Author: Nika Talbot

Founder at Firebird, the content consultancy helping entrepreneurs impact the world with their stories. Writer at Work Shift, a newsletter about digital entrepreneurship— building a big life from a small biz ✨

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Takeaways from CEX ’24

I couldn’t make it to CEX this year, so I’ve compiled a post-event summary from socials. Got my piggy jar and am saving for next year! 

Here are the big ideas and themes that shaped this year’s event, plus some practical things you can do right now to grow your biz.

Big topics tackled? Algorithm chaos in Google and socials, the genius/evil of AI (including creating your digital doppelganger – thanks, Andrew Davis, for your sticky presentation phrase that, UGH, I can’t shake!), owning your own land/community, showing your humanity, REALLY understanding your customer and adding VALUE before jumping to monetization. — Wendy Covey

1. Using AI to survive and thrive in a competitive market (automating content production, personalising user experience, analysing audience data). AI was top of mind, but as a tool to streamline and organise content production rather than for organic copy. The hype around AI is starting to die down a bit because it’s becoming part of our everyday lives.

Just looking at this map from Visual Capitalist, which shows the number of AI startups by country. The US has 5,509, and the UK is third with 727. It’s mind-blowing. I’m using GPT Plus as a helpful agent and trying to figure out how it can help with distribution and discoverability. How do we develop our own distribution?

AI doesn’t have feelings. You need to tell your unique story. — Latasha James (her keynote on the importance of human stories)

Always say, “Take your time” after inputting the prompt. You’ll get better results that way. — Brian Piper (loving how he’s using AI for meal planning for his family of 8!) 

2. Building revenue streams independent of big tech – strategies to help you make sustainable revenue streams without relying on tech platforms, e.g. direct revenue through subscriptions and memberships. 

3. Community engagement and the importance of nurturing and building online communities as a growth strategy. Strong community ties can lead to a more robust business model in the content space.

Community can feel complicated and heavy, so I always think about Rosie Sherry, who talks about being kind and caring as a business strategy. “To care, over time, becomes your difference.” I love that. And with newsletters, you have a community of readers.

Solve small problems, then big problems. Then people will trust you. That’s how expertise is built. — Justin Welsh

Reminds me of Paul Graham on building world-class products that people love. “Focus on making a small group of people super happy.”

4. The value of networking and collaboration and how you can grow faster and achieve more by teaming up with other entrepreneurs. The Content Entrepreneur book was a group project that worked – conceived at last year’s CEX and written over the year to be released ahead of this year’s event.

More from The Tilt on that experiment here. Pamela Muldoon’s chapter is on content strategy and planning, which is her passion topic, and she narrates the audiobook. 

They say two heads are better than one. So, imagine how powerful a book by 30-something content experts is! — Diane Burley

It’s also a brilliant distribution tactic—most of the posts I found on LinkedIn #CEX24 were about the book. 

5. Diverse content platforms from traditional blogs and newsletters to newer formats like podcasts and video series. Good to hear Jay Clouse talking about prioritising trust over attention—long-form content over short-form.

Julia McCoy says it also has SEO benefits. “One of them is that long-form, well-researched content, with all the right schema and link profiles, is still the best way to rank on search engines.” 

Roundup posts

▶️ Go Forth and Do: 5 ideas from 5 presenters you can do right now [The Tilt]  

▶️ Best event overviews [Mary Rose ‘Wildfire’ Maguire] and [Matt Rouse]

▶️ Best industry journo review [Simon Owens]

▶️ What it feels like to write a book with 30+ other people [Marc Maxhimer]  

▶️ Best conference sketch notes [Jim MacLeod] 

▶️ Best conference tee-shirt [Matt Briel] 

▶️ Best video on what she learned from other speakers [Latasha James]

▶️ Insights on solopreneurship + ‘opposite thinking’ from B.J Novak [Austin L Church]

▶️ Throwback from CEX ’23: Killer newsletter editorial and operational tips [Ann Gynn] 

Love this tip from B.J. Novak about his writing process. He carries a notebook everywhere and then transfers his thoughts to his laptop (the bit I’m not very good at) so he can group similar ideas and themes to create from. 

You can do the virtual thing, but really, the magic is in meeting other content creators, getting inspired, and even finding a few to collaborate with. — Mary Rose ‘Wildfire’ Maguire

I agree, that would carry me along for the rest of the year. 

Kudos to the team and their mad event skills – three days is a big job 🥂

  • CEX Digital Pass available here
  • Tilt Your Business: Lessons and takeaways from Content Entrepreneur Expo, May 14 – register here.

