Hey creator,

Heard a quote from brand strategist Caleb Ralston this week that stuck with me:
“No amount of editing can outdo pre‑production.”

It’s easy to get excited, rush in and hit record. “We just need to throw something up! Ehhhh we can fix it in post.” But the stuff that does well is built long before you press record.

I can tell when I spend time on the front end with people, they’re itching for that dopamine hit that comes from pressing post. But if you’re not thinking strategically first, most of what you put out just won’t land the way you want it to.

Btw, subscribed to YT Premium and I don’t think I’ll ever go back. Life without ads is a life worth living.

Now,

Let’s get into it 👇

If you want a more in depth experience, I hold 1:1 strategy sessions, which you can schedule here: https://calendly.com/smalleyjess/powerhour 

This issue will bring you up to speed on what’s happening in the creator economy:

• Quick Fire news headlines

• Worth The Read news stories

• Social Media Updates that you need to know about

• Check out my READ, LISTEN + WATCH recommendations for this week

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Quick Fire 🧨

• Blackstone drops out of consortium bid for TikTok US .

• YouTube pumps up ad revenue 13% in Q2 to reach $9.8 billion

• UK government should change the law to make broadcaster content easy to find on YouTube, regulator urges

• YouTube wipes out thousands of propaganda channels linked to China, Russia, others

• What are the new UK online safety rules, and how will age checks on adult content be enforced?

Worth The Read

Video isn’t killing podcasts. It’s the growth hack we’ve always needed.

Audio purists still think video ruins the magic of podcasting.

Yet a recent survey by Cumulus and Signal Hill Insights shows that video‑first podcast habits span all age groups. YouTube, meanwhile, says over a billion people a month now consume podcasts on its platform. Traditional audio‑only shows could never have reached an audience that size.

To some, this feels like a betrayal of what podcasting used to be.

Something pure, intimate and audio‑only.

But podcasting was never just about the format. At its heart, it has always been about connection, built on voice, honesty and storytelling.

I don’t quite understand how video takes that away. It helps podcasts travel further, become more discoverable and stay part of bigger cultural moments. It’s also what makes podcasting sustainable, because discoverability has always been its biggest problem.

Video is the thing that helps new listeners find shows they’d otherwise never hear, without losing the soul that made podcasts special in the first place.

Socially Updated

Instagram

• now lets you see insights for Reels.

• Edits can now automatically cut silences from your videos.

LinkedIn 

• released its 2025 B2B Benchmark Report: Trust Is the New KPI.

• Premium member? You can redeem free access to things like Notion, Spotify, Headspace and plenty of others.

YouTube 

• has introduced new AI-powered tools for Shorts. Check out the list of new tools here

• now reports on new, casual and regular viewer metrics (this is cool).

The Dig

READ: If you’re sleeping on LinkedIn as a creator platform… now’s the time to wake up. LinkedIn might not officially call people “LinkedInfluencers” yet, but it’s basically what they’re building. Turns out, people on LinkedIn actually want relatable, behind-the-scenes content, not just polished business posts. Of course, there are still growing pains like figuring out the algorithm (lol) , monetisation, and data-sharing, but the momentum is real. Morning Brew explains how the cringe platform is made cool by creators.

LISTEN: There’s something quietly powerful about the way women share the stories we usually keep tucked away. On Shameless Media’s Inherited podcast, Maddison Sullivan-Thorpe, who also co-hosts the sister show Stylish, spoke candidly about facing infertility and divorce, all before turning 30. This Melbourne-based network certainly has a real gift for bringing to light the secrets women carry, and turning them into something that feels both comforting and brave.

WATCH: Entrepreneur Codie Sanchez is known for making boring businesses cool again, but running in the backend is a fully powered, systematised business model that is disrupting the dated snark of “there’s no money in content”. Codie sat down with Created’s Jon Youshai, revealing what’s under the hood of her business and what’s required to scale a solo creator business model. You’ll want to watch this one because she shares email templates, Notion docs and financial breakdowns on the screen.