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— Hannah Doyle 

Creators Take on Black Friday Cyber Monday

This year, US consumers spent nearly $11 billion online during Black Friday (a 10% increase from last year). A big part of that expansion? Creators, who impacted the major shopping event from all angles—from livestreams and buying guides to corporate criticism and financial planning. Here are the creator highlights from Black Friday →

Beauty creator Stormi Steele went full-QVC on TikTok live, showcasing products and deals from her brand, Canvas Beauty. She wrapped the livestream selling over 100,000 units and grossing $3 million in sales on Black Friday. Steele said she was the first person to hit $1 million in sales during a single TikTok livestream earlier this summer.

TikTok creator Liz Poppalardo called out Target for inflated pricing on Black Friday in a video with over 2 million views. She purchased a thermos from the retailer a day before it went “on sale,” yet the product nearly doubled in price. This Black Friday, creators doubled as price-checkers and (real) deal curators.

Fashion creator Kim Brannigan put together her first Style Guide, with buying and styling tips for year-round closet curation. She launched the PDF guide on Black Friday for $35 and shared free gift guides on her blog. Shopping consciously was a major theme on users’ FYPs this year, with many creators sharing ways to limit excessive purchases in the era of “de-influencing.”

Nebula Partners With Creator-Led Journalism Nonprofit

Creator-built streaming service Nebula announced on Tuesday that it’s partnering with Proof News, a non-profit journalism outfit launched earlier this year by journalist and NYT Opinion writer Julia Angwin. 

Proof News videos will appear on Nebula, where viewers can pay $3/month to access ad-free and exclusive content from Proof and other Nebula creators. Nebula will split profits with Proof News based on video watch time, a model it utilizes for all its creators.

• Proof News joins Nebula’s growing News division, which includes creator channels like TLDR News, Money & Macro, and Morning Brew Daily. 

• Proof News currently has fewer than 1,000 YouTube subscribers—joining Nebula means tapping into its audience of 680,000 platform subscribers.

Big picture: More creator companies like Nebula and Johnny and Iz Harris’ NewPress are providing options for newly independent journalists to find their footing financially, making the jump from traditional newsrooms less daunting. 

Sponsored by Spotify

This Podcast Grew its Audience 40% With Spotify

Zach Justice and Jared Bailey host The Dropouts, a podcast known for its sharp humor and pop culture commentary. Since 2020, they’ve built a loyal following across different platforms, including Spotify.

Three years in, they made a small change that delivered massive results. In just 3 months, this tiny tweak led their audience to surge by 40% and reshaped how they connected with their fans.

Want to know what sparked their rapid growth? Read this article to find out. You’ll also learn how Spotify’s biggest update yet is helping creators like Zach and Jared build deeper relationships with their audiences.

Open Sauce Expands Event Programming

STEM creator William Osman’s event company, Open Sauce, recently hosted Sauceathon, a 24-hour competition where Big Tech engineers and gaming creators like Ted Nivision and Ranboo formed teams to build a robot in 24 hours.

Catch up: Osman launched Open Sauce as a three-day STEM creator exhibition in 2023 and quickly drew an audience, with over 10,000 creators in attendance this year. 

“I wanted to do a hackathon, but nobody was doing hackathons, so I forced the Open Sauce team to put on a hackathon for me,” Osman said in the event video. 

With Sauceathon, he’s bringing a lower-lift event to the Open Sauce community and partnered with manufacturing company PCBWay to cover event costs. Going forward, he’s looking to bring the event to more US cities.

➕ Community Tab

We're polling you, our Publish readers, about your experiences, POVs, and businesses to finish out the year with insights into the future of the creator industry. This poll is part of an ongoing series we'll share later this month.

🔥 Press Worthy

• Mark Rober is launching a satellite into space, giving viewers a chance to get a selfie with Earth.

• Jason Kelce starts a YouTube channel.

• Looking for more creator insights in your inbox? Look no further than Passionfruit. Subscribe for free.*

• Haliey Welch, aka Hawk Tuah Girl, is releasing a meme coin.

• Ali Abdaal is offering the biggest discount of the year on his YouTube course until 4PM EST tomorrow (Thursday).

• Bodhi, the Menswear Dog, has passed away.

• Anthpo’s Cornhead Killer reveals his identity.

_{*This is sponsored advertising content.}