The Instagram Growth Strategy You’re Missing | John Cerasani DSH #840

Summary

Digital Social Hour Episode #840: The Instagram Growth Strategy You’re Missing | John Cerasani

Host: Sean Kelly
Guest: John Cerasani
Release Date: October 29, 2024

In this engaging episode of Digital Social Hour, host Sean Kelly sits down with John Cerasani, a renowned influencer and entrepreneur, to delve into the intricacies of Instagram growth, monetization strategies, and personal experiences that have shaped John's online presence. The conversation is rich with actionable insights, personal anecdotes, and thoughtful discussions on navigating the digital landscape.

---

1. Instagram Growth Strategy and Key Metrics

John Cerasani opens the discussion by sharing his impressive Instagram growth metrics, highlighting a surge of 2,000 to 3,000 followers daily, despite a 500 to 1,000 daily unfollow rate. This steady increase emphasizes the dynamic nature of his audience engagement.

“If I'm not past 500,000 on Instagram by the time this airs, something went drastically wrong because I'm going up between a thousand to two thousand a day.”
[01:05] – John Cerasani

He attributes this growth to a combination of creating content that aligns with Instagram’s algorithm and attracting high-profile followers, which in turn boosts his credibility and visibility on the platform.

2. Strategies Leading to Growth

John emphasizes the importance of content that resonates with both general and specific audiences. He points out that his content not only appeals to everyday users but also attracts blue-checked celebrities, enhancing his reach and influence.

“I think the combination of the two, bro. But it's funny on the Instagram insights, man.”
[01:05] – John Cerasani

Notably, John mentions John Chu, director of Crazy Rich Asians, following him, which underscores the effectiveness of his strategy in attracting influential figures.

3. Monetization Challenges and Brand Partnerships

Transitioning to monetization, John candidly discusses the challenges of aligning brand deals with his authentic content. He outlines two main criteria for partnerships:

1. Brand Alignment: Ensuring the brand's values resonate with his content.
2. Win-Win-Win Scenario: Benefiting himself, the brand, and his audience.

“So I have two pieces of criteria I look at when I do any kind of monetization.”
[06:10] – John Cerasani

For instance, his collaboration with Virgin Cruise Lines offers exclusive deals to his followers while providing value to the brand.

“I made a deal with Virgin Cruise Lines... everybody's getting rooms that are below market that they wouldn't have paid.”
[08:10] – John Cerasani

4. Collaborations and Networking with Influencers

John highlights the reciprocal benefits of collaborating with other influencers. These partnerships not only expand his audience but also introduce him to new followers from different niches.

“You're growing their audience, growing yours at the same time.”
[11:10] – John Cerasani

He shares experiences of teaming up with influencers like Steve, enhancing mutual growth and engagement.

5. Focused Gambling Content and Effective Strategies

A significant portion of the conversation revolves around John's specialized content in gambling. He differentiates his approach by prioritizing winning over content creation, which has led to consistent success.

“I go to the casinos, planning on winning, dude. I'm like literally going there to win.”
[13:05] – John Cerasani

John meticulously manages his betting strategies, emphasizing money management and setting clear stop-loss limits to sustain his gambling profitability.

6. Engaging Followers with Humor and Authenticity

John employs humor to engage his audience and handle negative comments. By showcasing a light-hearted demeanor, he maintains a relatable and authentic online presence.

“That's how you have a sense of humor, though, bro. That's how you... social media should be about, dude.”
[28:11] – John Cerasani

This approach fosters a positive community while defusing potential conflicts with his followers.

7. Navigating Politics and Social Issues on Social Media

John shares a personal experience where a comment about Donald Trump led to a noticeable loss of followers. He clarifies that his page is not politically driven, aiming to maintain neutrality while addressing unforeseen social dynamics.

“I just said that Trump isn't genpop... my page has nothing to do with politics, dude.”
[00:29 - 25:14] – John Cerasani

He further explains his stance to mitigate misunderstandings and maintain his core message focused on entrepreneurship and personal growth.

8. Expanding to Other Platforms: YouTube Challenges

John discusses his efforts to diversify his content across platforms like YouTube, acknowledging the platform's competitive nature and lower engagement compared to Instagram and TikTok.

“YouTube's been tough, man. It's tough... it's just different.”
[33:28] – John Cerasani

He experiments with YouTube Premieres to enhance live engagement, though he notes that maintaining high engagement remains a challenge.

9. Personal Anecdotes: Handling Friendships and Finances

John recounts a troubling incident where two friends accrued a $3,881 hotel bill at the MGM Grand, leading to the loss of those friendships. He emphasizes the importance of setting boundaries and maintaining integrity in personal and professional relationships.

“They thought it was going to get comped and it didn't matter... $3,881.”
[25:07] – John Cerasani

This story serves as a lesson in financial responsibility and the impact of personal choices on relationships.

10. Future Plans and Continuous Growth

Looking ahead, John shares plans for hosting a 500,000 follower party and potential seasons of his TV show, The Partner, which mirrors concepts similar to Shark Tank. He reflects on the evolution of the influencer market and the necessity of providing substantial value to sustain long-term success.

“I'm doing more on YouTube now... we shall see on when I do that.”
[34:08] – John Cerasani

John remains committed to expanding his ventures while staying true to his core message of entrepreneurship and personal development.

---

Notable Quotes with Timestamps

• John Cerasani [01:05]:
  “If I'm not past 500,000 on Instagram by the time this airs, something went drastically wrong because I'm going up between a thousand to two thousand a day.”

• John Cerasani [06:10]:
  “So I have two pieces of criteria I look at when I do any kind of monetization.”

• John Cerasani [08:10]:
  “I made a deal with Virgin Cruise Lines... everybody's getting rooms that are below market that they wouldn't have paid.”

• John Cerasani [13:05]:
  “I go to the casinos, planning on winning, dude. I'm like literally going there to win.”

