Today’s guest, Nathan Chan, is wired to be an entrepreneur. He’s built a 6 figure digital publishing empire from scratch, and admits that in the beginning he knew exactly nothing about how to do it. Foundr magazine is a huge entrepreneurial success and there are tons of lessons to be learned from Nathan’s story and he shares them generously in this episode. If you’re an entrepreneur who’s just starting up your business endeavors, Nathan’s story should be very encouraging to you, so stick around!
“I don’t work. I build businesses for fun.”
That’s the first line you’ll see on Nathan Chan’s LinkedIn profile and it’s true. You can tell from the energy and enthusiasm that he exudes on this episode of Crowdfunding Uncut that it’s true. Nathan started building his online media empire before he really know what he was doing. Now his online magazine, Foundr, is one of the top 10 digital magazines on the iTunes store and he’s very pleased with how things have turned out (naturally). In this episode we find out how Nathan got started, the first steps he took, and how he landed some of his biggest interviews, including the cover story on Richard Branson that he used to put his magazine on the radar of many other high profile people who would one day be a part of his media publication. You won’t want to miss this episode.
Cheat Sheet (What you can learn)
- How Nathan began his podcast as a part of building his media empire.
- The signs of success and the strategies that helped Nathan move his magazine forward.
- Ways Nathan has leveraged his marketing for more subscriptions.
- Tools that can be used to optimize listings in the app store.
- The importance of finding the right person to pitch with your interview request and how to make their involvement a “no brainer.”
- Offering a “feature” position to interviewees early on to get momentum going.
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Crowdfunding Uncut is the place where incredible project creators show you how they launched their products online using the world’s largest crowdfunding sites such as Indiegogo and Kickstarter.
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Smart Player (for that episode)
Why the content of the episode is important
Not everyone is cut out to be an entrepreneur, but for those who have it in their blood to start and grow their own business Nathan Chan has two words of advice: Extreme focus. In his words, “You have to be hungry if you want to build a successful business.” There can’t be any part of the process that you allow to intimidate you or hold you back. You have to be constantly learning, constantly growing, and constantly pushing past the barriers to your next step so that you can eventually reach the pinnacle you’re shooting for. It takes that kind of relentless effort to make your business the success you want it to be. You can hear Nathan unpack those concepts as he discussed the issue of extreme focus, on this episode of Crowdfunding Uncut.
More about the show
As he began his digital magazine, Nathan wanted to get an interview with Richard Branson. He figured that Richard was the epitome of an entrepreneur and that he’d be a perfect fit for his niche audience. But it wasn’t easy to get the interview. He worked tirelessly to find just the right person, the “gatekeeper” he could speak to in order to make a good connection with Richard. When he finally did, he worked very carefully and consistently to make sure he was able to land the interview. Though he originally lobbied for a Skype interview, it wasn’t possible given Richard’s schedule so he opted for an email exchange. That interview and the cover article he published were the catalyst for the future success of Foundr magazine. In this conversation with Khierstyn Ross, Nathan shares how he went about getting that connection, step by step – and how the results were more than he hoped for.
Quotes
- “I don’t feel like I’ve attained success”
- “If things don’t work, you just keep moving and keep building”
- “Being so extremely focused provides an extreme amount of hustle”
- “You have to be hungry if you want to build a successful business”
Nathan Chan’s Story
Most online enterprises today are launched with a very carefully thought out strategy for getting the most eyes on it as possible, right away. But back when Nathan Chan began his online magazine (it wasn’t called Foundr then) he didn’t have any launch plan. He just build a website, began designing his magazine, and started contacting people he wanted to have featured in its pages. That was it. Through a lot of trial and error he was able to land some “big fish” who he then used as leverage to attract more big fish. Richard Branson was the first and many others followed. In this episode you can hear the details of what Nathan did to track down Richard Branson, get an interview with him, and use that connection to get more high profile interviews to move the Foundr brand forward.
Thanks, Nathan! (Click here to thank Nathan on twitter!)
Resources from Website
Foundr Magazine – Nathan’s flagship publication https://sensortower.com/ – App store optimization tool
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