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Hello, you're listening to the Level Up
Creators podcast, Amanda Northcutt here,

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founder and CEO.

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We help creators and digital thought
leaders like you turn your knowledge and

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experience into rock solid recurring
revenue.

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And we are so glad you're here.

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Welcome.

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Today, my amazing guest is the short form
video king himself, Mr.

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Yassin

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You probably know Yassin from Instagram,
TikTok or LinkedIn, where he sports a

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formidable audience of almost a million
followers.

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Yassin is a consultant to a handful of
globally recognizable brands, has a wildly

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popular digital course, a thriving
membership community and a small group

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coaching program, all to the end of
helping other creators grow their accounts

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exponentially through the implementation
of his short form video methodology.

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And Yassin has a pretty formidable
backstory as well as an all around amazing

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human.

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an insane musician, look him up on YouTube
and singer.

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And I hear he's got a pretty sick
basketball game as well.

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And Yassin is joining me today from
London, England.

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Welcome, Yassin.

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It's a pleasure to be here.

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I am so excited to have this conversation
with you.

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I've been looking forward to it.

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We've been trying to get it on the
calendar for a couple of months.

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And I'm so pumped for you to share the
wealth of knowledge, experience you have

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and kindness, honestly.

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So I can't wait to unpack everything we
have in store for our listeners today.

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Let's get into it.

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So I want to preface my first question
with a little observation.

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So a single commonality between the
successful creators I know best and it's

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this.

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their creator business and lifestyle were
actually born out of some of the most

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difficult circumstances of their lives,
like a family tragedy, a professional

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setback, a public failure, an illness,
which brought them to like a fork in the

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road, right?

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Where they had to make a decision.

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Do I stay on the straight and narrow path?

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The one that everyone expects me to be on?

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The one I've always been told I should go
down or do I take a left turn here into

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the unknown because I cannot, I simply
cannot go back to the way that things

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were.

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So with that in mind, could we start with
you sharing a little bit more about

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yourself, your background, and your
winding road journey to becoming a very

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successful content creator and
entrepreneur?

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Sure.

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This is a hard question to answer because
my journey is extremely meandering.

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But yeah, I used to be a musician and for
a short while was a semi -professional

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runner and the music stopped because I got
nodules, so vocal damage.

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The running stopped because I got hit by a
car while I was cycling and my knee got

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bust.

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And so my twenties were a slow decline
down towards rock bottom as I like

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grappled with reality and just kept trying
to do the things I wanted to do and just

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wasn't able to do.

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And eventually became homeless in my like
mid to mid late twenties.

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And I suppose that that was a learning
moment for me because up until then I was

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all creative.

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Like I was very much like, it's all about
the art, very Rick Rubin -esque, like make

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it and they will come and that kind of
thing.

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And then I think what that taught me was
like...

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No, actually, there's like realities in
the world that exists that outside of our

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like romantic view of what it should be
like.

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I would say that was a massive driving
force for trying to understand the

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underlying things beneath creativity,
storytelling, content creation, marketing

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in general, to just create more of a sense
of control over

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the art that I wanted to produce and
that's basically what I'm trying to do is

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like create educational content that is
artful, that is soulful, but that also

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gets results and I think that underpinning
stems from that time of my life where like

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I've seen the other side, know, where
people that side where people say just

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like do what you want and like it should
come from the soul and you know pull from

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the muse and all of this stuff.

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I see that and where it can or at least
where it led me was like not to a good

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place.

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So I now try and bring the two together,
marry the art and the science and it's

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worked well for me and it's worked well
for many of my students as well when

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they're able to like, yeah, dance between
those two poles.

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That's such an incredible story and one
that not too many people who have achieved

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your level of success now had.

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We're going to dig into your story a
little bit more and your learnings from

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that that you're applying like you were
just talking about a little bit later in

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the interview.

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But I know you to be a very humble and
genuinely kind, caring person.

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But I'm also wondering, did

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Any of these major professional milestones
and achievements that you've hit more

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recently seem inevitable to you at some
point or are you still kind of pinching

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yourself?

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I'm extremely competitive, so I would say
some aspect of me thought it was

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inevitable.

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I also think humans are very complicated
and you can have one human house two

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separately conflicting beliefs.

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And so I would say that's the case here in
that like some aspect of me is like, hey,

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if anyone can do it, I can do it.

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And then another aspect that's ever
present every day I hear it is the like,

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hey, maybe you don't have what it takes.

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Like maybe you should give up.

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Even now, like, I still think that on a
daily or weekly basis, like, maybe I'm not

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enough.

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Maybe I won't get to where I want to go,
that kind of, or maybe I'll lose it all.

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So yeah, I would say there's a bit of
both, but if I'm humble, it's because I've

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been humbled, like, and in some ways
that's a good thing,

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I admire people that are humble and I
especially admire people that have skill

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and are still humble.

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That don't, I think it's quite egotistical
to think that you like decided to be

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skilled, you know.

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I think a lot of this is like luck based,
like what were you, what are your

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genetics?

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Like your IQ, your ability to work hard.

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This is all like preordained given to you
by your parents.

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where did you grow up and what was your
social circle like as a child these things

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influence you in massive ways and then
even things like what happens to you as

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you age like my homelessness has
definitely driven me in a way that I

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wouldn't have been driven if it didn't
happen so yeah I

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I feel like that experience humbled me,
but I also like being in servitude of

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others is like a, it's a very powerful
thought to me.

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It like really drives me.

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Like if there's a romance to me, it's in
that like, how can I be of service to

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others?

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And to do that, you have to humble
yourself.

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You have to be wrong more than you're
right.

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Cause like, you know, it's about what the
customer wants, not what you think.

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So yeah.

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Yeah, a lot of good takeaways to be had
there for sure.

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So did you set out sharing content online
thinking that this is the direction that

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things go or did you start sharing and
then have more of a light bulb moment that

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was like, hey, I can make a business out
of this online community of followers I've

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built.

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Yeah, it was definitely tentative at
first.

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I actually started a different account.

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It was like a philosophy account.

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And I got that to about 30K.

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And then I was like, I don't know how I'm
going to monetize this.

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I definitely, I'd been in and around
social media for a long time.

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I'd grown social accounts for startups and
big brands along the way in different,

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different shapes and forms.

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And it felt like a moment in time that was
high leverage.

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So Naval Revakan talks about how there's
like four forms of leverage.

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Code, money or capital, think he calls it.

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Human resources and then media.

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And I studied computer science, but I hate
coding.

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So it couldn't be that for me.

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And I didn't have capital.

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and or human resources other than myself.

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So media was like the obvious one and it
makes a lot of sense to me right like

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especially now where you have short form
video where even LinkedIn and Twitter are

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now prioritizing short form video content.

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So you can post or you create one piece of
short form content and then post it

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across.

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six, seven platforms.

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That's like extremely high leverage.

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This is not even factoring in Reddit and
other places that you might be able to

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post a short form piece of content.

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So it just seemed like the most obvious
way for me to grow and to grow a business

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was with social media.

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So that's why I chose that.

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I love that.

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And I love that you're so intentional
about identifying the form of leverage

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that was most available readily available
to you.

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obviously, yeah, media is and that is what
has changed the economy and the landscape

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of what it means to be famous and to be
able to get in front of big companies and

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get people's attention.

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mean, social media has just completely
turned our entire society on its head in

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many ways.

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And that's certainly one of them.

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So I think that's cool that you did set
out with some degree of intention knowing

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that was

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one of four points of leverage that you
could use.

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So that's cool.

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I did not know that.

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And do you remember what were the first
steps you took toward monetizing your

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audience?

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Was it brand deals?

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No, it was one -to -one calls.

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So when I first started it, it wasn't
social growth.

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was like copywriting, marketing,
advertising, branding stuff.

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It was an agency.

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So I hadn't planned on, I had planned on
monetizing at some point, but I grew much

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faster than I thought I would.

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And I was actually on holiday in France.

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And I think I was 26 days into my first,
like, was my first 26 days on TikTok with

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the marketing account and I'd hit 20
something thousand followers.

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And by the end of the month I'd hit 30
,000, but I was like, then scrambling to

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like, take the attention I'd already
captured and turn it into revenue whilst I

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was on holiday.

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So my partner was not super happy.

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because we've come from a super intense
work period and I'd promised that I

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wouldn't be working.

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But yeah, so I did some one -to -one calls
and some consultancy copywriting stuff,

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ransom branding stuff, like a bit of a
mix.

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Cool, so explain the transition then from
more marking to short form video.

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Yeah, so I started the business like all
in full time in January 2022 and I didn't

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make any money January 2022.

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I actually that 30 day challenge that I'd
set myself at the start had burned me out

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and I didn't post after that for like
three, four months.

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And so I didn't make any money.

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And then I was actually worried that I
wouldn't be able to pay rent in February.

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and then I started posting and then I got
some, deals through the door and I was

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juggled.

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started then February was actually a very
good month.

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So was March and I kept building and it
grew it quite quickly, but it was just me.

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I have ADHD and was instead of, I'd come
from having one boss with the startup as

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working with.

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to having like 10, 12 bosses with ADHD.

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So it was like my nightmare.

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And so I was waking up like in cold sweat
and my heart was just like pounding the

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whole day.

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I didn't enjoy a single moment through the
day.

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It was just like so hyper stressful for
me.

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But I carried on until May.

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And I carried on till May because I was in
this painful spot where I was so scared of

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having another January where I made no
money that I was taking on too many

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clients, which meant I didn't have the
time to hire.

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Anyway, so was this kind of vicious cycle.

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I spoke to a few mentors, eight -figure,
nine -figure business owners, so I

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respected their opinion.

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And I was like, hey, look, I've started...

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learning a lot about social growth in
order to get clients for my marketing

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agency.

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And I've started these masterminds with
different creators.

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And since I started them, I've started
growing way faster and I'm having a lot of

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fun with it.

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And so I'm thinking I could just like
chuck the agency in the bin and do social

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growth stuff instead and like have a
community.

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It's way more like aligned with my
strengths because there's no deadlines.

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I do have to interact with all these
different creators, but

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the exact times and days, it doesn't
matter so much.

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And I had a lot more fun doing it and it
was done with you rather than for you.

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So there was all these like differences in
the structure of the business that seemed

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really appealing to me.

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And they all said, all three of them
within the space of like three days were

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like, this is a dumb idea.

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00:14:55,993 --> 00:15:00,314
You have a business, I think the business
would have done about maybe like a hundred

231
00:15:00,314 --> 00:15:01,935
K in the first year.

232
00:15:03,441 --> 00:15:04,682
They were like, it's working.

233
00:15:04,682 --> 00:15:07,414
Most businesses don't hit 100K in the
first year.

234
00:15:07,414 --> 00:15:09,115
Do not chuck this.

235
00:15:10,237 --> 00:15:12,978
So I remember going to a friend's
birthday.

236
00:15:13,920 --> 00:15:16,822
My girlfriend actually dragged me because
I was like, I can't go.

237
00:15:16,822 --> 00:15:18,903
I'm like, I'm depressed.

