdSense earnings are relatively small.

And some platforms/formats don't pay much at all.

I see people complaining all the time about how they got 30 million views on a TikTok video or YouTube Short and made like $0.50.

They think the platform owes them more money for the exposure their content got.

And maybe the platforms should pay more! But they currently don't. That's the reality we live in.

Meanwhile, @themissexcel is posting TikToks with far fewer views, but earning $100,000+ every month from them.

She's not earning that money directly from TikTok.

Instead, she understands that TikTok is the DISCOVERABILITY part of her business.

Then she links to her own products in her bio, and makes 6 figures a month doing so.

Unlike most creators, @themissexcel has considered both visibility AND economic engine.

These are two separate things, and she's made the smart decision to build an economic engine out of her own courses and products.

But what about the arts?

@mishaperiphery of @PeripheryBand is a great example here.

Periphery currently has 372,000 monthly listeners on Spotify, which is a big number but... *checks notes* ...probably not enough to pay the rent.

So Misha and his bandmates have expanded past simply making records and touring.

They've done paid music camps and music production courses, launched a guitar pedal company, and sold a line of drum VSTs called Getgood Drums. (which rock btw)

The records and tours are for visibility.

The pedals, VSTs, courses, and camps are the economic engine.

I highly recommend watching this interview @olaenglund did with Misha for more on this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JkQM5J4Z9mY

Also, I'll say this plainly for the folks in the back:

Visibility is MEGA-IMPORTANT for your economic engine.

Getgood Drums' VSTs are awesome, but to a certain degree they don't actually have to be.

Many people will buy because their favorite band, Periphery, made them.

In effect, their art – the music – is pulling double-duty as indirect marketing for their products.

The art builds the audience, which slowly grows fond of them as creators, and is hence primed to buy any products they create.

The big lesson here is that you must view yourself as a business.

You need to think about marketing, sales, and product.

How can you get more visibility?

How can you drive more customers to what you're selling, and how can you get each customer to spend more?

If you're relying on AdSense to earn money, you have merely outsourced your product development and sales departments to YouTube...

...and you're going to get comparatively meager returns as a result.

And that's the rub.

You might not want to think of yourself as a business.

You might just want to make your art and share it.

That's fine. But in that case, you need to accept that creating will likely remain a hobby for you.

The only way it won't stay a hobby is if you can build an audience so large that that the:

✅ Completely hands-off
✅ Platform-owned
✅ Not-in-your-control

...monetization options can support you. And that takes a very large audience indeed.

Alternatively, you can take some time to learn about running a business.

You can develop your own products, work with affiliate programs and sponsors, or offer freelance services.

And then you can make a living ~without~ needing millions of views and a massive audience.

This path isn't easy.

It requires a lot of time spent learning (widely), honing your skills, and understanding your audience.

It still involves BUILDING an audience, which does take time.

You need to learn what you can provide that your audience is willing to pay for.

You might – like @PeripheryBand – need to dedicate some of your attention to product development.

This means you might not be able to spend ALL of your time making art, because (in business terms) your art functions as marketing for your products... which also take time to make.

However, this path is VASTLY more accessible to the average creator than trying to get to millions and millions of views.

It's also far more sustainable. Fame is fleeting.

Anyone smart with a huge audience is planning for the time they become far less relevant.

Start by understanding funnels:

https://twitter.com/TomFrankly/status/1537161742324748288

I'll also recommend this thread on sponsorships and brand deals.

Most of the concepts here apply to ALL types of monetization.

https://twitter.com/TomFrankly/status/1542228333080956929

Lastly, I'll plug Business 101 for Creators on @WatchNebula.

This is NOT an audience-building course. It covers the un-sexy stuff: Setting up a business entity, bookkeeping and accounting, minimizing taxes, and hiring.

It's also literally $5 lol

https://nebula.tv/business-101-for-creators

I wrote this thread on a whim, but it feels like a missed opportunity to not promote that course.

I worked very hard on it, it's very useful information, and also you should be on @WatchNebula anyway because it rocks.

Anyway, TL;DR:

- Consider both visibility and economic engine
- Be patient; success in the creator economy is long-game (I've been at this for 12 years)
- Understand that niche choice matters

Happy to answer questions. Follow me or don't; I'm not your dad.