• John Cerasani [25:07]:
  “They thought it was going to get comped and it didn't matter... $3,881.”

• John Cerasani [28:11]:
  “That's how you have a sense of humor, though, bro. That's how you... social media should be about, dude.”

• John Cerasani [33:28]:
  “YouTube's been tough, man. It's tough... it's just different.”

---

Conclusion

John Cerasani’s episode on Digital Social Hour provides a comprehensive look into the multifaceted strategies behind Instagram growth, effective monetization, and authentic engagement. His experiences underscore the importance of aligning content with personal values, maintaining integrity in business dealings, and adapting to the ever-evolving digital landscape. Aspiring entrepreneurs and influencers can glean valuable lessons from John's journey, from managing a robust social media presence to handling the complexities of personal relationships and brand partnerships.

For more insights and to follow John’s journey, visit his Instagram and YouTube channels.

---

Note: Timestamps correspond to the provided transcript segments.

Transcript

[A]

Hey, music fans, there are some great concerts headed this way. Don't miss out on all the shows in your favorite venues, like Deftones at Madison Square Garden, Eagles at the Sphere, and Foster. The people at the Ryman Auditorium. Tickets are going fast, so don't wait. Head to livenation.com to get your tickets. Now that's livenation.com.

[B]

I. I just, I just said that Trump's not genpop. God bless America. And, you know, people didn't like that. A lot of people did like it, but a lot of people didn't. And I. I saw my people start unfollowing and my page has nothing to do with politics, dude. And not really anything to do with even social issues. It's not what the page is about. I probably get more heat from Trump supporters for not saying more.

[C]

Yeah. All right, guys. How'd I have him back? He's blown up since John Sarasani. Thanks for coming on again, man.

[B]

I'm pumped up to be here, brother. This is great, dude.

[C]

You're about to hit 500k. You might be past that when this airs. I mean, you've really grown.

[B]

If I'm not past 500, 000 on Instagram by the time this airs, something went drastically wrong because I'm going up between a thousand to two thousand a day. And it's kind of funny because I'm actually going up about 2,000 to 3,000 a day, but I lose 500 to a thousand followers every day. So I'm always like, are these bots or is it something I posted? I think it's the combination of the two, bro. But it's funny on the Instagram insights, man. And I don't do like, any third party apps to see, like, who actually unfollowed. I'd spend my whole day just looking at the. If I did.

[C]

Yeah.

[B]

So I'm always, like, kind of intrigued. Oh, I. I talked too much about this last week. But the thing is, man, every single day, I've grown every single day since I started doing this. It's grown maybe a couple hundred anywhere to, you know, I put a bunch of Vegas content yesterday, so. Went up 4,000 yesterday.

[C]

Is there gambling content that's taken off or is it the ones you. Where you call out people?

[B]

I think it's a combination of everything, brother. But I think the biggest thing is that, like, it's working exactly how Instagram wants it to work. All right. I'm starting to get like, you know those blue check marked actually earned blue check marked celebrity kinds of people are starting to follow now.

[C]

Yeah.

[B]

And they're seeing each other follow. You know what I mean?

[C]

Yeah. It makes it easier. Yeah.

[B]

Yeah. So, like, for instance, a guy named John Chu, who is the director of Crazy Rich Asians, and he's also doing the. The Disney render or the cartoon rendition of. Of Wicked coming out later this year, and he started following me.

[C]

Wow.

[B]

And, yeah, it's big deal. And I'm a big Wicked fan, man. People don't realize this about me. I'm. I'm very freaking cultured. I. I like going to Broadway musicals, actually.

[C]

Really?

[B]

Wicked's my favorite.

[C]

Dude, I would never take you for that type of guy, dude.

[B]

Honestly, brother, when I was 35 years old, I decision in life that. All right. Because of my background, I don't have, like, the upbringing or the cultured side of life. Other people I'm kind of rubbing show elbows with have. So I'm like, I'm gonna be over the arts and tried a few things. Tried the opera. Didn't like it. I went to a ballet. Did not like it at all. And musicals are a lot of fun, man.

[C]

So Hamilton.

[B]

Yeah, I don't. I didn't like.

[C]

You don't like Hamilton?

[B]

I didn't like Hamilton only because it's giving me way too much credit, dude. They try to get a little cute with the actors playing different roles. Okay. I'm like, okay, they have an African American guy playing white. A white guy. And I know that's like, cool, dude. Like, it makes sense if you understand the history to know who's who and. Oh, that's really creative. But for someone like me, that doesn't, you know, nor. I'm getting confused. I'm getting confused of who's who here. Actually. I saw. I saw it a couple times, though, and I. I didn't like it either time. I walked out both times. Damn. Yeah.

[C]

Okay, so you're a harsh critic.

[B]

Yeah, I just didn't like it. I didn't enjoy it. Book of Mormon, I'm a big fan of.

[C]

Okay.

[B]

Yeah, I like. I've seen Book of Book of Mormon five times.

[C]

Damn.

[B]

Yeah. Yeah, Wicked, I've seen a few times. And then there's some smaller ones. Like, if you ever seen. Like. Well, that's. This isn't one of the smaller ones, but if you ever seen Jersey Boys, that's excellent. Million Dollar Quartet is another one that's a little bit smaller. That's excellent. And then a couple that you wouldn't have heard of.

[C]

Are you right in the front row or are you back backstage, kind guy?

[B]

No. I'll tell you what. I tried to give Hamilton a second chance. The second time I saw it, it was on actual Broadway. The first time I saw it, it was the Chicago version. The second time I saw it was actually on Broadway in New York. And I screwed up because I brought my kids and we got one of those theater boxes.

[C]

All right, Sweets?

[B]

Yeah, but the problem is it's on the side of the stage. So it's cool that you're looking here, but they're talking out to the audience, and you're over here, and you kind of miss the production of it. You think you're getting this cool freaking thing, and it's like you miss it. So maybe I'm too harsh on Hamilton, and I screwed myself on that. But where were we going with that?

