About

💡

Gain = Market Research for Creators

Don't find the next big thing. Make your thing big.

Hi, my name is David, and I'm a writer/researcher.

I have a lot of questions. Sometimes those questions lead to interesting places.

Why should you care?

Because if you go by any of these titles: Solopreneur, Influencer, YouTuber, Writer…

Your job is to create for a living.

And my research helps you do that better.

Okay, but how?

Threads, not trends

You don't have time to pay attention to e-v-e-r-y-t-h-i-n-g happening in and around your niche.

Nor should you. Your audience needs you to FOCUS.

That's where I come in.

Every trend connects to a larger thread.

Each one running its way through the creator economy.

Whispering clues about what's working right now…

And what's coming next.

I find these and tell you how to act on them.

Show me the receipts

I got you.

Here are a few wins I've chalked up over the years.

01

I left my job to self-publish books full-time because I found a gap in the market.

Books about…get this… Old Testament characters.

Like Moses parting the sea kind of stuff? You bet.

I've sold 250,000+ copies to date.

line chart of book sales — Here are the numbers from one Amazon account. My books are also available on B&N, Kobo, Apple Books, and more.

02

I completed a Master of Education degree in 78 days because of something called "competency-based education."

I sat on that little-known trend for years until the pandemic forced my hand.

Really happy it did (and so is my ego).

bar chart of course hours — I tracked exactly how many hours each course took and published the data. This exercise got me featured on the university's official blog.

03

I earned $40,000+ from 17 YouTube videos.

Anyone can make a software tutorial.

Learn one thing, then record the screen while you explain how to do what you just learned.

The tricky part is knowing what tool to make these for.

But the signs are there if you know where to look.

affiliate dashboard — This dashboard shows only my affiliate earnings but doesn't count the ad revenue and other revenue streams those videos have created.

04

A single blog article got me a job.

I wrote a piece about where I saw the creator economy going.

Next thing I knew, a startup hired me to run their blog and newsletter.

In 18 months, we went from 0 -> tens of thousands of monthly readers & 2k -> 50k email subscribers.

screenshot of tweet on blue background — People loved our content and told us regularly (and the Ghost team is still crushing it!).

Everything Gain isn't

Cool, you're still here.

Before we make this relationship official, let me tell you a few things I'm not into.

This is not a news digest.

I'm not here to compete. I'm the only source for the information I publish. Have a favorite creator news hub or mentor? Good. Keep them. I'll be talking about things that aren't even on their radar.

No "high value" Facebook community.

Noise. That's all they are 99% of the time for 99% of the members. There will be a paid tier for those who want to connect, discuss, and implement. If you want to continue the conversation outside of those times, exchange your email with members.

Adults only.

I really like helping people who have mortgages, spouses, kids — you know, adult responsibilities. They don't have time for games. Which means they respect their time and my time a whole lot more (and have real motivation to take action).

Not thousands of ideas.

Just the ones that matter.

You're not paying for access to a hub of business ideas like "crypto crocs for pet lizards" 📈🤩. (For goodness sake, do not make those.)

Less ideation. More implementation.

Like I said at the beginning, let's make your thing big.