← The My Wife Quit Her Job Podcast With Steve Chou
The My Wife Quit Her Job Podcast With Steve Chou
626: The Content Strategies That Will Die In 2026 (And What’s Taking Over)
00:47:42
In this episode, Toni and I share our bold predictions for what's coming in the content creation world in 2026 and why the strategies that worked last year might not work anymore. We break down the shifts we’re seeing,
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- [00:00]
Steve Chou
Welcome back to the podcast, the show where I cover all the latest strategies and current events related to E commerce and online business. In this episode, Tony and I share our bold predictions for what's coming in the content creation world in 2026 and why the strategies that worked last year.
- [00:13]
Robert
Might not work anymore.
- [00:15]
Steve Chou
We break down the shifts that we're seeing, the trends that are about to explode, and what you need to start doing right now to stay ahead of the competition. But before we begin, I want to let you know that tickets for Seller Summit 2026 are now on sale over@sellersummit.com and if you sell physical products online, this is the event that you should be at. Unlike most events that are filled with high level fluff and inspirational stories, Seller Summit is all about tactical, step by step strategies you can actually use in your business right away. Every speaker I invite is in the trenches. People who are running their own e commerce stores, managing inventory, dealing with suppliers and scaling real businesses. No corporate execs and no consultants. Also, I hate large events, so I intentionally keep it small and intimate. We cap attendance at around 200 people so you can actually have real conversations and connect with everyone in the room. We've sold out every single year for the past nine years and I expect this year to be no different. It's happening April 21st to 23rd in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. And if you're doing over 250k or $1 million in revenue, we also offer a private mastermind for high level sellers. Right now, tickets are the cheapest they're ever going to be. So if you want in, go over to sellersummit.com and grab your ticket.
- [01:23]
Robert
Now onto the show. Welcome to the My Wife Quitter Job podcast. It is beginning of the year, so what I thought we would do today is talk about Our predictions for 2026 in the content creation space.
- [01:42]
Angela
I'm excited. I feel like content creation has made a resurgence.
- [01:47]
Robert
You know, I'm excited. And I'm also a little apprehensive at the same time because I'm seeing these trends, especially with AI kind of taking over the creator economy. And yeah, I'm. I'm curious what you have to say about it too. I mean, AI has already affected my businesses in, in a fundamental way. Right.
- [02:06]
Angela
Yeah.
- [02:07]
Robert
My blog, and I think every blog in my blogging mastermind has been essentially decimated by AI.
- [02:14]
Angela
Yeah. My thing with AI right now is that I. It's so hard to know what to believe.
- [02:19]
Robert
Yes.
- [02:20]
Angela
Right. Like, I feel like when I'm watching something Especially because like, okay, we're talking, it's the beginning of the year, NFL's in the playoffs, a lot of coaches have been fired. Right. I think there's like seven coaching vacancies and there's all these like TikToks and Instagram reels where it's like the coach, but it's like, is that actually him talking? Is that I like, it's hard to tell like what's real and what's not. Which I think is my, my biggest problem with AI and how it's changing, like how people create content.
- [02:48]
Robert
I mean, from a creator perspective, what I'm more worried about is less that aspect of what to believe and what doesn't. Because that doesn't really affect me. Yeah, what affects me are these guys that I'm seeing on YouTube and like these acquaintances that I hear about that have like a hundred AI channels pumping out like 20 pieces of content a day, which means just by sheer volume you're going to get diluted out, like if there's enough of those guys out there. And I'm seeing all of these courses from people teaching faceless AI generated content where they have these automations where literally you have AI write the script, you hit a button and then it just pumps out all these videos that automatically get broadcast to all the platforms. Shorts, reels, TikToks. And so you get enough people doing that. And if you're a real creator putting out good stuff, you're still gonna get drowned out, right?
- [03:43]
Angela
I don't know. So I think I talked about this on one of the podcasts we recorded before the break. But I told you that my son could created a tick tock channel.
- [03:51]
Robert
Yes, right.
- [03:52]
Angela
Where he's. And it's AI generated cartoons. Right. So he's writing the scripts, he's, you know, he's coming up with the ideas. Well, one month ago yesterday, he launched on Instagram. And it's kind of funny because like my whole, my kids all grew up like on social media, right? Like they, we used to do a lot of like publicity and tv and so they all pretty much have shunned social media. Like most of them don't really like to be on it, you know, aside from like personally. So he's my first kid that's like actually kind of taken it and run with it. It's like, you know, maybe I can make this into something. And so he started on Instagram a month ago and he, when he started, I said, hey, you know, Instagram's a much slower growth than TikTok Right. It's gonna take you a while, you know, because he doesn't have a platform, he has nothing. Right. So Yesterday he hit 100k on Instagram.
- [04:40]
Robert
Wow.
- [04:41]
Angela
In one month.
- [04:42]
Robert
Nice.
- [04:42]
Angela
And what this tells me is that really clever content still wins. Right. Because the stuff he's putting out is really clever. Right. It's interesting, it's funny, it's different. Right. So he's got an angle and I feel like a lot of times with like, he's using AI to help him as far as, like, generate the videos, like, you know, because it's all animated, but outside of that, like the scripting and everything else is his ideas. And so I think ideas still win and I don't think AI can trump that right now. Now, not to say that it can't in the future, because I feel like AI just gets better and better. But I think cleverness and, you know, an angle still works regardless, but it's harder because you're right. There's so much content out there that's just being, like, massively generated every single day. You. You really. You can't just be average anymore. You've got to be really good.
- [05:35]
Robert
I mean, I agree with your assessment. And all these platforms are actually doing a good job of, you know, rating these people and only delivering content that's actually, you know, enticing that people want to watch. I guess the problem is if there's just too much volume for these algorithms, like, someone still has to swipe and you still have to get data.
- [05:53]
Angela
Right, Right.
