B (6:13)

Yeah, I think that's one of the most impressive things about your overall presence, is your consistency. I mean, I feel like you post something every day on, like, say, Facebook and then on YouTube your week, you know, across all of your socials. Looks like on Instagram, you got a 80,000 followers. Facebook, almost 330,000. Your YouTube channel is almost 75,000. And you're getting tons of views and interaction. And so you're obviously one of the figureheads in this space. Were there any, like, mainstream shows that inspired what you do, where you go and you dig up these old vehicles? Like, were there shows that. That you watched or your dad watched where you were like, hey, I want to mimic that. And YouTube and the Internet kind you that platform, really?

A (6:57)

Not because no one was doing it like, I was. Well, I am friends with a lot of the magazine guys that would do it. Steve magnante, he's on YouTube. Also, he was one of the the figure ads. He had a thing back in the these or 90s, a column called Junkyard Crawl for Carcraft magazine. So there was all these influences on me in more of the media like the picture written realm. But even today, I mean there was, there was a few TV shows that kind of dabble in it. American Pickers, what's in the Barn that only lasted like one season. But really I just, I always enjoyed sharing what I found to show people that there's still stuff out there. So I just kind of beat my own path.

B (7:40)

I love that. And now what do you think has been the hardest thing for you? Like the biggest hurdle when you decided to jump into video and you went from doing more of the written stuff with the blog and magazine and then you went all in on video. What has been the biggest struggle for you and how have you overcame it or overcome that struggle?

A (7:59)

I mean, I'm still doing it. They from listening to you for I think five years now and listening to other YouTube podcasts, they really want you in the, in the scene. Like I follow Linus tech tips and all these other channels and every image is everything has a person in it. And because I'm doing this solo, it's very difficult, especially in my limited time to I need to be in the video because you need to have that connection. But the learning curve to do it from starting in 2021, like, I didn't know that you needed good audio. And it still took me a long time to get a good microphone set up. And that has improved things dramatically. But I read the comments and I see what people complain about, like shaky video. So I kept on getting better and I tried different gimbal setups until I finally got what I have now, which is a really nice DGI setup. But starting out, it was definitely just trying to figure out a format that people enjoyed. Like, a format and it's always evolving.

B (9:02)

When was the moment, Ryan, where you said to yourself, okay, there might be something here, like when you started the video journey and you kind of are posting all over the place. Was there a moment or a video where you said to yourself, okay, things this thing can go somewhere.

A (9:18)

Like I said those early videos that I posted and some other people posted. I mean, the very first one I dropped on a channel that was mostly cats and trains got a million views and it was shared on everyone's early social media stuff. And so I knew there was something there. And then I saw other people, like literally coming to me and like, hey, you're an inspiration for what I do. Come check it out. So I was inspiring other people to do the same thing, which I'm like, okay, there's obviously a market for this larger than what I'm dealing with. And I agreed.

B (9:51)

Yeah, I completely agree. You obviously found a space that was kind of like a gold mine where people. I mean, these people are. Car people are passionate. You know, I think of other spaces across the Internet. You think of, like tech people. You know, they can get very territorial, but car people are. They would never admit it, but they're kind of the same way. They're. They're very passionate about what they do. How do you foster a sense of community? Because these people, they feel like you are their show, you are their mainstream show. And so, you know, every week they're watching your find and they're figuring out, oh, what's Ryan going to be digging up this week? How has that kind of encouraged you to foster a community? And what are some things that you've put in place to make sure that you do that?

A (10:33)

I've made sure that I am on all social media platforms that are reasonable. Like, I'm on Facebook, I'm on Instagram, YouTube, and I'm always in the comments, I'm talking to people. I started doing live streams, but I also do stories and shorts to have that little bit more of an intimate connection to people to show. Because the whole thing is I want to show the people that there is still stuff out there to be found. People are like, oh, there are no more cool cars out there. And I'm like, no. Literally, here I was a month ago or whatever it was, and here's a car, that's quarter million dollar car sitting in the back of a barn covered in rat poop. And that I'm trying to be that person. I'm trying to be the representative of that person out there finding this stuff.

B (11:20)

Do you think that it's important to branch outside of YouTube in regards to, you know, you have a really large following over on Facebook and we'll talk about monetization here in a little while and talking about kind of how that breaks up for you in the different buckets. But you made it a big effort early on to make sure that YouTube. Yes. Was there. It's central to what you do. But you're also over on Facebook, you're on Instagram, and you're putting stuff everywhere. How important do you think that is? And for those listening, when should they, like, what should make them make the decision? Of where they should go outside of YouTube.

