Polina quit being a journalist to focus on The Profile newsletter full-time. She talks about the importance of going all-in on a paid newsletter.
This is yet another example of the rapidly growing one-person media business trend. Building a large and engaged audience is the foundation of many business empires.
Marketing Opportunity: Near the end of the interview, Tim Stodz mentions his Sober Nation podcast. Despite spending thousands on various resources, he said that the content that got the most attention by far was where people upload their pictures and briefly write about their journey to becoming sober. This emotional and relatable content resonates with people most.
Instead of trying to build the most comprehensive resources, it might be better to focus on sharing stories of real people in a meaningful way.
There are far too many mediocre newsletters and interview podcasts, but there will always be interest in good stories of interesting people.
A related article is by Ian Sanders where he unpacks the “Where are you Going?” BBC podcast.
“And the question itself, it’s both mundane and wildly original. Because we might ask strangers or people we meet, ‘what brings you here?’ or ‘what do you do?’ But rarely ‘where are you going?’ – and that sense of transition, of stopping someone mid-journey lends itself well to the format of a story. There’s clearly a before – where the person has come from; a middle – the conversation that’s happening now; and the end – the destination. And it’s a destination that may or may not be reached because we never travel with the person, so there’s an element of mystery and wonder too – did they meet so-and-so; did they find what they were looking for?”
This is yet another example of the rapidly growing one-person media business trend. Building a large and engaged audience is the foundation of many business empires.
Marketing Opportunity: Near the end of the interview, Tim Stodz mentions his Sober Nation podcast. Despite spending thousands on various resources, he said that the content that got the most attention by far was where people upload their pictures and briefly write about their journey to becoming sober. This emotional and relatable content resonates with people most.
Instead of trying to build the most comprehensive resources, it might be better to focus on sharing stories of real people in a meaningful way.
There are far too many mediocre newsletters and interview podcasts, but there will always be interest in good stories of interesting people.
A related article is by Ian Sanders where he unpacks the “Where are you Going?” BBC podcast.
“And the question itself, it’s both mundane and wildly original. Because we might ask strangers or people we meet, ‘what brings you here?’ or ‘what do you do?’ But rarely ‘where are you going?’ – and that sense of transition, of stopping someone mid-journey lends itself well to the format of a story. There’s clearly a before – where the person has come from; a middle – the conversation that’s happening now; and the end – the destination. And it’s a destination that may or may not be reached because we never travel with the person, so there’s an element of mystery and wonder too – did they meet so-and-so; did they find what they were looking for?”
