If you're looking to record virtual podcasts, live streams and other content in the best possible quality, try Riverside for free here: https://creators.riverside.com/TheContentBusiness

(Use code: CONTENT15 for 15% off any plan)

ABOUT THE EPISODE:

Sergi Galiano was employee number one at Supercar Blondie, the world's largest car channel with over 185 million followers. He helped build it from the ground up, and then walked away. In this episode, he sits down with Ash and Kane to break down exactly how viral content is made, why almost every brand and creator is doing social media wrong, and how he turned 20 years of trial and error into a consulting business teaching creators to grow organically.

KEY TAKEAWAYS:

• The algorithm rewards thousands of small signals, getting them all right is what separates viral from invisible

• Most people start too niche with visual content; cast wide first, then get specific as your audience builds

• Watch time is the number one metric every platform actually cares about

• Followers matter less than they ever have, a 30K channel can outperform a 1M channel right now

• Big brands are some of the worst at social media because they don't understand the game yet

• The hook is the hardest part, always film two or three versions before committing to one

• Going solo from a big brand is a business decision, not a personal one, know when you've stopped growing

BEST MOMENTS:

• 00:00:51 "I felt like I wasn't learning anymore. I wanted to go and make content for myself."

• 00:08:55 "We went to bed and the next day we just saw this spike, 9 million followers from the Philippines in one day."

• 00:16:11 "Almost everyone is doing social media wrong, especially big brands."

• 00:20:01 "The overwhelming majority of people consume social media on mute. Is your video understandable without any audio?"

• 00:25:26 "You can spend so much time talking about hooks. Even at Supercar Blondie we could argue for hours about how to start a video."

• 00:26:39 "The number one thing the algos care about is watch time."

• 00:35:09 "Now is probably the best time ever for a new content creator to get started."

• 00:42:19 "That video got 60 million views and it generated around $13,000. And there was no edit on that."

• 01:08:16 "My teacher almost failed me for suggesting you could get better results by making a viral video on YouTube."

LINKS:

Sergi: https://www.instagram.com/sergi.galiano/

Website: https://www.podpartnerships.com

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thecontentbusinesspod

Email: hello@podpartnerships.com

ABOUT THE HOSTS:

Hosted by Ashley Morris and Kane Baron, founders of UAE-based content sponsorship agency: Pod Partnerships.

They've worked with thousands of creators and hundreds of brands, helping both household names and fast-growing startups turn podcast, YouTube, and influencer advertising into a core part of their media strategy.

Alongside this, Ashley and Kane have trained over 10,000 podcasters since 2020, going on to directly mentor hundreds of creators to plan, launch, grow, and monetise independent podcasts.

If you're looking to record virtual podcasts, live streams and other content in the best possible quality, try Riverside for free here: ⁠https://creators.riverside.fm/TheContentBusiness⁠ (Use code: CONTENT15 for 15% off any plan)

ABOUT THE EPISODE:Dr. Sheen Gurrib is the Oxford and Cambridge graduate who walked away from academia to build one of the biggest English-speaking podcasts in the Middle East. In this episode, she sits down with Ash and Kane to break down how she turned her show into a real business, from landing her first brand deal at 10K followers, to building a Podcast Academy, studios, and a management agency. If you're trying to figure out how to monetise your content without losing your integrity, this one's for you.

KEY TAKEAWAYS:

• Treat your content like a business from day one, hobby vs. business mindset requires completely different approaches
• Followers mean nothing without engagement; brands care about who's watching, not just how many
• Under-promise and over-deliver is what turns one-episode brand deals into six-figure annual partnerships
• Don't chase monetisation before you have proof of concept, build the community first
• Data obsession matters: change thumbnails, titles, and metrics daily until the episode performs
• Different platforms reward different metrics, Instagram saves, YouTube retention; know which lever to pull
• Niching down is how you blow up, the most specific podcasts attract the most valuable audiences
• Your brand is your reputation that walks into the room before you do, engineer it intentionally
• Vulnerability in content depends on your niche and culture; authority sometimes matters more than openness

BEST MOMENTS:

• 00:00:26 "The amount of time and money you spend on something is not a good enough reason to keep doing it."
• 00:09:15 "Creators still haven't been trained on how to be business owners."
• 00:13:49 "Who, not how many."
• 00:35:23 "Your brand is the introduction that comes into the room before you do."
• 00:37:20 "Less than 5% of people can go on a walk without listening to something, we're all scared of our own thoughts."

LINKS:Sheen: ⁠https://www.instagram.com/SheenGurrib⁠

Website: https://www.podpartnerships.comInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/thecontentbusinesspodEmail: hello@podpartnerships.com

ABOUT THE HOSTS:Hosted by Ashley Morris and Kane Baron, founders of UAE-based content sponsorship agency: Pod Partnerships. They've worked with thousands of creators and hundreds of brands, helping both household names and fast-growing startups turn podcast, YouTube, and influencer advertising into a core part of their media strategy. Alongside this, Ashley and Kane have trained over 10,000 podcasters since 2020, supporting them to start, scale and monetise their podcast.

