CO-HOST | Make Money by Being a Professional and Putting in the Extra Effort

Summary

Podcast Summary: Travis Makes Money

Episode Title: CO-HOST | Make Money by Being a Professional and Putting in the Extra Effort
Host: Travis Chappell
Co-Host/Producer: Eric (Eric Skwarzinski)
Release Date: May 28, 2026

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Episode Overview

In this lively, candid episode, Travis and his producer Eric discuss the importance of professionalism, preparation, and putting in the extra effort—no matter what field you’re in. Drawing from a frustrating real-world experience with another podcast host, Travis highlights how simply doing the basics—like researching your guests or investing in decent equipment—sets you far ahead of the competition. The conversation, full of good-natured banter, also touches on personal wins, aging gracefully, and the surprising ease of being “better than most people” simply by being prepared.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Personal Updates and Positivity (00:26–03:51)

• Eric opens by sharing his energized morning routine: 10,000 steps, gym, some "pole day" exercises, and general good vibes about life and aging.
• The co-hosts riff on body positivity, accomplishments, and embracing signs of aging.
  • "I feel like I'm just stacking wins, wins, wins. And no matter how much people online might want to change that, they want to tear me down. I got to be like mega church pastor and just keep going, keep growing." — Eric (03:30)

2. Behind the Scenes: Podcast Industry Frustrations (03:53–12:47)

• Travis and Eric commiserate about difficulties in podcasting—particularly around professionalism from fellow podcasters.
• Travis shares a story about two recent podcast interviews:
  • The first was well-prepared, even flattering: “He actually had me on his Mount Rushmore of podcasters...” — Travis (06:09)
  • The second was a disaster: the host was unprepared, lacked basic podcasting equipment, and conducted a pointless “pre-podcast” briefing that should have been replaced by simple research.

Notable Segment – The Bad Interview Experience

• Travis recounts the experience of being mistaken for a real estate pro:
  • "He goes into question number one, which is, what are your strengths as a real estate professional? ... I was like, I'm actually a full time podcaster. I'm not, I'm not in real estate." (08:14)
  • Frustration exacerbated by wasted time: missing lunch with his son due to this poorly-prepared interview.
• Key Insight: A basic Google or ChatGPT search saves everyone time and ensures productive conversations.

3. Lessons in Professionalism & Putting in Effort (14:39–17:32)

• Travis lays down the episode’s core lesson:
  • "If you're going to do anything, like, if you're going to take the time to do anything, you need to do it to the best of your ability, like to be a professional in that context... If you're going to have a podcast on the side, then be a professional podcaster." (16:30)
• He emphasizes the surprisingly low bar for excellence:
  • "The good news is that it's really easy to be better than 90% of people because most people just will not put any volume of effort into it whatsoever." (17:07)

4. Changing the Steve Martin Quote: Be 'Fine' for a Long Time (17:32–18:15)

• Eric riffs on the famous Steve Martin line (“Be so good they can’t ignore you”), suggesting for most, “Be fine for a long period of time, and everything will fall in line.”
  • "Be okay and just be fine. Be fine, and you'll do okay. Be fine for a long period of time, and everything will fall in line. Kind of rhymes." — Eric (17:49)
  • Travis: "You don't have to be that good. No, you literally just be like..." (17:44)

5. Lighthearted Banter & Callbacks (Throughout)

• The duo joke about their “Mount Rushmore” status in podcasting (06:09, 18:24).
• They playfully Google each other, poking fun at how online search and AI now define personal brands (13:05–16:00).
• Shout-outs to their editor, Joanna, as another member of their "Mount Rushmore" (18:52).