- [05:53]
Robert
But if it gets to the point where it's like a thousand x what it is today, there's not. There's going to be just too much content for people to swipe through and there won't be enough data and everything gets diluted. I don't think that's going to happen in 2026, but if this continues, you know, in the. In the coming years of everyone doing automations, it's. It's going to get to that point. Which is why I kind of like China's Law, which, which we discussed in a previous episode, where you can only put out content about finance, health and law if you have some sort of credential.
- [06:24]
Angela
So. And I think this is. We were just talking about our friend Tiffany Ivanovsky, but another person that is Start is doing this. Well right now is Jeff Rose. Um, you know, he's like, revived his Facebook page or his Facebook channel. I don't really know what they call it anymore, but I think having that shareable or Comment. Commentable content is where I think you can stand out from just the massively produced AI content. And I think Jeff Rose is doing that. To me, he's a little too, like, clickbaity controversial, but whatever, it's working. Right. Like. Cause he's like, would you t. And he, like, shows a receipt, and it's like, no tip. And, you know, everybody has an opinion on whether you should tip or not. Right. And he's posting content like that that people are sharing and commenting. Tiffany Ivanovsky does the exact same thing, Right. Like, she posts a piece of content, you know, that she knows people are going to comment on and share. And she's much less controversial. She's more funny. Right. She gets, like, the humor angle of it and incorporates all of her family's, like, crazy adventures. Yeah. And I think that's why my son's stuff is doing well, too, because if you look at, like, the amount of likes, comments and shares that his stuff gets, like, that's why his channel has grown so quickly. Right. Because he'll put out a video and it'll get 4,000 shares. Right. And it's really hard to do that with, like, AI generated just generic content.
- [07:44]
Robert
Yeah.
- [07:45]
Angela
Because people aren't. People just don't share that stuff. Right. It's not interesting.
- [07:50]
Robert
I actually just had Jeff on the pod. His episode hasn't come out yet, but your son could make, like, 40 to $50,000 a month doing that.
- [07:57]
Angela
Yeah, I know. We're working on it. We're working.
- [07:58]
Steve Chou
Okay.
- [07:59]
Robert
You just have to get approved. Like, I'm trying to get approved right.
- [08:01]
Steve Chou
Now to do that.
- [08:01]
Angela
I just submitted mine, too, after we talked about that.
- [08:04]
Robert
Okay.
- [08:05]
Angela
I did that the other day. Yeah, he totally could. He could do it. But what's funny for him is that it's opened doors for, like, really interesting partnerships with people. And because he's doing, like, Bible history, which is, like, such a strange topic, Right. Like, to just go viral on. He's had conversations with, like, archaeologists and historians that, like. Because he's doing all that. He's like, all I do all day at work. Because he works in a restaurant and he works in the back of house, so he listens to podcasts on, like, historical archaeology digs. So he's, like, educating himself all day long on all this information and then matching up history with documentation and writing and then making it funny. Right. So he's basically taking information that's, like, pretty hard. Like, none of us are going to read the Dead Sea Scrolls. Right. But he's. He's reading them and learning about them and then breaking them down and making them entertaining and interesting. And I feel like that angle, I. I don't think we'll ever die. Like, I think that interesting. You know what I mean? I. And I think that's honestly why, you know, you have had the success that you've had, is that you are really good at taking complicated information like how to start an e commerce business. Right? There's like, there's a million people offering a course on that. Right. But you've taken it and made it a lot more simple for people to understand. You've broken it down step by step. You. You tell the truth to people. You're not trying to be like, you know, in a Lamborghini with a money gun. And so I think if you can still do that with any topic, you can have success. Because that's what I think AI doesn't do. It does break down things so you can understand them, but then doesn't represent them in a way where I feel like people can really resonate with.
- [09:45]
Steve Chou
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- [10:44]
Robert
Talk to them right now.
- [10:46]
Steve Chou
Find out what needs fixing while you still have time to fix it. And go over to quietlight.com for a free valuation.
- [10:53]
Robert
Yeah, totally. And I've been just really shocked after talking to Jeff about the ends that Facebook's willing to pay for now.
- [11:02]
Angela
Yes, what you were telling Me is insane.
- [11:04]
Robert
It's insane. I know. It's insane. I'm trying to get approved. It'd be pretty easy. Cause he walked me through his strategy on the pod, and it's pretty easy to pull off. So I figure, I guess there's two forms of content. Like, the ones that I've been putting out has been ones that give me influence. Meaning, like, you know, people sign up for the class and whatnot.
- [11:24]
Angela
Yeah.
- [11:25]
Robert
What Jeff is doing doesn't necessarily give him influence.
- [11:29]
Angela
Right, Right.
- [11:29]
Robert
Cause it's just, like, funny memes, but it gives him a lot of cash.
- [11:32]
Angela
Yeah.
- [11:32]
Robert
So.
- [11:33]
Angela
Well, and he's. He's on, like, the hot button topics, right. And it's like all the stuff that you see, like, like, obviously, I just got back from traveling, but, like, the hot button topic, you know, in travel is, do you give up your airline seat for a family to sit together? Right. Like, that is every video I see, every piece of content. It's like, you know, either people complaining that someone didn't give up their seat or someone complaining that they got asked to give up their seat. Right. But everybody has an opinion on this. Right? Every single person in the world has an opinion on whether you should give up your seat or not. And it's like, if you want to get people to, like, engage and share and tag their friends and talk about it and go back and forth in the comments, you have to be, you know, and that's like, what Jeff has done really well is he finds those types of topics because everyone has them. Right. Like, my biggest pet peeve in traveling is people who stop at the top of stairs or an escalator. Right. And they just stop and, like, open up the map. And I was like, maybe don't stop right in front of the top of the escalator. Like, if I posted that, it would get a thousand comments, Right. Of, like, other people's pet peeves of how people walk around in another city. So.
- [12:38]
Robert
And that's what it takes.
- [12:40]
Angela
Yeah. I mean. Yeah. Or just be a crazy expert, Right. Like, I always follow the plastic surgery people who are like, did Bradley Cooper have.
