Creator Playbooks

Stories behind some of the world's best creators & entrepreneurs.Hosted by Callum McDonnell.Watch on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCQtecnleIYyODepmiC-c7PQ

Creator Playbooks is a business podcast hosted by Callum Mcdonnell, with 52 episodes on record and a Required Pod Score of 80. PitchCentric scores this show on Booking Probability, Listen Score, and live audience signals refreshed every 24 hours.

Callum Mcdonnell hosts Creator Playbooks, a business show with 52 episodes published.

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  Creator Playbooks

  Founder Vlog: 10 Downing Street, Private Jet Shoot & Podcast Strategy Day

  Jul 23, 202615 min

  Get weekly content growth playbooks in my FREE newsletter: https://bit.ly/3T7VV13 Work with me: https://bit.ly/4fLrshW A look inside a week running a content led business, from 10 Downing Street to a private jet shoot and a full team strategy day. In this vlog, I take you behind the scenes of a visit to 10 Downing Street, a private jet shoot for a new podcast, and a day spent with the team mapping out our next strategy moves. A real look at what it takes to build a content led business, from client work and recording sessions to networking and creative strategy. Follow Callum on socials: Instagram, https://www.instagram.com/thecallummc/ TikTok, https://www.tiktok.com/@heycallum X, https://x.com/mcdonnellcallum LinkedIn, https://www.linkedin.com/in/callummcdonnell Produced by 7xContent - make your own Podcast with us here: https://www.7xcontent.com/ Timecodes: 00:00 – Intro: A Week in the Life 00:58 – Heading to London for the Private Jet Shoot 01:23 – On Set: Private Jet Business Interview 02:56 – Inside the Showroom: Building a Standout Business 03:32 – The LinkedIn Play: Meeting Lara Acosta 04:24 – Why Most People Get Their Market Wrong 05:15 – The Real Reason People Start a Podcast 05:57 – What C-Suite Clients Actually Want 06:23 – Team Day Begins 07:09 – Packaging Teardown: What Makes a Thumbnail Work 07:30 – CTR Benchmarks You Need to Hit 08:05 – From 100K to 14M Subscribers 08:44 – Rating Hooks and Trailers 09:43 – Heading to 10 Downing Street 10:35 – Walking Through the Corridors of Power 11:48 – Inside Number 10 12:36 – Meeting the Prime Minister's Wife (and the Cat) 13:26 – A Surreal Evening 14:26 – Wrapping the Week

