Monday was my 300th episode for the Content Inc. podcast. I talked about the importance of celebrating certain dates. For example, did you know that John D. Rockefeller celebrated one day every year more than any other day? It was the first day he was hired for a job. He called it Job Day. Later in life he asked, “What if I didn’t get the job? What would have happened?”
We celebrate birthdays and anniversaries, but we should celebrate other days that made an impact on our careers. What’s mine? April 26, 2007. It was my first blog post ever and the official start of what became the Content Marketing Institute.
What’s yours?
NFTs Are Hot Again
The NFT marketplace OpenSea’s daily volume is now exceeding its 2020 total (just think about that for a second).
NFTs (non-fungible tokens) are one-of-a-kind digital contract located on the block chain. They are being made popular in the art world, but they can and will be used for many things.
In two days last week OpenSea did $95 million in transaction volume (The entire year of 2020 was $21 million). Leading the way were the OGs of NFTs, Cryptopunks. For example, serial entrepreneur and VaynerX founder Gary Vaynerchuck purchased this Cryptopunk Ape for $3.75 million. A few hours later another Ape was sold for $5.25 million.
Speaking of GaryVee, his NFT project is really flying. VeeFriends has 10,255 different digital assets. Every owner will get a pass to Gary’s three-year conference. So far, sales generated are over $23 million dollars. Truly amazing. If this keeps up, Gary will be able to accomplish his dream of buying the New York Jets.
Oh…and Mila Kunis (from That 70’s Show and Bad Moms fame) launched her new project, Stoner Cats, as an NFT only. The only way you can view the show is if you buy access through an NFT. The project sold out in minutes and is one of the most popular NFTs on OpenSea.
If the whole NFT thing still confuses you, Mila Kunis and Ashton Kutcher joined Dax Shepard’s Armchair Expert podcast and did an extremely easy to understand explanation of crypto and NFTs. There’s some language in this so beware.
My take: there is a ton of speculation in NFTs right now. There will be a few winners and many losers. So be careful. That said, my recommendation is that you go and buy one, just to understand the process. Get yourself a Metamask wallet, fund it, and buy something for a few dollars so you can see how the process works.
The Next Wave of Jobs Is Here
Interesting interview with Patreon’s Jack Conte talking about “Phase 2” of the content creator wave.
I’ve said a few times in this newsletter that I believe there are more people launching content businesses right now than any other type of business on the planet. The problem is that these content entrepreneurs cannot grow all by themselves. They need writers, editors, designers, producers, community leaders, business development experts and more to build their businesses.
That’s the next wave…kind of like Fiverr on steroids. If I’m right, and the current wave of international entrepreneurship is being led by content entrepreneurs, they need picks and shovels to get the job done. I’m visualizing a million tiny agencies helping these entrepreneurs…or businesses helping businesses.
So maybe you, or even your child, doesn’t have the stamina to build a business from the ground up…but…you could help someone build their business. The need for this is going to explode in the next few years.
As my friend Jay Acunzo says, if a content entrepreneur is working “on” the business as the founder, they need many helpers to work “in” the business to make it all successful.