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Preparation:
  "It just blows my mind that you can't take five freaking minutes before the interview just to be like, okay, I have an interview coming up. Who is this person?" — Travis (11:04)
• On Missed Opportunities:
  "I ended up missing lunch with my son for an interview on my calendar that didn't even have to be there...this is the most annoying, obnoxious thing in this industry." — Travis (11:33)
• On Professionalism:
  "If you're going to have a podcast on the side, then be a professional podcaster." — Travis (16:33)
• On Effort:
  "It's really easy just to be better than most people. So just be better than most people... Which literally just means putting in the smallest amount of Effort possible." — Travis (17:15)
• On Success:
  "Be fine for a long period of time, and everything will fall in line." — Eric (17:49, 19:22 closing)
• On Gratitude:
  "Our wonderful editor, Joanna. Thank you so much for editing this episode... everybody listening out there, you're on the Mount Rushmore, too." — Eric (18:52)

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Important Timestamps

• 00:26 – 03:51: Personal updates, positive mindset, and Eric's morning routine
• 05:38 – 12:47: Travis details the good vs. bad podcast guest experiences—sets up professionalism theme
• 14:39 – 17:32: Core advice on professionalism and putting in the extra effort
• 17:32 – 18:15: Rethinking "Be so good they can't ignore you" for regular people
• 18:52 – 19:22: Lighthearted closing and gratitude for the audience and production team

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Takeaways

• Preparation is key—knowing even basic facts about your guests can make all the difference
• Professionalism sets you apart—just doing the basics well puts you in the top tier
• Consistency wins—you don’t need to be the best, just better than most for a long time
• Enjoy the process and don’t forget your wins—personal positivity and humor keep you going

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Closing Wisdom:
"Money only solves your money problems, but it's easier to solve the rest of your problems when you got some money in the bank. So let's solve that one first here on the Travis Makes Money podcast. Thanks for tuning in. Go be a professional. Peace out." — Travis (19:10)

Transcript

[A]

You're listening to the Travis Makes Money podcast, presented by GoHighLevel.com for a free 30 day trial of the best all in one digital marketing software tool on the planet. Just go to gohighlevel.com travis. What's going, everybody? Welcome back to the Travis Makes Money podcast, where it's a mission to help you make more money. On this episode of the show, my producer, Eric is in studio. What's up, man?

[B]

What's up? What's up? What's up?

[A]

I wish I had a

[B]

dude. Can I be honest with you? I know that we were just both before we hit record. It is funny to do this. This is jarring as human beings. Because right before this, mainly I was raging out.

[A]

Yeah, yeah.

[B]

But you were also raging out just about quieter ago. Yeah, but we were both raging out about, like, crappy things that happen in this podcast industry of ours.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

It's a tough world. People are working in the mines, they're struggling. They're trying to get diamonds out of, like, this rock. I don't know where diamonds come from,

[A]

but Landman has nothing on us.

[B]

Sure. I don't know. I've only seen the loyal Snow White and the seven Dwarves, and I just know that they go dig, dig, dig. And I don't have to do that. But podcasting is hard. But I was gonna say, I got up this morning. Let me just tell you really quick.

[A]

That's a given.

[B]

I got up this morning. It's like Robert.

[A]

Like what Robert California says. Never start by saying that you got.

[B]

You know what I don't like is I always feel like I take.

[A]

I was awake.

[B]

I feel like I take the conversations off rails like you do. And then I'm like. And then I feel like, oh, it's 10 minutes in and I didn't get to finish this story.

[A]

You get mad at me for the 1 out of 10 times that it's me taking the conversation off the rail.

[B]

Here's what. Let's refresh. We were raging a few seconds ago.

[A]

Yes.

[B]

But overall, in life, I feel so good right now.

[A]

Yeah, Yeah.

[B]

I got. I got up this morning. Oh, that's a given. I got up this morning early. I got my 10,000 steps in first thing in the day. It feels good because I have to because it's so hot. I got done at like, I left my house at 7:40 and then I got my 10,000 steps, and then I went to the gym and then I did pole day. Pole pu.

[A]

I did pole day.

[B]

Oh, sore. No. And I Did pole day. And then I did a couple extra steps.

[A]

Nice.

[B]

Just to. Just for the fun. And then I was done at like 9:40. I had like a two hour just active thing.

[A]

First thing, I'm agreeing with you.

[B]

Yeah, it does feel good. And then I showered and then I put on my little snappy. I wore like a T shirt, but it has buttons, so it's like I'm business.

