This week, CreativePEC shared new research revealing that the number of people from working-class backgrounds in film, TV, and radio has plummeted to just 8% of the workforce, the lowest level in a decade.
Channel 4 News platformed some young creatives to talk about it. I can relate to Sam Oddie’s comments on mindset and self-belief.
Wrote this a decade ago, and I see no change. The idea of working-class lads from former Nottinghamshire mining villages, for example, taking unpaid work experience in London is becoming laughable. The same people again and again in the media.
I remember being in Mansfield Library (my second home) while doing my A Levels and wondering whether to bother applying for an internship at ITN News. Inner Aggie: “What’s the point? You won’t get anywhere with it, being from round here. You’re at a state school.”
But I’m a stubborn bugger, so I did apply. I didn’t get shortlisted, but you’ve got to try and keep pushing. And that’s been my mindset ever since.
After uni, I wrote 100 letters to production companies all over the UK and finally got my first job as a runner at Maidstone Studios for £80 a week. My bedsit was £40 a week – quids in!
Later, I won a scholarship with Emap to study magazine journalism and was over the moon. This was 2000-2001, pre-digital boom, and I knew I had to move to London to get my dream job in women’s mags. But I couldn’t afford to move there without a job and had no family to stay with.
A friend from my Maidstone days had relocated to London, and she let me crash in her spare room in Waterloo for a bit while I was on unpaid work experience at the BBC, Emap and IPC Media. I’m super grateful for that opportunity. I couldn’t have done it otherwise.
Always a side hustle. I had a Saturday job at Penhaligon’s and temped between media jobs to keep myself afloat. But even though I was working all hours I still managed to get into debt in London and spent the next decade paying that off.
Looking back, it’s a crazy life and a route to burnout. I can see how it’s shaped me: Working with writers’ orgs and a journo union to help freelancers survive and thrive in an expensive city and messed-up media industry. Here for the little guy!
It’s good to see lots of folks commenting on this report, sharing ideas, opportunities and trying to change the status quo. Jackie Oudney has just premiered a short film on exactly this from a female perspective (semi-autobiographical). Well worth watching; link below.
The 98% Pod has started a chain of working-class creatives to uplift wc voices. Please share if you know someone who needs a leg up with their creative career.
Levelling up? I am positive but I agree with Celine Haddad on the levy.
As always, it comes down to money.
Read, Watch, Listen
▶️What I Am — a short film written by award-winning director Jackie Oudney
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.
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.
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.
▶️ NylonMagis 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.
I’ve been tinkering around with my Google Knowledge Panel this week. I have an old one from 2007 when I wrote my first book, which is outdated now and looks a bit sparse.
Google still dominates online search results, so I’m keen to grow and improve my KP – it’s your digital business card and the first thing people see when they look you up online.
If you don’t have a Knowledge Panel, you look like a nobody. So, it’s a really good way to push yourself up the career ladder as it were, to be recognised as a leader in your field.
Jason Barnard, the Brand SERP Guy.
I clicked on the dots next to my name and suggested an edit. I added a a short bio, but they rejected it. That info comes from the Knowledge Graph, Google’s information collection about people, places, and things.
So, back to the drawing board. I have to educate Google!
Google is actually a child, thirsty for knowledge who wants to understand the world. It doesn’t care about notability; it just wants to understand everything.
I’m working through this free guide from Kalicube (Jason’s agency specialising in KP). I’ve updated my website bio (Home/About page) and social profiles (Crunchbase, Journolink, Response Source, Haro, Muck Rack, Substack, and LinkedIn).
He says your bio needs to be clear and consistent (who you are, what you do, who you help), and preferably written in the 3rd person. I’m not keen on that; it’s too formal for me, but I’ll try it for now. I can tweak it later.
Repurpose the same bio across all your social platforms and link back your website to “create an infinite loop of self-corroboration that Google understands”.
I checked it this morning, and it’s now updated my name and added my social profiles, but there’s no pic of me or bio, so I still have some work to do.
It could take months so I need to be patient, but at least I’ve made a start.
Thanks to Jason and team for this resource!
I enjoyed his interview with Kristina God on how to create a KP as a writer (Kristina writes on Substack and Medium), plus they touch on other stuff – how Google is explicitly looking for writers, multimedia content, the importance of visual branding (often overlooked) and whether we should let AI crawl our content (we now have that option on Substack).
If the future of search is about how we educate these smart machines, then we need to understand the knowledge algos and how they function. This is a good place to start!
Also, check the information about you on ChatGPT, etc, to make sure it’s correct. Joe Pulizzi asked it what his favourite colour is, and it said ‘purple’ when we all know it’s orange! 🚩
If you make videos, check the auto-generated captions on YouTube, as they can be inaccurate.