[C]

Do you sit in the front row at these, or are you more like back?

[B]

No, I would say, how do we get on theater in the first place? What did you ask me? Did you ask me something initially?

[C]

Oh, I don't remember.

[B]

What was the original conversation about?

[C]

Yeah, we got carried away there, but. Oh, gambling content.

[B]

Oh, gambling content. Yeah, I don't think that's what it was. Anyway.

[C]

Anyway, I asked. Gambling content?

[B]

Oh, no, because I was saying John Chu. John Chu started following me. It was the gambling content. But then the. When these celebrities start following me, it kind of just, like, morphs. They notice that other ones are. Or just a person off the street starts following you or comes across your page, and the first thing they do is they look at your, you know, mutual, mutual. And then they'll say, oh, all these, you know, ABC Famous people follow him. And I think that's really helped me out. Substantially. Substantially.

[C]

So are you starting to monetize your. Your Instagram brother?

[B]

It's. It's a challenge for me, dude. Because my original content was always about leaving corporate America behind, being your own boss, being an entrepreneur, and that's what it the core of my content. Rise yourself up. Don't have a ceiling. Be the best you can be. And you can analogize leaving my job as a W2 to be my own boss as that. All right? And whatever you do in your life, don't let them define your ceiling. And in that process, becoming a multi millionaire happened. Okay?

[C]

Yeah.

[B]

So for me to turn around and start monetizing becomes a challenge for me, because, you know, why is this guy that's rich and stuff, doing stuff for, you know, these shitty little ads? So I have two pieces of criteria I look at when I When I do any kind of monetization. All right, the first thing is if the brand vibes with the page and you is in line with some of the stuff I'm already talking about, sure, I'll do it. Even if it's on the edge of that, where it might be. Okay, but it kind of makes sense. Let's give it a try.

[C]

Yeah.

[B]

So for instance, College Football 25 just came out. We're. We're in July right now, Everybody. College Football 25 just came out, and a company called me about hosting a tournament where it's. They could gamble on. It's $10 entry fee, $1,500 in cash prizes, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. And I don't really talk about gaming on, on my page, but I'm sure a lot of my followers do. Game. And this is a tournament where you're gambling against each other on college football. Ah, let's give it a try and see how it goes. So I did a couple posts about that. They gave me a little bit of money and, you know, it was. It's pretty well received. You know what I mean?

[C]

Yeah.

[B]

But I'm not getting rich off of it. The checks that people are offering me are not enough to, like, sacrifice any of my core. You know what I'm saying? Like, if it was something that had nothing to do with my page, the check would have to be really substantial. And it just doesn't happen, I don't think. And for my, my size following, I don't think at least, or I haven't been offered anything that would make it substantial enough. The other piece of criteria I look at is could I put something together that's a win, win, win. All right, So I win where I get paid, the brand wins, where they're accessing customers that they wouldn't have otherwise. All right, but primarily the third win, the win, win, win, is that the consumer, my audience, is getting something that they wouldn't have got otherwise as well. All right, so my biggest one right now is I made a deal with Virgin Cruise Lines. They called me up Virgin Voyages, and they found me because they follow my page and they, they have a casino on the ship.

[C]

Oh, nice.

[B]

Yeah. So we worked out something where it's going to be The John Sarasani 2000% raised cruise, and everybody's getting rooms that are below market that they wouldn't have paid. They wouldn't have got that price for. Damn. Yeah. You're getting a room with a balcony full for less than an interior room. So that's like a three level difference for all you cruise people out there. And yeah, you know, now I'm getting paid for it. My customer, my, the people come in are, are going to hang out with me and they're going to cruise for less money on top of it. And Virgin Cruises is getting people that wouldn't have been there otherwise.

[C]

I should have hit you up. I'm going on Virgin Cruise next week.

[B]

Are you really?

[C]

And I paid for the balcony room.

[B]

There you go. There you go. Where, where, where's it out of Miami?

[C]

Yeah, going to Dominican and Okay, we're.

[B]

Doing, we're doing Miami to Key west to Bimini. Obamas.

[C]

Wow.

[B]

It's four nights.

[C]

That's going to be lit. Yeah, you'll be streaming the whole time. Do you live stream or no?

[B]

Yeah, we're working on that. But that's not really the, the objective. The objective is more just kind of like to make it like a networking function and have a little bit of fun. Got it. Like to give you for instance, dude, this cruise, the balcony rooms start at like eighteen $1849. I was selling them early bird pricing for 799.

[C]

Damn.

[B]

Yeah.

[C]

No, that's facts though because I paid like six G's for four nights.

[B]

Exactly.

[C]

Yeah.

[B]

So seven 99. Seven 99 for the whole frickin room. And they could put two people in there. So now you're under 400 bucks a person. Are you kidding me?

[C]

Yeah, that's a good deal. And I've been. Your networking events are really good.

[B]

Yeah.

[C]

2,000% raise, right?

[B]

Yeah, exactly.

[C]

Are you having any coming up?

[B]

Well, August 29th we are going to have our 500,000 follower party. But hopefully we are, we are at that again. Pretty much. Dude, again, something must have went wrong. I talk about being from Schomberg a lot, bro. And we're, we're going to have it in Schaumburg. It's a dinner. It's going to be, it's.

[C]

I love the manifestation aspect of it.

[B]

Exactly, dude, exactly.

[C]

You're probably going to hit a million by the end of the year at the pace you're growing.

[B]

Dude, if you would have told me, bro, like I passed 250,000 in January. And then people started saying watch this start going up exponentially now. And it's kind of what you got.

[C]

Bob Men coaching you too, dude.

[B]

Me and Bob started doing together a year ago and I was at about a hundred thousand followers. Actually I was about 50000 followers. Bob found me, we started messing around with each other. Then I was on Brad Lee's podcast, and then I was on the TV show Below Deck. Those three things kind of happened at the same time. And I went pretty quickly from fifty thousand to a hundred thousand.

