About Creator Science
We teach creators to build resilient businesses through observation, experimentation, and iteration.
Luck and virality are unreliable. The creators you admire don’t leave success to chance – they observe trends, experiment, and iterate based on the data.
Everything you publish is an experiment that you can learn from. By developing an experimentality (an experimentation mentality), you can uncover what works for you and engineer lasting success.
Over the years, Creator Science has become one of the most trusted voices helping creators turn their content into profitable, scalable businesses.
Using This Guide
We recommend using the Table of Contents to identify your best starting point. These sections include Essays, Podcast episodes, and YouTube videos.
You can also use the button below to search by Keyword (limited to essays only – podcast episodes and YouTube videos are excluded from search results).
Business Strategy
Start with a solid foundation. Learn the fundamentals of how to think about your creator business.
- How to become a professional creator – the PARTS model
- Creator-educators: the true opportunity of the creator economy
- The five stages of being a creator
- How to find your niche (and why the typical advice is bad)
- Earned insight
- Association: The Secret to Organic Growth
- How to look more legitimate
- Which name to create behind? Your name vs. project name
- Behind the rebrand
- Why I rebranded the podcast
- What game are you playing?
- The Pendulum: How to Get Ahead of Trends
- More, better, new
Read more essays on Business Strategy →
▾ Podcast episodes on Business Strategy
- #10: Amy Landino – Leveraging YouTube, building an audience, creating a persona, and being all in for the conversation forever
- #203: Mid-Year Review – Goal progress, revenue, audience growth, and changes to my approach
- #148: Kevin Espiritu – How Epic Gardening went from a blog to a video empire
- #168: Alexandra Watkins – How to invent a GREAT brand name
- #23: Kwame Christian – How an expert negotiator thinks strategically about expanding his reach
- #200: Nathan Barry – The risks of ConvertKit’s rebrand (and how I can become a billion dollar creator)
More episodes on Business Strategy →
▾ YouTube videos on Business Strategy
Content Strategy
Develop your strategy for content creation – one of the most important aspects of being a creator.
- Designing Your Premise
- Designing Your Content Strategy
- Consistency vs. Frequency
- Quality vs. Quantity (and why it's not that simple)
- The Regret Test
- Leverage
- Is shorter content better?
- Shiny Platform Syndrome
- The game within the game (and why your growth may be slow)
- Maybe your content isn't the problem
- When the schedule gets in the way
Read more essays on Content Strategy →
▾ Podcast episodes on Content Strategy
- #2: James Clear – Habits, research, and how to create A+ work from a New York Times best-selling author
- #41: Tim Urban – Why the author of Wait But Why focuses on quality over consistency
- #77: Andy J. Pizza – Writing with pictures and developing your taste
- #185: Ask Creator Science – The downside of viral videos, publishing less edited content, how we prepare our episodes, and working with sponsors.
- #198: Ask Creator Science – When to give up, how often to publish, developing interest in YOU, and where to find leverage
- #199: Katelyn Bourgoin – How to write great social content (and lessons learned from her recent launch)
More episodes on Content Strategy →
▾ YouTube videos on Content Strategy
Audience Building
Learn how to attract attention, develop trust, and build your audience.
- Five audience growth strategies
- Indifference is the enemy
- Trust over Attention
- Attention Retention
- The Secret to Word of Mouth
- Public Homework
- RIP Followers?
- Lead magnets that actually work
- The magic of email-based courses
Read more essays on Audience Building →
▾ Podcast episodes on Audience Building
- #204: Bryan Harris — How to grow your audience through partnerships (even if you have a small audience yourself)
- Newsletter Operator – How To Build an Audience From Scratch, Understanding Discovery and Relationship Platforms, Email vs Newsletters, Vertical Integration for Creators, and more
- #93: Codie Sanchez – Growing a newsletter by dominating social media (in just over 2 years)!
