Embracing Change in a Dynamic Media Landscape With Jonathan Small

Jonathan Small is an award-winning author, journalist, producer, and host of Write About Now, a podcast where he explores the creative journeys of renowned writers and storytellers. He has held executive roles at major media outlets, including Glamour, Stuff, and Entrepreneur, and contributed to The New York Times, TV Guide, Cosmo, Maxim, and Good Housekeeping. In 2020, he launched Strike Fire Productions, a podcast production and consulting company, working with high-profile clients like SAG-AFTRA and Purely Elizabeth. Known for his storytelling versatility, Jonathan’s experiences range from producing digital series for Game Show Network to moderating panels on branded content, and he recently turned his popular podcast into a book, Write About Now: 30 Authors on Origin Stories, Creative Inspiration, and the Birth of their Bestsellers.

Here’s a Glimpse of What You’ll Hear:

• [2:20] Jonathan Small shares his early entrepreneurial experience as a DJ before launching his media career
• [9:45] Why Jonathan calls himself the ‘pivot king’
• [13:19] Insights into Jonathan’s role at the Game Show Network and the emergence of digital content
• [19:33] The rise and fall of Green Entrepreneur magazine amid changing cannabis industry trends
• [25:43] The inspiration behind the Write About Now podcast
• [27:30] How podcasting became a vital communication tool during the SAG-AFTRA strike
• [31:47] The transformational power of social media and User-generated content(UGC)
• [34:21] The evolving role of books and Jonathan’s thoughts on the future of publishing in a digital-first world
• [36:25] How Write About Now evolved from podcast to book
• [45:34] The importance of origin stories for writers and entrepreneurs

In this episode…

The shifting landscape of media and content creation has left many creators and entrepreneurs scrambling to adapt. From the rise of digital media to the decline of traditional print and television, building a sustainable brand or platform is now more challenging than ever. How can one navigate the challenges and opportunities in the rapidly evolving content marketing field? Jonathan Small, an award-winning journalist, author, and multimedia producer, shares key insights on successfully pivoting in today’s media industry. Emphasizing the value of authenticity, Jonathan advises creators to focus on their unique strengths, crafting content that resonates by genuinely connecting with their audience’s interests. He discusses the importance of origin stories in branding, as these narratives create memorable connections with audiences. Jonathan also suggests embracing a multimedia approach, as he did by founding Strike Fire, a full-service podcast production company, to diversify his storytelling and reach new audiences through collaborations with clients like SAG-AFTRA and Purely Elizabeth. Tune in to this episode of the Smart Business Revolution Podcast as John Corcoran interviews Jonathan Small, Founder of Write About Now and Strike Fire, about his multifaceted career in media and the art of pivoting. Jonathan dives into how he turned his podcast into a book, sharing authors’ origin stories and creative journeys. He also shares his experiences with true crime storytelling, unique insights on media’s shift towards digital, and strategies for using authenticity to build audience connections.

Resources Mentioned In This Episode

• John Corcoran on LinkedIn
• Rise25
• Jonathan Small: LinkedIn | Website
• Strike Fire Productions
• Write About Now: Successful Authors on Overcoming Obstacles, Finding Inspiration and the Birth of Their Careers by Jonathan Small

Special Mention(s):

• Anna David on Linkedin
• Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life by Anne Lamott
• On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft by Stephen King
• Adventures in the Screen Trade: A Personal View of Hollywood and Screenwriting by William Goldman

Related episode(s):

• “Jason Feifer | Creating Content That Builds Relationships and Tactics for Embracing Change”

Quotable Moments:

• “Once a DJ, always a DJ. It’s something that never really leaves you.”
• “I’ve had to pivot so many times in my career as technology has changed.”
• “The 90s was an incredible time to be a magazine journalist.”
• “I think there’s a reason they’re so popular in Hollywood. Origin stories are captivating.”
• “You just have to be open to the unknown and sometimes take some leaps.”

Action Steps:

1. Embrace diverse platforms for content marketing: Consider expanding your content marketing presence to platforms beyond traditional ones, such as YouTube and podcasts. This addresses the challenge of reaching younger audiences who consume media through these channels rather than traditional mediums like television.
2. Develop a personal brand alongside your professional role: Cultivate your personal brand through platforms like LinkedIn or a personal blog. This helps in creating a distinct identity that is not solely tied to your current role, offering more control over your career trajectory.
3. Leverage AI as a writing partner: Explore the use of AI tools to enhance your writing and productivity. As AI becomes increasingly integrated into creative processes, using it effectively can provide a competitive edge in content creation.
4. Seek inspiration from origin stories: Study the origin stories of successful peers and recognize their initial struggles and unexpected paths. This can offer motivation and insight on navigating your own career challenges and opportunities.
5. Participate in peer support groups: Engage in peer support groups, such as men’s discussion groups, to facilitate honest conversations about career and personal challenges. This addresses the need for support and guidance in navigating professional and personal growth.

