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Creator Coins: Why I’m Bullish

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Creator Coins: The Next NFTs?

First…the setup.

I’m going to take you back to the year 2020. Specifically, the month of March.

I was working on the follow up to my first novel, The Will to Die. After spending 20 years in marketing and publishing, I planned on becoming a full-time novelist. That’s right. I was going to be a writer. James Patterson here I come.

But personally, I was struggling. Let’s just say that I wasn’t taking the pandemic in stride (just ask my friends).

Then I received an email from a close friend who had just been downsized from her job. She wanted to know more about the Content Inc. model from my 2015 book.

Two days later, another friend reached out. Then another.

It was strange to say the least. Was this a real thing or just a coincidence?

To make sure, I did some investigating. I found that sales of the five-year-old book tripled in two months, and my old Content Inc. podcast downloads started to pick up, even though I wasn’t producing the podcast any longer.

It seemed that for reasons of unemployment, desperation or newly-found passion, individuals were taking content creation seriously.

I began to feel I could do more good helping struggling content creators than by just writing thrillers.

And just like that, I pivoted.

By the end of March I restarted the Content Inc. podcast. On April 9th I reached out to McGraw-Hill to discuss a second version of Content Inc. By August we started interviews and sometime in the Fall, I decided to launch another business.

(The new business is called The Tilt and we begin next month. It’s a 2x per week email newsletter to help writers, podcasters, YouTubers and more build and grow [and even sell] their content empires.)

That’s too much information for now, but here’s the point…I became infatuated with creator coins.

As a reader of this newsletter, you know how much I’m into Bitcoin. And, of course, last week we covered NFTs or non-fungible tokens.

Well, about six months ago I fell down the creator coin rabbit hole. I wanted to know what they were and how they could be used by content creators.

What are creator coins you ask?

A creator coin is a cryptocurrency that helps creators run their own virtual economies. Just like the US has the dollar and France has the euro, a podcaster or YouTuber or Twitch/TikTok star can have their own currency.

Actor Terry Crews launched his own currency for his fan base. So did rock band Portugal. The Man, which uses its creator coin, called $PTM, to reward fans and provide exclusive fan experiences.

Will this be a thing? Honestly, I’m not sure, but I think it will.

I believe that creator coins can enable content creators to build their own mini-economies inside their networks and fan bases. I already know creators who are using their coin to give access to exclusive Discord groups and provide for one-on-one calls or consultations. They are also using coins for tipping (rewarding super fans) and giving to moderators (like moderating a Clubhouse group, for example).

And yes, we launched our own coin, called $TILT coin, with the help of Rally.io.

We are going to integrate $TILT coin into our referral program, merchandise, and exclusive content offers (for starters). I have 10 other ideas, but I’m going to hold off right now or the amazing team at The Tilt will get mad at me.

I’d like you involved in this…so…anyone who completes this form before midnight EST on Friday, March 12th will get some free $TILT coin. To get some, you need a Rally.io username first. It’s pretty easy to set up.

Currently, companies like Rally, Roll and Blockparty are launching creator coins on an invite-only basis, but soon they’ll open it up to thousands of creators. My prediction is that some will boom and many more will bust (just like regular cryptocurrencies).

But just like the mania of NFTs, creator coins will take off, but not yet. It is VERY early days (we are luck to have $TILT coin be one of Rally’s first 100-coin launches).

Seth Godin is Mad

Seth went off on NFTs last week. He makes some valid points, including buyers and creators getting caught up in the mania as well as the use of electricity to power NFTs (although it is a very complex issue).

Mania? Jack Dorsey is selling his first tweet for $2.5 million. Taco Bell sold out of their NFTs in 30 minutes. Even Rob Gronkowski is putting over 300 NFTs for sale. God help us all.

Yes, it’s crazy. And Seth may be 100% right. But I don’t believe he is.