238
00:15:19,804 --> 00:15:23,607
And she dragged me and then that friend
was like, hey, how are you doing?

239
00:15:23,607 --> 00:15:29,062
And I just, I couldn't help but go, this
horrible thing's happened.

240
00:15:29,062 --> 00:15:32,834
All my mentors have told me not to start a
dream business.

241
00:15:34,331 --> 00:15:39,993
Yeah, and then a few days later I was
like, you know, screw it, I'm just gonna

242
00:15:39,993 --> 00:15:41,313
do it anyway.

243
00:15:41,433 --> 00:15:47,665
And so I ended stuff with all the clients
that closed things out and started the

244
00:15:47,665 --> 00:15:53,937
community and started transitioning my
content from talking about marketing and

245
00:15:53,937 --> 00:15:56,227
copywriting to talking about social
growth.

246
00:15:56,227 --> 00:16:00,538
So it was a slow transition and for a
while there was an overlap.

247
00:16:00,538 --> 00:16:03,409
So I would try and find the Venn diagram.

248
00:16:03,667 --> 00:16:06,907
between those two subjects, which it's not
that hard.

249
00:16:06,907 --> 00:16:08,007
They're both marketing.

250
00:16:08,007 --> 00:16:12,147
So there is a lot of overlap, but just
trying to be conscious of, okay, I have 80

251
00:16:12,147 --> 00:16:13,447
,000 followers.

252
00:16:13,727 --> 00:16:17,647
How do I transition in a way that it's not
disruptive to them?

253
00:16:17,647 --> 00:16:18,567
So I did that.

254
00:16:18,567 --> 00:16:23,767
then, yeah, May, I made maybe $35 or
something.

255
00:16:23,767 --> 00:16:25,827
And then June was not that much better.

256
00:16:25,827 --> 00:16:30,627
And then it started building quite quickly
after that.

257
00:16:30,987 --> 00:16:32,007
Yeah.

258
00:16:33,389 --> 00:16:34,669
What a roller coaster.

259
00:16:34,669 --> 00:16:39,869
I mean, talking about January of 2022,
that was just 18 months ago.

260
00:16:39,869 --> 00:16:41,729
This is July of 24.

261
00:16:41,729 --> 00:16:46,249
And so that was, oh, no, sorry, the
beginning of 2022, not the end.

262
00:16:46,249 --> 00:16:46,369
Right.

263
00:16:46,369 --> 00:16:46,549
Okay.

264
00:16:46,549 --> 00:16:48,049
So it's been two and a half years, right?

265
00:16:48,049 --> 00:16:48,609
Okay.

266
00:16:48,609 --> 00:16:54,469
That's still quite quick to start an
agency, sunset it, pivot successfully,

267
00:16:54,469 --> 00:16:56,009
transition an audience.

268
00:16:56,075 --> 00:16:57,235
Hasn't it?

269
00:16:57,574 --> 00:16:58,835
18 months.

270
00:16:59,086 --> 00:17:01,966
You said, sorry, you said the beginning or
the end of 2022?

271
00:17:04,211 --> 00:17:09,111
Sorry, start of 2023, my bad.

272
00:17:10,651 --> 00:17:18,811
It's been 20 something months since I
started the account and then 18 since I've

273
00:17:18,811 --> 00:17:20,428
been full in the business.

274
00:17:20,428 --> 00:17:25,110
Okay, that's friggin' fast to go through
all of those transitions to be taking

275
00:17:25,110 --> 00:17:27,241
advice from mentors who are wildly
successful.

276
00:17:27,241 --> 00:17:30,503
You said eight and nine figure business
owners, but I'm willing to bet that social

277
00:17:30,503 --> 00:17:35,015
media did not necessarily play a role in
their business success and is that fair?

278
00:17:35,015 --> 00:17:41,918
Yeah, so you're bringing something to them
that's completely foreign, not part of

279
00:17:41,918 --> 00:17:45,139
their playbook at all, so I can totally
understand their hesitation and wanting

280
00:17:45,139 --> 00:17:47,170
you to bet on the sure thing.

281
00:17:47,170 --> 00:17:49,812
But this is what kind of we were talking
about this like fork in the road and

282
00:17:49,812 --> 00:17:52,314
actually didn't know this about your story
before this recording.

283
00:17:52,314 --> 00:17:55,155
But the fork in the road I was talking
about kind of at the beginning of the

284
00:17:55,155 --> 00:17:59,670
episode where there's, you know, I should
do this and everyone's telling me I need

285
00:17:59,670 --> 00:18:00,200
to do this.

286
00:18:00,200 --> 00:18:01,271
And like, this is the path.

287
00:18:01,271 --> 00:18:02,772
This is the tried and true path.

288
00:18:02,772 --> 00:18:04,463
It's like already been blazed.

289
00:18:04,463 --> 00:18:08,046
You know, all the barriers are down, but
you're looking over

290
00:18:08,296 --> 00:18:10,967
and you know that your heart is pulling
you toward that.

291
00:18:11,247 --> 00:18:13,567
That's what you're meant to do, that's
what you want to do, that's what gives you

292
00:18:13,567 --> 00:18:16,878
joy, what makes you want to actually get
up and go to work in the morning as

293
00:18:16,878 --> 00:18:19,249
opposed to feeling like you're going to
have a heart attack.

294
00:18:19,929 --> 00:18:25,221
And so I have mad respect that you took a
massive risk, chucked the safe thing, went

295
00:18:25,221 --> 00:18:29,662
in on your own without a team or just
like, I'm going for it.

296
00:18:29,662 --> 00:18:33,993
So I love the competitiveness, sort of
coming in from your athletic career and

297
00:18:33,993 --> 00:18:37,254
you have such an internal motivation and
drive.

298
00:18:37,364 --> 00:18:41,256
So this is all kind of coming together for
me in terms of like how you got to where

299
00:18:41,256 --> 00:18:44,538
you are after a relatively like quick
stint.

300
00:18:44,538 --> 00:18:48,190
I mean, once you figured out what you
wanted to do, it was like head down and

301
00:18:48,190 --> 00:18:51,912
then you are just motoring toward massive
success.

302
00:18:51,912 --> 00:18:56,465
I think we've only begun to see what
you're bringing to the table here, Yasin

303
00:18:56,465 --> 00:18:57,966
and the business that you're building.

304
00:18:57,966 --> 00:19:00,287
So kudos to you for going with your gut.

305
00:19:00,287 --> 00:19:02,548
And that's the cool thing about the
creator economy, right?

306
00:19:02,548 --> 00:19:05,550
And this is what you're helping other
people do too, which is what I love so

307
00:19:05,550 --> 00:19:06,370
much.

308
00:19:07,278 --> 00:19:12,638
So what were the, yeah, what were some of
the most important lessons that you

309
00:19:12,638 --> 00:19:12,818
learned?

310
00:19:12,818 --> 00:19:18,378
Like if you were to look back just about
what happened in 2023, what were your top

311
00:19:18,378 --> 00:19:19,998
learnings from that year?

312
00:19:22,163 --> 00:19:28,076
Know thyself, I think is like a huge
lesson for business and for life.

313
00:19:28,076 --> 00:19:32,298
Like, you have to set yourself up for
success.

314
00:19:32,298 --> 00:19:39,171
And so a good business for one person is a
terrible business for another person.

315
00:19:39,171 --> 00:19:43,933
And I was kind of playing this playbook
that wasn't meant for me.

316
00:19:43,933 --> 00:19:46,134
And that's why it was causing me so much
friction.

317
00:19:46,134 --> 00:19:47,674
And it's easy to feel

318
00:19:48,397 --> 00:19:52,990
the story I was telling myself at the time
was, you're just not meant for business.

319
00:19:53,250 --> 00:19:59,374
And, you know, if I'd listened to those
mentors, that's the belief that I would

320
00:19:59,374 --> 00:20:03,457
have held is like, I'm just not good at
business, I'm meant to be an employee.

321
00:20:04,538 --> 00:20:10,472
But there's different people and they will
thrive in different environments and die

322
00:20:10,472 --> 00:20:11,562
in other environments.

323
00:20:11,562 --> 00:20:12,583
And so

324
00:20:12,805 --> 00:20:17,318
really understanding yourself and your
strengths and weaknesses and then finding

325
00:20:17,318 --> 00:20:21,350
an environment where your strengths are
maximized and your weaknesses are

326
00:20:21,350 --> 00:20:23,251
minimized is huge.

327
00:20:23,251 --> 00:20:29,623
That's a big lesson and something I am
constantly reminded of.

328
00:20:29,704 --> 00:20:37,739
And anytime I forget it, it costs me, you
know, like in terms of another example, I

329
00:20:37,739 --> 00:20:41,491
was doing my accountants, doing my taxes
myself.

330
00:20:42,063 --> 00:20:50,566
And then the month I gave them to an
accountant to do, my business doubled and

331
00:20:50,566 --> 00:20:52,076
then doubled the month after that.

332
00:20:52,076 --> 00:20:56,648
And it's because the things that don't
bring you joy, this doesn't mean that you

333
00:20:56,648 --> 00:20:58,007
should never do anything.

334
00:20:58,007 --> 00:20:58,958
You're still a business owner.

335
00:20:58,958 --> 00:21:01,219
You have to do stuff that you don't always
enjoy.

336
00:21:01,219 --> 00:21:06,381
But when you do a lot of things that don't
bring you joy, it drains you.

337
00:21:06,381 --> 00:21:07,031
so

338
00:21:08,515 --> 00:21:11,326
you just do way less and you're not good
at it.

339
00:21:11,326 --> 00:21:17,438
Like I could have spent hours taking tax
courses and things like that.

340
00:21:17,438 --> 00:21:22,329
That's a poor use of my time because
there's someone out there who from the get

341
00:21:22,329 --> 00:21:25,100
-go is like, taxes, I love them.

342
00:21:25,100 --> 00:21:27,900
And that was just never me.

343
00:21:27,900 --> 00:21:35,042
whereas like social growth, marketing,
storytelling, film, TV, education, these

344
00:21:35,042 --> 00:21:37,359
things like really

345
00:21:37,359 --> 00:21:39,050
motivate me and light me up.

346
00:21:39,050 --> 00:21:44,375
And so rather than trying to be all
things, try and just be the things you're

347
00:21:44,375 --> 00:21:44,675
good at.

348
00:21:44,675 --> 00:21:51,761
And as soon as you possibly can, I think,
hire away the stuff that drains you and

349
00:21:51,761 --> 00:21:59,268
that you're bad at because it will just
cost you time and health and peace of

350
00:21:59,268 --> 00:22:00,198
mind.

351
00:22:01,902 --> 00:22:02,542
I love that.

352
00:22:02,542 --> 00:22:03,982
Those are great takeaways.

353
00:22:04,082 --> 00:22:08,322
And yeah, that aligns with this 80 % rule
that we teach, try and spend 80 % of the

354
00:22:08,322 --> 00:22:12,042
time in your business doing the things
that the highest leverage activities,

355
00:22:12,042 --> 00:22:12,122
right?

356
00:22:12,122 --> 00:22:13,642
The things that only you can do.

