Content Production Workflow Or Enter the Matrix I would like to share with you ways I have used to build and expand your brand and writer’s platform by creating a personal media ecosystem. Content is King. We all work and aspire to create great content with readers and audiences and fans in mind. We have repositories of content and ideas that can be leveraged and repurposed in different formats across multiple channels to increase awareness and capture new fans and customers. 1,000 true fans can support a sustainable artistic livelihood. Potential readers have a wide variety of choices in the way they consume and enjoy information and content that begins as writing. You can monetize your writing by getting creative about repurposing your content across a variety of social media and sales channels. A digital first strategy focuses on taking advantage of platforms and partners that are very inexpensive and in many cases costless. Become aware of business model choices that create multiple revenue streams. I will show you my content production workflow that stems from my writing and forms a matrix of properties that are then promoted and sold in a variety of ways. Leverage computer and web tools for content repurposing and do it all yourself. These ancillary revenue streams and promotional channels can help you support a sustainable creative living.

1. Business Models for Writers
Content Creation, Dissemination, and
Monetization

2. Summary
I would like to share with you ways I have used to build and expand your brand and
writer’s platform by creating a personal media ecosystem. Content is King. We all
work and aspire to create great content with readers and audiences and fans in mind.
We have repositories of content and ideas that can be leveraged and repurposed in
different formats across multiple channels to increase awareness and capture new
fans and customers. 1,000 true fans can support a sustainable artistic livelihood.
Potential readers have a wide variety of choices in the way they consume and enjoy
information and content that begins as writing. You can monetize your writing by
getting creative about repurposing your content across a variety of social media and
sales channels. A digital first strategy focuses on taking advantage of platforms and
partners that are very inexpensive and in many cases costless. Become aware of
business model choices that create multiple revenue streams.
I will show you my content production workflow that stems from my writing and forms
a matrix of properties that are then promoted and sold in a variety of ways. Leverage
computer and web tools for content repurposing and do it all yourself. These ancillary
revenue streams and promotional channels can help you support a sustainable
creative living.

3. My presentation is about how to monetize your writing by getting creative about repurposing your content
across a variety of platforms and sales channels. Potential readers have a wide variety of ways to consume
and enjoy information and content that begins as writing.
I would like to share my content production workflow that stems from my writing. It includes blogs, e-books,
paperbacks, audio books, videos, online courses, podcast, infographics, slide decks, and more. Its all about
repurposing content; sometimes aggregating it and sometimes unbundling it.
Using simple tools like Word, GarageBand, Skype, iMovie and others it is easy to create all the content
yourself. And with partners like KDP, ACX, LibSyn and others, one can disseminate content worldwide with no
fixed costs or investment.
I deliver these products across multiple platforms including Amazon, iTunes, Udemy, Teachable, SlideShare,
YouTube, Vimeo, Barnes & Noble, KOBO, Kindle, Audible and more. Each one of these has a huge ecosystem
of customers. Amazon is the third largest search engine and YouTube is number two (Google is #1). And
social media platforms like Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and others can leverage loyal audiences.
I am also experimenting with transcription and translation services.
I am a big fan of Long Tail Marketing and Kevin Kelly's influential notion that 1,000 true fans is all one needs to
sustain an artistic career.
I have created a platform based on a website hub with social media outposts and mailing list driving through
marketing funnels, conversions, and paywalls. Finessing all the touch points along the customer journey.
Most everything, other than the writing and production, is automated. The business model is pretty sweet:
no inventory, no working capital requirements, everything falls to the bottom line.
I look at my products as nodes in a matrix of content and channels. A 10X10 matrix yields 100 products. This
creates robust and diverse streams of revenue, engagement, and awareness. It’s about writing and creating
intellectual property, and self publishing and retaining the bulk of revenues and sales. And retaining complete
creative control and ownership. It’s fun, satisfying and productive!

