Creator Science

<p>Creating content has never been easier – but breaking through the noise has never been harder. The only reliable way to grow as a creator is through observation, experimentation, and iteration.</p><p>This podcast is your weekly guide to evidence-backed strategies and experiments you can apply to your business. Each episode features candid conversations with today’s top creators—like James Clear, Ali Abdaal, Tim Urban, and Codie Sanchez—sharing actionable insights to help you grow your audience, build trust, and boost your income.</p><p>This isn’t just an interview podcast—it’s a deep dive into the business of content, hosted by Signal Award-winner Jay Clouse.</p><p>It's growth for creators, down to a science.</p>

#232: Dan Andrews – Secrets of building a 1300-member, international community (with in-person events)

Dan Andrews founded the Dynamite Circle and Dynamite Jobs and is now a repeat guest. Dan was first on the show in episode #32 in November 2020. I've been listening to Dan's podcast, Tropical MBA, since 2014, and that was 5 years after they started. Tropical MBA started as a podcast for location-independent entrepreneurs and has grown into a thriving global community. The Dynamite Circle is a paid membership community that Dan and his partner, Ian, built from the podcast's success. It has more than 1,000 members, dozens of local meetups, and 5 signature events throughout the year; the Dynamite Circle has continued to innovate as a member-led community. This is a 2 part episode. The second half of this conversation can be found on Dan's podcast, Tropical MBA, and will be released on Thursday. → Subscribe to Tropical MBA → Join The Lab Full transcript and show notes Dan's Website / Twitter / Instagram / YouTube *** RECOMMENDED NEXT EPISODE → #32: Dan Andrews – Helping location independent entrepreneurs build businesses and find community *** ASK CREATOR SCIENCE → Submit your question here *** WHEN YOU'RE READY 📬 Creator Science Newsletter 🚀 Get CreatorHQ (creator operating system) 🧪 Join The Lab (private membership community) 🧞‍♂️ Get a Personalized Offer *** CONNECT 🐦 Connect on Twitter 📸 Connect on Instagram 💼 Connect on LinkedIn 📹 Subscribe on YouTube *** SPONSORS 💼 View all sponsors and offers *** SAY THANKS 💜 Leave a review on Apple Podcasts 🟢 Leave a rating on Spotify

12-17
45:37

#230: How much do I make? How much do I work? Do creators keep their best tips secret? [Ask Creator Science]

YouTubers keep a lot of secrets, but that's not really my style. So last week, I asked my audience for questions that creators are typically too afraid to answer. How much does this channel make? What are my politics? And how much time do I actually spend working? In this video, my producer, Conor, and I answer all these questions and more with complete transparency. Full transcript and show notes Conor's Twitter / Instagram *** TIMESTAMPS (0:00:00) How Much Does a 100K Channel Make? (0:02:26) What Does a 100K Channel Charge for Brand Deals (0:09:25) AdSense and Brand Deals Are Overhyped (0:13:09) Pros and Cons of Talking About Politics (0:21:01) The Biggest Threat to the Channel (0:23:08) Most YouTubers Aren’t As Successful As You Think (0:28:26) Downsides of Being a Parent and a YouTuber (0:33:21) How Much Does a YouTuber ACTUALLY Work? (0:38:02) Promoting Products You Don’t Believe In (0:44:06) Is the Creator Economy Eating Itself? (0:49:34) Hidden Gems You Should Watch (0:55:08) Why Are YouTubers Secretive? (0:59:53) Don’t Listen to This Common Growth Advice (1:04:22) How to Spot Fake Gurus (1:08:50) YouTubers Who Lie to Their Audience (1:11:20) Trends That Will Die Quickly (1:14:29) Parasocial Relationships (1:20:15) When a Channel Dies (1:22:23) How Long to Get to $8k/month in Revenue (1:24:48) Maintaining Relationships As You Get Older (1:30:11) The Right Way to Raise Prices *** RECOMMENDED NEXT EPISODE → Answering the Questions you're afraid to ask [YouTube] *** ASK CREATOR SCIENCE → Submit your question here *** WHEN YOU'RE READY 📬 Creator Science Newsletter 🚀 Get CreatorHQ (creator operating system) 🧪 Join The Lab (private membership community) 🧞‍♂️ Get a Personalized Offer *** CONNECT 🐦 Connect on Twitter 📸 Connect on Instagram 💼 Connect on LinkedIn 📹 Subscribe on YouTube *** SPONSORS 💼 View all sponsors and offers *** SAY THANKS 💜 Leave a review on Apple Podcasts 🟢 Leave a rating on Spotify

