Hey friend 👋

You might have noticed I didn't publish a video in April.
That wasn't the plan but it happened for a good reason.

March was actually a really good month but then I ran headfirst into a wall.
Because my back catalog was completely empty. Most of what you saw in March was recorded back in January.
So by April I had nothing left to work with. Plus I completely forgot about the system.

I have ideas for videos without end, but I'd drifted away from the one rule that actually makes it easy to start.
Every solo video needs at least one external voice. A soundbite, an interview clip, something that grounds the piece beyond just my opinion.

Without that anchor, everything felt like "just my take." Which made everything feel impossible to record.
The ideas weren't the problem. The missing piece was the system.

But there's a second reason nothing published and it's the more important one.

Creator Friends of mine often ask on their show: "What is your product?"
It's a fundamental thing to answer if you want to have a business.
And I've been sitting with that question all month.

So what are you actually selling? The audience? An educational product? The community?
To answer this question I started researching every way creators make money.
And the top thing on the list are brand partnerships/sponsoring.

On the Uppbeat blog you can read my top five tips on getting your first brand deal.

And to create more win-win-win collaborations I stared drafting a guide for brand partnership managers to help them understand creators.

None of that shows up on the channel (yet). But it's the foundation of what's to come.
A more journalistic approach to content creation. Where everything recorded gets used in multiple ways, to move away from making one off videos towards a system where everything I work on is already 80% done.

That's the reality behind the content. The messy middle isn't always about publishing.
Sometimes it's about figuring out the systems that make it work.

If you want to talk about it join the next creator trust club call – May 7th 6pm CET​
This one is free for anyone to join.

To make it all work I need your help

Developing a product is about solving a problem. The content is designed to help you navigate the messy middle.
So you can stay creative, grow an audience and pay rent. But to understand what that really looks like I'd love to hear from you.
Best if we just jump on a 20 minute call where you can tell me what is holding you back and we can find a way to fix it.

💛 Valentin

PS: one other thing I did this month is redesign the website. lmk what you think.