Risk-Proof Your Strategy: Diversify

Hey-o from the hot AF mean streets of Scottsdale, AZ! Not for much longer though, in ONE week our family is headed back east to NYC where we’ll trade in a “it’s a dry heat” for “damn, why am I sweating so much” or come December, “OMG, are my fingers turning blue?! WTF - why is it so freaking cold?!” 😂😂 But we’re pumped as I’m ready to be on the East Coast time zone. Ashley and I will be on the same time - yay! And she’s super disciplined about her gym time, so I’m hoping that rubs off on me! And Gustavo and the engineering team in Brazil will only be 1 hour ahead vs. 4 so I won’t be sending them chats at 10PM their time! Ha! (And if you check out Gustavo’s Insta profile…that sport he is playing in the first picture is called “Footy-ball” - it’s legit volleyball but with your feet - whaaa?!?! How crazy is that?! And his team is like really good! Brazilians are so cool. I made him make his profile public just so you could see that pic - hahaha)

And as you can imagine, with BIG change there is a lot of risk vs. reward. I’ve had to balance packing up our lives and having to face all the bad decisions of purchases gone by (like did I really need to buy my son hundreds of Bakugans during Covid?!), all while trying to balance the demands of a software startup and the failing health of our original co-founder, Marla Moore and trying to help support her daughter Madison who is fighting against all odds to advocate for life-saving care for her mother. Come to find out - if doctors write you off as a lost cause they don’t really want to try and save you. But that’s a whole ‘nother newsletter called, “Our healthcare system is 'f’d” 😒

Anywhos, this has all got me thinking about de-risking my life while still living it to the fullest. It’s a delicate balance and it’s something I’ve been talking a lot about with our Creator Roundtable, especially after reading this article by Matt Gielen (he started a kids YT channel or something and then sold it?!) and hearing from successful creators like Jim Beaver, who is highlighted in this edition’s Creators & Coffee. While I don’t agree with everything in the article by Matt (I don’t think you have to be YouTube-first), the concept of being a media “platform” and being able to offer sponsors placements in a myriad of places AND not just on your content, but on other creator’s content, really hit. I absolutely think the future will be a “we” vs. and “I” and a “shit I gotta be in places OTHER than just social” vs. a “I’m just gonna focus on this one platform and do awesome on it.” As we’ve said before, the social networks have you by the balls (whether you got ‘em or not - but I think most women in this industry have big ass metaphorical balls - haha) and you have to OWN your audience. I think of @RileysRebuilds who lost her FB page due to hackers and had to rebuild - that f’g sucks! FB was her biggest page and without an email list of her audience - she didn’t have a great way to let her FB peeps know what had happened and where to find her new page, besides sharing on Insta and the help of other creators who shared the message on FB. Her new FB page is only at 352 followers - it used to be close to 100K. DON’T LET THAT BE YOU!

If you’ve read any of my content (especially on LinkedIn), you’d know, the reason I went all-in on Autofluencer when it was just a fledgling of an idea is because of YOU - the Creator, the Builder, the Racer, the Enthusiast. But, it hurts my heart that so many of you work not just one but multiple day jobs just to be able to afford your passions and hobbies. How can we change that?! How can you de-risk?! It ain’t easy, that’s for sure, and for a lot of you, I know you have very little spare time - which may be why hugging up with other creators may be the answer.

So this edition is all about DIVERSIFICATION of your creator strategy. Don’t be in one place. Be in many. Don’t just do social, do newsletters, press (you can do your own press-releases - did you know that?!), get on other people’s podcasts, start your own podcast and partner up with other creators - and most importantly - have a plan and strategy. And don’t try to do it all alone - this community is wicked supportive. Find other creators with whom you are complementary, but not completely the same as, and partner with them! This will expose both of you to new audiences - but can also give advertisers a wider set of eyeballs to get in front of without having to partner with “2” creators - they partner with your “studio” or “network.”

And I think there is a way Autofluencer can also “de-risk” so all of our eggs aren’t on one platform - aka the software as you know it - that offers management and measurement. Are there solutions we can bring to our creator partners to help you diversify and band together - with very little effort and a low cost - while still being authentic and true to yourself. And NO - I’m not suggesting AI avatar versions of yourself. Look, we use a shit ton of AI and will use more (but if you can’t tell - I don’t use it when I write - so enjoy the run on sentences and bad grammar!) - but I just can’t get behind creators replacing themselves with AI versions. I dunno. I may be singing a different tune in a year from now when the AI version of myself is writing this intro - haha - but for now, I think it’s f’g weird and inauthentic and for our industry at least, misses the HEART…again, the topic for a future newsletter!

