I’m experiencing something I’ve only ever read about.

Last week Tara and I released our self-produced vertical micro rom-com series, “Hot Ghost Roommate.”

Vertical series (shot vertically for your phone) are a pretty new phenomenon. They started in China, and have slowly made their way to the U.S. with a bunch of different distributors entering the game. And you know what distributors need? Good product.

So, I sent a few cold emails… and got very quick responses. Much faster than usual. And it took me a few days to realize why:

I’ve caught a small wave in the “rising tide” of a new industry.

I’ve had this quote stuck in my head for years. It’s from the late Felix Dennis (the founder of Maxim magazine) in his book, “How To Get Rich.”

“New or rapidly developing industries, whether glamorous or not, very often provide more opportunities to get rich than established sectors. The three reasons for this are availability of risk capital, ignorance and the power of a rising tide.”

Remember what I said about new distributors for vertical series popping up? Many of these are startups who see a ton of opportunity in the space and are trying to establish themselves.

One of the cold emails I sent was to a CEO of one of these new distributors, and he responded almost immediately. He watched “Hot Ghost Roommate” and had some great questions and thoughtful things to say about what he was trying to build.

Who’s to say if there’s a partnership to be had between him and us. But at least we got the conversation started because we had something of quality to show him that was very different in tone and execution than what he’s used to seeing.

That’s the power of entering a rapidly growing industry… everything is new and everyone is trying to figure out together where things are going.

This is the other thing I’m noticing. Because Tara and I made a vertical series, we learned a lot really quickly about the format.

I’m not saying we’re experts.

But the simple act of making something good gives people the impression that we know what we’re talking about.

(And most of the time I think we do… at least 50% of the time. Definitely 20%).

No one knows everything. But if you can establish yourself as an expert in a new field, there’s going to be opportunity when people look to you for answers. Never disregard all the specific knowledge you’ve built up.

The newcomers who are here because of the growth potential will look to you and your knowledge as someone to learn from.

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This is the other big thing I’m learning in real time. Your first job is to make the thing. And your second job is to market it. I look to Arnold Schwarzenegger for advice on this:

“Whenever I finished filming a movie, I felt my job was only half done. Every film had to be nurtured in the marketplace. You can have the greatest movie in the world, but if you don't get it out there, if people don't know about it, you have nothing.”

First, as soon as comments started coming in for “Hot Ghost Roommate,” I compiled them into little sharable pages and posted these to Instagram:

Then, I sent a cold email to a woman who is quickly establishing herself as a global vertical drama expert. I just told her I appreciated her work and that my wife and I had made this little indie project if she wanted to check it out.

Well, she did check it out, and then wrote a lovely review on Instagram (thank you Jen!!):

So send cold emails. If they are relevant, brief, and actually add value, you’ll get responses. And that goes 10x if you’re in a new or rapidly developing industry.

Finally, serious thanks to everyone who has watched or reached out (thanks Andrew!) about “Hot Ghost Roommate.” I appreciate each and every one of you.

Thanks for reading.

-Thomas

P.S. AI is moving fast and you have to keep up. This is how you…

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