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Travis Houston
I think a lot of times we look at someone like Alex Hormozzi and we're saying, you know, if I just do what Alex is doing, I'm going to make money. And that's fucking bullshit.
Luis
The part that they always miss is when they were in your position. I do what they were doing when they were in your position.
Travis Houston
I'm so sick of seeing everyone's AI social media posts because they're bland, they're boring, they're vanilla, they're not authentic, they're not real.
Fonzie
As a professional AI hater over here, as I've mentioned before, that is like your process because you're not outsourcing your thinking.
Travis Houston
AI is a mirror of your intention.
Luis
And everybody comes here thinking, hey, there's a secret method, there's a secret thing, there's a secret strike.
Travis Houston
They're looking for how do I go viral? Instead of asking, how do I become vital?
Luis
The next question is like, okay, how do I actually connect that content into profit?
Travis Houston
You first need to understand where you are on what I call the map to millions. The map to millions are. We've got some. Hey, I'm Luis.
Luis
And you're listening to the Content Is Profit podcast. Travis. Welcome to the show, my man. Welcome. I'm so grateful that you are here with us.
Travis Houston
Excited to be here, guys. Actually, I actually got up early this morning and I made you a present, but I didn't have time to wrap it.
Fonzie
That's fine. I mean, am I putting you on the spot if I'm like, I mean, show it. Show the present, or do you prefer it for it to be rat?
Travis Houston
Oh, no, I'm going to definitely show you the present. Not yet.
Fonzie
All right, it sounds good. Sounds good.
Travis Houston
I'm going to make. I'm going to make you wait for this because it's. It's hilarious and it's totally. You ever get, like, that shiny object thing where you're going down this track and all of a sudden, squirrel, and you're off in a completely different direction? That's what this is going to do for us.
Fonzie
All right, all right. That sounds like my life.
Luis
There has been Golden Speedos in the past. I don't know if you want to compete with some of those, but, you know, I'm now very stoked.
Travis Houston
There's no competing with Golden Speedos. Let's just be straight up. There's zero competing with that.
Fonzie
Yeah, that's hilarious.
Luis
Absolutely. Try. So, look, I'm going to read real quick three things that you've achieved, and then you tell Me. Which one's real, which one's fake? Right. Ready? All right. Created the first training program for the Make a Wish Foundation. Founders a Hollywood movie producer and many a lister expert experts. Right. Build the teams and systems for multiple a figure brands you produce and guided over 300 solopreneurs to build full time income online. And maybe you wrote your first book outlining the exact strategies you've used for the past 20 years in digital marketing. So are those. Which one of those is real, which of those is fake?
Travis Houston
Fact, fact, fact, fact.
Luis
Let's go.
Fonzie
That's awesome.
Luis
Well, thank you guys. Clearly we have unpack here. So I mean can you tell us a little bit of like maybe lately the last year or so we talked a lot about trends in the digital world. Right. You've obviously are in the trench and trenches. What are some of the biggest change and that you've seen that give people the most wins?
Travis Houston
For me right now there's probably two major things.
Luis
Okay.
Travis Houston
One, and, and, and they're like almost they're going to fight with each other. So these two things I'm very passionate about both of them and they're almost contrarian. So first one.
Luis
Yes.
Travis Houston
How much can we swear on this show?
Luis
All you want.
Fonzie
Yeah, yeah, it's good.
Luis
If you, if you have children in the car right now, this is the time, you know.
Travis Houston
Okay, so here's what I'm saying. Everyone's got this like I'm all about, I am doing AI everything, AI content, AI video, AI avatars. And I am so against it.
Fonzie
You can say, you can say so fucking. Yeah.
Travis Houston
So here's what I'm talking about. Here's why I say this, I think like passionately that when you're putting out your, and I call it principal content, like what we're doing here, like the thing that we put out, it should not be your AI avatar. It needs to be you and your personality and your leadership and your mission. And you're building a community around this and that should not be AI.
Luis
Yeah, absolutely. I mean you hear many companies, right? So the latest thing that everybody's chasing as a company, as a brand is like community, community, community. Right? And it's so funny to me like that you hear that but at the same time you see the other side of like everybody's trying to build it with AI, like trying to make this shortcut happen that doesn't really exist.
Travis Houston
I'm so sick of seeing everyone's AI social media posts because they're bland, they're boring, they're Vanilla. They're not rich, they're not like warm, they're not authentic, they're not real. So what I am a huge proponent of is that that big piece, that principal piece of content you put out in the world.
Luis
Yeah.
Travis Houston
Kind of like you guys, what you're doing right here, this got to be you, your voice, and you're building your tribe and your community around this movement, around your flavor. Now with that said, the other piece to this is, dude, if you are not using AI in your business to get that content out there in multiple ways, you are a complet absolute.
Fonzie
Like, yeah, that is, that's interesting. I told, I want to know more about this, you know, because in the first part of the statement I was like, travis, you're my best friend. We're best friends right now. You know, I'm a, I'm a, I don't want to say I'm an AI hater. I use AI for a few things. So I'm not a total loser out here, you know, but. And then on the next statement, you know, obviously people are going to be like, whoa, what are you talking about? Right? Like, what is this contrast of opinion between, you know, you gotta be unique, but you still gotta leverage AI. So help us unpack that a little bit. What does exactly mean? You still need to use AI, but you need to have principal content. Where is you the one showing up?
Travis Houston
So have you heard of agentic? Do you know agentic AI and what agentic AI is?
Fonzie
And does gentic AI? I don't think I've heard about that, no.