4. DIY

5. John Cousins
www.MBA-ASAP.com
john.cousins@mba-asap.com
• Entrepreneur
• Teacher
• Background:
• MIT & BU: electronics and media production
• ABC
• Wharton MBA
• Two companies public
• Public company CFO 15 years
• CEO
• Teach

6. Enabled by Technology
• Author,
• Blogger,
• Podcaster,
• Course Creator
• Content Creation And Dissemination
• Business Models

7. Some Topics
• Content Creation
• Business Models
• Customers
• Fans
• 1000 True Fans
• Marketing
• Branding

8. Kevin Kelly

9. Writing is a solitary activity
• How to keep it from
feeling lonely by getting
immediate feedback
and engaging fans in a
dialogue and process.

10. Lean Startup Methodology
• Business Model Canvas
– Business Model
– Product/Market Fit
• Customer Development
– Discovery and Validation
– Get out of the building
– Talk to Humans
• Agile Development
– MVP
• Iterate
• Pivot
• Revision
• Repurpose
• Business Accelerators

11. BMC

12. Imagine Impact
• Content Accelerator
• Designed to transform good ideas into successes in
narrative and documentary film, TV, VR and other
platforms.
• Ron Howard and Brian Grazer
• Modeled the new program after Y Combinator, which
grooms aspiring entrepreneurs by incubating their
ideas in a boot camp before placing them in front of an
auditorium filled with 1000 venture capitalists who
invest in the innovative products the VC crowd believes
have the most potential for success.

14. Business Model
• Value Proposition
– Fiction/Non-Fiction
– Informational
– Knowledge
– Entertainment
• Customer Segments
– Who is your audience
• Product/Market Fit
• Minimal Viable Product
– Content Creation
– Revision
– Repurpose
• Revenue Model
• Channels
– Marketing Funnels

15. Concepts
• Content Creation
• Repurpose and Repackage
• Channels
• Digital First
– Tiny production costs
– No inventory
– Quick revisions
– Crowd source proof reading and copy editing

16. Front end of Content Development

17. Ideation
• Everything starts as an idea
• Linking different concepts
• Connecting the dots
• Making connections
• Reading
• Participating in dialogues
• Finding your tribes
• Social Media
– Listening, responding, reading

18. Cognitive Nets
• Getting it out of our
heads
• Capturing ideas
• Notebooks
• Notes
• Blog posts
• Twitter micro blog posts
• Iteration
• Revision
• Feedback
• Message the ideas

19. Short form: Blog
• Website
• WordPress
• Medium
• Micro blog
– Twitter
– 288 characters

20. WordPress
• Platform
• Content Management
System CMS
• Blog integrated
• Landing Pages
• Plugins
– Easy Digital Downloads
• Affiliate Marketing
• Google Adsense

21. SEO

22. WordPress is Great

23. Medium
• Ev Williams
– Twitter founder
• Followers
• Stats/Analytics
– Feedback
• Views
• Reads
• Claps
• Fans
• Social Media integration
– Twitter
– Facebook
– LinkedIn
• Audio
– Podcast
– Hear what it sounds like: editing
and revision tool

24. Teaching
• Codify concepts
– Knowledge
– Experience
• Customer Development
• Laboratory
• Interaction
• Immediate Feedback
– What sticks
– Makes the light bulbs go off
– What is boring
• Materials
– Slide decks
– Videos
– Books
– Pamphlets

25. Teaching
• UNM CE MBA Lite
– 13 courses over 5 months
• CNM Ignite Accelerator
• NMSU
– Arrowhead Center
• UNM
– Anderson School of Management
• Webster University
• University of Phoenix
• Brown Mackie College
• University of Technology and Science Chengdu, China

26. Slide Decks
• Presentation Tool
• PowerPoint
• Organize
• Outline
• Narrative Arc
• Main Points
• Revise
• SlideShare

27. Genesis of Content Creation
• Generate – Capture - Develop
• Ideation – Cognitive Nets – Content Creation
• Classroom
• Blog
• Medium
• Slide Decks
• SlideShare

28. Digital Content Workflow
The Matrix

29. Branding
• Name
• Tag lines
• Logos
• Graphics
• IP
– Trademarks
– copyright

31. Purpose

32. The Why

33. Will Power
• Create the conditions to facilitate your
commitment
• Napoleon Hill once said, “When your desires
are strong enough, you will appear to possess
superhuman powers to achieve.”
• In a similar way, Bill Walsh said, “If your why is
strong enough you will figure out how!”