- [12:47]
Steve Chou
Yeah, but those are interesting, too, right?
- [12:49]
Angela
They are interesting, but, like, you know, but that's. That's once again using, like, kind of what you're doing, using your expertise to make commentary. Right. On things and teach people. So I think there's still two ways to go about it.
- [13:02]
Robert
Okay, so the next thing I want to talk about are podcasts and video podcasts. I think we've reached peak podcast.
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Angela
Okay. But did you see what was the award show? Golden Globes.
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Robert
Was that what just happened with Nikki Glaser?
- [13:17]
Angela
Yes, I think that was Golden Globes. They entered this year. This year was the first year they had a category for best podcast.
- [13:25]
Robert
Yeah, that's how you know, you've hit like everyone in their. So I went to a couple of events recently and everyone wants to start a podcast. Not, not a YouTube channel, but like a podcast.
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Angela
Yeah.
- [13:38]
Robert
And I, I was chatting with this one person. I'm like, you realize that like podcasting is way harder to grow than, you know, than a regular YouTube channel and arguably less effort.
- [13:50]
Angela
A lot less effort.
- [13:51]
Robert
A lot, a lot less effort. I guess it just depends. But if everyone and their mother wants to start a podcast, that's usually when I think we've hit peak podcast. And like everyone and their mother has a podcast now.
- [14:03]
Angela
Yeah, it's, it's, and it's funny like all the celebrities that are starting to have podcasts or also now going on podcasts.
- [14:13]
Robert
Yeah, exactly like, and they're all interview based podcasts too.
- [14:18]
Angela
Like Amy Poehler won the other night for her podcast, which, you know, but here's the thing. I think the way to grow your podcast, if you have one already or you're, you know, you've made the decision to start is that I think how Amy Poehler has been successful other than the fact that she's Amy Poehler. So like right there, you know, she's got lots of, lots of clout and she can get, I mean she had Gwyneth Paltrow on, right. So she's getting like major celebrities, of course. But like all the clips that come out, right, the, like her and Gwen. The clip I saw yesterday was her and Gwyneth Paltrow talking about how their dream time to eat dinner is 6pm so that they can be in bed at 8, right. And it's like, you know, once again, hundreds of comments, super relatable. Like, you know, when it's like I like to be the first person in the restaurant, she's like, and if I can be in bed at 8 and Amy Por's like, that's the dream, isn't it? Like they're just like, but you know what I mean? But like I didn't listen to the whole podcast. Right. But that clip has, you know, a hundred thousand likes and you know, and that's how people are, are, you know, making their podcasts work. I don't know how many people actually sit and watch the entire, I mean people still do my Kids. My kids all listen to podcasts, right?
- [15:26]
Robert
Yeah, there's just so many because. So I listen to a podcast every time I run.
- [15:31]
Angela
Yeah.
- [15:31]
Robert
And the ones I listen to tend to be about like an hour and a half, two hours.
- [15:35]
Angela
Yeah.
- [15:35]
Robert
And how many, how many pod, like I run two or three times a week. How many podcast episodes can I listen to?
- [15:41]
Angela
Not very many.
- [15:41]
Robert
Not very many. And the number of podcasts out there, interview shows. If you can get someone huge on your podcast, then yes, of course. But if you're just starting out like with an interview podcast of just people that no one knows, I think it's going to be really hard at this point.
- [15:58]
Angela
Yeah, I would agree.
- [16:00]
Robert
Yeah.
- [16:01]
Steve Chou
I just wanted to take a moment to tell you about a free resource that I offer on my website that you may not be aware of if you are interested in starting your own online store. I put together a comprehensive six day mini course on how to get started in E commerce that you should all check out. It contains both video and text based tutorials to that go over the entire process of finding products to sell all the way to getting your first sales online. Now this course is free and can be attained@mywifequitterjob.com free. Just sign up right there on the front page via email and I'll send.
- [16:34]
Robert
You the course right away.
- [16:35]
Steve Chou
Once again, that's mywifequitterjob.com free.
- [16:39]
Robert
Now back to the show. I mean, I mean I've been podcasting for over a decade, so I already have like an established base. But if I were starting all over today, I, I probably would not go the podcast route unless I had some very special angle or, and, or access to like, you know, people who, who have a large audience.
- [17:00]
Angela
Yeah, actually my son called me yesterday. He's like, I think I'm gonna start a podcast. And I'm like, that's how you know.
- [17:06]
Robert
You'Ve reached peak podcast.
- [17:07]
Angela
I know. And I'm like, I'm like, dude, you started doing this two months ago and now you're like, you know, Internet famous. You gotta calm down a little bit. But yeah, I mean, but he like wants to do one on like, you know, historical like all this stuff. And I was like, you know what, I think there's still space for those types of things.
- [17:22]
Robert
Yeah, I think that would work because that's something that's random. I'm just talking about like your old interview based show that everyone their mother's doing.
- [17:29]
Angela
Exactly.
- [17:30]
Robert
Yeah.
- [17:31]
Angela
But I still, you know, it's funny, even with all of that, we Know people who watch podcasts on their TV at night instead of Netflix?
- [17:39]
Robert
Yes.
- [17:40]
Angela
Yeah. So I mean, crazy to me and.
- [17:44]
Robert
The other conversation I had with someone the other day was, you know how when you're browsing shorts and, and just the sheer amount of content that's out there these days, like, I'm not really loyal to anybody.
- [17:56]
Steve Chou
Right.
- [17:57]
Robert
Like, if someone flashes by, like, I don't go out and seek all their content, just watch it. I'm just like blindly scrolling now. And I literally have to see someone maybe 20 times before I even remember who they are.
- [18:09]
Angela
As I'm scrolling, I'm definitely very unloyal. Except for, you know, unless you get sucked in. Right. There's always the. And that's, that's once again going back to like, what are you doing? That's so interesting. Or so captivating.
