For the newest installment of Creators Unlocked, we converse to Josh Ho, a SaaS founder and creator – the latter a time period he would not instinctually use, although it undoubtedly applies.
Josh earned his founder title with Referral Rock, a software program firm that eases the method of amassing referrals. However he additionally hosts two podcasts, writes a e-newsletter, and tweets to greater than 17,000 followers on Twitter.
In our dialog, he shares nice recommendation for entrepreneurs and small enterprise house owners seeking to develop on social media with restricted time and sources.
Get used to the change in the way you’re perceived
Josh would be the first one to inform you that he doesn’t essentially see himself as a creator. “If somebody initially labels me as a ‘creator’, I are usually considerably stunned. It is not my instinctive self-definition.” Nonetheless, taking into consideration the quantity of his artistic output, from podcasts to newsletters and Twitter posts, the label is the right descriptor. “Regardless of my preliminary reservations, I do certainly embody the qualities of a creator, together with my entrepreneurial traits.”
Josh’s hesitations to be labeled as a creator jogged my memory of Steph Smith’s insights about how she’s perceived in public – “I’ve constructed many issues over the past couple of years, and you can say that these inputs have a stage of intentionality. However I am unable to all the time management the issues that individuals latch on to.”
Whereas some folks might instantly assume “creator” after they consider Josh Ho, he’s extra snug together with his id as an entrepreneur and founder. “Entrepreneurship got here earlier than content material creation. I first recognized as an entrepreneur and founder, and upon realizing that a lot of the recommendation circulating wasn’t fairly useful for many individuals, I felt compelled to step into the realm of content material creation,” he explains.
Let the work you already do, feed your content material
Throughout the totally different titles, codecs, and kinds of content material that Josh works with, he’s discovered stability by pondering of every factor as a part of a Venn diagram. Every a part of Josh’s experiences and experience feed into his content material. “As I work together with different entrepreneurs, the questions that naturally come up feed into [my content], and after being requested the identical query a number of occasions, I will compile my responses into notes. This may spark different types of content material, like a Twitter thread or a podcast dialogue. Since most founders are all for advertising and marketing and buyer acquisition, there is a important overlap in content material areas,” he explains.
Some folks work nicely pondering up concepts and executing them on the fly, however Josh has discovered success by sticking to an everyday schedule. The rhythm of recording podcasts at set intervals helps keep stability with out consciously fascinated about it. He sees it as extra of a built-in ritual than a separate effort to stability every thing.
No matter notion, Josh is all about his viewers, and his creativity shines when it’s knowledge-sharing first – every thing else comes second to that.
“At my core, I’ve a robust need to help others, and I take pleasure in sharing the insights I’ve gained from my very own experiences. My ardour lies in delving deep into challenges, determining options, after which sharing these options in a packaged, digestible format. My goal is to save lots of others from having to undergo the identical lengthy and laborious means of discovery, doubtlessly shaving off months of their time,” he explains. By sharing his experiences and insights, Josh hopes to information his viewers in the suitable route together with his content material.
Choose a distinct segment and create for the viewers that comes with it
In an ideal instance of choosing a distinct segment and doubling down on it, Josh’s content material may be very clearly geared towards founders. As he places it, “I create content material that aids founders, particularly bootstrapped founders and SaaS entrepreneurs.” In different phrases, Josh has a transparent premise for the content material he creates that matches completely with Jay Acunzo’s ‘XY Premise Pitch’.
The purpose of Josh’s content material is not to seek out ‘the’ reply as a result of there is not one common answer that matches each sort of founder. As an alternative, he encourages founders to embrace nuance and assume critically about their distinctive challenges.
Josh’s clear strategy to his personal content material implies that he’s a giant advocate for choosing a distinct segment. He says, “There are lots of matters I intentionally select to not write about despite the fact that I’m all for them. For instance, I take part in handball tournaments and luxuriate in smoking meat, but when I integrated all these aspects into my content material, it could grow to be complicated for my viewers.”
To Josh, niching down is important to offer your viewers a transparent thought of what to anticipate from you. That being stated, he additionally understands that there’s no one-size-fits-all strategy to this subject. What in the end issues is that you just land on one thing you care about sufficient to pursue, even with out financial incentives. Progress is inevitable in the event you can publish persistently, even with a small viewers.
Undertake a sustainable strategy to creating content material
Josh’s content material is instantly fed by his day-to-day as a founder and entrepreneur, a lot in order that he refers to it as “the ‘exhaust’ emanating from the engine of labor I am already engaged in.”
He shared an instance of a undertaking for his firm Referral Rock to revamp its homepage. He’d taken a course in regards to the subject and needed to place his newfound data to make use of. His content material additionally benefited as he defined, “I shared some insights from this expertise on the advertising and marketing podcast, however it did not finish there. For the founder podcast with Nate, we recorded a session the place I assisted him together with his web site design. This session was launched through the e-newsletter as a video and we launched a podcast episode about it”
Basically, the work he was already going to do reworked into 4 distinct items of content material. Josh spots alternatives for content material by asking, “What am I going to speak about this week? Is what I am presently engaged on fascinating?”