34. www.MBA-ASAP.com
• MBA ASAP provides
business skills and
knowledge.
• Learn skill sets that will
make you more
valuable at your job, or
help you start
something on the
side...or let you quit
your job and start your
own business.

35. MBA ASAP
• Most everything is delivered online via blog,
eBooks, audio books, podcasts, online
courses, videos, simulations, and gamification.
• I believe business skills can be applied and
leveraged across many specializations to help
solve wicked big problems and create
economic prosperity for individuals and
communities.

36. Choose Yourself

37. Invest in Yourself
• Investments in traditional education are great but are time
consuming and financially consuming.
• Diploma as signaling mechanism
• Inefficient and outdated in a world of accelerated change. No
longer training cogs for industrial life
• Its not the only path
– Peter Thiel
– James Altucher
– Tim Ferriss
– Seth Godin
– Reid Hoffman
• MBA ASAP Resources as Supplemental Material
• Continual learning

38. Personal Story
• Engineer
• Wanted Professional degree
• Night school 4 years plus work
• Columbia or NYU, Fordham
• Toddler and family
• I wouldn’t see them if working and school
• I wanted a top school to challenge myself and make sure I didn't’t miss out FOMO on secret
knowledge
• Full time
• Wharton was the only B school I applied to, quant jock, no night school option
• Quit job and make it my full time attention
• 2 years no salary
• Big tuition
• Living expenses for a family
• Half a million dollar hole
• Was it worth it?
• Dropped off Hedonic treadmill
• A lot of it in retrospect seems like common sense cloaked in buzz words

39. Intention and Goal
• MBA ASAP delivers the goods fast in boiled
down distilled versions.
• What you need to know to level up your skills
and get going now. ASAP
• Self paced; go fast, repeat sections
• Textbooks are cumbersome
– You can get lost in the details
– Distracted
– Impediment to learning

40. 20 % that provides 80% Results

41. Opportunity
• Do What You Love
• Get the Skills you need
– Online Courses
– Books & eBooks
– Audio books
– Blogs
– Podcasts
– Videos
– Free
– Access

42. Big Picture
• Capitalism and the market mechanism is the
best system we know for economic growth,
prosperity, personal wealth and satisfaction,
freedom from drudgery
• My contribution to help enable and engage
the latent talent of the world.
• Global intent
• Doing Good & Doing Well

43. MBA ASAP
Test a New Fangled Business Model
• Digital First
• Automation
• Leverage
– Financial: no working capital requirements
– Technological: minions
• Solopreneur
• Enterprise fatigue:
– Investors
– Partners
– Employees
– Bosses
– Big Customers
– Intermediaries
• Passive Income

44. Hub and outposts
Platform Ecosystem
• Hub
– Website
– Email list
• Outposts
• Social Media
– LinkedIn
– Facebook
– Twitter
– SlideShare
– Medium
– Pinterest

45. Content Creation
Workflow

48. Subject Matter Content
• Understanding Financial Statements
• Become a Better Negotiator
• Entrepreneurship and Startups
• Online Marketing
• Growth Hacking
• Management
• Leadership
• Patents & Intellectual Property
• Business Law
• Accounting
• Operations
• Finance
• Financial Markets
• Economics
• Strategy
• Technology Futurism
• How it all these fit together dynamically

49. Platform Ecosystem: Cross Promotion
Content/Media/Delivery Channels
Media
– Books: Paperback Amazon
• Print on Demand
– eBook:
• Digital Downloads
• Kindle
– Audio books: Audible
– Blog
– Translations
– Slide Decks
– Infographic
– Newsletter
– Podcast
– Videos: vlog, YouTube, Vimeo
– Online Courses: Udemy
– Apps: simulation/gamification
Channels
• Owned
– Website
– Mail list: MailChimp
• Earned
– LinkedIn
– Twitter
– SlideShare
– Facebook
– Pinterest
– Instagram
– Medium
• Paid
– Google Adwords
– SM Facebook Ads
– Amazon: third biggest search engine

50. The Matrix

51. The Matrix

52. Production Process
Workflow
Word: Blog; Slide Decks: Narrative Arc
Ebook & Paperback KDP
Audio: GarageBand, ACX Audible,
Podcast LibSyn
Video: iMovie, YouTube, Vimeo,
Udemy, Teachable

