๐ฆ Your Show Should Make You Money.
Hey Reader,
I want to tell you about what is being built at Sasquatch Media Grounds right now because the activity level has quietly become something I am genuinely proud of and I think you deserve to see it.
First, the headline: on September 25th, Sasquatch Media Grounds is hosting its first ever live summit at Dovetail Wine Cellars in Vancouver, Washington. It's cozy with only thirty seats. Together we do The Work for one full day and there's a private podcast replay for everyone who cannot make it in person. This is a room designed specifically for creators who are done treating their work like a hobby and ready to build something that (fucking finally) pays them back.
The theme is simple and I mean it literally: your show should make you money.
Not eventually make money... or someday when you hit some arbitrary follower count. I'm talking about *now*, with what you already have.
Here is what the day looks like, without leaking speaker names yet because they're all busy signing agreements this week:
The morning tackles how sponsors actually make decisions and what they look for when they evaluate a show. We are not talking theory, we are learning about current buyer psychology from someone who lives inside that world.
Then we talk about your real numbers. What is coming in, what is going out, and what your content is worth to your business (both now and after you build a better revenue engine). This is the conversation most creators avoid because nobody has made it feel manageable. We are making it manageable.
Lunch is included... yes, it will be delicious (have you met me??) and it is also a working lunch. I am leading you through an activity I run with my own studio talent to get them media ready. It does not matter whether you have had a show running for years or you are still in the thinking-about-it stage. If you have not been connecting your show to genuine income, this is where we put the wheels on the bus and turn on the engine together.
After lunch we go into what it can look like to *not* do this alone. You are going to hear from a creator being managed through Sasquatch Media Grounds about how she rebuilt her entire operation from the ground up, including the behind the scenes systems that make it all run... and also keeps us on a tight budget. We are also going to talk about what it looks like to have someone in your corner helping you make decisions about your show without needing to be famous first (or ever).
We close the afternoon with your story. Specifically, how to describe yourself and your show in a way that lands with the people you want to reach, with practice time built in so you leave having done the thing rather than just having heard about it.
Then happy hour. ๐ฅ Because we are not monsters.
Now here is the part I need you to pay attention to:
The Creator Economy Dojo founding member rate has been open since the beginning of the year and at some point you have to call it. That point is September 25th (the day of the summit) and then it is gone.
This is going to be the easiest decision of your entire season: a general admission summit ticket is $197. A founding Dojo membership is also $197 per month. They are literally the same price, except the membership includes your summit ticket, the private podcast replays, post-summit expert working sessions, monthly workshops, and everything else the Dojo does for you on an ongoing basis while you keep that founding rate for as long as you stay a member.
After September 25th the membership rate goes to $497 per month. The founding rate will not happen twice.
The juiciest bits of what you get inside the Dojo are on the sales page. Go read it and then come back and join.
And if you want to try before you commit, scroll down to the studio section of this newsletter. On July 29th we have an expert led workshop on how to pitch yourself as a podcast guest so you can get in front of other people's audiences and grow your reach faster. It is $97 for non-members and it is a very good first step into this room.
There is no way your show pays you without something solid underneath it. The urgency you feel when someone tells you that you are going to miss out or fall behind is almost always manufactured to get you to impulse purchase something you are not ready to use. This is not that. The founding rate has been sitting here patiently since January and the deadline is attached to a real event on a real calendar date. That is just honesty.
If you have been circling and wondering whether now is the right time, September 25th is your answer.
Thirty seats at the summit. One founding rate. Both close on September 25th.
๐ Read the full Dojo details and join at the founding rateโ
๐ Grab a general admission summit ticketโ
๐ Or try the July 29th workshop first for only $97... details below in the studio section โคต๏ธ
๐๏ธ Get Booked on Podcasts
You have had "pitch podcasts" on your to-do list for at least a year. Possibly two. The pitches are still sitting in your head and the sent folder is still empty.
My friend Rachel Allen is fixing that on July 29th.โ
Rachel is a copywriter and fractional CMO who has turned podcast guest spots into millions of views and paying clients, and she is bringing her exact system to a live two hour workshop so you can walk away with pitches ready to send, not just another framework to think about.
Here is what you are getting: a pitch reframe that makes the whole thing feel less terrible, templates that actually get a yes, and the before during and after system that turns a single thirty minute conversation into clients for years.
Dojo members this is already yours. Everyone else grabs a ticket for $97 and the replay comes with it.
Wednesday July 29th, 2 - 4pm Pacific (5 - 7pm Eastern).
 |
$97.00
Pitch, Pod, Profit
|
โ
๐๏ธ Gossip from the creator trenches...
๐ Hint: Sponsors Ask About Your Email List
When sponsors and collaborators evaluate whether to work with you, one of the first things they want to know is whether you have an email list and what the numbers look like. This is not a coincidence. Your list is the only audience asset you actually own. Not your Instagram following, not your TikTok, not your YouTube subscribers. Those live on rented land. Your email list is the equity in your business and in the age of AI and platform attrition it has never been more valuable.
โWatch the free webinar โโ
|
|
๐พ Google Now Is Not the Google You Grew Up With
Page one rankings are not the goal anymore and honestly have not been for a while. Google's AI overhaul means the new game is being helpful AND findable, which are two different things that require two different strategies. Whether you love AI or hate it, it leveled the playing field and the rules changed. This tip is actually useful and not just another person telling you the sky is falling. If you used cheap SEO hacks in the past, you're going to need to update your site pronto.
โThis tip is pretty useful โโ
|
|
๐บ Instagram Looked at YouTube and Said "We Want That"
Instagram is rolling out a feature called Series that lets you organize content into sequential collections on your profile. If you have been ignoring every signal that long form storytelling is what platforms want you to make and what audiences are getting trained to consume, consider this your sign. Again. We will have more to say about this one. For the record, you are also being trained as a consumer.
โI'll have more things to say on this later โโ
|
Let's Hang Out
Mark your calendars for Wednesday, September 9th! The Awkward Handshake is hosting a cross over virtual networking event with Take the Leap. We'll have registration coming in a couple of weeks... this one is for all of you who said you wanted to come to a 2 Hour Networking Party or CollabLab. It will be on Zoom. Yes, there will be breakout rooms. Find your next lead.
|
|
Participate + Join In
You already know Rachel Allen. She teaches the July 29th podcast pitching workshop and she is one of the sharpest marketing minds I trust enough to put in front of you. She just launched Launch With Me: six weeks of building and executing a real launch plan side by side with her. She does not do certainty theater. She does the work with you. Go sign up!โ
|
โ