So regardless of the various platforms Josh creates for, the concepts behind his content material all have one root, making it straightforward for him to know what he’s creating and the way. He makes use of a set of totally different instruments to help his artistic efforts, together with:
- WordPress for writing and publishing
- Substack for newsletters
- Riverside for recording and enhancing podcasts
- Twitter to construct neighborhood with founders and share broad advertising and marketing insights
- LinkedIn for extra superior and specialised insights
Josh’s content material can also be powered by repurposing, which permits him to speak the identical thought throughout a number of platforms and mediums. He acknowledges the danger that the repetition is perhaps an excessive amount of for some folks. Josh explains his perspective, “I’d counsel creators to not draw back from cross-posting, particularly when beginning out. Keep in mind, there’ll all the time be people who admire your content material – however they want to have the ability to discover it first.”
Josh compares advertising and marketing platforms you don’t personal to “borrowed land”, echoing a sentiment shared by people we’ve interviewed for Creators Unlocked. “Your incentives may not align completely with these of the platform,” he explains.
He advises creators who’ve seen any success safe some a part of their viewers – to personal it one way or the other. This may very well be by constructing your e-mail listing or diversifying throughout numerous social media websites as safety. Direct entry to your viewers additionally lets you nurture extra profound relationships.
Nonetheless, extra platforms imply extra challenges. You’ll be able to’t depend on algorithms for visibility when you handle an inventory or a neighborhood. Many creators try to monetize by providing programs or different merchandise, and it is usually a troublesome transition. That ‘borrowed land’ is usually what facilitated your success. So, when you would possibly goal for possession, keep in mind that nobody really owns anybody’s consideration. You need to persistently interact together with your viewers, keep their curiosity, and supply worth.
Along with e-mail lists, Josh recommends constructing a neighborhood as one other technique for viewers possession. Platforms like Discord or Slack can function a hub in your neighborhood, normally requiring an e-mail deal with to enroll. One other plus for neighborhood constructing is that it gives a stage of possession that enhances social media efforts reasonably than being instantly equated with them.
Three ideas for entrepreneurs-in-content, present and aspiring
Josh has a formidable creator portfolio, all on high of his work as a founder, and he’s all the time seeking to share his recommendation. His content material comes from a real wish to assist folks and study new expertise or enhance current ones – all his content material efforts match certainly one of these objectives. He began Looking for SaaS to assist his co-host Nate Bosscher in his journey as a brand new founder and observe talking. He invested time in constructing his viewers on Twitter as a result of he was interested in what the very best technique can be.
Listed below are his ideas for entrepreneurs seeking to construct an viewers on-line:
- First off, I might advocate leaning into your curiosities and pursuits, particularly in your specific discipline. Even when what you are promoting appears mundane, like extermination providers, there may very well be components that intrigue you and may very well be fascinating to others. Be it sure bug behaviors or seasonal patterns, these seemingly odd particulars can present compelling content material. What’s regular to you in your line of labor could also be new and thrilling to others.
- Secondly, do not draw back from repurposing content material. Many individuals really feel stress to supply authentic materials however neglect that not everybody sees or retains every thing you set out. You’ll be able to reuse content material, perhaps by altering the wording a bit or switching up the medium. Everybody interacts with totally different platforms for diverse causes, so do not be too involved about repetition. In actual fact, repeating a message can emphasize its significance.
- For those who battle with producing recent content material or worry repetition, begin by partaking with others on these platforms. Social media is, above all, a neighborhood, not a soapbox. View it as a possibility to take part in conversations, reply, and work together together with your viewers. As you reply to your viewers, you would possibly notice you might have extra to say on a subject. You possibly can then rephrase or increase upon this in a publish by yourself platform. Consider it as an ‘AI immediate‘ – responding to a immediate is normally simpler than creating content material from scratch.
In abstract, focus in your curiosities, do not worry repurposing content material, and have interaction together with your viewers. These are Josh’s keys to rising and sustaining a significant presence on-line.
Pondering forward
On his private plans for the long run, Josh shares that he’s engaged on a course for SaaS founders, saying, “It is not monetary stress driving me however a need to share my data and assist others. My major goal is to help founders who’re on this journey, doubtlessly expediting their studying course of and sparing them just a few missteps. Any revenue may very well be used to offer again to the neighborhood, donate to a trigger, or present a bit further for my household.”
Numerous Josh’s content material thus far has been retrospective, recounting tales and classes from way back to a decade in the past. The subsequent part will look in the direction of the current, he explains, sharing his plans, “I wish to share our evolution with our viewers, showcasing the experiments we’re operating, what’s working, what’s not, on a month-to-month foundation.” Anticipate to see extra of Josh channeling his development as a creator into rising the Referral Rock model.