Travis Houston
So, so you've heard of agents and all of this. You know what automations are? Funnels and automations and the things that we're doing. Even like, you know how I'm using certain things with a stream deck. I've got so many things built out as automations, but that's not really AI, right? It's not really agentic. Agentic means working on its own, autonomously accomplishing tasks. So what I'm building that I'm really super passionate about is agentic AI systems where you take the principal piece of content that you do, the big piece of like forward facing content that's you to the world, but then using agentic AI systems behind that. So you've got an AI strategist, an AI copywriter, an AI that overviews it all and then different stages. So how do we, how do we take this podcast right here and turn it into 72 additional pieces of content with no other people involved? And you can do that using agentic AI systems.
Luis
I love it.
Travis Houston
So, Genti, I'm guessing I already replaced you guys. You guys are absolutely no longer even relevant because I created an AI for each of you, and I did it this morning.
Fonzie
So that's it. That's the present.
Travis Houston
Wait, wait. And it's so good.
Fonzie
I want to see this.
Luis
I. I waited. Yeah.
Fonzie
And idea to the death.
Luis
Whenever, you know, we get access to this and test it, we're gonna do a live battle on the podcast with our own AI agents.
Fonzie
I mean, I'm sure my agent is way smarter than me, for sure.
Luis
Yeah, definitely. I mean, I'm sure he remembers things. Yeah.
Travis Houston
Okay, wait, wait, wait. Let's have a. Let's have a recent Bonzi battlebot go on right now.
Luis
Let's dive in. Let's dive in.
Travis Houston
You see? Oh, you can't see my screen. Can you see my screen? Maybe you can't. Can you see my screen?
Fonzie
Oh, yeah.
Luis
Yes, yes, yes.
Travis Houston
What does it say?
Luis
Louis and Fonzie Bot. Right? Turn your content into cash without the guesswork.
Travis Houston
Okay. So we can start asking this bad boy questions. All right, so let's just. So, Fonzie, ask a question that, like, it's gonna. Like your question is gonna be in your. Like, just ask. Ask a question. Let's see how accurate the AI bot I made around you.
Fonzie
So is it a question about myself, or is it a question I want you to ask?
Travis Houston
Ask a question about business or podcasting or content.
Fonzie
Because I'm gonna be like. My question is gonna be like, what's my fav. I mean, we talk about it all the. Like, we. We talk about that, you know, so I don't know what.
Travis Houston
How.
Fonzie
How deep this information goes, but.
Luis
All right, contextual to. Maybe people in the studio that come in, popular questions that they're. They're asking us all the time.
Travis Houston
Yeah, perfect. That.
Fonzie
I mean, how. How do I. I mean, most people are coming here. They want to grow this podcast as fast as possible, but they have. Zero. Zero audience. Right. And they want to monetize. They're like, all right, how do I make. Yeah, how do I make money on my podcast if I don't have an audience at all? You know?
Travis Houston
Yeah.
Fonzie
And it's the first time ever I'm publishing content.
Travis Houston
Okay. Can you. Can you see what it's doing? So it's. It's thinking in both of your voices, by the way, and it's going to answer as both of you.
Luis
Oh, boy. Okay.
Travis Houston
All right, here's what it says. So the question was this, how do I grow my podcast as fast as possible and make money? And I've trained an AI on both of your voices and here's what it says. The Louis says, all right, buckle up because we're about to rocket launch your podcast and grow cash flow. First, consistency is king. If you're dropping episodes once a month, you're leaving money on the table. Aim for weekly releases at a minimum. And then Fonzie says yes. And let's talk about repurposing. Your podcast is a gold mine, bro. Chop those episodes into bite sized clips for social media, TikTok, Instagram, LinkedIn, you name it. You're not just a podcaster, you're a content machine. And then Louise comes back and says, oh, this is hilarious.
Fonzie
This is awesome.
Travis Houston
And it's got your guys's answer kind of in your voice.
Fonzie
It's like a little dialog.
Luis
Yeah. By the way, if you're watching on YouTube right now, you're going to be able to follow the script. Yeah. Oh man.
Travis Houston
He says, and dude, don't forget newsletters and online communities. And Louis says, yeah, lastly. So I've literally cloned like 60 of your guys episodes and made a complete AI chatbot. And then I went in and I trained it on how each of you talk and how you banter together and then made a Persona in that and then trained an AI just on that piece. And I put it all into this thing and had it all connected together using something called rag.
Luis
Okay.
Travis Houston
Retrieval Augmented generation AI system built on the Biz Bros. Travis.
Luis
Okay. Studio classic.
Fonzie
Pretty cool. That's pretty cool. I will say that is the first time on the podcast that somebody comes, you know, with a straight up banger like that one.
Luis
Yes. That was pretty sweet, Travis. And by the way, Fonse, you sound more bro ish than you know.
Fonzie
I sound more bro in the chat.
Luis
It's pretty accurate, let me tell you. Like whatever we read, I can't wait to see like the full answer. And here's by the way, incredible. And this is clearly what you help people do on leverage, you know, obviously. Right. I'm assuming and ish. And you're like secret weapon time. Now I'm salivating because I'm like, I'm the operator. I like to tinker. I like to experiment with things, new things. Most people Right. Starting right now or whether that's a company. And we just did a live stream for this incredible company down in Miami when we started talking about these technical things right there to now they're Like, I have so much going on, like content I know is a priority, but these level, deep dive and understanding and things can be very overwhelming. Right. So like, how do we simplify it? Right? How do we. Now let's take that, right? Let's say they go into you, Travis, and you work with them and this is created. Now what is some use case that we can leverage this and skyrocket, you know, the content results, whatever that result is for the customer.
Travis Houston
Let's break it down to its most simple part.
Luis
Perfect.
