Is there too much of me?

Looking from the outside, in

This one might be a bit waffly - and, no, the irony of that, given this newsletter’s title, isn't lost on me at all.

Getting an outsider’s view of your business is invaluable. When you start a business yourself and run it on your own for several years, you become so entrenched that your decision-making sometimes becomes a little questionable. You obsess over things that aren’t important. You build processes that are way too intricate and time-consuming. You add multiple components to the business that just aren’t needed.

I’d like to talk about the latter today because my team has highlighted something which I’ve not been able to stop thinking about.

We’re in the process of building a proper sales arm of this business. Just like every business, this one doesn’t exist without a sales effort; we need to sell sponsorships, and ad spots, and generate affiliate income if we’re able to create and publish free content. It’s an incredibly simple business model, but it deserves some experience in the sales department to really get the engine humming.

That’s what we have now, via someone who has spent many years in this industry selling just the kinds of things we need to be selling at greater volume and higher margins. We’re focusing on everything - both YouTube channels, all short-form platforms, the Mark Ellis Reviews website, content licensing, the Creator Academy, and my newsletters. However, we may have identified an issue with the latter, immediately. There appears to be too many of them. There are only two, granted, but we’re already talking about adding a third (a deals-based hints and tips style affair), and as Dan, our new sales guy, pointed out, we might need to simplify things a bit; it’s confusing for anyone who encounters me for the first time.

I hadn’t thought about this at all.

Put yourself in the shoes of a new Mark Ellis follower (you might be that person today, in fact!). You like my content, and you want more of it… but where do you start beyond the YouTube channel? My weekly video newsletter? This Substack newsletter? Medium (which is, after all, a newsletter of sorts)? Patreon?!

Dan wasn’t the only one to point this out. Michelle, who has been working for the business for most of this year, is also a little unsure about where the entry point is for true ‘fans’ (I hate that word, but it fits best here) of what I do. There’s too much choice; too many options for getting more stuff from me. During the meeting where we talked about this, there were knowing nods from everyone on the call - including me. We’ve got some work to do.

As a content creator, it’s vitally important to spread yourself beyond one platform. Relying solely on, for instance, YouTube would be foolish - that audience can be taken from you at any time because you don’t own it. This is why it’s important to have a presence on other content platforms, but also develop audiences that you do own on your website, membership services, and newsletters. The key to success is, clearly, finding a balance between all of that stuff and, more importantly, ensuring that the point of entry is obvious for anyone who wants to “follow along for more”.

Over the last twelve months, I’ve gradually transitioned my business from a one-man band to a thriving little team, and that has involved changing all of the processes from what suited one person into an engine a bunch of people can easily turn over and keep running. I feel like we’re approaching the next stage of that now, which is simplifying the journey for fans of the brand.

We’re only just starting this process, so little will change immediately, but we will be looking in particular at the newsletter set up here. I love writing this Substack email each week, and for the last four and a half years, I’ve sent out a video newsletter every single week which remains the most enjoyable time I spend in front of the camera. I also love the idea of a deals-based newsletter which points my audience to the best tech purchases we’ve found each week - I know how popular that kind of thing is and, to be frank, how profitable it could be for my business.

Can you see where Michelle and Dan are coming from, though? It’s all a bit much, isn’t it?

I’d love your feedback on this, please. The comments section below is open to all, so please get involved, or pop an email over to mark@markellismedia.uk with your thoughts. This is, after all, for you, and you often know better than me.