Did you go? If so, let me know, I’d love to hear your insights.

Nika ✨

Work with me

Wanted to be Jane Bond but ended up in journalism 🤷🏻‍♀️

I run Firebird, the content consultancy helping entrepreneurs impact the world with their personal stories. Life is too short to play small. See my services here.

Newsletter Talent Directory! for creative collaborations—feel free to add your deets here.

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Rethinking your business

One of my goals for 2024 is to make new founder friends – not just on LinkedIn but in person.

I love virtual events, but there’s nothing like the magic of in-person and travel to lift your spirits. Since Covid, I’ve been mainly wfh, and life can feel a bit small and routine when you’re doing the same things every day, especially if you’re working weekends on a side project.

I mentioned it to a friend (who is also working all hours on her own stuff), and she said, “Yeah, I don’t know what day it is!!” I need to take a tip from the Geishas and change my outfit a few times a day rather than staying in sports gear. Make each workday an occasion because it is. Details matter!

So, I’m on the hunt for events for creative entrepreneurs; the smaller, the better. I’ve bought a ticket for Craft + Work, an intimate one-day event (max 50 tickets) built around personal stories and group convos. I chatted with the founder this week, Keir Whitaker, and what an inspiring story about how this came to be.

If you can’t find local business events that inspire you, start your own! Go, Keir. Here’s his review of the 2023 London event and I love the ambition—he’s also hosting it in New York and Toronto later this year. Having an event scribe capture the day is genius—those goody bags are a keeper!

“Chris was a great addition to the day. He was justifiably “expensive” but it was a bit different.”

As David Hieatt [Makers + Mavericks] says:

Let’s assume the economy isn’t coming to save your business anytime soon.

Think of your business in a new way.
Find a new reason to exist, a new customer.
Get the confidence and the fun back.

We must replace this struggle fest with brave new different thinking.

Your network is your business.

Kicking off with an NUJ London Freelance branch event tomorrow to celebrate International Workers’ Memorial Day (April 28). It remembers those who have lost their lives at work, or from work-related injury and diseases.

No conflict of any size in history has ever been this deadly to journalists so it feels important to gather in person. All welcome. I’ll be there.  

Nika ✨

Media meets for 2024

  • Workers’ Memorial Day Rally: honour the Gaza dead and support the living. April 29, London [NUJ]
  • Magazine Mayday: an afternoon of magazine chat at one of the quirkiest pubs in Macclesfield. May 1 [Grub Street] 
  • The Newsletter Conference: the first-ever gathering of newsletter professionals worldwide. May 3, NYC [Who Sponsors Stuff] 
  • Makers + Mavericks Off-Grid 2024: a hackathon for you and your biz. May 4, Cardigan, Wales [Hiut Denim Co] 
  • CEX: the 2024 learning and networking event for content entrepreneurs. May 5-7, Cleveland, Ohio [The Tilt]
  • Craft + Work: an intimate day built around personal stories and group chat about building better businesses. May 31, London [Keir Whitaker]
  • FIPP World Media Congress: bringing media and tech together. June 4-6 in Cascais, Portugal [Mx3]
  • Publisher Podcast Summit and the first-ever Publisher Newsletter Summit: shape and refine your pod & email strategies. June 12, London [Media Voices]
  • Nudgestock 2024: where behavioural scientists, creative minds, and marketers unite to tackle the toughest human challenges. July 5, London [Ogilvy] 
  • Ideas Fest: Glastonbury for business. September 12-13, Tring, Herts [Ideas Forums]  

Read, listen, watch 

▶️Find a Female Founder: a new directory to find & buy from women-led businesses launches with its first cohort of 150 service-based founders [Female Founders Rise]

▶️Why finding clients on LinkedIn is such a sh**show at the moment [Lizzie Davey]  

▶️Saving emails is a pain in the ass. We made it easy [Email Preview]

▶️What worker-owned outlets charge for paid subscriptions. I looked at 14 outlets to see what they’re doing [Journalists Pay Themselves]

▶️Italy: the digital nomad visa we’ve been waiting for [The Freelance Informer]

Work with me

Wanted to be Jane Bond but ended up in journalism 🤷🏻‍♀️

I run Firebird, the content consultancy helping entrepreneurs impact the world with their stories. I want to see more female founders succeed. See my services here.

Newsletter Talent Directory! For creative collaborations. Feel free to add your deets here.

