Creator Bootcamp Learnings So Far

In case you missed the first half of Creator Bootcamp, here’s a quick recap of what we’ve learned so far:

1️⃣ Day 1: Keynote feat. Zack Honarvar (Pitching Brands)

Who is Zack?

• Manager to Airrack and Yes Theory
• Co-founder of Creator Now and Fan of a Fan

Our 3 Biggest Takeaways

• You need to find the right brand profile to pitch successfully. For early stage creators, Zack says the best opportunities come from companies that generate $1M to $10M in annual revenue (or have 10-100 employees) and make consumer packaged goods.
• Get creative on how you pitch. Attach a Loom video about why a brand should work with you or send a handwritten letter.
• Over-deliver on value—give a white glove experience.

2️⃣ Day 2: Making More Money with Lindsey Lugrin, Clayton Jacobs, and Grace Lemire

Who are these people?

• Lindsey Lugrin → Founder of F*** You Pay Me, a brand deal database
• Clayton Jacobs → Founder of CreatorDB, an influencer marketing platform
• Grace Lemire → (me, the girl writing this) content creator and freelance marketer

Our 3 Biggest Takeaways

• Consider getting a manager. They can leverage their networks to increase your brand deal income. Just do your due diligence in choosing the right manager (they’re not all the same).
• If you want to land more brand deals, engage with them regularly on socials before you even pitch them. There are real people behind the accounts who will remember your name.
• If you complete one deal and the brand wants to work with you again, take the deal. Seeing that you’ve worked with another brand multiple times is a great signal to new brands.

3️⃣ Day 3: Scaling Your Content Business with Kristoph Oedman

Who is Kristoph?

• Former President and Co-founder of video game coaching platform ProGuides (later got acquired)
• Scaled 10+ YouTube channels to a total 5M+ subscribers

Our 3 Biggest Takeaways

• If you want to scale your content business, promise your audience one thing and commit to delivering that promise.
• Your community is your lifeblood. Engage with your community regularly. Make sure they feel heard.
• Scaling requires loyalty. How do you build that? By being consistent.

4️⃣ Day 4: Growing Your Community and Mastering Merch with Will Baumann and Hassan Khadair

Who Are Will and Hassan?

• Will → Co-founder and CEO of Fourthwall, a platform for creators to quickly set up their own virtual shops
• Hassan → Comedian, creator, and puppet master who launched hiw own Steamboat Willie puppet with Fourthwall

Our 3 Biggest Takeaways

• Custom products are better because they’re more differentiated. The downside is they take a lot more time and money to produce.
• If you’re able to move anywhere from 200-1,000 units of merch, you have a solid chance of being able to sell a custom product.
• Follower count isn’t an indicator of how well your product will sell—engagement is. Create a genuine relationship with your audience and your product will sell.

5️⃣ Day 5: Building Personal Brands with Qetsiyah Jacobson

Who is Qetsiyah?

• Founder of Unserious, a community for the chronically online
• Creator Paid Partnerships Manager at Stan

Our 3 Biggest Takeaways

• Get to know yourself. Qetsiyah recommends two exercises:
• List out everything about yourself (location, job, hobbies, etc.). Lean on these points in your content; don’t try to be somebody else.
• List out aspiring points vs. relatable points. Know what makes you relatable to the average person and what makes you stand out to the average person.
• Don’t do content pillars. Share your opinions (ie. controversial takes) and repeat.
• Set boundaries for yourself. Building a personal brand doesn’t mean putting everything out there. Decide what you want to keep private.

What to Expect for the Rest of Creator Bootcamp

Here’s what we have in store the rest of this week [view full details here]:

• Today: Internet Shaquille on launching great products
• Wednesday: A panel of tax experts on creator taxes 101
• Thursday: Justin Moore from Creator Wizard on how to land better brand partnerships
• Friday: Hannah Dam from Healthy Gamer and LonnieIIV on avoiding burnout

All sessions are at 1 PM PT // 4 PM ET in the Discord.

Join here!