Passion Economy Digest #1

Hello!

Welcome to my first newsletter - digesting the past weeks insights, discussions and ideas within The Passion Economy.

As a podcaster myself, recognising that most podcasters are not paid by streaming platforms got me thinking, and the frustration attached to such a realisation inspired me to take a deep-dive into how we might look to live and work in the future.

What is The Passion Economy?

The Passion Economy is a series of platforms that enable individuals to monetise their unique skills or passions, targeting specific groups of people who really connect with a given type of product or service. It is a new sub-sector in the ConsumerTech space that has surged in demand recently, especially due to the global pandemic and the volume of individuals made redundant. Lack of job opportunities in a huge number of industries has prompted realisation that niche skills, interests and hobbies can indeed be converted into a source of income.

What to expect from my upcoming newsletters?

I will be providing you with the most up to date discussions, deep-dives, companies and platforms we should keep an eye on, plus so much more! If this sounds of interest, you can subscribe to my newsletter below to avoid missing any future insights.

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So, let’s begin by looking at a handful of articles and insights:

Articles & Insights:

The passion economy, in which people monetise their skills and hobbies to earn an income, is worth more than $38bn globally according to new research: Discussion by Robert Scammell, Editor at Verdict.

Insider Inc acquires Morning Brew - a media startup which focuses on business newsletters and podcasts. Written by Sara Fischer, editor at Axios, discusses the acquisition.

Envisioning the digital, remote-first workspace. A brilliant read by Utkarsh Amitabh.

39 lessons learnt from @TaylorLorenz on The Passion Economy by Ari Lewi.

What’s a Rolling Fund and Why Are They So HOT Right Now? Written by Alex Mitchell (Disclaimer, this is not financial advice).

We are living through the emergence of a new business category which I believe will become an important part of our digital lives: community-curated knowledge networks. Excellent discussion piece by Sari Azout.

Squarespace adds support for memberships and paywalled content - this is pretty big for The Passion Economy. Written by Anthony Ha.

Podcasts & Interviews:

The Passion Economy: How the Future Works - a Documentary.

Pomp Podcast #411: Li Jin discusses The Passion Economy.

Online communities are built one human connection at a time. As the founder, you need to establish guidelines and norms from Day One – because the tone you set is the tone you’re going to keep, even as you go viral. In discussion with Reid Hoffman with former Flickr co-founder Cateria Fake.

Thread of the week:

Andrew Wilkinson discusses the importance of building a personal moat (aka a personal brand). I really do recommend you give this a quick read 👌

I talk quite often about building a personal brand. Although we all hope it won't be us next, in the current climate one has to be prepared for redundancy. In doing so, we must cast thought over the next plan of action should employment fears become realised: What contingency plans do I have in place? What personal assets do I have to fall back on?

I encourage you to spend some time thinking about the types of content you could produce as part of the foundations of a personal brand. Here are 3 things to think about:

What type of content do you want to produce? Newsletters, Podcasts, Events or even just tweeting your thoughts.
What is the one niche (aka area or moat) that you absolutely love, that you can talk about for days and days. If you have genuine passion for a specific moat, and your audience recognises and engages with that passion, you immediately have the foundations of a personal brand.
Once you have an idea of what to talk about, find who the other leaders are in your space. Look to collaborate with them in someway. It may seem odd, but it allows you to establish your name amongst existing leaders in the space. Should you create content together, you are able to leverage one another’s network creating a network effect.

If you are looking to build a personal brand and would like some pointers, I would love to help you. Just send me a DM on Twitter (@ollieforsyth).

Quick thought: I highly encourage you to keep your DM’s open - it allows you to be reached by your potential super fans!

And to finish off, I leave you with two passing thoughts:

If you sometimes wonder which direction to turn next, think about the people who shine light into your life, for they are the true heroes who can assist with your next progressive steps 💫 - Inspired by Sophia Bendz

Having thousands of true fans, who GET you, gives you superpowers! Inspired by Andrew Wilkinson

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Who was featured in this issue?

Robert Scammell, Editor at The Verdict 🇬🇧 | Twitter

Sara Fischer, Report at Axios 🇺🇸 | Twitter

Utkarsh Amitabh, Network Capital 🇮🇳 | Twitter

Taylor Lorenz, Report at NYT Styles 🇺🇸 | Twitter

Ari Lewis, Contributor at Crains 🇺🇸 | Twitter

Anthony Ha, Senior Writer at TechCrunch 🇺🇸 | Twitter

Alex Mitchell, Product at Kin Insurance 🇺🇸 | Twitter

Sari Azout, Investor at Level VC 🇺🇸 | Twitter

Li Jin, Former a16z 🇺🇸 | Twitter

Reid Hoffman, Co-founder of LinkedIn 🇺🇸 | Twitter

Caterina Fake, Co-founder of Flickr 🇺🇸 | Twitter

Andrew Wilkinson, Co-Founder of Tiny 🇺🇸 | Twitter

Sophia Bendz, Partner at Cherry Ventures 🇩🇪 | Twitter

I want this newsletter to be your go to newsletter for The Passion Economy - so what can I do differently? What would you like to hear about? I would love to hear your thoughts.

Thank you & until next time

Ollie

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The Creator Economy by Ollie Forsyth

The Passion Economy Digest #1