12-10
01:42:05

#229: Natasha Willis – $70M from automated Instagram DMs

Natasha Willis is the woman behind the conversational marketing agency School of Bots, which has generated over $70,000,000 for clients like Tori Dunlap, Jenna Kutcher, and even Facebook. In this episode, Natasha reveals how you can use automated direct messages to grow your email list, how to generate more revenue, and her secrets on how to increase your organic reach on Instagram. @natashatwillis → message “JAY” Full transcript and show notes Natasha's Website / Twitter / Instagram / YouTube / LinkedIn *** TIMESTAMPS (00:00) The Chatbot Queen (01:04) What is Conversational Marketing (02:28) Conversational Marketing Platforms (04:40) Understanding the Customer Journey (10:22) DM Automation Tools (14:20) Can You Tell it’s Not a Real Person? (18:33) What To Do Before You Get Started (24:14) Does Follower Count Matter? (25:41) Inflated Follower Counts (30:41) The 3 Types of Instagram Posts to Grow (35:34) $400K in 4 Months Strategy (43:29) Simplify to Amplify (45:43) Use Cases for DM Automation (49:28) Using Instagram Stories (53:47) What You Do Next *** RECOMMENDED NEXT EPISODE → #88: Tori Dunlap – Building an audience of millions on TikTok with Her First $100K *** ASK CREATOR SCIENCE → Submit your question here *** WHEN YOU'RE READY 📬 Creator Science Newsletter 🚀 Get CreatorHQ (creator operating system) 🧪 Join The Lab (private membership community) 🧞‍♂️ Get a Personalized Offer *** CONNECT 🐦 Connect on Twitter 📸 Connect on Instagram 💼 Connect on LinkedIn 📹 Subscribe on YouTube *** SPONSORS 💼 View all sponsors and offers *** SAY THANKS 💜 Leave a review on Apple Podcasts 🟢 Leave a rating on Spotify

12-03
59:19

#188: Richard van der Blom – How the man behind the LinkedIn Algorithm Report uses LinkedIn. [Greatest Hits]

Richard van der Blom is the founder of Just Connecting, a social selling and LinkedIn training consultancy based in the Netherlands. And with nearly 200,000 followers on LinkedIn, he's one of the most respected voices on the platform. Richard was really early to LinkedIn. And as his own reach grew, he started getting a lot of questions about how to best use the platform. 5 years ago, Richard started creating an annual LinkedIn algorithm insights research report. This thing is a gold mine of data driven observations about how different aspects of LinkedIn are working and even how they are trending compared to the year before. In this episode you'll learn Why LinkedIn reach may be down What formats are most effective right now How to use LinkedIn as a lead generation And you'll get a feature by feature breakdown of how Richard himself uses LinkedIn Full transcript and show notes Read the 2024 LinkedIn Algorithm Report Richard's Website / LinkedIn Listen to episode #127 with Daniel Murray *** RECOMMENDED NEXT EPISODE → #170: Justin Welsh Returns *** WHEN YOU'RE READY 📬 Creator Science Newsletter 🚀 Get CreatorHQ (creator operating system) 🧪 Join The Lab (private membership community) 🧞‍♂️ Get a Personalized Offer *** CONNECT 🐦 Connect on Twitter 📸 Connect on Instagram 💼 Connect on LinkedIn 📹 Subscribe on YouTube *** SPONSORS 💼 View all sponsors and offers *** SAY THANKS 💜 Leave a review on Apple Podcasts 🟢 Leave a rating on Spotify

11-26
01:00:08

#228: A change I'm making in 2025 [Voice Memo]

→ Subscribe to the newsletter → Join The Lab

11-25
05:33

#227: Are memberships still viable in 2025? Creators vs. AI, creator economy pyramid schemes, and more [Ask Creator Science]