- [18:23]
Robert
Yeah.
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Angela
Remember the lady? Of course, we, we always laugh when we try to do this because we have such different tick tock algorithms. But like the lady who did the folding laundry, she like taught people how to.
- [18:33]
Steve Chou
I remember.
- [18:34]
Robert
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
- [18:35]
Angela
So she just got married. Right. And I like, did I watch go through every single wedding tick tock video? Oh, yes, I did. Right. Like, because I was so invested in her from her laundry days. Right. But for the most part I'm gonna scroll by anything like that. So you're right. You've gotta really have an interesting.
- [18:52]
Robert
I mean, even full length YouTube videos that I watch. Like I, I watch it just for the topic, but like, it's very few people that like actually grab me where I actually want to check out like the rest of their channel. And even same with the podcast. I find myself listening to podcasts now because of who's on and not necessarily because of who the actual show is.
- [19:16]
Angela
Yeah, right.
- [19:17]
Robert
Who, who it belongs to. Because again, I think we're just getting to this point where just so much content out there. The other thing I'm getting kind of tired of and I'm hoping this prediction will come true. Like on my TikTok feed and my Instagram feed, it's every third person is pushing some product.
- [19:35]
Angela
Yes.
- [19:36]
Robert
I don't know if your feed is like that. And it's gotten to the point where I don't think any of this stuff is genuine at all.
- [19:43]
Angela
I don't like it because I feel like back, back in my day, like when I talked about a product, it was because, like I had used it, I liked it. I was like, I was willing to vouch for it, but like there's a product in my feed all the time. And here's how I know it's that they have shipped it to every celebrity. Bethany Frankel is doing it as well as Shawn Johnson, the gymnast. Right. And it's some like, liver detox. Get your cortisol. Like, it's totally the menopause, like, level stuff that's in my feed. But I'm like, these. You're telling me these two different people use this product? And this is like, why? Like, no, you're fit because you're a gymnast and you're fit because you have like great genetics. And you also probably eat two avocados a day. Right. So, like, you know, I don't know that. To me, I, I agree with you. I think it's such overkill. I don't trust anything that comes out anymore, especially from like, bigger creators.
- [20:38]
Robert
And then occasionally I'll see something that's AI and it's very well done, but it's pitching some product also. Yeah, it, this is probably happening more on Tik Tok. I guess I'm more on TikTok than I am on the, on the other platforms. But if it gets to this point where everyone's putting out, you know, getting paid to pitch something and then you use AI to have like a human fake pitch something, no one's going to believe anything anymore and just the whole influencer economy is just kind of going to go to crap.
- [21:11]
Angela
Yeah.
- [21:11]
Robert
At least.
- [21:11]
Angela
Which I, I wouldn't be mad about.
- [21:14]
Robert
I would not be mad about. But I don't know how you fix that problem. Right.
- [21:17]
Angela
Yeah.
- [21:18]
Robert
Like, how do you get real, genuine reviews of a product?
- [21:21]
Angela
Yeah, I don't, I don't know anymore. Honestly. Like, I feel like. I don't know. I, I definitely. That's one of those old, like, nostalgic. I miss the old days where it's like when, when someone was talking about a product, it's because they actually cared about and used it. And you know, even though I fought so hard for like, creators to be paid. Right. And for like to fairly, like, you know, I'm. We talk about the day that, you know, I got a free Twinkie for posting about Weight Watchers. Twinkies. Like, I, I don't want to go back to that. Right. Where it's like, hey, create four well edited, greatly produced videos for a box of, you know, snacks. But yeah, I don't know how you combat that especially.
- [22:03]
Robert
I'm not saying the influencer economy is dead. I mean, if you have someone who has like a good reputation.
- [22:09]
Angela
Yeah.
- [22:09]
Robert
I mean, it'll still work. Like me, for example. Like, I don't ever take on those things.
- [22:15]
Angela
Yeah.
- [22:15]
Robert
Right. So if I say I like a product, I'm willing to stake my reputation on it in general, you know?
- [22:22]
Angela
Yeah.
- [22:22]
Robert
For that product.
- [22:23]
Angela
Well, and it's definitely not dead because, like, Socialene, who. Yeah, she, you know, she doesn't. She does some sponsored stuff, but a lot of times she'll be like, she'll post a picture and she's like, I got these shoes on Amazon. Right. And you go click. You can't buy those shoes on Amazon anymore. Like, they sell out. Like, if she talks about a product, it's gone. Right. And there are, there are people like her that, like, you know, Bethany's another one where she does a lot of sponsored stuff, but also she's like, hey, I got like, I'm wearing these pants right now that I bought on Amazon because she talked about how great they were and I was like, these are like, they look cute. They're like travel pants. Right. And, you know, I went and bought them. I was so excited they were still in stock. Because most of the time when she talks about something and you go to click on it, if you're not watching the video in the first 30 minutes, you can't get the product. Especially on it. Especially an Amazon product. Yeah.
- [23:12]
Robert
I mean, so that's the type of influencer marketing.
- [23:14]
Angela
Yeah.
- [23:15]
Robert
And again, I think AI has just made everything just so much worse.
- [23:18]
Angela
Yeah.
- [23:19]
Robert
Because there's entire platforms out there that are designed for you to use AI avatars to pitch your products in E commerce now. Right?
- [23:26]
Angela
Yeah.
- [23:26]
Robert
So I'm guessing, like, a lot of these shop owners are like, hey, why do I need to pay so much money for these influencers anymore?
- [23:32]
Angela
Right.
- [23:33]
Robert
Especially since the whole influencer economy does not really depend on how many subscribers you have anymore. Right, Right. It's based on how good the content is.
- [23:41]
Angela
Yeah.
- [23:41]
Robert
And so if you can create the content with AI, why bother hiring these influencers?
- [23:46]
Angela
Yeah, we'll see.
- [23:48]
Robert
Yeah, we'll see. The other thing that's been on my mind at least has been this Gemini summarize button on YouTube videos. I'm not sure if you've played around with that.
