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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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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.

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Happy Easter! (treats inside) 🐣

Happy Easter! Have an eggcellent long weekend.

AI has side-tracked me this week – an AMA with J. Thorn (aka Tim Desmond) at the Leading Expert Alliance. 

He’s just returned from SXSW, where he gave a presentation on using AI creatively. This year’s rock stars were the OpenAI attorneys – walking around with bodyguards!   

I can see why, reading this piece by Ted Gioia (also there), consumers are getting angry about new tech (and not just AI). 

I had a long convo/argument with my sister about AI. She’s doing a PhD in Music at Glasgow Uni and has written a paper on the impact of AI on the industry (she’s new to Substack, give her some love here). 

AI is a big deal for musicians, and people are pissed off, she says. It got a bit heated, so we had to change the subject.

We’re seeing exponential growth, things are moving very fast and it’s hard to wrap our heads around. 

Here are some key titbits from the convo with J. Thorn. He said a few things that resonated with me, so I wanted to share them. 

Like many of us, he’s veering between ‘AI will save the world’ and ‘fuck, we’re all doomed.’

How to use ChatGPT 

Here’s one tip you can use instantly that will dramatically shift how you see this tool.

Don’t use it as a search engine.

Think about the tasks that you typically do—or do on a regular basis—and instead of asking ChatGPT to do them, ask it what it needs for you to accomplish them.

Try it and see. He says you’ll be shocked at what you get back, so now you know what you don’t know! 

It’s a big mindset shift to start conversing with ChatGPT rather than telling it what to do as we would with Google. 

  • The Pro version is worth paying for (several people said this) – it’s stronger, multimodal, and can analyse text, images, and voice. 
  • On setting your ego aside as a writer. “The purpose of being a writer isn’t to write words; it’s to get your message across.” Love that, keeping it at eye level.
  • More personalised AI is coming – an encrypted AI assistant that can remember everything you’ve ever written and store all your personal info.
  • Licensing is a key area—musicians will be able to make more money from licensing their voices than doing the voiceover work. 

Hmm, where’s the fun in that!? We enjoy the creative process and the sense of achievement that it brings.  

  • The quantity game is over, so you need to focus on making the highest quality content that only you can write. And supplement it with IRL events and experiences (which don’t scale…) 

I feel like we’re coming full circle – from global to local, more intimate community events.

In many ways, the next several decades will force humans (in the West, maybe globally) to redefine purpose because AI & robotics will do what we’ve done for ourselves for generations. 

Much food for thought and a positive conversation. Thanks to Tim & the team.

💌Creative AI Digest [J. Thorn] 

And some Further inspo from Brian Clark in his newsletter this week on ‘Why it’s time [for Gen X] to adapt (again).

Because your wisdom and experience (armed with AI) in your own gig can do some seriously amazing things.

We’ve been around the block and can remember how life was before the internet, and that’s our superpower!

My dad sent me a pic of his new birthday shelving: books, maps, DVDs, VHS tapes (us as kids), WD40, cans of Stella, and survival tins. He says it holds up to 50 tee-shirts (or more!)

So if it all goes to pot, he’ll be ok!

ChatGPT-5

It’s coming soon…maybe in June – and it will be even smarter. 

Interesting to hear Sam Altman say that ‘ChatGPT-4 sucks!’ on the Lex Fridman Podcast. I love how he gets right in there: ‘Take me through the OpenAI board saga.’ 

I’m interested in learning what the next iteration can do so playing around with the Plus version and figuring out how to integrate it into my daily workflow. 

I don’t have a VA, so a little help with admin, marketing/PR, distribution, and repetitive tasks is welcome and it will free me up to do other stuff, e.g., getting OUT there and networking! 

ChatGPT is the only AI tool I use as it’s affordable, and I want to keep things simple. I don’t need different interfaces to do the same job. I figure they’re all using OpenAI data anyway.

What everyday tasks are you using ChatGPT for and how is it helping?

Nika 

PS Speaking of events, last chance to grab your ticket for CEX 2024. Spring pricing ends today. Sign up and use code TOM100 to win a guest spot on This Old Marketing Pod. 

An action-packed agenda – there’s a lot on AI this year. And because it’s a niche, smaller event, there’s a strong focus on networking and collaborations.