If you're looking to record virtual podcasts, live streams and other content in the best possible quality, try Riverside for free here: https://creators.riverside.com/TheContentBusiness (Use code: CONTENT15 for 15% off any plan)

ABOUT THE EPISODE:Ebrahim is a mindset coach and hypnotherapist who's worked with everyone from struggling entrepreneurs to billionaires and the thing blocking all of them is the same: imposter syndrome. For content creators, it's the invisible reason you haven't posted, haven't pitched, haven't backed yourself. In this episode, he sits down with Ash and Kane to break down exactly why that fear is there, and how he removes it in minutes using hypnosis.

KEY TAKEAWAYS:

• Imposter syndrome doesn't disappear with success, billionaires deal with it too
• Most fear is rooted in a specific childhood moment, not a general personality trait
• Hypnosis works on the subconscious, which is where the real blocks actually live
• Fear of failure and fear of success are two sides of the same coin, both kill momentum
• Creating a safe space for people to open up is the foundation of any real transformation
• The fastest way to change is to rip the bandaid, slow change is harder not easier
• Pricing yourself at the top end makes people respect and implement your advice more
• Always ask "what's my next 10x move?" then identify what needs to come off your plate first

BEST MOMENTS:

• 00:00:11 "I was the biggest imposter my entire life."
• 00:02:06 "They want a life not just of success, but of fulfilment."
• 00:48:16 "You should not play in the middle."
• 00:51:36 "The change does happen in an instant."
• 00:48:33 "There's always a 10x move that you can make in your business or your life."

LINKS:Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ebrahim/Website: https://www.podpartnerships.comEmail: hello@podpartnerships.com

ABOUT THE HOSTS:Hosted by Ashley Morris and Kane Baron, founders of UAE-based content sponsorship agency: Pod Partnerships. They've worked with thousands of creators and hundreds of brands, helping both household names and fast-growing startups turn podcast, YouTube, and influencer advertising into a core part of their media strategy. Alongside this, Ashley and Kane have trained over 10,000 podcasters since 2020, supporting them to start, scale and monetise their podcast.

If you're looking to record virtual podcasts, live streams and other content in the best possible quality, try Riverside for free here: https://creators.riverside.com/TheContentBusiness (Use code: CONTENT15 for 15% off any plan)

ABOUT THE EPISODE:A Star arrived in the UK at 9 years old, couldn't speak English, and had no idea what his life would become. In this episode, he sits down to break down the journey from refugee to one of the most in-demand celebrity barbers on the planet, cutting Pogba, John Terry, Diego Costa, Rashford and more, and how he's now building his next chapter in Dubai.

KEY TAKEAWAYS:

• Coming to a new country as a child means adapting to a new culture before you can even think about building anything
• Being a "troubled kid" with no direction is often just misdirected energy, A Star found his outlet in barbering
• The key to going viral isn't luck, it's being in the room with the right people and being ready when the moment comes
• Followers and fame mean nothing without engagement, 300k engaged beats 10m passive every time
• Brand deals, hair products, and property all work together, when one's slow, the others fill the gap
• Turning down a £200k deal because it conflicted with his values showed the real long-term play
• Moving to Dubai isn't a step back, it's a reset into a market that's 3-4 years behind and wide open

BEST MOMENTS:"Coming from a third world country and going to the UK, you need luck as well.""I just didn't like being controlled. I didn't like the system controlling me.""How can you turn followers and fame into currency?""You can have 10 million followers, but if only 10,000 are engaging, that's not really anything.""Without the barbering, the contacts don't happen. Without the contacts, the six-figure brand deals don't happen."

LINKS:Website: https://podpartnerships.comEmail: hello@podpartnerships.com

ABOUT THE HOSTS:Hosted by Ashley Morris and Kane Baron, founders of UAE-based content sponsorship agency: Pod Partnerships. They've worked with thousands of creators and hundreds of brands, helping both household names and fast-growing startups turn podcast, YouTube, and influencer advertising into a core part of their media strategy. Alongside this, Ashley and Kane have trained over 10,000 podcasters since 2020, supporting them to start, scale and monetise their podcast.