This moment of time for NFTs, right now, reminds me of the late 90s/early 2000s in Internet stocks. I remember TheGlobe launched a record IPO and went bankrupt not long after. Remember pets.com? Now that was a mania. A lot of people lost money. And jobs.

But we also had Amazon.com, eBay and Priceline.

So yes Seth, NFTs are getting out of control. We should be careful. But at the same time, this is actually a thing and we are very early days.

People Buy Your Why

One of my friends was struggling with his business planning. Watching this video from Simon Sinek helped (I’ve watched this a dozen times).

The core: people don’t by what you do, they buy why you do it. Why do you do what you do?

NFTs: You Need to Know This

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If you are a regular reader, you already know my fascination with Bitcoin and the blockchain.

Well, I found something just as fascinating. They are called an NFTs, or non-fungible tokens, and I believe these will be incredibly important for content creators in the very near future.

According to Coindesk, “Non-fungible tokens (NFT) are digital assets that represent a wide range of unique tangible and intangible items, from collectible sports cards to virtual real estate and even digital sneakers.”

Most cryptocurrencies, like Bitcoin, are fungible…meaning they can be directly exchanged for one another. My one bitcoin and your one bitcoin can be exchanged at the same exact value.

NFTs are different. An NFT cannot be exchanged with one another. No two NFTs are identical.

The easiest way for me to get my arms around it is by thinking of it like a baseball card. The Topps trading card company created (still creates I guess) limited edition cards that were marked one of five or number 11 of 50. That told you they were limited, but could you really prove it? Not really. You had to trust Topps.

Now Topps are making cards as NFTs on the Ethereum blockchain. They have gone big with their GarbagePailKids rerelease. Each card has a specific identifier…meaning every card is different in some way. Topps Digital also just launched a Bernie Sanders Mittens GarbagePailKid that is already selling for a thousand dollars on secondary markets.

What does any of this have to do with creators?

We are already seeing it. Artists are putting up their digital one-of-a-kind artwork on sites like SuperRare and MakersPlace. A Banksy-style artist just sold a piece of art for 900,000. And, it’s a one of one piece that can always be tracked and never be faked or improperly duplicated. This means that, in most cases, the artist gets paid something every time the piece of art is sold or resold. Can you imagine what Picasso would think, getting paid multiple times off the same piece of art?

This is starting to go mainstream. The NBA, through their NBA Top Shot program, have already sold over $35 million worth, where you can buy a clip of Lebron’s dunk or Steph Curry’s three-pointer.

We are just getting started in this. Creators can monetize their words, video, audio, network…all sorts of content creations through NFTs.

Think of the applications for music. Billy Joel could sell a one-of-a-kind early recording of “Piano Man” that would sell for millions. Or Lizzo can release 2500 copies of a studio song to loyal fans.

This is early days. We are probably many years away from mainstream on this…but think of this like Bitcoin in 2013. Wouldn’t you have loved to get your hands-on Bitcoin for a few bucks?

My recommendation if you’re a content creator? Go down the rabbit hole. Start to look for possible applications. Test some things out.

This thing is going to be big.

PS: Want to really get into something that will blow your mind? Try the idea of the tokenization of most assets (shout out to Travis Wright for the download).

Why I Love Facebook

I’m sure you heard the news that, after the passage of a media bargaining law, Facebook banned all news on their app in Australia (listen to this episode of This Old Marketing for our take, called, Facebook Invades Australia).

And this is why I love Facebook. Every couple weeks they give all us content creators a reminder of why you don’t build your content house on rented land. Social media platforms are fine to help you build your audience, but they are NOT yours and you don’t control ANYTHING.

Email, email, email.

I Made the New York Times Last Week

It’s funny how things happen sometimes.

I had the opportunity to participate in a study regarding making large contributions to non-profits and foundations. During the study, I found out that a lot of donors feel the same way I do…they just want to know that what they give is making an impact and is used for how it was intended.