Yes, It's Easier Than Ever to Make a Living as a Creator

3 ideas from video games that will improve your life 🎮

1) Think of everything as a resource.

Money is a resource, but so is time.

Consider how valuable your time is.

When your time becomes valuable, spend money to save time.

2) Don't grind just to avoid failure.

When I played Pokemon as a kid, I'd spend hours fighting weak Pokemon (level 3-5) just to ensure I wouldn't lose to the first gym leader.

Later, I learned that I'd get experience WAY faster just fighting him - even if I lost a couple times.

In games and in life, you grow the fastest when you take on challenges that are just outside your comfort zone.

Sometimes, you'll fail (but you'll be close).

Sometimes you'll succeed by the skin of your teeth.

Either way, your skills and knowledge grow fastest this way.

3) Rewards define your habits.

Game designers put a ton of work into crafting habit-forming gameplay "loops" that keep you playing.

Every loop has at least 1 reward:

- Gaining levels in Pokemon

- Unlocking new characters in Apex Legends

- Unlocking permanent buffs in Hades

Think of the gameplay loop as a habit.

Play the game, get the reward, repeat.

The strength of your real-life habits depend on the rewards as well.

If you're struggling to stick to a new habit, think about how you could tweak the rewards you get from it:

- Make the process more fun by doing it with a friend (process itself becomes the reward)
- Try a habit tracker – watching your streak increase becomes a mini-reward

You can also commit to something big in the near future.

In Pokemon, part of the motivation to train is the anticipation of beating gym leaders.

Want to run every day? Sign up for a 5K or an obstacle race.

The anticipation of performing well in the event becomes a motivator.

Now you have a response you can use when your parents tell you games will rot your brain 😉

3 Ideas from Video Games That Will Improve Your Life

In 2017 I landed my first brand deal on my YouTube channel.

Since then I've made:

- $1.2M+ in sponsorship income
- 150 sponsored videos

Here are 7 must-know concepts for landing brand deals and maximizing your income.

An entire business course in a single Twitter thread:

🧵

Here's what you'll learn:

- How to get brand deals (even if your channel is small)
- How to keep brands coming back (sustainable income)
- How to increase your sponsor rate
- How brand deals are REALLY priced behind the scenes
- How to not get screwed (unlike most creators)

1) It's Not About Views

Most YouTubers think "more views = more money".

But it's not that simple. Here's why:

Brands don't sponsor you because they want views.

They want what those views LEAD TO: 💰 Money! 💰

Brands look at you as a marketing channel, and not all marketing channels perform the same. 

- Video A gets 10M views but only sends 50 sales

- Video B gets only 200K views but sends 100 sales - 2x the value!

The views don't matter.

Want proof? Let's look at the data.

One of my sponsors used to use short-links with publicly-viewable click numbers.

So I tracked the CTR (clickthrough rate) for all my videos. Look at these two:

83,000 views ⮕ 622 clicks
38,000 views ⮕ 1,300 clicks

P.S. - I got paid $9,000 for each of these videos.

My résumé video had less than half the views...

...but sent more than DOUBLE the clicks to my sponsor. The CTR was over 4x higher!

If you read my thread on funnels, you'll know that improvements at every stage of the funnel lead to more $$$ overall:

https://twitter.com/TomFrankly/status/1537161742324748288

Here's another example to drive the point home:

This video on my @NotionHQ channel only has 100k views, but has driven over $65,000 in sales.

That equates to a $650 CPM - very different to that $0.25-$4 CPM AdSense range they show over on SocialBlade.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vs8WQh2k-Ow

This is what most YouTubers fail to understand.

From a brand's perspective, the views you get are just the TOP of the funnel.

But a brand's revenue comes from the ENTIRE funnel.

TL;DR - your audience needs to click and CONVERT to be valuable to a brand.

P.S. - Your sub count doesn't matter either.

Neither does your Twitter following, Instagram following, or any other vanity metric.

Algorithms have made these numbers largely irrelevant.

https://twitter.com/dwiskus/status/1513208429397090315

But hol' up a minute (to parrot @itsgfreviews):

Why exactly did that 38K-view résumé video get so many more sponsor clicks than the 83K-view study tips video?

One factor might be retention.