Travis Houston
You want to create, you want to solve problems for your audience, correct? Correct. So at its core, you need to know what problems your audience wants solved. And the easiest way to do that, in my humble opinion, is to get on calls, at least 10 calls a month with your clients, and talk to them. Talk to the ones that are happy with your service and especially talk to the ones that are very unhappy with something that went wrong in your service. And by talking about 80% of people that are happy, 20% of people that may have been unhappy about something, you'll really uncover what your market really wants and know what questions and problems that you need to solve. Then you can take those questions and problems your, your audience actually would pay to have solved. Then you could run them through one of these systems and that will help you create content and then you film that content and then break that content up into bite sized chunks to spread omnipresent across multiple social channels. So it starts with what we're doing here. Making one big piece of content, but really based on the things that our actual paying clients need.
Fonzie
Yeah, I love it.
Luis
And I think what I like about this, not just the simplicity, is like, this is the same thing that we've talked about for like the last eight years is right at the end of the day, we're solving people's problems, right? And everybody comes here thinking, hey, there's a secret method, there's a secret thing, there's a secret strategy. There's so much noise out there, not only with distribution channels, but tactics. I remember when this is the funny one. We just talked to a team about this. Alex or Mosey. Captions. Everybody's like, I want the captions. Because I think the captions are the things that are going to drive traffic to people's attention. And I'm like, are we having that conversation again for real? And I love Travis, how you broke it down. It's like, is as simple as identifying those problems and be like, here, here's a solution in a digestible way. Original with our personality and so on and moving forward.
Fonzie
Yeah, we talk about it all the time. Conversations. Oh, yeah, go ahead. Sorry, Travis.
Travis Houston
The problem is what you just said was so important that so many people are looking for that. That thing. They're looking for, how do I go viral? Instead of asking, how do I become vital? And Hormozy is so good at being. At giving vital information for growing your business. And it's not the shirts that he wears, it's not the hat, it's not the captions, it's not the arms. It's that he actually has vital business systems. So don't worry about going viral. Worry about truly being vital to the people that need your information. And I think that's the core of it all.
Luis
Yeah.
Fonzie
So my question with, you know, the AI that you showed us first, I already got some beef with the AI, but, you know, you gotta understand, I'm a little bit of an AI hater out here, but I love it. I think it's. It's really interesting to see the dynamic. You fed the information, obviously, you know, like, I'm sure you did this kind of like a little bit quick, too. If you have the time to sit down with, you know, your client and build this up, you're going to have way more relevant information that you can feed him.
Travis Houston
Right.
Fonzie
I'm guessing the stories, the frameworks, like, all these things. For example, right? Now, you talked about having a lot of conversation with your clients. Well, one of the things that we said all the time is conversations create clarity. Right. So if you feed that piece of information, I'm sure the AI will be to, you know, able to retrieve it and all the stuff, make it a little bit more, have more intention. Right. But I think what you did is absolutely amazing. Now my question is, in what part of the process you say that you can create pretty much like this autonomous agents in pretty much every part of. Of the process. Right. But I'm just curious, like, what is the best use scenario for, you know, for somebody? And we have a conversation before the podcast, when we met, you talked about, you know, the edit less video, you know, obviously turning views into profit. I'm sure this plays a role into that. Right? For so somebody that is, you know, concerned on creating vital content rather than viral content. You know, I. I come in with an intention. You know, I do my research and I have frameworks that I want to talk about. I jump in front of the camera and I record, right? Then what is this AI? What is the next step? Right. Like, on your End. Do they? I don't know. Is there like, do you drop the video somewhere and then it just does everything automatically publishes automatically. Like for. I think there's a lot of blanks in my mind when I'm trying to like visualize the process on what else do I do I need to do? Right. Because one of the things I have against AI is the fact that a lot of people wants to use. It seems like they want to use it to work less. Right. Not to work effectively or better quality is more. Just to work less. Like, I'm a do. I'm a lady. I do stuff so I can sit on my butt. Right. And I'm curious with this, right. This is filling a lot of gaps, but what's up with, you know, the person that's doing the work as well? Like, where does. Where does that fit in the image? I don't know if I. I know it's a complicated question I had a hard time putting into words. So give me your best.
Luis
You can just keep the question completely. I mean, just. Louis, you asked me the right question. I'm kidding. I'm kidd.
Travis Houston
No, honestly, there's three pieces to it. So in my. I always build frameworks and models. So in my world, there's three things you have to do. One is called pre purposing. So pre purposing is where you plan in advance what you are going to create. So your planning leads to repurposing later on. I find most people are just filming content without the intention about how it's going to be repurposed later on. So with pre purposing, it starts with when you're creating your scripts. Can I give you the how all this came together? Do you guys ever watch Saturday Night Live?
Fonzie
Yes, once in a while.
Travis Houston
Yes. Okay. When was the last time you actually watched Saturday Night Live? From the. From the opening, the cold open all the way through the very end.
Luis
Probably never.
Travis Houston
Okay, but what was. Like, do you. But do you watch it on YouTube? Like the shorts, like the little bit here, a little bit here, a little bit here, a little bit here?
Luis
Yep, yep. And the talk shows too.
Travis Houston
Same with me. I've never watched Stephen Colbert all the way through.
Luis
Yeah.
Travis Houston
But I watch, you know, meanwhile, and I watch his bits and segments. Right. So, yeah, I had this realization, why aren't I repurposing and creating content like Saturday Night Live where the whole thing works together, but it's actually meant to be compartmentized, like little bits that I could pull out. So I said, I'm start creating Content like Saturday Night Live creates a full episode where the whole thing works together, but really it's meant where these individual bits work together. Now, for that to work, the one thing you have to do, and here's what no one's really doing in the pre purposing phase, you've got to think about your entire content, but you've got to think about the individual segments. And each individual segment has to. Has a. Has to have a what? Nailed it. A hook.