- #109: Justin Welsh – How a LinkedIn legend expanded into Twitter and Email
- #107: Chanti Zak – How (and why) you should be using quizzes
- #51: Dickie Bush – Building an audience, product, and community in less than one year
- #97: Dickie Bush Returns! – Jumping ship from full-time job to full-time creator
- #49: Corey Haines of Swipe Files – Five pillars of growth and a tactical guide to sharing your work on Product Hunt
More episodes on Audience Building →
▾ YouTube videos on Audience Building
Monetization
Learn how to capture value and generate revenue from the attention you're receiving.
- When to start monetizing
- Return On Attention (ROA)
- Why you need a Signature Product
- Creating Magical Experiences
- The Audience Trust Battery
- "How do I go from clients to full-time creator?”
- Platinum Handcuffs
- Evergreen vs. Launches
- You're getting disqualified.
- Why you should ask your customers why they DIDN'T buy
- How to build better sales pages
- The magic of pricing tiers
- Product Inspiration Swipe File
Read more essays on Monetization →
▾ Podcast episodes on Monetization
- #191: CreatorHQ – Breaking down my $60,723 product launch
- #146: Justin Moore – Redesigning his perfect offer ladder
- #158: Kieran Drew – Behind-the-scenes of a $142,000 course launch
- #71: Steph Smith – Generating thousands of sales on Gumroad (with a side project!)
- #121: Bryan Harris – How this sales master grew his business $100K/month
- #102: Tiago Forte – How Building a Second Brain went from public rant to thriving cohort-based course
- #139: Brennan Dunn – How He's Designing and Pricing His New Course Product
- #134: Mariah Coz – Selling high-ticket programs on evergreen (without sales calls)
- #186: Ask Creator Science – Selling without feeling salesy, choosing what products to create, my future plans, and more
More episodes on Monetization →
▾ YouTube videos on Monetization
The Lab – Community for Advanced Creators
Stay at the forefront of what's working and drive more revenue in a unique peer group for full-time creators.
Mindset
Get your mind right so you can get your business right. These pieces will help you see the creator game through a smarter lens.
- Experimentality
- Solving the Cobbler Problem
- How would someone else run your creator business?
- What a Harvard Psychiatrist says about burnout and performance
- When to quit
- How to Keep Going
- Quality and Belief
- Restraint
- Artist vs. Entrepreneur
- What if you're not an expert?
- The best teachers are students
- Permission to be bad
- What will YOUR luck look like?
- Optimism – Your Secret Weapon
Read more essays on Mindset →
▾ Podcast episodes on Mindset
- #181: Dr. K – The Harvard Psychiatrist helping creators with performance, burnout, and dealing with negative feedback
- #120: Derek Sivers – How to Live as a Creator and Why You Should Focus Like a Monomaniac
- #2: James Clear – Habits, research, and how to create A+ work from a New York Times best-selling author
- #114: Kat Norton aka Miss Excel – Engineering virality and earning more than $100,000 in a single day
- #57: Jay Clouse – Let's talk about comparison traps
- #39: Chris McAlister – Meet my business and creative coach
- #143: Guy Raz – The host of How I Built This on what he’s learned from great creators
More episodes on Mindset →
▾ YouTube videos on Mindset
Process & Operations
Great creators leverage great systems. Learn how to improve your process and operations.
- List of our Recommended Gear
- Your business as a machine
- How to be consistent
- How to be more prolific
- "What does paternity leave look like for a creator?"
Read more essays on Process & Operations →
▾ Podcast episodes on Process & Operations
- #195: Podcast Marketing Trends Explained – Why (and how) to ask your audience why they DIDN’T take action
- #174: Bonnie Christine – How to ACTUALLY hire and delegate.
- #187: Michael Stelzner – How to run profitable events (without sponsors or selling from the stage)
- #175: Angus Parker – Ali Abdaal’s right-hand man shares a YouTuber’s guide to hiring.
More episodes on Process & Operations →
▾ YouTube videos on Process & Operations
CreatorHQ – Complete Operating System
Grow your creator business with an all-in-one workspace designed to save you more time, create more content, and drive more revenue.
Finances
Get your finances together so that you can better invest in and run your business.