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  Creator Playbooks

  World’s No 1 LinkedIn Creator: I’ll 10x Your Reach in 92 Minutes

  Jun 24, 20261h 32m

  Get the FREE breakdown of Lara's frameworks in my newsletter: https://bit.ly/4w4oRVK Apply to work with me: https://bit.ly/3SgmP6z Lara Acosta is a founder, creator, and personal branding strategist who built a 7-figure business through LinkedIn.With 320K+ followers and thousands of students, she’s become one of the fastest-growing voices in personal branding - known for turning content into authority, attention into opportunity, and audience into revenue.In this episode, she breaks down the exact frameworks behind her growth - and why most people fail on LinkedIn (even if they’re consistent).This is a full personal branding masterclass.We get into:Why most people aren’t growing (and it’s not the algorithm)The SMPV framework to 10X your reachHow to structure content that actually convertsThe difference between creators and real operator-buildersWhy storytelling beats “educational content”Lara also shares:Her 4-3-2-1 content system (and how to apply it)The SLAY storytelling framework that drives engagementHow to build an audience that actually buysWhy email is her highest revenue channelHow to monetise a personal brand without brand dealsPlus: content strategy, LinkedIn growth, building a community (not just followers), and why most founders are over-optimising the wrong things.Follow Lara:Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/laraacostar/LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/laraacostar/Produced by 7xContent: make your own podcast with us: https://www.7xcontent.com/contactFollow Callum:Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thecallummc/LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/callummcdonnell/Timestamps:00:00 Storytelling vs educational content (what actually works)01:00 Why most people aren’t growing on LinkedIn02:00 The SMPV framework (skill, market, problem, value)03:30 How to find your skill + what to post about05:00 Selling to the right audience (and why most creators are broke)06:30 Content that drives leads vs content that gets likes08:00 Why LinkedIn is different from other platforms09:00 The 4-3-2-1 content framework explained10:30 Ideal client vs ideal follower (underrated growth lever)12:00 Why email is the real monetisation engine13:30 Educational content: broad → narrow → niche strategy15:00 Why storytelling is the most powerful format16:30 ICP vs IFP content (and how to balance both)18:00 Going viral vs growing in your niche19:00 The “one” strategy: lead magnets + email funnels20:00 The SLAY framework (story, lesson, action, you)22:00 Writing posts that actually get engagement23:30 The psychology behind LinkedIn formatting25:00 Likes, comments & what actually matters26:00 Why you shouldn’t ask for likes or follows27:00 Building brand equity vs constantly selling28:30 What makes a high-converting lead magnet30:00 How to plan content without batching32:00 Why most content feels the same33:00 Using AI to write better content (properly)35:00 Best formats on LinkedIn (and why it depends on you)37:00 Finding your unique content style39:00 Metrics vs “vibes” (what to actually track)40:30 AI comments & fake engagement41:30 Why Lara does everything herself42:30 The importance of commenting daily44:00 Building community through comments45:00 Why you shouldn’t outsource your personal brand too early47:00 Scaling vs authenticity (founder trade-offs)49:00 Over-optimisation and why it kills growth50:00 LinkedIn algorithm changes + profile importance51:30 How to position your profile properly53:00 Optimising your featured section for revenue54:30 Why niche matters (and “you are the niche” is wrong)56:00 Banner, profile & conversion tips57:00 Monetisation: content → email → sales58:30 Newsletter strategy + launch model01:00:00 Using trends + storytelling in emails01:01:30 Building trust through long-form content01:02:00 Final thoughts + full playbook recap

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  Creator Playbooks

  Meet The Marketing Genius Working with Red Bull, Nike & ASOS

  May 20, 20261h 9mS0

  <p>Get the breakdown of Sedge's frameworks in my free newsletter: https://bit.ly/4tNXDkR Apply to work with me: https://bit.ly/499YncxSedge Beswick is a brand and influencer marketing expert who’s worked with Red Bull, Nike, and ASOS - where she built the iconic Insider Program - and scaled her own agency to a £24M valuation.In this episode, she breaks down what actually wins in marketing in 2026 - and why most brands don’t have a content problem, they have a structure problem.We get into:- Why brand + performance silos are killing growth- How Adidas reinve...

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  Creator Playbooks

  Meet The Advertising Genius Behind Steven Bartlett

  Apr 1, 20261h 30mS0

  <p>Get a breakdown of Tom's frameworks in my free newsletter: https://bit.ly/48JKUaa</p><p><br /></p><p>Apply to work with me:https://bit.ly/4aqqEew</p><p><br /></p><p>Tom Lewis is Steven Bartlett’s advertising performance partner and co-founder of Metastat. </p><p>At 22, he’s helped scale brands and creators by replacing guesswork with data.In this episode, Tom explains how top creators use paid ads to test thumbnails, titles, hooks, guests, and even product ideas before publishing, sometimes for under £100 on The Diary Of A CEO. </p><p>He shares how Meta ads c...

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  Creator Playbooks

  Marketing Genius: Social Media Is About to Change Forever (Here’s What to Do)

  Mar 25, 20261h 16mS0

  <p>Get the breakdown of Michael’s frameworks in my free newsletter: https://bit.ly/41tiga0</p><p>Apply to work with me: https://bit.ly/4bYmX1L</p><p>Michael is a brand and social media strategist known for his work at Ryanair and now through his consultancy, Slice. </p><p>In this episode, he explains why most brands do not have a content problem, they have a strategy problem and breaks down the 4 ways brands can actually win on social today.</p><p>From fast vs. slow social to prompted vs. unprompted discovery, repeatable formats, search, distribution, measurement, an...

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