Should Creators Build an Audience or Product First?

Oct 9

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Who won the @CreatorDebates episode: Should Creators Build an Audience or Product First?

[Full debate between @alxberman & @robertoblake in next tweet]
— Justin Moore | Sponsorship Coach (@justinmooretfam) October 9, 2023

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Today we’re talking about whether creators should build a product first or an audience.

See, I come from the OG YouTube world. When we started in 2009, there was literally not a way to make money.

There was no Adsense partner program and so by default, growing an audience was what everyone focused on.

But things have changed dramatically over the last decade. It’s no longer as stigmatized to sell stuff way earlier in your creator journey like digital products, coaching, courses, and more.

In fact, a lot of creators wanna jump straight to making money before they have much of an audience to speak of.

But is that a mistake? Do they need to put in the reps first and establish a years-long connection with an audience before they “deserve” to sell products?

I’m honestly not sure which is why I asked two experts to settle this debate, once and for all.

Alex Berman is the founder of Omni.us, a YouTuber, and the author of Cold Email Manifesto, which helps you learn how to contact anyone, make more sales, and take your company to the next level.

Roberto Blake, on the other hand, is a creative entrepreneur, YouTube Certified Educator, Keynote speaker and content creator with over 600,000 subscribers. He’s also the author of Create Something Awesome which explains how creators are profiting from their passion in the creator economy.

By the end of this episode, you’ll know:

1. If certain types of creators are better suited to focus on product vs audience growth

2. Whether building an audience or product first will make you more money in the long run

3. Who is a better Creator Debater: Alex or Roberto?