357
00:22:13,642 --> 00:22:17,342
Everybody's got to do the 20 % of crap
that we all hate, but that's where you

358
00:22:17,342 --> 00:22:18,222
start delegating, right?

359
00:22:18,222 --> 00:22:21,862
Is when something bleeds into your 80%,
you've got to move that off.

360
00:22:21,862 --> 00:22:25,702
If someone can do it 80 % as well as you,
that's kind of like my rule.

361
00:22:27,534 --> 00:22:31,454
blatantly misuse that 80 -20 rule all the
time, but I really like the way that I

362
00:22:31,454 --> 00:22:32,494
slice and dice it.

363
00:22:32,494 --> 00:22:35,414
I think it resonates with people, so I'm
gonna stick with it.

364
00:22:35,674 --> 00:22:37,694
Tell us how you think about monetization.

365
00:22:37,694 --> 00:22:41,334
mean, you knew that this community was
something you wanted to do pretty much

366
00:22:41,334 --> 00:22:46,134
straight out of the gate after you pivoted
away from marketing on a broader scale to

367
00:22:46,134 --> 00:22:47,514
social media growth.

368
00:22:48,954 --> 00:22:50,444
So what are sort

369
00:22:50,444 --> 00:22:54,550
maybe you're written or unwritten rules
that dictate which revenue streams you

370
00:22:54,550 --> 00:22:58,826
pursue, which brand deals you take, which
consulting gigs you accept and so

371
00:22:59,731 --> 00:23:09,651
Yeah, so I've only worked with two brands
in the entire time I've had the account.

372
00:23:10,951 --> 00:23:15,751
Instagram and honestly, I can't remember
the other one.

373
00:23:15,751 --> 00:23:19,871
It was either Starling or some other bank.

374
00:23:20,151 --> 00:23:21,871
And that's been it.

375
00:23:21,871 --> 00:23:29,285
And I get probably somewhere between five
and 30.

376
00:23:29,285 --> 00:23:32,276
offers a day to like work with a brand.

377
00:23:33,297 --> 00:23:34,898
Most of them just don't make sense.

378
00:23:34,898 --> 00:23:43,103
And then also I've seen many times where a
creator will lean too much into sponsored

379
00:23:43,103 --> 00:23:43,864
content.

380
00:23:43,864 --> 00:23:48,466
It's a very different game on short form,
whereas on long form, you can have the

381
00:23:48,466 --> 00:23:55,900
standalone piece of content and then
insert and add and it's all good.

382
00:23:55,900 --> 00:23:57,029
People are happy.

383
00:23:57,029 --> 00:24:00,321
On short form, the ad is standalone.

384
00:24:00,442 --> 00:24:05,545
And so it's much more disruptive
experience for viewers, right?

385
00:24:05,545 --> 00:24:12,690
And if you start leaning into that as your
primary mode of monetization, in my mind,

386
00:24:12,690 --> 00:24:13,641
it slows growth.

387
00:24:13,641 --> 00:24:19,355
And I've seen this firsthand with creators
I've worked with and creator friends that

388
00:24:19,355 --> 00:24:24,955
the ones that seem to post two sponsored
posts per week or something.

389
00:24:24,955 --> 00:24:25,936
their growth stops.

390
00:24:25,936 --> 00:24:26,767
And it makes sense.

391
00:24:26,767 --> 00:24:31,320
I don't want to see you selling me stuff
all the time, especially stuff that's not

392
00:24:31,320 --> 00:24:32,221
yours.

393
00:24:33,502 --> 00:24:40,178
And the lines often become very blurred in
terms of your values and how much due

394
00:24:40,178 --> 00:24:43,961
diligence you're willing to do in order to
ensure the product's good enough.

395
00:24:43,961 --> 00:24:48,235
And so you start seeing products that
you're like, you're

396
00:24:49,291 --> 00:24:56,016
you're an accountant or you're like a, you
teach Excel and you're selling like a

397
00:24:56,016 --> 00:25:02,581
banana milkshake machine or something and
you're like, how does this relate?

398
00:25:03,262 --> 00:25:11,408
Yeah, so I stayed away from that and I did
it with Instagram because of the exposure,

399
00:25:11,408 --> 00:25:13,329
not because of the pay.

400
00:25:15,587 --> 00:25:19,088
And yeah, I found that the pressure is
extremely high as well.

401
00:25:19,088 --> 00:25:20,929
I've also spoken to many creators about
this.

402
00:25:20,929 --> 00:25:28,451
Like the ones that have a heart and care
about like delivering value.

403
00:25:28,851 --> 00:25:31,212
It's extremely pressurized, right?

404
00:25:31,212 --> 00:25:33,792
Okay, now you really have to get views.

405
00:25:34,052 --> 00:25:38,534
And if you don't, then other brands are
going to look at that and go, okay, well,

406
00:25:38,534 --> 00:25:43,115
the last time you did a brand sponsorship,
it didn't perform.

407
00:25:43,397 --> 00:25:44,808
So we're going to offer you less.

408
00:25:44,808 --> 00:25:50,210
And then also like the niche I'm in, I
constantly have to perform.

409
00:25:50,290 --> 00:25:55,972
But for most creators, if you don't get
too deep into brand sponsorships, you

410
00:25:55,972 --> 00:25:56,643
actually don't.

411
00:25:56,643 --> 00:26:01,825
Like you can have ebbs and flows and of
course you have your emotional attachment

412
00:26:01,825 --> 00:26:07,157
to views, but no one else is like looking
at your account and judging you because of

413
00:26:07,157 --> 00:26:07,857
it.

414
00:26:08,438 --> 00:26:12,139
But if you get deep into sponsorships and
that's how you make your money,

415
00:26:12,147 --> 00:26:18,587
then now you are extremely stressed every
day like, that video got 10 % less than

416
00:26:18,587 --> 00:26:20,627
normal, I'm going to get less money.

417
00:26:20,627 --> 00:26:26,387
And that's true if that keeps happening
because brands average your last five to

418
00:26:26,387 --> 00:26:31,647
10 posts depending on the brand and then
use that as a litmus test for like how

419
00:26:31,647 --> 00:26:36,847
many views they can expect and how much
money that will then give them.

420
00:26:36,847 --> 00:26:39,707
And then they use that to decide how much
to pay you.

421
00:26:40,637 --> 00:26:44,528
For many creators, I find that it turns it
into a stressful process.

422
00:26:44,749 --> 00:26:50,761
And I think to be great in a creative act
requires you not to be stressed, but

423
00:26:50,761 --> 00:26:58,344
actually to be in a state of play and fun
and joy and collaboration and all of these

424
00:26:58,344 --> 00:26:59,214
things.

425
00:26:59,214 --> 00:27:00,865
And it takes you away from that.

426
00:27:00,865 --> 00:27:01,755
so...

427
00:27:02,487 --> 00:27:06,088
There's many mechanisms happening behind
the scenes that I think slow the growth of

428
00:27:06,088 --> 00:27:10,350
your account It doesn't feel like a long
-term good good idea for short -form

429
00:27:10,350 --> 00:27:10,990
creators.

430
00:27:10,990 --> 00:27:16,802
There's obviously many many exceptions,
but anyway, I didn't do it for that reason

431
00:27:16,802 --> 00:27:26,375
I I went into calls as the primary thing
at the start with

432
00:27:27,731 --> 00:27:29,991
with the social growth stuff and the
community.

433
00:27:29,991 --> 00:27:33,011
And the community was brutally painful to
grow.

434
00:27:33,011 --> 00:27:39,011
I was DMing people, like, somewhere
between 10 and 100 people a day, some of

435
00:27:39,011 --> 00:27:41,091
which I knew, some of which I didn't know.

436
00:27:41,091 --> 00:27:43,491
Hey, like, do you want to grow on social?

437
00:27:44,031 --> 00:27:45,511
just, it was painful.

438
00:27:45,511 --> 00:27:47,811
It's like so outside of my character.

439
00:27:49,131 --> 00:27:52,411
And then I would supplement that with
calls.

440
00:27:52,411 --> 00:27:54,671
And people would just want to have the
calls.

441
00:27:55,407 --> 00:27:59,299
more often than they wanted to join the
community, even though the call, let's

442
00:27:59,299 --> 00:28:05,111
say, was a hundred pound and the community
when it started was one dollar a month and

443
00:28:05,111 --> 00:28:09,263
people would be like, nah bro, like even
though they got way more access to me.

444
00:28:09,263 --> 00:28:15,165
So, there was definitely some teething
problems at the start in terms of trying

445
00:28:15,165 --> 00:28:21,298
to make, make it clear that it was hyper
valuable and being completely transparent

446
00:28:21,298 --> 00:28:24,659
is still, there's still a gap between

447
00:28:24,659 --> 00:28:31,519
the value you receive and the perceived
value you receive from the outside looking

448
00:28:31,519 --> 00:28:32,759
in.

449
00:28:34,079 --> 00:28:39,439
Yeah, just in terms of how much access you
get to me and other amazing creators and

450
00:28:39,439 --> 00:28:42,739
how much that would cost you in any other
situation.

451
00:28:43,119 --> 00:28:48,959
For context, like I charged 700 pound an
hour up to a thousand pound an hour and

452
00:28:48,959 --> 00:28:53,479
that would get you like a year worth of
community access.

453
00:28:54,737 --> 00:28:59,689
Yeah, so I'm still working on it, we're in
a much better place in that regard.

454
00:29:00,390 --> 00:29:08,654
And then I added a course and the course
has outperformed the community since the

455
00:29:08,654 --> 00:29:09,155
get -go.

456
00:29:09,155 --> 00:29:13,947
Like within two weeks, it was bringing in
more revenue than the community was, which

457
00:29:13,947 --> 00:29:17,159
was really painful because the community
is like my baby.

458
00:29:17,531 --> 00:29:18,782
and didn't want to do the course.

459
00:29:18,782 --> 00:29:22,196
was like, no, you need specific
personalized feedback.

460
00:29:22,196 --> 00:29:24,059
And they're like, just give me the course,
bro.

461
00:29:24,059 --> 00:29:31,036
So anyway, sometimes you have to put your
own feelings and thoughts to one side and

462
00:29:31,036 --> 00:29:32,208
like give the people what they want.

463
00:29:32,208 --> 00:29:35,190
And so that that's been doing well for me
too.

464
00:29:35,640 --> 00:29:36,231
Right.

465
00:29:36,231 --> 00:29:40,374
And like you mentioned just a few minutes
ago, sometimes you have to put your own

466
00:29:41,216 --> 00:29:45,139
opinion and aspiration aside and like be
responsive to the market.

467
00:29:45,821 --> 00:29:46,762
This is a business.

468
00:29:46,762 --> 00:29:49,284
so listening to your customers is smart.

469
00:29:49,284 --> 00:29:50,025
yeah.

470
00:29:50,025 --> 00:29:50,355
Okay.

471
00:29:50,355 --> 00:29:52,458
I love all the things that you said about
brand deals.

472
00:29:52,458 --> 00:29:55,591
That was really, really interesting and
hopefully illuminating for some people who

473
00:29:55,591 --> 00:29:56,142
are listening.

