🍽️  Feast on recent news in the creator world.

Hello there. In case you need the reminder: yes, it’s still January. The great thing about a month that feels like it lasts an entire year is you can start that project, or make good on your goals while still catching that new year momentum. Here’s your reminder that you really can start something anytime, but why not now? With that promising YouTube Shorts ad revenue-sharing program coming (more on that below) and a walloping 1.5 million people paying for Substack subscriptions, it’s a great season to dive into the water of risk and reap the rewards. 

Fortunately, that myth about waiting 30 minutes after you eat to go swimming is debunked. So after feasting on this email, you can jump in right away. Nice.

– The Leap

Your E-Learning Digital Trend Report

Building a successful creator business can feel like the luck of the draw. Sometimes that product lands, sometimes that Reel goes viral, and sometimes your post gets 12 likes. Thankfully, there are strategies you can use to engage your audience and ensure more incremental growth for your business. The latest trend report from online course platform Thinkific reveals what’s trending in e-learning, so you don’t have to wing it and hope something sticks. The data: analyzed. The trends: uncovered. The way forward: crystal clear. 

In this free report, you’ll find the 5 biggest digital learning trends that can help you break through the uncertainty block and make an impact in 2023 — and beyond. Here are the key takeaways.

Little Extras

🛍️  IG is dropping the shop tab like it’s hot, which means yet another new design for its interface and likely more changes to grapple with. Any ideas on what’s coming next?

💸  Black creators are fed up with pay disparity online, and rightly so. What’s their solution? Asking white influencers to be more transparent about how much they’re earning.

💼  LinkedIn, who? TikTok proves once again it holds all the power as it becomes a popular way for businesses to recruit employees and share job listings.

💯  We’ve been saying this for a while, but in case you needed to hear it from someone else: Greg Isenberg wants you to know 2023 is the year of the part-time creator.

👁️‍🗨️ Creator CEOs think they know what’s coming in 2023, and it looks like we need to pay more attention to Web3, shift away from algorithm-heavy platforms, and get more diverse.  

🤲 Alright, YouTube, show us the money. Starting February 1, creators will be able to monetize through Shorts. Is YouTube shaping up to be the best monetization option for creators?

#️⃣ As the OG video platform seeks to support Shorts creators, YouTube is now offering hashtag suggestions to help you reach your target audience. 

🤧 Podcasters, dry your tears. Publishing your subscription content on Apple just got so much easier.

How to Use TikTok Hashtags Strategically in 2023

A few years ago, posting your version of a TikTok dance could push you into viral stardom. But today, a repeat-on-a-trend kind of video – though popular – is no longer the focus for creators looking to seriously grow their audience and make money online. Most TikTokers now would pick a niche and focus on creating content that’s hyper-specific to their desired audience. How do they find the right views and nurture their community? With a little help from hashtags. 

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