The Long Story With Simon Owens podcast

#Marketing #Media #Technology #Simon Owens #News #Journalism #Publishing #Business #Industries #News Talk

22:08

Host Francesca Amiker sits down with directors Joe and Anthony Russo, producer Angela Russo-Otstot, stars Millie Bobby Brown and Chris Pratt, and more to uncover how family was the key to building the emotional core of The Electric State . From the Russos’ own experiences growing up in a large Italian family to the film’s central relationship between Michelle and her robot brother Kid Cosmo, family relationships both on and off of the set were the key to bringing The Electric State to life. Listen to more from Netflix Podcasts . State Secrets: Inside the Making of The Electric State is produced by Netflix and Treefort Media.…

The Long Story with Simon Owens

Series home•Feed

The Long Story features the best longform journalism on the internet.

229 episodes

The Long Story with Simon Owens

35 subscribers

updated 17 days ago

Series home•Feed

The Long Story features the best longform journalism on the internet.

229 episodes

#Marketing #Media #Technology #Simon Owens #News #Journalism #Publishing #Business #Industries #News Talk

כל הפרקים

1
What Hollywood can learn from MrBeast 26:17

17 days ago26:17

26:17

My newsletter: https://thelongstory.substack.com/ Heading into 2025, we knew that MrBeast had a huge online following. After all, his main channel has grown to over 300 million subscribers and 74 billion views. He’s built out an entire studio in North Carolina and is mobbed by legions of fans wherever he goes. But what we didn’t know was whether this online fame would translate into traditional Hollywood success. MrBeast famously signed a $100 million deal with Amazon to create one of the most ambitious game shows of all time, and it debuted in December with 1,000 contestants and $5 million in grand prize money. Flash forward to today, and it’s clear that the show was an unequivocal success, with Amazon claiming it reached record viewership numbers. Now, Hollywood studios are casting about for other projects that can be helmed by popular creators. What will those projects look like? To answer that question, I spoke to Lucia Moses, the co-author of a Business Insider piece titled “What MrBeast can teach Hollywood.” We discussed why previous creator-led shows failed, how the Beast Games viewership compared to other popular shows, and whether MrBeast’s production mishaps that led to a class action lawsuit will give studio executives any pause.…

1
How JJ Hornblass built Royal Media, the most successful B2B media company you've never heard of 1:08:11

4 weeks ago1:08:11

1:08:11

My newsletter: https://thelongstory.substack.com/ When JJ Hornblass got his first journalism job in the 1990s, his dad made a deal with him: he could spend a few years as a reporter, but he had to eventually make his way over to the revenue side of the media business. It only took JJ a few years to follow through on that deal. While working as an editor at American Banker, he pitched his bosses on launching a print newsletter covering the mortgage securities market. When those bosses took too long to make a decision, he left his job to launch the newsletter on his own. Flash forward 30 years, and that newsletter has grown into Royal Media, a B2B media company that covers four niche industries. In a recent interview, JJ explained where he found his initial subscribers for that first newsletter, how he expanded into new verticals, and why he’s so focused now on building and selling access to data platforms.…

1
How The Dispatch is diversifying beyond just subscription revenue 57:58

5 weeks ago57:58

57:58

My newsletter: https://thelongstory.substack.com/ The Dispatch was launched in 2020 with a pretty straightforward thesis: that people would pay for quality, fact-based journalism. It certainly had a partisan lean – it was co-founded by conservative journalists Jonah Goldberg and Steve Hayes after all – but it steered clear of the wholesale rejection of reality that’s rampant in most pro-Trump media. Flash forward to 2025, and that thesis has been vindicated. It recently crossed 45,000 paid subscribers without the help of huge VC investors. Now, it plans to diversify its revenue streams, and to accomplish that it brought on Mike Rothman, a longtime media veteran who helped build companies like Thrillist and Fatherly. In a recent interview, Mike walked through his decision to join The Dispatch, what kind of advertising he wants to sell, and why brands are suddenly interested again in sponsoring politics media.…