From that study, I received a call from the New York Times for an interview. During the interview, I talked at length about the Orange Effect Foundation. I talked about our mission to help those families who can’t afford speech therapy. I talked about how insurance, often times, doesn’t cover the expenses associated with speech therapy (a tragedy). I also discussed how my wife and I couldn’t find another organization to help these kids…so we created one ourselves…and…ta da…Orange Effect was born.

Once the article was published it was amazing how many people contacted us and wanted more information about what we do at Orange Effect Foundation.

But more than anything, thank YOU for making OEF possible. Thank YOU for making sure over 200 kids can get the therapy so they can be whatever they want to be in this crazy world.

Here is the full article.

Be Like Bezos

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Be Like Bezos

As soon as I heard the news about Jeff Bezos leaving his CEO role from Amazon, I had the urge to read through article after article about his past.

One thing that really struck me was the image above, which I tweeted out last week.

“The only thing Amazon sold in 1995 was books. They sold ONLY books for three years. They became great at it. Then they started selling other things.

Just think about that for a second. Three years. They focused on being amazing at one thing…selling books online. During that time, Amazon tweaked its service until it knew its customers’ wants and needs inside and out. When it was close to perfecting the model, Amazon moved on.

And even then, Amazon only moved to CDs and DVDs. It worked on perfecting that for a while…and then completely transformed Amazon, the book and CD/DVD seller into the everything marketplace.

I talked with an entrepreneur recently who just launched his Content Inc. program. He identified the audience, but didn’t choose one platform. He simultaneously launched a podcast, blog, email newsletter, a YouTube channel…as well as Facebook and Twitter accounts. Oh, and he’s dabbling in Instagram. Oh, and just started testing out Clubhouse.

He was proud of the launch and wanted to get my feedback.

First, I congratulated him. Taking the leap is a big deal and is absolutely something to be celebrated.

Then I asked him if he wanted my honest opinion. You know, some people don’t. They just want encouragement…which I’m more than happy to give.

He told me he did indeed want my honest opinion.

I said that the odds were stacked against him. He asked me to go on, and I said that, when a content entrepreneur begins, they must focus on being great at one thing. It can be anything really. It can be a YouTube channel or a podcast or a blog or an enewsletter or an Instagram feed. I’m partial to the enewsletter because of the direct relationship with an audience and the fact that you are not renting land, but that’s okay. Any platform will do.

I asked him this:

Do you believe that you can be the best in the world at the seven different platforms you’ve chosen, simultaneously, to that particular audience?

He laughed. “Of course not,” he said.

To that I said, “Well, pick one where you can be, and consistently deliver on that promise for a year. Then come back and talk to me.”

This is a tough lesson. We all go through it. I remind myself of it almost every day. To slow down. Focus. Be a critical piece of your audience’s lives.

Jeff Bezos is the 2nd richest person in the world next to Elon Musk. He is wildly successful. He got there by focusing on being great in just one thing and did that one thing for three years. Then, after winning there, only then did he move on and diversify.

Maybe you should stop doing the many things you do so you can be utterly indispensable in one.

Greenlights

I reluctantly started reading Greenlights, the autobiography from Matthew McConaughey. For some reason, I just didn’t think it would be worth it. But my wife brought it home from the library and I gave it a shot.

Wow. This book blew me away. I now have to add McConaughey to my “man crush” list with Lin-Manuel Miranda.

The interesting thing is that I think I learned as much about myself as I did about McConaughey. It’s part motivational, part poetry, part spiritual journey. His life experience is almost unbelievable.

After finishing it, here’s what I wrote down –

– Work on my relationship with God.
– Better understand others. I don’t have to be right all the time.
– Stay close to my family, especially my Mom and Dad.
– Take more risks.
– Chase my best self.

Uncommon Path

My friend John Lee Dumas (who’s a case study in my upcoming book), just released an amazing book called Uncommon Path. I highly recommend for anyone with an entrepreneurial spirit.