In this episode, I answer the questions you're afraid to ask. I very explicitly asked people on my social media, "What are the questions you're afraid to ask me?" Things that feel a little bit off limits or taboo. And we got a lot, a lot of great questions. → Get your questions answered Full transcript and show notes *** RECOMMENDED NEXT EPISODE → #215: How I Would Hit 100K YouTube Subscribers in 1 Year (If I Could Start Over) *** ASK CREATOR SCIENCE → Submit your question here *** WHEN YOU'RE READY 📬 Creator Science Newsletter 🚀 Get CreatorHQ (creator operating system) 🧪 Join The Lab (private membership community) 🧞‍♂️ Get a Personalized Offer *** CONNECT 🐦 Connect on Twitter 📸 Connect on Instagram 💼 Connect on LinkedIn 📹 Subscribe on YouTube *** SPONSORS 💼 View all sponsors and offers *** SAY THANKS 💜 Leave a review on Apple Podcasts 🟢 Leave a rating on Spotify

11-19
59:21

#226: The number one thing getting in my way [Voice Memo]

→ Listen to Zach Braff x Rich Roll → Subscribe to the newsletter → Join The Lab

11-15
06:02

#225: Jonny Miller – $800,000+ from six cohorts of his signature course

Jonny Miller is the creator of Nervous System Mastery. It teaches evidence-backed protocols to cultivate calm, build resilience, and increase aliveness in 45 days. It’s a five-week, cohort-based course that is just wrapping up its sixth cohort in the last three years. In those six cohorts, Jonny has served nearly 1,000 students and earned more than $800,000. Here’s the best part – Jonny doesn’t have a massive audience. When he launched Nervous System Mastery, he had a couple thousand followers on Twitter and a small email list. This is the magic of a well-designed Signature Product – and Jonny is the perfect example. In this episode, we get into the weeds about how he’s grown NSM – what’s worked well, what hasn’t, and how he’s found himself on large podcasts with people like Lenny Rachitsky, Ali Abdaal, Chris Williamson, and more. → Join Nervous System Mastery Full transcript and show notes Jonny's Website / Twitter / Instagram / LinkedIn *** RECOMMENDED NEXT EPISODE → #221: Ryan Hawk – Anatomy of a $12,500 membership earning $400,000+ per year *** ASK CREATOR SCIENCE → Submit your question here *** WHEN YOU'RE READY 📬 Creator Science Newsletter 🚀 Get CreatorHQ (creator operating system) 🧪 Join The Lab (private membership community) 🧞‍♂️ Get a Personalized Offer *** CONNECT 🐦 Connect on Twitter 📸 Connect on Instagram 💼 Connect on LinkedIn 📹 Subscribe on YouTube *** SPONSORS 💼 View all sponsors and offers *** SAY THANKS 💜 Leave a review on Apple Podcasts 🟢 Leave a rating on Spotify

11-12
55:17

#223: ChefPK – How this YouTuber makes merch people actually buy

Chef PK is a cooking YouTuber whose anime food channel has done 67,000,000 views. But that's not what we're talking about today. We're talking about physical products. At a 100,000 subscribers he launched his first book, and did about 40,000 in revenue. In this episode, you'll learn how to brainstorm product ideas, how to find product audience fit, and how to bring an idea into reality. Full transcript and show notes Chef PK's Website / Twitter / Instagram / YouTube *** TIMESTAMPS (00:00) What Happens When an Anime Chef Makes Merch? (01:05) ChefPK’s Product Rundown (02:11) Revenue Breakdown (03:37) Evolving from Channel to Business (07:07) Using Patreon as a YouTuber (13:09) Evolving from Channel to Business II (16:30) Figuring Out How to Make a Physical Product (19:56) Figuring Out What Your Audience Really Wants (24:32) Why You Should Sponsor Your Own Videos (28:50) Evolving from Channel to Business III (35:13) CCN Framework for Product Development (38:27) Getting Over Limiting Beliefs (40:02) Time and Cost of Product Development (42:54) Balancing Running Your Channel and Building a Business (45:52) Evolving from Channel to Business IV (47:31) The Advice You Need to Hear *** RECOMMENDED NEXT EPISODE → #130: Sarah Renae Clark – How This YouTuber Built A $200K/mo Coloring Book Empire *** ASK CREATOR SCIENCE → Submit your question here *** WHEN YOU'RE READY 📬 Creator Science Newsletter 🚀 Get CreatorHQ (creator operating system) 🧪 Join The Lab (private membership community) 🧞‍♂️ Get a Personalized Offer *** CONNECT 🐦 Connect on Twitter 📸 Connect on Instagram 💼 Connect on LinkedIn 📹 Subscribe on YouTube *** SPONSORS 💼 View all sponsors and offers *** SAY THANKS 💜 Leave a review on Apple Podcasts 🟢 Leave a rating on Spotify

