← Travis Makes Money
Travis Makes Money
CO-HOST | Make Money by Being Boring (The Secret to Consistent Content Growth)
00:24:00
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- [00:00]
A
I was recently on whatnot the other day, just shopping around, looking frankly, because I was just blown away that this is something that people are doing with their time. And so I was like, I got to go see if this thing is real before I talk about it on the show. And so I'm browsing whatnot, looking around, finding things, and it's crazy to see the volume of people that are just having fun in the chat. They're watching people do live shopping. It's like, it's like, you know, QVC directly on your phone. It's something you need to try, I'm telling you. Not just buying, but the selling piece too. Where these people are just starting up pop up shops and businesses, selling whatever product, finding their people, building community, getting repeat customers that come back to see your face as the seller. Not just a logo or a brand, anyone can sell. Whether your business is big, small, or yet to exist, people selling on whatnot sell 10 times more than on any other major marketplaces. And that's because you're not just listing products, you're building real connections with buyers across whatnot. The number of sellers making over $1 million a year has now doubled. The consistency pays off for those sellers. It's not just side hustle, it's a real path to building something that lasts. Because whatnot buyers spend more than an hour a day in the app, they're not just browsing around, they're engaged, they're buying, they're coming back. You go live, show off your products in real time and turn what you love into real income. So search whatnot whnot in the app store, download it today and get started selling right away. 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 on, everybody? Welcome back to the Travis Makes Money podcast where it's our mission to help you make more money on this episode of the show. My producer Eric is in studio.
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B
What's up, boy? It's good to be here.
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A
Wow, that was a hell of an intro.
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B
Fourth of July.
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A
You know what? I didn't see a single firework this year.
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B
I did.
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A
I know. I was actually kind of upset cause I knew Vegas was going.
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B
I saw literally a firework.
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C
No, you didn't.
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B
And then I went back in.
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A
You saw a lot of. I bet I had a. Super was crazy.
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B
There was a very so it was very cool. There was the casino near me, did a fireworks show, like they always do, and that's what we always watch. And it was massive. But then, like, when you'd look over. Cause you could see the strip from where we watched it. So you look over and, like, the whole strip is just fireworks going up.
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A
It's the best.
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B
And all I could think was, like, travis is missing this. But then I thought, travis is on a cruise, and I'm not.
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A
Yeah.
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B
I'm in a parking lot of a Whole Foods watching. Yeah.
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A
I've discovered that cruising on holidays is not great because we took a cruise on Christmas a few years ago, and, like, they just didn't do anything. It was like, there's that Christmas tree in the lobby.
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B
I was going to say, I would expect that they would do something.
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C
Yeah.
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B
Crazy.
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A
I think it may just be, like, the vault, like, the mixture of people that they have. Not everybody celebrates.
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B
Some people are trying to get away from the holidays, probably. Yeah.
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A
I don't know. But Fourth of July was kind of similar. It was just like they did, like, a balloon drop in the atrium, but that was literally the only thing that
- [03:01]
B
they did, which a balloon drop.
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A
It was a bummer.
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B
Imagine that accident. They put helium in there, and they try to drop them, and they just go higher.
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A
Well, they're on the ceiling, so they would have just stayed there. But, yeah, I was trying. It was a little lame. But that was my favorite part of our balcony before they built these stupid, ugly buildings right in front of us, is that we would. We would sit out there on the. Like, there was a Fourth of July where we just accidentally did it because we were. Our whole family was sick, and so we were just sitting on the balcony.
- [03:32]
B
I'm gonna start wearing a Hasbro suit. Everything you tell me is always like, yeah, we just got over being sick, and then this happened. Yeah.