Good Reads 

▶️Rejecting Specialization: Using vibes and voice to attract the right clients [Tom Critchlow]. An excellent piece on why specialising as an indie consultant is hard, why it fails, and what an alternative path looks like. Lean into your weirdness and POV to consistently generate senior clients. 

▶️With this LinkedIn algorithm change, your best posts could reach new readers for months. One of many new features the platform is rolling out in ‘24 to help you grow and why they’ve dropped the term ‘creator’. [Entrepreneur] 

▶️Spotify adds video learning courses in latest experiment [The Verge]. It’s offering four categories of courses in the UK: make music, get creative, learn business, and healthy living because more people are coming to Spotify to learn. Curious to see how this experiment goes!

▶️What’s happening with Substack right now is why creators need to understand their platforms’ business models and incentives. [Jay Acunzo] 

Great commentary and insight on platform biz models. You still get your email list, so it’s not like YouTube. Personally, I enjoy the social side of SS—content should lead to connections and conversations, and that happens naturally in this ecosystem. I don’t mind if they bring in ads to support paid subscriptions.

▶️Travel videos, health hacks, and entrepreneur interviews by Ever Wander aka [Ashley Perona]. She and her husband have been full-time nomads since 2021 and she’s been to 47 countries, 7 continents. She’d love some tips on growing her channel.

Fascinating to see how she’s managing her content biz (& her health) while on the road. Some inspo for your next trip!

Hi, I’m Nika!

I’m a writer and indie consultant. Founder of Firebird, a small-but-mighty content consultancy.

I help entrepreneurs and biz leaders tell compelling stories that connect and inspire. 

Need my copy chops? See my services here. You can book a 1:1 intro call with me here.

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

Gold star for reading this far. If you have an indie newsletter I’d love to chat! 🤩

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🔥 Sell or go big?

+ the books topping my TBR pile this summer | #123

Big news from Joe Pulizzi this week – Lulu has acquired The Tilt and its Creator Economy Expo (CEX) event. 

Lulu is a leading self-publishing platform that allows creators to publish and distribute books globally. They have been The Tilt’s biggest supporter over the last two years – sponsoring their newsletter, CEX, and third annual content entrepreneur research. 

They are on a mission to teach authors about the business model of content entrepreneurship (beyond books!). Loads of educational material on their site – toolkit, guides, Lulu University and more. You can even make a magazine!

Good synergies between the two, and this move positions them perfectly as a leader in the creator space.

I’m blown away by this news. Wow. It’s a much faster exit than I expected – just two years since The Tilt launched, still a toddler—a speedy trip from Part 1 to Part 8 of Content Inc. 

Congratulations to Joe and Pam, and the team. I’m excited to see how this will evolve and what opportunities it will bring with combined audience power. Lulu has come a long way since they published their first book in 2002.

Fascinating to see that a content business has acquired a content business! 

It gives The Tilt resources to expand on education, research and networking opportunities (yes, please!). They’ve built an audience of 25k+ newsletter subscribers, which is important for an exit plan. 

Just shows it’s never too soon to start thinking about exit strategies, even if you haven’t made much money yet. Because how you exit will affect how you build your business. 

This is Joe’s third official sale of a company, and he says his goal is to continue doing what he loves and is good at and leave the business side to someone else. I get that. No more payroll!! Having employees can get complicated and expensive. I didn’t enjoy putting myself on the payroll when I had a limited company. 

The Tilt & Lulu are launching a new imprint for content entrepreneurs – a hands-on service to publish your print book, ebook or audiobook. 

If you’re thinking about self-publishing, you can express your interest here. 

🔥 WATCH/READ/LISTEN

I’ve been to see three films this week – British Summer!! Barbie and Mission Impossible are both excellent. Barbie is a masterclass in marketing. MI – a warning about the dangers of rogue AI…

I loved Talk To Me, the new indie horror from Danny & Michael Philippou, the daredevil twins from Down Under. 

Something different. Gory, fast-paced fun. Wild punk energy and passion, with a great soundtrack.

I love how this movie came to be – read the backstory in The Ringer. They’ve racked up over a billion views on YouTube, and leveraged that to transition from social media to Hollywood. “We don’t want to be chasing the algorithm our whole lives.” [NYT]

Or have their work censored by a tech platform 👏

Another reason not to build your content home on rented land.