Here’s the link to preorder (this is NOT an affiliate link).

Bitcoin Update

On December 3rd I asked you to take a look at Bitcoin as a long-term store of value. At that point, the price of Bitcoin was at $19,000. Today, it’s around $45,000.

This week Elon Musk and Tesla announced a purchase of $1.5 billion in Bitcoin as part of their monetary reserves. This is the first Fortune 500 company to announce such a move. I’m assuming more of these announcements will come. Some think Apple will be next.

Please don’t take financial advice from me, but with the United States printing money at an obscene rate (if the new stimulus goes through, the US will have added 40% NEW money into the system over the past 12 months), the value of the dollar is like a melting ice cube. MANY other countries around the world are doing the same.

Asset inflation is absolutely here (just look at the stock market and housing prices).

Here’s a four-minute CNBC video that might help if you’d like to know more. Again, not advice at all. I’m not a financial professional. But taking 2% of your asset holdings, putting them in Bitcoin, and then forgetting about them for 10 years wouldn’t be a bad move.

The following was an excerpt from Joe’s newsletter. Only subscribers receive the full version.

A Social Media Warning

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Well, it’s been quite a week for social media.

Once Twitter and Facebook announced the banning of Donald Trump on their platforms, the dominos fell. Just about every major social media platform has put a ban on Mr. Trump for “violating their terms of service.”

If you’ve been on Twitter or Facebook recently, a number of people have been bringing up first amendment rights. Here is what the Constitution of United States of America 1789 (rev. 1992) says:

“Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.”

This is for Congress. For the State. But, per the laws of the land, any private business can have their own terms of service.

Last week Twitter stated:

“After close review of recent Tweets from the @realDonaldTrump account and the context around them we have permanently suspended the account due to the risk of further incitement of violence,” Twitter said in its announcement. “In the context of horrific events this week, we made it clear on Wednesday that additional violations of the Twitter Rules would potentially result in this very course of action.”

Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg said:

“We believe the risks of allowing the President to continue to use our service during this period are simply too great. Therefore, we are extending the block we have placed on his Facebook and Instagram accounts indefinitely and for at least the next two weeks until the peaceful transition of power is complete.”

—- Now, the risk of keeping Mr. Zuckerberg as CEO of Facebook is for a different edition of this newsletter. —-

The first amendment protects a citizen from government censorship. Period. End of story.

On the other hand, a private company can pretty much do whatever it wants (as long as it isn’t blatant discrimination), just like I can’t walk into a local store without a shirt on (that’s a goodness on many levels). Twitter, Facebook, Twitch (owned by Amazon) are not state actors.

Many users, including a few from Mr. Trump’s team, moved to Parler, a social media platform that has quickly become known for allowing speech of all kind (they promote themselves as a free speech network). On Saturday, Amazon announced that it would no long host the Parler platform, again citing terms of service (apparently, many of the terrorists who stormed the US Capitol organized on Parler). This happened shortly after Google and Apple made a decision not to allow people to download the app anymore.

As I type this, you can’t get access to Parler.com (see above image). No one will host their service. Uh oh.

On Tuesday, Parler sued Amazon citing anti-trust violations.

The Bigger Picture

The point is this – social media networks are rented land.

Although social media channels could be great places to build a digital footprint and acquire followers, you ultimately have no control over what those companies do with your connections. Sure, LinkedIn lets your current connections see all the content you publish on LinkedIn, but LinkedIn changes its algorithm consistently. One day you might see thousands of people engage with your post. The next day it could be a few dozen. LinkedIn has every right to do so as a private business, and you, a free member of the LinkedIn community, have very few rights (if any). They could, of course, kick you off the platform at any time (see above).

Social channels like Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Pinterest, Snapchat, TikTok and Instagram may all be solid considerations to build a platform depending on whom you are targeting, but it’s important to understand the dangers.