54. Accretion
Flake on Flake

55. MVP and Iterate

57. AIR
• Accretion
– Aggregate
• Iteration
– Feedback
• Revision
– The best writing is rewriting

63. Podcast Process
Audio from books
Skype interview
Ecamm recorder
GarageBand
Libsyn

64. Podcast Content
• Patiently awaiting low-cost (free) Transcription
software
• Content repurpose interviews into text
• Vice Versa: Text to audio with Play.ht

65. Content is Fluid
• MVP
• Repurpose
• Iterate
• Revise
– Errors easy to fix
• Add
• Gauge initial interest of topics from blog posts
• Engagement

66. Translation
• Google Translate
• Bing Translate
• Translation Editor
• Proof with native speaker
• Expands the Matrix
• Engages new audiences

67. Cross Promotion
• Blog
– Links to:
– other posts
– Books
– Online Courses
– Adsense
– Affiliate pages

68. Partners

70. Amazon
• KDP
– Kindle
• Kindle Reader App
• Outline function
– Paperbacks print on Demand
• Fulfillment
• No inventory; working capital
• ACX Audiobook Creation Exchange
– Audible, iTunes, Amazon
• Third largest Search Engine behind Google and YouTube
– Paid Advertising/Intent
• Amazon Affiliate Marketing
• Amazon Country/language sites: Marketplace
– Translation
• AWS
• Alexa

71. Google
• Analytics
• Adwords: search intent; top search engine
• Adsense
• YouTube channel; second in search
• GooglePlay Podcast
• Google Translation
• GoogleDrive
• Google+

72. Apple
• iTunes Podcast and audiobooks
• GarageBand
• iMovie
• Computer
• Phone: Notes
• Ecosystem

73. Microsoft
• Word
• PowerPoint
• Skype
• LinkedIn
• SlideShare
• Lynda
• Bing Translation
• Azure

74. Social Media Partners
• Medium
• Twitter
• Facebook
• Instagram
• Pinterest
• Social Jukebox
• MailChimp

75. Marketing Funnel
Get | Keep | Grow
• Customer Relationships
• Build an Audience
• Asset
• CTA
• CAC
• Conversion Rates
• KPIs
• Metrics
• A/B testing
• Calls to Action
• Analytics
• Attribution
• LTV
• CAC<LTV

76. Marketing Funnel
Get | Keep | Grow
www.mba-asap.com

77. Monetize
• Sales
– Books: Amazon & EDD
– Courses: Udemy &
Teachable
• Blog and Website Traffic
– Google Adsense
– Affiliate Marketing
• CJ Commission Junction
• Amazon Affiliates
• Podcast: Sponsorship

78. Parting Business Model
• The Atavist Magazine
• Long form
• Nick Thompson
– New Yorker
– Wired
• Argo
• 30% of their articles get
optioned by Hollywood
• Sell atavist CMS

79. Follow Me
• Follow me on twitter @jjcousins http://bit.ly/2gQlamx
• Subscribe to my podcast MBA ASAP http://bit.ly/2fCWs8s
• Subscribe to my YouTube learning channel MBA ASAP http://bit.ly/2erywED
• Check out my blog at MBA-ASAP.com http://bit.ly/2nwYFl8
• Check out the MBA ASAP library at MBA-ASAP.com http://bit.ly/2uQbQjH
• Kindle, paperback, audio books at Amazon http://bit.ly/2uQbQjH
• audio books at Audible http://adbl.co/2xA7JJZ http://adbl.co/2w0CCHd
• Check my online courses at Udemy http://bit.ly/2xAjxRn http://bit.ly/2xK10hY
• and Teachable
• Connect with me on LinkedIn http://bit.ly/2sR1eQr
• Get the free eBook Understanding Financial Statements http://bit.ly/2kl6ADV
• Sign up for my email list at MBA-ASAP.com
• Check out my program at UNM Continuing Ed http://bit.ly/2A5Ah0w
• Check out my Patreon site http://bit.ly/2k1ebsb
• Medium
• Subscribe via: YouTube, Podcast, Facebook, Twitter, iTunes