474
00:29:56,142 --> 00:29:58,493
Obviously this podcast is

475
00:29:59,342 --> 00:30:03,465
thought leader type creators, like you are
sharing your area of knowledge, expertise

476
00:30:03,465 --> 00:30:07,077
and passion online and that's what people
are gathered around your account to hear

477
00:30:07,077 --> 00:30:08,287
about from you.

478
00:30:10,029 --> 00:30:13,171
going back to the point of leverage, it's
kind of like becoming the umbrella theme

479
00:30:13,171 --> 00:30:14,001
of the podcast.

480
00:30:14,001 --> 00:30:18,274
I'm so glad you kind of kicked us off with
that, but your highest form of leverage,

481
00:30:18,274 --> 00:30:22,096
if you are a creator who is also a thought
leader, again, you're teaching people what

482
00:30:22,096 --> 00:30:25,058
you know online and people are gathering
around you to hear from

483
00:30:25,688 --> 00:30:27,229
Your biggest leverage is not brand deals.

484
00:30:27,229 --> 00:30:30,741
Your biggest leverage is selling your own
information based product, just exactly

485
00:30:30,741 --> 00:30:33,442
like Yassin is doing with course
community.

486
00:30:33,442 --> 00:30:36,935
And we haven't even talked about your
small group program to this point, which

487
00:30:36,935 --> 00:30:42,518
is totally okay if you don't want to touch
on that, but you are so calculated in how

488
00:30:42,518 --> 00:30:46,530
you are going about building your creator
business and building it sustainably and

489
00:30:46,530 --> 00:30:48,201
like working on these messaging issues,
right?

490
00:30:48,201 --> 00:30:49,192
Like I'm in your community.

491
00:30:49,192 --> 00:30:50,653
It's insanely valuable.

492
00:30:50,653 --> 00:30:52,874
The level of creators that are in there.

493
00:30:52,874 --> 00:30:53,514
mean,

494
00:30:53,514 --> 00:30:57,246
wow, it is mind blowing the level of
advice that is being given and the level

495
00:30:57,246 --> 00:31:00,238
of interaction that you have, just kind of
what's generally going on.

496
00:31:00,238 --> 00:31:03,559
And so we talk about you having an amazing
product, but then making sure that the

497
00:31:03,559 --> 00:31:06,661
messaging is right on the back end, like
your entire marketing campaign that

498
00:31:06,661 --> 00:31:07,822
supports the flow to that.

499
00:31:07,822 --> 00:31:11,814
And so you've got your product ladder
pretty well in place.

500
00:31:11,814 --> 00:31:13,635
And so like I teach this all the time.

501
00:31:13,635 --> 00:31:16,342
Once your product ladder is in place,

502
00:31:16,342 --> 00:31:20,795
running your creator business is a game of
conversion optimization, like having

503
00:31:20,795 --> 00:31:25,208
visibility into your full customer
lifecycle, the entire funnel, and being

504
00:31:25,208 --> 00:31:29,702
able to go in with really incisive
surgical precision and like turn this knob

505
00:31:29,702 --> 00:31:31,873
and we're gonna try this to try and move
this level.

506
00:31:31,873 --> 00:31:34,135
this is where people are falling out of
the funnel.

507
00:31:34,235 --> 00:31:37,107
So I think it's great that you've
pinpointed, it's probably just a

508
00:31:37,107 --> 00:31:40,620
communication issue because your product
is amazing.

509
00:31:40,620 --> 00:31:42,001
So that's all super interesting.

510
00:31:42,001 --> 00:31:43,962
Thank you for sharing sort of how

511
00:31:44,300 --> 00:31:46,259
how you think about that and how you've
approached that.

512
00:31:46,259 --> 00:31:49,343
That's hopefully very, valuable for
everyone listening.

513
00:31:49,651 --> 00:31:51,007
Yeah, my pleasure.

514
00:31:51,592 --> 00:31:56,616
And I'm curious, you've kind of touched on
parts of this throughout our discussion,

515
00:31:56,616 --> 00:32:00,359
but what are the hardest lessons you've
learned throughout this growth process,

516
00:32:00,359 --> 00:32:06,314
especially over the last year or so, that
you wish someone who is a few steps ahead

517
00:32:06,314 --> 00:32:10,568
of you would have shared with you before
you went through them so that that could

518
00:32:10,568 --> 00:32:12,470
have sort of spared you some difficulties
and heartaches.

519
00:32:12,470 --> 00:32:15,762
So let's pass some of those lessons on to
people who are a few steps behind

520
00:32:16,561 --> 00:32:20,652
Yeah, I think the biggest lesson is to
trust your gut.

521
00:32:21,052 --> 00:32:22,533
That's a really big lesson.

522
00:32:22,533 --> 00:32:32,785
And there's been a few times with agencies
and with people I've hired where my gut

523
00:32:32,785 --> 00:32:40,607
said, and I just didn't listen because,
you know, but if it did work out and I am

524
00:32:40,607 --> 00:32:43,618
quite a hopeful person, a positive person.

525
00:32:43,918 --> 00:32:45,979
So and it's like,

526
00:32:46,579 --> 00:32:52,139
the reality and what I wanted were
different and I would just focus on what I

527
00:32:52,139 --> 00:32:59,319
wanted which was like imagine if they were
like that and so I would yeah ignore the

528
00:32:59,319 --> 00:33:07,319
warning signs and every single time I've
done that in the last especially 12 months

529
00:33:07,319 --> 00:33:14,937
I've got burned every single time without
fail even recently I I

530
00:33:14,937 --> 00:33:19,312
Remember I went into a coffee shop, a
local coffee shop, I'm friendly with the

531
00:33:19,312 --> 00:33:19,993
owner.

532
00:33:19,993 --> 00:33:21,795
He's like, Hey, what are you up to?

533
00:33:21,795 --> 00:33:25,549
I said, I'm gonna trial a new
videographer.

534
00:33:25,549 --> 00:33:27,561
And he's like, how are you feeling about
it?

535
00:33:27,561 --> 00:33:29,704
I'm like, not good.

536
00:33:29,704 --> 00:33:31,124
Like, he's like, why are you doing it
then?

537
00:33:31,124 --> 00:33:34,228
And I was like, I just want to give him a
chance.

538
00:33:34,228 --> 00:33:36,550
But really, that was

539
00:33:37,215 --> 00:33:42,638
me trying to justify it but beneath the
surface was the dude was really close to

540
00:33:42,638 --> 00:33:49,101
me, like he lived just down the road and
so it was very convenient for me and so I

541
00:33:49,101 --> 00:33:51,232
was trying to force something to happen.

542
00:33:51,232 --> 00:33:58,866
I'd already met him before which is why my
gut was like no and then you know an hour

543
00:33:58,866 --> 00:34:00,806
later my camera was broken so

544
00:34:02,937 --> 00:34:08,620
and the guy didn't offer to replace or,
you know, get it repaired or anything like

545
00:34:08,620 --> 00:34:10,961
that, which is whatever.

546
00:34:10,961 --> 00:34:15,134
But the point is, is that I've had
situations like that along the way, some

547
00:34:15,134 --> 00:34:20,617
of which are like more costly or damaging
or like a lot of the time emotionally

548
00:34:20,617 --> 00:34:24,759
draining because it takes you into a place
of conflict.

549
00:34:24,819 --> 00:34:31,072
And to be a content creator, once again, I
think you have to come from a place of joy

550
00:34:31,072 --> 00:34:32,703
and fun and play.

551
00:34:33,476 --> 00:34:35,518
and just to be creative in general.

552
00:34:35,518 --> 00:34:39,381
And I think the same applies to business.

553
00:34:39,501 --> 00:34:45,447
And from all the content creators I've
worked with, a vast majority of the best

554
00:34:45,447 --> 00:34:48,450
ones are quite emotional, sensitive
people.

555
00:34:48,450 --> 00:34:56,107
I think that's how you tap into insights
that other people can't see and express

556
00:34:56,107 --> 00:34:58,418
yourself in ways that others can't, is
that

557
00:34:58,809 --> 00:35:06,355
unlock and access painful, you unlock the
whole spectrum of like joy to pain and

558
00:35:06,355 --> 00:35:09,587
depression and sadness and everything in
between.

559
00:35:10,388 --> 00:35:15,022
And so it just, they tend to be more
sensitive day to day and I am too.

560
00:35:15,022 --> 00:35:19,055
And so conflict like really drains me and
so.

561
00:35:19,109 --> 00:35:25,782
Anytime I've not listened to the warning
signs, it's slowed my business growth, not

562
00:35:25,782 --> 00:35:30,524
even just in terms of now I'm focused on
this thing, but also when I then go to

563
00:35:30,524 --> 00:35:33,676
work on the other things, I'm not as
sharp.

564
00:35:33,676 --> 00:35:39,889
I'm not as like energetic or I'm just not
in as good of a place as I could be.

565
00:35:39,889 --> 00:35:44,511
So that's been like a really big.

566
00:35:44,645 --> 00:35:45,455
lesson.

567
00:35:45,455 --> 00:35:50,397
Another one is also around hiring and a
lot of my lessons are around hiring

568
00:35:50,397 --> 00:35:53,237
because it's an area of weakness for me.

569
00:35:53,237 --> 00:35:54,708
Like I don't know what I'm doing.

570
00:35:54,708 --> 00:35:55,878
I don't know how to.

571
00:35:55,878 --> 00:36:01,260
I've thankfully hired two really really
great people but like it feels like I'm

572
00:36:01,260 --> 00:36:08,692
just you know sort of running in the dark
and occasionally like some great person

573
00:36:08,692 --> 00:36:12,783
starts running with me and I'm like that's
nice but I don't know what doing.

574
00:36:14,631 --> 00:36:22,635
But yeah, another thing that's similar to
this is rushing things.

575
00:36:23,416 --> 00:36:29,370
Like when an outside thing, person or
event is happening, something where it's

576
00:36:29,370 --> 00:36:33,282
like, no, you need to make a decision
right now or it's never gonna happen.

577
00:36:34,623 --> 00:36:37,124
Most of the time, just don't make the
decision.

578
00:36:37,124 --> 00:36:38,175
Don't rush a decision.

579
00:36:38,175 --> 00:36:40,506
if there's downside like.

580
00:36:41,765 --> 00:36:47,899
you have to spend money or you have to
redo something like take your time.

581
00:36:47,899 --> 00:36:52,813
This is a big lesson for someone with ADHD
who likes to jump in the deep end

582
00:36:52,813 --> 00:36:53,373
immediately.

583
00:36:53,373 --> 00:36:58,667
It's like go slow, make sure it's right
the first time, like sharpen the axe

584
00:36:58,667 --> 00:37:00,528
before you chop down the tree.

585
00:37:00,768 --> 00:37:05,151
These are big lessons for me in terms of
business.

586
00:37:05,151 --> 00:37:10,515
And then maybe one from social is like
sell more in the content.

587
00:37:11,025 --> 00:37:13,337
just sell more, sell more.

588
00:37:13,337 --> 00:37:14,098
It's okay.