A (11:58)

I think as soon as you decide to go and do a YouTube channel or any of the others, go out and automatically claim your pages on other social. You don't want someone else coming up behind you and claiming, you know, auto archaeology on Facebook. Then if the cross compatibility then it's not that I'm trying to say you don't want other people making it seem like they're talking for you. So at least get your foot in the door on all the platforms. And then it's always good to have multiple connections in multiple places. It's like a web. You want to be able to. Because meta doesn't like people going off platform. But people are obviously on YouTube on Facebook. So you want to have. And on Facebook it can be a little bit more not you can have a connection a little bit closer to the people on like Facebook than you can even on Instagram or YouTube because there's a dialogue. You can, you can have groups and pages and sub pages on Facebook where. And you can share stuff. You can do a little bit of that on YouTube and even less on Instagram. So being able to quickly and easily disseminate information across multiple platforms is only a benefit for you, especially when it's free. Say, I mean, I know they're taking your info, but they are giving you the space to do that and it's only a benefit to you in the long run.

B (13:30)

Yeah, I think finding out where other creators in your space are, maybe they're on TikTok and YouTube, maybe it's just Instagram, maybe it's Facebook and the rest of them, I don't know. Oftentimes different niches will perform better on different avenues or outlets. And finding what that is for your space is important. And it seems that Facebook is one of the larger ones for you as you get hundreds of thousands of views on every reel or video that you post, sometimes upwards of millions of views. And so understanding kind of where your audience is and meeting them there is a very important thing now as far as packaging goes when it comes to thumbnails and titles. Can you walk us through your process and maybe how it's evolved over time?

A (14:12)

Yeah, it hasn't changed that much in theory, but because of the tools that like YouTube and all that has provided, it definitely allows for a wider spectrum of it. I'm always looking for whatever that video is I'm doing for YouTube every Monday. I'm always looking for what's the coolest car and what's the cool picture for it. Because I'm also. When I do my YouTube videos, I also have a very nice camera and I'm shooting pictures, not even just for thumbnails, just for. That's where I came from. That's my backbone is photography and writing. So I will never give that up. But I'm always looking for what's the shot that will draw people in. So I'm always looking for the coolest car or the most unique car. I'm always looking for what's the best angle. I did one a little while back where the car was literally stuffed in a corner. So I had to get above it in the back of a pickup truck to get down and see the car, which was around a trailer, which turned out really well. But as long as you're trying to find an eye catching anything that will draw the eye and keep that person from scrolling away or clicking away. And I have dabbled in putting wording on stuff. That's what the new ab testing tool is great is I can have one picture, the same picture, one with wording, one without and see what does better. I'm not doing much of the. The title changes much. I don't do that a lot AB testing because I. I'm pretty sure like I just want to be as I say in when I wrote for magazines, I still do on occasion. You want me straight and direct to the point. So you want to get that across. What is it? It's Mopars found on Found on the side of a Mountain. That's my title. Or it's a 69 Chevelle sitting in a farm field with cows. You know, whatever it is, straighten to the point and that usually draws them in.

B (16:07)

I interrupt the show just briefly to tell you about two different things. First is our YouTube channel review service. For $50, you get access to myself and my opinions on your channel. I record a screencast video telling you where I believe you should be putting your time as a creator. And then lastly, we do offer the Mastermind group. I record an exclusive podcast episode for those folks over there every Friday. You also get access to our Mastermind calls, our creator LED calls, our creator forums. It is probably the best money you can spend in the creator space. With that said, let's go ahead and get back to the interview. I love your thumbnails because it's really just a picture of the subject, right? Like if, if you're here to see the Plymouth Cuda, then that's what this picture is is it's a picture of the car in the space where you found it. And it's just, to me, it's simple yet effective. And I think that you found that that's kind of what works best for you. And so I absolutely love. That's kind of the route that you've gone. Very, very authentic. But these images are very, very good. And it makes me want to just say, oh, I want to see what this is like, where did, how did he find this here? Who's the owner of this vehicle? You know, the story. It kind of makes me want to be involved with the story with the thumbnail. And I think that should be what everyone strives to do when it comes to tools of the trade. Like the technical side of things. You talked about and you told me off air how you've upgraded things and you've taken feedback as constructive criticism of, you know, the camera shaky, so get a gimbal. Can't understand what you're saying, so get a better lapel microphone, whatever it may be. What are the tools of the trade that you utilize every day for shooting and filming and preparing for your videos?