Read more essays on Finances →
▾ Podcast episodes on Finances
- #133: Behind the scenes: How much I earned (and spent) in December 2022
- #165: Creator Science Syndicate – Announcing one of the biggest projects I’ve ever done.
- #14: Jonathan Mendonsa – Becoming debt free, how to cut your living expenses, saving for retirement, and investing
More episodes on Finances →
Team Building
Learn how to hire, build a team, and scale your impact.
Read more essays on Team Building →
▾ Podcast episodes on Team Building
- #190: Tony Santos – How to find, hire, and work with great video editors.
- #153: Tina Roth Eisenberg – Building Creative Mornings into a global brand
- #175: Angus Parker – Ali Abdaal’s right-hand man shares a YouTuber’s guide to hiring.
- #174: Bonnie Christine – How to ACTUALLY hire and delegate.
- #159: Nuseir Yassin – The price of growing Nas Daily to 12 million subscribers
More episodes on Team Building →
▾ YouTube videos on Team Building
Publishing Platforms
Learn the ins and outs of specific platforms for capturing attention.
Blogging & SEO
▾ Podcast episodes on Blogging & SEO
- #26: Ryan Robinson – How to write blog posts that rank on page one of search results
- #19: Miles Beckler – Affiliate marketing, building an audience, earning trust, and making money online
- #41: Tim Urban – Why the author of Wait But Why focuses on quality over consistency
- #33: Brian Clark – A content marketing pioneer talks about its evolution
- #148: Kevin Espiritu – How Epic Gardening went from a blog to a video empire
- #5: Matt Giovanisci – A self-proclaimed "pool nerd" talks about web design, affiliate marketing, getting comfortable with money, and producing a rap album.
- #28: Bryce Conway – How a travel hacker evolved to become a content creator and affiliate marketer
- #73: Taylor Schulte – Creating a winning content marketing strategy for a professional services business
More episodes on Blogging & SEO →
- 11 lessons from five years of writing an email newsletter
- How to grow an email newsletter
- Two underutilized email strategies
- Lead magnets that actually work
- The magic of email-based courses
- Results from my February Email Growth Experiment
▾ Podcast episodes on Email
- #147: Chenell Basilio – How the best newsletter operators grow to 50K+ subscribers
- #145: Matt McGarry – The man behind email acquisition for The Hustle, Codie Sanchez, Sahil Bloom, and The Milk Road
- #79: Dru Riley – 45,000+ email subscribers in less than 2 years
- #151: Nathan Barry of ConvertKit — Acquiring SparkLoop and turning email into multiplayer mode with the Creator Network
- #94: Ann Handley – How to make your voice a differentiator in your work
- #87: Dan Runcie – From business school to music industry insider by covering the business of hip hop
- #110: Polina Marinova Pompliano – How "The Internet's Biographer" writes great profiles
- #60: Brennan Dunn – Combining personalization and automation for next-level email marketing
- #29: Khe Hy – Leaving Wall Street success to find fulfillment and start an email newsletter
More episodes on Email →
▾ YouTube videos on Email
Newsletter Masterclass
This two-hour masterclass will help you get your newsletter off to a strong start (shaving months or even years off of the time it took ME to get rolling).