589
00:37:14,098 --> 00:37:19,141
Like you don't have to sell all the time
and you don't have to sell in a gross way.

590
00:37:19,242 --> 00:37:24,546
If you raise the creativity of how you
sell, people will actually like write

591
00:37:24,546 --> 00:37:28,389
comments like, this is the, like, I'm so
glad you sold to me.

592
00:37:28,389 --> 00:37:29,520
This was so creative.

593
00:37:29,520 --> 00:37:30,281
This was so fun.

594
00:37:30,281 --> 00:37:31,932
This is so amazing.

595
00:37:31,932 --> 00:37:36,316
And when I've done that, it feels great
and I get sales.

596
00:37:36,316 --> 00:37:37,236
and yeah.

597
00:37:40,815 --> 00:37:46,109
sell more, like if you have a product or a
service and you want people to purchase

598
00:37:46,109 --> 00:37:55,146
it, sure, if you get enough views you will
win anyway, but there were many people

599
00:37:55,146 --> 00:38:00,680
with way less followers and growth than I
had and way less knowledge than I

600
00:38:00,680 --> 00:38:06,093
currently have that were making much more
than me purely because of that.

601
00:38:07,174 --> 00:38:08,235
And so

602
00:38:09,285 --> 00:38:14,027
If you need to romanticize it or make it
like about the audience or the people that

603
00:38:14,027 --> 00:38:19,479
are going to purchase your things, then I
would say if you really are trying to be

604
00:38:19,479 --> 00:38:24,661
great and you really back your products
and services and you know that in every

605
00:38:24,661 --> 00:38:29,022
industry there's sharks and charlatans,
then you have a duty to,

606
00:38:31,411 --> 00:38:35,911
get your stuff in front of them if they
are looking for that sort of product or

607
00:38:35,911 --> 00:38:36,831
service.

608
00:38:37,471 --> 00:38:43,211
And I cannot tell you how many times I've
interacted with people, especially with

609
00:38:43,211 --> 00:38:43,831
the boot camps.

610
00:38:43,831 --> 00:38:45,491
So that's my higher ticket thing.

611
00:38:45,491 --> 00:38:51,051
I would say like 60 to 70 % of the people
that came through that had already been

612
00:38:51,051 --> 00:38:54,031
burned by a high ticket social growth
program.

613
00:38:54,511 --> 00:38:56,511
That's insanely high.

614
00:38:56,871 --> 00:38:58,211
And so...

615
00:38:58,503 --> 00:39:01,967
And most of those people that went through
it had incredible growth.

616
00:39:01,967 --> 00:39:09,034
so, yeah, I think you have a duty to be as
loud, if not louder, than the charlatans

617
00:39:09,034 --> 00:39:10,234
and the sharks.

618
00:39:11,736 --> 00:39:13,337
Yes, thank you so much for saying that.

619
00:39:13,337 --> 00:39:14,548
I talk about sales a lot.

620
00:39:14,548 --> 00:39:20,273
We have a course in creator school called
how to sell for creators who hate sales or

621
00:39:20,273 --> 00:39:22,195
something like that, but it's spot on.

622
00:39:22,195 --> 00:39:23,045
That's exactly right.

623
00:39:23,045 --> 00:39:27,419
If you are an altruistic person who has
value that you're bringing to the table

624
00:39:27,419 --> 00:39:31,463
and you know that there you're maybe
industry has bad reputation or other

625
00:39:31,463 --> 00:39:35,936
people have done a really shitty job and
done your own followers wrong.

626
00:39:36,184 --> 00:39:36,804
You're exactly right.

627
00:39:36,804 --> 00:39:40,695
You do have a duty to bring that forward
and leverage social proof, testimonials,

628
00:39:40,695 --> 00:39:44,166
statistics, and things like that to help
sort of help make your case for you.

629
00:39:44,166 --> 00:39:47,107
But I love that approach and POV.

630
00:39:47,107 --> 00:39:51,008
I hope that helps kind of make a mental
shift for any creators out there who are

631
00:39:51,008 --> 00:39:54,919
very, very uncomfortable with the concept
of marketing and selling your own products

632
00:39:54,919 --> 00:39:56,079
and services.

633
00:39:57,740 --> 00:40:01,781
And we are going to come back to hiring in
just a second, but because I'm very

634
00:40:01,781 --> 00:40:06,102
interested in your approach, we've spoken
a lot about that, but one interjection.

635
00:40:06,254 --> 00:40:10,254
You're obviously pretty famous at this
point and there are a lot of people and

636
00:40:10,254 --> 00:40:15,394
companies you said five to 30 inquiries
just for brand deals a day and companies

637
00:40:15,394 --> 00:40:19,814
who are vying for your attention and for
your business all the time.

638
00:40:19,814 --> 00:40:23,994
And while I'm sure that's maybe flattering
for a while, I know you're not super into

639
00:40:23,994 --> 00:40:25,814
this whole like fame thing.

640
00:40:25,814 --> 00:40:30,054
How do you cut through the noise and
decide who you can actually trust and rely

641
00:40:30,054 --> 00:40:32,194
on versus someone with maybe

642
00:40:32,194 --> 00:40:35,410
somewhat ulterior motives and I'm sure
your gut feeling has got to be part of

643
00:40:35,410 --> 00:40:36,721
your answer here, right?

644
00:40:37,203 --> 00:40:41,923
Yeah, yeah, it's definitely been that more
and more.

645
00:40:42,383 --> 00:40:44,063
And yeah, the same thing.

646
00:40:44,063 --> 00:40:46,183
Are they trying to rush me into a thing?

647
00:40:46,183 --> 00:40:49,783
Oh, if you don't if we don't do this now,
your business is going to implode.

648
00:40:49,783 --> 00:40:53,083
Okay, I probably I'm good with your
business.

649
00:40:53,083 --> 00:40:55,043
then yeah, exactly.

650
00:40:55,043 --> 00:40:59,963
Other signals like I mean, even this
morning, I so brand deals, let's say five

651
00:40:59,963 --> 00:41:03,143
to 20 or 30 a day.

652
00:41:03,539 --> 00:41:09,199
People asking to work with me or get paid
to do something for me is in the hundreds

653
00:41:09,199 --> 00:41:10,399
probably.

654
00:41:11,059 --> 00:41:15,879
I had one this morning, a guy with 34
followers saying...

655
00:41:15,879 --> 00:41:20,381
bro, your content's shit, let me sort it
out for you.

656
00:41:20,381 --> 00:41:25,342
And it's like, get the following up before
you insult me, you know?

657
00:41:25,342 --> 00:41:30,834
And I see the same with editors who have
two videos in their portfolio and neither

658
00:41:30,834 --> 00:41:32,685
of those videos have views.

659
00:41:32,685 --> 00:41:37,337
it's these, this kind of, that's like the
vast majority is just noise like that,

660
00:41:37,337 --> 00:41:38,107
like.

661
00:41:38,493 --> 00:41:42,745
people that have taken some sort of course
and then going around saying the exact

662
00:41:42,745 --> 00:41:48,558
same thing about how they'll be a setter,
know, or do sales for me.

663
00:41:48,558 --> 00:41:53,710
So a lot of it's noise and it kind of
filters itself out.

664
00:41:53,710 --> 00:41:56,011
Or they'll say, I love your stuff and they
don't follow you.

665
00:41:56,011 --> 00:42:00,593
like, I've gone through it a few times
like back in the day where it, cause I do

666
00:42:00,593 --> 00:42:04,635
like to give people the benefit of the
doubt, but every time someone's not

667
00:42:04,635 --> 00:42:08,389
following me and they say they like my
stuff, it ends up.

668
00:42:08,389 --> 00:42:09,230
And I go, thank you.

669
00:42:09,230 --> 00:42:12,292
Then they're like, what are you doing with
email or something?

670
00:42:12,292 --> 00:42:19,396
And I hate this fake sleazy intro into
like, I want to sell you something.

671
00:42:21,858 --> 00:42:31,624
I would say the people that I've worked
with, the agencies or whoever else, like

672
00:42:31,944 --> 00:42:36,267
my executive assistant, who's absolutely
amazing, she

673
00:42:36,645 --> 00:42:41,657
just chilling in the community, heard
about the job on Instagram stories and was

674
00:42:41,657 --> 00:42:42,528
like, hey, I'll do it.

675
00:42:42,528 --> 00:42:45,279
And I was like, I already like you.

676
00:42:45,279 --> 00:42:46,970
Same with the agencies.

677
00:42:46,970 --> 00:42:51,952
It's like, maybe I see them for a few
months on social.

678
00:42:51,952 --> 00:42:54,383
I like the way they think.

679
00:42:54,383 --> 00:42:59,905
Maybe they signal in one or two ways that
they're trustworthy and that they're maybe

680
00:42:59,905 --> 00:43:03,286
ethical and that they care more than just
about money.

681
00:43:04,753 --> 00:43:08,486
And I kind of want to work with people
that have similar values to me.

682
00:43:08,747 --> 00:43:12,971
Not, they don't have to be identical, but
like, like we can have different opinions

683
00:43:12,971 --> 00:43:16,424
on the environment or whatever, but like
in terms of like how we do business and

684
00:43:16,424 --> 00:43:20,698
how we show up as humans, I want to work
with people that have similar values.

685
00:43:22,120 --> 00:43:24,682
so it's, it's a slow process.

686
00:43:25,955 --> 00:43:30,356
of not even consciously thinking I'm going
to work with this person, but just like

687
00:43:30,356 --> 00:43:35,338
over time, seeing them show up, how do
they think when they post content, or

688
00:43:35,338 --> 00:43:40,319
maybe we hop on calls and they just seem
good and they're not trying to sell me.

689
00:43:41,079 --> 00:43:44,320
they've been the best experiences is when
it's much slower.

690
00:43:44,320 --> 00:43:48,871
So I don't know if there's any agencies
listening, but I wonder how that like

691
00:43:48,871 --> 00:43:54,763
slower lead time could lead to like maybe
less money in the short term, but like

692
00:43:55,059 --> 00:43:59,199
way higher retention because you're
actually building like deep way way more

693
00:43:59,199 --> 00:44:00,919
depth in the relationship.

694
00:44:01,339 --> 00:44:07,439
And that depth will will stand to you in
the stormy times which will come right

695
00:44:07,439 --> 00:44:12,759
like hey we're 26 days in and I haven't
got results if I don't know you like

696
00:44:12,759 --> 00:44:16,299
you're gone you know I don't know why
should I trust you but it builds a lot

697
00:44:16,299 --> 00:44:18,839
more trust of like hey

698
00:44:18,919 --> 00:44:20,201
I've seen yourself on social.

699
00:44:20,201 --> 00:44:21,203
know the way you think.

700
00:44:21,203 --> 00:44:22,165
I trust you.

701
00:44:22,165 --> 00:44:23,666
You're a good person.

702
00:44:23,928 --> 00:44:31,931
So you just give a longer lead time for
things to manifest or for outcomes to be

703
00:44:31,931 --> 00:44:32,922
achieved.

