Matt Ragland is a productivity expert and full-time content creator. He has worked for companies such as AppSumo.com, ConvertKit, and Podia. Matt graduated from the University of Florida with a bachelor’s degree in recreation & tourism management.Matt was one of the earliest members of the team at ConvertKit, where he was employee number five. Since leaving ConvertKit to start his own company, he now hosts a podcast, publishes a newsletter, has created several courses, and hosts his own YouTube channel.Matt prides himself on being a skilled manager and enjoys helping his clients and audience grow and develop their agencies. He is also the proud father of two boys and is a fitness enthusiast. Matt and his family live in Nashville, Tennessee.In this episode, you’ll learn:
Matt’s biggest revenue drivers as a content creator
How to know when it’s time to take your side hustle full-time
How to optimize your YouTube channel and content
Links & Resources
Podia
Ryan Delk
Bryan Harris
James Clear
Sean McCabe
Sean McCabe
Levi Allen
Casey Neistat
Tim Ferriss
Jeff Goins
Ali Abdaal
Marques Brownlee
Roberto Blake
heycreator.com
Matt Ragland’s Links
Follow Matt on Twitter

Watch Matt on YouTube

Matt’s website

Matt's newsletter

Episode TranscriptMatt: [00:00:00]If you’re not sure if you want to do something, try it 10 times, and really give it a good try. Write 10 newsletters. Make 10 videos on YouTube. Record 10 podcasts. I have found that going from 10 to a hundred is definitely a slog, and there are lots of mini milestones, but once you do something a hundred times, you’re going to build momentum on it.And you’re also going to build your own country.Nathan: [00:00:30]In this episode I talk to my long-time friend, Matt Ragland. So Matt joined ConvertKit really in the early days. He was employee number five, and he was here for the crazy ride. Then he started a YouTube channel. He led the customer experience team at another startup called Podia. He’s now as a full-time independent creator earning a living on his own.We have a really fun conversation reminiscing about the early days talking about crazy rocket ship growth, and how we kept up. We get into earning a living as a creator. How he grew his YouTube channel to 60,000 subscribers. How to choose a niche, and when you should double down on that, and what’s getting traction on YouTube.The last thing that we talk about is when, as a creator, you should quit your full-time job, and some of the nuances of that, so you can go full-time on your creative endeavor. So it’s a longer episode today because Matt and I just can’t help but tell stories.With that, let me get out of the way and dive in.Matt, thanks for joining me.Matt: [00:01:31]Oh, it’s such a pleasure. I’m thrilled to be here.Nathan: [00:01:34]I want to go back to, what year would it even be?Matt: [00:01:40]2015.Nathan: [00:01:41]2015? Okay.Matt: [00:01:44]Right around this time. Maybe a couple months later, but it was like late summer.Nathan: [00:01:49]So, it’s July, like yeah. And then July right now. Yeah, it would have been when we started talking, I’m thinking, what were you doing online around that time? Cause I started to come across you on Twitter.I think Brian Delk was a mutual friend.Is that right?Matt: [00:02:06]Yeah. Ryan Delk was a mutual friend. Brian Harris was a mutual friend. The way that we got actually directly connected is that I was on Brian’s email list. And I saw that you were doing a webinar with him to promote ConvertKit. And I had just signed up for ConvertKit as a customer, always like a little notch in the cap that I, I feel like I have of having like the three-digit user ID.Nathan: [00:02:32]Do you remember what your user ID is?Matt: [00:02:33]I used to know.Nathan: [00:02:36]In the three digits is pretty impressive.Matt: [00:02:38]Yeah. A three digit. Yeah, definitely.Nathan: [00:02:41]Now they’re well into the six digits.Matt: [00:02:43]Yeah, it’s wild. And so, I was familiar with ConvertKit. Certainl