[A]

I think that's a Henley is what they call it.

[B]

And then I was. Is it?

[A]

I think so.

[B]

I don't know. And then this is called the old Navy sail. But then I was looking in the mirror and I was just talking myself up today to my wife. I was like, I feel good. Can I just be honest? I said, I feel good. I was like, I feel like I look good. I feel like I'm aging in a nice way. I have nice. I have a lot of look of wisdom in my eyes. I feel like I see with these wrinkles I have coming in. Oh. Because I was also listening to. Oh, my God. I was listening to Michael Rosenhaus podcast and someone was talking about aging. And it was. Oh, it was Jamila. She was talking about aging. She's like talking about aging and looking your age and it's a privileged girl. And I was like, you're right, I look good. I feel great. A little body positivity. And then I was like, had a Playboy article come out, which I got a. Now I have to talk about that a lot. I did that. I was like, I got a show coming out, you know, in a couple months. I was like, I feel like I'm crushing it.

[A]

Good for you.

[B]

I feel like I'm crushing. I got a bunch of words out in my book. I was like, I feel good. I feel like I'm just stacking wins, wins, wins. And no matter how much people online might want to change that, they want to tear me down. I got to be like mega church pastor and just keep going, keep growing the. The ministry. No, I'm just kidding. But I feel good. Overall, I feel great.

[A]

That's good.

[B]

Do you feel great?

[A]

I'm happy for you.

[B]

Good. So now that we've talked about how I feel great, which is really important, I'm going to do what always leads to really good podcasts. I'm going to take these notes I prepared. We're just going to close them. Because you were talking online about abandoning a podcast episode. Oh, yeah. And it brought joy to the cockles of my heart were warmed. What is a cockle? I don't know. But it's warm.

[A]

That's a good question.

[B]

We're just some fellas with warm cockles just ready to.

[A]

You just get happy whenever I get mad.

[B]

What is a cockle?

[A]

I don't know.

[B]

Because people do say it warms the cockles of their heart.

[A]

Is that something people say?

[B]

Isn't that. Hold on. Warm the cockles. Whoa. That's a joke that I searched. Warm to warm the cockles is short for warm the cockles of your heart. Thank you. Ok, well, it sounds like a seafood dish. I don't. Okay. The phrase has a surprising backstory tied to 17th century science and language. The term dates back to the mid-1600s. The Latin phrase for the ventricles of the heart is cochlea cordis. Over time, common folk like me likely mispronounce cochlea as cockles. So you're saying it's warming your heart. Okay, so it's warming the cockles of my heart.

[A]

All right.

[B]

So now that our cockles are all warmed up. Yeah, no, I like.

[A]

How many more times can you use the word cockles?

[B]

Everybody get your cockles ready. This episode is going to take you for a ride. No, I do enjoy. Because you're such a peaceable. I was just telling someone this the other day. I said, he's so peaceful, so calm. Let's not burn anything down. And I'm standing behind you with matches like this fucking light this shit. So when you get a little spicy, I like it. So why did you get so spicy?

[A]

Yeah, this morning I had a couple podcast interviews on the calendar to go on shows. And I've been saying no to most of them lately, honestly, pretty much all of them. And then I was let a couple trickle in here and there recently for whatever. I don't even remember why. And the first one went really well. This guy had me on a show and he showed up, actually knew who he was talking to and he actually had me on his Mount Rushmore of podcasters that we. That came out later in the conversation. And he was telling me that he didn't reach out to me because he didn't think that I would say yes. So somebody on his team had reached out because they were. It was a real estate podcast. And he basically was like, go to BiggerPockets and just research all of their guests and reach out to all of their past guests, essentially. So their team reached out to me. Cause I was a guest on BiggerPockets back in the day. And then I got booked on his calendar and he was like, Wait, is this the same guy that I've been following on Instagram for the last, like, five years, and turns out it was.

[B]

Wait.

[A]

And wait.