11-05
53:11

#222: An alternative to the content treadmill [Voice Memo]

Let me know what you think! Leave a comment on Spotify or tag me (@jayclouse). ASK CREATOR SCIENCE → Submit your question here *** WHEN YOU'RE READY 📬 Creator Science Newsletter 🚀 Get CreatorHQ (creator operating system) 🧪 Join The Lab (private membership community) 🧞‍♂️ Get a Personalized Offer *** CONNECT 🐦 Connect on Twitter 📸 Connect on Instagram 💼 Connect on LinkedIn 📹 Subscribe on YouTube *** SPONSORS 💼 View all sponsors and offers *** SAY THANKS 💜 Leave a review on Apple Podcasts 🟢 Leave a rating on Spotify

11-01
06:51

#221: Ryan Hawk – Anatomy of a $12,500 membership earning $400,000+ per year

Ryan Hawk is a keynote speaker and the host of the Learning Leader Show. The show has been listened to by millions of people in more than 150 countries, and Forbes called it, “the most dynamic leadership podcast around.” He’s also the author of Welcome to Management: How To Grow From Top Performer To Excellent Leader. Ryan is actually a repeat guest—he was first on the show in episode #61 to talk about his podcasting journey. He’s become a friend and someone I really admire for his intentionality and the way he shows up for others—his friends, his family, and his community. Ryan’s business isn’t built on podcast advertising, as one may expect. It’s actually built on what he calls Leadership CIRCLES. These are groups of 10-15 people that he hand-selects for a group learning experience. They meet once per month on Zoom and once per year in person. In this episode, Ryan breaks down the specifics of how he runs these programs, prices them, and plans to grow them. We even workshop some of his questions on the fly. → Listen to my first episode with Ryan → Join The Lab Full transcript and show notes Ryan's Website / Twitter / Instagram / Facebook / YouTube / LinkedIn *** RECOMMENDED NEXT EPISODE → #187: Michael Stelzner – How to run profitable events (without sponsors or selling from the stage) → #144: Bari Baumgardner – How to create the perfect 3-day event (IRL or virtually) → #206: How I’d approach hosting in-person events *** ASK CREATOR SCIENCE → Submit your question here *** WHEN YOU'RE READY 📬 Creator Science Newsletter 🚀 Get CreatorHQ (creator operating system) 🧪 Join The Lab (private membership community) 🧞‍♂️ Get a Personalized Offer *** CONNECT 🐦 Connect on Twitter 📸 Connect on Instagram 💼 Connect on LinkedIn 📹 Subscribe on YouTube *** SPONSORS 💼 View all sponsors and offers *** SAY THANKS 💜 Leave a review on Apple Podcasts 🟢 Leave a rating on Spotify

10-29
57:35

#220: If I can stop ONE person from making this mistake, I'll be happy [Voice Memo]

Let me know what you think! Leave a comment on Spotify or tag me (@jayclouse). ASK CREATOR SCIENCE → Submit your question here *** WHEN YOU'RE READY 📬 Creator Science Newsletter 🚀 Get CreatorHQ (creator operating system) 🧪 Join The Lab (private membership community) 🧞‍♂️ Get a Personalized Offer *** CONNECT 🐦 Connect on Twitter 📸 Connect on Instagram 💼 Connect on LinkedIn 📹 Subscribe on YouTube *** SPONSORS 💼 View all sponsors and offers *** SAY THANKS 💜 Leave a review on Apple Podcasts 🟢 Leave a rating on Spotify

10-25
04:47

#219: Robin Dreeke – How to earn someone’s trust (from a former FBI special agent)

