A Case Study of How Joe Rogan Makes Money - #42

July 30, 2022

Welcome to The Loaf - a weekly newsletter sharing money & business tips for creators & freelancers

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Creative Business: A Case Study of Joe Rogan's Podcast & Income Streams [article]

Joe started his podcast in 2009, long before they were a societal norm, and earned his first dollar through a Sirius XM ad deal. He's since made more than $100 million through his podcast, brand deals, and brand reputation.

This article is the best breakdown I've read of his journey, how he's grown his audience, and how he's become one of the highest paid podcasters in the world.

Money: Financial Independence Will Not Set You Free [article]

More money doesn't automatically result in more happiness. Money can help remove stresses and minor inconveniences from every day life, but it can't be the end goal.

I believe that financial independence is a valid, meaningful goal - but what we should really be working towards is personal and financial fulfillment, not an arbitrary savings number that might not bring the satisfaction we think it will.

free financial advice*

Topic of the week: Do creators find value in link in bio tools, or is it just an extra platform for them to manage?

-Will, 26

The first idea for a "link in bio" tool came in 2014 when Instagram switched from a chronological feed to an algorithmic feed. It started as a simple landing page for music artists to link out to all of their relevant profiles, albums, merch, and digital properties.

The idea caught on quick and the now-giant, Linktree, was born.

Link in bio tools are valuable for creators because most people post on more than one platform and they need an easy way to direct their audience to their most relevant channels & content.

I don't think it's too much to manage because you can have a default set of links and rarely adjust them, or you can update it with every new YouTube video or blog post you publish.

But personally, I'm not a huge fan of "link in bio" tools for one main reason:

It drives people to a website that you don't own

For new or growing creators, this isn't too big of a deal. Linktree can be beneficial to quickly set up a "landing page" and give people easy access to your preferred links.

But for established creators, or if you plan to be in it for the long haul, you should be building equity in your own domain.

In an ideal situation, you would have a page on your website that plays the same role Linktree does. You can embed videos, create buttons, embed an email form, and customize everything to your preference while using your own URL. For example, The Rock could have therock.com/links rather than having a generic linktree.

People are also then on your website - then it's easy for someone to click off the landing page and dive further into your content or service offerings.

So overall, link in bio tools are awesome and if you don't have a personal website you should be using them - but work towards hosting everything you can on your own domain.

💰 Have a question about money or creative business? Submit it here

money matters

Christina Igaraividez is a creative who has trained in comedy across Chicago, New York and Los Angeles while getting recognition from outlets such as HuffPo, Perez Hilton, and LA Weekly.

She was a finalist for the Sundance YouTube New Voices Lab and has a strong passion for storytelling.

Most recently, she's the founder of Storypathy - a coaching business that helps others tell stories that make an impact. She's currently taking one-on-one coaching clients and offering workshops year-round for those who want to learn more on how to tell their authentic story for their business and how to use their story to get what they want in life.

This week's Money Matters:

How has storytelling had a positive impact on your life?

Storytelling has saved me over and over again from the biggest enemy of my life: myself. It has allowed me to find the thing we are all in search of - freedom. Freedom of self expression, self love and self confidence.

From improv shows to YouTube sketch comedy videos to stage Storyslams at The Moth, I have found that the act of writing, exploring and releasing my personal stories has given me the courage to take risks and chances that I otherwise wouldn't have taken and has made me comfortable with the idea of running head first towards "failure."

How can creatives use storytelling to build better businesses?

The act of taking the time to write stories from our life experiences helps us get closer to one of our biggest responsibilities as human beings - to know thyself. We gain clarity on who we are by understanding our true values and what is important to us based on the decisions and actions we have taken while facing adversity in our lives. And when we do this, our intentions become clear.

When our intentions are clear, we are able to have the confidence to show up to the world as we are. When we get vulnerable about our path to our business we show our audience what makes us unique and we allow them to FEEL something. When our audience feels something because of your story, we entice them to want to know more.

People buy into your story, not what you are selling. Our audience has an infinite amount of choices on reaching their own life goals but when we, as creatives show up with intentional clarity and transparency about the story of our business and journey and the constant choices we make to build it and sustain it, we spark something in our audience that shows them that they, too, can show up as their true selves and they too can relax into who they are as they achieve. And whenever we feel like "no one cares" or "I don't want them to know my failures" remember the act of sharing our truth also aligns with our greater shared life purpose: to serve and help others.

Use your story wherever possible - whether it's on social media, your newsletter, YouTube channel and/or website and challenge yourself to focus on what you think would best serve your audience vs. yourself. We tell our story through the language we use, by allowing our REAL personality to shine through (not what we think we should sound like), and by showing how we can make the lives of others less stressful. And we can only achieve this through practice.

Tell your story and tell it again. People will always need a reminder and the more you tell your story the more you open the opportunity for new potential clients. Remember your story will never be for everyone, but for those who it is really for, just imagine how their lives will be changed.

If you could give one piece of financial advice to yourself 10 years ago, what would it be?

You don't need to go out 5 times a week :) You CAN save just a LITTLE more.

(Bonus) What's your favorite thing to spend money on?

FOOD! Specifically, food that is good for you. As awful as this place is right now, I want to live to 120. And I truly believe that food is medicine, so I don't buy expensive bags, shoes or clothes but I will throw down at a Whole Foods.

Connect with Christina

Check out Storypathy