▾ Podcast episodes on Instagram
- #132: Natalie Ellis of bossbabe – Attracting 3.5 million followers on Instagram (and what's working today)
- #88: Tori Dunlap – Building an audience of millions on TikTok with Her First $100K
- #46: Sarah McAllister of GoCleanCo – Building a Cleaning Army of nearly 2M Instagram followers
- #105: Daphne Gomez – Leaning into rapid growth and finding rapid growth on Instagram
- #40: Matty Benedetto of Unnecessary Inventions
More episodes on Instagram →
▾ YouTube videos on Instagram
▾ Podcast episodes on LinkedIn
- #188: Richard van der Blom – How the man behind the LinkedIn Algorithm Report uses LinkedIn
- #109: Justin Welsh – How a LinkedIn legend expanded into Twitter and Email
- #137: Jay Clouse – How I’ve doubled my following on LinkedIn in the last few months
- #127: Daniel Murray – Why LinkedIn Company Pages are a HUGE Opportunity
- #113: Austin Belcak – From zero job offers to attracting 1.3 million followers on LinkedIn
More episodes on LinkedIn →
▾ YouTube videos on LinkedIn
Podcasting
▾ Podcast episodes on Podcasting
- #212: Dan Misener – How to ACTUALLY grow your podcast (and measure its success)
- #177: Chris Hutchins – A master of podcast growth and building relationships
- #76: Andrew Warner – How to be a better conversationalist with the host of 2,000+ interviews
- #89: Hrishikesh Hirway – From full-time musician to Song Exploder and back again
- #52: Cole Cuchna – Dissecting how an indie podcaster went from side hustle to full-time as a Spotify Original
- #138: Chris Williamson – How his podcast exploded to 70 million downloads and 125 million views
- #69: Jack Rhysider – 300,000 downloads per episode as an indie podcaster
- #119: Omar Zenhom – Lessons from 200M downloads and 2000+ episodes of a daily podcast
- #115: Jason Sew Hoy of Supercast – How and why to create a premium podcast subscription
More episodes on Podcasting →
▾ YouTube videos on Podcasting
Podcast Like The Pros
Learn how to produce a high-quality, professional-sounding show with a small team or a small budget.
Streaming
No essays yet. Check out our podcast episodes:
▾ Podcast episodes on Streaming
- #86: Mitch Long AKA OG Pickle – Building brands for influencers and becoming a professional streamer
- #53: Bijan Stephen – Digging into internet culture and what it takes to stream on TwitchPlay Episode
- #64: Charli Marie Prangley - Building a YouTube Channel with 200K subscribers (on the side!)
More episodes on Streaming →
Threads
TikTok
▾ Podcast episodes on TikTok
- #131: Daniel Wall – 1.6M followers on TikTok using this viral framework
- #66: Chris Sutherland – How a Physics professor built an audience of 2M+ followers on TikTok (in less than two years!)
- #88: Tori Dunlap – Building an audience of millions on TikTok with Her First $100K
- #114: Kat Norton aka Miss Excel – Engineering virality and earning more than $100,000 in a single day
More episodes on TikTok →
▾ YouTube videos on TikTok
Twitter/X
▾ Podcast episodes on Twitter/X
- #118: Sahil Bloom – Attracting 700,000 followers on Twitter by being consistent
- #35: David Perell – How "The Writing Guy" thinks about Twitter, education, and creating your own games
- #109: Justin Welsh – How a LinkedIn legend expanded into Twitter and Email
- #51: Dickie Bush – Building an audience, product, and community in less than one year
- #97: Dickie Bush Returns! – Jumping ship from full-time job to full-time creator
- #70: Nick Huber – What online creators can learn from sweaty startups
More episodes on Twitter →
▾ YouTube videos on Twitter/X
YouTube
▾ Podcast episodes on YouTube
- #37: Ali Abdaal – Making a living as a part-time YouTuber
- #152: Paddy Galloway – The most sought-after YouTube consultant on the planet
- #156: Conor Conaboy (my producer) – What we’ve learned in our first year on YouTube
- #125: Jake Thomas – How to write great YouTube titles
- #193: Jake Thomas – YouTube title expert shares his secrets for getting clicks
- #162: George Blackman – How to script your videos like Ali Abdaal and Ed from Film Booth
- #155: Ed from Film Booth — The Most Entertaining Educator on YouTube?
- #202: Zack Honarvar – What he learned from working with 10,000 creators
- #196: Aprilynne Alter – Breaking down the video that blew up her channel (755,000 views with <1000 subscribers!)
- #167: Jenny Hoyos – How she averages 10 million views per video (YouTube Shorts)
- #164: Jon Youshaei – Ex-YouTube employee shares the best growth advice (that you’ve probably never heard)
- #129: Hayden Hillier-Smith – Logan Paul's former editor on the future of YouTube
- #183: Thomas Frank – How to build a successful tutorial channel.