If you're looking to record virtual podcasts, live streams and other content in the best possible quality, try Riverside for free here: https://creators.riverside.com/TheContentBusiness (Use code: CONTENT15 for 15% off any plan)

ABOUT THE EPISODE:In this episode of The Content Business, Ash & Kane draw on years of running creator sponsorship campaigns at Pod Partnerships to break down the red flags that tell you, before you spend a penny, whether a creator is actually worth working with. They unpack why refusing a performance incentive is a warning sign, why withholding backend data often means the audience isn't real, and the counterintuitive reason you should walk away from a creator who already worked with your competitor and did well. The conversation also gets into why vanilla, fence-sitting creators consistently underperform for brands, why opinionated creators with smaller audiences will almost always outconvert them, and the three angles every brand needs to understand before spending on creator marketing: conversion, brand awareness, and association.

KEY TAKEAWAYS:

• Refusing any performance incentive signals a creator who doesn't back their own audience
• Withholding backend data (traffic source, location) is a major warning sign, often hiding bots or a poor-quality audience
• More than two mid-rolls on an hour-long podcast means your ad will be ignored
• If a competitor already ran on that channel and it worked, the audience has been spent, move on
• A creator demanding a full script doesn't know their audience well enough to sell to them
• Opinionated creators with strong views have diehard fans, vanilla creators don't convert
• Association is the highest-value sponsorship angle once a creator is truly trusted
• The best partnerships go far beyond a fixed slot and a 60-second read

BEST MOMENTS:"If you back what you're selling, you should make a whole lot more money doing it that way.""If someone won't share their stats, I immediately don't trust you.""You want a virgin podcast, one that hasn't been dated yet.""Savers are losers. That's his opinion, so don't put him in front of a savings account.""Run for the hills if they need a full script. They just don't give a damn."

LINKS:Website: https://www.podpartnerships.comEmail: hello@podpartnerships.com

ABOUT THE HOSTS:Hosted by Ashley Morris and Kane Baron, founders of UAE-based content sponsorship agency: Pod Partnerships. They've worked with thousands of creators and hundreds of brands, helping both household names and fast-growing startups turn podcast, YouTube, and influencer advertising into a core part of their media strategy. Alongside this, Ashley and Kane have trained over 10,000 podcasters since 2020, supporting them to start, scale and monetise their podcast.

If you're looking to record virtual podcasts, live streams and other content in the best possible quality, try @Riverside for free here: https://creators.riverside.com/TheContentBusiness

(Use code: CONTENT15 for 15% off any plan)

ABOUT THE EPISODE:

In this episode of The Content Business, Ash & Kane sit down with Riz, founder and host of Words of Rizdom, to unpack how he built the world's largest trading podcast from nothing.

Riz shares how he spent over £40,000 before making a penny, why he puts almost all revenue straight back into production, and how a focus on quality, risk-taking, and verified guests has grown his operation to a team of 35 to 40 people across multiple channels.

The conversation covers growing a niche podcast without famous guests, why going verified changed everything, building long-term sponsorship deals in a high-risk industry, and why passion beats monetisation as a starting point.

KEY TAKEAWAYS:

• Reinvesting revenue back into the business is what keeps you relevant long term
• Only interviewing verified traders built audience trust and opened doors to professional-level guests
• Niche podcasts can achieve real reach without famous guests if the packaging and hooks are right
• His first sponsorship money went straight into a tour, which is where the growth flywheel started
• Building new channels from the same formula and team beats starting from scratch
• Long-term sponsorship relationships outperform short-term deals even when the upfront number is lower
• Passion is the only thing that carries you through low view counts and early failure
• Hooks and packaging matter as much as the quality of the content itself
• Free education monetised through sponsorship and traffic is where the whole industry is heading
• You have to trust your team and let go if you want to scale

BEST MOMENTS:

"I lost over 100,000 pounds."

"We've pretty much invested everything back in."

"I'm still to this day not bore watch. I've not got, like, a fancy car or anything."

"Hooks are probably one of the most important things."

"Getting someone's attention is hard and you have to get it within a second."

"We don't sell anything, or we monetize through the sponsorships and the traffic."

"The more you can give before you take, the more you can take."

"You have to be willing to take risks. A lot of people struggle to take risks, which is why most people don't succeed."

"When you have that passion, you get through those low view moments, you get through those hardships."

LINKS:

Riz: https://www.youtube.com/@wordsofrizdom
Website: https://www.podpartnerships.com
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thecontentbusinesspod
Email: hello@podpartnerships.com

ABOUT THE HOSTS:

Hosted by Ashley Morris and Kane Baron, founders of UAE-based content sponsorship agency: Pod Partnerships.

They've worked with thousands of creators and hundreds of brands, helping both household names and fast-growing startups turn podcast, YouTube, and influencer advertising into a core part of their media strategy.

Alongside this, Ashley and Kane have trained over 10,000 podcasters since 2020, going on to directly mentor hundreds of creators to plan, launch, grow, and monetise independent podcasts.