My ads are at the end of the video (as they ~usually~ should be; more on that later).

So better retention would mean more people seeing my ad.

But these two videos actually have strikingly similar retention, so that's not it.

The true answer is that the résumé video has a much better AUDIENCE FIT for the sponsor.

The sponsor on both of these videos is Skillshare.

Skillshare markets their catalog of classes primarily to people who want to learn money-making skills and improve their career prospects.

Given that focus, a video on crafting a great résumé is going to do a much better job at bringing in an audience that is primed to convert.

Here are both ad reads, which you can study:

Study Tips: https://youtu.be/Bxv9lf5HjZM?t=649

Résumé: https://youtu.be/u75hUSShvnc?t=677

P.S. - The long-term performance of these two videos also proves something else:

It's not worth freaking out about how your content performs in the short term.

I remember feeling a ton of anxiety when the résumé vid initially underperformed.

Now it's at nearly 1 million views.

2) The 3 Most Important Letters in Brand Deals are "CPA"

CPA stands for Cost Per Acquisition - a.k.a. how much money it costs to bring in one new customer.

This is the ~actual~ stat that brands care about most when they're sponsoring creators.

CPA isn't useful on its own, but it's incredibly valuable when measured against another stat:

LTV - Customer Life Time Value

LTV answers the question, "How much $$$ do we make over the entire time this customer is with us?"

When a brand knows both of these numbers, they can put them together to get a... 

✨ LTV:CAC ✨

I told you, this thread is a business course!

LTV:CAC = The ratio of Lifetime Value vs Cost to Acquire a Customer (aka CPA).

Here's an example:

In 2018, @Netflix had a LTV:CAC of around 1:1 for their US market... not great.

They were spending the same amount ($184) to gain a new customer as they'd ever make off of that customer.

https://www.ft.com/content/81645c0c-501b-3ecd-9d0c-6a5ae818f011

Sometimes, this is fine (in the short-term).

New companies often have huge piles of VC money to burn (think Uber), so they're happy spending tons of money to acquire new customers.

At this stage, their goal is to gain as many users as possible and grow faster than competitors.

But eventually, every company will be aiming to improve their LTV:CAC.

This article recommends aiming for a ratio of 3:1.

(E.g. If LTV is $300, spend a max of $100 to gain a customer)

https://www.klipfolio.com/resources/kpi-examples/saas-metrics/customer-lifetime-value

"Ok Tom I still don't get what this has to do with me, I just make videos about airplanes" 🤷‍♂️

Here's why all of this is important for you, the creator:

When a brand sponsors you, the price they are WILLING to pay is driven by their CPA.

(Keyword: "willing" - see lesson 3)

Every brand has a target CPA they are looking to hit.

If a brand's CPA is $20, and you send an average of 500 sales per video, then you should get paid $10,000 per video.

$20 * 500 = $10,000.

I should note that some BIG brands don't always work this way. 

Sometimes a brand like Coca-Cola really does just want a ton of impressions, perhaps because they're trying to stay-top-of mind.

But most of us aren't doing ads for Coke.

3) Brands and Agencies Don't Want You to Know Any of This

Brands have several advertising options today, including:

- Facebook Ads
- Google AdSense
- Influencer marketing

FB ads and Google AdSense are controlled by the most data-hungry companies in the world. 

These companies know EXACTLY what a brand is willing to pay.

By contrast, "influencer marketing" is a huge group of unorganized creators - most of whom have never studied business.

There is a HUGE information imbalance in the world of influencer marketing.

Creators generally do not know how much they should be charging.

Now what's that old saying?

Knowing is half the battle!

Many brands and agencies try to keep this information hidden from creators.

If you don't know a brand's target CPA, one of two things happens:

1. You under-perform, and the brand doesn't come back (or they slash your rate)

2. You over-perform, and they keep coming back...

...but they keep paying you less than you should be earning.

Worse, many brands work through agencies, which connect the brand to the creator and handle the deal.

All agencies take a cut of the sale, but some don't disclose how much they're taking.

https://twitter.com/TomFrankly/status/1539315235366096896

As a result, there are many creators who:

- Are getting paid less than they deserve because brands aren't sharing data

- Are letting their agency take a huge % of their money

I know a creator who recently found out their agency had been taking 50% of their earnings for YEARS.