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A
Well, this was actually a rough one. I want to. This was, like, 20, 21, I want to say. So it was, like, right after Covid happened. I'm pretty sure we all had Covid or some, you know, whatever they call them. The mutations of COVID or whatever. Anyway, it was a rough one. So we, like, just barely made it out onto our balcony to be like, I wonder if we can see some fireworks. You could see fireworks everywhere. Like, we had a full, like, 180 view, and the strip is right there. And then all of, you know, Henderson to our right, all of Summerlin to our left, and you can look across the entire skyline and just see fireworks. Going off everywhere. There's an empty field behind our house, and somebody just went out and lit off a bunch of mortars in the field behind our house. It was, like, actually one of the best fireworks shows we've seen because we had, like, massive ones that were exploding right in front of our face. And then we could look across the whole valley and see literally probably like dozens, maybe even hundreds of fireworks shows happening across the valley. But, yeah, that was actually a really, really cool fireworks show this year. I didn't see a single one, ironically, because it was the 250th, and I know Vegas went really big for that.
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B
I'm sorry. Yeah, I enjoyed it.
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A
It is what it is.
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B
I celebrated fourth of July, and then I ate a lot of food. As you should, a lot of Doritos.
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A
If there's anything that you do on an American holiday, you eat overeat.
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B
Yeah, I ate a lot of food. And then I was, like, a little panicked. I was like, I've been making so much progress. I've lost so much weight. And so my family was down. And right when they left, like, literally as they pulled out, I was leaving my house in my shorts and T shirt and like 100 degree weather to go walk, and I did like 17,000 steps.
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A
Nice.
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B
I came back and I was like, yeah, I just undid all of it. Like self flagellation in the highest.
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A
Maybe not all of it, but.
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B
Well, today I'm back down to where I was, so it's okay.
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A
Well, that was like four days ago.
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B
Yeah, it's back. I'm back.
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A
Oh, it took you four days.
- [05:34]
B
Anyway, but while I was doing that walk that took me about two and a half hours, I listened to a ton of content on just content and marketing and branding and YouTube and podcasting. And I listened to Gary Vee talking about stuff and Gary Vee. Yeah, I bought a lot of. I was going to make a joke, but I forget what those stupid things are called.
- [05:58]
A
NFTs.
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B
NFTs. I bought a bunch of NFTs. The N stands were. No, don't buy those. Anyway, I listened to a bunch of that, and then I listened to a couple different. I was listening to Caleb Ralston and just trying to fill my brain with as much information as possible. As I was walking and I came across a video from a channel called Mike and Maddie. Are you familiar with them?
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A
No.
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B
Okay, well, they have 1.37 million subscribers. That's my favorite thing when I start looking up content info, is how many channels are like, grow to a Million subs get how to get monetized on YouTube quick. And they have like 400 subs. And it's clear their strategy is to try to get people to do it, but they have no following themselves. So I started listening to this guy. This is one of the best videos I've ever just like, as far as being helpful in explaining how the algorithm works. And he kind of tackles the idea of how YouTube used to be. You put something out, your subscribers watch it. And now I forget what he called it, but I think he said it's like interest based media where he said every video is competing for people to come watch it. And so every time you do a video, you have to understand that people are coming in who've never heard of you before, and people who are subscribed to you may never see another one of your videos again, which is the crazy kind of depressing. But anyway, so he talks about the algorithm, but there's a good chunk of this video. I marked it from the 2 minute 21 second mark to the 6 minute 21 second mark where he talks about making boring content. And I thought it was really helpful and interesting, not just for YouTube but for podcasting authors, bloggers, like any type of content. So I wanted to get your. Get your thoughts on it here.
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C
And why does it pay to be boring on YouTube?
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B
I mean, if anyone gets that question, it's you.
- [07:47]
C
Yeah,
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B
I don't know why I did that. I'm sorry. I haven't seen you in so long, so I have to, like, get all of your insults. I. Honestly, when I. When I saw you open the door, I. My heart, the cockles of my heart were warmed.
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A
It's not true. You literally said you're looking fat.
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B
Yeah, but it's loving. After I cut off you, my cockles were super warm.
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A
I was like, be nice when Eric opens the door. And then you were like, be violent when Travis opens the door.
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B
Here, I'll let you see this here
- [08:15]
C
on YouTube means that you're making the same video, solving the same problem for the same person over and over again. So look in this circle model. If you keep making.
- [08:26]
B
Isn't that table so cool?
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A
It is cool.
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C
It moves the same video over and over. Your subscribers might actually get bored because some of them have seen most of your videos. But that's not necessarily the case in this new algorithm. Right, because people pouring into your funnel today have probably never seen you before. They didn't catch your last video, so they don't know your evolution over time either. They Came. Which.