- [24:01]
Angela
I have. I've seen it. I've not played around with it yet.
- [24:04]
Robert
So these days, and this is just something that. That's happened to me, I. I actually don't watch most YouTube videos anymore.
- [24:12]
Angela
You just have Gemini summarize them.
- [24:13]
Robert
I. I don't actually use Gemini.
- [24:15]
Steve Chou
That.
- [24:15]
Robert
That button actually doesn't work. That well, just yet if you've tried it, because you, you can't like tell it exactly what you want out of it. So yeah, I've been using this YouTube plugin. Not YouTube plugin, it's a Chrome plugin that just sends the entire Transcript over to ChatGPT. And, and you can have these set prompts where it just gives you everything in like a bullet pointed list.
- [24:36]
Angela
Yeah.
- [24:37]
Robert
So if I see like a 20 minute video or 25 minute video, I'm always thinking to myself, man, I. There's no way I want to sit through this video. I just want the guts, right. And so it just spits out the, the summary in ChatGPT. And that's good enough.
- [24:53]
Angela
So we talked about this like two years ago.
- [24:57]
Robert
Do we really?
- [24:58]
Angela
Well, no, we talked about the summarize. The summarize factor. Right. When AI was like starting, people were like really getting into it and we were talking about how we used it and I said that my brother was using it to summarize my mom's text to the group chat. Right. Because she often will send like boomer text, Right. Like super long informational and it's like nobody has time to read all this. Like, so he would summarize everything in like, I think it was probably chatgpt back then and then like send it to me and my sister. So we were like, oh, her neighbor's having surgery. You know, she went to so and so's house for dinner, whatever. But I feel like this is just like the next generation of that. Right. Like, who has time to watch a 20 minute video when you can summarize it? So my question then is if you are making content right, on YouTube, like, how do you make content that people don't want to summarize so they watch your video?
- [25:48]
Robert
Well, see, that's what got me thinking that because a lot of my stuff is.
- [25:54]
Angela
Yours is very summarizable.
- [25:56]
Steve Chou
It's teaching content, Right?
- [25:57]
Robert
Yeah, exactly.
- [25:58]
Angela
Yeah.
- [25:59]
Robert
So maybe I need to switch up my strategy this year and just make it more entertaining in some way. And I know you're laughing like, what.
- [26:10]
Angela
Are you gonna do?
- [26:11]
Robert
I don't know. Maybe it can be something in a delivery. Maybe more like Asian jokes, I don't know or something.
- [26:18]
Angela
Or Asian jokes don't transcribe. Well, you know, you got.
- [26:23]
Robert
Yeah, I'm just trying, I was trying to think about the creators that I actually watch.
- [26:29]
Angela
Yeah.
- [26:29]
Robert
All the way through. And it's usually the ones who are kind of funny or they do like some crazy editing.
- [26:38]
Angela
Yeah.
- [26:38]
Robert
Or they, they're just entertaining in some way. It's just hard to describe. And I'll sit there and watch it because I'm thinking about the most videos I watch these days, honestly, are Niners and warriors videos.
- [26:50]
Angela
Yeah. Yeah.
- [26:51]
Robert
And really it's just their takes and it's usually just like a talking head. Right?
- [26:54]
Angela
Yeah.
- [26:56]
Robert
And those are, you would think, summarizable really easily. Right?
- [27:00]
Angela
Yeah.
- [27:00]
Robert
But I actually sit through and watch the whole video and it's literally just talking head with no video. But it's because like the words they use to describe it, like the teams and the trades and everything that's going on.
- [27:13]
Angela
Yeah.
- [27:13]
Robert
That when you send it to a summary, it's like not as interesting for some reason.
- [27:20]
Angela
Yeah. I mean that's, it's funny because I don't know. Once again, our feeds are so different. But there is, there's always these creators that have like five minute TikToks that look like it's this long involved story. Right. And there's always the first comment in these, in these videos are like, let me get to the point for you. And like, literally someone has watched. I'll watch the video so you don't have to. Right. There's people who have actually created TikTok and accounts that summarize other people's videos that are.
- [27:47]
Robert
No way.
- [27:48]
Angela
Yes. And so they're like, she went on the date this happened, blah, blah, blah, he never called her back, then she married his best friend. Like, and basically they summarize like a 10 minute tick tock video into like 35, 40 seconds. So like people have already been doing this for years, but now you know, AI is doing it instead. So I don't know. For me, partly I'm like, well, you know what, hopefully this makes people get to the point quicker because I often don't. Like when I'm watching a video and I have to listen to people ramble, like, that's what annoys me. It's like when back in blogging when everyone was like, oh, recipes have to have SEO. So like the first 42 paragraphs of a recipe was like talking about their grandmother's house in Italy and blah, blah, blah, and you're like, just tell me how many tomatoes. Right, right, right. So I feel like in some ways I don't mind the summary, but in other ways, like, obviously as a creator you're not going to make money if people just summarize all your videos and don't watch them. So you've got, you've got to be interesting enough. I Don't even think you have to be entertaining. I think you have to be interesting. I mean, entertaining works, too.
- [28:47]
Steve Chou
Yeah.
- [28:48]
Robert
I'm just thinking about, you know, because if it's just pure based teaching content, which is actually something that we've pitched for for many years, if it's just pure teaching content that's easily summarizable, maybe that won't last, like, the next couple years. Yeah. Is what I'm thinking. So you have to make it interesting in some way. It could be, like, your delivery. Yeah, it could be. It could be any of these very nuanced things that make you stand out.
- [29:13]
Angela
Well, not to pat us on the back, but I'm going to. As you know, I love to do. But that's a lot of feedback we get for the course, is that people love our interaction with each other. Right. Like, how we usually have very different opinions about things and we joke around a lot, and, you know, we're not afraid to kind of pick on each other a little bit. And we've had people that get very turned off by that. Right. We had. We had someone on a webinar once that was like, you're so mean. Right.