Here is what you need to know.

1. It's possible to get data. 

I know this because my agent @dwiskus has spent years fighting brands tooth-and-nail to get conversion data, which is now shared with creators repped by @standardshows.

2. The industry-standard agency cut is 20%.

These facts are spelled out on Standard's website (https://standard.tv/).

So when an agency approaches you:

1. Ask what their cut is. If it's over 20%, they're overcharging you.

2. Ask if they obtain and share sponsor data.

Long-term, your pricing for sponsorships should be set by:

- Per-brand: The brand's target CPA and your average conversions. (E.g. $20 CPA + 500 conversions = $10k)

- Overall: Your per-video price should be ~based~ on your highest-paying sponsor that buys repeat spots.

Short-term (if you haven't done any sponsorships before), the best option is to:

- Negotiate for data

- Communicate that you're interested in a long-term partnership

- Price at a level you're confident you can beat the first time

Dazzle, then re-adjust pricing.

Note: You may not always be able to get the same rate from every sponsor.

One product might work better for your audience, and that highest-paying sponsor might not be able to fill your entire content schedule with spots.

But overall, your pricing should be set using this data.

And remember this:

A brand isn't doing you a favor by sponsoring you.

YouTube success can feel like luck, so I understand the gut feeling that you should feel "grateful" that you're getting a brand deal in the first place.

But you have to cast that aside. 

A brand only sponsors you if they think they can get a positive return out of the deal.

In other words, YOU ARE VALUABLE. 

Your work is valuable. Your influence is valuable.

And in this context, you can use data to put an exact $ amount on that value.

4) You Should Probably Work With a (Good) Agency

Using all of this info, it's possible that you could negotiate your own brand deals and get paid what you're worth.

But if you're getting significant views on your content, you should probably work with an agency. 

Here's why.

First, negotiating deals with brands takes a LOT of work.

This is especially true if you don't already have pre-existing relationships with those brands.

@AlexHormozi makes a great point in this thread - to get rich, FOCUS.

https://twitter.com/AlexHormozi/status/1522939320708984832

Working with an agent is like hiring a sales team and paying them on commission.

It's also like hiring an editor (which you should do), a VA, or anyone else.

Hiring allows you to focus your energy on the thing you're best at.

A good agency will also go to bat for you.

I've had brands make unreasonable requests - re-shoots, previews of entire videos (instead of just the ad spot - IMO a breach of content/ad separation).

Each time, my agency has gone to bat for me. I don't have to deal with it.

Second, working with a competent agency allows you to take advantage of collective bargaining.

The reason we've been able get huge brands to share data at @standardshows is because we represent 150+ in-demand creators.

If brands want to work with them, they have to play ball.

My agency has also used that bargaining power to:

- Get massive discounts for our creators - including Getty Images clip pricing so low it's under NDA (normally clips are $500+)

- Help creators fight off frivolous legal threats

- Crunch data to figure out best practices

But realize that not every agency will do these things. Many agencies simply see you as a cash register.

So how do you know an agency is good?

- They should explicitly and exclusively represent their creators, NOT brands.

- They should be doing more than just bringing you brand deals.

If an agency pitches you, ask them about both of these. 

Also, look for the warning signs:

If the pitch involves any of these, run away:

- View guarantees - as I've proven above, views don't matter!

- Any mention of a "make-good" - aka "doing a 2nd video for free"

- A contract with long-term lock-in.

Or feel free to send them this thread and ask them to explain themselves.

I'll be happy to publicly h̶u̶m̶i̶l̶i̶a̶t̶e̶ debate them.

Also , don't join an agency just because your favorite creator is repped by them.

Make sure you're getting a fair deal, and that the agency is truly working for you.

https://twitter.com/TomFrankly/status/1539369289764978692

I also HIGHLY recommend listening to this podcast interview between @dwiskus and @reckless

https://twitter.com/verge/status/1526566979171131393

5) You Can Land Brand Deals with a Small Channel

Many creators think that you can only get brand deals once your videos are getting > 100,000 views per video.

Nope.

It's possible to work with brands even if your channel is much smaller.

My friend @MattGiovanisci reached out to a brand directly and landed a sponsorship for his channel Swim University all the way back in 2016...