More episodes on YouTube →
▾ YouTube videos on YouTube
- How I Would Hit 100K Subs in 1 Year (If I Could Start Over)
- Meet the YouTuber Who Solved Shorts (Jenny Hoyos Interview)
- Meet The Godfather of YouTube Strategy (Paddy Galloway Interview)
- How to Steal a YouTube Video (Ethically)
- Is this Thumbnail Good?
- Meet the Secret Scriptwriter Getting YouTubers Millions of Views
- Write Better YouTube Titles In 54 Minutes (Jake Thomas | Creator Hooks)
- Meet the Ex-YouTube Employee Changing YouTube Education (Jon Youshaei)
- How She Made a 750,000 View Video (with less than 1K subs)
- He Failed On YouTube… Then He Got 100 Million Views
- The Hidden Opportunity in Tutorial Channels (Thomas Frank Interview)
- Meet YouTube's Next Golden Boy (Dodford Interview)
- Genius YouTube Advice for 49 Minutes Straight...
More videos on YouTube →
Podcast Like A YouTuber
A comprehensive masterclass teaching you the strategy we used to attract 105,000 subscribers and 5,000,000 views (in just two years)!
Revenue Models
Learn the ins and outs of specific models for driving revenue.
Books
No essays yet. Check out our podcast episodes:
▾ Podcast episodes on Books
- #163: David Moldawer — A deep dive into book publishing with an industry insider
- #176: April Dunford – How self-publishing a book exploded her client service business.
- #160: Tori Dunlap – A transparent look at writing a New York Times best-selling book. The process, numbers, and lessons learned
- #182: Noah Kagan — Behind the scenes of writing (and marketing) Million Dollar Weekend
- #201: Nat Eliason – How he got a book deal and why traditional publishing is great
- #65: Austin Kleon – 10 years as a full-time writer and stealing like an artist
- #149: Daniel Pink – How to write like a New York Times bestselling author
- #172: Nir Eyal – Writing books, persuasion vs. coercion, and how to be indistractable
- #25: Eric Jorgenson – Creating a full-length book from Tweets, interviews, essays, and podcasts
More episodes on Books →
Client Services
▾ Podcast episodes on Client Services
- #111: Chris Do – From running a multimillion-dollar design agency to becoming a multimillion-dollar creator
- #95: Josh Hall – from freelance web design to professional creator earning $300K/year
- #176: April Dunford – How self-publishing a book exploded her client service business.
- #16: Puno – Finding freelance clients, managing your time, building a business to support your lifestyle, and creating exceptional courses.
- #22: Pat Flynn and Matt Gartland – Why Pat acquired Matt's agency in order to grow Smart Passive Income
- #27: Ran Segall – How a freelance designer's YouTube hobby paved the way to becoming an educator
- #21: Matt D'Avella – Freelancing, filmmaking, podcasting, and finding success on YouTube.
- #73: Taylor Schulte – Creating a winning content marketing strategy for a professional services business
- #50: Nick DenBoer aka Smearballs – From construction to early YouTube remixing, working on Conan, and selling NFTs
- #1: Seth Godin – Art, freelancing, building a personal brand, and the problem with being authentic
More episodes on Client Services →
▾ YouTube videos on Client Services
Community & Memberships
- Why (and how) I designed my community to stay small
- Online community-building predictions
- Building Better Community Products
▾ Podcast episodes on Community & Memberships
- #192: Ali Abdaal – I coached Ali Abdaal on building a membership
- #197: Chenell Basilio and Becky Davidson – How to build raving fans and real connection
- #126: Kayse Morris – from government assistance to multimillion dollar membership
- #98: Jay Acunzo – Jay-Talking about Memberships
- #32: Dan Andrews – Helping location independent entrepreneurs build businesses and find community
- #58: Courtland Allen – Building (and selling!) a business creating community for Indie Hackers
- #48: Rosie Sherry – What community building really looks like (beyond the hype)
- #67: Gina Bianchini – Powering the business of community with Mighty Networks
More episodes on Community & Memberships →
▾ YouTube videos on Community & Memberships
Build A Beloved Membership
Earn recurring revenue with a membership community that people truly love.