Sponsor: Rise25

At Rise25, we’re committed to helping you connect with your Dream 100 referral partners, clients, and strategic partners through our done-for-you podcast solution. We’re a professional podcast production agency that makes creating a podcast effortless. Since 2009, our proven system has helped thousands of B2B businesses build strong relationships with referral partners, clients, and audiences without doing the hard work. What do you need to start a podcast? When you use our proven system, all you need is an idea and a voice. We handle the strategy, production, and distribution – you just need to show up and talk. The Rise25 podcasting solution is designed to help you build a profitable podcast. This requires a specific strategy, and we’ve got that down pat. We focus on making sure you have a direct path to ROI, which is the most important component. Plus, our podcast production company takes any heavy lifting of production and distribution off your plate. We make distribution easy We’ll distribute each episode across more than 11 unique channels, including iTunes, Spotify, and Google Podcasts. We’ll also create a copy for each episode and promote your show across social media. Cofounders Dr. Jeremy Weisz and John Corcoran credit podcasting as being the best thing they have ever done for their businesses. Podcasting connected them with the founders/CEOs of P90x, Atari, Einstein Bagels, Mattel, Rx Bars,  YPO, EO, Lending Tree, Freshdesk,  and many more. The relationships you form through podcasting run deep. Jeremy and John became business partners through podcasting. They have even gone on family vacations and attended weddings of guests who have been on the podcast. Podcast production has a lot of moving parts and is a big commitment on our end; we only want to work with people who are committed to their business and to cultivating amazing relationships. Are you considering launching a podcast to acquire partnerships, clients, and referrals? Would you like to work with a podcast agency that wants you to win? Contact us now at [email protected] or book a call at rise25.com/bookcall. Rise25 Cofounders, Dr. Jeremy Weisz and John Corcoran, have been podcasting and advising about podcasting since 2008.