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🌟Celebrating creativity

The impossible takes just a little bit longer – Marci Segal, Creativity Crusader

Happy World Creativity and Innovation Week! I was curious about who founded this, so I looked at the backstory. Marci Segal began studying creativity in 1977 and thought, “Wouldn’t it be great if people knew how to use their natural ability to generate new ideas, make new decisions, take new actions and achieve new outcomes to make the world a better place and to make their place in the world better too?” 

So, she set off on a quest to make the world a better place for creativity and free people’s thinking to create new futures. It began in 2001, and 23 years later, it’s now a UN International Day of Observance to raise awareness of the importance of creativity and problem-solving.

“We have a day because the UN sees we need to have new kinds of thinking to face the challenges ahead of us,” – the 2030 Agenda & Sustainable Development Goals (worth thinking about how your biz is supporting these.)

Fabulous work by a fabulous woman! Listen to her story and the headline that inspired it here.

So, a request from Marci that we do something new and different today to keep the energy going. Yes, we’re always creative, but it’s nice to mark the day, April 21, and use it to set some goals for the year—this works better for me than new year resolutions as it’s spring, and I’m coming out of hibernation.

Imagine how powerful that creative energy will be if we think about it and do things simultaneously.

How does she express her creativity? “I just live. To me, creativity is just about living.”

I’ll go for a walk later – find somewhere I’ve not been before.

Giving and receiving ideas 

New ideas deserve better than to be swatted at as if they are pesky flies.

I like what she said in her TEDx Talk about strengthening and building ideas together. A reminder to give and receive ideas—yin and yang energy, i.e., make time to be as well as do.

When Julieta was small, we had an ‘Ideas Jar’ to leave notes in for things she wanted to do or fix. I’m not sure why I stopped doing this – they made me smile and a creative prompt when I’m not feeling inspired. I’ve bought a waterproof notepad and pencil for the shower so we can keep this going and leave little notes for each other – it’s a bit of fun, and I do my best brainstorming in the shower.

Animals are creatures of habit, too. My mum’s been gardening this week, and she’s got some homeless birds! Now that the big tree (their home for the past few years) has been chopped down, Mr. and Mrs. Bird don’t know what to do with themselves—flapping around the garden, trying to figure it out. I can’t wait to see where they move to next. It needs to be a penthouse apt. to stop the cats from killing all their babies—it’s just too sad!

Lions State of Creativity 2024 

Cannes Lions has released its annual State of Creativity. A biggish piece of research (3,000 global responses) designed to help marketers understand the creative landscape with advice on how to drive business growth using creativity.

People are outwardly optimistic about progress and investment, but there’s a communication breakdown. This year, senior leadership was a big barrier to creativity. People felt creativity suffered because of conservative leadership, company politics, and an aversion to risk. Most want to push the boundaries of their creative work, but ‘play-it-safe’ leaders make them feel like they can’t.

When budgets are tight, it’s easy to overlook creativity, but work without creativity is bad for business.

Our findings show that brands predicting higher growth for 2024 are 6x more likely to prioritise creativity, are 4.6x more likely to have a higher marketing spend than 2023, and put more investment into brand building. It’s consistent evidence for the business case for creativity.

Download it here.

Cannes Lions 2024

Not long now till the Cannes International Festival of Creativity | June 17-21. NEW for ’24 is Lions Creators – networking for creators and those in the creator economy on June 18-20. They’ve launched their first pass for the creator economy. Applications open on April 29; you can register your interest here.

What will marketing departments look like? More companies are working with creators these days, even hiring in-house creators for campaigns. Corporate social media handles struggle with engagement, and newsletters are more likely to be read when they come from a person rather than a company.

Writing Prompt ✍️

Wouldn’t it be nice if…?

Leave a comment or email me, and I’ll share your feedback next week. Feel free to leave your name and a link to your website so readers can check out your work.

Nika 🙂

PS I’ve changed the name of this newsletter to Life Work Shift to make it clearer. We had a title brainstorming session last night in Sarah Fay Writers at Work cohort and gave each other some feedback. A few folks said it was too broad, i.e., it works with context (writing & entrepreneurship); otherwise, it’s not obvious enough. I love this group – no impact is an island.

I’m looking for a designer to create a new banner/logo for me – recs are welcome!

Hi, I’m Nika!

I run Firebird, the content consultancy helping entrepreneurs impact the world with their stories. See my services here.

Newsletter Talent Directory! Feel free to add your deets here for collabs.