- [29:42]
Robert
Because you are mean.
- [29:43]
Angela
I am mean. But, like, you. You need it sometimes. Someone's got to bring you down to real life. But. But, like, the people who watch us regularly think it's hilarious because they know. They know our personalities, and they know that, you know, we're out. We're obviously very good friends, and we don't have a mean bone in our body towards each other. Right. Like, it's all in fun and games. But I. I think that's one thing that makes people gravitate towards the stuff we do is because they do, like, that interaction. Right. Which you would never get in a summary. In a summary. It wouldn't make any sense. Right.
- [30:14]
Robert
Yeah.
- [30:15]
Angela
So. So I think, you know, if you can find that angle, right, where people are like, oh, but I like the back and forth. Or I. Or it's interesting. Or I like the tension. Right. Like, I've. For some reason, my feed has blown up with, like, the Dax Shepherd Kristen Bell drama, which I didn't even know there was drama until, you know, basically he interviewed Cher on his podcast, and she. And. And Kristen Bell was in the room, too, and she kept, like, trying to mitigate what he was saying. And, like, it was, like, very much, like, very dysfunctional relationship. And so people are, like, overanalyzing the. So now I'm, like, on this whole quest to, like, find out what's wrong with their relationship because I've gotten sucked into the videos. But like now I will watch all the interaction between the two of them because I was like, oh wait, did she just make an excuse for him? Blah, blah, blah, like what's happening? You know? But once again, it's not necessarily fun. It's kind of dysfunctional, but keeps you watching.
- [31:10]
Robert
We have totally different feeds.
- [31:12]
Angela
Yes, I know.
- [31:14]
Robert
So here's one thing that's kind of excited me a little bit too is the fact that I was on Netflix the other day and I saw Mark Robers YouTube videos packaged in a Netflix special that was ranking in the top 10 crazy. And what that, why that excites me is that if you have like a huge YouTube audience and you, you create like my videos will never make it. But like if you do entertaining videos, right, like places like Netflix will buy you. And like, if you watch, I don't know if you watch any of those videos in the Mark Rober specials. It's literally his YouTube videos. Yeah, it's his YouTube videos with maybe like a short intro that he recorded, like a 30 second intro and then it's just a straight YouTube video. So they're literally just packaging all of his YouTube videos onto Netflix. And the fact that Netflix is willing to do that makes it pretty exciting because. So I don't know if you remember, it was like five years ago, we did a show called Five Minute Pitch.
- [32:11]
Angela
Yes.
- [32:12]
Robert
And we were actually trying to get on Netflix and Hulu.
- [32:16]
Angela
Oh.
- [32:16]
Robert
Because I have a buddy who is, who is high up at Hulu.
- [32:19]
Angela
Yeah.
- [32:19]
Robert
And I kind of just asked him, he was like, yeah, sorry, Steve. But like these shows, like, Netflix just doesn't buy stuff like that. Especially if it's like a, a show where there's like a winner and the winner's already been announced, so.
- [32:34]
Angela
Oh yeah, yeah.
- [32:35]
Robert
But now, you know, if you put together something good on YouTube and it gets a lot of traction, you have a chance of making it on Netflix.
- [32:43]
Angela
Well, you know, it's, it's interesting because it makes sense, right. It follows the book deal model. Right. Because I remember when I was like early in the blogging days, any blogger who got big would immediately get contacted about a book deal. Right. Because it was so easy for the publishing houses to work with a content creator who had a million visits a month to their website. Because no, just regular person who writes a book can promote like that their own stuff. Right. So it's, it's kind of the same thing as if you, if you look at Ever look at like the Nielsen ratings and how, how many people are estimated to watch certain things? It's amazing how little people watch stuff.
- [33:22]
Robert
Right.
- [33:22]
Angela
With a small number. So if you're like Mr. Beast, right. Which he's obviously an extreme example and he's got his own TV show and everything now, so. But like it's much easier to work with a content creator who already can like promote everything and already has the eyeballs, then like launching a brand new show where nobody, unless it's got like, like Harrison Ford's in it or something like that, you know, that's tough. It's much easier to work with a content creator because they already have the built in audience. Netflix doesn't have to do any work.
- [33:51]
Robert
Absolutely, absolutely. But you know, just even last year, this was kind of unheard of, right?
- [33:56]
Angela
Yeah. Yeah.
- [33:57]
Steve Chou
So.
- [34:00]
Angela
You on Netflix?
- [34:02]
Steve Chou
Yeah.
- [34:02]
Robert
Right. I'd have to fundamentally change everything up.
- [34:05]
Angela
Yes.
- [34:05]
Robert
But that'd be like a, a bucket list. Maybe one day I will do it.
- [34:09]
Angela
Okay.
- [34:10]
Robert
And try to make something just kind of more entertaining in general. Okay. So the next thing that I was thinking, a prediction is that because of AI and all this artificial stuff going on out there, people are going to start craving like real people.
- [34:27]
Angela
Yep.
- [34:28]
Robert
Is what I'm predicting. So events in person, events like the seller summit, I think people are going to start craving that stuff.
- [34:37]
Angela
Oh, absolutely. I think it's interesting too because I feel like we're finally like truly post pandemic. Right. And we hear a lot about people like being forced to go back to work and all this stuff. And so it's like, I feel like, you know, the mind shift is changing again. And so people want to be interacting with people in real life. Right. Not just from behind a screen, not from, not from the way that they've been doing it for a while. My fear is that there is a group of people who grew up basically in this anonymous economy. Basically. Right. I don't know if you saw the video of the person who was offered $150,000 a year for a job to work remote, but if they were willing to go in the office, it was $250,000 a year. So same exact job, same exact responsibilities. 150 to do it all remote, 250 to go into the office like four days a week. And they were like, no way I would go into the office for a hundred thousand dollars. Right. I'm like, well, who are you that you don't need another hundred thousand dollars a year? I mean, that's a significant amount of Money for. But so I, I worry about like this small group of people who like kind of came of age during all of this and I wonder how they will embrace it. But I feel like anybody who's like 30 plus, like can't wait to go in person and like get out there. And even my 19 year old, like she lives to go to like all the comic cons and stuff like that and like meet other creators, meet other, you know, people that are into the same things that she is. So I think, you know, the events will make a resurgence, right? People will want to be out there, they want to connect, they'll want to like have real friendships and meet people, like meet people that they've been talking to online, you know, that they have never actually seen in person.
