Inside the Ropes with No Laying Up and Neil Schuster - [Making Media, EP.15]
Making Media
How to Make Money on Merch
"It is good to be sold out and you'll be criticized for it. You should be sold out on high-end stuff," he says. "I think what I've learned is that merch, whether you like it or not, it's like hand-to-hand combat." He adds: "There's just a lot of grunt work that goes along with it"
We’re joined by the co-founder of Golf’s leading podcast and media business, Neil Schuster. No Laying Up has humble roots but has quickly become an influential force in the Golf world. The small team has captured the mood of golf fans through incisive analysis, conversations with the sports’ stars, and original travel videos that make you want to pick your clubs up. It was a thrill to sit down with Neil and discuss their content strategy, how they’ve developed a large and profitable merch operation, and why their message board is the epicentre of the business. Please enjoy this discussion about one of my favourite media companies.
Neil’s Business Breakdown of the PGA Tour.
For the full show notes, transcript, and links to the best content to learn more, check out the episode page here.
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Show Notes
(00:03:50) - (First question) - Overview of No Laying Up and how its various components fit together
(00:07:03) - The differences in how they present themselves on Twitter versus Instagram
(00:09:55) - What their mission is as No Laying Up
(00:13:26) - Going from idea to execution and how they arrive at a group consensus
(00:16:10) - Honing in on avid golfers as their audience
(00:18:15) - The No Laying Up podcast and its evolution
(00:24:05) - How cultivating characters and inside jokes builds audience loyalty
(00:29:57) - Taking a stance on things makes for more engaging content
(00:31:54) - The Trap Draw and their podcast strategy writ large
(00:35:17) - The original insight that lead to bringing DJ into the fold and expanding to video
(00:38:36) - Lessons learned about storytelling with video in general
(00:43:41) - Not using YouTube as a dumping ground for discoverability
(00:47:21) - Why they are choosing to grow slowly and take their time
(00:50:31) - Diversifying business risk with a membership community and how they built it
(00:56:56) - The decision to bring on Kevin Van Valkenburg from ESPN
(01:02:57) - Launching the NLU pro shop
(01:07:59) - What he’s learned about doing merch well and profitably
(01:12:02) - Collaborating with and structuring brand partnerships
(01:17:30) - Never solving internal team communication but improving it every day
(01:24:39) - How the size of their business and audience has impacted their team
(01:30:22) - Industry relationships and NLU’s role in the world of golf today
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