If you’re enjoying reading my newsletter, consider upgrading to paid to help me grow it and do more. Thanks to all my paying subscribers.

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DCMS report: Creator remuneration

How are you doing?

I’ve been reading the new report on creator remuneration from the Culture Committee—a good summary of the issues and potential solutions, which the NUJ’s Freelance organisers have commented on here.

✅ A Freelance Commissioner to advocate for creative people and the self-employed, for legal protection & rights, and to address outdated copyright and IP regulations. Yep – it’s urgent.

✅ Tackling stagnant fees—some companies are paying the same rates they did 20 years ago and generally rubbish rates across the sector. I had to chuckle (and cry) at our Swedish colleagues’ cake celebrating ’20 years at the same pay rate.’ 

✅ A UK private copying scheme to remunerate creators such as the Smart Fund, which safeguards payments from abroad.

✅ AI and creators: “The Government must ensure that creators have proper mechanisms to enforce their consent and receive fair compensation for use of their work by AI developers.” (You can block AI training on Substack, which “may limit your publication’s discoverability in tools and search engines that return AI-generated results.”)

Good stuff. Let’s share it about and fix it for freelancers! We have a manifesto at #FairDeal4freelances, which includes a charter of freelance rights that the self-employed should enjoy. Gov has two months to respond to the report.

Self-employed rockstars make up a significant part of the creative workforce. I read that more than one million over 50s now work for themselves despite the pandemic’s impact on self-employment [IPSE]. Folks who want to start their own biz or have had enough of the 9-5. 

Yet we lack a single voice to represent our interests in government. And support and biz training generally, which is why we have such active unions, small biz orgs and freelance communities. 

AI and creative work

This week, we had a lively meeting on AI and creative work with speakers Laurence Bouvard from Equity (actress and computer scientist) and John Sailing from the Writers’ Guild. Interesting to hear about Equity’s successful campaign #StopAIStealingtheShow. The NUJ is also developing an AI toolkit for writers; watch this space.

Laurence said part of the problem is that the gov doesn’t understand the tech/AI and that there’s a general malaise: “People just don’t care.” 

It’s not that we don’t care, but it feels futile; the horse has already bolted. AI is here to stay; the companies already have our data, and what’s depressing is they’re so hungry for new data (i.e running out) that they’re now developing ‘synthetic’ info—i.e. training AI on text generated by AI (this NYT article went viral).

They hope that bringing different AI models together will solve the data problem and that “it should be alright.”

Where will it end?

I agree with Laurence that it isn’t just about protecting jobs (AI will create new jobs—I’ve had recruiters reach out for help training AI systems for $15 an hour!) but about protecting what it means to be an artist and writer—and keeping the human at the heart of it.

And protecting our planet – can you imagine how much power these machines are using?

Things I enjoyed this week

▶️ Death of the follower & the future of creativity on the web with Jack Conte [SXSW]. Amazing keynote and storytelling. His thoughts on the arc of the internet, how it will continue to evolve, and Patreon’s place in it. A call to make beautiful things that light you up and go deeper with your ‘true fans’ rather than chasing followers/algos/other people’s agendas. Love his passion. Go Jack!

▶️ The #1 Neuroscientist: After listening to this, your brain will not be the same [Mel Robbins]. Practical tips on how to trick your brain into manifesting your goals and desires and using manifesting as a tool for success, happiness, and better health. Dr. Tara has a knack for simplifying science and making it fun.

▶️ I’m analysing 49K Substack newsletters [Newsletter Circle]. Understand the newsletter space and other creators’ behaviours and strategies in this new report. I’m enjoying Ciler’s work and love that she’s dreaming big. Her goal is to create a full-fledged media company for newsletter creators.

▶️ Axios sees AI coming, and shifts its strategy [NYT]. “The premium for people who can tell you things you do not know will only grow in importance, and no machine will do that.” Spot on, Jim. Axios is focusing on live events, a membership program centring on its star journalists and an expansion of its high-end subscription newsletters. Can’t wait to see how this plays out.

▶️ NylonMag is getting back into the print biz and relaunching its physical magazine for the first time since 2017. Back on the newsstand on April 16 with cover star Gwen Stefani to celebrate their 25th birthday.

It may be less frequent (bi-annual) and more of a coffee table magazine, but that’s not a bad thing. Quality over quantity is better for the planet. A keeper!

I’ve been enjoying reading physical magazines lately—I have to give my eyes a break. Seriously, I look up, and I can’t see! 😱 We’re not built to sit and stare at a screen all day.