704
00:44:34,818 --> 00:44:37,160
Yeah, that brings up a really good point.

705
00:44:37,160 --> 00:44:43,185
Desperation is the ickiest, yuckiest thing
you can bring to a selling conversation in

706
00:44:43,185 --> 00:44:46,418
any profession at any time, no matter who
you're talking to.

707
00:44:46,418 --> 00:44:53,653
If the prospective buyer can sense this
desperation, deep need from you and a

708
00:44:53,653 --> 00:44:56,476
sense of urgency, I mean, that's a huge
turnoff.

709
00:44:56,476 --> 00:44:58,758
Same thing in our personal relationships,
right?

710
00:44:58,758 --> 00:45:04,512
People who are super needy, clingy, and
codependent, it's a turnoff.

711
00:45:04,906 --> 00:45:06,807
And so I think you bring up a very good
point there.

712
00:45:06,807 --> 00:45:12,179
That's a really, really great litmus test
and people are rushing you and don't

713
00:45:12,179 --> 00:45:14,369
follow you, but say they like your
content.

714
00:45:14,369 --> 00:45:17,540
Those are all really good, you know,
individual standalone nuggets that people

715
00:45:17,540 --> 00:45:19,851
can take away and apply to their own
businesses.

716
00:45:20,251 --> 00:45:22,342
But I think, yeah, that's sage advice.

717
00:45:22,342 --> 00:45:23,912
Thank you for sharing that.

718
00:45:24,993 --> 00:45:28,174
So we've got to wrap up here in a few
minutes,

719
00:45:28,834 --> 00:45:32,796
I'm so glad that you have a key person on
your team now that you hired from your

720
00:45:32,796 --> 00:45:33,297
community.

721
00:45:33,297 --> 00:45:36,458
You know that I'm a huge fan of hiring
from within your community and that

722
00:45:36,458 --> 00:45:42,422
started with a relationship and it made
the sort of bridge to becoming an employee

723
00:45:42,422 --> 00:45:44,233
much simpler and easier.

724
00:45:44,233 --> 00:45:47,605
And there's already that foundation of
trust, like you said.

725
00:45:47,745 --> 00:45:52,068
But would you mind sharing kind of your
approach to growth in your business as it

726
00:45:52,068 --> 00:45:53,008
relates to hiring people?

727
00:45:53,008 --> 00:45:56,130
How are you deciding what work to do
yourself

728
00:45:56,438 --> 00:45:59,532
maybe some more specific examples than
what you shared broadly earlier.

729
00:45:59,532 --> 00:46:02,686
So what you do yourself versus what you
delegate.

730
00:46:03,047 --> 00:46:06,688
Yeah, so I delegate videography and
editing now.

731
00:46:06,809 --> 00:46:12,691
I'm still very much involved in that
process because you have to be like, I

732
00:46:12,691 --> 00:46:20,854
need the quality level to be a certain, I
have very high expectations of how the

733
00:46:20,854 --> 00:46:22,394
content will come out.

734
00:46:23,601 --> 00:46:27,303
And I have a vision and obviously no one's
a mind reader.

735
00:46:27,303 --> 00:46:32,475
So I need to express that vision and then
tweak things.

736
00:46:32,475 --> 00:46:39,098
yeah, so, but the bulk of it is done by
someone else, but he's an awesome dude.

737
00:46:39,358 --> 00:46:43,920
He comes over every Friday we shoot and
then he goes away and edits everything.

738
00:46:43,920 --> 00:46:47,462
And then we have like feedback days and
that sort of thing.

739
00:46:47,462 --> 00:46:48,522
And then,

740
00:46:51,577 --> 00:46:56,871
Yeah, I need, I feel as though I will
always need to have my finger in the pie

741
00:46:56,871 --> 00:47:00,984
of content creation, like across the full
spectrum.

742
00:47:00,984 --> 00:47:08,240
And actually I'm trying right now to level
up my videography and editing skills

743
00:47:08,240 --> 00:47:12,202
because it will inform my ability to
educate.

744
00:47:12,723 --> 00:47:18,127
And sometimes the vocabulary and the
language

745
00:47:18,449 --> 00:47:22,582
that the videographer speaks, I don't
always speak.

746
00:47:23,143 --> 00:47:27,507
And then that can mean that he doesn't get
things to where I need them to be.

747
00:47:27,507 --> 00:47:30,189
like, say fonts.

748
00:47:30,189 --> 00:47:32,290
I have a very good eye for design.

749
00:47:33,332 --> 00:47:38,155
And sometimes we'll do like captions and
it'll just be like off in some way when

750
00:47:38,155 --> 00:47:43,070
we're trying to like combine caption
styles and font styles and different

751
00:47:43,070 --> 00:47:45,722
placements and sizings and things like
that.

752
00:47:45,722 --> 00:47:47,653
And I'll just be like, it's wrong.

753
00:47:47,739 --> 00:47:49,360
And he's like, in what way?

754
00:47:49,360 --> 00:47:53,821
And I don't have the vocabulary yet to go,
it's this and it's that.

755
00:47:53,821 --> 00:48:00,463
So I'm trying to upskill in those ways so
that I am better able to give feedback.

756
00:48:01,384 --> 00:48:08,056
But I will be able to produce more content
at a higher level if there's more minds

757
00:48:08,056 --> 00:48:09,707
working on the content.

758
00:48:10,427 --> 00:48:13,249
I'm thinking about how I can do that.

759
00:48:13,249 --> 00:48:18,341
also think brainstorming and working
together with other people in a sort of

760
00:48:18,341 --> 00:48:23,234
writer's room style is like really great
for content creation and like coming up

761
00:48:23,234 --> 00:48:25,595
with innovative ideas.

762
00:48:26,576 --> 00:48:32,409
And then in terms of the backend stuff,
the business, it's anything organizational

763
00:48:32,409 --> 00:48:35,921
I'm trying to offload because it's not my
strength.

764
00:48:35,921 --> 00:48:37,882
Anything to do with taxes.

765
00:48:37,882 --> 00:48:38,722
We're

766
00:48:39,495 --> 00:48:43,636
We're paying, we're doing VAT
internationally now and that's a massive

767
00:48:43,636 --> 00:48:49,248
headache and our current accountants are
like not good at international VAT.

768
00:48:49,248 --> 00:48:54,199
you know, trying to figure that out is, is
not so fun.

769
00:48:55,479 --> 00:48:59,391
So ideally I'd have someone in the team
who's like always looking at these things

770
00:48:59,391 --> 00:49:08,183
focused on finances, money, revenue, kind
of stuff, payroll, community management.

771
00:49:08,771 --> 00:49:13,575
I'm in the community throughout the week,
but having someone in there who's there

772
00:49:13,575 --> 00:49:19,759
like, you know, all day, every day is
hyper responsive, will really elevate the

773
00:49:19,759 --> 00:49:22,641
level of service that we're able to
provide.

774
00:49:22,881 --> 00:49:32,408
so that, just trying to one, remove myself
from, from the lower value things like

775
00:49:32,408 --> 00:49:37,291
the, or the things that will have less
impact on the business's ability to grow.

776
00:49:37,561 --> 00:49:42,713
and or things that are not so fun or that
I'm not so good at.

777
00:49:43,554 --> 00:49:47,965
They're kind of the areas I'm trying to
outsource.

778
00:49:47,965 --> 00:49:53,548
And then the only exception to that is the
content creation process, which I enjoy

779
00:49:53,548 --> 00:49:54,958
the entirety of it.

780
00:49:54,958 --> 00:49:58,750
But we still like, we want to be the
Harvard of social growth in order to do

781
00:49:58,750 --> 00:49:59,560
that.

782
00:49:59,941 --> 00:50:00,991
It's not going to happen alone.

783
00:50:00,991 --> 00:50:05,563
We need a team of exceptional creators and
thinkers.

784
00:50:06,557 --> 00:50:10,433
Yeah, that's the only exception to those
rules.

785
00:50:10,658 --> 00:50:11,279
Yeah.

786
00:50:11,279 --> 00:50:16,293
And then, I mean, you've hired my firm to
do episodic work, like one time projects.

787
00:50:16,293 --> 00:50:19,125
like, OK, I've got course community.

788
00:50:19,125 --> 00:50:20,486
I need funnels for those.

789
00:50:20,486 --> 00:50:22,989
Can you guys come in and put those funnels
in place?

790
00:50:22,989 --> 00:50:27,512
And then we're working with your in -house
team to turn over the full management.

791
00:50:27,512 --> 00:50:30,275
And here's how the system works and how to
get in there.

792
00:50:30,275 --> 00:50:37,421
And so how did you think about that before
you approached us at the end of last year?

793
00:50:37,421 --> 00:50:38,621
I think it was.

794
00:50:39,180 --> 00:50:42,376
Were you thinking, I know this is kind of
a one and done sort of a thing.

795
00:50:42,376 --> 00:50:44,710
They'll put it in place and kind of pop
in, pop out.

796
00:50:44,710 --> 00:50:49,519
Or how did you think about bringing in, I
mean, agency firm, whatever people want to

797
00:50:49,519 --> 00:50:50,351
call us is fine.

798
00:50:50,351 --> 00:50:52,404
But what was your thought process there?

799
00:50:52,551 --> 00:51:00,113
Yeah, trying to minimize risk is a big
thing for me.

800
00:51:00,113 --> 00:51:07,885
Like one of the start, well, many of the
startups I worked at were very poor with

801
00:51:07,885 --> 00:51:13,827
money management and they would go, we
have this problem, let's buy that, let's

802
00:51:13,827 --> 00:51:15,437
pay for this agency, let's pay.

803
00:51:15,437 --> 00:51:20,318
And then there's just so much money going
out the door and

804
00:51:21,817 --> 00:51:25,749
Money is like the laziest way to solve a
problem, like the least creative way I

805
00:51:25,749 --> 00:51:26,720
often find.

806
00:51:29,772 --> 00:51:31,833
and a lot of the times it doesn't solve
it.

807
00:51:31,833 --> 00:51:39,038
For instance, I worked briefly with a
strategist and I came away with like, and

808
00:51:39,038 --> 00:51:40,899
this is another time where I didn't trust
my gut.

809
00:51:40,899 --> 00:51:44,001
He's an amazing guy, incredibly smart.

810
00:51:44,001 --> 00:51:46,542
It just wasn't the right time in my
business.

811
00:51:46,803 --> 00:51:47,643
And

812
00:51:47,887 --> 00:51:53,669
someone who had a bigger business told me
I needed it and months later I can say

813
00:51:53,669 --> 00:51:55,809
categorically I didn't need that.

814
00:51:56,630 --> 00:52:02,961
And I came away with no value produced,
nothing tangible that I could like use

815
00:52:02,961 --> 00:52:03,271
really.

816
00:52:03,271 --> 00:52:11,314
It was all like all you know pie in the
sky kind of high level stuff that wasn't

817
00:52:11,314 --> 00:52:14,174
grounded in like okay now do this and do
that.

818
00:52:15,115 --> 00:52:16,175
And it was

819
00:52:16,379 --> 00:52:17,189
quite expensive.