[B]

We're brushing. Wait, he's. Wait. He said you were on his. Stop it. Wait, wait, hold on. No, wait. No, no, no. Wait. Okay, wait. So he said you. He said you. Wait, hold on.

[A]

Don't try to make me feel bad.

[B]

Wait, no, no, no, no, no, no. Wait, hold on. I just want to make sure I heard you right. I'm not making a joke. I'm just asking. So, to be clear, Mount Rushmore is, like, your top four best podcasters, and he said that you were on the Mount Rushmore?

[A]

Correct.

[B]

Wow.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

That's pretty cool.

[A]

I thought it was cool. I'm always happy to hear that type of feedback.

[B]

No, I, I, I did. I don't even know why you're making it like it's a joke, because this

[A]

is what you're trying to do.

[B]

Wait, hold on.

[A]

You're trying to downplay.

[B]

Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait. Did I say anything negative, or did I ask a clarifying question and define what it is and then say, wow, that's really cool?

[A]

Yeah, but you did it in the Eric way that. Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait. This guy's. This guy's an idiot.

[B]

I'm just saying. I'm just saying there's a lot of podcasts out there, and he was like, travis Chappell's definitely in the top four. That's just a question. I think that's neat. I don't think I'm on a Mount Rushmore.

[A]

Anyway, it was a good conversation, and it went well. And in my mind, I was thinking I should start opening my calendar for more podcast interviews. Again, I haven't done that in a while. I haven't made a big push. We have this big production thing coming out. I should go on a tour and make an effort to go on more podcasts. And then all that was immediately snatched out of my mind because the very next conversation. Another real estate podcast, by the way. Which one? I don't even know.

[B]

Nobody does.

[A]

I jump. Exactly. I jump on the call. And already it wasn't a great experience, because the. Okay, look, if you're a podcaster, get a damn microphone. I don't like a pot. Whenever I see podcast guests that don't have a microphone, it's like, you probably should have one, but I understand why you don't. Not that big of a deal. Let's go ahead and record. If you're a podcast Host. It is the smallest amount of effort to have a microphone. You don't have to have a thousand dollar microphone setup. You can buy a $70 microphone that plugs directly into your computer and just have some form of external audio. So that was like the first red flag. I. All right, whatever. Must be a newer podcaster. Whatever. Let's, let's go. First thing he says is we're going to do a. This is what I call the pre podcast. So we take about 10 minutes to ask you some questions, figure out who you are, what you do, and how you can, you know, bring value to the show. And in my mind I'm like, okay, this seems like 10 minutes that you could have spent on Google before you jumped on this call instead of wasting my time to ask me who I am, what I do and everything else, but whatever, I'm already here. I already have the time blocked off. Sure. So he goes into question number one, which is, what are your strengths as a real estate professional? Like what, what's the unique thing that you do in real estate? And I was like, I'm actually a full time podcaster. I'm not, I'm not in real estate. He was like, you've, you've never like, done any like, real estate deals? I was like, well, I'm going to invested in some deals, but I, I would not call myself a real estate investor. And then he was just like confused and was stuttering and, and falling over his words and was like, well, why, why did, why did you want to come on the show? And I was like, I didn't. Your team reached out to me and I said, yes, and that's why we're here. And then he was like, oh, okay, I'm not really sure where to go from here. And I was like, we don't have to record, man. That's not a big deal. And he was like, okay, well, yeah, thanks for, thanks for showing up. So then I just hit the leave button and I was gone. And it was just like I immediately posted something because it was on my mind.

[B]

It's such a weird thing to have content. You're creating for your audience and you're bringing in people with that light.

[A]

Exactly, exactly.

[B]

I feel like I overly vet guests.