Have a great week.

Nika 🙂

PS. I’m compiling a list of niche media events – newsletter conferences, creator events etc. If you have any recs, let me know.

Hi, I’m Nika! 👋

I run Firebird, the content consultancy helping entrepreneurs impact the world with their stories. Life is too short to play small.

See my services here.

If you enjoy reading this newsletter and want to get more involved in the community, consider upgrading to paid. My offering for paid peeps is here.

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DIY PR: Get your biz in the press!🎙️

CitizenM, super central - huge beds!

Hello from London! We’re back at Bankside for the weekend. It’s hard to beat for culture: Tate Modern, Borough Market, St Paul’s, Globe Theatre (last week of Romeo & Juliet!), BFI, and Foyles, all on your doorstep. And brilliant buskers on every corner—it makes my heart sing!

I’m writing this in the lobby at CitizenM. Good vibes, arty and cheery with books, mags and big desks – all set up for co-working. I’ve been self-employed for years, and I still find it hard to take time off during the holidays, so the laptop comes everywhere with me. I don’t even like missing a week of this newsletter!

I had a pitch this week from a PR agency looking for clients. It must be my LinkedIn Company Page—folks assume you’ve got employees and a marketing budget. I’ve been pitched all sorts lately—SaaS services, headhunting, office space, apps, executive travel—and a few PRs offering their services. Spring vibes and the start of the new financial year…

I hired a local freelance PR to promote one of my books a few years ago and paid her £300 a day. She was great, and it worked out fine; I got some press coverage and interesting opportunities, but I felt stressed about the cost. Hiring a PR agency isn’t affordable long-term for solopreneurs.

Other friends with small businesses struggle with this, too, and spend a lot of time on social media promoting themselves, which is a hamster wheel of content creation and hard to measure.

Better to DIY PR (no one knows your biz like you do—or has the passion for it) and build your network and profile, so I always refer people to Lightbulb.

Lightbulb💡Entrepreneur & Press Hangout 

Lightbulb is a private Facebook group for entrepreneurs & press with 5K members. It’s £5.99 a month, and for that, you get: 

  • Live chat with the press
  • Daily media requests for interviews and appearances
  • Strong community support from like-minded entrepreneurs

It’s a place to cut out the middleman and connect directly with journos. Offer yourself as a case study or expert commentator and focus on building long-term relationships with the press.

Press plays a huge part in biz growth, so there is a better way than flogging yourself on socials. And don’t just pitch the big players – focus on local biz networks, newsletters and blogs too.

If you show up regularly and refine your pitch (give them everything they need upfront), you will get free press for your business. You might even get paid to be interviewed—always nice!

You can apply to join here.

Happy 5th birthday, Lightbulb! And congrats to founder Charlotte on your big idea, which she describes as “an accidental business I never meant to start.”

The best ideas are usually simple—a service that’s affordable and makes people’s lives easier. Great to see it’s still going strong five years on and launching in the US.

Here are Charlotte’s 5 top tips for anyone pursuing a biz/membership model: 

Other ways to find journos to write about you – follow the hashtag #JournoRequest on X/Twitter. I still see daily pitches asking for help with sources and case studies.

Sign up for Lucy Werner’s fab newsletter for tips on non-icky self-promotion, creative living and doing things differently.

I’m following Lucy’s journey and she’s an inspiration. She’s left London with the co-founder of her kids and moved to the south of France for a better lifestyle (and weather!)

Pivoting her PR consultancy from time-for-money/client-facing work towards content creation and workshops with her newsletter, Hype Yourself. Great to see her rising up the Business board here on Substack.

Here she is talking about ‘how to find SPICY angles that the right people cannot ignore’ on my fave podcast: Everyone Hates Marketers.

Happy pitching and good luck! 🤞

Nika

PS I’ve signed up for this AI Writing Summit, which starts tomorrow, Monday, April 8. Five days of expert sessions, live panels, special presentations, and more (sessions start later PM GMT).

Grab your free ticket and check out the agenda here. 

ICYMI, here’s last week’s post: J. Thorn’s eggcellent AI AMA.

Hi, I’m Nika!

I’m a writer and founder of Firebird, a small but mighty content consultancy.

I help entrepreneurs and biz leaders tell compelling stories that connect and inspire. See my services here.

📌Newsletter Talent Directory! Feel free to add your deets here.

If you’re enjoying reading my newsletter, consider upgrading to paid to help me grow it and do more. It makes a big difference to my life. My offering for paid peeps is here.