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Jun 11, 2016 · 16m · top-founders

EP 322: What if you could get paid $8k/mo for a blog post?

Preston Lee · 7m spoken Nathan Latka · 7m spoken
0:00 / 0:00

gold bands on the timeline = statements, start to end. Hover to read, click to jump. CC turns on captions

In this episode of The Top, host Nathan Latka interviews Millo.co founder Preston Lee to explore how he grew a targeted freelancer community to 30,000 subscribers and monetized it into an $8,000-per-month lifestyle side business through direct sponsorships.

How this conversation actually went

Every chapter scored 0–10 on four independent dynamics. Hover any point for the reasoning behind the score. Nathan holds 50.1% of the talking time here. How this is scored →

Nathan as informed peer 5.2 Guest teaching 2.0 Guest disagreement 2.2 Nathan pushing back 3.4
05100:0010:001:33–4:16 · Nathan as informed peer 6/10 Overview of Millo.co and Audience Growth Nathan demonstrates authority early by pulling up live traffic data, site rankings, and inbound backlinks to evaluate Millo's reach. Preston collaboratively shares his email list numbers and founding history.4:16–6:34 · Nathan as informed peer 5/10 Sponsorship Model and Partnership Case Studies Nathan inquires about media kits and attempts to get specific client spend figures for Design Cuts. Preston politely declines to disclose private partner revenues, prompting Nathan to pivot to deliverable types.6:34–8:43 · Nathan as informed peer 6/10 Side-Project Dynamics and Tiered Pricing Packages Nathan presses Preston on why revenue is capped at $8k/mo and insists on understanding the exact sponsorship pricing structure. Preston clarifies his lifestyle side-project intent and outlines his productized package tiers.8:43–10:48 · Nathan as informed peer 5/10 Live Sponsorship Pitch and Content Brainstorm Nathan stages a live negotiation to sponsor Millo and directly corners Preston to name a price on air. Preston playfully but firmly refuses to quote live pricing, insisting they negotiate off the record.10:48–15:38 · Nathan as informed peer 4/10 Day Job, Social Channels, and Contest Reminder The interview transitions smoothly into Preston's day job, social links, and the rapid-fire Famous Five routine with high mutual rapport and host ad reads.1:33–4:16 · Guest teaching 2/10 Overview of Millo.co and Audience Growth Nathan demonstrates authority early by pulling up live traffic data, site rankings, and inbound backlinks to evaluate Millo's reach. Preston collaboratively shares his email list numbers and founding history.4:16–6:34 · Guest teaching 2/10 Sponsorship Model and Partnership Case Studies Nathan inquires about media kits and attempts to get specific client spend figures for Design Cuts. Preston politely declines to disclose private partner revenues, prompting Nathan to pivot to deliverable types.6:34–8:43 · Guest teaching 3/10 Side-Project Dynamics and Tiered Pricing Packages Nathan presses Preston on why revenue is capped at $8k/mo and insists on understanding the exact sponsorship pricing structure. Preston clarifies his lifestyle side-project intent and outlines his productized package tiers.8:43–10:48 · Guest teaching 2/10 Live Sponsorship Pitch and Content Brainstorm Nathan stages a live negotiation to sponsor Millo and directly corners Preston to name a price on air. Preston playfully but firmly refuses to quote live pricing, insisting they negotiate off the record.10:48–15:38 · Guest teaching 1/10 Day Job, Social Channels, and Contest Reminder The interview transitions smoothly into Preston's day job, social links, and the rapid-fire Famous Five routine with high mutual rapport and host ad reads.1:33–4:16 · Guest disagreement 1/10 Overview of Millo.co and Audience Growth Nathan demonstrates authority early by pulling up live traffic data, site rankings, and inbound backlinks to evaluate Millo's reach. Preston collaboratively shares his email list numbers and founding history.4:16–6:34 · Guest disagreement 3/10 Sponsorship Model and Partnership Case Studies Nathan inquires about media kits and attempts to get specific client spend figures for Design Cuts. Preston politely declines to disclose private partner revenues, prompting Nathan to pivot to deliverable types.6:34–8:43 · Guest disagreement 2/10 Side-Project Dynamics and Tiered Pricing Packages Nathan presses Preston on why revenue is capped at $8k/mo and insists on understanding the exact sponsorship pricing structure. Preston clarifies his lifestyle side-project intent and outlines his productized package tiers.8:43–10:48 · Guest disagreement 4/10 Live Sponsorship Pitch and Content Brainstorm Nathan stages a live negotiation to sponsor Millo and directly corners Preston to name a price on air. Preston playfully but firmly refuses to quote live pricing, insisting they negotiate off the record.10:48–15:38 · Guest disagreement 1/10 Day Job, Social Channels, and Contest Reminder The interview transitions smoothly into Preston's day job, social links, and the rapid-fire Famous Five routine with high mutual rapport and host ad reads.1:33–4:16 · Nathan pushing back 2/10 Overview of Millo.co and Audience Growth Nathan demonstrates authority early by pulling up live traffic data, site rankings, and inbound backlinks to evaluate Millo's reach. Preston collaboratively shares his email list numbers and founding history.4:16–6:34 · Nathan pushing back 4/10 Sponsorship Model and Partnership Case Studies Nathan inquires about media kits and attempts to get specific client spend figures for Design Cuts. Preston politely declines to disclose private partner revenues, prompting Nathan to pivot to deliverable types.6:34–8:43 · Nathan pushing back 5/10 Side-Project Dynamics and Tiered Pricing Packages Nathan presses Preston on why revenue is capped at $8k/mo and insists on understanding the exact sponsorship pricing structure. Preston clarifies his lifestyle side-project intent and outlines his productized package tiers.8:43–10:48 · Nathan pushing back 5/10 Live Sponsorship Pitch and Content Brainstorm Nathan stages a live negotiation to sponsor Millo and directly corners Preston to name a price on air. Preston playfully but firmly refuses to quote live pricing, insisting they negotiate off the record.10:48–15:38 · Nathan pushing back 1/10 Day Job, Social Channels, and Contest Reminder The interview transitions smoothly into Preston's day job, social links, and the rapid-fire Famous Five routine with high mutual rapport and host ad reads.

