The Business of Content with Simon Owens

My newsletter: https://simonowens.substack.com/   When Eli Woolery and Aarron Walter launched the Design Better podcast, they did it on behalf of InVision, a tech platform used by designers and other creatives. Aaron was the head of content at the company, and the goal of the podcast was to educate the designer community while also raising awareness of the InVision brand.   But when InVision decid...

My newsletter: https://simonowens.substack.com/   When Kevin Raposo launched KnowTechie in 2014, he had no idea it would grow into a thriving tech news outlet – he just wanted journalists to answer his emails. He was working as a PR consultant and figured reporters would be more receptive to his pitches if they considered him to be one of their peers.   But after three years of running the site, i...

My newsletter: https://simonowens.substack.com/   By the time Amy Wilson and Margaret Ables came together to launch a parenting podcast in 2016, both had already achieved some mainstream success in traditional Hollywood. Amy landed multiple roles in TV sitcoms and Margaret had worked for several years as a senior writer at Nickelodeon. They teamed up on the podcast, which is called What Fresh Hell...

My newsletter: https://simonowens.substack.com/   Spencer Macnaughton doesn't believe there's a lack of LGBTQ-focused journalism in the mainstream media; as a former producer for both 60 Minutes and the Wall Street Journal, he saw a willingness from these outlets to cover anti gay and trans hate movements. He launched Uncloseted Media last year, though, because he thinks there's a need for more co...

My newsletter: https://simonowens.substack.com/   You've probably seen headlines by now declaring 2024 to be the podcast election. It certainly did seem like a breaking out point that established podcasts as important messaging vehicles for any future presidential candidates.    But back in 2015, podcasts had far less clout, and most of the political shows that did gain traction were produced in D...

My newsletter: https://simonowens.substack.com/   Jonathan Skogmo has been working with user generated content since before the term "user generated content" even existed. Back in the 2000s, he moved to Hollywood and worked for what were called "clip shows," where viewers would physically mail in funny home videos to have them compete for cash prizes. As it turned out, Jonathan's entry into the in...

My newsletter: https://simonowens.substack.com/   If you work in the live music business, there's a decent chance you know of Josh Weidling, even though you probably wouldn't recognize his face. That's because he's almost always been behind the camera as he interviewed literally thousands of musicians touring through the midwest. Josh launched his YouTube channel Digital Tour Bus in 2009, and over...

My newsletter: https://simonowens.substack.com/ Of all the media outlets to have launched in the last decade, Morning Brew has had one of the most impressive growth trajectories. Not only did it build its main newsletter to millions of subscribers, but it also spun off multiple B2B niche verticals and has had enormous success on platforms like YouTube and TikTok.   So it's not surprising that when...

My newsletter: https://simonowens.substack.com/   Food content is now a major staple on YouTube, but when baker Gemma Stafford launched her channel in 2014 there were hardly any professional chefs on the platform. This early mover advantage allowed her and her husband Kevin Kurtz to build up a massive audience that used Gemma's tutorials in their own baking efforts. Then a few years ago they teame...

My newsletter: https://simonowens.substack.com/   The podcast company Sonoro launched in 2020 with a relatively simple thesis: that there were very few media companies geared toward the 62 million latinos within the US. Over the next four years, it built out a stable of dozens of podcasts across several formats ranging from serialized nonfiction to personality-led chat shows. In addition to the st...

My newsletter: https://simonowens.substack.com/   When the media covers business acquisitions, it's usually only for huge deals involving VC-backed companies. Coverage of mergers for small, bootstrapped businesses is almost nonexistent. That's where They Got Acquired comes in. Launched in 2021, it focuses on acquisitions in the $100,000 to $50 million range. Recently, it put out a detailed researc...

My newsletter: https://simonowens.substack.com/ Given the tumultuous economic landscape for local news, many outlets are turning to nonprofit models because they offer increased flexibility for generating revenue. But while these outlets have been adept at attracting foundation grants and small donor memberships, they're not doing enough to cultivate relationships with the wealthy members of their...

