Creeeeeaaaaatoooooooors!

What’s going on folks, how are we holding up this week? I’m a bit in shambles while taking care of Gene Jacket, my brand-new corgi puppy, as he attempts to drain me of sleep and sanity.

While he’s a sweet pup, he’s still a puppy nonetheless, and with that, he’s brought some incredible energy into the house.

It’s only been about three days with the little dude and I’m already feeling more fired up. From renewed energy to create content, to feeling hungry to chat with other passionate creators (grab some time on my cal if you want to chat!), I’m pumped to keep things pushing with CreatorPad as we create the best possible tool for creators to grow their audiences and make their passion for creation their full-time career.

What has been getting you readers hyped up to create recently? Any tips or tricks that you have for getting out of a funk for other readers who may be feeling stuck? Let’s keep things collaborative, people! Reply to this email with your tips for getting over a creativity block to be featured in next week’s newsletter!

PS - if you get to the end of this issue, you’ll be rewarded with a ton of really interesting stories that I couldn’t cover in this issue that you should definitely check out. I also always pose a question at the end of each issue, so be sure to peep that and shoot me a message as well! I hope you enjoy this week’s read. 😌 

-Luke

This Pup Makes Big Bucks 🍑 

Ok, I’m acknowledging that I might be a little biased this week as I’m covering a product sold by the iconic Little Chonk herself, Maxine the corgi, but I promise this is a story that’s commanding the space!

For the uninitiated, Maxine is a star. Boasting over 1.3M Instagram followers, Maxine the corgi is a scroll-stopper of a pup, and her owner is an incredible creator and entrepreneur as well.

Maxine’s owner, Bryan Reisberg, is the brains behind the beauty (sorry, Bryan. You’re a handsome guy but Maxine’s got ya beat). Bringing in over $1M on their first product, a corgi backpack, Bryan and Maxine are back with their newest invention, the Lil Gulp.

The Lil Gulp is a water bottle for pups that beats out the competition. No more leaks or cracks from crappy plastic, this water bottle has a filtration system, features to allow it to stand on its own, and much more.

Now, this invention is sick, don’t get me wrong, but I’m placing Bryan and Maxine in the Command section of today’s newsletter because of their ability to lean on their audience and fans.

With their backpack product raising a pre-seed round of $400,000 from 15 angel investors, this time around, Bryan is looking towards his audience to find the funds to see this product to fruition.

Starting a Kickstarter for the new water bottle, Bryan reached his fundraising goal of $25k in less than 30 minutes and has since brought in another $50k+ in the last 24 hours.

With a response like this from his community, it’s clear that there is an immeasurable amount of value in creator communities. Instead of giving up potential equity and bringing more hands into the proverbial pot, Bryan has leaned on his (and Maxine’s) audience to secure the funds to develop this product further.

Bryan and Maxine are commanding the space by understanding the demographics and values of their audience. With many followers being dog owners themselves, launching a public fundraise was a perfect way to get the ball rolling (and soon to be bottle filled) on this project.

Shoutout to Bryan and Maxine, they’re both crushing it and making content creation their full-time career through collaboration with their audience. Bravo!

A Gift for You Fine Readers! 🎁 

If you’ve been subbed to the newsletter for a while, you know that a few months ago I started working on and teasing a Creator Handbook that would be filled to the brim with insane insight.

Well, the time has finally come, and the Creator Handbook is out (and did I mention that it’s completely free?)! 😎 

With over 70 pages covering topics by some of the top names in the creator economy, this handbook will be your guide in tackling the following:

🔎 Defining Brand Identity & The Importance of Building a Strong Brand

🔨 Nailing Down Your Niche

🗞 Crafting Your Brand Story & Building Your Brand's Identity

💄 How to Most Efficiently Craft Your Brand's Visual Persona

🤯 And so much more!

From finance tips to advice on making smarter decisions when signing contracts, this guide is your tool for crafting your creator brand. Download the full Creator Handbook at the link below!