820
00:52:17,189 --> 00:52:21,281
And so that was like a painful but
extremely valuable lesson of like,

821
00:52:22,603 --> 00:52:29,596
minimize, one, minimize the risk, and two,
like, only do the things that will, I

822
00:52:29,596 --> 00:52:35,510
think it's like, like you were saying,
where it's like, where in the funnel is

823
00:52:35,510 --> 00:52:37,971
the weakest point right now, and then
focus on

824
00:52:38,447 --> 00:52:42,760
And business can seem extremely
complicated and it's like, my God, I have

825
00:52:42,760 --> 00:52:44,271
to do this and I have to do this other
thing.

826
00:52:44,271 --> 00:52:52,116
it's a, yes, you do, but like right now
there's probably one thing that will most,

827
00:52:52,917 --> 00:52:57,480
most move the needle for you and just
focus on that.

828
00:52:57,480 --> 00:53:02,944
And then once that's moved to a place that
you are happy with, it's like playing

829
00:53:02,944 --> 00:53:06,787
whack -a -mole, like somewhere else is
going to now be very evidently the

830
00:53:06,787 --> 00:53:07,687
problem.

831
00:53:08,229 --> 00:53:14,523
And so for me, was like, let's contain
this, this problem.

832
00:53:14,523 --> 00:53:17,744
Like I knew I needed to get into emails.

833
00:53:18,905 --> 00:53:19,976
Let's contain the problem.

834
00:53:19,976 --> 00:53:28,230
What does a small collaboration look like
so that I can validate that I like working

835
00:53:28,230 --> 00:53:32,423
with you and that I can get the results
that I want to see in order to do more

836
00:53:32,423 --> 00:53:36,675
work rather than, you know, here's a
hundred K and then, you know,

837
00:53:36,935 --> 00:53:37,896
do whatever with it.

838
00:53:37,896 --> 00:53:44,171
then, yeah, so that's my approach in
general now with hires as well.

839
00:53:44,171 --> 00:53:46,923
It's like, let's do some freelance first.

840
00:53:46,963 --> 00:53:50,046
And with agencies, let's do something
small first.

841
00:53:50,046 --> 00:53:52,247
If that works, let's do some more.

842
00:53:52,248 --> 00:53:56,771
And that's been a much better way for me,
for me to do it.

843
00:53:56,771 --> 00:54:02,156
And probably because I don't have as good
a gauge of like, whether someone's legit

844
00:54:02,156 --> 00:54:02,936
or not.

845
00:54:02,936 --> 00:54:06,219
And maybe other people have that sixth
sense and I don't, but.

846
00:54:06,395 --> 00:54:08,109
This is what's working for me.

847
00:54:09,132 --> 00:54:13,044
that and I mean that's a key mental model
that I use all the time.

848
00:54:13,044 --> 00:54:17,536
You work in low -risk iterations that have
the opportunity to yield medium to high

849
00:54:17,536 --> 00:54:18,206
rewards.

850
00:54:18,206 --> 00:54:22,228
Not high risk high reward but like what's
the lowest risk thing that I can do in

851
00:54:22,228 --> 00:54:26,210
order to stair step this process so I
don't lose my freaking shirt making one

852
00:54:26,210 --> 00:54:27,111
bad decision right?

853
00:54:27,111 --> 00:54:30,062
Like you doing things you can walk back
fairly easily.

854
00:54:30,062 --> 00:54:33,614
Okay I've got one more question for you I
know we're at time

855
00:54:33,614 --> 00:54:37,334
But since you are the king of social
growth through short form video, I'd be

856
00:54:37,334 --> 00:54:40,674
kind of remiss and I think people would be
disappointed if I didn't ask you to share

857
00:54:40,674 --> 00:54:45,734
your top advice right now to our listeners
who are also trying to grow via short form

858
00:54:45,734 --> 00:54:46,154
videos.

859
00:54:46,154 --> 00:54:49,194
This is like summer, fall 2024.

860
00:54:50,333 --> 00:54:51,720
Top advice.

861
00:54:54,821 --> 00:54:58,500
I mean, the main main thing is get
started.

862
00:54:58,500 --> 00:55:02,890
feel like I don't know what level are we
speaking to here?

863
00:55:02,890 --> 00:55:05,014
Like, is it a full spectrum?

864
00:55:05,599 --> 00:55:06,605
I don't know.

865
00:55:06,605 --> 00:55:10,751
Whatever, whatever rolls off the tongue
for you right now, whatever's top of mind.

866
00:55:11,131 --> 00:55:17,988
Okay, so I'll say the first thing is to
create and to not overthink content

867
00:55:17,988 --> 00:55:19,058
creation.

868
00:55:19,158 --> 00:55:25,585
feel like creative acts have this weird
special place in our minds that is

869
00:55:25,585 --> 00:55:29,549
different from like physical acts like
basketball.

870
00:55:29,549 --> 00:55:32,552
You like basketball, I like basketball, so
let's use basketball.

871
00:55:32,552 --> 00:55:35,854
Like with basketball we know...

872
00:55:36,113 --> 00:55:38,615
that the main way to improve is like
actually play.

873
00:55:38,615 --> 00:55:43,609
Like it would be weird if you just sat at
home for six hours a day watching

874
00:55:43,609 --> 00:55:48,293
basketball tutorials and then hoping that
you that would make you good.

875
00:55:48,293 --> 00:55:55,499
Like you actually need to do a lot of the
thing and then tweak along the way.

876
00:55:55,499 --> 00:56:01,223
so like, if you do it that way, you're
going to have

877
00:56:01,399 --> 00:56:06,713
much more success much sooner because the
things that you do learn you'll actually

878
00:56:06,713 --> 00:56:14,900
apply right so it's like make a video
assess what went wrong unless it all your

879
00:56:14,900 --> 00:56:20,484
stuff goes right and then don't assess
anything but assuming it went wrong assess

880
00:56:20,484 --> 00:56:21,635
why and

881
00:56:21,699 --> 00:56:29,094
see what in the world you need to learn in
order to get one step closer to where

882
00:56:29,094 --> 00:56:30,155
you're trying to get to, right?

883
00:56:30,155 --> 00:56:31,616
So it's the same thing as the funnel.

884
00:56:31,616 --> 00:56:35,128
It's like, don't try and solve all things
at once.

885
00:56:35,128 --> 00:56:39,761
What's the biggest weakness you have in
terms of content creation right now?

886
00:56:39,761 --> 00:56:43,134
I would say that's one piece of advice.

887
00:56:43,134 --> 00:56:45,866
Just post and then try and get better each
and every day.

888
00:56:45,866 --> 00:56:50,579
I would say work on your mindset.

889
00:56:50,927 --> 00:56:58,149
As I spoke about before, content creators
tend to be a sensitive bunch, and it is

890
00:56:58,149 --> 00:57:02,110
hard when you've poured your heart and
soul into something and then it

891
00:57:02,110 --> 00:57:04,851
underperforms what you expected.

892
00:57:05,271 --> 00:57:12,453
And I've seen many creators with so much
more skill, talent, intelligence,

893
00:57:12,473 --> 00:57:18,955
creativity than me who fall off because
they've never got their mindset right.

894
00:57:18,963 --> 00:57:29,443
and I even had a guy in the boot camp who
he gained 80k in a month and then that's

895
00:57:29,443 --> 00:57:33,983
he's 20 years old he won't mind me
speaking about this because I asked him if

896
00:57:33,983 --> 00:57:42,343
it's okay in general but he 80k in a month
and then started like not being able to

897
00:57:42,343 --> 00:57:46,163
handle the haters and then started

898
00:57:46,519 --> 00:57:52,292
adjusting his strategy very randomly, the
type of content he was making was changing

899
00:57:52,292 --> 00:57:53,363
every day.

900
00:57:53,503 --> 00:58:00,747
There was some like very weird stuff in
there too, like Jane smoking and then

901
00:58:00,747 --> 00:58:04,079
going for a run to the series and stuff
like that.

902
00:58:04,079 --> 00:58:06,050
Just like odd things.

903
00:58:06,631 --> 00:58:11,433
And then he started losing followers and
that made him desperate.

904
00:58:11,433 --> 00:58:14,575
And then it became this like downward
cycle.

905
00:58:15,539 --> 00:58:22,445
and it was actually a very worrying
situation and I don't say that lightly and

906
00:58:22,445 --> 00:58:29,711
other people from the bootcamp reached out
worrying about him as well and in the

907
00:58:29,711 --> 00:58:36,597
behind the scenes I continued to work with
him to like you know get him to understand

908
00:58:36,597 --> 00:58:43,782
that it's a long game and there's ups and
downs and even after the bootcamp ended

909
00:58:44,019 --> 00:58:47,159
We would chat often, sometimes have some
calls.

910
00:58:48,159 --> 00:58:54,519
And eventually he managed to get his mind
in the right place.

911
00:58:54,519 --> 00:58:59,719
And as soon as his mind was in the right
place, gained, I think in the last 30

912
00:58:59,719 --> 00:59:02,419
days, he's gained 230 ,000 followers.

913
00:59:03,099 --> 00:59:06,699
And he always had the skill.

914
00:59:06,739 --> 00:59:10,919
And the only thing that tripped him up was
the mindset.

915
00:59:10,919 --> 00:59:12,139
And so...

916
00:59:12,915 --> 00:59:19,595
I've seen it in him and I've seen it in so
many other creators where the ones with

917
00:59:19,595 --> 00:59:25,515
the right mindset will outperform the ones
with the right skill set because it it

918
00:59:25,515 --> 00:59:29,294
matters over it's not what you can do
today or tomorrow over the next 30 days

919
00:59:29,294 --> 00:59:35,155
it's like can you show up every day for
the next five years you know through the

920
00:59:35,155 --> 00:59:39,935
ebbs and flows that will inevitably come
like just like meta

921
00:59:41,054 --> 00:59:45,395
stagnated for many years and Microsoft
stagnated for like 20 years in the stock

922
00:59:45,395 --> 00:59:46,275
market.

923
00:59:46,275 --> 00:59:53,035
Tesla, like all these billion dollar, some
trillion dollar companies had periods of

924
00:59:53,035 --> 00:59:58,975
stagnation and plateau with the smartest
people in the world and unlimited

925
00:59:58,975 --> 01:00:00,115
resources.

926
01:00:00,115 --> 01:00:02,515
And you think that you won't plateau at
some point.

927
01:00:02,515 --> 01:00:05,755
That's a little delusional.

928
01:00:05,755 --> 01:00:09,555
So embrace it, that it is part of it and
that

929
01:00:10,181 --> 01:00:17,039
if you can find actual joy and maybe bit
of competitive spirit through the plateaus

930
01:00:17,039 --> 01:00:23,225
of like, interesting, and then you roll
your sleeves up and you're like, okay,

931
01:00:23,306 --> 01:00:27,570
let's see what I can do, know, and treat
it like that, then you can actually have

932
01:00:27,570 --> 01:00:28,742
fun through that process too.

933
01:00:28,742 --> 01:00:31,594
But yeah.

934
01:00:32,591 --> 01:00:34,612
It's not going to be fun.