A (17:45)

Well, for the filming and all that, I broken down into three different video camera styles. I have a DJI Pocket 2. I'm pretty sure it's not the one with the flippy screen, the two with the add on pack, that's the newest one because that has given me a very versatile tool. It's a gimbaled camera, it's a fixed focal length for the most part. And usually I'm working with a car. Obviously it's not moving, so I can work within that and I can connect. I don't have DJI microphones, I have anchor wireless microphones, but you can plug in lapel mics so I can put that in my pocket. Like a more expensive, you know, setup but at a much more reasonable price. That's my current setup for when I'm off adventuring. But I also have a GoPro 10 black, a GoPro 7 black lighting. A lot of these cars are in barns, so I have some really nice LED like lights, but they took double A batteries so I'm able to quickly swap them in and out. I also use my cell phone if it's something a lot more simple, like a lot of my YouTube shorts or stories on other content. I'll just do with my cell phone a Galaxy S25 plus because I am a big yeti of a person, so a bigger phone the better. And that's basically the most well rounded for video wise, camera wise. I have a Sony 7 II, which it does do video, but I try to keep it just photography because I don't want to try to cross. I want stuff to do is video, do video. That way it's all in one spot and all my photography is on another. And so yeah, I always have a big backpack full of batteries and camera stuff that I carry all over the place.

B (19:30)

Yeah, when you have to go out and and you're not shooting in a studio, there's a lot more kind of checkboxes you have to tick as far as making sure you have all the things needed when you get there and especially having backup batteries. All of those things are important. So it's good to hear you talk about all those things.

A (19:45)

When my girlfriend comes, like, I'll go travel somewhere like a day or two away. I'll go to see a hotel. My girlfriend comes with me and I am ocd, so I'll take everything out of my bag, charge all the batteries. She says it looks like I barfed all over the place because there's stuff in all the hotel outlets.

B (20:02)

I want to ask you now about how you make money through these avenues. So can you break down the different buckets of revenue and maybe you don't have to tell us exactly, but give us an estimation of what you might could wake make in a given month?

A (20:16)

Yeah, that's not a problem. It used to be YouTube was the strongest of them, but Facebook has come on really hard in the last about year. On average, if I'm having a good month on YouTube, it's about a thousand to two thousand maybe. Like if I have a really good month, like there's some video sometime last year I had four videos almost at 100,000 or they were 100,000 views. And that was I think four or five grand almost. But on average, consistently on Facebook, because I'm posting there every day, either a short or a carousel or something like that. That's usually around 1500 bucks, $2,000 a month. And for the most part that's been pretty steady. I've had a few higher months and a few lower months, but Instagram's been pennies. Instagram, in my opinion, has not been doing well overall in a while, but Facebook's been pretty strong. That's been on a Constant growth track. YouTube, I mean, I'm not doing gangbusters, but I'm gaining followers every month. So yeah, that's basically, I'm not the guy that has the fire hose, you know, filling the bucket. It's all the little straws filling the.

B (21:30)

Bucket, which to me is almost just as exciting, if not more. Just seeing all these different sources of income now on Facebook. You know, I know YouTube has requirements, and I'm dabbling in these places right now with my personal page, you know, since the triplets were born. And I've had the privilege to be able to grow rather quickly in the past few weeks, you know, tens of thousands and millions of views. But I'm really learning about the requirements to monetize on these different platforms. So for a platform like Facebook, what are the ways that you're making money from Facebook exactly. And what are the requirements to get to where you can even run ads on your videos?

A (22:13)

I don't remember the requirements exactly, but I know that doing it with pictures didn't work because basically meta has just. If you're doing just pictures, it's basically dead. You get no, no push buy from them at all. I did just last week, I did a little carousel of some really, really cold adventure pictures. And it got like 200 views. I mean, like 200 likes. And yet the carousels or the videos or the reels on either side got 5000 likes alone and millions of views. So I know that the reels are where it's at. And if you do a reel 30 second above, like 30 seconds to a minute long, it's. They do usually gangbusters, especially in a field that is very. People are always looking for information or interesting content.

