Francis Zierer

Lead Editor at Creator Spotlight. Reach me at: [email protected]

Essay

🔴 I paid $19 to see how the slop is made

Aug 7, 2026

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8 min read

🔴 I paid $19 to see how the slop is made

Broken trust, AI backlash in the creator economy, and a journey down the rabbit hole of a faceless, generative-AI Instagram account.

Francis Zierer

Essay

🔴 How people with power are defining “creator”

Jul 31, 2026

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8 min read

🔴 How people with power are defining “creator”

Analyzing TIME's 100 Creators list (2026 edition), how TIME, FOX, and Patreon define "creator," and six models illustrating how publishers and creators are working together.

Francis Zierer

Profile

🔴 A $7K Instagram acquisition to a $2.5M fundraise

Jul 28, 2026

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9 min read

🔴 A $7K Instagram acquisition to a $2.5M fundraise

Ten years ago, a boating enthusiast bought an Instagram page. He and his team have since grown that seed into a profitable business that even branches into software.

Francis Zierer

Profile

🔴 How a recipe creator built a $1M+ business

Jul 14, 2026

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8 min read

🔴 How a recipe creator built a $1M+ business

Jenn Lueke spent five year posting without a breakthrough. When she finally landed on a hit short-form video series, she managed her momentum to build a seven-figure business over the following four years.

Francis Zierer

Essay

Jul 10, 2026

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6 min read

🔴 Are paid newsletters a good business model?

Two things I read this week that I found important for my work and yours.

Francis Zierer

Essay

Jun 26, 2026

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4 min read

🔴 In defense of content

It's in the apps, it's in your phone, it's less about the information than the container around it.

Francis Zierer

Newsletterist

Jun 2, 2026

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6 min read

🔴 1,400 paying subscribers in 2.5 years

One of the most experienced reporters covering the video game industry on his two-and-a-half years as an independent creator-journalist.

Francis Zierer

Essay

May 29, 2026

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5 min read

🔴 Rule one of making a show

There is one make-or-break factor for any podcast, YouTube show, or livestream. It’s not about format, it’s not about structure, and it’s not about production value.

Francis Zierer

Essay

🔴 Inside a highly effective attention machine

May 15, 2026

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5 min read

🔴 Inside a highly effective attention machine

A B2B-sponsored pop band and three signals on the present and future state of how creators fund their projects.

Francis Zierer

Essay

Apr 17, 2026

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4 min read

🔴 Meta's bet on creators

Edits is Meta's most serious investment in creators yet. One year in, here's what the platform means for working creators.

Francis Zierer

YouTuber

Apr 7, 2026

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11 min read

🔴 From W-2 to creator-talent contract

Macy Gilliam joined Morning Brew to write tweets — now she's on a creator contract with her own multi-million-view YouTube and a nearly-doubled salary. With one year left on her contract, what's next?

Francis Zierer

Newsletterist

Mar 31, 2026

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16 min read

🔴 The newsletter that became a social network

How, over the course of the last six years, a free newsletter turned into a social app with 400,000 members and ambitions to be "the next Tumblr."

Francis Zierer

Profile

Mar 17, 2026

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14 min read

🔴 $200k as a part-time B2B creator

How Vin Matano built a $200k brand deal business on 54k LinkedIn followers, then launched an agency that did $2.5M in its first full year.

Francis Zierer

Newsletterist

Mar 10, 2026

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13 min read

🔴 Integrity is a growth strategy

Words of Mouth newsletter creator Rachel Meade Smith on building an audience through integrity, learning to be a better businessperson, and writing a book to celebrate 10 years.

Francis Zierer

Essay

Mar 6, 2026

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18 min read

🔴 100 conversations later ...

What I've learned recording 100 episodes of The Creator Spotlight Podcast

Francis Zierer

Newsletterist

Mar 3, 2026

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11 min read

🔴 A $2.5M bet on food journalism

In advance of their launch, we spoke to Caper, a new food-world media startup with excellent pedigree — folks from Puck, Eater, New York, Vanity Fair, artnet, and more.

Francis Zierer

Essay

Feb 20, 2026

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11 min read

🔴 Surprise inside

What it is will shock you

Francis Zierer

Profile

Feb 17, 2026

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12 min read

🔴 How to get 1 billion short-form views

We spoke to Grant Beene, or @grantbeans, whose short-form sketch comedy videos represent the pinnacle of a genre born of Snapchat and Vine before maturing on TikTok.

Francis Zierer

Essay

Feb 6, 2026

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12 min read

🔴 Local media is pro-social media

Why local newsletter operator businesses work so well, an outcomes-versus-outputs perspective on creators and media workers generally, and a few thoughts on the future of local media.

Francis Zierer

Essay

Jan 16, 2026

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11 min read

🔴 The science of short-form video

A structural breakdown of the components that turned a single idea into a repeatable growth engine.

Francis Zierer

Essay

Jan 9, 2026

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10 min read

🔴 Your IP? No, our IP

I read the major social platforms' terms of service so you don't have to.

Francis Zierer

Essay

Jan 2, 2026

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7 min read

🔴 What is a creator in 2026?

Two years ago, I set out to to answer one question: What is a creator? One year ago, I landed on an answer. A year later, it shifts again. Plus, a call for guest submissions.

Francis Zierer

Essay

Dec 26, 2025

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10 min read

🔴 The best of Creator Spotlight 2025

Your favorite issue, my favorite issue, and our three most popular podcast episodes this year.

Francis Zierer

Essay

Nov 28, 2025

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10 min read

🔴 It doesn't matter if it's an ad

On the convergence of ads and entertainment, of creators and companies. It's all happening ... in the content economy!

Francis Zierer

Newsletterist

🔴 beehiiv's bet on the "content economy"

Nov 18, 2025

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13 min read

🔴 beehiiv's bet on the "content economy"

Tyler Denk, CEO and Co-founder at beehiiv, joins us to talk the implications of the company's Winter Release Event '25, what defines content built using beehiiv, and growing his own newsletter

Francis Zierer