Happy Labor Day!

Labor Day was established in 1984 by Grover Cleveland, so if you appreciate having a day off, cheer for the Cleveland Browns to beat the Cowboys next Sunday.

This will be a truncated version of the newsletter as I have to be a father tomorrow and the ‘Most Popular Guy at VidSummit’ (TM) the rest of the week, but there’s so much to talk about!

Speaking of which, if you’d like to meet up at VidSummit please send me a DM on LinkedIn.

Let’s get into it.

NEWS:

Brazil’s Bans X, Elon Goes Nuts

Twitter has been nearly unusable for over a year now, from surfacing a ton of tweets from people I don’t follow to a ridiculous amount of DM spam to the unnerving level of truly unhinged conspiracy theories flooding the platform.

But is that a reason to ban the app?

Brazil’s Supreme Court thinks so.

After Elon’s plaything failed to ban former president Jair Balsenaro for spreading ‘rigged election lies’ (feels like a trend!), Brazil’s Supreme Court asked Elon to assign a legal representative, and he didn’t.

Bam. Banned for Brazil’s 20m Twitter users.

Could be permanent, could be just for a weekend, but Brazil’s hyper-connected citizenry is a big loss for the platform.

So what can we learn from this, creator reps?

My hot take: nothing you don’t already know as a regular reader. Diversify, avoid thrashy platforms, and always assume platforms will let you down.

Based on this ban, BlueSky hit the top of the social app charts. Threads is still gaining steam. There is absolutely no reason not to syndicate your hot takes across those platforms.

And, even better, move followers down the funnel to a platform where you can be closer to the data like beehiiv (hey! That’s this!")

There’s a lot of value to Twitter for some creators (must be dodging bans and have the hottest of hot takes), but when brands are running for the hills and users are declining, it’s not a safe bet.

Remember, when you dedicate your time to growing on a platform, you’re getting married to the whole platform, including their executive team, business model, and initiatives.

And never believe a platform will always be ‘up and to the right’. Just like anything, platforms ebb and flow based on competition, market conditions, and their focus.

It will always be up and down.

So prepare for the downs before they come.

OPTIMIZATION:

Time vs. Outcome

Most creators spend too much time on their content.

There. I said it.

I can’t even tell you how many storytime creators that can bust out a great video in one hour decide to go the more ‘premium’ route and start making highly edited comedy sketches.

The result? Ten times longer production times, half of the views.

Don’t just look at your views and engagement.

Also consider, as all businesses do, the cost of production versus the outcome.

My hint for this: assign a dollar value to your time. For example, $30 per hour. Then, if a video from ideation to execution takes 5 hours, you need to make $150 in value (monetary, growth, etc.) to be a ‘win’.

INDUSTRY HIRING:

MasterClass needs a Director, Content Marketing and fine… You twisted my arm. I’ll make a ‘How to be Hilarious on LinkedIn’ class.

Sony Pictures Entertainment wants a Executive Director, Social Marketing - TV and if you get it, help me become a contestant on Wheel of Fortune!

Tubi is looking for a Director, Social Media and, yes, you can watch Fred 2: Night of the Living Fred absolutely free.

MEME ZONE:

Thank you for reading! If you enjoyed this edition, give it a share and if you get someone to sign up, I’ll send you my ‘10 Rep-Friendly Ways to Monetize Today!’ deck!

Until next time, protect yo rep.