In today's digital landscape, the intersection of expertise and content creation has become increasingly critical. Enter Brett Farmiloe, the founder of Featured.com, who has masterfully bridged this gap by creating a platform that connects industry experts with prestigious publishers. After running a successful digital marketing agency serving over 500 small businesses, Farmiloe recognized a fundamental truth: business owners possess vast expertise but lack effective channels to share their knowledge. This revelation led him to create Featured.com, a platform that now powers content for media giants like Fast Company, Forbes, and HubSpot, while helping experts gain valuable media exposure.

The journey from a digital marketing agency to building a two-sided marketplace that's doubling year over year wasn't straightforward. But Farmiloe's unique approach to solving the chicken-and-egg marketplace problem, combined with his dedication to product-led growth, has resulted in a platform that now serves over 1,000 prominent media outlets. This success story offers valuable insights for entrepreneurs building marketplace businesses and experts seeking to establish their authority in their respective fields.

Solving the Marketplace Dilemma: The Hard Side First

When building a two-sided marketplace, the age-old question remains: which side do you focus on first? Farmiloe's approach was influenced by studying successful marketplace businesses like Cameo, which started with D-list celebrities who were incredibly important to small, dedicated fan bases. This strategy allowed them to build momentum before attracting bigger names.

For Featured.com, the "hard side" of the marketplace was the publishers - the websites where experts wanted to be featured. Farmiloe focused on human resources publications initially, applying his background in recruitment. This targeted approach helped build credibility and create a foundation for attracting larger publishers.

The strategy paid off, with Featured.com now partnering with major players like Fast Company, Inc., Forbes, GoDaddy, and HubSpot, along with member-driven organizations like the American Marketing Association. This growth demonstrates the power of focusing on the difficult side of the marketplace first and building from there.

Product-Led Growth in a Changing Media Landscape

In an era where many startups rely heavily on sales teams, Featured.com has taken a different approach. With a pricing model of $49 per month, the focus has been on product-led growth rather than traditional sales strategies. This approach relies on delivering clear value: if experts get featured using the platform, they'll continue using it and recommend it to others.

The platform's success is closely tied to the evolution of content consumption and creation. With the rise of AI-generated content, publishers are increasingly seeking authentic expert voices to maintain credibility and meet Google's E-E-A-T (Experience, Expertise, Authority, and Trust) requirements. Featured.com positions itself at the intersection of this need for human expertise and publishers' demand for quality content.

This strategy has proven particularly effective as publishers like HubSpot use the platform to refresh their extensive content libraries with current, expert insights. The network effect of successful features - experts sharing their media appearances and attracting more users - has created a sustainable growth engine without the need for aggressive sales tactics.

Building and Maintaining a Lean Team

Key success metrics for Featured.com:

  • Team size: 7 people

  • Roles: 3 software engineers, 1 product manager, 2 marketplace specialists, 1 founder

  • Revenue: Doubling year over year

  • Publisher network: Over 1,000 active publishers

  • Monthly search traffic: Driving over 2 million visits to publishers

What's remarkable about Featured.com's growth is that it's been achieved with a lean team of just seven people. Farmiloe believes in keeping the team small and tight-knit, following the philosophy that "problems start when you need two cars for lunch." This approach has resulted in extraordinarily low turnover, with no team members leaving in over a year and a half.

The small team size hasn't hindered growth; instead, it's fostered a culture where everyone contributes to sales and marketing through their roles. The engineers, product managers, and customer service representatives all participate in using the platform, answering questions, and building their personal brands, creating an authentic representation of the product they're building.

Navigating the AI Revolution in Content Creation

The rise of AI has drastically changed the content landscape, disrupting traditional publishing models and creating new challenges and opportunities. Featured.com has adapted by focusing on the unique value of human expertise and authentic experiences that AI cannot replicate.

The platform has evolved from its original concept as a "decentralized Quora" to addressing the changing needs of publishers in an AI-dominated world. While AI can aggregate existing information, it cannot provide the fresh, experience-based insights that come from real experts sharing their current knowledge and perspectives.

Featured.com is exploring innovative ways to combine human expertise with AI assistance, looking at possibilities in text-to-audio and text-to-video transformations while maintaining the authenticity of expert voices. This balanced approach ensures the platform remains relevant and valuable in an increasingly AI-influenced content ecosystem.

Taking Action: Establishing Your Expertise in the Digital Age

For entrepreneurs and experts looking to build their authority and visibility, the time to act is now. Featured.com offers a unique opportunity to share your expertise with major publications while building your personal brand. Start by signing up for the platform's freemium model, which allows you to answer up to three questions per month at no cost. This gives you a chance to test the waters and see how your expertise can be valuable to publishers and their audiences.

Remember that building authority isn't just about getting featured once - it's about consistently sharing your knowledge and experiences across various platforms and publications. Whether you're a startup founder, industry professional, or subject matter expert, your insights are valuable, and there's never been a better time to share them with the world.

Consider starting today by visiting Featured.com and exploring how you can contribute your expertise to leading publications. Your knowledge could be exactly what publishers and their audiences are looking for, and the visibility gained could open doors to unprecedented opportunities for your business and personal brand.

Thank you for joining me this week. Don’t forget to share Startups with Stu with your friends, family, and your favorite founder so they can check out the show!



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