Luis
Yeah.
Travis Houston
And most people aren't writing hooks into each segment. And so when you put your content into one of those AI repurposing machines like Opus or Minvo or Whatevs, you've got hooks that are your starting point. For each of those segments, you've got a hook and maybe even sometimes a little mini call to action. So when people repurpose content, it's already made to be repurposed. And so when I am planning my content, I'm planning it with repurposing already in mind.
Fonzie
Yeah, yeah. Guide us a little bit about that. First. I love the term pre purposing. You know, I will start using it and I will attribute it to you, Travis, every single time. I'm going to be like pre purpose and copyrighted by Travis Houston. But I'm guide me a little bit about that planning process. Right. Somebody that is listening to this now and you know they've. The question was how do I start my podcast, make money with that. We are believers that pre purpose in is key. Right. We've actually talked about for content is profit doing similar stuff. Right. Including including like a game segment and stuff like that. Right. We're working on it. But we also have a football show that has more defined segments like what you were just talking about. So guide somebody that is new into this. They would. They want to release a show. What should they consider when doing some pre purposing?
Travis Houston
Okay, this is gonna be the shameless plug right now because I feel like.
Fonzie
Let'S go for it.
Travis Houston
What I want to do is I want to give all of your listeners this book. Because what you just asked me, Fonzie, I literally, it's step by step in this book. I lay it out exactly what to do in terms of using the profit. And it's a 20 book with bonuses and all that, but I'm giving it to your audience for free. I turn viewsinto profit.com and you've got to use the coupon code CIP. Oh yeah. If you have to turn viewsintoprofit.com and there's a coupon code place in there. And you put in the coupon code C, the letter C, I P. It gives you everything for free in the book chapter six. And when you go to the reader bonuses in chapter six, that little AI chatbot I just showed you, I've built one for how to write the perfect script. It's called and it's just. I've got lots of them but this one's called One Problem Three Tips. Like the most classic YouTube video framework ever is here's a problem my audience is facing and here's three tips to solve it. And so I've created this. I've created a full AI process where the AI asks you 13 questions.
Fonzie
Awesome.
Travis Houston
And then based on the 13 questions it asks you, boom, it spits out an entire perfect script. So if you get the book, which you should go with. Get. Get the book.
Luis
Yeah.
Travis Houston
And then just go right to the reader bonuses and watch chapter six training. It's so good for how I'm using AI to help develop your One problem three tips framework. And then guess what? That one problem talking about the problem is one segment, a short form video. Right. Each of the three tips are a short form segment. The way I teach you to do a customer case study. Within there is a pulled out. So you've got five, six, seven things that you can pull out of that video.
Luis
Yeah.
Travis Houston
So you've got the long form video. Then each of the short forms are already baked into it and they all start with hooks. So each of them, it's like you're pre purposing. Means that you are planning for pre purposing later on.
Luis
Yeah, I love it. Choice. And can I add something before you that I'm gonna connect it with a little bit of a plug.
Fonzie
That's what happens when somebody says something interesting. We fight.
Luis
We fight to the death. But now all I want to say is that if you're listening right now or watching, go to business creator club because that's where you're going to see the six levers. And what Travis is explaining right now, it fits into the creation and the production level.
Travis Houston
Right.
Luis
We talk about this all the time and I think that's going to help people come. Like, where do I actually use this type of process in the production? It can seem very overwhelming. We just came from the live stream which we did a runner show just for like one hour on this racing event. And as soon as we ended up the stream, we started talking about how do we do the next one for about three Hours and four hours. And the conversation was exactly what Travis, what you were saying on pre planning these segments to make sure that the live stream goes well with the intention on then using that type of content for social media. What happens? A lot of the times people just think about, okay, here's my long form. And then after I create that long form, then how do we select? So you, your editor, your team has to go back and rewatch the thing. Maybe they don't have the right context, maybe they don't have the right hook, right? So here is like this process that Travis sharing with you and that what we share you in the business creator club is going to save you a ton of time and you're going to be able to create so, so much better content that is going to reach your ideal customers, that is going to solve their problems and keep bringing them back. All right, that was my shameless plug.
Fonzie
All right, so first of all, go to turn viewsintoprofit.com and then use the Coupon CIP to get your book. That's amazing. Thank you, Travis, for that. Two things. First, I have a really good friend that he refers to the real AI, right? Like, how do we reframe AI? And he says authenticity and intentionality. And I think this process, right, that is the human side of AI, like authenticity and intentionality. And I think that what you just mentioned adds that to AI, which I really enjoy. You know, as a professional AI hater over here, as I've mentioned before, that is why I like your process. Because you're not outsourcing your thinking, right? You're not just telling the AI, okay, I hate when I see this freaking post on Instagram, by the way. I absolutely hate it when somebody's like, this is the prompt. You can create 365 pieces of content with this one prompt. It's like, I am in the niche X. Can you create content? Put it in a Y, in, you know, in a table, the Y axis, whatever. I'm like, dude, you do your research. Why are your frameworks? What are your stories, what are your things?
Luis
I just imagine the algorithm like in the back end laughing. Like, again, these people with the stupid prompts.
