The Creator Spotlight Podcast

This week on Creator Spotlight we’re joined by the team from News Creator Corps. We break down what creators can learn from journalism — from fact-checking and sourcing to handling mistakes publicly. A conversation about fixing trust, misinformation, and credibility in the creator economy.Read the newsletter: https://www.creatorspotlight.com/profiles__Earn with Google AdSense: https://goo.gle/earnwithadsense__News Creator CorpsApply for the Spring 2026 Fellowship: https://newscreatorcorps.org/apply/Rachel LobdellKatie GrossbardDanielle Desir Corbett__Timestamps00:00 Introducing News Creator Corps and the guests07:40 The type of creator that’s NCC focus13:31 Transferring conservative journalistic value to content creation16:20 The eight lessons journalists can teach creators23:42 The values of a diverse cohort29:05 Finding your own guild33:55 Trust and monetization in the creator economy35:36 Teaching instantly applicable lessons43:05 Building a recognised trusted reputation46:38 Misconceptions of news creators51:00 Fighting against the slop and misinformation01:00:22 How NCC is helping creators

Brett Dashevsky is the founder of Creator Economy NYC, where he’s built a six-figure business by consistently creating content, growing a newsletter, and hosting events for creators. In this episode, Brett breaks down how newsletters and in-person events compound together to build audience, trust, and a sustainable creator business.__Brett DashevskyNewsletterCreator Economy NYCLinkedInTwitter/XInstagramFrancis ZiererLinkedInTwitter/X__Timestamps00:00 Introducing Brett Dashevsky01:16 Biggest challenges growing a newsletter from scratch07:00 Scaling multiple newsletters to the masses12:44 A community built out of passion20:00 Why consistency always wins26:21 Building something bigger than himself29:33 The best advice for creators33:56 Revenue breakdown36:19 How hosting events makes money42:41 Securing long term deals with brands48:33 Defining the digital economy50:52 Event cost and attendance56:36 Building tools for creators

This week on Creator Spotlight we’re joined by Tomo Chien, the founder and editor of ‘Morning, Trojan’, a newsletter aimed at engaging USC students with local news. He highlights the competitive landscape of student publications, the importance of original reporting, and the strategies used to grow the audience.Read the newsletter__Earn with Google AdSense: https://goo.gle/earnwithadsense__Tomo ChienMorning, TrojanLinkedInTwitter/XFrancis ZiererLinkedInTwitter/X__Timestamps00:00 Introducing Tomo Chien 01:08 Disrupting the local media scene 05:10 The freedom to be controversial 08:57 The one change that brought 10k subscribers 14:30 Finding the stories people want to read 20:02 How long does aggregating content take? 25:02 Tomo’s high school news project 28:55 Why he’s shutting down the newsletter 32:22 Future plans after the newsletter 37:28 Defining creator journalism 

This week on The Creator Spotlight Podcast we’re joined by digital writer, author, and serial writing entrepreneur Nicolas Cole. Nicolas is the co-founder of a $600K+ per month online writing education business. He shares the principles, systems, and mindset shifts that turned simple online writing into a scalable company.__Nicolas ColeWebsiteLinkedInTwitter/XInstagramYouTubeFrancis ZiererLinkedInTwitter/X__Timestamps00:00 Introducing Nicolas Cole 05:23 Scaling to $600k+/month 12:00 Growing an educational product 17:15 The demand for ghostwriting in 2025 28:04 The hardest part of scaling a business35:05 How to never run out of content 40:05 Rejecting the ‘artist vs entrepreneur’ dichotomy 50:00 How to earn more as a creator 55:27 Education with accountability 57:15 New rules for writing online in 2026 

Lia Haberman is a social media strategist, creator economy expert and writer behind one of the industries leading newsletters, ICYMI (In Case You Missed It.) Lia breaks down why most creators only last 3–4 years, how to spot real platform trends, where creators should focus in 2026, and how to build a business that survives algorithm shifts.Read the newsletter: https://www.creatorspotlight.com/profiles__Lia HabermanICYMILinkedInTwitter/XInstagramFrancis ZiererLinkedInTwitter/X__Timestamps00:00 Introducing Lia Haberman01:20 The 3 year shelf life of a creator08:45 Knowing which platforms to invest in16:21 7 signs of a good platform feature25:52 The most valuable platforms for creators34:35 Defining the 7 formats of content39:24 Why are marketers spending on Instagram?41:25 Keeping content free vs paid47:03 Social media trends of 202554:27 How to grow online in 2026