- [08:51]
B
Which as I was listening, this was the last guy I listened to as I was getting close to my house. Cause it was like 15 minutes. I was like, I can get through this. And I was like, oh, this is exactly what just happened. Because I literally was just like, every time a video would end on YouTube, I would just go click someone else, lock my phone and put it in my pocket and keep listening to it. And I was like, that's literally how I'm listening to this person right now. He's. He's onto something.
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A
It's a saucy setup, too.
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C
It is, because they have one specific problem, and YouTube guessed that you might have the answer to it. So to them, your boring repeated message is the first time that they're hearing it. And every day, a new wave of first timers are showing up in your funnel. So your job on YouTube has changed a bit, right? It's no longer how do I keep these people entertained, it's now become how do I be unmistakably the same thing every single time so that the funnel sends me the right people every time? So by being boring, the algorithm will know how to categorize your videos and send them to the right people every time. Now, let me be very clear about something. Being boring does not mean that you're trying to make videos to put people to sleep, right? You still want people to engage. But more importantly, being boring does not mean that you're making the exact same video over and over again.
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B
This is good right here.
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C
What it actually means is that you're talking about the same problem over and over again. And if you look closely when you're talking about the same problem over and over again, you actually have to make a slightly different video every single time. I can't tell you how many times I've made the same video talking about how to grow on YouTube or how to make money on YouTube. It's the same problems every time. But since the algorithm keeps changing, the meta keeps changing, the creator economy keeps changing, the problem stays the same, but the world around the problem is always changing. So it's actually my responsibility.
- [10:45]
B
That was like that. When I heard that, I was like, oh, that's. Cause again, I always tell you this, like, whenever I feel like I'm stuck in a creative rut, then I go listen to somebody that says, like, this very basic thing that will make me go like again. I always go back to Gary Vee's, like, how to create 64 pieces of content a day, and I just go through it. Step by step, I'm like, oh, yeah, creating content is easy, it's not hard. But that idea of the problem doesn't change. The world around the problem changes. I was like, that's such a smart way to explain this. And he gives an example here that's like, obvious. But I was thinking about that in terms of my own content. I was like, oh, it's how you can evolve your show and your content pieces without having to be like, okay, I solved the problem about this.
- [11:27]
A
We already did a video on that three months ago.
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B
Yeah, yeah, it's like, you know, it's like I might cover a story about stalking on my show, but like, then AI exists and how does that lean into it? Or, you know, if you're talking about marketing branding, it's like, yeah, marketing branding. But now there's this tool and this thing, but you're still solving that same core problem. So I love the I. I literally pulled out my scalding hot phone in the 100 degree weather and squinted at my notes app and was like, the problem doesn't change the world around. It does. And I thought it was very, very helpful.
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A
Yeah.
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C
To keep up with the changes and report back to you what is currently working in the meta. I'm still talking about the same problems, but now I have to step up as a leader in this industry because I have to keep you all up to date on what's working. So let's look at some examples of who does this.
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B
Well, who do you think he's going to say right now?
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A
Carrie B.
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B
No, I don't know. It's your close personal friend.
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A
I don't know.
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B
You don't know who your close personal friend is?
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A
Bro, I have so many.
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B
He shows me. I'm just kidding.
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C
Animals who are doing this very well. So this is Graham Stephan. He's been making YouTube videos for a very long time now. He's made millions of dollars on YouTube. And if you look at his channel, especially recently, you can see that he's using the boring strategy. He keeps talking about the housing market crashes and what to do. He keeps talking about how the government is impacting the stock market. I mean, scroll back and you'll see that he repeats the same problems every month, every quarter. I mean, you can even see he's using the exact thumbnails, like just minor tweaks in the title. Minor tweaks in the thumbnails. But overall, he's just hammering in the same problems over and over. That's the boring strategy. And he's become known for this. And people start to, you know, associate him with this because he's so consistent.