Fonzie
So, you know, again, as an AI hater and the main reason why I take that stance is because people like to outsource their thinking. What I like about your approach is that AI is used more as a guide, right? Is facilitating the creation. But you still need to put your input, you still need to put your knowledge right? And I think that is where there's gold. I was listening to the Knowledge Project a couple, couple weeks ago and I don't remember now who he was talking to as a guest, but he was mentioning that the school doesn't let the kids use AI. But he said, I let my, my kids use AI, but I don't let them just be like, hey, can you write for me a, you know, 500 word essay about the American Revolution? He says, no, the way I make them use them is you write the essay and then bring it up to the AI tool and say, hey, look, I am a ninth grader, you are my teacher now. This is the essay I wrote about this topic. Where do you see my weak points are? Right. So it's turning the AI into a coach to improve the feedback loop. Right. Make it faster. And that's where I was like, I like that idea. I like that usage of AI.
Travis Houston
If I was in studio right now, we would be hugging so hard.
Fonzie
Because.
Travis Houston
Everything you just said is so true. AI is a mirror of your intention.
Fonzie
Yep.
Travis Houston
And the better you are at putting your intention, information frameworks, stories of you, what AI is going to give you so much better. So the way I'm, I'm actually utilizing and creating AI is I'm not saying go to ChatGPT and use all these stupid prompts. No, I have it built out to where I know the frameworks that work. And I'm going to ask you the question. So in the One Problem three Tips framework, I'm asking you about you, your information, your audience, and I'm asking you for what's the problem you actually solve so that people actually need to know what problem. They need to know what the three tips are. So the three tips aren't what ChatGPT is telling you the tips are.
Fonzie
Yes.
Travis Houston
What you are telling the AI the three tips are when it writes the script, it's actually authentically you.
Fonzie
Yeah, I love that, dude. I love that. I really, I think I need to create a shirt that says AI hater and a little like asterisk on the corner and then in the corners, like, you know, kind of like a little disclaimer. It's like I'm a hater if you also thinking, you know, but if you use it intentionally, that's, you know, that's where I see the value. So I really appreciate you, you know, bringing that to light because I would hate for the message of this episode be outsource your thinking to AI. Right? Outsource all of your work. No, it's like how do we use this with intentionality and help us improve our workflows or processes and the way we're delivering our message, not the message from ChatGPT. So I think that is absolutely amazing. We'll definitely get some shirts made on.
Luis
Yeah. Travis, obviously, you know, this is the latest. I think that's where we started the conversation.
Travis Houston
Right.
Luis
But I want to shift a little bit on the connection between this and then revenue, right? That's like after creation, right? People get consistent. Beach, by the way, are doubles. That's exactly what they said. That's exactly what I say all the time. So accurate, Very accurate. The next question is like, okay, how do I actually connect that content into profit? Right? How do I do it? And that's obviously with our. What we've seen is that depends on the type of business. Different things with the companies that you've helped, how is that connection made between those pieces of content? The flow, the cadence, how many, like, do we jump on a call? Depends on the product. Like, what are the things that you've seen that connect those two?
Travis Houston
I'm just going to talk straight to your audience.
Fonzie
So perfect.
Travis Houston
I have been doing this 20 years. I guarantee. I know it works and it works. There's different stages. So here's. I need this to be very clear. I think a lot of times we look at someone like Alex Hermosi and we're saying, you know, if I just do what Alex is doing, I'm going to make money. And that's fucking bullshit. You need to identify what. There's five levels and however many levels you want it to be, you need to only jump to the next level. So the way I look at it is the very bottom rung. Let's just talk five levels right now. The very bottom level is what I call invisible. Like, you want to help some people, but you're kind of invisible to the market. They don't really know you, they don't see you. Level two is called emerging. You're starting to be seen a little bit more. You've got some onesie twosie clients, you're making some money. You've got an Instagram, but no one's really, like, commenting to you. So you got invisible, you've got emerging and then you got stable. Level three is stable. This is where a majority of people stay at that stable level. They're making, you know, 50, 100 grand a year. They've got some clients, they're doing pretty well. This might be the level that they. They never get past that level. Here's where, like, you guys are. And where Hermosa is level four. You guys are like level four leaders. You're a leader in a space. You have a community. You've got great clients. You're not charging $50 an hour anymore. You're being like, if it's not 10k, I won't even touch it, Right? So you're that leader level. You've got community, you've got influence. Now you got that level. Up above level number five is Hormozi icon. Most people won't get to icon. Here's the issue. Most people that are at level one invisible or level two emerging see a level five leader, and they're trying to do what a level five icon or a level four leader or level five icon are doing. And you can't do that. You don't jump from level one and two straight to level five. You need to emulate the level right above you.
Fonzie
You.
Travis Houston
To turn this into content. So when you ask, how do I make cash out of this? Or how do I turn my content into cash? You first need to understand where you are on what I call the map to millions. And the map to millions are five different levels. And you identify where you are on the map to millions. And then the strategies that you put into place are the level above where you currently are. Because you don't skip rungs on this ladder.