My newsletter: https://simonowens.substack.com/   If you work in the media industry, you're likely aware of The New York Times tremendous success with its gaming vertical; in fact, millions of people subscribe solely so they can play games like Wordle and Connections.   But it's not the only publisher that's incorporated games into its business strategy. Hundreds of outlets ranging from Morning Br...

My newsletter: https://simonowens.substack.com/   You've probably never heard of Schneps Media, but if you live in any of the five boroughs of New York, you've probably encountered its content. Started as a single Queens newspaper in 1985, the company gradually bought up community news outlets all across New York, and it's since expanded into Philadelphia and even Palm Beach, Florida. It not only...

My newsletter: https://thelongstory.substack.com/   Earlier this year, China crossed a major milestone when BYD, an electric car company based in its Shaanxi province, surpassed Tesla in total sales. What's more, most experts believe the country is only at the beginning of its EV dominance. In a recent Washington Post article titled "How China pulled ahead to become the world leader in electric ve...

My newsletter: https://thelongstory.substack.com/   They walk among us, almost completely undetected. If you notice them at all, it's because they're pulling a discreet tin out of their pockets so they can replace the small, white pouch hidden above or beneath their molars.   Yes, I'm talking about Zyn enthusiasts. Though the nicotine pouch came to our shores over a decade ago, it's only within th...

My newsletter: https://thelongstory.substack.com/   Heading into 2025, we knew that MrBeast had a huge online following. After all, his main channel has grown to over 300 million subscribers and 74 billion views. He's built out an entire studio in North Carolina and is mobbed by legions of fans wherever he goes.   But what we didn't know was whether this online fame would translate into traditiona...

My newsletter: https://thelongstory.substack.com/   When JJ Hornblass got his first journalism job in the 1990s, his dad made a deal with him: he could spend a few years as a reporter, but he had to eventually make his way over to the revenue side of the media business. It only took JJ a few years to follow through on that deal.   While working as an editor at American Banker, he pitched his bosse...

My newsletter: https://thelongstory.substack.com/   The Dispatch was launched in 2020 with a pretty straightforward thesis: that people would pay for quality, fact-based journalism. It certainly had a partisan lean – it was co-founded by conservative journalists Jonah Goldberg and Steve Hayes after all – but it steered clear of the wholesale rejection of reality that's rampant in most pro-Trump me...

My newsleter: https://thelongstory.substack.com/ When the Manchester Mill launched in 2020, it operated on a simple theory: that local audiences would pay for news as long as it was original and differentiated. It quickly proved that model out and was able to hire its first full-time employee within a matter of months. From there, founder Joshi Herrmann decided to replicate this model across other...

My newsletter: https://simonowens.substack.com/   When Matthew Schniper launched his Colorado Springs food newsletter in 2023, he ran into a problem many local news entrepreneurs face: he didn't have enough time to do his reporting and chase down advertisers.   Luckily, by that point he already had strong relationships in the Colorado Springs food scene, and so he approached 12 of his favorite res...

My newsletter: https://simonowens.substack.com/ What's the true monetary value of a newsletter subscriber? Tim Huelskamp knows the answer to that question. As the co-founder of the 1440 newsletter, he knows how many emails the average subscriber will open, how much money they'll generate in ad revenue, and what it costs to acquire them. It's this ruthless approach to unit economics that allowed 14...

My newsletter: https://simonowens.substack.com/   2024 was a big year for the podcast industry. Not only were there several huge deals signed, but podcasts wielded significant influence in the US presidential election. These days it's impossible to open YouTube, TikTok, or Instagram without coming across podcast clips, and the market is still poised for significant growth in the coming years.   Bu...

My newsletter: https://simonowens.substack.com/   David Stein had an innovative marketing hack for growing his investing podcast called Money for the Rest of Us. He put the names of other popular finance podcasts in his metadata, and Apple's unsophisticated search algorithm would surface his show whenever people were searching for his competitors.   By the time Apple eventually eliminated that fun...

My newsletter: https://simonowens.substack.com/   In 2017, Ben Cohen was living the dream. His politics news site The Daily Banter was generating over 6 million visits a month and enough advertising revenue to support him and a small stable of writers. But then the floor fell out from under him virtually overnight; Facebook pivoted away from news and sent his traffic plummeting. Without traffic, h...