- [13:14]
B
And I think the other thing too is, like, when you're that consistent, people go, what does he think about? Because, like, that's. That happens with, like, Gary Vee, where it's like, there's a new social media thing and like, there's been a ton of times where something pops up and I go, what does Gary Vee said about Vero, you know, or what has he said about Clubhouse? Missed on Clubhouse. No, I'm just kidding. I don't remember what he said about clubhouse. But, you know, it's actually.
- [13:39]
A
I actually followed what he said about Clubhouse. Like, I was happy to hear. I felt validated after I watched because he said basically that he just wasn't. He said something like he was willing to lose on that platform just because of how much time it took. Yeah, he was just like, I. I just, I can't be on there as, like, as consistently as I need to be. And he was just like, if I miss out on that one, I miss out on that one. And he wasn't necessarily saying it's going to go poorly. Obviously the user at user base at that time was going rabid for it, but he was just basically under the similar mindset to what I had at the time. I just was kind of almost looking for permission from somebody to be like, this is how I feel about it. And I feel like it's wrong for some reason, but this is how I feel. And then I saw him say something about it, and I think that was probably one of my final straws where it was like, okay, well, if he. If even Gary's like, yeah, I'm not going to do this, then I was like, ah, that gives me permission to hop off of this thing.
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B
Yeah. And I feel like same with Graham, it's like, should I keep investing real estate? What does Graham say about this right now?
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A
Or what I'm curious about, though, is like, for podcast channels in particular, because even Iced Coffee Hour, I guess they sort of like started really financial, but they've definitely gone far outside of the financial.
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B
Yeah, but they're also still, like, they're covering different types of people, like influencers that have no idea Financial, like.
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A
Yeah, but it is one of the same, though. It's not a financial show like, like Caleb Hammer is a financial show. It's a financial audit. Everybody has on. They talk all about their finances.
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B
Yeah. And the ultimate. I mean, the ultimate example of this, though, is like, you know, yeah, yeah. What's his name? Dave Ramsey. I kept saying. I wanted to say Graham, because him. And so I was like, gramsey. Gramsey, yeah, Dave Gramsey. But, like, Dave Ramsey, it's like his audience doesn't get tired of him saying. And he's like, the ultimate, like, even as, like, he's not even changing based on the world around the problem. Like, he's literally just saying the same thing and people like it. So, I mean, I don't know. I don't think people will burn out on the thing, but I also think people. I saw a post the other day and someone said, do you feel like you've graduated from certain fitness influencers? And that's the type of content I read now. But somebody was talking about how they started with so and so, and then they got to a certain point in their fitness journey where, like, they didn't need that advice anymore. And so they still appreciate all the stuff they did for them, but now they've moved on. And I think every content creator has that journey with their audience where, like, somebody really likes hearing Dave Ramsey's stuff, but then they go, I've got a bunch of money. Stay on the bank. You know, how do I invest it? And they might listen to grand stuff more, you know, So I don't know. I mean, I've, like, from I'm six years into my show now, like, I've kind of accepted there's some people that are like, oh, it's not for me, you know, at this point. Or maybe it was, you know, or maybe it will be. And, you know, someone said they unsubscribed, and I was like, well, hopefully someday it's helpful again to you, you know, but it's just like, I think there's that ebb and flow with everybody.
- [16:46]
A
Yeah. You know, I mean, that's the biggest killer of my audience on YouTube for Travis makes Friends, I think, is that we're not talking about the same problem all the time. You know, we're talking about everything.
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B
Yeah.
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A
From gaming compliance to psychology to athletes, which. But, like, clearly that works for some people.
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B
Yeah.
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A
You know what I mean? That was why I was curious because, like, Graham Stephan's main channel is that. But having had him on the show recently when he was, like, saying something about how bored he got with that channel and he's not creating as many videos for that channel that he's talking about right now, it's like, well, he got bored by doing the boring stuff and then started this. This podcast thing where he talks about politics and business and sports and.
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B
Yeah. And I think that's where people.
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A
But still went really well.