Robin Dreeke is a human behavior expert, best-selling author, and professional speaker with a pretty incredible background. As a Marine Corps Officer and retired FBI Special Agent, he served as Chief of the Counterintelligence Behavioral Analysis Program, where he honed his skills in recruiting spies. He literally built relationships with citizens of other countries, earned their trust, and convinced them to become spies FOR the United States intelligence. I recently read two of his books, which I highly recommend: The Code of Trust, which teaches you to inspire trust, and It’s Not All About Me: The Top Ten Techniques for Building Quick Rapport with Anyone. Robin has a unique background in helping us understand humans and how to build relationships with them, and that’s exactly what we discuss in this episode. Unbreakable Alliances: A Spy Recruiter’s Authoritative Guide to Cultivating Powerful and Lasting Connections It’s Not All About Me: The Top Ten Techniques for Building Quick Rapport with Anyone The Code of Trust: An American Counterintelligence Expert's Five Rules to Lead and Succeed Sizing People Up: A Veteran FBI Agent's User Manual for Behavior Prediction Full transcript and show notes Robin's Website / Twitter / Instagram / Facebook / YouTube / LinkedIn *** RECOMMENDED NEXT EPISODE → #204: Bryan Harris — How to grow your audience through partnerships (even if you have a small audience) *** ASK CREATOR SCIENCE → Submit your question here *** WHEN YOU'RE READY 📬 Creator Science Newsletter 🚀 Get CreatorHQ (creator operating system) 🧪 Join The Lab (private membership community) 🧞‍♂️ Get a Personalized Offer *** CONNECT 🐦 Connect on Twitter 📸 Connect on Instagram 💼 Connect on LinkedIn 📹 Subscribe on YouTube *** SPONSORS 💼 View all sponsors and offers *** SAY THANKS 💜 Leave a review on Apple Podcasts 🟢 Leave a rating on Spotify

10-22
01:00:03

#168: Alexandra Watkins – How to invent a GREAT brand name. [Greatest Hits]

Alexandra Watkins founded Eat My Words in 2005. She is a brand name expert and the author of the best-selling creativity book, Hello, My Name is Awesome Her branding firm, Eat My Words, has made a name for itself by cooking up unforgettable names and working with clients from Amazon to Coca-Cola, Disney, Google, and Twitter. Before starting Eat My Words, as a freelancer, Alexandra actually named Wendy's Baconator! In this episode, you’ll learn: The SMILE and SCRATCH test to help you identify good names and disqualify bad ones How important domain names are, including whether .com is important How to get a good .com even if your first choice is taken Whether premium domains are worth it or not And if and when you should consider a rebrand if you're not satisfied with your current name Full transcript and show notes Alexandra's Book / Website / Facebook / LinkedIn / Twitter SMILE and SCRATCH test How I rebranded my newsletter How I rebranded my podcast *** RECOMMENDED NEXT EPISODE → Creative Elements is now Creator Science *** WHEN YOU'RE READY 📬 Creator Science Newsletter 🚀 Get CreatorHQ (creator operating system) 🧪 Join The Lab (private membership community) 🧞‍♂️ Get a Personalized Offer *** CONNECT 🐦 Connect on Twitter 📸 Connect on Instagram 💼 Connect on LinkedIn 📹 Subscribe on YouTube *** SPONSORS 💼 View all sponsors and offers *** SAY THANKS 💜 Leave a review on Apple Podcasts 🟢 Leave a rating on Spotify

10-15
57:10

#218: Are you missing one of these three key ingredients? [Voice Memo]

ASK CREATOR SCIENCE → Submit your question here *** WHEN YOU'RE READY 📬 Creator Science Newsletter 🚀 Get CreatorHQ (creator operating system) 🧪 Join The Lab (private membership community) 🧞‍♂️ Get a Personalized Offer *** CONNECT 🐦 Connect on Twitter 📸 Connect on Instagram 💼 Connect on LinkedIn 📹 Subscribe on YouTube *** SPONSORS 💼 View all sponsors and offers *** SAY THANKS 💜 Leave a review on Apple Podcasts 🟢 Leave a rating on Spotify

