📹 A 10-year-old made how much?

PLUS: States are caking off weed taxes. January 13, 2022 [The Hustle] Wordle, the viral word game taking over the internet, already has copycats. One developer created a clone in Apple’s App Store, and charged $30 for a premium version. After a flurry of downloads, he boastfully tweeted about “going to the moon.” Shortly after, Apple removed his game, along with other clones. The lesson? Don’t mess with Wordle. Today’s rundown: - Ryan’s World: How a 10-year-old became YouTube’s top earner. - Not enough ears: The number of podcasts is skyrocketing. Are listeners? - Pot of gold: States have made $10.4B in cannabis tax revenue. - Around the web: Lego apps, a database of Black hair for video games, birding guides, and more cool internet finds. Let’s do it. The Big Idea [Ryan’s World]( How a 10-year-old became the king of toys, and YouTube Many parents struggle to figure out how much time to let their kids spend in front of screens. Loann and Shion Kaji have the opposite problem — figuring out how much time to let their son spend in front of the camera. Their 10-year-old, Ryan, is the star of “Ryan’s World,” a toy-centric YouTube empire that [earned]( the family $25m+ in 2020, per The New York Times. “Ryan’s World” started small The 1st video features 3-year-old Ryan making his “pick of the week” in the toy aisle at Target (he picked a Lego train). Worried that buying a new toy every week would get expensive, the Kajis set a weekly production budget of $20. When one of Ryan’s videos went viral, they no longer had to worry about that. After experiencing explosive growth from his toy review and unboxing videos, both parents eventually quit their jobs to help build Ryan’s brand. The key to their success? There’s no shortage of toy videos on YouTube, but the Kajis realized most of them are focused on the toy brand. They differentiated by making Ryan the star of the show — leading to monster growth: - The [channel]( now counts 31.3m subscribers - “Ryan’s World” branded merchandise brought in $250m in 2020 - Ryan landed his own Nickelodeon show, “Ryan’s Mystery Playdate” The next chapter is about expanding beyond Ryan The Kajis have done so by creating animated characters under the “Ryan’s World” banner. Two examples are “Combo Panda” and “Gus the Gummy Gator,” which have ~2m and ~1.3m YouTube subscribers, respectively. By offloading hosting duties to cartoons, the Kajis are able to limit Ryan’s time in front of the camera. If they’re successful enough, they just might have to start limiting his screen time, like any other 10-year-old. [Share on Facebook]( [Share on Twitter]( [Send as email to a friend](mailto:?subject=The%20Hustle%20wrote%20something%20I%20think%20you%27ll%20like...%0A&body=How+a+10-year-old+became+the+king+of+toys%2C+and+YouTube%0Ahttps%3A%2F%2Fthehustle.co%2F01132022-Ryans-World%3Futm_campaign%3DThursday%2BEmail%26utm_content%3D01132022-Ryans-World%26utm_medium%3Demail%26utm_source%3Ddaily%0A%0AYou%20can%20subscribe%20with%20my%20link%20here%20to%20get%20the%20latest%20in%20tech%20and%20business%20daily:%0A [View on our website]( SNIPPETS NFTs for all: The Associated Press [announced]( plans to launch an NFT marketplace where collectors can purchase the agency’s historic photojournalism. Foxtrot, a startup aiming to reinvent the convenience store, [raised]( $100m and plans to expand its physical footprint by opening 25 new stores in 2022. Return season: UPS [announced]( it will handle 60m returns between Nov. 14 and Jan 22, a new record for the company and a 10% jump from last year. 3 high-performing copywriting tips: By Trendster Bobby Durben, who’s [copywritten]( for The Boston Beer Company, Salesforce, DoorDash, and Dunkin’. --------------------------------------------------------------- Hey — enjoy getting quick updates on what you care about? Take [20 seconds]( to personalize your Snippets. Pick your preferences👇 and we’ll send you more of what you love. Boom. [Personalize my Email →]( All ears [number of podcasts to monthly active users]( The podcast conundrum The number of podcasts on Spotify is growing far more rapidly than the number of ears that can listen to them. Over the last few years, Spotify’s user base grew 84% while the number of podcasts available skyrocketed 1630%. The result: For listeners, it’s harder to discover stuff to listen to. For podcasters, it’s harder to find underserved markets to podcast for. Consequently, you aren’t often seeing major hits. On average, the top 10 podcasts in the US in 2021 were [7+]( years old. A few of them are 10+ years old. Among the top 50, just a handful are less than 2 years old. This speaks to the challenge major studios now face in making a hit (Spotify alone has spent $500m on 3 studios). (P.S. If listening’s your thing, we’ve got something cool coming soon.) [Share on Facebook]( [Share on Twitter]( [Send as email to a friend](mailto:?subject=The%20Hustle%20wrote%20something%20I%20think%20you%27ll%20like...