Talk to Me soundtrack

Nicky Blewitt is an author who runs a freelance collective of writers & publishers that supports new writers. They’ve launched a bursary scheme ​to support low-income authors. “We offer a free two-hour​​ self-publishing and book marketing consultation.” Details here. 

Sophie Rhone started her Digital PR business last year and has a podcast covering the creative industry – advertisers, marketers, and influencers. The first episode: The Art of Personal Branding, is now on Spotify. Send her some love and leave a review if you want to be a future guest.

Jennifer Phan, Co-founder & CEO at Passionfroot, is rocking Carousel posts on LinkedIn. I appreciate the time and research that goes into these and keep saving them to return to. Great resource. Here are 30 books EVERY creator should read to build strong content systems. 

Tons of inspo here for your TBR pile this summer. 

Recommendations for fiction welcome too – I need to lose myself in a good book.

Happy reading… 🍉 ⛱ 🌴

Nika 🙂

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On nimble power and driving industry conversations.

“The only way to succeed in media is through niches.”

I just queued for 15 minutes and paid £11 for two scones. 

On autopilot and about to swipe my card when my brain registered the price. 

“Is that right? £11 for two scones to take away?” The waitress nodded her head. “I know. I’m sorry. It’s the cost of the ingredients. Everything’s gone up.” 

I’m in a multi-award-winning free-from tearoom in an old fishing lodge. Set in a hamlet with lakes, a caravan park, a working farm and walking trails – mostly locals and a few tourists. 

I looked around, and the place was packed – families, kids, dogs under tables, people on laptops.

Not one table left outside on the terrace. Going niche is big business. They’ve gone an inch wide and a mile deep – offering over 50 gluten-free cakes and bakes. Crazy combinations to surprise and delight the customer. 

I’m sure it wasn’t this expensive last time I came, but here we are. The cost-of-living crisis – one year on. 

Not seeing much evidence of that here, mind. The woman before me didn’t bat an eyelid at £23 for a small order. The folks behind me talked about the best places to eat and where to get good quality cake. 

People will pay for something niche and different. We associate higher prices with quality. 

We may have cut back on non-essential spending, but we’re not willing to compromise on other things – life’s simple pleasures. Our daily rituals and routines.

Time out, good food, company and conversation. A nice place to work.

I paid a premium to not be treated as an afterthought. I stopped eating gluten a few years ago for health reasons, and it’s a pain. Often not much choice on the menu – usually chocolate cake and boring biscuits.

Here I can have anything on the menu – and something different whenever I go. 

As they say, the riches are in the niches.

They are celebrating their 10th anniversary and clearly doing something right. Younger staff, shorter hours, a simpler menu, local deliveries, an online shop, and gift vouchers.

With a vision that people can get behind. Simple food created with love.

She handed them over. Big, fat, juicy scones, wrapped in paper bags with little pots of jam and rolled butter. 

They tasted great and didn’t crumble and fall apart, so she’s got the magic recipe right. All that trial and error has paid off. 

Got me thinking about niche media and what I can take away from this for my business.

Shorter hours, a simpler menu, pricing, a 5* experience, printed content, maybe.

Little things to surprise and delight. An inspiring view on the road. A thank you note to new clients. A cuppa and a chat.

There is no problem a cake and a cuppa can’t fix. 

Something so simple and universal is very powerful. 

Nika

Things to Read, Listen, and Watch 

Jacob Donnelly on the concept of nimble power, at FIPP World Media Congress 2023. “My belief is that going forward, the only way to succeed in media is through niches.” Morning Brew’s ethos: “Business doesn’t have to be boring.” Full report here – worth a read.

6 steps to kicking ass as a freelancer with Eman Ismail – brilliant advice on being intentional with your pricing, niching, life-work balance, and creating a 5* experience. Really enjoyed this one. 

Eve Arnold wrote a piece on how to never run out of things to write about. She’s just published her 900th article on Medium (updating its Partner Program incentives btw). Spotted this in Chenell Basilio’s fab NL.

PS, I’m watching ‘Deep Fake Love’ on Netflix. So bad it’s good!? Slightly alarmed that this is being classed as entertainment. But then it’s raising awareness, I guess.

When did life get so complicated? Bring back Cilla Black and her sympathetic shoulder pads. The wordplay, the innocence, the rituals, the flirting!

Classifieds

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