10-14
03:04

#217: Chase Jarvis – Thinking bigger and taking more risks as a creator

Chase Jarvis is an American photographer, director, artist, and entrepreneur. From April 2014 until July 2022 Jarvis was the chief executive officer of CreativeLive, an online education platform that he co-founded in 2010. I’ve been a long-time listener of Chase’s podcast, the Chase Jarvis Live Show, and actually wrote him down as one of my ideal podcast guests when I started this show all the way back in 2020. So this is a full circle moment for me. This week, Chase is releasing his newest book, Never Play It Safe – A Practical Guide to Freedom, Creativity, and a Life You Want. I’ve pre-ordered my copy and I’ve read the first chapter, and recommend you do the same. This conversation is about thinking bigger, taking risks, and getting out of your own way. I left feeling more relaxed, inspired, and fully recharged. I hope you do, too. Order Never Play it Safe Read the first chapter Full transcript and show notes Chase's Website / Twitter / Instagram / Facebook / YouTube *** RECOMMENDED NEXT EPISODE → #153: Tina Roth Eisenberg – Building Creative Mornings into a global brand *** ASK CREATOR SCIENCE → Submit your question here *** WHEN YOU'RE READY 📬 Creator Science Newsletter 🚀 Get CreatorHQ (creator operating system) 🧪 Join The Lab (private membership community) 🧞‍♂️ Get a Personalized Offer *** CONNECT 🐦 Connect on Twitter 📸 Connect on Instagram 💼 Connect on LinkedIn 📹 Subscribe on YouTube *** SPONSORS 💼 View all sponsors and offers *** SAY THANKS 💜 Leave a review on Apple Podcasts 🟢 Leave a rating on Spotify

10-08
46:29

#216: A hidden opportunity that can give you an edge [Voice Memo]

ASK CREATOR SCIENCE → Submit your question here *** WHEN YOU'RE READY 📬 Creator Science Newsletter 🚀 Get CreatorHQ (creator operating system) 🧪 Join The Lab (private membership community) 🧞‍♂️ Get a Personalized Offer *** CONNECT 🐦 Connect on Twitter 📸 Connect on Instagram 💼 Connect on LinkedIn 📹 Subscribe on YouTube *** SPONSORS 💼 View all sponsors and offers *** SAY THANKS 💜 Leave a review on Apple Podcasts 🟢 Leave a rating on Spotify

10-04
06:50

#215: How I Would Hit 100K YouTube Subscribers in 1 Year (If I Could Start Over)

We hit 100,000 subscribers in just a little over 2 years. But here's the thing – we could have done it faster. So in this video, I'm talking with my producer, Conor, about the 9 biggest mistakes we made and how we correct them, so you can grow faster than we did. Full transcript and show notes Podcast Like A YouTuber – workshop on video podcasting Conor's Twitter / Instagram *** TIMESTAMPS (00:00) 100K in Two Years (00:17) Mistake #1 (06:22) Mistake #2 (09:44) Mistake #3 (14:01) Mistake #4 (19:06) Mistake #5 (22:06) Mistake #6 (29:59) Mistake #7 (36:21) Mistake #8 (41:59) Bonus Tip #1 (47:57) Mistake #9 (51:00) Bonus Tip #2 *** RECOMMENDED NEXT EPISODE → #209: Paddy Galloway – How he makes any niche go viral *** ASK CREATOR SCIENCE → Submit your question here *** WHEN YOU'RE READY 📬 Creator Science Newsletter 🚀 Get CreatorHQ (creator operating system) 🧪 Join The Lab (private membership community) 🧞‍♂️ Get a Personalized Offer *** CONNECT 🐦 Connect on Twitter 📸 Connect on Instagram 💼 Connect on LinkedIn 📹 Subscribe on YouTube *** SPONSORS 💼 View all sponsors and offers *** SAY THANKS 💜 Leave a review on Apple Podcasts 🟢 Leave a rating on Spotify

10-01
58:39

Ya Husirius

very informative, thank you

09-29 Reply

Henry Suryawirawan

Great insights from James! Very refreshing, outside of the usual topic that he talks about.

09-27 Reply

felipe arvizu

q .

08-27 Reply

ID19137495

No battle

08-05 Reply

Jesse Houk

Great content!

06-24 Reply

06-12

06-10

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