Katya Varbanova (Katya.com)

11 years ago, I was making £8 an hour working at a marketing agency as a brand & marketing campaign manager for Superdry! Today, brands & public figures pay me $3k per hour to consult on their viral marketing & brand strategy. Here are 10 few lessons I wish I learnt sooner (a thread) 👇 #marketing #consulting

I’ve never met a successful entrepreneur who creates jobs have a problem with Taylor Swift releasing a ton of album variants. Not one. The only people mad are the ones who still think “monetization” is a dirty word. Here’s the truth: Assets build. Money out. That’s how you create impact, not just a living. Taylor Swift isn’t “being greedy.” She’s doing what every smart business owner does: She’s turning intellectual property into a portfolio. Her albums are assets. And assets can (and should) be monetized in every possible way: - Variants - Bundles - Deluxe editions - Collectibles - Exclusives - Limited drops That’s not manipulation. That’s business. And I stand by this for every artist, every creative, and every business owner. Because if you’re building something real, you don’t apologize for scaling it. You build it. You package it. You sell it. You reinvest it. You hire. You grow. That’s the game. If you’re offended by Taylor Swift selling variants, you’re not mad at her. You’re mad that she understands value.

So how does one write X-native long form articles?

Hot take: I’d rather build a $10m business that makes $100k profit than have the $150k business that makes $100k profit. And I’m saying this as someone who’s done the latter.

I have over 250k followers (combined across all social accounts) - sometimes I get 400 views, sometimes I get 5M views. And I am okay with that. We are living in an era of social media where your follower number doesn’t matter. And I am okay with that. I have almost as many paying customers as I have followers on Instagram. I am okay with that. Bottom line is… create content you want to. Don’t get overly attached to the results. Just post.

🚨 Disney just partnered with OpenAI to bring its iconic characters into Sora (OpenAI’s video-generation model). Read that again. Mickey. Marvel. Pixar. Star Wars. Soon able to exist, perform, and evolve inside AI-generated worlds. This is not just a licensing deal. It’s the official handshake between legacy media and generative AI. And it changes everything. Here’s what this really means: 👉 Studios won’t just film stories. They’ll generate them. 👉 Characters will be programmable, not just played by actors. 👉 Entire scenes, spin-offs, or trailers could be AI-created… in minutes. We’re moving toward a world where you could: ✨ Make your own Star Wars episode ✨ Watch 5 endings to the same movie ✨ Co-write a Pixar short with your kid ✨ Build a new storyline for Elsa, just for fun The future of media will be: 🔹 On-demand 🔹 Audience-personalized 🔹 Faster, cheaper, and creatively infinite And Disney’s not stupid. They know attention is shifting. They’re not fighting AI. They’re feeding it. Because the next generation won’t just watch content. They’ll interact with it. Shape it. Maybe even star in it. AI is not replacing storytelling. It’s supercharging it. The question is: Will you be a consumer in this new world? Or a creator in it? #disney #openai #aiforbusinessowners #ainews #aimarketing #sora2 #chatgpt #aiforbranding #viralmarketingstars

And the award for the AI company with the worst customer support goes to… @suno. It’s so bad, it’s non-existent. It doesn’t matter if you’re a Premium annual paying customer, if you email them today, you’ll be waiting weeks and still get no reply. And no amount of DM-ing on social media helps either.

Nano Banana vs Nano Banana Pro vs Seedream 4

Nano Banana vs Nano Banana Pro

Is Nike’s ‘Why Do It?’ Campaign Timely? retailwire.com/discussion/ni…

Can we talk about Ragebait marketing for a second because American Eagle and e.l.f. 👀 may have just given us a masterclass on it. I wrote a piece on it for @FortuneMagazine. Big shoutout to @syddlake who made this happen. fortune.com/2025/08/29/sydne…

So basically, Love Island USA splits all the exclusive couples and gets rid of them 🤣 #loveislandusa

If you’ve ever said:  “I don’t know what to post...”, “I have ideas but can’t find them...” or “I’m winging it, and it shows...” I have two things for you: 1) This post. 2) And the solution: The Viral Marketing Stars® Content Hub (Comment "hub" for the link).  Because while this idea list will help you for a month... The Content Hub will help you forever. It’s my Notion-powered system that stores every caption, video, hook, blog, podcast, quote, and draft in one place - and reminds you to reuse it before your ideas go moldy in your archives. 🍞 If content creation feels like a full-time job… It’s time to systemize. 👉 Comment "HUB," and I'll send you the link to my brand-new content management, repurposing, and tracking system. #contentstrategy #instagramcontentideas #contentcreatortools #notiontemplates #contentideas #socialmediaideas #contentcalendar #contentplan #viralmarketingstars #contentmarketing