If you have thoughts/ideas on diversification - reach out - let me know (you can reply to this email or ping me direct at [email protected] or book time here on my calendar)! If you want to chat about some of the ideas we’re considering like turning your social content into newsletters for you and helping you build out your email audience or building a “network of creators” that have diverse audiences - let’s do it! Everything is in idea, light proof of concept phase, but we want to make it easier for you to get PAID to do what you love AND to not lose your audience due to things out of your control like hackers, algorithms, and douchebags (is that still a phrase people use?!). 😉 

Much love,

Erica Sietsma
Autofluencer CEO & Founder

STANDOUTS IN STRATEGY 🔥

Cleetus McFarland. Adam LZ. You’ve seen the success, they’re living proof that this strategy works. Here are just a few creators who are doing a great job diversifying their game. Know someone we should shout out? Let us know!

CREATORS & COFFEE 🔔

Jim Beaver went from racer to media brand after a chat with Ken Block flipped the switch: you’re not just a driver, you’re a marketing company. Jim ran with that idea and built out a mix of podcasts, social accounts, a big newsletter, a busy website, and a crew of fellow creators. So when he talks to brands, he’s not just pitching social posts, he’s offering a full platform.

In this episode, you’ll learn:

• How Jim started it all with a $30 headset, Twitter, and a self-made “radio show.”

• Why he hasn’t raced in 3 years and hasn’t lost a single sponsor.

• The power of diversifying across multiple channels (and not relying on any one of them).

• Why investing in great content makes you marketable and unforgettable.

• How building an email list most racers ignore became one of his biggest assets.

• The value-first approach that helped him land sponsors before asking for money.

• Why brands should support up-and-coming talent early to build loyalty.

• His YouTube strategy for fast growth and how he keeps it consistent on a budget.

IDEAS FOR DIVERSIFICATION 💡

Not saying you have to do all of these, but here are some ideas for ways you can diversify your content strategy.

• Be on all 4 of the major social networks with reels being your primary focus as this makes it easier to repurpose content across all 4. Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, YouTube. Yeah - it can be tough, but there are ways to streamline this like Snaptik suggested to us by @offroadingky.

  • If you don’t have time for long form on YT, start with shorts.

  • And we’ve been watching - we do not see a penalty for sharing reels from Insta to FB - this could always change, but FB seems to have eased up on this.

• Be on LinkedIn - see our Trendy AF “Big LinkedIn Energy” for all the reasons why.

• CAPTURE emails and DO SOMETHING with them - like starting a newsletter. Read the next section about our fave platform, beehiiv, but there are lots of others like Substack, Kit, and more.

  • And tools like beehiiv can also build dope websites for you so you can get some SEO juice from all them newsletters! And to those who say SEO is dead - come at me! It is SO not. People selling bullshit FAKE SEO trying to game the search engines continues to get shot down, but adding fresh, genuine content to your website for discoverability is still a thing - and now, it’s even more important as the LLMs start to make a run for traditional search engines - they use very similar crawlers to the search engines that rely on well structured content and information! They especially love things in Q&A or FAQ format!

  • We’re working on a service here so if this feels like a lot of work, reach out - we can help!

• Start an educational course - check out this YT video from a chick we don’t know, but it’s the top 7 tools for online courses and she mentions each one in the summary with links to free trials - sweet!. You really good at something? Build the content, put it up on one of these sites and then talk about it in your newsletter and socials to get signups! It may not be a $1M biz, but it could be some steady passive income if you continue to promote it.

• Start a podcast - or better yet, get yourself on other people’s podcasts FIRST! Then start your own and invite them to be on your podcast and repay the favor!

• Collab and join forces with other creators. And then approach sponsors/partners TOGETHER - share your combined reach/eyeballs/engagement from shared content you’ve done previously. Make it easy for them to do just ONE contract with two sigs and just one point of contact (create a joint email addie).

• Do some PR for yourself - no one knows how exciting your life is better than you do! Get ChatGPT to write some press releases about you and then use a tool like EINPresswire (what we use to distribute) and make sure to put on your website!

• Become a manufacturer. It’s now easier than ever with 3D printers and other bespoke manufacturing services. Check out Baja Forged started by Theresa Contreras and Solos Mfg started by Solomon Lunger (@thefordera). Not saying this is easy - it’s A LOT - especially to get it not just up and running, but thriving like Baja Forged - but you better believe their strong social presences and creator experience helped their businesses succeed!

• Do your own events. Start a cars and coffee or a cruise! They can garner a whole new audience and income streams.

• Help others with their content creation. Become an agency for other creators.

Our Fave De-Risk Strategy: OWNING Your Email List and Doing a Newsletter.

Newsletter platforms like beehiiv give you CONTROL over your audience, unlike the ever-changing social media algorithms. You can build a loyal subscriber base and make money through paid subscriptions, sponsored content, and more, all while growing your community and income on YOUR terms!

They just launched a new direct newsletter sponsorship program that could be great for some of you larger creators (get PAID for your newsletter from brands!) and they even have a calculator on their site where you can see what you could make monthly and I think some of you could do WAY better with the direct sponsorship options.

We’re also looking at a service in which we would manage your newsletter for you by taking all of your old content and turning it into newsletters! And in the process, creating websites for those of you who don’t have them. It’s in “experiment” phase - so if you’re interested, let us know - while it’s not a free pilot, it will definitely be cheaper than doing it at a later phase if we do spin it up as a solution!

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