Let me know how you’re growing your Knowledge Panel.
Congrats to Kristina on becoming a Substack Bestseller and getting 100 paid subscribers! 🥳
Good Reads
▶️It’s not just you. It’s harder now to make a living as a creator. An excellent essay on how the sea has shifted when building an online business. Those who are killing it are mainly marketers selling courses about marketing. I agree; it’s very meta (more Substacks about how to succeed on Substack). I’m in this space, too, and struggling with it. Some advice on how to look forward and innovate. [Alexis Grant]
▶️Google’s Helpful Content update – reflecting on what happened. The September ’23 HCU caused thousands of sites to lose organic (SEO) traffic from Google in a few days (there seem to be NO recoveries from this), and the March core update rolls on. Here’s Lily Ray on patterns she’s seen in her work, research, and advice for smaller indie publishers. [Lily Ray]
▶️Time to Act. What are publishers doing now? Some industry leaders in the blogging and publishing space have joined forces to create a collective non-profit association, the Web Publishers Association, to inspire change. Tony Hill shares his thoughts on it here [Amy Aitman]
▶️Joe Pulizzi’s new book, The Content Entrepreneur, is out in the next few weeks. I love the cover of the proof copy – very Gatsby! Direct sales only via their websites, not Amazon etc, so a bold move. I’m interested to see how the experiment goes – not sure how it differs from Content Inc. [Joe Pulizzi]
I’m not big on International Women’s Day (it’s every day, as far as I’m concerned) and it’s hard to get enthusiastic when nothing much changes, but we do need to keep banging on about inequality and helping each other.
So a shoutout to all the strong, kind, and supportive women in my network who lift me up and keep me going. THANK YOU. It is much appreciated.
The other day, I was asked to promote a panel in parliament that was all blokes. “Where are the women?” I asked my colleague.
“Doing all the background work for less pay as usual, probably.”
But he did flag it and asked if we should suggest a more balanced panel. The usual female speaker was ill, so it was last minute, but there are other women who could’ve stepped in.
I posted on LinkedIn here about #IWD2024 campaigns worth supporting:
United Nations: Invest in Women: Accelerate Progress – show us the money! #InvestinWomen #FundFemaleFounders
And it’s Mother’s Day. First priority today: calling my lovely mum.
I did appreciate the flowers and dark chocolate waiting for me when I got back from the conference 💐 🍫
We’re off to Bella Vista for a mother-and-daughter day dinner.
Nika
Bold Types…Adriana Tica
Wine is my drink of choice. I even thought about becoming a sommelier at some point. I write about some of the gems I discover on Instagram
I really enjoyed chatting with Adriana Tica, a strategist, writer, trend forecaster, and entrepreneur known for her no-BS, zero-hacks marketing strategy. We met on LinkedIn.
She’s built not one but two businesses on her own, with absolutely minimal investment, zero paid ads, and zero PR effort. “My rise to (moderate) internet fame was “more organic” than Whole Foods.”
“Getting hooked on independence doesn’t take much.” I agree!
And now introducing biz no #3: Ideas to Power Your Future, her brilliant weekly newsletter, which she says is the best lead generation tactic she’s ever built.
Semrush named her one of the world’s top 100 Content Marketing Influencers, and Buffer said she knows a thing or two about social media.
She’s a digital nomad who loves working remotely, especially from a Mediterranean island. She also speaks six foreign languages.
I like that she’s not your typical ultra-niched strategy consultant. There’s so much pressure to narrow down and be known for one thing, but broad expertise across industries is a superpower. It gives you an edge.
One of the things the Executive loved about the conference was the “non-industry attendees.” And in the feedback survey, the members always ask for more “speakers outside of the industry.”
Worth bearing in mind when you’re pitching yourself as a speaker. Be bold, and as Cindy says, never give it away for free 😉
Super inspiring. Enjoy! (scroll down for the video 🎦)
Hi Adriana, firstly, I’d love to know where you grew up and your first job.
I grew up in Craiova, Romania, and then moved to Bucharest for college, where I stayed. These days, I’m a digital nomad who enjoys working remotely, especially from a Mediterranean island.
My first job was waitressing when I was 16. It lasted for exactly six days; it turns out I’m not cut out for smiling at jerks 😊. In college, my first job was in ad sales—also not a good fit for the same reason: the utter lack of a poker face.
What do you do and why?
I started my business out of sheer need. It was supposed to be short-lived, with a few freelancing gigs between jobs. But those freelancing gigs took off, and before I knew it, I was making more freelancing for a couple of hours a day than my full-time job paid.