Fonzie
Yeah, yeah, I'm sure. A little story here. There's a framework that we talk a lot of. We talk about a lot. It was born here in content is profit we call the publishing pyramid, right? And what you just mentioned, I was like, you just threw me back to. To that right? When we started our publishing journey trying to create content, we, you know, the. The. The icon back then, or I mean, he still is, but the icon at that moment was Gary Vaynerchuk, right? And he was talking publish everywhere. You know, 20,000 pieces of content a day, actually 40,000 a second. You know, all these things. And we were like, okay, we got to do that. Guess what? It didn't work. Because we were probably invisible at the time, right? So we couldn't operate first. We don't have. We didn't have the resources that he had, right? The staff, all the editors that he has. You know, you mentioned it. We couldn't do that. So that led to burnout, and that led to that framework for us, which is the publishing pyramid, which at the very top is resources. And we try to operate at the wrong resources, but at the very bottom is message. If you have the resources. But you have a, you know, your foundation is not set with the right message. It's not going to work out. So we decided, what if we, you know, with the resources that we have, which is us, our time, let's start by dominating our message. Let's do a 45 live challenge where we're just going to focus on the quality of the message over the quality of the production, right? So this way you're talking about monetization feels very similar because it's like a lot of people are just trying to do what the icons are doing because that is their point of reference, rather than, again, being more intentional and thinking to themselves, okay, where's my problem? Where I'm at? Where am I at? You know, what are the products, the offers that I have? How can I monetize this? And going about it on a honestly smarter way, work smarter, not just harder. And then the other part I wanted to talk is the influence ladder. We talk about it a lot here on the podcast. We're like, you know what we are? When we started the podcast, we're like, at the bottom of the ladder of influence. So we couldn't get Tony Robbins on the podcast. It will be impossible. I mean, we could ask, but I mean, the chances of him saying yes, we're going to be very, very small. So we were for. We went for the level C influencer, maybe a level B. And once we got one of those on the pod, we kind of like went up a step and two in the ladder of influence, and we could leverage that relationship to bring, you know, maybe an icon, maybe a little bit somebody bigger. Right. So your story just makes me kind of like relate so much to it because of fusing those two things, right? It's important to know where you're at at the moment, right? Like, what is that level of influence that you have? And at the same time have the intentionality and honestly the awareness to know where your business is at, the resources that you have so you can have the proper plan to monetize.
Travis Houston
Well, see this? I don't know if you can see my screen or not, if it's. My iPad's gonna behave today.
Fonzie
Oh, yeah.
Travis Houston
I literally have a whole. A whole visual that when I'm taking something through it, I'm like, okay, like, where are we? Are we here or are we here? Because we don't jump stages. We've got to figure out where we are on a map to millions. We gotta figure out what stage we are. And there's literally very specific things we do at at each one of those stages. And I think it's important that if you're going to be leading a community, if you're going to be helping people go from one stage to the next, you need to have the right strategy to move to the next stage. And you don't do like if you were a level four leader. Yeah. Definitely do everything Gary V. Talks about because he's an icon. Level four people can go to level five. Some can.
Fonzie
Yeah.
Travis Houston
So got to lead people to their just, just their next level. And that's how you grow scalably without burnout. Because if you try to do what Gary Vee does at a level one or two, it's just true. Utter burnout.
Luis
Yeah, yeah, yeah. Question like, because by the way. Awesome. Love it. And I, you know, to be able to, I'm going back to some episodes and of people that I, that I followed, like okay, you know, model or do you know the thing that they're doing right. And the part that they always miss is when they were in your position. I do what they were doing when they were in your position. Now how do we find that? Like I want to, I want to be very tactical at this right now because people are listening. Oh my God, that makes so much sense. I'm invisible right now or I'm emerging or I'm stable and I will get, I want to get to that next level and I want to see what whoever I'm following was doing at that time or the people, you know, the strategies and things and tactics that are working, the frameworks that are working. Then how do people find that you interview.
Travis Houston
So I'll tell you what.
Luis
I did perfect.
Travis Houston
When I was looking for the right coach, for me one year I went to traffic and conversion. This must have been 10 years ago. And I had one question for everyone. So let's say the next conference that you go to. So and can we just put a pin in this? You gotta be going to conferences in your industry and meeting people. It is essential. It's not even a set up for debate.
Fonzie
Yeah.
Travis Houston
To be going to conferences two to three times a year at least in your industry and meeting people.
Luis
I'm going to clip this and send it to my wife because every time there's a conference coming, there's a huge fight at home and she doesn't really understand what it does to her business. It does so much for business, by the way.
Travis Houston
So thank you.
Luis
Travis.
Travis Houston
Over. Over 10 years, your net worth is your network. Yes. And you have to be creating these networks and that Will be the thing that grows your net worth, but it's not a immediate return on investment.
Fonzie
Yeah.
Travis Houston
So you gotta be going to conferences in your space.
Luis
Yes.
Travis Houston
And so I've been doing that for 20 years and I have an amazing. I'm so blessed to have an amazing network. So one year when I went to this conference called Traffic and Conversion, my one question was, who. Who's the right mentor, coach or guide that has a $10 million a year business, works no more than 20 hours a week, has family, has kids, a wife. A family still married. And the kids like them so awesome. I came in with a very specific question about who I was looking for, for what was going to get me to my next level. And I just started asking people, who's the person? And then, and there was just, you know, I asked so many people, must have asked 45 people. And about 30 of those people gave me the same answer. And I was like, okay, that's my next person. So for you guys. Yeah, you kind of gotta, you gotta identify where you are on your, your Map to millions.
Fonzie
Yeah.
Travis Houston
Level am I? And then I would be asking people who are levels above you, who they worked with, what courses they bought, what books they read, who they got advice from, what masterminds they joined, who they hired as a mentor, coach or guide. And then ask a lot of people and, and something will filter through. Like there will be something that's like.
Fonzie
Oh, that makes sense.
Luis
Yeah. It keeps coming back to people who.
Travis Houston
Are a few steps ahead of where you are.
Fonzie
Yeah, absolutely. I really like that. I'm, you know, my question was actually going to be, you know, now that we know about the Map to Millions, I think the question is not so much of a who do I identify? But is maybe at first, how do I identify where I'm at in the Map to millions? Right. So how do you bring this to the awareness of the person that is listening? Is there some sort, some sort of self assessment. Right. That they, that they can do to know exactly in what path is there? I feel like most of the time is like, I don't know, maybe revenue levels. People are like, well, if you're under, you know, you know, X amount of money, you probably hear. But do you have some sort of framework?
