The key thing about picks, shovels, and subscriber-only podcasts is that the customer pays upfront. So whether or not they work, you get paid. And if they don'

The key thing about picks, shovels, and subscriber-only podcasts is that the customer pays upfront. So whether or not they work, you get paid. And if they don't work for a particular customer, well, that's probably user error, right? You only need one or two great stories to power your marketing. If you sell 10,000 shovels and one person gets rich... put that person in your ads and sell 10,000 more shovels. A lot of businesses depend on this marketing model... lotteries, casinos, app stores, college basketball, college football, etc.