[C]

Got it.

[B]

You know what I mean?

[C]

Below Deck. Is that on Netflix?

[B]

It's on Bravo.

[C]

Bravo.

[B]

Okay.

[C]

And that got you a lot of followers.

[B]

It's hard to, like, really pinpoint it, dude. Like, okay, I'm good friends with a guy named Jaleel White. He's an actor in Los Angeles. He played ur iconic character in Family Matters. Yeah. Big, big time, you know, Hollywood guy. And he. We're really good friends from other things. And he gave me really good advice. Once he goes, dude, it's not going to be one little thing like this interview right now. It's not going to be that. It's going to be like the little bit. The combination of everything. Oh, I saw this person there now I saw them there. Okay. This person's popping up everywhere and then it starts to stick.

[C]

Yeah, that makes sense.

[B]

Yeah. And he gave me that advice about a year ago, and he's absolutely right. That's exactly how it's happening.

[C]

Yeah. I see you gambling with other creators now too, right?

[B]

Yep.

[C]

You're growing their audience, growing yours at the the same time.

[B]

Yeah, yeah. And they're actually reaching out to me more so than I'm reaching out to them because I think they, you know, I think they think it's be fun to gamble with me. But I was on one. I reached out to one person. Once again, Steve will do it. You know that.

[C]

Oh, yeah, yeah. I'll tell you off camera on my relationship.

[B]

Oh, really?

[C]

Yeah.

[B]

Okay. Yeah, he. He did a podcast over super bowl weekend. He did a live stream that I was on and it was fine.

[C]

Yeah, he's got a good following.

[B]

Well, and they're. They're hardcore. Yeah, they're hardcore. And I wasn't really prepared for it, to be honest with you. It was kind of. It's kind of like a curveball, like last thing. And I went on there and we had a blast and it was fine. But, you know, his following is a little different than mine. My following is a lot of like, you know, it's everybody now, but it's usually like people that, you know, are, you know, trying to be business people of some sort or they're just motivated by different. And his following is not that. So there. A lot of them are seeing me for the first time or don't know anything about me. So I Just think, I'm like this drunk guy gambling. They don't really understand like what's going on. You know what I mean?

[C]

He goes crazy. I heard in the casinos.

[B]

Yeah, he goes nuts.

[C]

Yeah, he. I've heard some legendary stories. Have you gambled with Vegas Matt yet?

[B]

No, I haven't. Those guys are not the same as me. Dude, Vegas Matt's fine. I've seen his stuff. Cuz people send it to me all the time. And he's. It's. It's cool. He's doing exactly. That's awesome. Exactly what he does. But dude, I. I'm also friends with this guy named Mr. Handplay who's a. A slot influencer.

[C]

Yeah.

[B]

These guys aren't even trying to win when they go, they're going to play content, they're going to film content. And let's explain how the games are and whatever. Kind of knowing that there's a very good chance they'll lose.

[C]

Right?

[B]

I go to the casinos, planning on winning, dude, I'm like literally going there to win. I'm not going to film content. We will film, film content of me winning. But the priority is to win, bro.

[C]

I feel that. What about Mickey Mace? He'd be good to win with, brother.

[B]

Yeah, I don't know what that guy's deal is, dude. That one video went viral recently about him. Like I didn't even know who he was about trying to charge casinos $50 million for some baccarat cheating technique or something. I'm like, I don't know anything about that. It sounds. Sounds like to me, to be honest with you, but that's all I really know of him.

[C]

Yeah, Yeah. I know he tried doing poker, lost a ton and then gave up poker.

[B]

Oh, really?

[C]

Yeah.

[B]

Okay.

[C]

Do you play poker?

[B]

Yes, but I'd rather not though. It's.

[C]

Your game's blackjack. Yeah, dude, poker's slow, right?

[B]

You gotta just grind it out, bro. You gotta grind it. I'll play craps. I'll play craps and blackjack. Maybe roulette.

[C]

Okay.

[B]

If I play real light, I mean, something went wrong.

[C]

Yeah, those double zeros, man. Now they're adding a triple zero, right? God damn. Six percent edge wasn't enough.

[B]

Terrible.

[C]

Nine percent.

[B]

Yeah.

[C]

Do you gamble every day?

[B]

No, no, no. Once, probably twice a month.

[C]

Oh, okay.

[B]

Yeah.

[C]

But based off your content, I thought it was way more than that.

[B]

Well, I get a lot of videos. Exactly. I mean, I feel. Dude, I literally posted seven times yesterday, bro.

[C]

Holy.

[B]

Yes. And I'm like, I don't usually do That I usually post, like, three to four. I posted seven times because there was something like every hour to talk about. Yeah.

[C]

How'd you run last night?

[B]

It was good. I'm up 62 grand.

[C]

Holy. You're the only one I know that does this. Dude, for real casinos.

[B]

I started to back me off a little bit, to be honest with you.

[C]

I bet you're winning five figures every time you go.

[B]

So they don't have a reason to back me off in terms of, like, I'm not cheating, I'm not card counting. There is no reason to back me off other than I'm winning. But they're backing me off in, like, different ways. They're backing me off where it's, like, giving me shittier sweets than I've gotten in the past. You know what I mean? Like, the comps are not as, like, generous as they were. And then when you call them and ask them, I go, dude, I've been doing the same average bat. I've been on the same hours of play. Why did my suite get downgraded? You know what I mean?

[C]

Yeah.

[B]

And it's because they look at my overall lifetime and I'm up.

[C]

Oh, you're up overall.

[B]

Yeah. Wow. All these casinos. The whole strip. I'm up.

[C]

Holy.

[B]

Yeah. The entire strip. Every single casino, I'm up. Lifetime.

[C]

Martingale strategy.

[B]

No, that's how you go broke. Yeah, exactly. Exactly.