I had many conversations with friends of mine about Donald Trump’s huge audiences on Twitter and Facebook. While amazing and influential, those audiences were not Mr. Trump’s. They are and always will be owned by Twitter and Facebook. The smart move would have been Mr. Trump taking that influence he built on social media and creating his own platform. Sure, he has a small newsletter, but nothing like his reach on social media.

The Safest Bet

Look at the fastest-growing media companies of today, such as The Morning Brew or The Bleacher Report, or more mature new media platforms, such as the Buzzfeed. You can even look at a traditional publisher like the New York Times. They are all very good at leveraging social channels and building an audience on those channels, but they don’t build their main platform on social channels.

In every case, they build websites or mobile applications or print properties or event programs (all with subscribers) that they can own, and then leverage other channels to drive people back to the sites they own so they can convert passersby into an audience they can monetize.

If Twitter bans the New York Times for some reason, it may put a dent into the NY Times plan, but it won’t kill them, because they have an amazing owned audience of opt-in email and print subscribers.

Move Audiences Up the Chain

This image will be a part of Content Inc., Version 2 (to be released in May).

Subscriber Hierarchy

Basically, our goal is to move our subscribers from rented to owned land. You may ask, how does that work exactly?

Well, do you have an audience in a Facebook group? Work on getting them subscribed to your podcast.

Have a solid YouTube audience? Try getting them to subscribe to your enewsletter.

Do you have an amazing podcast? See if you can build an online membership that requires an email address.

Remember, YOU DON’T OWN ANY OF YOUR SOCIAL MEDIA CONNECTIONS.

Do they have value for you? Then begin the move. I bet Mr. Trump wished he did exactly that.

A Final Thought

Personally, I believe Mr. Trump should have been banned from Twitter years ago. I also feel that thousands of others, who incite violence and go against Twitter’s terms of service, should be gone as well.

But, I’m also cognizant that these social media platforms are not ordinary private businesses. They wield too much power and it is VERY easy for them to discriminate against certain people and businesses, whether or not they have the moral right to do so.

Platforms like Facebook and Twitter have become too powerful. Tech giants like Apple and Google and Amazon are larger than many countries. I believe some government regulation is needed (and I HATE most government regulation).

Who knows how long we’ll have access to free social media like we do today? Leverage them while you can.

A Recommended Podcast

Like many in the US and around the world, the events of last week were highly disturbing. I’ve been trying to take in a balanced approach of media to make sense of it…and to have better conversations with my children.

I listened to this podcast from Sam Harris yesterday on the Insurrection. Harris is not conservative or liberal. He takes a very balanced approach. It’s the fairest representation of how we should look at what happened at the US Capital. I hope you take 30 minutes of your time to check it out. Note – it does include some foul language.

Lost Bitcoin

Stefan Thomas has two more password tries left to recover his 7,002 Bitcoin (worth $220 million dollars). He can’t find the paper where he wrote down the password. Some estimate that nearly 20% of the entire supply of Bitcoin (18.5 million) is lost.
——–

Final note…my “One Random Thing” section will be back next issue. In the meantime, read Stranger in a Strange Land. You can thank me later.

The following was an excerpt from Joe’s newsletter. Only subscribers receive the full version.

The 12 Best Articles of 2020

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What a crazy year!

For me, it started out amazing. After publishing six marketing/business books, I released my first novel in March of this year. The book launch party (March 9, 2020) for The Will to Die was my last public appearance. The next week nearly everything shut down.

The book did well. Hit a few Amazon best seller categories. It also won a few awards, including Best Suspense book from the National Indie Excellence Awards. Plus (drum roll please) my wife actually liked the book (this was the most important of all).

But to be honest it was a challenge marketing a mystery book about death, funeral homes and racial conspiracies during a worldwide pandemic and nationwide protests. It just didn’t feel right.