Travis Houston
Totally. Well, this is the framework. I'll just show it to you. So one of the things I'm recording over the weekend probably is I just, I just literally worked with a graphic designer to turn my map to millions into these infographics. Right.
Fonzie
So it looks great by the way, all of them.
Travis Houston
So people can identify where they are. So the map to millions is stage one, identify where you are. I won't go into all this. Map two, I call the fortune is in the foundation. So the higher you want to go, the deeper your foundation needs to be. Because most people are like a, I don't know, they're like a tent and they think that they're a office building. And so they're trying to build an office building with no real foundation underneath them. And that's going to crack and go. So, yeah, where I help you next is now we need to build the foundation, which is your internal value, the content you're creating, your systems, your process, your teams, your values is your foundation and the fortune is in the foundation. Once you know that, the next thing you got to know, as I call it, the value verse. And the value verse is all of the external content you're providing to the world. And you got to map that out at different layers because level one, you're going to do different things than you would at level two or level three. That's the external value. And then based upon the external value you provide to the world, you need to have your own proprietary business framework. Mine is consistent clicks, clients and cash flow. And I help you do that by getting absolute clarity on who you are and what you offer. Building magnetic leadership and then turning that into predictable profit. And I've got a very specific framework that's all in the book. Turn views into profit. Everything the steps in here are turn views into profit. And then finally you got to decide what future you want. Are you going to be. Here's the. Okay, this is my, this is my one soapbox is we are right now at a strategic inflection point in history and a strategic inflection point. You guys know the, the company Intel?
Fonzie
Yeah, yeah.
Travis Houston
All right, so the founder, the CEO of Intel, wrote a book called Only the Paranoid survive in like 1996. And in that book he talks about two things that I think are game changer. One, strategic inflection points. The Industrial revolution was a strategic inflection point. And the thing that got most replaced during the Industrial revolution was horses and carriages. There was a company called Studebaker. It was like one of the number one creator of horse drawn carriages. And they were one of the only companies to survive because they made the transition to cars very quickly. So right now we are in this information or AI strategic inflection point. It is a serious time in history. AI will disrupt everything. This is another inflection point and the thing. So we're the horses. People are the horses of this strategic inflection point. So we're going to be the things disrupted. Okay, last point. So we're at a strategic inflection point, and there's this thing called the dissonance gap. So he talks about it in the book. A dissonance gap is when we are spinning our wheels and analysis paralysis on whether we should ride the line up with AI or whether we should drift and not fully lean in and utilize this and become irrelevant very quickly. And so a strategic inflection point also has a dissonance gap or analysis paralysis. And some people are really going to lean into this moment and thrive and be relevant three years from now. And a lot of people are not going to be comfortable with change and are going to be out of a job, irrelevant, and frankly, they're going to be in decline over the next 10 years. So a strategic inflection point is also a decision point. And we are all right now in a dissonance gap of whether we're going to lean in and grab this or whether we're going to fight against it and decline.
Luis
Yeah. My note here is everybody listening and watching and the people that follow you, Travis, and the people that follow Contents Profit. I think we're in the forefront of that. And because we're listening to this and because you've stayed this long, you are looking for those solutions and you're looking for narrowing that gap and make the decision if not, if you haven't done it already. So I think today was a great example of, like, a very solid roadmap to move forward. So definitely, guys, go ahead and check out the book. Right. Turn viewsintoprofit.com with a coupon code CIP from Content is profit. And I think we're going to, you know, this will gain results for you almost immediately. I think that you can read that book immediately, apply the guide on chapter six, and tomorrow you have a game plan to continue moving forward faster than ever.
Fonzie
Yeah, I really enjoy or time. Travis. I feel like we're saying our farewell here, but I really enjoy everything that you've shared. Right. And, you know, kind of like staying relevant sometimes. I do feel, personally, you know, as a professional AI hater, that I might be falling, you know, that dissonance gap. Right. I'm like, oh, maybe I'm falling behind. Right. I'm full. I'm becoming one of those people that are going to be relevant. But honestly, this conversation helped me feel better about even My point of view, right? And I think my point of view is just a reflection, aligns with my values, right? And what I. What I care for the most, right? Which is that authenticity and the fact that, you know, again, having this conversation and I knowing that somebody as well, with so much experience in marketing, you know, working with really big names, also has the same point of view, right? It's like, all right, cool, this is good. And it probably helped me shorten that dissonance gap, right? Help me realize that maybe I am at the right inflection point, right. Rather than being behind it and being against it, right. So I do want to encourage somebody that is listening right now and they might be thinking, oh, I've hated all this AI, blah, blah, blah. They feel the same way. Well, maybe this is the route for you, right? It's like how you use AI for more intentionality, more of a guiding the process, you know, and helping you in those areas without compromising yourself, you know, and your values and what you stand for. So I think that has been extremely productive and I really appreciate that. Travis.
Travis Houston
Travis, I've so enjoyed this conversation. I think it's really important that we make a decision about whether we're going to lean into this, like, truly world changing inflection point we won't recognize. We look back on this podcast 10 years from now. It's not like going from 1980 to 1990, like a little changed in 1980 to 1990, right? 1990 to 2000, a little bit changed as we go from 2025 to 2035. Major change.
Luis
Yeah. Yeah. Travis, thank you so much for coming. Is there any last thing you want to share with the people here on the show?
Travis Houston
I mean, it's going to just be my terrible, awkward push to be like, I think that this book right here is for the people that have a message and they want to build a following around that so that they can future proof their business from becoming irrelevant. That's the right way of having just a strategic framework to follow step by step is at least going to get you through the next two years unscathed.
Luis
So cool, man.
Fonzie
Yeah.