[C]

I like Dana strategy, where he'll bet like two hands and dip, but you're there for hours. That's why I'm impressed, because usually they say the longer they're the worse, but you're there for.

[B]

Yeah, so. Well, I'd like not to be to this trip. I haven't been. I've been doing like 20 minute sessions, and I win a little bit of loose. Dana's strategy works because he's betting like. I think he bets like 50 grand a hand or 30 grand a hand or something. I don't. I'm allowed to bet. My max at MGM is two hands of 25 grand each. So I could play two 25 grand hands at a time. I don't usually play that much, though. I usually play a grand or two grand a hand and then go up to, like, five grand.

[C]

Okay.

[B]

So I want to stop as soon as I'm up, like, 50ish. I start playing conservatively. All right, now I'm up 50 grand. I'll have a stop loss if I lose 15 of it, then I'll just stop, go home, up 35 grand.

[C]

Wow.

[B]

All right. That's pretty much about it. So you got a battle to get there now. If I'm down 50 grand starting off, though, it changes. I'm not even trying to win anymore. I'm just trying to get back to even.

[C]

I feel that.

[B]

And degenerates will get that 50 grand back, win, and then lose another 100 grand after it. I don't do that.

[C]

Have you had a bad loss recently?

[B]

No, I've lost only twice in the last three years.

[C]

Holy.

[B]

Yeah. One of them was for 40 grand and one of them was for 10 grand.

[C]

I think I saw the 40 grand one that went viral, right?

[B]

Dude, I was so mad. I was so mad. Well, here's why I went viral, because I was hilarious, dude. I. I woke up the next morning and I go, because it's not gonna affect my life. And I've literally, like, won 90 grand the weekend before. I win every time. So I was due to. I was due for a loss. Thank God it happened at Rivers Casino in Des Plaines, Illinois, because I only have a 35, 000 line of credit there. And then I had a $5,000 cash. That's the 40 grand. Everywhere else, I have a quarter million dollar lines of credit. Damn. Yeah. So now here's the damn thing, though. If I had a quarter million there, I very well might have win that, won that 40 back, you know what I mean? But who knows? I mean, I've been down 40 at this place, and I come back. It happens all the time.

[C]

You ever feel like they're cheating in some way, the casinos?

[B]

No, bro. I'm gonna tell you what, man. The Bahamas gave me this advice. This is back in 2008, bro. All right? The cards were so bad. So bad. I go up to the pit boss afterward. It's two in the morning, we're at the Atlantis, and I go, hey, just. Just tell the truth, bro. You guys cheat, don't you? You. You stack the deck, right? And then he goes, buddy. He puts his hand on my shoulder, goes, buddy, we don't need to cheat. The game's already set up for the casinos to cheat. They already have the edge. They don't need to cheat further than that. You know they don't.

[C]

I feel that they don't. I feel like some of the online ones are sketchy, though. You know what I mean? They don't tell you the odds or anything.

[B]

There's a. The offshore ones I would not with if there were anybody, really, to be honest with you, like, bad MGM and these other online casinos, like Golden Nugget online casino. I do that stuff. I. I think they're fine because I think they have, like, there's some software that they all have that's like a third party random.

[C]

Yeah, I'm talking about the crypto ones.

[B]

Yeah.

[C]

That are.

[B]

I wouldn't.

[C]

God knows where. What country.

[B]

I wouldn't trust them. Yeah, I wouldn't trust them.

[C]

They probably approach you for deals, right?

[B]

Yep. There's this company called Money Prize that reached out to live streams with them. And right now they're only using crypto. They're trying to get their credit card processing down. And once they do, I'm going to start doing shit with them.

[C]

That's where you make serious money. That's how Steve made millions.

[B]

Yeah, no, I know. So that's. I. I'm hoping we do shit together. They can't figure out the credit card processing because here's what happens with all these, like, gambling types of places. Everybody wants to do their deposits with their credit cards.

[C]

Right.

[B]

All right. So all these people turn around and say, up, no, I didn't gamble, or whatever. And they ask for money back. Yeah.

[C]

So high risk.

[B]

Very high risk.

[C]

Yeah. That's why they do crypto. You can't get that back ever.

[B]

Yeah.

[C]

Once you send it, you're.

[B]

Exactly.

[C]

But there's that. I know Steve and a couple other people got in that dilemma where they promoted casinos and then they were getting a percent of the losses or whatever. Oh, there was that moral dilemma.

[B]

Yeah.

[C]

Does that.

[B]

I would never do that because I'm actually trying to teach people how to gamble properly and win on my thing. So that would kind of be counterintuitive if I did it that way.

[C]

Yeah.

[B]

But I'll say this. There's another way to get paid with all these. There's something called theoretical losses. All right, so there's actual losses and theoretical losses. Theoretical losses is a term that the casinos use. It's called theos. Based on how long this person played for, based on how good of a player he is and what his average bet was for that time period. Theoretically, he should have lost X. Now he could have actually still won, but theoretically he would have lost X. And the way to actually win is to manage your money properly. So you could have the best of both worlds.

[C]

Got it.

[B]

All right, so I want you guys to all actually win. Quit while you're ahead. Even if you come play and you quit while you're ahead of, you're up five grand. But it took you three hours of playing. 300 a hand. To get up that five grand, theoretically, they're going to have you probably at a three or four grand loss. You know what I mean?

[C]

Yeah.

[B]

So if they're going to pay an influencer based on theoretical losses, I would do that.

[C]

That makes more sense.

[B]

Yeah, I wouldn't. I wouldn't get paid on actual losses or. I don't know what deals are out there. I don't know how they work, but if somebody wanted to pay me on actual losses only, I probably wouldn't do that.

[C]

I've seen some as high as 50 of actual losses.

[B]

Of actual losses. Yeah. I probably wouldn't do it if that was the deal. If it was like a combination of like, hey, 10 of actual losses or 20 of theoretical losses, maybe I would do something like that.