[A]

And again, like it could have been taken care of with a quick Google search or you don't even have to go to Google and click a bunch of links anymore. You open up ChatGPT and go, who is this guy? And it would have flooded your, your window with plenty of information about me. None of which would have been about real estate. And then you could have been like, this is actually not a great fit for our show. Or you could have seen an angle in there that you were like, oh, well, we're not going to talk about real estate investing specifically, but we can talk about networking or marketing or online business or podcasting as it relates to. There's plenty of other angles. Of all of the types of shows that I've been on in certain niches, real estate's probably the one that's popped up more than almost any other category. And so it was, like, very familiar with that world. I grew up in real estate. I've invested in real estate. I know how to help those people when it comes to their marketing and their messaging and their content and their relationship building. Plenty of other things to go into. It just blows my mind that you can't take five freaking minutes before the interview just to be like, okay, I have an interview coming up. Who is this person? Let me get a glimpse. Glimpse of who they are, what they do, and how they show up in the world. And we could have avoided the whole thing. And the stupid thing is that my son got out of school early today, and my wife asked me if I had time to go to lunch, and I said no, because I had interviews on my calendar. So they went to lunch earlier, and I ended up missing lunch with my son for an interview on my calendar that didn't even have to be there. It was just like, this is the most annoying, obnoxious thing in this industry. Like, it blows my mind that it even needs to be set. It shouldn't even need to be set, but apparently it does because this is not my first time that this has happened to me. There's just the most recent time, and it just happened to be at a time where, like, I reluctantly allowed a couple interviews on my calendar. It was like, one of them went really well, and then the next one was just like, okay, well, what are you doing here? Like, why are we. This. This makes no sense. And so I. What's going on? Yeah, what. What's going on? What are we doing? Yeah, I was just, like. I was. I was flabbergasted, to say the least.

[B]

To be fair, I just punched your name in Chatbots. It says Travis Chappell is a real estate professional and veteran podcaster.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

Just kidding. It is fun asking. I don't know how often you. I love asking. Who's Eric Skorzinski?

[A]

Yeah, I try to do it in, like, incognito. Mode or, like, clear your cookies or something. So it doesn't use the.

[B]

Well, you're always in incognito mode.

[A]

Huh? What? What do you mean?

[B]

Oh, you always use incognito mode, don't you?

[A]

Yeah, totally. All the time.

[B]

To surf yourself.

[A]

It's my default. No, but I try to do it, especially with AI because it remembers all of our conversations and stuff. I try to use somebody else's AI AI account to see what it's actually saying about me. Just from the Internet versus, you know, all the things that I feed it all the time. Yeah, but, yeah, it is an interesting exercise to figure out what things are saying about you. But yeah, I was just like, it was. This is such a massive waste of time. Neither one of us got what we wanted. And frankly, if you, again, had done any research ahead of time, you probably would have been like, oh, I could actually ask this guy about a bunch of stuff that we can apply to our listeners and our audience. And it probably would have been vastly more helpful than his past 20, 25 guests on the show that they had. And I looked at it afterwards. It has, like, two ratings on Spotify. It took me, like, 15 minutes to find it because I couldn't find it anywhere. It seems to me like it was a. It was a podcast that's done by an organization and they have several hosts on it or something. Because I couldn't find the guy that was interviewing me at all. I was just like, this is just a debacle.

[B]

Wait, I want to meet. I'm going to mute really quick. And I want you to say the name of it so I can look really quick for intel.

[A]

Well, but there's not much to find. Like, literally is not much to find. Like, it would have.

[B]

Okay, never mind.

[A]

Like, not to pat myself on the back, but it would have been a value add for them to have me on their show.

[B]

But she doesn't.

[A]

But like, my. Like, so actually, I. I didn't even tell her to do this. I just mentioned it to. To Joanna and was just like, hey, just FYI, this is what happened. And so she sent them a feedback email just to be like, dang.

[B]

Yeah, that's. And I know she was strongly worded. Yeah, yeah, that's Shout out Joanna. If she. If you're listening to this, which you are.

[A]

It was pretty insane.

[B]

Okay, I don't like this. I just googled my name on Google and I have.

[A]

I have a knowledge on Google.

[B]

Okay. It's a knowledge tab.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

Of me, and it's You. It's a, it's a video of you.

[A]

That's hilarious.

[B]

Is it on from your TikTok?

[A]

Oh, really?