1
Mill Media proved that audiences would pay for local news 41:49

6 weeks ago41:49

41:49

My newsleter: https://thelongstory.substack.com/ When the Manchester Mill launched in 2020, it operated on a simple theory: that local audiences would pay for news as long as it was original and differentiated. It quickly proved that model out and was able to hire its first full-time employee within a matter of months. From there, founder Joshi Herrmann decided to replicate this model across other cities in the UK, and Mill Media now runs six publications that have collectively generated tens of thousands of paid subscribers. In a recent interview, Joshi discussed why he first got interested in local news, how he decided to expand to different cities, and whether he thinks his model can be replicated by other local news startups.…

1
This Colorado food writer came up with a novel way to monetize his content 1:00:25

8 weeks ago1:00:25

1:00:25

My newsletter: https://simonowens.substack.com/ When Matthew Schniper launched his Colorado Springs food newsletter in 2023, he ran into a problem many local news entrepreneurs face: he didn’t have enough time to do his reporting and chase down advertisers. Luckily, by that point he already had strong relationships in the Colorado Springs food scene, and so he approached 12 of his favorite restaurants with an interesting proposition: if they came on as annual sponsors, he would go above and beyond to feature them in his newsletter, and he wouldn’t allow any other local businesses to advertise. This allowed him to focus on his reporting and not waste time on sales calls. The experiment was so successful that over half of the restaurants have already renewed for a second year. In a recent interview, Matthew explained how he came up with the idea, what services he provides for these 12 restaurants, and why he thinks his model can be replicated by other local news startups.…

1
How 1440 scaled its newsletter to 4 million subscribers 55:30

9 weeks ago55:30

55:30

My newsletter: https://simonowens.substack.com/ What’s the true monetary value of a newsletter subscriber? Tim Huelskamp knows the answer to that question. As the co-founder of the 1440 newsletter, he knows how many emails the average subscriber will open, how much money they’ll generate in ad revenue, and what it costs to acquire them. It’s this ruthless approach to unit economics that allowed 1440 to grow to over 4 million subscribers, all without raising any VC investment. In a recent interview, Huelskamp walked me through the original idea behind the company, how he and his co-founders generated their first few thousand subscribers, and why 1440 is now expanding beyond the inbox into topic-based explainer content.…

1
How Scott Porch helps podcasters grow and monetize their audiences 59:41

11 weeks ago59:41

59:41

My newsletter: https://simonowens.substack.com/ 2024 was a big year for the podcast industry. Not only were there several huge deals signed, but podcasts wielded significant influence in the US presidential election. These days it’s impossible to open YouTube, TikTok, or Instagram without coming across podcast clips, and the market is still poised for significant growth in the coming years. But if you run a small-to-mid-sized podcast, it’s still incredibly difficult to make a living from your work. You need to join an advertising network to generate significant revenue, and most networks won’t accept you unless you meet a minimum audience threshold. To deal with these challenges, many podcasters turn to Scott Porch. Scott runs Big IP, a podcast management company that helps podcasters grow their audiences and monetize their content. In a recent interview, he explained how he chooses which podcasters to work with, what value he brings to the relationship, and why he’s bullish on paid subscriptions for podcasts.…

1
How the Money for the Rest of Us podcast built a six figure membership platform 44:58

14 weeks ago44:58

44:58

My newsletter: https://simonowens.substack.com/ David Stein had an innovative marketing hack for growing his investing podcast called Money for the Rest of Us. He put the names of other popular finance podcasts in his metadata, and Apple’s unsophisticated search algorithm would surface his show whenever people were searching for his competitors. By the time Apple eventually eliminated that functionality, Money for the Rest of Us had built up a loyal audience that’s since downloaded the show over 20 million times. His audience is so loyal, in fact, that it sustains a high-priced membership community that charges $450 a year and generates well into the six figures in revenue. In a recent interview, David walked me through how he developed his investing expertise, what he offers to paying members, and why he launched his own premium investing app.…

1
How Ben Cohen successfully pivoted from advertising to a subscription-based business model 1:04:26

15 weeks ago1:04:26

1:04:26

My newsletter: https://simonowens.substack.com/ In 2017, Ben Cohen was living the dream. His politics news site The Daily Banter was generating over 6 million visits a month and enough advertising revenue to support him and a small stable of writers. But then the floor fell out from under him virtually overnight; Facebook pivoted away from news and sent his traffic plummeting. Without traffic, his advertising revenue crumbled. So in an act of desperation, Ben pivoted his entire business model into paid subscriptions. Doing so forced him to slow down his publishing schedule and focus on serving his core audience. Slowly but surely, he built up a new revenue base, and in the last few months he passed the threshold of 1,000 paid subscribers. In a recent interview, Ben explained how he executed on his pivot and why he’s determined to never rely on a single large tech platform ever again.…