[C]

Yeah.

[B]

You know what I mean? Because then you could still have the ability to cheer for your followers.

[C]

I want to be able to sleep at night, man. Serious followers going broke.

[B]

Exactly, dude.

[C]

Yeah. I got to make money ethically. A couple funny videos I saw you post. So you made a video about Trump, I guess, and you lost a lot of followers, Dude, I don't know if.

[B]

It was a coincidence or what, but I didn't even say shit, bro. All I said was that Trump isn't gen pop. I use this term called gen pop, right? I'm referring to general population of the casino, okay? So there's the high limit area and there's where everyone else plays, okay? The high limit area is where the action's at, where the rules are better, the odds are better, everything's better, especially when you're playing blackjack. Okay? So I call everybody genpa. If you're not in high level, you're genpa. But I'll talk about it in, like, other contexts. And my followers think it's funny. Most of them do. Well, I'm in Foxwoods Casino in Connecticut. We had a big Audi in there, and there's like 15 or like 16 of us at this point. And we're sitting there at the happy hour in the high limit room, and we see Trump get fricking shot live on tv, dude, where they did the breaking news and we saw it live. And anyway, I'm like, what am I. How am I not going to make a reel about this the next day? Like, addressing that, how we were in the casino and everything else, and it wasn't even supporting his politics or anything, man. So I. I just. I just said that Trump's not genpact and God bless America. And, you know, people didn't, like, That a lot of people did like it, but a lot of people didn't. And I saw my people start unfollowing and it kind of just sucks, dude, because my page has nothing to do with politics, dude, and not really anything to do with even social issues. It's not what the page is about. I probably get more heat from Trump supporters for not saying more. Yeah, like people just, people just assume. Speak up. They all just assume I'm a Trump supporter. They have no way of knowing. I don't, I don't talk about it. So I made another reel a couple days later addressing this unfollows and, and I just made it clear, dude, if, if Biden got shot, if Obama got shot, you know, I would have made a similar post. I mean, dude, you can't have people trying to kill a president. I mean, it's up.

[C]

Yeah, that's serious. Can't believe you lost for that, man. Yeah, I've lost some guests because my pin photo is me and Trump Jr. And I've lost a ton.

[B]

Really?

[C]

Yeah.

[B]

Yeah, man, I, I gotta tell you man, another reason I kind of stay away from it, Sean, is I don't like feel as strongly about it as other people do, quite quite frankly. There's other, other, the other parts of my message that are a lot bigger than that, that, that I'm just have more conviction about and it's not that I disagree or agree with with any particular candidate. It's just that the President of the United States, like only so much could be changed based on who the wins the President. You know what I mean? Like, I have a friend of mine that lives in Scotland and he made a comment to me, this is back when Trump and Hillary were running against each other and he's like, dude, at the end of the day, like what's really going to change for you guys who the President is? You know what I mean? Like in some of these other countries there's a huge change if their leader changes. You know, your, your day to day life will change. You know, I will say, you know, now with Biden falling out and, and being out of it completely, I mean, you know, we don't have a crystal ball the next few weeks look like. But if, if Trump's gonna run away with it now. You know, one of the things I'm not looking forward to, Sean, is, is the next four years being so freaking divisive, dude. You know what I mean? Just like, just a show of. It was like a perfect storm, man. It's a perfect storm. Dude, you know, I, I, there's some things, you know what I mean? Like during COVID and like the whole antifa BLM stuff happening.

[C]

Yeah.

[B]

Where I was like, thank God Trump's still not the president. Right. Right now. You know what I mean? Because he would have been blamed for everything. You know what I mean?

[C]

Yeah.

[B]

Or like Britney, the was Brittany Gaynor when she was in.

[C]

Oh, the Russia, right? Or.

[B]

Yeah, Grinder. Yeah, it's Russia.

[C]

Yeah. Yeah. Reiner. Yeah.

[B]

Is it Griner? Britney, the wnba, NBA player.

[C]

Yeah.

[B]

That was a sad state of affairs, dude. I'm claustrophobic. I felt bad for that girl, dude. I'm not kidding you. I felt bad for her, dude. And could you imagine if that would have happened and Trump was still the fucking president?

[C]

Yeah.

[B]

It would have been like, like, seriously.

[C]

He gets blamed for, he would have.

[B]

Got blamed for all that.

[C]

Yeah. You know, just for weed crazy.

[B]

Yeah.

[C]

I saw a video a month ago on your Instagram. You recently lost a friendship over someone running up your hotel bill.

[B]

Yeah, it's right here.

[C]

Did you solve that or no?

[B]

They're out. Two people. They're out, dude. Try to be too nice to people sometimes and they take advantage. They're a little misinformed. I think they thought I let people stay in an extra room that I had. I was already checked into the room that we weren't going to use it. They were sleeping on the floor of someone else's room. Some gen pop. And I'm like, dude, you guys could just stay in this other room. I'm not using it anyway. Didn't think just to say don't charge a bunch of to the room. Figured the figure that was just kind of assumed. I got that bill. $3,881. Holy crap, brother. And it was at the MGM Grand. And some of the charges. This is where I really got pissed. So the charges included, like, clothing. They went clothes shopping at like the gift shop. It's impossible to spend that much money there. By the way. They went to prime in the Bellagio.

[C]

A little five star steakhouse.

[B]

Yeah, a little five star steakhouse. But we weren't staying at the Bellagio, Sean. We are staying at the mgm. Now, these two particular people aren't seasoned gamblers, dude. They like. How would they know that Bellagio is owned by mgm? How would they know that they could go there and charge things to the room back over at mgm. They did some research to figure this out, dude. Okay. They went and asked somebody and there was a 900 charge there and there's only two of them. So I'm like, let me get a copy of this mother effing bill. And it was hilarious, dude. Hilarious. I'm talking caviar Seafood Towers. Oh, they tipped very well with my money as well. It's awesome. There was, like, sampling soups. There was like eight different soups that they had. What the are they doing? Wagu ribeye. You know, Kim Crawford, like all these different wines. And it was pure insanity. $900, dude. So they're out. They're out. They're the little swindlers. They had a chance to pay me back and they thought it was their. Their thing was that they thought it was going to get comped and it didn't matter. And I go, are you guys mental? Like, that's not how it works, dude. That's not how it works.