- [36:30]
Robert
You know that analogy about working remote and working in person. Like, maybe it's just I'm an old Chinese man now, but like, I could not imagine not working in person on the engineering teams that I worked at when, you know, when I had a full time job. You just can't get anything done remote. It's easier just to like, I can't remember, like it was countless times where I had to walk over to somebody and.
- [36:51]
Angela
Yeah.
- [36:51]
Robert
And work together in person on something so that I would just never hire that person basically.
- [36:57]
Angela
Well, and I feel like that's the shift too is those people are not like, I think remote work is not going to be the same as it was. I think that's changing, right?
- [37:09]
Robert
Oh, well, it's already changed here in the Valley. Everyone's got to go in at least three days a week. And like they actually monitor badge swipes now too.
- [37:17]
Angela
Oh, interesting.
- [37:18]
Robert
Yeah. Yeah.
- [37:19]
Angela
But I, I think honestly though, the value of going to an event in general and interacting with people. Like last month I went to a wedding in North Carolina and one of our seller Summit alumni is Chris Cody, who owns Deb Specs lives. Like just happened to live in the same town where this wedding was. So we met up for dinner and like just hanging out with him and like chatting about our kid, he has a son, chatting about the kids, chatting about like he just relocated there, you know, and then talking some business stuff too. Right. Like, but I would never have that relationship with him. I would have never met up with him if I hadn't met him at seller Summit. Right. Like some, some random person on the Internet I'm meeting, not meeting up with you for dinner. But I just, when we were hanging out, I was like, man, I miss like hanging out with people and having Conversations and letting the conversation flow. Because you're sitting at dinner for two hours, right? And at the end of dinner, he's like, we were talking about something. He's like, I have an idea for you. And like, basically told me, gave me a really great idea. And then, you know, we've been following up with email and stuff, stuff like that. But, you know, I just feel like you don't. You can't get all of that online.
- [38:33]
Robert
I think me and you are different. I think you're funneling. Fundamentally more social than I am. For me, actually, the reason to go to live events is because I feel like the Internet is just so noisy. Like, my personality is. If I can learn it myself somehow, I'll usually try to do that. But now with like everyone and their mother putting out content, you have no idea who to trust.
- [38:57]
Angela
Right.
- [38:57]
Robert
Going to live events is a way for me to get content from people that I trust or, you know, strategies and whatnot for people I trust. And I mean, the personal relationships to me are very valuable as well. But I personally, for me, I go to events, not necessarily to meet people, but to just get like the real story from people who are actually doing stuff, but the friendships just developed.
- [39:22]
Angela
Yeah, but I think that's basically the same, right? Because you want the real story, but you're never, not never. You can get the real story online. It's not the same.
- [39:32]
Robert
You have to sift your junk to.
- [39:34]
Steve Chou
Get the real story.
- [39:34]
Robert
Now that's the problem.
- [39:36]
Angela
You know, actually, last week I got a text from our friend Dana John Zemas, who sent me an article. She's like, I read this. I thought you would really enjoy it. Right? Well, she knew I would enjoy that because of the interactions we've had in person. Comments that I have made to her, like, not thinking about, like, I'm not trying to impress her. I'm not trying to, you know, just like, she knows I've said things about this article and was like, hey, this might be interesting to you. Right? Like that you can't. We wouldn't have those same conversations online.
- [40:04]
Steve Chou
Yeah.
- [40:04]
Angela
So I feel like you do get the real deal from people. You always used to joke. I remember this was like your, your trick back in the day that you.
- [40:13]
Robert
What was the trick?
- [40:14]
Angela
You know, this trick. You know it. That you would hang. You would hang out at the bar sober.
- [40:19]
Robert
Oh, yes, yes, yes.
- [40:20]
Angela
And wait for people to get a couple drinks in them and then you would get the real scoop on the business or the project or what was going on, you know? Yeah. That still works today. That still works.
- [40:31]
Robert
I mean, really, that's like the best, actually, if you think about it this way. No one really ever publishes their full playbook online, right?
- [40:40]
Angela
No, no.
- [40:40]
Robert
I mean, the stuff that really works, people keep tight to the vest.
- [40:44]
Angela
Yep.
- [40:44]
Robert
And it's only through inebriation sometimes that you can get those facts out of somebody. Like, I. I can't tell you how many things I've just learned going to events at the bar. Just learning from the bar.
- [40:57]
Angela
Yeah.
- [40:58]
Robert
Or just even numbers, like raw revenue numbers and just the problems that people are having with their businesses. Like, I get this on the podcast, too. Right. Because when we're not recording, the person I'm interviewing just reveals a whole bunch of stuff. I wish I could just record those moments. And I could, but, like, I would feel disingenuous publishing that, right?
- [41:17]
Angela
Yeah.
- [41:18]
Robert
But what you hear on podcasts traditionally is rarely the full story for anyone's podcast. It's kind of like how reality television, like, what you see is not really what's the reality going on behind the scenes.
- [41:31]
Angela
Yeah. And I. I feel like, too. And obviously we have a closed course, so, like, we teach a lot of stuff in that course that we would not share publicly. Right. Because that's a space of people that, you know, have paid to be in there. We trust them, you know, with information. But I feel like it's very similar at events where when you're having a conversation with somebody after you kind of get the vibe about them. Right. You're like, oh, you know what? I'm going to give this person the extra nugget of information. Right. That I'm never going to share publicly. I won't even. Maybe even share it from the stage, but I will share it with you because it seems like it will help you in what you're doing. And I know that you're not going to go blast it everywhere, too. Right. And I feel like you only get that impression from people usually when you've hung out in person and had, like, conversations with them and they've built that trust.