...when his channel had less than 10K subscribers.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=97ccNzXCcwU

Brands and agencies likely won't come knocking when your channel is small.

As a result, you may have to reach out to them yourself and pitch proactively.

But if you're in a niche where the audience is primed to spend significant money, you don't need tons of views!

Matt's channel is a great example.

Anyone watching his content almost certainly owns a pool or a hot tub.

And most people who own these are 30+ and make good money.

They also need to buy stuff to maintain those pools and hot tubs. 

My friend @PatFlynn likes to say:

"The riches are in the niches."

https://twitter.com/PatFlynn/status/1044964879139041281

If a brand won't pay up-front to sponsor you, then you can also explore affiliate marketing.

Here, you don't get paid up-front - instead, you make a commission off of each sale.

This is actually where I started. 

In 2011, I added affiliate links to my blog for a few different brands.

Many of my articles with affiliate links have made very little money. But some started to earn decent money every month.

And one of those articles has earned over $1 million all on its own.

If you want to learn more about affiliate marketing, you should follow my friend @andyfieb: 

https://twitter.com/andyfieb/status/1533806419530723330

Up-Front Brand Deals vs. Affiliate Marketing

While affiliate marketing can work really well, up-front brand deals are typically better for most creators.

Why? Affiliate marketing puts all the risk on you.

You could make an entire video, promote an affiliate link, and make $0.

Most creators want stability and predictable income, and that's what up-front brand deals can get you if you're working with a competent agent.

My sponsor rates aren't adjusted based on the last video's performance. Instead, they're adjusted over time.

While this means I don't immediately get paid extra when a video over-performs, it also means I don't get my rate slashed in half when a video under-performs.

But it's worth noting that while affiliate marketing does put all the risk on you, it also creates nearly unlimited potential upside on each piece of content.

6) Write Your Ads with the AIDA Framework

As a creator, you have a TON of control over how well your ads will perform for your sponsors - and hence how much $$$ you make.

And the ultimate framework for improving those ads is this:

A.I.D.A.

AIDA stands for:

- Attention
- Interest
- Desire
- Action

This is the sequence of steps every human being on this planet goes through before they take any action.

That includes choosing to click your sponsor's link!

Many creators write BORING ads that start like:

"And now a word from our sponsor!"

...which makes their audience leave.

Others try to make their ads fun:

"Here's a song I wrote about Skillshare!"

...which is entertaining, but doesn't make their audience care enough to buy.

To create ads that CONVERT, you must consider AIDA. You must:

- Get attention with a HOOK

- Stoke interest by addressing what your audience truly WANTS

- Create desire by showing how the product will help them GET what they want

- Cause action by removing any objections

What do people want?

It's not a meal kit or a subscription to a class catalogue. It's:

- Respect
- Comfort
- Stress Reduction
- Sex
- Love
- Freedom
- Escapism
- Novelty
- Validation
- Happiness
- Competency
- Recognition
- Belonging
- Direction
- Power (Im)Balance
- Identity

This is not an exhaustive list. But it's important to recognize that every successful product and service connects to a core human desire.

When you craft an ad, think about what your audience TRULY wants. 

AIDA is also why your ads should almost always be at the end of the video.

Don't let a sponsor or agency bully you into doing a pre-roll or mid-roll, because it's nearly always better for you (and the brand) long-term to put it right at the end.

Why?

When a viewer clicks on your video, they've just gone through the AIDA cycle.

Your thumbnail caught their attention.

They got interested.

They wanted to see the video enough that they clicked.

Now, you need to REWARD that click by showing them exactly what they came to see.

If you start immediately with an ad, you aren't rewarding your viewer - you're punishing them.

You're asking them to endure the ad before getting to the good stuff they came for.

When a sponsor asks you to do a pre-roll, they're asking you to hurt the audience experience and trade on your audience's goodwill so they can make some extra short-term $$$.

But long-term, this hurts you. So push back on it.

Earlier I mentioned getting paid $9,000/video. Based on views, this is a high rate.

Both of these videos had the ads at the very end.

This is how I choose to operate. I want to reward the viewer's click and give them all the content they came for BEFORE I pitch my sponsor.

This also makes the YouTube algorithm happy.

Something you MUST remember about the algorithm - it tries its best to operate on audience desires. 