[C]

Lost friendship with you over 3K.

[B]

Yeah.

[C]

That is crazy to me.

[B]

Exactly. It was stupid. And they could have resolved it too. They could have resolved it. After I called him out on it, they decided not to.

[C]

And you were friends with that guy for years, right?

[B]

Yeah, the. I was friends with the guy. And it was some people he brought to one of my events that he should have been responsible for. And he. I don't know. You know, I. I blocked them. I didn't really give them a chance to explain further. They said that they thought it would be comped and I sent them my Venmo and I never heard from them. I blocked them. So.

[C]

Damn.

[B]

Maybe they tried to call me. I don't know. They don't have a chance to. They have my Venmo. They pay me the money back on my Venmo, then I'll take their call.

[C]

You know, you're watching this. Pay up. Yeah, you probably get a lot of people trying in your ear now, now that you're blown up, right?

[B]

That's mostly good stuff, man. But I gotta tell you, when I blast the haters on my stories and stuff, people don't like that dude. Or people like it, but people don't want to be featured on it, bro.

[C]

I think you do it in a funny way where it's not like, too bad, brother.

[B]

I'm walking through the Aria Casino yesterday. This guy, I literally just had a story post about him six days earlier making fun of him. And I had like a poll for everyone to vote if he's like a W tour, a gen pop employee, you know, if he's a virgin, things like that. Because he was a smart ass. In one of my comments, this guy comes up to me in real life.

[C]

That's shocking, actually, brother.

[B]

He thought it was hilarious. He goes, dude, you put me on your story. It was so funny. Everybody was messaging me. Why you with John? I'm like, dude, I was just kidding around. I didn't know he'd get mad. So that's how you have a sense of humor, though, bro. That's how you, like, you know what I mean? That's what social media should be about, dude. You know? And when I see it, Sean, when I see it going the other way, I usually take the post down almost immediately. Okay? So, like, I had one the other day. This one girl was like, I don't even use this term, but she's like a total Karen, dude, all over this comments, you know? Well, you should date women, not girls. Who is this woman? I look at her, she's not even following me. So she just came across this real. And whatever. I put her on my story and, you know, she DMS me, like, not to threaten her or something like that. I was like, okay, you know what? I'm taking. I'm taking it down. And, you know, I ruined her day. You know what I mean? And I'm not trying to ruin people's days, you know, but it's just funny how some people could dish it out and not take it. You know what I mean?

[C]

Yeah, you don't want that defamation lawsuit, man.

[B]

Well, I mean, me. Me screenshotting a comment that they wrote and then making a bubble of it coming out of their mouth. I mean, it's not Defamat. Another one who typed it. I had once, though, a guy claimed to me, dude, it was so funny. Somebody wrote. He was so funny. He was a consultant at Accenture. Okay? And it said it right on his Instagram profile. Okay? And his comment. And one of my posts about a year ago, before I hit a huge following, and he wrote die with exclamation points.

[C]

Whoa.

[B]

And I put it on my story, and I tag him. The guy starts messaging me claiming he was hacked and didn't. Didn't write the word die.

[C]

What?

[B]

And it was such a funny, real dude. Because, like, I didn't. I didn't just put on my story. I made a whole reel about it. It was because I, like, tied into, like, him working in corporate America. And you hate your job so much that when you see somebody doing something that you wish you could be doing on Instagram, you literally want him to die.

[C]

Right?

[B]

Like this person said. And then I put it up on the screen. It was pretty Freaking funny, dude. But this guy had such conviction that he didn't do it. And I go, buddy, no one's believing you. He goes, please. I go, dude, no. People think it's funny. Don't worry about it. He goes, dude, I don't want people to think I'm saying that to you. Like, it's not just that you have me blasted. I don't want people to think that would come out of my mouth. So I took it down. That's the only time I've ever taken it down where I'm like, all right. I'm not sure if I should ever not because it's pretty thing to write die.

[C]

Is that, like, your biggest hater is the W2 guys?

[B]

Yeah. And at this point, though, Sean, it was before it was different, right? It was before it was different because people didn't know, like, what to think of me, okay? So it doesn't really happen as much anymore because people stumble across my page. Then you could do two seconds of research and see I got, like, legit people following me. It's a real page. You know what I mean? Whereas before, maybe it wasn't so clear, and they just think I'm some, like, you know, some guy selling a course or something like that. You know what I mean? So those people that be more vocal and come at me, and it was usually W tours. Yeah.

[C]

Will you ever launch a course, dude?

[B]

I think. I think those days are behind us, man. I think God bless people that were able to make money if they were actually providing value the last few years. I. I think I'm the wrong person to ask. I'm sure there's still market for it, but not with what I'm doing.

[C]

Yeah, I'm the same way. I think it's. I think it's passed.

[B]

Yeah.

[C]

Like, I think the heyday was like, five years ago, three to five years ago.

[B]

I think so too. And I think it got played out really fast. And I think there's certain people that won't even be a pimple on a horse's ass in a couple years that are. That are kind of popular right now that are just not gonna be because there's not substance to their message, dude.

[C]

Yeah, they're saying the same over and over again. I know who you're talking. Who you talking about?

[B]

Yeah, exactly. What the are you talking about, bro? Like, it's like, hello? And like. And for me, bro, Like, I would have been too. Like, even though it wasn't, because my would have been done if I didn't Start expanding other.

[C]

That's true.