Episode Transcript

John Corcoran: 00:00 All right. Today we’re talking about how to build and grow a content marketing business, especially in today’s economy, and why it’s important that you should be embracing content marketing today. My guest today is Jonathan Small. I’ll tell you more about him in a second, so stay tuned. Intro: 00:15 Welcome to the Smart Business Revolution Podcast, where we feature top entrepreneurs, business leaders, and thought leaders and ask them how they built key relationships to get where they are today. Now let’s get started with the show. John Corcoran: 00:32 All right. Welcome, everyone. John Corcoran here. I’m the host of this show. You know, if you’ve listened before that each week I get to talk to interesting entrepreneurs, founders, CEOs, all kinds of different people from backgrounds. We’ve had companies like Netflix and Grubhub, Redfin, Gusto, Kinko’s and many more on this show. So check out the archives. Lots of great episodes for you there. And of course, this episode was brought to you by Rise25, our company where we help B2B businesses to get clients referrals and strategic partnerships with the Done for You podcast and content marketing. You can visit us at Rise25.com or email us at [email protected] to learn more about what it is we do. And of course, our guest here today. Before I get to them, I want to give a big shout out to Anna David of Legacy Launchpad Publishers. She is a longtime friend who introduced us to today’s guest, who I have a lot in common with, so I’m really excited to talk to him. He’s an award winning author, journalist, producer, and podcast host. He’s worked as a multimedia storyteller for many different companies, including The New York Times, Hearst, Conde Nast, and held executive roles at Glamour, Stuff and Entrepreneur and has contributed for a bunch of different publications. Fun fact he was once the only male staffer at Cosmo. Let’s ask about what that was like in his 20s, too. And he has got a new book called Right About Now 30 authors on origin stories, creative inspiration, and the birth of their bestsellers. It’s based on the podcast that he had done for a number of years. And Jonathan, I’m so excited to have you here today. And I always love to start people off by hearing about what they were like as a kid. And some people do lemonade stands, some people do babysitting. I’d love to hear these entrepreneurial side hustles that kid had, you know, people had and you were a DJ. You started a DJ and I was yes, I guess. Jonathan Small: 02:20 That’s an unusual one. That was my kind of early entrepreneurial experience. And by the way, thank you for having me on the show. It’s really fun to be here. I am in seventh grade and I’m going to date myself here, but in seventh grade I put on the rap Rapper’s Delight at a middle school dance. Oh, it’s. John Corcoran: 02:37 A great song. Jonathan Small: 02:38 It kind of blew my mind like I had never. You know, I grew up in the suburbs of New York City, and I had never heard anything like a rap before. Nobody had. I mean, it was really one of the first raps ever recorded, and it just blew my mind. And I became obsessed with hip hop and rapping. And I, you know, it kind of led down this, this road to deejaying. Because I, you know, it was like, what does a DJ do? And, you know, watching like Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five and all these guys that I really like were like my role models at that time. And I went out to Radio Shack. I don’t think Radio Shack exists anymore. And I bought I think, I. John Corcoran: 03:11 Think there’s maybe 1 or 2 left. Jonathan Small: 03:13 Yeah. And I bought a little mixer, which is, you know, the thing that enables you to kind of mix two turntables. And I set up my little turntables on my amp and I started, you know, practicing in my house. And nobody was doing this. Nobody even knew what a DJ was. But as time went on and there became a need for DJs and things like school dances and bar mitzvahs, my services were suddenly needed. And I created a company called The Chill Factor, a great name I still have. I used to have my business card from The Chill Factor on my desk, but it’s gold emblazoned. It’s like the cheesiest thing you’ve ever seen. John Corcoran: 03:46 Yes it is. Of course, of course it is. Jonathan Small: 03:49 It was a gold emblazoned set, the chill factor, and I would show up and DJ dances and and play all sorts of different music, not just hip hop, but, you know, like even like the B-52s and whatever was popular. I remember playing yeah, yeah, this is even like playing, you know, Rock lobster and. Oh man, take that. John Corcoran: 04:09 Take down the house. Jonathan Small: 04:10 Remember everybody. Yeah. Everybody loved that. So that was my first sort of entrepreneurship. And the funny thing is that it has never really gone away. Like I am DJing this Sunday night. I’m DJing an event for this organization called Sona, which is, I think, the Songwriter’s Organization of North America or something. And it’s a big event out here, and I still DJ like it’s a side hustle. It’s not something that’s like I do to kind of make a lot of money, but it’s because I’m always available. I’ve got my equipment and, and once. John Corcoran: 04:38 A DJ, always a DJ. Jonathan Small: 04:39 Once a DJ, always a DJ. So. John Corcoran: 04:40 So you have records over your shoulder here, do you? I do have a lot of you still use records on a turntable or is it all digital? Jonathan Small: 04:46 Finally, had I tried, I, I held out for a long time. I refused to go digital and then eventually my back gave out. Just lugging those records. Yeah, that’s. John Corcoran: 04:55 A lot of weight. Jonathan Small: 04:56 Yeah, it’s a lot of crates of records. So I went digital and I have not gone back. I still have my turntables. And my son, who has followed in my footsteps and is now also DJing. He just started college this year, but even in high school, he was just sort of the high school DJ and when he started he would use vinyl. It’s like the kids today, the Gen Z, they’re still into vinyl, like he’s into vinyl. And you know, he was having all the problems. I remember having records skipping and people hitting the table and like, you know, like I was like, you don’t have to really deal with this with digital. But he’s like, I love vinyl. I love the way it sounds, I love, I love, he just loves the feel of it, you know? John Corcoran: 05:32 You know, I coincidentally have taken my 14 year old into two record stores in the last two weeks, and they’re hard to find. There’s one in Mill Valley, California and Marin County, which is not too far from us, and one in San Francisco, but there aren’t many. Yeah, and I’m kind of curious, like why people buy records these days. Jonathan Small: 05:48 Is it really? I mean, there’s collectors like me, and then there’s people like my son who just love the experience of it. And, you know, looking at the record, you know, while you sit on the bed, remember how, you know, you’d bring a record home and you put it. John Corcoran: 05:59 It is on the liner