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Alex Skatell jumped into the incredible competitive online media space and founded the Independent Journal Review. Today it\\u2019s one of the top 50 websites in the country, with over 20 million unique views a day. Listen in to hear Alex and Nathan break down the future of online publishing, making money through news, and why you shouldn\\u2019t be afraid to go up against giants.

Famous Five:

Favorite Book? \\u2013 David and Goliath
What CEO do you follow? \\u2014 Fred Smith
Favourite online tool? \\u2014 Asana
Do you get 8 hours of sleep?\\u2014 No
If you could let your 20 year old self know one thing, what would it be?\\u2014Go with your gut

Time Stamped Show Notes:
01:32 \\u2013 Nathan\\u2019s introduction
02:11 \\u2013 Welcoming Alex to the show
02:25 \\u2013 Why go into online publishing?
02:50 \\u2013 Alex wanted to create a platform for self-published news in college
03:30 \\u2013 \\u201cPeople aren\\u2019t looking at the front page of the paper to find what\\u2019s news\\u201d
03:50 \\u2013 News is becoming more feed-driven: Alex\\u2019s company puts out content every 4 minutes
04:20 \\u2013 700k people on the email list
05:10 \\u2013 \\u201cHow can you reach people online, on your own terms?\\u201d
05:35 \\u2013 Independent Journal Review was launched in 2012
06:08 \\u2013 The company was initially bootstrapped, and has since raised around $2.5 million from friends and family
06:31 \\u2013 20-25 million unique views per day
07:20 \\u2013 Around 50 people working in the newsroom
08:00 \\u2013 There\\u2019s a technology company and a news company under Alex\\u2019s Media Group of America brand
09:00 \\u2013 Alex believes in publically available tools like Wordpress and Google Analytics
10:00 \\u2013 Total expenses each month are around six figures
10:30 \\u2013 Largely makes money through advertising
14:00 \\u2013 Nathan: Would you scale your technology into a SaaS platform?
14:30 \\u2013 Alex: No, that\\u2019s not our focus
14:18 \\u2013 Connect with Alex on Twitter and via email
17:30 \\u2013 The Famous Five

3 Key Points:
Don\\u2019t be afraid to go up against the big guys. Start-ups can be flexible and take risks, even in spaces full of giants.
Go with your gut. Listen to your instincts.
The way that people consume and publish news is fundamentally changing - it\\u2019s becoming more personalised, more immediate, and more feed-driven.

Resources Mentioned:
Freshbooks - The site Nathan uses to manage his invoices and accounts.
Host Gator \\u2013 The site Nathan uses to buy his domain names and hosting for cheapest price possible.
Leadpages \\u2013 The drag and drop tool Nathan uses to quickly create his webinar landing pages which convert at 35%+
Audible \\u2013 Nathan uses Audible when he's driving from Austin to San Antonio (1.5 hour drive) to listen to audio books.

Show Notes provided by Mallard Creatives

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