On the newsletter front, I’m surprised this little newsletter has done so well. In January of 2020 I started with 1,485 subscribers. As I write this on December 28, 2020, we have 9,560 subscribers. My goal for the year was hitting 10,000 (close enough, right?).

If you are reading this, I’m so happy you find it useful or entertaining or motivating. My only goal is to help you in some way. If this newsletter has assisted you in 2020, just reply to this email with a note. I’d love to hear from you.

…or, if you hate it, let me know that as well (but if you hate it why would you open it at all…but I digress).

As I expressed in my last newsletter, I believe 2021 is going to be amazing. Like my son has said, 2021 is going to be as awesome as 2020 was terrible.

To assist you with that wonderful thought, below is a roundup of what I believe were the most important stories that did not include the election or the pandemic (you can thank me later).

In January, I covered this time-tracking activity that is absolutely perfect for heading into the new year. Try it…you won’t be disappointed.

On the Content Inc. podcast, I talked about how important it is to figure out what you are on this earth to say. You can’t build an audience unless you have something to say. Spend some time this week figuring that out.

When the stock market tanked in March, I actually thought that Apple would finally buy Disney. I’ve been talking about Apple doing this since 2013. With Disney’s market cap being cut in half, I thought Apple would finally pull the trigger (Robert Rose and I talked about this extensively on This Old Marketing episode 231). Well, Apple didn’t do it. Instead, Disney doubled down on Disney Plus and now they have 86 million paid subscribers and a new all-time high for their stock.

I talked a lot about the art of saying no in 2020. I’m going to be working on that for 2021. I’m almost done with my goals for 2021, which includes less social media, more structured time with my boys, more reading and making no small plans.

Speaking of 2021 plans…are you risking enough in 2021? In March I discussed Colin O’Brady who talked about how most people live their lives waiting and simply aren’t proactive enough. He wants more days of 1’s or 10’s and hates 5’s (an average day).

Have you heard that Clubhouse is all the old kids are talking about now? It’s a new social media app built on groups and audio. Social Media Examiner has a good overview of it. I’m checking it out now. That said, 2021 should be the year you kill off some of your social media channels. If I get into Clubhouse, I need to get rid of something else.

New York Times bestselling author Adam Alter talked about the idea of recombination when you are looking for a content hook (something to grab people’s interest). I really love the concept when you are searching for something original to say.

At the beginning of December I talked about the Bitcoin Bonanza and how I felt we were going to see a huge jump in the price of Bitcoin. A few days later Bitcoin passed $20,000. It currently sits at $27,000, up over 300% this year alone. If you’re into predictions, I believe we will see Bitcoin $100,000 by the end of next year (but do your own homework please).

And I’m fascinated by what these young content creators are doing, building multi-million-dollar platforms. Especially MrBeast (read his origin story here). MrBeast, aka Jimmy Donaldson, started creating Minecraft videos in 2012. Today, he has 49 million subscribers and regularly gets over 30 million downloads per episode for things like a contest using 1.7 million Christmas lights and going back to the first grade for a day. Some are predicting he’ll be the first YouTube billionaire.

In addition, The Penny Hoarder, once a small, bootstrapped financial education site, just sold for over $100 million. It took the company 10 years to get to $50 million dollars. Founder Kyle Taylor started the site when he was 24.

You want to know what Gen Z is going to do in the future? They are building audiences. Once they learn how to create business models on top of them, watch out world!

And finally, the post where I received the most comments (and it wasn’t even close) was on how every person needs to create their own exit strategy. Some people loved the idea, while others thought it was impossible. I didn’t even realize the post was controversial.

Thanks again for being a regular reader of The Random newsletter. It warms my heart that you get something out of it. And if you want, tell a friend to subscribe here.

I’m looking forward to hearing about your amazing success in the year 2021 (or should we call it, simply, Year 1). All my best to you and your family.

Joe

The following was an excerpt from Joe’s newsletter. Only subscribers receive the full version.