notes. Jonathan Small: 06:00 Lie on your bed and read the liner notes. I think they missed that. And there’s something nostalgic, obviously, for us, but for them there’s something. And maybe it’s because they grew up with parents that used to listen to vinyl and talked about vinyl all the time. And of course, my son had no chance because he was, you know, surrounded by my music all the time. But he, you know, my daughter hasn’t exactly embraced it, but he really embraced it. The other thing I was interested in is that kids are apparently into magazines again. Like, they like the physical, tangible holding a magazine, like they’re interested in looking at magazines and who knows what’s next. John Corcoran: 06:33 Newsprint. Get all that? Yeah, on your fingers. It’s not that great. Jonathan Small: 06:37 Exactly. John Corcoran: 06:38 Yeah. So. So that’s what you start off with. And once a DJ, always a DJ, you keep on doing it. But let’s flash forward to you becoming a writer, and I don’t know what this job is. As the only guy on staff at Cosmo magazine. You’re in your late 20s, greatest job, you’re at all time. And you were an advice journalist at Cosmo? Jonathan Small: 06:58 Yeah, there’s a column. Well, so I was actually on staff at Glamour. I wrote for Cosmo, but on Glamour, which is basically they’re indistinguishable to me at Glamour magazine, which is the Conde Nast magazine. I got a job, I guess I was in my late 20s and they had a column called Jake. And any sort of woman of a certain age knows what Jake is. It’s just, you know, we wouldn’t know because we’re guys. But Jacob was an advice column that had been in the magazine for years, and it was written by Jake, but Jake had there had been many. Jake’s right. I was not the first or the last. Jake and Jake would, would, would answer women’s questions about guys. And he would also kind of just give, you know, write columns about dating. I remember saying, you know, writing a column about third dates and like, why the importance of third dates. And I mean, I just remember some of the silly things that I used to write about, but I had no business writing an advice column. I have no experience. My wife is now a relationship therapist, so she actually has training in this, and she laughs that I do that. I did this for a living. Like what? What qualifications do I have other than the fact that I was a man, a man who was currently at that time dating women. John Corcoran: 08:07 And were you a man about town at the time? Were you quite the ladies man? Jonathan Small: 08:11 Oh, yeah. No, I was, I never considered in fact, it was kind of a joke with my friends, like, how are you? You know, Jake, you know, it’s just funny because, you know, later I would write a fictional thing called Diary for Redbook, which was kind of like, almost like a Sex and the City, but from a male perspective. And I would sort of channel my man about the town that I wanted to be in, that in that fictional blog column, and pretend that I was this kind of, you know, lecherous bad boy. But I was never that guy. I went out and I DJ. I had some DJ gigs back then in New York City, but I was not. I was never cool in that way. I never had a game ever, but I was good at telling women what to do, just not very good at following my own advice. John Corcoran: 08:57 And, you know, you think about it back then, you know, if you wanted to get advice from someone of this sort, what you were looking for, you know, this, this kind of like men’s advice for women column, there weren’t many sources. You had to go to these magazines or something like that. And now anyone can do it. You can think how many people opine and give their opinion, whether it’s on Instagram or whether it’s on their own blog or a YouTube channel or something like that. So can you just reflect a little bit on just how dramatically in the course of ten, 20 years that market has changed? You know, like, what is the role for a traditional magazine column, if at all, now, when virtually anyone can build up an audience and can opine and give their opinion on things. Jonathan Small: 09:45 You know, things have changed so much. I call myself sort of the pivot king. I’ve had to pivot so many times in my career as technology has changed, as the way people consume media has changed. And I think this is probably where you and I also have a lot of parallels where it’s like, we for sure. John Corcoran: 09:58 I mean, I’ve been through 5 or 6 careers. I think, you know. Jonathan Small: 10:02 I mean, I’m wondering when this one’s going to end because it’s like, oh, all of a sudden people are saying podcasting is kind of like, you know, becoming not as popular as it was. It’s like, oh my God. Another, you know, now I come and it’s going to have to. I’m going to have to shift again. And I’m ready for it. But I have pivoted. I mean, I started in traditional magazine journalism in the 90s, which was the heyday of the 90s, was an incredible time to be a magazine journalist. And I remember Conde Nast used to pay for car service. If we worked past 6:00, all of us would get car service home. Wow. Line of town cars, line of town cars outside Broadway. And we’d all kind of get into our town cars and get taken home. I mean, those days are so long gone. But, you know, I’ve just every phase of the way, you know, I went from print, then I went to digital, then I shifted to video production because that was a thing in the sort of early 2000. Then that stopped being a pop. Then I went to podcasting. Now I’m doing content marketing. I’ve ghost written. I’ve really done quite a bit of different careers, but the one thread has always been, you know, creative and writing. There’s always been a lot of writing. It seems to me that people have always valued me as a writer. And so that has definitely been a thread that’s kind of taken me through. But boy, yeah, you’re right. I mean, I can’t even imagine being an advice columnist now. I’ve had a few on my podcast and, you know, they’re a dime a dozen. I don’t know how you I don’t know how you separate yourself from all the tik-tokers that are doing it and from. John Corcoran: 11:29 Yeah. Or or, you know, if it was me, I would try and build up my own brand at the same time. So you control your own channel, you know, so that it’s a Substack. Jonathan Small: 11:39 Have a. Yeah. John Corcoran: 11:40 Yeah. The problem with that, the reason why all the jakes are interchangeable is because none of those jakes had their own channel. They didn’t control the means of distribution, whereas now they can, you know, if you put in the work to, to build that up. You also were an executive at the Game Show Network, which. Yeah, actually I don’t. I don’t talk about it much on this podcast, but I started my career in game shows, so that’s wild. In the 90s, when the Dreamworks studio was kind of like the Tesla of its day, it was a super hot company at the time, and that one of their first projects, weirdly, was creating a game show that didn’t last very long, and I was a production assistant on it for a summer. What was it called? It was called Majority Rules.