It is tuned by the behavior of your audience.

You want to do anything you can to encourage your audience binging your content.

This means rewarding the click, maximizing watch-time, and encouraging clicks to follow-up vids.

When you run a pre-roll or a mid-roll, you almost always do so at the expense of these things.

There is one exception to this rule: When your sponsor or ad is very relevant to the content of your video, a short pre-roll can make sense.

@RealLifeLore22 found this out - many of his vids have a pre-roll teasing a full companion vid to the current one: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p6sCsOdqXQw

But if you're making your viewers sit through an ad for a mobile game or a pubic hair shaver before they get to the content, you're doing it wrong.

This also goes back to Tip 4: A good agency will understand this long-term strategy and push back on brands that ask for pre-rolls.

7) Optimize for "More of You"

When a viewer watches all the way to the end of your video, they've just given a signal:

They want to see more of your content!

The YouTube algorithm uses this signal to recommend more of your videos to that viewer.

But you should take that signal seriously from a monetization standpoint as well, because it could be the key to EXPLODING your income.

Earlier I mentioned @RealLifeLore22, who makes incredible videos on geography, history, etc.

Last year, he started making full-length companion videos for many of his YouTube videos.

These companions are exclusively on @WatchNebula, a streaming service we both part-own.

Joseph (@RealLifeLore22) promotes this series though @CuriosityStream sponsorships on his channel, since @WatchNebula comes bundled with it.

In less than 2 years, doing this has increased his per-video sponsor rate by more than 20X.

That's not a typo. A 20x increase.

The reason for this massive improvement is clear to me:

- He's promoting more of his content, which his audience is clearly hungry for

- He makes a companion video that is EXTREMELY relevant to the video that has the sponsorship

In effect, this makes his entire YouTue video an extremely effective ad for @CuriosityStream/@WatchNebula - while also being a great standalone piece of content.

Here's a video you can study: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p6sCsOdqXQw

I wrote a whole thread on this "More of You" concept recently (with more example creators), so check it out to learn more:

https://twitter.com/TomFrankly/status/1526265017900814342

In summary:

1) Master the whole funnel. Don't just focus on views.

2) Learn AIDA.

3) Optimize for long-term partnerships.

4) Work with a good agency.

5) Pitch proactively if your channel is smaller.

6) Put your ads at the end of the video.

7) Sell "More of You".

I should note that I did not learn all this sponsorship strategy myself.

Here's who you should follow if you want to learn even more:

- @dwiskus - my agent. I learned a good 80-90% of this stuff from him.
- @MattGiovanisci and @andyfieb - affiliate marketing kings

How to Land Brand Deals: 7 Concepts You Must Know

The easiest way to build good habits and break bad ones:

Use the 20 Second Rule.

If you want to do something less, add friction. Make it take more than 20 seconds to start.

If you want to do something more, remove friction. Make it take less than 20 seconds to start.

Here's why it works:

By default, we are lazy and seek short-term rewards.

Only through exerting conscious self-discipline do we get over these tendencies and make the hard choices that get us long-term results.

But in addition to self-discipline, there are two other huge factors that influence our behavior:

1) Habit

2) Environment

Habits can ingrain positive choices and make them feel easy, but they take time to form.

But you can make permanent changes to your environment with ease.

By changing your environment, you can ease the burden on your (limited) supply of self-discipline.

You can also intentionally design "default" paths for your daily behavior, which can speed up the formation of good habits...

...or help you break bad ones.

That's the crux of the 20 Second Rule, coined by @shawnachor in "The Happiness Advantage".

Everything you do takes a certain amount of "activation energy" to start.

Increase activation energy, and you'll do a thing less often. Decrease it, and you'll do that thing more often.

(20 seconds isn't a scientifically-derived amount of time - it just helps the rule have a punchy name)

For bad habits, just keep adding time & friction until the habit is so inconvenient that you don't bother doing it.

To build good habits, do anything you can to minimize the time and effort required to get started. 

Make it effortless to begin.

Examples of increasing friction:

1. Log out of your social media accounts. Force yourself to log in each time you want to check them

2. Keep your phone in another room while you're working

3. Have separate Work and Personal computer accounts. Keep games off your Work account

Examples of decreasing friction:

1. To practice guitar more often, keep it out on a stand instead of locked away in a case

2. To work out more often, pick the gym that's closest to you - or get some equipment and build a home gym

You can apply the 20 Second Rule to anything. 