%0A&body=The+podcast+conundrum%0Ahttps%3A%2F%2Fthehustle.co%2F01132022-podcasts%3Futm_campaign%3DRyans%2BWorld%26utm_content%3D01132022-podcasts%26utm_medium%3Demail%26utm_source%3Ddaily%0A%0AYou%20can%20subscribe%20with%20my%20link%20here%20to%20get%20the%20latest%20in%20tech%20and%20business%20daily:%0A [View on our website]( Free Resource Cost-per-action ad marketing, explained In 2022, paying for impressions and clicks is old news. CPA ads directly link marketing campaigns with business success, since you only pay when a desired action (like signing up, filling out, or making a purchase) is performed. Learn about CPA marketing options and strategies for top advertising platforms like Google, Facebook, and Pinterest. HubSpot Marketing explains [high-ROI CPA marketing]((YouTube): - CPA advertising overview (i.e., affiliate, native, socials) - How platforms prioritize bidding - 3 tips to improve Facebook quality rankings - Best-practice Pinterest CPA ad examples - Choosing the right “lookback” metric More on getting the best bang for your buck below. [Cost-per-action ad tactics →]( Puff Puff Tax [dollar sign]( States are making bank off weed taxes All that staying home was apparently good for the weed industry. In 2020, US cannabis sales hit a record $17.5B, [per]( Forbes. But a new [report]( from the Marijuana Policy Project found that states are also profiting. The [18 states]( that have legalized recreational cannabis have raked in $10.4B in tax revenue since 2014. A few examples: - Colorado, which kicked off legal adult-use sales in 2014, has collected $1.79B. - Alaska (2016) has generated $95m. - California (2018) — the largest state by population — has collected $3.1B. The report does not include local tax revenues… … but cities pull in money, too. Denver has generated $237.5m. California’s West Hollywood sees itself as a future Amsterdam. It currently has 6 dispensaries in 1.8 square miles, [generating]( $2.2m a year. Where does the money go? Every state is different, but many support schools, infrastructure, or nonprofits. For example, Colorado splits its money among [funds]( including the [Building Excellent Schools Today]( (BEST) Fund. Since 2014, it has received [$325m+]( in excise taxes. California has given ~$100m to organizations that work with communities harmed by the war on drugs, [per]( AP News. Michigan [generated]( $45.7m in 2020 from excise taxes and fees, which it splits between its School Aid Fund, the Michigan Transportation Fund, municipalities and counties, and admin costs. Fun fact: A [2021 study]( from the Pew Research Center found that only 8% of US adults think cannabis should be illegal, while 31% are cool with medical use and 60% are fine with recreational use, too. [Share on Facebook]( [Share on Twitter]( [Send as email to a friend](mailto:?subject=The%20Hustle%20wrote%20something%20I%20think%20you%27ll%20like...%0A&body=States+are+making+bank+off+weed+taxes%0Ahttps%3A%2F%2Fthehustle.co%2F01132022-weed-taxes%3Futm_campaign%3DRyans%2BWorld%26utm_content%3D01132022-weed-taxes%26utm_medium%3Demail%26utm_source%3Ddaily%0A%0AYou%20can%20subscribe%20with%20my%20link%20here%20to%20get%20the%20latest%20in%20tech%20and%20business%20daily:%0A [View on our website]( AROUND THE WEB 🏀 On this day: In 1986, the NCAA [adopted]( Prop 48, which mandated minimum high school grades and test scores for students who wanted to play sports. 🐦 How to: Need a relaxing hobby? This [short guide]( to birding features 10 common birds in Quebec, but also tips for bird-watching anywhere. 🎮 That’s cool: Black hair in video games is often poorly designed. Enter the [Open Source Afro Hair Library](, a free database launching in 2023 to which Black artists can contribute 3D assets and art. 📸 Useful: [Brickit]( is an app that will scan and catalog your Lego bricks, then suggest models you can build with what you have. 📫 Cure boredom: 404PageFound is a [collection]( of old websites, like “The Chupacabra Home Page” and a You’ve Got Mail fansite. 🥚 Aww: And now, 2 dwarf mongooses [play]( with toy eggs. Meme of the day [Ryans World meme] Don’t let it get you down. (Source: [Reddit]() SHARE THE HUSTLE Hey. Stop keeping us a secret. Refer just 3 people and we’ll start to send some goodies as a thank you. [My First Million ebook]( Spread the news. 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