- [42:20]
Robert
Yeah.
- [42:21]
Angela
So, plus, I love hugs, you know, that's the main reason.
- [42:26]
Robert
All right. And the final thing I want to just kind of bring up here, at least what I'm seeing on YouTube, because I watch a lot of YouTube videos as research for my own channel, is that YouTube has a little space now where you can actually ask it. It's kind of like the search bar, but not really. But you can ask it what type of videos that you want to see and kind of guide the feed because, you know, you know, with TikTok, like, you have no control over anything.
- [42:48]
Angela
Right, Right.
- [42:49]
Robert
But it's, it's interesting that YouTube has provided a way to kind of control your feed, and I find that pretty interesting too.
- [42:58]
Angela
Do you use it?
- [43:00]
Robert
I used it just in the name of. Just research. Yeah.
- [43:05]
Angela
Yeah.
- [43:06]
Robert
Because it's better than the search bar. The search bar will give you those videos that you're searching for, but this other one fundamentally alters your feed.
- [43:15]
Angela
Do you, do you feel like it. Did you get what you wanted from it? Like, did you feel like it worked?
- [43:22]
Robert
It worked, however, like, it gave me a bunch of creators that. So just to be clear, I was looking for, like, marketing strategies for. For the year. It gave me a whole bunch of people who I never heard of before.
- [43:35]
Angela
Okay.
- [43:36]
Robert
And unfortunately, a lot of those videos that I got were like, really spammy. Like how I made like a million dollars and, you know, a month doing. Doing that.
- [43:46]
Angela
So sitting on top of their Lamborghini.
- [43:48]
Robert
No, no Lambo. But like, it's. It was like a kid who looked younger than my. My children.
- [43:55]
Angela
Yeah. Spouting stuff like immediate, immediate trust factor zero.
- [43:59]
Robert
Yeah, exactly. Not to say that young, young people can't do it, but the trust factor does. Does diminish greatly.
- [44:06]
Angela
Yeah. So I haven't tried it. I'll have to look into it. My. My total sidebar. But I was on TikTok and I accidentally, like, hit my phone with my finger and I ended up in the stem section of TikTok. So all of a sudden all my videos were like, science related and I was like, wow, how did my algorithm shift so quickly from. From celebrity drama to math equations? But anyway, yeah, I was like, oh, the algorithm's broken.
- [44:36]
Steve Chou
So the reason why I think that's.
- [44:38]
Robert
Important is because, like, if you're on TikTok and you accidentally breathe a little too long on a video, you're going to get a whole bunch of those same videos.
- [44:45]
Steve Chou
Right.
- [44:45]
Robert
And you want to be able to control that a little bit.
- [44:47]
Angela
Yes. It's actually a strategy that I think Sabrina from Blotato teaches in her. When. When she, when she puts out content is basically when you're starting a new TikTok channel, you actually want to be in the algorithm that your channel would be in. Right. So you want to only like, watch and interact with people that would align with the content that you're going to put out. And that's how you basically seed a new TikTok account, which we've done with ours and it actually has worked. I mean, it. It clearly works, but I pictured your.
- [45:20]
Robert
Feed as, like, just all Dax Shepard and Kristen Bell.
- [45:24]
Angela
Yeah, that's my personal feed. My personal feed is garbage. I. I did spend, like, two minutes on the stem feed. I felt much smarter. I'm ready to put in my college applications now, and we're good to go.
- [45:37]
Robert
My whole feed is college app. Apps people, actually.
- [45:41]
Angela
Well, I told you last year, my feed was the kids getting either their acceptance or rejection letters. Like, they felt you. Have you ever seen these videos?
- [45:49]
Robert
Of course I have. Yeah, of course I have.
- [45:51]
Angela
Well, because you hadn't. When we talked about it, and I was like. I was like, it's literally, I can't. It's too emotional. I get, like, so sad or so happy for these people. Like, I'm too invested.
- [46:01]
Robert
It's actually caused more paranoia in our household than not because they're these kids with awesome resumes who aren't getting into any schools.
- [46:07]
Angela
Yes. They're like, I'm the president of every club. I have a 5.7 GPA. I'm school scored 10 million on the SAT. I've helped homeless pets. Like, and they're like. And we didn't get into the community college, so.
- [46:22]
Robert
Yeah. So overall, you know, I. I'm pretty. I'm pretty bullish on the creator economy. I just think that some, you know, some changes need to be made, at least to my strategy going forward to. To account for AI and, like, the behavior of the creator, of the. Of the audience.
- [46:38]
Angela
I still think there's no better time to be a creator. I think the opportunities are out there, and if you have something interesting, you can still grow a successful channel account, whatever you want to do.
- [46:50]
Robert
I'm actually excited about your son's account. I think he could be making a lot of money.
- [46:54]
Angela
I know. I'm very excited to get him off the mom payroll. Just kidding. He's not on my payroll, but. But no. Just watching his success over the past two months really has. Has given me, like, new excitement about content creation. I feel like for a couple years, you and I were really down on it, and now I feel like I'm back. Back up on the content train again.
- [47:16]
Robert
Yep.
- [47:18]
Steve Chou
Hope you enjoyed this episode. Content is still king, but AI has.
- [47:21]
Robert
Clearly changed the game.
- [47:22]
Steve Chou
And for more information and resources, go over to my wifecutterjob.com episode 626. And once again, tickets to Seller Summit 2026 are now on sale over at.
- [47:31]
Robert
Sellersummit.Com if you want to hang out.
- [47:33]
Steve Chou
In person in a small intimate setting, develop real relationships with like minded entrepreneurs and learn a ton. Then come to my event.
- [47:40]
Robert
Go over to sellersummit.com.