B (23:08)

Yeah, I would agree. I know on TikTok, which is something that I'm experimenting with and learning so I can report back here on the podcast, you know, I had a video go rather, rather well, and it's got like 5 or 6 million views just on TikTok. And, you know, I was able to monetize rather quickly. And I found that when that video took off, my whole page or channel or whatever it is took off and those people went back and watched the other videos and I've been able to monetize and make. I don't know, it's close to a thousand bucks now and, you know, two and a half weeks or three weeks or whatever. So learning that side of things and how it's different than YouTube, it really makes me look at YouTube with even brighter glasses. And what I mean by that is that now that I'm experiencing other platforms, YouTube is overly generous for creators when it comes to monetization. Looking at what other. I mean, even on TikTok, you have to have what they call a verified view or a valid view. And sometimes you'll look at your page and you'll make 60 bucks that day, but then the next day you'll look and it's down to 30. So I think figuring out what bucket works for you and it always go to what I always tell people. Own your own brand. And what I mean is you don't, you know, all these platforms are great, but they could change something in a flash. And being able to own your platform or own where you are, whether it be a website or a newsletter, whatever, is very important.

A (24:30)

Absolutely. And I'm actually on TikTok as well and I had some very early success and then it dropped off a cliff. But unfortunately I have a lot of people who steal my content and put it up on YouTube or on a TikTok without my permission. So even if I post, it's so fast nowadays, if I post something on Facebook, a real on Tuesday, it's already on TikTok that night. And if I try to post it on Wednesday, I get in trouble from TikTok for not posting original content. So you gotta be quick in the game with TikTok.

B (25:05)

Yeah. Coming from the tech space and strictly being on YouTube, it's a, it's a different ballgame, it's a different world. And especially coming from like covering technology and YouTube creation to talking about like family and personal stuff and trying to be funny and having a good time being more transparent and authentic, I found that I, I foresee that the benefit on like say Instagram or a platform like TikTok is not necessarily the ad revenue but the relationships that you can form with companies and brands. And you know, I've already had a number of brands reach out to me and try to, you know, obviously lowball offer early on in the journey, but knowing what works and knowing what works on these platforms is important. So it's really cool to hear your perspective. Now as far as the YouTube channel goes, what is, what is next? Like, what are you looking to do, where are you looking to improve and how are you trying to implement these things?

A (25:59)

Well, like I said, the biggest issue I have is not being in my videos. I do a little bit of an ending wrap up at the end where I'm on screen, but I've gotten a new tripod set up. It's actually a monopod with feet. I'm going to try to do more where I'm in the video explaining what I'm seeing because usually it's I'm doing a little intro and you see my face, then there's my little intro and then it's nothing about me. It's just me talking to the, on the camera for whatever, 15, 20 minutes about whatever I'm seeing. So I'm really trying to push being in camera, but I look like Shrek. So it's like, I don't want to scare my followers away, but I'm going to try to do that. I'm going to try to do. Like I said, I got the new camera set up, I got lights, and I'm trying just to get better, more in depth coverage of what I'm showing rather than the past. I might be in a field full of rare cars and I'm literally so time constrained. I'll be running by going, that's a Cuda, that's a Challenger, that's a Charger. And people don't like that. They're like, okay, the car exists, but what is it? So I'm trying to get more details on what I'm showing and try to figure out my timeline. And now that things are doing a little bit better, I have a little bit of a wiggle room with monetary funds. So instead of one hotel room, I can get two nights, hopefully and work around it. So that's the future, I hope.

B (27:24)

How does that process look like when you're, you know, are you reaching out to these people? Are you so big now that they're reaching out to you? Being like, hey, you're not going to believe what I have in my backyard? What does that process look like?

A (27:36)

It's a little bit of both. Because I've been around in this space for over a decade, people are contacting me saying, hey, I got this, you know, GTO that's been sitting in my garage for, you know, 40 years. And that legit happened last year. A guy out of blue is like, hey, I like your stuff. I'm in Indiana, I got a Barn full of GTOs. And I'm like, okay, I guess I'm going to go see you here when I'm in the air in March. But fortunately for the Internet, it allows me the opportunity. Every lead, every story I've heard, if you tell me even remotely where it's at, I can pin that information on a map. And being that I've been doing this now for over 10 years, I have over 2000 barn find junkyard leads. So when I'm traveling, let's say from here to Indianapolis or here to St. Louis or whatever, there's a bunch of cool stuff I can see along the way. And either if I have the people's information, I Will call them or message them like, hey, can I come check out this Chevelle that's been in your garage? Or if not, if it's just a cold call, I will just show up and ring a doorbell. I don't do any trespassing because nothing's worth, you know, getting shot. But I will go knock on doors and ring doorbells and all that. As long as you're not trying to, you know, buy the car out from under the owner or, you know, steal the car or whatever. Usually people are very open to showing you the cool stuff they have because there's a reason that, you know, Chevelle's been sitting in their front yard for 50 years. You know, maybe the owner took the daughter home from the hospital in that car or he dated his wife. So there's. They always want to tell the story. And that's what I try to share in my. In my.

