YATM ✊ | Building People Around You, Not Just Followers
You Are The Media
from Mark Masters
You Are The Media (YATM) is the home for marketing misfits. It started in 2013 at the seaside, in England 🌊 The community is built around creativity, interdependence, visibility, experimentation and co-learning.
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Hi YATMers, I’m Katie Roberton and I hand make personalised ceramics to order. I make tea cups and mugs most often but I also make plates, tea pots, chandeliers and anything else that I might receive a commission for. I have some really famous clients including Lady Gaga, Elton John and the late Queen Elizabeth II. I love making things that are beautiful, extremely personal and make people happy, encouraging laughter and joy. Some of them are rather rude so do exercise caution! It’s not everyone’s ‘cup of tea’ - excuse the pun (!) but one of my favourite films I want you to watch is True Romance. I love it and have watched it more times than I can remember. It’s got many disturbing scenes but true love wins in the end and I’m a bit of a romantic!
The reason to build something for people to feel a part of is for future protection.
As AI takes more of the work we used to do ourselves and personalised content on demand, the responsibility to bring people together becomes your difference.
An addressable audience where you have a direct relationship is going to be what ensures you’re still here and not be replaced.
Last Thursday, we hosted our London Lunch Club event.
Earlier this year we tested out if it could work in a different location and we’re now finding our place. The intention is to grow this one town and city at a time.
What made the most impact was that it’s now starting to feel like a supportive group where during the session we can share and swap ideas, then afterwards, we made sure we rallied around each other for our own efforts.
From a comment in a LinkedIn post to a thread in the WhatsApp Group, no one was left in isolation.
When the event finished, most people stayed and we enjoyed each other’s company in the great setting we have of a pub in Wandsworth.
By anchoring the conversation in a shared topic, people were able to help each other in real time.
What I am learning is this, it matters not just to host events, but to build a network, that can protect and propel all of us in ways a social media post never could.
This is community as future insurance. You’re building something that will thank you a few years down the line. It is something organic, meaningful, and resilient in a world where AI abstracts the human parts out of the work.
The intention is this: the people in your orbit know each other, and through that, they get to know you. You create spaces where connection happens naturally and where people feel part of the overall effort.
What Matters
We don’t need more followers, we need more friends.
The questions that matter:
😉 Are people helping each other?
😉 Are they contributing to your ideas?
😉 Are they building a network that sustains them, and you, into the future?
When people are invested in each other, you create resilience.
When your audience knows one another, they amplify the work without being asked. They remind each other why your work matters. They keep the belief alive, even when you’re not in the room.
I’m watching it happen.
Giving People A Role
Here’s the shift many creators miss: people don’t just want to consume, they want to contribute.
When people help shape the work, they invest in it. When they invest, they stay. And when they stay, the whole community gains strength.
This becomes even more important as AI accelerates content production. What AI can’t replicate is the feeling of being involved of having a meaningful part to play.
The principle I am leaning into is how to create structures where people can add their perspective, share their experiences, and influence the direction of the room. It turns passive attendees into active participants.
That’s the difference between a transaction and collaboration.
Learning From Expert Connectors
Connection doesn’t happen by accident, it’s designed.
The people you bring together, the topics you choose, and the structure of your space all matter.
Priya Parker, author of The Art Of Gathering, says, “In a group, if everybody thinks about the other person’s needs, everyone’s needs are actually fulfilled in the end. But if you only think about yourself, you are breaking that contract.”
For our Lunch Clubs we pick a theme, create space for discussion, and follow up in a way that keeps the conversation alive.
This is the essence of community as future insurance: creating conditions where people meet each other, contribute to something larger than themselves, and know there’s a space they can return to.
The Compounding Power Of Small Interactions
It’s the small, repeated actions that matter.
A single event can spark a connection, but it’s the follow-ups, the LinkedIn posts, the WhatsApp interactions and knowing that the one occasion represents part of a much bigger space (YATM) that the events transform a network into an ecosystem.
I’ve seen it happen at our Lunch Clubs, people continue conversations long after the event and look forward to reconnecting. These micro-actions build trust, reinforce belonging, and make your community durable.
That’s future insurance.
The relationships you nurture today become the allies, and advocates you rely on tomorrow.
Practical Steps You Can Take
Here’s what I know works when you want to build long-term protection through a community-led approach and the people you bring together:
1) Anchor your community in a shared topic.
Start with a theme that matters to your people. It gives them something to rally around and makes interactions easier.
2) Design feedback loops.
Always invite input and encourage people to get involved during an event/session. This could be leading the event to a section for them. Let people shape the content and give roles, they’ll be more invested as a result.
3) Encourage cross-connections.
Help people meet each other, not just you. Introductions, roundtables, and follow-up discussions help people build their own network inside your community.
4) Follow up consistently.
A post-event email, a shared insight, or a small piece of content can keep connections alive. Consistency compounds trust and belonging.
5) Think long-term.
Community is a living system, not a campaign. The people you bring together today can help each other, and you, years from now.
6) Be the default choice.
When people trust you and you are seen as reliable, opportunities come your way without you ever asking.
Let’s Round-Up
Community as future insurance is an active approach.
It’s the belief that the people who know each other and your work will help protect and propel you, even in uncertain times. It’s about designing experiences that turn followers into collaborators and moments into long-lasting networks.
If there’s one lesson from what we’re doing with Lunch Club, it’s this:
The most valuable thing you can give your audience isn’t content, it’s the feeling that they belong to something bigger.
Help your customers know each other, and you’ve built more than an audience. You’ve created a safety net, a co-creative force, and a community that will carry your ideas into the future.
👉 Real numbers that show how small lists can earn money.
Letting Others Have A Go
Allowing people to participate and lead is what keeps people coming back.
Community building is about having something that can form its own identity.
Handing ownership to others is like keeping the oil levels on a car continually topped up. People give back, and bring their skillsets to the front, so the drive and the ecosystem keep going.
The build-up can be messy or look unorganised, but that is ok. A healthy democracy has to be able to show the path where others feel comfortable and motivated to join in and make it even better.
Next Wednesday is a free one if you live near YATM HQ
Nick Whitnell does a lot of work around values and recognising the work we were always meant to you.
When you bring that together around how you become your own media space and build your addressable audience, you are investing in your own future.
We found government funding, worked on this over the past four months and we have a morning workshop to share with you next Wednesday (19th), in Bournemouth. If you live and work in Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole it's free. Leave your email here.
It's Lunch Club today...
Following on from YATM London (we're back on Thursday February 12th, in Wandsworth), it's the turn of Poole today.
The theme is confidence and we're back around the pizza table, one person now can't make it book here. Look forward to what's in store.
We're going to launch YATM in Bristol in early 2026 and if Bristol is closer to you can you reply to this email and I'll share more with you.
Come & Join In (Online & Offline)
Here's what's up and coming...
📝 It's Work Together at 9.15am today in YATM Club, join here
🔥 Beth Carter's Week Map is Sunday at 7.30pm GMT in YATM Club join here
🎁 The YATM Christmas Party, Party is Fri 12th December, book here
You Are The Media (YATM) is the home for marketing misfits. It started in 2013 at the seaside, in England 🌊 The community is built around creativity, interdependence, visibility, experimentation and co-learning.