1
How Eric Newcomer used his newsletter to launch a $1.5 million events business 43:10

16 weeks ago43:10

43:10

My newsletter: https://simonowens.substack.com/ Like a lot of journalists=turned-media–entrepreneurs, Eric Newcomer decided to launch a paid newsletter after leaving his job at Bloomberg in 2020. That model yielded 2,500 subscribers who collectively pay over $400,000 a year to access his newsletter about startups, but that’s no longer the biggest part of his business. Today, Eric generates over $1.5 million a year from the Cerebral Valley AI Summit, a twice-a-year conference that he monetizes through a mixture of ticket sales and premium sponsorships. In a recent interview, he explained the conference’s origin story, how he attracts the right mix of startup founders and VC investors, and why he thinks he can replicate its format across multiple tech industry niches.…

1
How the KC Sports Network is building a regional media empire 29:41

19 weeks ago29:41

29:41

My newsletter: https://simonowens.substack.com/ The last few years have been pretty good to the Kansas City Chiefs, what with its multiple Super Bowl championships and a close association with the biggest pop star in the world, but BJ Kissel remembers what it was like to be a fan of the team long before it started regularly winning games. Back in the early 2010s, he began blogging for SB Nation, and he used his success there to eventually land a job as the Kansas City Chiefs in-house reporter. In that role, he did everything from writing web articles to serving as a sidelines correspondent for live game broadcasts. In 2021, he struck off on his own and co-founded the KC Sports Network, a group of podcasts and YouTube channels that cover Kansas City Sports. Today, puts out 10 different shows and is monetized through a mixture of local and national advertisers. In a recent interview, BJ explained why he left his job at the Chiefs, how he convinced local businesses to sponsor his shows, where he sees new opportunities for growth.…

1
How Lon Seidman used his tech YouTube channel to build a huge affiliate business 26:36

20 weeks ago26:36

26:36

My newsletter: https://simonowens.substack.com/ Lon Seidman doesn’t operate the largest gadget YouTube channel in the world, but he doesn’t need to in order to run a successful media business. That’s because he remains hyper focused on reviewing non-sexy products that sell in extremely high volumes. This has allowed him to build a highly lucrative affiliate business, not only on YouTube, but also on Amazon Video. In a recent interview, Lon explained his methodology for picking products to review, how he optimizes his affiliate links, and why he’s spending more time posting his content to decentralized platforms.…

1
How to market a book in the age of Tiktok 26:29

22 weeks ago26:29

26:29

My newsletter: https://simonowens.substack.com/ Book publicity is a mixed bag these days. On the one hand, it’s never been easier for an author to form a direct relationship with their audience with tools like Substack and TikTok. On the other hand, more books are published each year than ever before, which means competition is fierce. Most newspapers have laid off most of their book critics, but at the same time there’s an ever expanding ecosystem of podcasts that are eager to have on book authors for longform interviews. Probably nobody is more knowledgeable about marketing books in the modern age than Kathleen Schmidt. She spent nearly 20 years working for almost every major book publishing company, and she now runs her own firm that specializes in book marketing. She also writes Publishing Confidential, her insider account of how the book industry actually functions. In a recent interview, Kathleen walked through nearly every aspect of selling books, from choosing the right cover to courting influencers to advertising on Amazon.…

1
How Alts.co monetizes its massive newsletter with an investor membership platform 21:49

23 weeks ago21:49

21:49

My newsletter: https://simonowens.substack.com/ When people sign up for the Alts.co newsletter, they’re looking to read its deep dives into alternative investments like art, baseball cards, and rare books. But the most serious investors in its audience want access to actual deal flow, and to gain that access they sign up for Altea, a high-priced membership community that actually vets potential deals and allows them to invest. Not only does Alts.co generate revenue through the annual membership, but it also charges for management fees and carried interest. In essence, Alts.co is a media company that monetizes via an investment firm. In a recent interview, co-founder Stefan von Imhof explained why his company settled on this model, how it sources deals, and why he eventually wants to stop selling sponsorships within the newsletter.…

1
How Eric Siu leveraged his hugely popular podcasts to grow his ad agency 18:55

23 weeks ago18:55