If you’re looking to record virtual podcasts, live streams and other content in the best possible quality, try Riverside for free here: https://creators.riverside.com/TheContentBusiness

(Use code: CONTENT15 for 15% off any plan)

In this episode of The Content Business, Ash & Kane sit down with Jack Whettingsteel, CEO of the Simon Squibb personal brand and HelpBnk, to unpack how they built a 20 million follower personal brand machine rooted in free education.

Jack shares the journey from working night shifts at Sainsbury’s and living off a student loan to helping scale one of the largest business-led media brands in the UK. Together, they break down how HelpBnk was built to provide free support to entrepreneurs, why turning down large crypto sponsorships protected long-term trust, and how mission-first thinking compounds faster than chasing short-term revenue.

The conversation dives into the mechanics behind building reach at scale through Simon Squibb, expanding internationally, monetising through aligned sponsorship and affiliates, and why the real asset isn’t salary, it’s equity in a long-term ecosystem designed to outlive the founder.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

• Reach and views are currency. Followers are vanity
• Free education builds trust faster than paid courses
• Long-term brand equity beats short-term cash
• Consistency compounds more than viral moments
• International distribution unlocks exponential scale
• Equity is more valuable than early salary
• Purpose increases audience loyalty and retention
• Attention creates investment and partnership leverage
• Not all revenue is aligned revenue
• A personal brand should evolve beyond the person

BEST MOMENTS

“A lot of luck, to be honest with you.”

“I actually kept it going just to get the student loan to fund my business.”

“It took me 30 sales calls to sign my first client.”

“Do you want to do that and make a bit of money or do you want to change the world?”

“We haven’t missed a day of posting in I don’t know how many years.”

“Reach and views is literal currency.”

“Followers is vanity.”

“There are a million ways to make money.”

“Your reputation is all you have.”

“Everyone deserves the chance to be free.”

LINKS

Jack: https://www.instagram.com/jackwhettingsteel
Website: https://www.podpartnerships.com
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thecontentbusinesspod
Email: hello@podpartnerships.com

ABOUT THE HOSTS

Hosted by Ashley Morris and Kane Baron, founders of UAE-based content sponsorship agency: Pod Partnerships.

They’ve worked with thousands of creators and hundreds of brands, helping both household names and fast-growing startups turn podcast, YouTube, and influencer advertising into a core part of their media strategy.

Alongside this, Ashley and Kane have trained over 10,000 podcasters since 2020, going on to directly mentor hundreds of creators to plan, launch, grow, and monetise independent podcasts.

If you’re looking to record virtual podcasts, live streams and other content in the best possible quality, try Riverside for free here: https://creators.riverside.com/TheContentBusiness

(Use code: CONTENT15 for 15% off any plan)

In this episode of The Content Business, Ash & Kane sit down with George Benson to break down what it actually takes to stay relevant on YouTube for 15 years.

George shares how he evolved from Call of Duty voiceovers and viral impressions to travel vlogging, brand deals worth £25,000, and eventually building a football-focused content business around Chelsea FC. He explains why growing up publicly forced his content to evolve with him, how the algorithm has changed from discovery-led chaos to data-driven precision, and why creators now have to “play the game” to survive.

The conversation dives deep into one of his biggest regrets — deleting a 1 million subscriber channel — what that taught him about audience alignment, why most creators burn out trying to hold onto old audiences, and how he has adapted to streaming, Shorts, and modern YouTube mechanics to remain relevant across multiple eras of the platform.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

• Longevity on YouTube requires evolving with your own life stage
• Algorithms are now data-driven systems that must be understood and respected
• Growing up publicly forces creators to either pivot or burn out
• Deleting a large channel can destroy leverage and brand positioning
• Audience alignment matters more than subscriber count
• Shorts, streaming, and long-form must work together
• Organic brand integration outperforms scripted ads
• Authentic enthusiasm is difficult to fake long-term

BEST MOMENTS

“You’ve got to be a little bit mad.”

“I grew up and then my content followed me.”

“I see YouTube as a science now.”

“I deleted the vlog channel.”

“I had a million subscribers.”

“I don’t want to get a flipping job.”

“You’ve got to play the game.”

“Subscriber count means nothing. It’s just a vanity metric.”

“I can show up for a camera any time, any day.”

“You’ve actually got to love what it is you’re talking about.”

LINKS

George: https://www.youtube.com/@GeorgeBensonFootball
Website: https://www.podpartnerships.com
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thecontentbusinesspod
Email: hello@podpartnerships.com

ABOUT THE HOSTS

Hosted by Ashley Morris and Kane Baron, founders of UAE-based content sponsorship agency: Pod Partnerships.

They’ve worked with thousands of creators and hundreds of brands, helping both household names and fast-growing startups turn podcast, YouTube, and influencer advertising into a core part of their media strategy.

Alongside this, Ashley and Kane have trained over 10,000 podcasters since 2020, going on to directly mentor hundreds of creators to plan, launch, grow, and monetise independent podcasts.