So, I stopped going to interviews and turned my freelancing gigs into a digital marketing agency in 2015. My goal has always been to create great content for our clients, not the SEO fodder you see everywhere, and I’m proud to say I have succeeded.
At the end of 2022, I launched Ideas to Power Your Future, a weekly newsletter about no-BS marketing strategy. As this newsletter and its community keep growing, I’m happy to see how many people are over hacks and quick wins and focus on building a solid foundation for their business instead.
This is what I set out to teach my subscribers, and despite all the bro marketing out there, it resonates with my community.
What are you most excited about at work right now?
Growing my newsletter and my consulting business. I love seeing the spark in my clients’ and subscribers’ eyes when something clicks. When they realise they don’t have to hack social media algorithms to grow their audience or sell their soul to sleazy marketing tactics.
I know everyone hates marketers – and they have good reasons to. I’m here to show there’s a better way to market your business, one that lets you sleep easily and doesn’t annoy your audience.
How do you stay on top of industry trends?
I read a lot, perhaps too much. I focus on mainstream media (The Economist, HubSpot, Forbes, and so on) and obscure blogs, newsletters, or social media accounts that border on fringe. It’s very easy to dismiss them, but they are usually trendsetters.
Piecing the information together is my favourite thing to do, along with finding correlations between seemingly unrelated industries or trends, i.e. how does the state of the economy affect the creator economy? Or is there a connection between the housing market and the travel industry? Fun questions to answer!
Tell us about your marketing process. How are you finding clients, and building your network?
Most of my clients and subscribers come from LinkedIn and Twitter, the platforms I’m most active on. My newsletter is the trust bridge that establishes me as a credible strategist and the best lead-generation tactic I’ve ever built.
Social media is also where I find partners, friends, and networks like Lettergrowth (for newsletter cross-promos) and the Convert Kit Creator Network.
Samaria Gorge in Crete, Greece – her favourite place
How do you define success? And balance ambition and contentment?
Success is the most subjective word. For me, success means not dreading my work and being excited about the future. Every job and every business has ups and downs. But as long as there are more ups than downs, I count it as a success.
I never set out to rule the world, so I’m content with carving a small corner of the internet for myself and a business that feeds me and allows me to travel without claiming my soul in return.
How do you manage your health and prevent burnout?
I’m afraid I don’t do enough here. I love what I do and tend to become hyper-focused on my work. Since I’ve already dealt with severe burnout once and definitely don’t want to go back there, I force myself to take breaks, exercise, and disconnect at least one day a week—even when I’d rather be working.
Can you recommend one book and one podcast for digital entrepreneurs?
Before you get to the trendy books, I recommend reading Philip Kotler’s Principles of Marketing. The book may be slightly dated, but it has everything you need to understand the foundations of marketing. Mastering a new trendy channel or tactic will be a breeze if you read this.
My favourite podcast is Everyone Hates Marketers by Louis Grenier. His conversations with his guests are refreshingly candid, with zero boasting and posturing.
What’s the best piece of advice you’ve been given?
Paul Graham’s “Do the things that don’t scale first” is my guiding light. This is what you need to do in the beginning – talk to your customers and your partners, gather feedback and ideas, and mine the web for information.
And you have to do all this yourself, not by automating DMs through AI. It’s a crucial step most digital entrepreneurs miss in their chase for quick hacks.
Are you happy, and what would you change?
Oh, that’s a loaded question! Yes, I’m happy and content overall, but there’s always room for improvement. If I were to change one thing, it would be my working hours; I need a better balance here. I’m working on it!
Who should I interview next and why?
Hannah Szabo and Michael Scott Overholt are the smartest, most fascinating people I’ve met on LinkedIn, and I’m proud to call them friends. I think you’ll like how their businesses are built on solid principles and ethics. (I surely will! Send me your questions for Hannah and Michael).
How can readers get in touch with you?
The best way to get in touch with me is to subscribe to my newsletter, Ideas to Power Your Future. This is where I publish my best work and answer every email from my subscribers. You can also find me on LinkedIn and Twitter.
Resources
Special issue: One-year anniversary – How I grew and monetised this newsletter in the past year (what fuels the growth of her newsletter – ranked from best to worst). Read it here.
Spending too much time creating content? Read this! (why repurposing and reusing are your best friends). Read it here.
Is the subscription economy in trouble? (tips on how to price a paid newsletter or paid community and future-proof yourself as a newsletter writer). Read it here.
How am I doing?
I love hearing from you, and I’m always looking for feedback. Is there anything you’d like to see more of or less of? Which bits of the newsletter do you enjoy the most?
Hit reply and say hello – or email me: nika@nikatalbot.io.
Join the Newsletter Talent Network! Directory for collabs – online and local: Go here.
Nika Talbot 