[Link to Download]

YouTube’s New Shopping Features 🛍️ 

YouTube is set to launch a new tool for creators to market more efficiently and bring in more dollars from their content and products. From creating new “shoppable collections” to assisting in monetizing old videos on your channel, YouTube is looking to help you make even more money with this new feature. Let’s get into the goods:

• YouTube introduced new shopping features focused on allowing creators to market products more efficiently while boosting their earnings.

• So how are they going to do this? YouTube plans on having a “shopping shelf” that showcases products directly beneath YouTube videos. This allows creators to list their merch/products for sale directly through YouTube, so viewers don’t even have to stop watching your content to buy your gear.

• This is a major shift for YouTube, pointing them in the direction of becoming even more of an e-comm platform than before.

• While some may think of this as a negative that could detract from the experience, I believe that this will be a killer opportunity for creators if used correctly.

• Of course, we’ll get creators who are unsure on advertising, leading to them pushing these new tools so often that it detracts from their content, but I’m more interested in the creators who can integrate seamlessly.

• If you’re a creator who can work products into your content, this could be an incredible way to unlock new opportunities for you to maximize your earnings on the platform.

As the rollout begins, YouTube is, as always, starting with a select group of channels to put this new beast to the test. As they slowly roll this feature out, it’s clear that YouTube is dead set on creator monetization and allowing creators to earn from the eyes they bring in.

I’m excited to see how these roll-outs will affect me and my habits as a viewer, but I also understand that some of you readers may feel it detracts from the video subject. So what do you fine folks think? Is this a great opp for creators, or is this just yet another flash in the pan to pull even more creators onto the platform? Let me know by replying to this email, let’s have a convo!

Who Do You Love? 🤔 

Meet…. Yourself?!

As you all know and love, this is the section where I usually cover a content creator who is killing the game and deserves a spotlight. While one of my first loves is YouTube rabbit hole discoveries, I can’t always break through the algorithm to find these fresh creators.

So this is where I’ll call on you lovely readers to ask a favor: who are some creators you believe deserve a spotlight? I love exploring all types of niches, content styles, and beyond, so who should be in this place next week?!

Reply to this email and drop me some links! I would love to cover creators that you’re a fan of, creators who are your friends, or even your own content if you want more eyes on your work!

This section, like the entire newsletter, is all about uplifting incredible creators and getting them the attention they deserve, so let’s uplift them together and get some wind in the creative sails! ⛵️

 🗞️ In Other News

• Europeans are not watching TikTok like their soft-noggin neighbors, the US. They’re actually watching so little that TikTok wants to pay European users to watch content (but only on an all-new app, so they can garner your data, of course).

• Want to post on Twitter? Well, you better pay up, chump. X flirts with the “pay to post” idea to mitigate bots on the platform. 

• In this week’s issue of Everything is Terrible and I Want to Die (that actually has a great ring to it, is it newsletter 2 time? 👀), Meta wants to bring VR into classrooms so Zuck can feel good about his $46 BILLION Metaverse investment.

• Remember those five college dudes that were huckin’ around basketballs in their backyard fifteen years ago (while definitely crushing brews)? Well, they just raised over $100M. Dude Perfect is set to continue their expansion well beyond their reach of the YouTube-verse with this new raise.

• I’m covering this app because collaboration is KEY and this is a beautiful example of it! This is killer for animators, but if you’re a YouTuber looking for another YouTuber, you can find a potential collaborator on CreatorPad.

• I’m not gonna be over here pissin’ n’ moanin’ about TikTok all day long like some fogey, but TikTok is testing virtual influencers and the only person who is happy about this is Lil Miquela. The only Lil I’m accepting today is Chonk.

• Hey let’s get a little more dystopic, why not!? You know that place where you go to order food? Well, now you can watch short form content there too. Uber Eats launches a TikTok-esq video feed that definitely makes me want to spend an extra $30 for that $7 burger delivery.

🤔 What Are Your Thoughts?

What do you guys think of Gene? Be honest, should I start up a page for him and get rolling on a little chonk-esq journey of my own? I’ll leave a picture below, and you let me know if you want to see this face every day!

🚀 Up Your Career as a Creator

Hope you enjoyed this week’s post. See you next week ✌️