Stop Playing Their Games, Quora's Opportunity, Communities as an Asset Class

Welcome to this week's issue of the Niche Media Publishing Newsletter.

There’s a lot happening this week, still fairly brutal for publishers but also some opportunity to “lean in”

Before getting started, my sponsor this week is…. me (again)!

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Ok I’m done hard pitching here. I’ve launched my Reddit Leverage course on Teachable. Check it out and save 40% as a reader of this newsletter here.

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Let’s get started with this week’s topics.

Creators & Publishers: Stop Playing By Their Rules

As I’ve been exploring channels outside of Google recently, I’ve realized that I’m no longer a “white hat” SEO.

A close friend who has known me for years even called me a “naughty boy” for some of the tactics I discussed in my Reddit course.

At first, I was a bit embarrassed.

I’ve spent years building a reputation on “if you create great content, Google will recognize it… eventually.”

But the more I thought about it, the more I realized this isn’t a helpful framework.

As a content creator, we are - whether we like it or not - ALSO content marketers. And the old informal contract with Google is broken.

When you see expired e-commerce sites ranking with crappy content...

And Quora spam getting precedence…

These labels are no longer helpful.

So in this environment, I’m a “no hat” marketer. We create quality content and fight like hell to get distribution everywhere (and anywhere) there’s a good ROI.

The long term goal is to convert a reader to a subscriber, community member, or customer (so I can “raise the drawbridge”). I’m agnostic as to what traffic or growth hack gets them there.

Quora is Worse Than Reddit… and an Opportunity

If you’ve been frustrated by Reddit displacing traditional publishers, your going to LOVE Quora.

Just kidding, it’s awful.

Quora is Reddit without even a modicum of safeguards. There’s no internal mods and the UX is atrocious.

At least with Reddit I can get behind the decentralized moderation ethos and the content is mostly helpful, with a few spammers here and there.

Ori has a great article out this week, digging deep into Quora’s “moment”.

And while I DISLIKE the rise of Quora in lieu of genuine blogs and indie media, there’s also an opportunity here.

This is because Quora is not just another social media platform. Like Reddit, it’s ALSO a search proxy. Another “free” option to squat on more Google real estate.

If you can convert these traffic streams into USERS (email list, community, customer), it doesn’t matter where you found them.

It’s incumbent on indie publishers and creators to BE SCRAPPY in this environment. There’s really no benefit in trusting big tech companies and trying to play the part for their benefit.

This is very similar strategy to what I teach in my new Reddit course… and in fact, I include Quora in my evolving list of “Ultimate UGC Traffic Leaks” (included).

Latest Reddit Leverage Course Updates

I’m “all in” on Reddit right now as the fastest way to acquire users and build community.

As such, my course is a fluid, evolving project. I’m adding new modules weekly!

Course Updates I’ve Added:

• Added a practical module to set up your first community (subreddit) step-by-step.

• Added more Reddit alternatives for UGC traffic to our Notion spreadsheet (included in course).

As a reminder, NMP readers (that’s you) are eligible for a limited time 40% off lifetime discount, including all future updates and price increases.

Communities as an Asset Class?

I’m bullish on communities. Navigating the Reddit rabbit hole and witness the rise of Skool, Heartbeat, Circle, etc… I’ve found there’s a lack of education around communities specifically as an asset class.

SaaS has “churn”, newsletters (and lists) have CTR and open rates.

How do we evaluate the intrinsic value of communities against each other?

I’m not sure what the answer is, but I’m curious.

Other Things I Read Recently

These are some articles I enjoyed, but don’t really have anything to add to!

Other Newsletters Worth Following

Here are some other publications I subscribe to, author, or co-sign.

If you are operating a newsletter (or even just interested), this next one is one of my “must opens” every week:

We also cover the latest MarTech trends and deep dives with a monthly (soon to be weekly) newsletter for B2B operators:

OK, that's it for this week...

Please do reply to this email with any feedback or suggestions.

Ewen