242: The $100B Battle Over Creators (And How You Win)
Marketing Your Business - Marketing Strategies for Business Owners
Stu McLaren
4.9 • 679 Ratings
🗓️ 1 April 2026
⏱️ 18 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
There is a massive hundred-billion-dollar battle happening right now. And the biggest companies in the world (YouTube, Meta, and legacy media giants like CNN, ESPN, and the Washington Post) are fighting over you.
This is the biggest power shift in media history. Creators who understand what's happening right now and take action on it will win long term. In this episode, Stu breaks down exactly what's going on, why it matters to your business, and the three specific moves you can make this week to take advantage of it.
In this episode, you'll learn:
• Why YouTube has outspent Netflix by $20B over the last five years — paying creators, not Hollywood
• How Meta's new Creator Fast Track program pays you $1,000/month just to repost content you're already making
• Why 70% of major publishers are worried creators are stealing their audience (and what that means for you)
• The three action steps to make yourself findable when a brand or publisher comes looking
• Why platform income is fuel, not your engine... and what to build instead
📥 RESOURCE: Grab the resources from this episode at https://podcast.stu.me
CONNECT WITH STU:
• Website: https://stu.me
• Book "Predictable Profits": https://a.co/d/4GIi1uz
• Instagram: https://instagram.com/stumclaren
• Podcast: https://podcast.stu.me
• Membership.io: https://membership.io
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | There is a massive $100 billion battle happening right now, and these companies are fighting over |
| 0:07.0 | you. Yes, you. The biggest companies in the world like YouTube, meta, and legacy media like the |
| 0:13.6 | Wall Street Journal, CNN, and even ESPN are spending billions to partner with everyday creators. |
| 0:20.9 | This, my friend, is the biggest power shift in media history. |
| 0:24.7 | And the creators who use this wave to build something they own will win long term. |
| 0:29.9 | I'm going to break down what's going on, why it matters, and most importantly, what you should do about it. |
| 0:35.7 | Welcome to Marketing Your Business. |
| 0:37.5 | I'm Stu McLaren, co-founder of membership.io, and author of Predictable Profits. |
| 0:42.4 | Now, here's the truth. |
| 0:43.4 | You are one great marketing idea away from transforming your business. |
| 0:48.6 | One strategy can be the difference between struggling and thriving, between a business that |
| 0:52.8 | drains you and one that fuels your life. |
| 0:55.7 | Every episode, you're going to get specific tactics you need to build your audience, |
| 0:59.9 | attract more customers, and scale your business, all without the burnout. |
| 1:04.1 | These are real strategies, real numbers, real behind the scenes. |
| 1:08.2 | Buckle your seatbelts, my friend. Let's go. |
| 1:12.4 | So let me paint a picture for you. |
| 1:14.3 | Five years ago, if you asked anybody who is the king of video content, it would be Netflix, right? |
| 1:21.0 | No question. |
| 1:21.6 | I mean, they were spending billions on shows, movies, original content. |
| 1:27.0 | They had the biggest stars in the world, |
| 1:28.3 | and they were the entertainment company. |
... |
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