[B]

It's from the Travis Chappell TikTok. It's a clip of you and then I'm in the corner talking to someone else. And then it's a picture from my Instagram that I took of a butterfly. That's my.

[A]

That's so funny.

[B]

That's so neat.

[A]

Let me Google.

[B]

You don't have a relationship, do you?

[A]

Huh?

[B]

Travis Chapel.

[A]

I did for quite some time.

[B]

Oh yeah, you do. Look at yours. Yours looks so professional.

[A]

It does look pretty perfect.

[B]

It looks like mine has pictures of you, links to your socials.

[A]

Oh, yeah, it's.

[B]

It's the same. Yeah, it is the same. That's a bummer.

[A]

Okay, I apologize.

[B]

Yeah. I will say it's. It's time for me to. Well, it's time for me to update. You know, get a personal site.

[A]

If you go to YouTube and search my name, one of the first things that pops up is my interview on your show.

[B]

How about that? We're just dominating every area of the

[A]

market when it comes to our names.

[B]

Speaking of the market, forget this real estate podcast, eh?

[A]

Just kidding.

[B]

All right, well, I just want to get you to talk about that.

[A]

Yeah, I mean, the core lesson is if you're going to do anything, like, if you're going to take the time to do anything, you need to do it to the best of your ability, like to be a professional in that context, regardless of your full time entrepreneur. But you, you're. If you're going to have a podcast on the side, then be a professional podcaster. If you're going to invest in real estate on the side, then be a professional real estate investor. Like you don't have. That doesn't mean that you have to be the expert and know everything about it. It just means to try a little bit, put a little bit of effort into it. That's what I put in that Instagram post when I, as soon as I posted, it was just like. The good news is that it's really easy to be better than 90% of people because most people just will not put any volume of effort into it whatsoever. It's really easy just to be better than most people. So just be better than most people. You don't have to be the best. If you're not a full time podcaster or full time, fill in the blank. You just gotta be better than most people. Which literally just means putting in the smallest amount of Effort possible.

[B]

Well, like, you always share the. The Steve Martin quote to be so good, they can't ignore you.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

And you don't have to be that good. No, you literally just be like, be. So I'm going to change it.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

Steve Martin can be so good. I'm going to say, be.

[A]

Be just good enough.

[B]

Be okay and just be fine. Be fine, and you'll do okay. Be fine for a long period of time, and everything will fall in line. Kind of rhymes.

[A]

I don't know, a little bit.

[B]

It doesn't really. It's kind of an Eminem rhyme where I. I make it sound in rhythm. If you say it the right way with a beat. Give me a beat. No, just kidding. I'm not going to do that. All right, well, yeah. Thanks for sharing that story. It made me happy to hear that you were angry.

[A]

I know, I know. As soon as I posted, I was

[B]

like, eric's gonna like, you're honestly on the Mount Rushmore of people I love to see get angry. No, honestly, wait. Honestly, I feel like I said the

[A]

reason he said that is because he listened to our episode where we talked about the Mount Rushmore thing.

[B]

Okay.

[A]

That you asked.

[B]

So he was lying. He just was like, that'll be a cool. No, no, no. Let me say this. Let me say this because I feel like I sound mean, and I don't like that. I think it's very cool that he said that, and I would talk about that a lot if someone said that about me. And you know why I'm being so mean about it? Because no one has said it about me Yet. Yet. Am I on your Mount Rushmore? No.

[A]

Oh, yeah. Totally.

[B]

No. Okay. All right, let's close it off. You know who is on my Mount Rushmore? Our wonderful editor, Joanna. Thank you so much for editing this episode. And you know who else is on my Mount Rushmore? It's hard to fit all of you, but everybody listening out there, you're on the Mount Rushmore ii. Thank you so much for listening.

[A]

And remember, money only solves your money problems, but it's easier to solve the rest of your problems when you got some money in the bank. So let's solve that one first here on the Travis Makes Money podcast. Thanks for tuning in. Go be a professional. Peace out.

[B]

Be fine for a long time, and everything will fall in line. Good night. You heard it here first, and good luck.