Simply think about how you can add or remove friction as needed, then make the proper change to your environment.

How to Hack Your Habits: The 20 Second Rule

There are 3 ways to make progress in anything:

1. Buy new gear.

2. Learn academically through books, courses, etc.

3. Spend time in deliberate practice.

In order of importance:

Practice > Learning >>>>> Gear

So many people get stuck on Gear or Learning.

"I can't start until I have a better camera."

"I just need to take one more course."

"I'm too scared that I'll mess up."

They fail to realize that practice is the school of life, and a lack of gear is a useful constraint.


To be clear, all 3 are necessary.

But so many people overvalue Gear and Learning, and undervalue Practice.

They undervalue Practice because it's hard, and because mistakes are painful... while reading yet another business book in Barnes & Noble while sipping a latte is not.


Gear and Learning also FEEL good.

Gear provides the biggest PERCEIVED jump in progress. Buy that new toy and suddenly you feel CAPABLE.

Academic learning is similar. Read that case study and you feel like you've unlocked HIDDEN KNOWLEDGE.

But neither actually builds skill.

Only with deliberate practice will you actually unlock the potential of your gear and book knowledge.

What's deliberate practice?

It's practice with INTENT. Don't just practice; have a target in mind. Aim to get 1% better (see #2 in this tweet):

https://twitter.com/TomFrankly/status/1530578917219651585

Deliberate practice examples:

Guitar: Play a section of a song at a higher tempo than yesterday.

Web Dev: Build a simple page using flexbox.

Weightlifting: Track your weights, sets, and reps. Work through a tracked linear progression.

Business: Launch your damn product.

I call non-deliberate practice "noodling". When I sit down and noodle on the guitar, I don't really get that much better. I'm just noodling.

But when I put my focus on learning a specific pattern at increasing tempo, or playing a chord progression cleanly, that's when I improve.

Learn more about deliberate practice here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FbD8n4J_MuM

(This video itself was deliberate practice. It was the 1st time I shot an interview @mattdavella-style and combined it with a script. This is HARD, and I gained a lot more respect for Matt's work doing it)

Practice > Learning > Gear

8 apps and tools I use to make better content that gets more views & subscribers:

1. HeadlineStudio by @CoSchedule 
2. ThumbsUp.tv by @standardshows 
3. @ahrefs 
4. @typefully
5. Creator's Companion
6. SnagIt
7. Handbrake
8. @StoryblocksCo 

Here's how I use each 👇

1. HeadlineStudio (made by @CoSchedule) is a tool for writing better titles and headlines.

It scores your headlines based on sentiment, emotion, common/uncommon words, etc.

https://coschedule.com/headline-analyzer

I take HeadlineStudio's scores with a grain of salt, but the tool helps me brainstorm MORE and BETTER titles.

Here's one of my best-performing videos w/ 3.4 million views. 

I brainstormed 47 titles, and the scores helped me land on this "most powerful" phrasing.

2. ThumbsUp.tv by @standardshows is a simple but INCREDIBLY useful tool.

It shows what your title/thumbnail will look like at every size on YouTube, and whether or not your title will be cut off.

It's crucial to make sure your thumbnail looks great at small sizes!

3. @ahrefs is a powerful SEO research tool. If you make SEO-focused content, it's nearly guaranteed that your competition is using it.

It lets you get traffic potential and difficulty info for keywords, suggests related keywords, and much more.

https://ahrefs.com/

I have friends who have built entire businesses by using Ahrefs to source great topics/keywords. They use this guidance to write epic content that ranks highly on Google/YouTube. 

Two examples: swimuniversity.com by @MattGiovanisci and listenmoneymatters.com by @andyfieb

Ahrefs is NOT cheap, but they have taken several pieces of their tool and turned them into free mini-tools you can start out with.

Their keyword generator is one such example: https://ahrefs.com/keyword-generator

4. @typefully is a tool for writing Twitter threads. 

It's way better for this purpose than Twitter itself - it auto-saves your drafts, lets you schedule tweets, and can auto-retweet your threads.

I'm writing this thread in Typefully right now. 

typefully.com