My First Million
The best business ideas come from noticing what's working and doing it better, faster, or for a different audience.
“Media is the top of the funnel, products are the real business”
What It Means
Content creation should be viewed as customer acquisition rather than the main profit center
Why It Matters
Reframes how content creators think about monetization and business building
When It's True
When you have products that serve your content audience's needs
When It's Risky
When you don't have product-market fit or when content quality suffers from commercial focus
How to Apply
Evaluate content ROI based on customer acquisition, not just ad revenue
Prioritize content that drives product sales over pure engagement
Invest in content creation as marketing expense, not revenue center
Example Scenario
“YouTube creator stops chasing sponsorship deals and launches product line, using videos to demonstrate products rather than just entertain.”
Related Knowledge
Every piece of content is market validation for whatever's in it
Audience reactions to items shown in content reveal commercial demand without formal market research
Content-First Market Validation
Using content creation to validate demand for products before manufacturing or sourcing them, by showcasing products in content and measuring audience response.
Media as Top-of-Funnel Commerce Model
Building a media business (blog, YouTube, social) primarily to create audience and trust, then monetizing through higher-margin product sales rather than traditional advertising.
Negative Customer Acquisition Cost Model
A business model where your marketing activities (content creation) generate direct revenue while simultaneously acquiring customers, resulting in negative acquisition costs.
Transform a personal hobby into a scalable business
A sustainable business generating significant revenue from serving others in your hobby niche, with potential for acquis
Launch a physical product using existing content audience
Product sells out initial inventory within days/weeks and creates sustainable revenue stream from existing audience