205: Playing the long game with Mark Masters, You Are The Media

In this first interview of Season 5 of the podcast, Mark Masters - the founder of You Are The Media (online learning community) and We Are The Media (marketing consultancy) - joins Trevor Young to discuss all things content, community and being in it for the long haul.

Mark is a repeat guest - this is his third appearance on the show - providing Trevor with the opportunity to walk Mark through the progress he's made (and the lessons he's learned) over eight years of You Are The Media (YATM).

YATM essentially kicked off when Mark started producing his weekly newsletter, which he continues to publish to this day.

The newsletter paved the way for a book called Content Revolution, which built Mark's credibility not only in his home town in Dorset on the southern coast of England, but also internationally (leading to speaking gigs in the US and South America).

In 2016, Mark started running events under the YATM banner, a practice that continues today with a suite of learning events, both online and offline, including conferences and workshops, interspersed with social gatherings and learning programs.

Mark added a podcast in 2017 and then later moved into video content.

You Are The Media stems from Mark's passion for helping fellow business owners become trusted voices in their industry.

At the heart of it all is a genuine sense of community, one that's fuelled by valuable content and an environment where everyone learns from one another.

Discussion points:

• Consistency of message and the power of showing up regularly and delivering value (without the expectation of getting anything in return)
• Master one owned media channel first before moving on to a new one
• Experiment with different mediums (Mark's latest event was a truly online/offline hybrid effort)
• Build an online 'space' (a channel and an audience) before you need it
• Creating a multi-channel newsletter experience
• Web 3.0: build a community where everyone can take something from it (i.e. learning, business opportunities etc) - it drives itself and people enjoy being a part of it
• 'Soft selling' your business services (vs incessant pitching)
• "Don't be the best - be the only" (Kevin Kelly) | "Don't be the best - be their favourite" (Jay Acunzo)
• Having a following on social media does not a community make.

It's all about connection folks ...

... creating content, building a sense of kinship, delivering value (ongoing) and playing the long game!

Connect with Mark:

• Twitter
• You Are The Media
• We Are The Media