Online Courses
- "Should I sell a course, coaching program, or both?"
- How to build an online course
- The magic of pricing tiers
- Why most digital products fail (and we're to blame)
▾ Podcast episodes on Courses
- #184: Amy Porterfield – Her step-by-step process for MASSIVE product launches.
- #158: Kieran Drew – Behind-the-scenes of a $142,000 course launch
- #90: Wes Kao – Should you teach a cohort-based course?
- #78: Marie Poulin – Earning $40,000 per month as a course creator
- #134: Mariah Coz – Selling high-ticket programs on evergreen (without sales calls)
- #122: Pat Flynn and Matt Gartland – Courses, community, and the future of education
- #102: Tiago Forte – How Building a Second Brain went from public rant to thriving cohort-based course
- #139: Brennan Dunn – How He's Designing and Pricing His New Course Product
- #27: Ran Segall – How a freelance designer's YouTube hobby paved the way to becoming an educator
More episodes on Courses →
▾ YouTube videos on Courses
- Meet the Woman Who Built a $100M Online Education Empire
- The Next Course Millionaires Will Focus On THIS | Pat Flynn & Matt Gartland
- Here's How Creators Can Grow Their Business $100K /Month
- Her Secret To Selling A $10K Online Course (With Ease)
- Designing Your Perfect Value Ladder (Workshop)
More videos on Courses →
Online Course Masterclass
With this masterclass, I'll share with you the template I use for planning and creating my course and teach you how to use it.
Events
▾ Podcast episodes on Events
- #206: How I’d approach hosting in-person events
- #187: Michael Stelzner – How to run profitable events (without sponsors or selling from the stage)
- #144: Bari Baumgardner – How to create the perfect 3-day event (IRL or virtually)
- #124: Nick Gray – The secret to throwing great events (online or IRL)
- #153: Tina Roth Eisenberg – Building Creative Mornings into a global brand
More episodes on Events →
▾ YouTube videos on Events
Physical Products
No essays yet. Check out our podcast episodes:
▾ Podcast episodes on Physical Products
- #106: Bop-It Inventor Dan Klitsner – How to create and commercialize games
- #130: Sarah Renae Clark – How This YouTuber Built A $200K/mo Coloring Book Empire
- #116: Sara Dietschy – Algorithm Anxiety, Reinventing Yourself, and Advice for Small Tech YouTubers
- #92: Cathryn Lavery – From Kickstarter to global 8-figure e-commerce business
- #20: Morgan Nield – Selling on Etsy, building a marketing strategy, Pinterest, and transitioning from physical to digital products
- #13: Cat Coquillette – Leaving the agency world, selling art online, art licensing, and being a digital nomad
More episodes on Physical Products →
▾ YouTube videos on Physical Products
Software
No essays yet. Check out our podcast episodes:
▾ Podcast episodes on Software
- #96: Nathan Barry – from $150K/yr in ebooks to $30M in ARR with ConvertKit
- #101: Arvid Kahl – From SaaS founder to full-time creator
- #12: Michael Sacca – Building an agency, launching software products, choosing a job, and maintaining creative outlets
More episodes on Software →
Speaking
No essays yet. Check out our podcast episodes:
▾ Podcast episodes on Speaking
- #6: Grant Baldwin – Having a professional work ethic, getting clear on your message, and how to get paid to speak
- #23: Kwame Christian – How an expert negotiator thinks strategically about expanding his reach
- #81: Jay Acunzo – Jay-Talking about Speaking
- #85: Todd Henry – Practices to help you be more creative on-demand
More episodes on Speaking →
Sponsorship
No essays yet. Check out our podcast episodes:
▾ Podcast episodes on Sponsorship
- #179: Justin Moore – A step-by-step strategy to get anyone sponsored, regardless of audience size.
- #178: Redesigning MY sponsorship strategy (feat. Justin Moore).
- #108: Justin Moore – How to get brand deals and why they are underrated
More episodes on Sponsorship →