speaking balance: gold is Nathan, purple is the guest (3 minute bins)

0:00 · Nathan 63.5% · guest 36.5%0:00 · Nathan 63.5% · guest 36.5%3:00 · Nathan 17.6% · guest 82.4%3:00 · Nathan 17.6% · guest 82.4%6:00 · Nathan 34.8% · guest 65.2%6:00 · Nathan 34.8% · guest 65.2%9:00 · Nathan 57.7% · guest 42.3%9:00 · Nathan 57.7% · guest 42.3%12:00 · Nathan 59.1% · guest 40.9%12:00 · Nathan 59.1% · guest 40.9%15:00 · Nathan 81.8% · guest 18.2%15:00 · Nathan 81.8% · guest 18.2%
Sharpest disagreement ▶ 10:30 Refusal to quote pricing on air

Preston firmly sets a boundary when Nathan puts him on the spot to negotiate sponsorship rates live on air, pushing the pricing conversation off the record.

 Hardest push from Nathan ▶ 7:16 Insisting on breakdown of pricing tiers

When Preston explains that Millo is just a side project to account for modest revenues, Nathan re-presses him to specifically explain his unit economics and pricing tiers.

 Biggest teaching moment ▶ 7:36 Explaining productized sponsorship tiers

Preston educates the host on how he productized ad inventory from $400 to $1,850 per month and tailors custom email packages for enterprise sponsors.

 Nathan holds their own ▶ 2:18 Demonstrating web traffic and backlink expertise

Nathan demonstrates operational diligence by pulling live metrics on Millo's web traffic rankings, comment ratios, and backlink counts directly into the interview.
the scores for every segment, with the reasoning behind each
ChapterTopicNathan as informed peerGuest teachingGuest disagreementNathan pushing backWhy
Overview of Millo.co and Audience Growth 6212 Nathan demonstrates authority early by pulling up live traffic data, site rankings, and inbound backlinks to evaluate Millo's reach. Preston collaboratively shares his email list numbers and founding history.
Sponsorship Model and Partnership Case Studies 5234 Nathan inquires about media kits and attempts to get specific client spend figures for Design Cuts. Preston politely declines to disclose private partner revenues, prompting Nathan to pivot to deliverable types.
Side-Project Dynamics and Tiered Pricing Packages 6325 Nathan presses Preston on why revenue is capped at $8k/mo and insists on understanding the exact sponsorship pricing structure. Preston clarifies his lifestyle side-project intent and outlines his productized package tiers.
Live Sponsorship Pitch and Content Brainstorm 5245 Nathan stages a live negotiation to sponsor Millo and directly corners Preston to name a price on air. Preston playfully but firmly refuses to quote live pricing, insisting they negotiate off the record.
Day Job, Social Channels, and Contest Reminder 4111 The interview transitions smoothly into Preston's day job, social links, and the rapid-fire Famous Five routine with high mutual rapport and host ad reads.

Statements from this episode (7)

Assertion Not checkable as stated
Preston Lee: Millo reaches 30,000 email subscribers, growing 1,500 monthly
“So our email list is about 30,000 right now. We grow by about 1500 every month.”
Preston Lee Jun 11, 2016 ▶ 2:37
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Preston Lee: Millo makes about $8,000 monthly from sponsorships
“So now it is a business. It's sponsor based. And we make about 8000 dollars a month on sponsorships this year.”
Preston Lee Jun 11, 2016 ▶ 4:08
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Lee: Millo generates $8,000 monthly revenue from 3 to 8 sponsors
“Anywhere between three and seven or eight.”
Preston Lee Jun 11, 2016 ▶ 5:00
Disclosure
Preston Lee: Millo generates $8k monthly on 5 to 8 hours weekly
“Oh, first of all, you know, generated eight K I work probably between five and eight hours a week on the project.”
Preston Lee Jun 11, 2016 ▶ 6:44
Disclosure
Preston Lee: Millo will not raise venture capital or build large team
“Right now our goal is not necessarily to amass, you know, we don't want to raise any capital or we don't want to build a huge Huge, enormous team. And don't necessarily, we're not necessarily interested in growing a huge, enormous business right now.”
Preston Lee Jun 11, 2016 ▶ 6:55
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Preston Lee: Millo's $1,850/month sponsorship package is its most popular
“Our lowest is, like, 400 a month, and that gets you basically nothing. I mean, no one even goes for that one, to be honest. And our highest one is about 18 50 a month, and that's actually our most popular.”
Preston Lee Jun 11, 2016 ▶ 7:40
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Preston Lee: Millo's newsletter reaches 30,000 subscribers 16 times monthly
“They get placement in our email newsletter that goes out to 30,000 people, 16 times a month.”
Preston Lee Jun 11, 2016 ▶ 8:19
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