I received two similar questions from readers:
– Jerrica Long
"If you had to completely shut down Creator Science and all of your content channels, how would you go about finding a meaningful and fulfilling way to live your life and make a living?"
– Kody Duncan, founder of Habit Examples
I'm going to Frankenstein these questions together into a more general, "How would I start over today if I had to?" and break it into eight steps.
If you want this in audio with a little more depth, check out episode #205:
Define the goal
People make content for different reasons – what's yours?
Here's the important bit – if you are creating content as a business and have financial needs, those needs may sometimes supersede your creative needs.
Creators often put huge expectations on their content – we want it to fulfill our financial, creative, and emotional needs. That's not impossible, but it's challenging. Sometimes, a successful business needs us to do things or make choices that aren't the most fun.
Some of the most successful businesses on the planet are simple. They solve one problem extremely well for one type of customer. That can feel creatively boring at times – but it's lucrative.
What's your main objective with your content? Having this answer will help you end the Artist vs. Entrepreneur internal debate that crops up at times.
Nail the premise
This is the highest leverage step.
Businesses that grow (and grow quickly) have a unique and compelling premise. If you're not familiar with the term premise, think of it this way...
When someone recommends something (a book, movie, podcast, etc.) you often ask, "What's it about?"
The answer to the question, "What's it about?" is the premise of the [thing]. Your creator business needs an answer that is unique and compelling. Unique so that you aren't directly competing with someone who already does that [thing] well and compelling so that people can't help but learn more.
The online business space that Creator Science operates in is super competitive. Our unique spin is that we take a scientific approach to the creative pursuit – it's right there in the name!
You also want to choose an interest that you are near–endlessly curious about because this is a long-term game.
It's a tricky puzzle to solve, but it's the puzzle most worth solving. If you take nothing else from this essay, I hope it's this.
You can explore it more in this essay:
Jay Clouse
Build for the future
What's the ideal outcome for this?
Do you want to do it forever?
Do you want to tie your entire identity to it?
It's harder to start by building a brand name (vs. a personal brand), but it gives you more long-term flexibility. It's easier to create enterprise value in a business that is NOT dependent on your name and likeness.
Jay ClouseAnd if you do build behind a third-party brand name, you'll want to do some research on the name and pre-existing intellectual property (IP).
When I rebranded this business, a big reason was that the name I was using was already trademarked by someone else!
Choosing a great name is an art. I recommend the SMILE and SCRATCH test by Alexandra Watkins.
Lastly, when it comes to building for the future, the more time you have available to commit, the faster you should build. Generally, as you get older, you take on more commitments. You slow down.
If you are young, energetic, or exceptionally nimble, work as much as you can.
Create a content strategy
This topic warrants a more extensive essay too (which I'll share below).
The gist is you can think of different publishing platforms as either relationship platforms or discovery platforms.
Relationship platforms (email, podcasting, SMS, private communities) allow you to build your OWN means of distribution – but are not easy to reach new audiences.
Discovery platforms (social media, YouTube, search) help you get your content in front of new audiences – but do not promise any reliable means of continued reach.
The optimal content strategy doesn't choose one or the other, it makes use of BOTH (while still exercising some restraint so you don't stretch yourself too thin).
This is where I screwed up – I tried to do too much too quickly. In retrospect, I would've stayed focused on writing with email and made more effort on discovery writing platforms like LinkedIn, X, and Threads.
Read more on Content Strategy:
Jay Clouse
Sell one signature product
I screwed this up too.
In the beginning, you should create ONE signature product to focus more of your time on 1.) improving your craft and 2.) building your audience.
This is Nathan Barry's Skyscraper vs. Strip Mall analogy. Instead of building a ton of small products, focus on building one massive product instead.
I would sell this as a live cohort or group coaching program. As I share in the essay below, this helps you make a better product – faster – while earning meaningful revenue.
Jay ClouseWhen should you start monetizing? As early as you'd like.
Here's a massive database of product ideas for you to consider.
Hire an operator first
I wish I had talked to Angus Parker sooner.
Angus is the COO working with Ali Abdaal, and he believes that creators should hire generalist operators before hiring specialists.
The unlock here is that the operator will 1.) design systems and 2.) train future hires on those systems.
Instead of training everyone you hire, you train one person (the operator), and they train future hires. They can also focus on processes, documentation, and all administrative items while you keep your foot on the creative gas pedal.
Without hiring an operator, I relied on creating ridiculously powerful systems and workflows in Notion (which you can now purchase via CreatorHQ).
Emphasize relationships
No matter how much leverage the internet or AI gives you, the world still runs on people. No one succeeds alone, and the creators who grow quickly often do so with the help of influential friends.
For years, I've focused on my content more than anything else – at the expense of existing and potential relationships! It's lonely, and it's slowed me down.
Whenever you have the choice of spending an extra hour creating content or cultivating relationships, choose relationships.
Average content with great relationships will always trump great content with average relationships. There is just so much power in a group of creators supporting one another.
We like people who like us – show people you like them and see how easy it is to form strong relationships.
Jay Clouse
Commit to great design
Finally, I'll say this until I'm blue in the face: design matters.
We conflate good design with being trustworthy. We also see bad design as untrustworthy. When in doubt, simplify – work with professionally-made templates and keep your color palette simple (black, white, one accent color).
Design done well is a HUGE competitive advantage. And not just visual design but experience design. When it's clear that you've made intentional choices with every detail of your brand (and how we experience it) it stands out.
This matters more in competitive markets (like online business) because it's one of those important differentiators.
Conclusion
Knowing what I know now, I'd start my creator business with the end in mind. Is this something I want to create and sell? If so, I'd align my choices to that future.
But there's nothing wrong with starting as a personal brand – especially if you think you'll do this for the rest of your life.
In any case, creator businesses have a ton of moving parts and demands on your time. The magic is in focusing on what truly matters and being disciplined to ignore distractions or vanity projects.