🥳 And the product isn’t even done! We’re just in pre-sale stage!  My type A, Virgo obsessive organizer alter ego is celebrating the 50 of you who are about to get your sh*t together, organize your content, post consistently & skyrocket your income.  If you haven’t pre-ordered it yet, what are you waiting for?  💬 Comment “hub” for the link 🔥 Over the last 10+ years, I’ve helped 20,000+ entrepreneurs go viral, generate hot leads & attract life-changing business opportunities through social media and personal branding.  I’ve also generated 100m+ views for my brand, gone viral on every platform you can think of and featured in over 80 publications like Forbes, Business Insider, Fortune etc.  So I know a little bit about the power of social media, going viral, having 24/7 sales notifications and how life changing building your brand can be IF you post content consistently.  With my content hub, you can create, manage & repurpose content like a pro - without the overwhelm - so you can stay organized, post consistently & grow your audience & income, effortlessly. Whether you're a creator, an entrepreneur, or a small business, you’ll finally: ✅ Organize your content chaos ✅ Repurpose like a genius ✅ Track what’s actually working ✅ Create faster & post consistently 💬 Comment “hub” to pre-order my content creation, management & repurposing Notion system - so you can post consistently and grow your income without the chaos! 🔥 #contentmanagementsystem #contentmanagement #contentrepurposing #contentmarketingexpert #viralmarketingstars #notiontemplate #socialmediamarketing #socialmediamarketingexpert

Not to be dramatic, but I've created something to help you stay organized, post consistently & finally turn your content into cash (as an entrepreneur/creator) instead of letting it rot in your drafts like a forgotten avocado. 🥑💀 And it's almost ready for pre-sale. 💰

Today marks 3 months since I began my health sabbatical, and I’m slowly getting back to work 💖. So, as you can imagine, I haven’t exactly been focused on showing up and creating new things. But I did spend this time organizing my life and business - my home, my health routine, and guess what else? 👉 My content management & repurposing system! As a creator with ADHD, I used to feel constantly overwhelmed, drowning in content chaos - ideas scattered across 50 different apps, struggling to post consistently because of analysis paralysis. But the content system I’ve relied on for the last few years? A total lifesaver. So, over the last few weeks, I made it my passion project to perfect it - organizing the best pieces of content I’ve created so I can: ✔ Create faster ✔ Repurpose with ease ✔ Stay consistent effortlessly - even when life gets in the way And it got me thinking… maybe I should turn this into a system you can copy and use as well. A system that: ✅ Keeps all your platforms, content ideas, drafts, and published posts in one central place - so nothing gets lost. ✅ Turns one post into 10+ pieces of content - without the manual copy-paste chaos. ✅ Streamlines your workflow so you can create more content in less time and collaborate seamlessly with your team - without burnout. So tell me - would you be interested in buying this? If enough people say yes, I’ll make it happen. — Katya P.S. This isn’t just another content tracker. It’s a complete system designed to help you organize ALL your ideas, swipes, and inspirations while staying consistent, repurposing smarter, and growing your audience & business faster. P.S. 2 - My platform of choice for this system is Notion, but I'd love to hear what you use/prefer.  Let me know! <3

Last week, Blake Lively’s side argued there’s a war between PR firms & they don’t want their competitors to access trade secrets, leads they’re going after or clients’ business strategies or marketing plans. Baldoni’s lawyer: “Your honor, that’s ridiculous. Everyone knows who’s PR representing who. That’s not a trade secret”. Me: No one argued that, Bryan. No issues with WHO current clients are. The clients’ business plans & new leads are the issue. ⬇️ TODAY Judge Liman understood the assignment. The following categories of information may be designated “Attorney’s Eyes Only”. - Trade secrets, confidential business plans, marketing plans and strategies for clients; confidential business projects or leads on projects for clients; confidential creative projects or ideas. In other words, Bryan, sit down. This IS a war between PR firms & just because publicists talk about their existing clients in the media, that doesn’t negate the need to protect other information. 🎤