935
01:00:34,913 --> 01:00:43,270
if you are extremely emotionally reactive
to down cycles, to less views or less

936
01:00:43,270 --> 01:00:47,213
followers coming through the door, and
then that ironically means that you

937
01:00:47,213 --> 01:00:48,764
produce worse content.

938
01:00:48,764 --> 01:00:53,478
And I've been there in the past too, where
you start, I started creating content

939
01:00:53,478 --> 01:00:56,651
outside my niche to try and get views.

940
01:00:56,651 --> 01:01:01,154
And it's like, I don't know, it's like
someone who is

941
01:01:01,661 --> 01:01:04,053
trying to date people and can't get
attention.

942
01:01:04,053 --> 01:01:06,865
So then he goes around in a chicken suit
or something.

943
01:01:06,865 --> 01:01:08,867
It's like, that's not the right approach.

944
01:01:08,867 --> 01:01:11,249
Like you will get attention, but the wrong
sort of attention.

945
01:01:11,249 --> 01:01:17,054
Like, so, and this is not like an easy
fix.

946
01:01:17,054 --> 01:01:23,849
It's like day after day, speak to yourself
and remind yourself of like what matters

947
01:01:23,849 --> 01:01:28,453
and why you're doing this and remind
yourself of the different huge businesses

948
01:01:28,453 --> 01:01:30,354
that go through the same things.

949
01:01:31,163 --> 01:01:35,167
remind yourself that it's a long -term
game and that most people don't stick with

950
01:01:35,167 --> 01:01:35,267
it.

951
01:01:35,267 --> 01:01:43,765
so if you do, and importantly, if you
learn the things you need to learn to get

952
01:01:43,765 --> 01:01:51,382
better, then trust in that process that
like, if I become a better content creator

953
01:01:51,463 --> 01:01:54,445
over time, the results will come.

954
01:01:54,606 --> 01:01:55,466
Not,

955
01:01:56,211 --> 01:01:57,791
on my schedule.

956
01:01:57,791 --> 01:02:01,811
You know, I can't say today will be 10
,000 followers, tomorrow is 15 because

957
01:02:01,811 --> 01:02:03,071
I've said so.

958
01:02:03,071 --> 01:02:07,951
It will happen as it happens, but it will
happen if you get better.

959
01:02:07,951 --> 01:02:11,771
That's a guarantee and that's the only
thing I can guarantee is that you will get

960
01:02:11,771 --> 01:02:13,951
better results when you get better.

961
01:02:16,571 --> 01:02:18,211
What else?

962
01:02:20,011 --> 01:02:20,991
I

963
01:02:23,111 --> 01:02:29,634
Depending on your skill level, if you're
like a little less experienced, lean on

964
01:02:29,815 --> 01:02:36,438
formats that are known to be easier to get
views with and also easier, like require

965
01:02:36,438 --> 01:02:37,239
less skill.

966
01:02:37,239 --> 01:02:39,600
So green screens is a good one.

967
01:02:39,600 --> 01:02:41,331
Reacts is another good one.

968
01:02:41,331 --> 01:02:46,444
Street interviews, although that would
require an additional person, but these

969
01:02:46,444 --> 01:02:47,925
formats are hyper viral.

970
01:02:47,925 --> 01:02:51,677
They work and they've worked since before
the days of TikTok and Instagram, like

971
01:02:51,677 --> 01:02:52,463
they worked.

972
01:02:52,463 --> 01:02:58,786
on YouTube long form and they continue to
work because they tap into things like

973
01:02:58,947 --> 01:03:06,951
social hacking and trend jacking and green
screens work because they allow you to be

974
01:03:06,951 --> 01:03:10,714
dynamic and move yourself around the
screen and show many things behind you

975
01:03:10,714 --> 01:03:15,556
which is all about like keeping engagement
high without you actually having to have

976
01:03:15,556 --> 01:03:20,279
the skill that you would have to do that
in any other form of editing so

977
01:03:21,009 --> 01:03:22,400
that kind of stuff.

978
01:03:23,921 --> 01:03:24,231
Yeah.

979
01:03:24,231 --> 01:03:30,185
And then if you're more advanced, would,
even if you're an educator, look into

980
01:03:30,185 --> 01:03:30,976
storytelling.

981
01:03:30,976 --> 01:03:38,561
I think if I was to ask you how many
videos you remember on short form in the

982
01:03:38,561 --> 01:03:44,175
last week or last month, it's going to be
very, very few, but you'll remember movies

983
01:03:44,175 --> 01:03:48,197
and TV shows and they would have educated
you in a different way.

984
01:03:49,079 --> 01:03:50,139
And so

985
01:03:50,457 --> 01:03:54,261
If you storytell, and that doesn't
necessarily mean that you're telling a

986
01:03:54,261 --> 01:04:00,957
story, you can take like a storytelling
technique like a metaphor or an analogy or

987
01:04:00,957 --> 01:04:07,653
the power of three or Pope in the pool or
save the cat or adding stakes or you know,

988
01:04:07,653 --> 01:04:09,424
there's like promise of a payoff.

989
01:04:09,424 --> 01:04:14,249
There's like an unlimited amount of
different storytelling techniques that you

990
01:04:14,249 --> 01:04:16,563
can inject without going.

991
01:04:16,563 --> 01:04:22,643
In 1965, it doesn't have to be that in
order to be moving towards storytelling.

992
01:04:24,403 --> 01:04:29,063
And then, but still educate or still talk
about your business, but weave in the

993
01:04:29,063 --> 01:04:30,023
story.

994
01:04:30,983 --> 01:04:32,923
People will remember it longer.

995
01:04:33,163 --> 01:04:36,063
And this is what the whole game is about.

996
01:04:36,063 --> 01:04:41,823
It's like, can I take up real estate in
someone else's mind so that when it comes

997
01:04:41,823 --> 01:04:45,783
time for them to want to purchase the sort
of thing that I have that they go,

998
01:04:46,021 --> 01:04:48,473
I should buy that from XYZ.

999
01:04:48,994 --> 01:04:57,121
And so if you just create empty,
meaningless trash, then that won't happen.

1000
01:04:57,121 --> 01:04:59,123
And I see a lot of creators do that.

1001
01:04:59,123 --> 01:05:03,106
They're like, I'm going to get into five
second reels.

1002
01:05:04,668 --> 01:05:08,962
And I know that works for some people, but
for me, it doesn't teach you the skill

1003
01:05:08,962 --> 01:05:11,794
that you will need long term to win.

1004
01:05:14,331 --> 01:05:21,035
Yeah, I think sometimes we focus on the
opportunity that's right here in front of

1005
01:05:21,035 --> 01:05:21,635
us.

1006
01:05:21,635 --> 01:05:24,097
That's a small fry opportunity.

1007
01:05:24,097 --> 01:05:29,259
And when we do that, we lose sight of the
huge opportunity that's ahead of us if we

1008
01:05:29,259 --> 01:05:34,152
become incredible storytellers and learn
how to use these platforms and to connect

1009
01:05:34,152 --> 01:05:37,544
with people on a deep emotional,
psychological level.

1010
01:05:37,544 --> 01:05:42,026
And we can't do that if we focus too much
on.

1011
01:05:42,467 --> 01:05:43,247
Yeah.

1012
01:05:43,261 --> 01:05:46,852
three second reels where you're dancing
and pointing your finger.

1013
01:05:48,598 --> 01:05:50,409
Wow, that's a huge mic drop there.

1014
01:05:50,409 --> 01:05:52,650
That was some amazing free consulting.

1015
01:05:52,650 --> 01:05:54,060
Thank you so much for sharing that.

1016
01:05:54,060 --> 01:05:58,612
And if it is not abundantly clear at the
level of expertise that Yassin has that he

1017
01:05:58,612 --> 01:06:02,194
demonstrates both in his course and
community, you have not been listening

1018
01:06:02,194 --> 01:06:04,944
closely.

1019
01:06:05,365 --> 01:06:07,126
thank you, Ken, for joining me today.

1020
01:06:07,126 --> 01:06:10,027
And we will make sure that we have all
those links in the show notes.

1021
01:06:10,027 --> 01:06:12,068
But Yassin, do you have a quick parting
shot?

1022
01:06:12,068 --> 01:06:15,929
And where can listeners find you online
other than the we'll put direct links to

1023
01:06:15,929 --> 01:06:18,400
your course and community in the show
notes.

1024
01:06:19,643 --> 01:06:27,845
Yeah, viral video club, viral video dot
club is where you can find me.

1025
01:06:27,845 --> 01:06:30,746
That's what it is on Instagram, TikTok,
YouTube.

1026
01:06:30,746 --> 01:06:32,687
That's the name of my website.

1027
01:06:33,027 --> 01:06:38,688
So if you want to check me out on any of
those platforms, then head there.

1028
01:06:39,689 --> 01:06:46,760
If you want feedback on all your ideas,
hooks, videos, scripts, definitely check

1029
01:06:46,760 --> 01:06:48,091
out the community.

1030
01:06:49,349 --> 01:06:53,602
I really, it's my baby, like I'm in there
constantly.

1031
01:06:53,602 --> 01:06:59,026
You and you know, I work with brands like
Red Bull and you get access to me for like

1032
01:06:59,927 --> 01:07:03,429
an incredible fraction of the price in
there.

1033
01:07:04,331 --> 01:07:08,213
And the course is actually, I would say
it's a supplementary thing.

1034
01:07:08,213 --> 01:07:13,267
I would like choose a community over the
course, but if you're the sort of person

1035
01:07:13,267 --> 01:07:14,798
that does well with.

1036
01:07:15,629 --> 01:07:20,786
self -learning then that can be a great
place to go to for learning more about

1037
01:07:20,927 --> 01:07:26,004
short -form video content and like how to
actually make it work without selling your

1038
01:07:26,004 --> 01:07:26,794
soul.

1039
01:07:28,568 --> 01:07:30,339
Yes, I love that line.

1040
01:07:30,659 --> 01:07:32,150
Thank you again so very much.

1041
01:07:32,150 --> 01:07:33,431
I really, really appreciate it.

1042
01:07:33,431 --> 01:07:34,402
And thank you listeners.

1043
01:07:34,402 --> 01:07:35,653
We know that time is precious.

1044
01:07:35,653 --> 01:07:37,544
We appreciate you sharing yours with us.

1045
01:07:37,544 --> 01:07:41,607
We help creators like Yassin at Level Up
Creators, our consulting firm, and also

1046
01:07:41,607 --> 01:07:46,600
levelupcreatorschool .com, where our team
becomes your full stack team of fractional

1047
01:07:46,600 --> 01:07:50,863
advisors and includes no fluff creator
courses, a vibrant creator community, and

1048
01:07:50,863 --> 01:07:52,774
more, all on a subscription basis.

1049
01:07:52,774 --> 01:07:56,928
See the show notes for more information
and a suite of high value free resources.

1050
01:07:56,928 --> 01:07:58,787
Yes, and we'll throw yours in there as
well.

1051
01:07:58,787 --> 01:08:01,291
And we'll see you next time on the Level
Up Creators podcast.