B (29:13)

How important do you think that aspect of it is? Is it more just car junkies looking to get their fix of, oh, look at that car? That's crazy. That's amazing. Or do you think that just as many of the people who consume your content are really there for the story of you telling, like, the history of this vehicle, of how it came to be where it is?

A (29:33)

I will say it's probably shifting. It was more people be like, oh, my goodness, you found this, like I said, quarter million dollar, half million dollar car sitting in a barn. But because like I said in the past, I wasn't as detailed in my content, in what I was showing, and that's been shifting slowly over time. I am getting those people who are, oh, that's cool that this guy owned this car and dated his wife in it, or, you know, he taught his son how to drive stick shift in this car. And people really love those direct connections to history, and it makes it a lot more fun.

B (30:08)

And how have you tried to improve your storytelling ability as far as, like, what. What have you done from 10 years ago till now to where it's kind of shifting because of you, the creator, you're presenting more of that stuff to them to tell the story.

A (30:21)

I definitely understood that. What I was interested in was the history of the car, no matter what it was. And it's always the history of the car in relation to the owner. So I'm like, okay, I get the car. It's a, you know, 71 Cuda Hemi car, one of 50 build, blah, blah, blah, you know, all that cool information. But then to have this whole other life of, you know, the owners had it for 40 years and, you know, his son has it tattooed on his shoulder and all this cool stuff that just makes it bloom, which I feel is phenomenal.

B (30:58)

Yeah, that's. I love that. I know for me, one of my guilty pleasures on YouTube is watching people find like old, old school, vintage video games or vintage technology. And when they discover it, yeah, the technology and the game is cool, but the story behind how did it get in this guy's attic in Wisconsin? And why is it in this little box covered in like. Like, tell me the story of that thing. And I think you've really captured the essence of that with, with what you're doing. So that's, that's really good. Um, all right, so we're wrapping up. I want to ask you now, as folks are listening to this creators of all, you know, experience levels, what would you say to them in your parting words as far as. If you could, you know, go back maybe and say there's one thing you wish you would have known sooner, what would that thing be?

A (31:46)

Get more details on what you're seeing. Like you said, the video games, I love any kind of archeological discovery. I love that when that Guy found that PlayStation Nintendo in like a Japanese thrift store and he gave the whole history of it. I understand that what I was doing originally was just the surface and people want the meat and potatoes of it. I wish I had had that opportunity earlier on, but because I'm self, it's only me, myself and I. It's harder. But, you know, with time and effort, I'm able to, you know, work it in and evolve. I just wish I had started sooner doing that.

B (32:25)

Yeah, I completely agree. That's really good. So, guys, if you want to check out what Ryan has to offer, it's Ryan Brut, all of his socials. I'll put his website, his Instagram, his YouTube channel, Facebook. If you want to see what we've been talking about today, again, that's Ryan B R U T T. And it's Auto archeology over on YouTube. Ryan, it has been a pleasure having you on the show today. Hopefully we can have you on in a few years when you're about at a million subscribers.

A (32:49)

Oh, that'd be nice. And it's been an honor being on here. Like I said, after listening to you for I think five years now, it's really funny to be on this side of the microphone instead of just listening to you in my car.

B (33:00)

Good stuff. Thanks, Ryan.

A (33:02)

Thanks, Dusty.

B (33:03)

And that, my friend, is a wrap on this week's episode. If you're a creator and you'd like to get in touch with us, all of our services will linked in the show notes. As previously mentioned, our Creator Coaching program, our Creator Mastermind, our Creator Channel reviews, and everything such as the Entrepreneurs Toolbox, as well as the other list of resources mentioned here on the show. But if you've made it this far, I want to ask you a favor. Go ahead and subscribe to the show. Whether you're listening on a podcast player or you're watching over on our YouTube channel, subscribe. That way you're notified every Friday when we go live with a new interview. With that said, hope you have a great day and I'll talk to you guys next week.