Hi, I’m Johannes.

I help creators build an audience and turn it into a business, and I’ll tell you which tools are worth paying for along the way.

It started with a box of T-shirts

In 2009 I launched my first business: T-shirts.

Let’s just say it didn’t go as planned. I had a product and a lot of confidence, but no idea how to get it in front of the people who’d buy it.

It was the right lesson to learn early: making something is the easy part. Getting it to the right people is the whole game.

Learning growth from the inside

So I went and learned it properly. A business degree at Estonian Business School, then a Master’s in Business IT at TalTech.

I ran B2B marketing at LHV, one of Estonia’s largest banks, where every claim had to survive compliance.

At Change, a fintech startup, I worked in growth and later led investor relations, which taught me to tell a story with numbers people would actually back.

I started my own agency, wink, to help small businesses with their marketing, and spent years as a performance marketing consultant and founder of small ventures in supplements, dance education and web tooling. Most recently I led growth at a payments company serving subscription businesses, which means I know exactly what happens to a creator’s revenue after someone clicks “buy”.

Why GettingGrowth exists

I started this blog to write down what I was learning, and it grew into a real audience, mostly people trying to grow on Instagram. Then life got busy, I stopped publishing, and the site went quiet. Another lesson: an audience is something you keep earning.

Why it’s back

Creators today don’t just post. They run real businesses: courses, paid communities, newsletters, DM funnels. The software choices are overwhelming, and most “best tools” articles are written by people who’ve never logged in.

GettingGrowth is my answer: independent guides from someone who has built audiences and businesses, with honest notes on the tools.

When I’ve set a tool up and run it, I say so. When I haven’t yet, the guide says what it’s based on.

I build software myself, including Straycy, an attribution plugin for WordPress, so I know how products are made and marketed. I’ll always tell you when something I mention is mine.

Off the screen

When I’m not at my desk, I’m usually dancing. I’m a bachata dancer and instructor.

Filling my classes and workshops and building a community of dancers has taught me more about selling courses and running a community than any marketing book.

I live just outside Tallinn, Estonia.

How I test, and how this site makes money

Work with me

I’m open to partnerships, speaking and sponsorships with products I’d genuinely use. If you’ve built something creators should know about, I’d love to hear from you.

No hype. Just what works.

One email a week: what’s working for creators, which tools are worth paying for, and which aren’t. Unsubscribe anytime.

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