[B]

You know what I mean? Like, this gambling stuff has given me rejuvenation. I have a lot of. I could talk about now. Talk about my kids. Sometimes I post with my kids. Do better than anything else when I do that. Yeah, dude.

[C]

Wow.

[B]

Dude, my daughter now got like. She had like 7,000 followers. Now she has like 14,000 from me. Like, mention, dude, I'm a promoter. She's like mentioned in a story or something like that.

[C]

You didn't even tag her.

[B]

No, I'll attack her. Yeah. Or she'll. Or she'll comment and I'll put her comment or something and then she gets a shitload. Here's this trick, by the way. If you're not an influencer, but you're friends with an influencer or a family member of an influencer and you want to get follows, make your page private. When they tag you, they tag you. Then they'll go look at your page. Okay, I looked at the page and then they leave. They don't press the follow button, make it private. Wait a couple days, accept the follow. Then they'll fucking forget that. They'll forget that they did it.

[C]

Smart. Are you going to branch off to YouTube and other platforms?

[B]

I'm doing more on YouTube now. YouTube's been tough, man. It's tough. Just. Actually, I shouldn't say that. It's not tough. It's just like different. It's like this pot, you know, like. Like even these podcasts, it's like you look at your views. You could get on social media with Instagram or Tick Tock, and then you do a podcast and post it on YouTube and. Yeah, it does okay.

[C]

But it's a fraction of the 100th of views.

[B]

Yeah.

[C]

Like compared to Instagram and Tick Tock. It's not even close.

[B]

Exactly.

[C]

YouTube's tough, dude. Yeah, it's competitive, I think.

[B]

Yeah. I haven't really tried to crack the algorithm there. I've run ads there a couple times. That's. That have been helpful. And when I've run ads, it's really been more. Primarily because I've had other people featured that I want to just get eyes on it for them to see.

[C]

I run ads, too, but no one comments really. Yeah, I noticed. It's just views.

[B]

Yeah, I just had one with. I've interviewed Jim McMahon from the Chicago Bears. 1985 Bears ran ads just in Chicago because I knew that they would give a shit.

[C]

Yeah.

[B]

And it was a pretty good episode. And I think we ended up with 80,000 views, but like literally 11 comments and like 300 likes.

[C]

That's what happens to me. Who knows if those views are even fudgeing real? They could be charging us.

[B]

Yeah, if that's. If that's the fucking case, I'll be pissed though, dude.

[C]

I wouldn't be surprised. I mean, with that little engagement, it's hard to tell if they're real.

[B]

That's true. That's true, dude.

[C]

What's next? I mean, got the cruise. Anything else?

[B]

Not much, man. Not much. I did this TV show called the Partner earlier this year that was a lot of fun where I like, interviewed different entrepreneurs, decided people I'm going to be in, going to business with. Probably gonna do a season two of that at some point. I got a lot of going on right now though, so we shall see on when I do that. But we will do it. It's just a matter of when. That was a ton of fun.

[C]

Feels like Shark Tank.

[B]

Yeah, Shark Tank. But I kind of screwed up a little bit. We did eight season eight episodes and it was cool. People were engaged and episodes got better and better as we went. But it takes up a lot of real estate on your social media when you promote something for eight weeks. You know what I mean?

[C]

Yeah.

[B]

So again, it becomes, okay, we're getting 70 or 80,000 views on. On YouTube, which is. Which is good. I mean, for what I was trying to do is that's good for that kind of show, I think.

[C]

And you know, you're getting that a video on Instagram.

[B]

Exactly, exactly, exactly. And you know, it was one of the things they did learn on it, though. I don't know if you've ever done this. Have you ever done YouTube premieres?

[C]

No.

[B]

You know how it works.

[C]

You. I know the Nelk boys do it.

[B]

It's cool. It's cool, bro. But. But you're really putting yourself out there because yeah, it's like Instagram Live. You see how many people are actually watching your. And everyone could see it. So I started promoting in YouTube Premiere again. A lot of people don't even know what the it is. We're premiering at 7:00pm Episode one of the Partner. Tune in then. Well, people. What do you mean tune into YouTube? Where people think. Are you talking about YouTube TV? What do you have? No, actual YouTube. Go to my channel and at 7pm it's going to come out and then we're going to have a live chat with me in it, with all of us going back and forth, commenting during the day.

[C]

Oh, wow, that's actually Cool.

[B]

It's very cool. So what would be, what would be cool about it is that I like, then in the chat I'll tell people, hey, do me a favor, go comment about this person that's on there right now in the actual comments. You know what I mean?

[C]

Yeah.

[B]

So, and this is funny with YouTube, by the way. I don't know exactly how it works, but there's a lag with when their views show because I would have a lot, a good number. Not a lot, but it'd probably anywhere from, I think, low end, 200, high end, 500 people.

[C]

Yeah.

[B]

On these freaking, maybe a little bit less than that, but on these, on these YouTube premieres and there'd be a ton of comments and there'd be a ton of likes. Okay, but then if you looked at my YouTube thing afterward, it's still up there, right? Yeah, it'll show like 119 views, but I'll have like 300 likes and like 60 comments because they'll be coming from the frickin premiere. Yeah. You know what I mean? So anyone that's like, looks at it during that Snapchat of time, it's going to be like, all right, he fucking bought his views or comments. You know what I mean? Yeah. And that's just not the case. So I learned that that was kind of fucking funny.

[C]

So we'll link your stuff below, man. Anything else to close off of?

[B]

No, man. Thanks a lot, brother. Keep doing what you're doing, man.

[C]

Yeah, thanks for coming on. Thanks for watching, guys, as always. See you tomorrow.

[B]

All right, brother.

[A]

Hey, music fans, there are some great concerts headed this way. Don't miss out on all the shows in your favorite venues like Deftones at Madison Square Garden, Eagles at the Sphere and Foster. The people at the Ryman Auditorium. Tickets are going fast, so don't wait. Head to livenation.com to get your tickets. Now that's livenation. Com.