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B
Personality too, you know, which they want
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A
to see him in that conversation, which
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B
the two things on that that I also was listening to is like I was listening to Sean Cannell interviewing Brock Johnson about Instagram and all the changes there. And Sean was saying like, his Instagram audience isn't massive, but I think he said he has like 50,000 followers. I don't remember what he said. And he's like, is it bad for me to share sometimes about my faith or about being a dad or being this. He's like, that are just things I want to express. And he's like, but also like, I want to grow my company and stuff. And so Brock just basically said it depends on what you want. Like if you and Sean said something to the extent of I would rather not have a million followers but be able to express myself fully. Yeah. And he's like, if that's what you want to do and your goal is not a million followers, then that's great. But I do think there's like the personality side too where it's like some people want to know what does Joe Rogan think about everything? And I think that comes from the thing I was listening to, which is I think it was Ralston maybe that said it. But he's like, you just have to do epic shit. He's like, the reason that you may not be having people listening about how to grow a big business is like, you haven't done it. And that's where you get into the document. Don't create and show that journey.
- [18:54]
A
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- [20:02]
B
that's what a lot of out of like this five or six things I listened to while I was out. The common theme tended to be how do you create? I listened to Pat Flynn one as well where he talked about this. But like, how do you create a series of things that are related to you doing something? It's like with Pat Flynn, it's opening a pack of cards every day for now. Like a thousand days or the day one of doing this business idea or day one of doing this thing or just showing, not just going, here's my super polished video where I say, here's how you do xyz. It's like taking people on that ride with you and then I think by the time you're at the end of one of those that takes off, then they go, okay, I do want to listen to their take on this because I'm with them, but I don't know. But that's what I was trying to wrap my head around with. All the stuff I was listening to is like, what does that look like in a personal. Personal brands to me feel so weird when they're not directly tied to like a sale. Yeah, like, like I could sit down with someone that's in real estate and give them a pretty good game plan. I think of like, here's what to do. It's weirder like if I'm looking at myself or if I'm looking at you, where it's like, I'm a dad. I like horror movies. I like creating content. I like not creating content. I like, you know, like, I like covering these horrible news stories. But like, do those go on my personal feed? And, and again, this stuff is very helpful. But also it's like something where I'm trying to circle what that balance, what the balance is of that.
- [21:36]
C
You know, boring, but it works. Next, let's look at our friend Justin Sung. He has talked about the same problems over and over again. How to learn faster, how to remember everything you learned, how to set goals. I mean, we used to be in the same niche as Justin. We pivoted to YouTube and I remember seeing him make the same reverse goal setting videos he's been doing for years. But guess what? It's the same problem, but different video. Right. What happened recently that changed the way that we learn? AI came into the picture. Right. Learning and studying this year is completely different because of AI. And so Justin's responsibility as a creator is to keep teaching the same problem, but make sure that it's updated to the times. Right. To ensure.
- [22:22]
B
Yeah. And I liked, I like that you said, because I. I have also been reading, I read Larry King's book recently about, you know, interviewing, and I love, like, journalist stories. And I think that's the other piece too that he just hit on is the responsibility, like, if you're going to be the person in this lane. Yeah. If this thing happens, you have responsibility to your audience to go investigate it and bring it back. And, you know, I've seen that happen a couple times with my show recently where like, something happens and then, like, I don't cover it. And then I get like a couple emails that are like, when are you going to say something about this? You know, and it's like, I think when you can start building that, like, I don't know what the right word is, but, like, the ability to see, like, this will be important to my ideal listener. How do I get ahead of it and address it? I think that helps a lot too. But it's. You have to develop that, I guess, understanding of what they're going to want over time, you know, so anyway, but super useful stuff.
- [23:21]
A
What's his channel name?
- [23:22]
B
This is Mike and Kim. Is the name of the channel. Mike and Kim or Mike and Matty?
- [23:27]
A
Mike and like N. The letter N. Matty.
- [23:30]
B
M A, T, T, Y. Mike and Matty.
- [23:32]
A
Yeah. I mean, super helpful stuff. And if that was helpful, I assume a lot of their stuff is helpful. Probably talking about the same problem.
- [23:39]
B
I don't know. Their videos are pretty boring. I kept watching them. They're all the same.
- [23:43]
A
Well, that's it for this episode of the show. Remember, money only solves your money problems, but it's easier to solve the rest of your problems. Money in the bank. So let's start there here on the Travis Makes Money podcast. Thanks for tun. Catch you guys next time. Peace.