Luis
So, so cool, Fonzie.
Fonzie
Anything else, Nigel? Thank you, Travis. I really appreciate it. I'm already thinking of people that I can connect you with that I think you guys are gonna, you know, have a lot of resonance and, you know, potentially be guests in each other's shows and all that stuff. So I appreciate it. Thank you so much. It's been, it's been a blast. I think we're eventually going to have to bring you back and, you know, talk about the success of Turn Views into profit.
Luis
Yes. Awesome, guys.
Travis Houston
With that, content is profit.
Luis
Let's go.
Fonzie
Go, guys.
Luis
With that said, thank you so much for tuning to the continuous Profit podcast. Go ahead and follow the show in your favorite podcasting platform and on social media at beatsresco.
Fonzie
That is right. And Travis here help you move one step closer towards your goal. Please don't forget to share this episode. And of course, don't forget to leave a five star review and go to turnviewsintoprofit. Com and use the coupon cip. Let's go.
Luis
Bye, guys. All right.
Fonzie
That was so good, Travis. Thank you, man.
Luis
Dude, Travis, that was a masterclass, man. Thank you so much.
Podcast Summary: "Make your Content Vital, Not Just Viral: Mapping Your Business to Millions with Travis Houston"
Podcast Information:
In this episode of the Content Is Profit Show, hosts Luis and Fonzie welcome marketing expert Travis Houston. Travis shares his extensive experience in building content frameworks and systems for renowned companies and offers invaluable insights into creating content that not only gains attention but also drives revenue.
Travis kicks off the conversation by addressing a common misconception among content creators: the belief that mimicking successful figures like Alex Hormozzi will automatically lead to financial success.
[00:00] Travis Houston: "We look at someone like Alex Hormozzi and we're saying, you know, if I just do what Alex is doing, I'm going to make money. And that's fucking bullshit."
Luis adds that many overlook the fact that these successful individuals were once in the listener’s shoes, employing strategies appropriate for their initial stages.
[00:11] Luis: "The part that they always miss is when they were in your position..."
Travis emphasizes the importance of authenticity over superficial tactics, criticizing the blandness of AI-generated social media posts that lack genuine engagement.
[00:18] Travis Houston: "I'm so sick of seeing everyone's AI social media posts because they're bland, they're boring, they're vanilla, they're not authentic, they're not real."
Fonzie echoes this sentiment, highlighting the necessity of retaining personal input in content creation.
[00:26] Fonzie: "As a professional AI hater over here... you're not outsourcing your thinking."
A central theme of the episode is the distinction between creating viral content and content that is vital to the audience. Travis advises creators to prioritize building lasting value over fleeting popularity.
[00:44] Travis Houston: "They're looking for how do I go viral? Instead of asking, how do I become vital?"
Luis reinforces this by connecting vital content to profit generation.
[00:48] Luis: "The next question is like, okay, how do I actually connect that content into profit?"
Travis introduces the concept of agentic AI, which operates autonomously to assist in content creation without replacing the creator's unique voice and intention.
[06:11] Travis Houston: "Agentic means working on its own, autonomously accomplishing tasks."
He contrasts this with traditional AI tools, emphasizing the importance of retaining human oversight to ensure authenticity.
[28:08] Fonzie: "... how do we use this with intentionality, help us in those areas without compromising yourself..."
Travis showcases his innovative approach by creating AI versions of the hosts, Luis and Fonzie, demonstrating how agentic AI can generate content that mirrors their authentic voices.
[08:04] Luis: "Louis and Fonzie Bot. Right? Turn your content into cash without the guesswork."
This live demonstration highlights the potential of AI to augment content strategies while maintaining personal authenticity.
Introducing pre-purposing, Travis explains the strategy of planning content with future repurposing in mind, akin to the compartmentalized segments of a Saturday Night Live episode.
[17:39] Travis Houston: "Pre purposing is where you plan in advance what you are going to create."
This approach ensures that each piece of content is inherently scalable and adaptable across multiple platforms.
Travis delineates his Map to Millions, a framework consisting of five levels that businesses traverse on their growth journey:
[30:09] Travis Houston: "You need to understand where you are on what I call the map to millions."
He advises businesses to target strategies appropriate for their current stage, avoiding the pitfalls of overreaching prematurely.
Drawing parallels with Intel's concept of strategic inflection points, Travis warns of the transformative impact AI is having on industries. He underscores the urgency for businesses to adapt proactively to avoid obsolescence.
[42:17] Travis Houston: "We are at a strategic inflection point, and there's this thing called the dissonance gap... some people are really going to lean into this moment and thrive..."
Travis highlights the critical role of networking and seeking mentorship from individuals who are a few steps ahead in their respective fields. Attending industry conferences and actively seeking guidance are pivotal for scaling business operations.
[37:17] Travis Houston: "You gotta be going to conferences in your industry and meeting people. It is essential."
This strategy facilitates access to proven frameworks and accelerates progression along the Map to Millions.
In wrapping up, Travis promotes his book, "Turn Views into Profit," offering it for free through a special coupon code. The book encapsulates his frameworks and provides actionable strategies for leveraging content to drive business growth.
[21:07] Travis Houston: "Turn views into profit.com and use the coupon code CIP. It gives you everything for free in the book chapter six."
Fonzie and Luis express their appreciation, acknowledging the depth and applicability of Travis's insights, and encourage listeners to implement these strategies to future-proof their businesses.
Resources Mentioned:
Connect with Travis Houston:
This episode serves as a masterclass in strategic content creation, blending authentic engagement with advanced AI tools to drive sustainable business success. Whether you're just starting or looking to scale, Travis Houston's insights provide a roadmap to transform your content into tangible profit.