Full Transcript for Post and Ghost: Protect Your Sanity While Growing Your Show

00:02:09.553 --> 00:02:10.154 It's not cheap. 31 00:02:10.174 --> 00:02:10.915 Okay. 32 00:02:11.035 --> 00:02:13.137 Anyway, no, we really are... 33 00:02:14.358 --> 00:02:20.400 Great friends, collaborators, and Trevor does a lot of really, really cool stuff on social media. 34 00:02:20.820 --> 00:02:26.263 And the reason why I specifically want to talk to him about this topic, about growth on social media, because it's a popular topic. 35 00:02:26.763 --> 00:02:28.563 A lot of people want to know how to grow, right? 36 00:02:28.844 --> 00:02:33.525 But we're going to be real and raw and open and honest and share all the things. 37 00:02:34.246 --> 00:02:37.327 Okay, let's start out with the fact that... 38 00:02:38.213 --> 00:02:42.155 This guy has over 700,000 followers or something like that, right, on social media? 39 00:02:42.595 --> 00:02:43.355 Also, no big deal. 40 00:02:45.316 --> 00:02:48.957 And you've had different spouts of growth and things like that. 41 00:02:49.017 --> 00:02:57.561 So I want to, setting all that aside, talk about the biggest lie you think that there is about social media growth. 42 00:02:58.001 --> 00:02:59.882 What might we hear about social media growth? 43 00:02:59.922 --> 00:03:00.482 And it's like... 44 00:03:01.362 --> 00:03:01.822 Not really. 45 00:03:02.303 --> 00:03:08.668 Yeah, I would say the idea that you have to post multiple times a day on TikTok or Instagram to grow. 46 00:03:08.688 --> 00:03:09.649 That's the thing you see. 47 00:03:10.910 --> 00:03:12.331 There's like these scam pages. 48 00:03:12.391 --> 00:03:15.954 You've probably seen them where the accounts are all about teaching you how to grow. 49 00:03:16.474 --> 00:03:16.614 Right? 50 00:03:16.634 --> 00:03:18.076 That's all the content is about. 51 00:03:18.096 --> 00:03:19.176 Yeah. 52 00:03:19.197 --> 00:03:19.357 Yeah. 53 00:03:20.228 --> 00:03:21.910 All they say is, you know, post three times a day. 54 00:03:21.990 --> 00:03:23.591 And how easy is that, right? 55 00:03:23.611 --> 00:03:24.392 How often do you post? 56 00:03:24.572 --> 00:03:25.833 So I post one time a day. 57 00:03:25.853 --> 00:03:28.276 I did do the three-a-day thing. 58 00:03:28.616 --> 00:03:31.939 When I turned 40, I did 40 days of three times a day. 59 00:03:32.099 --> 00:03:33.501 And that was fucking hard. 60 00:03:33.981 --> 00:03:36.984 I mean, I think I made 40 days. 61 00:03:37.004 --> 00:03:37.444 I think I... 62 00:03:38.165 --> 00:03:41.427 38 days I made it, the three posts a day, but it was like impossible. 63 00:03:41.667 --> 00:03:47.551 You know, having a full-time job, having a child, having an active, robust social life. 64 00:03:51.373 --> 00:03:53.695 But that's the advice I think is just kind of like crappy. 65 00:03:53.715 --> 00:03:55.216 And I think what I always tell people is... 66 00:03:55.976 --> 00:04:00.561 whatever you can do and manage for the rest of time, you know, that's what you should stick to. 67 00:04:00.601 --> 00:04:03.323 If it's two posts a week, three posts a week, that's great. 68 00:04:03.464 --> 00:04:07.708 Do it, do it well, get better every time you do it and continue that, that energy. 69 00:04:07.728 --> 00:04:12.573 And if you have those moments where you have a bunch of content, you can post a few extra things here and there. 70 00:04:12.793 --> 00:04:13.073 Great. 71 00:04:13.193 --> 00:04:13.334 But, 72 00:04:14.174 --> 00:04:25.703 What happens is, and I see this with clients and people I do consulting with, is they will get excited, they get the training, they come to these kind of things here, and they'll try to post every day or multiple times a day. 73 00:04:25.763 --> 00:04:28.746 And then after a few weeks, after a month, they're burnt out. 74 00:04:29.406 --> 00:04:36.191 And they don't have a positive relationship with it, which then shows up in the content, which then shows up in the fact that there isn't content. 75 00:04:37.052 --> 00:04:37.392 Right. 76 00:04:38.192 --> 00:04:38.352 Yeah. 77 00:04:38.733 --> 00:04:38.953 Okay. 78 00:04:39.153 --> 00:04:39.293 Yeah. 79 00:04:39.313 --> 00:04:41.993 Cause it's like, you're going to just like need to do this forever. 80 00:04:42.514 --> 00:04:42.834 Okay. 81 00:04:42.854 --> 00:04:44.014 So like whatever you can do forever. 82 00:04:44.454 --> 00:04:44.834 Um, okay. 83 00:04:45.314 --> 00:04:49.715 So what does it really take to go viral in your opinion? 84 00:04:49.755 --> 00:04:51.356 What's the secret sauce recipe? 85 00:04:51.436 --> 00:04:52.156 Is there a strategy? 86 00:04:52.236 --> 00:04:52.476 Luck? 87 00:04:52.596 --> 00:04:52.916 Both? 88 00:04:53.036 --> 00:04:53.757 What are your thoughts on that? 89 00:04:54.017 --> 00:04:55.137 Um, show a little ankle. 90 00:04:56.358 --> 00:04:56.658 No. 91 00:04:57.438 --> 00:04:58.759 A little nip slip here and there. 92 00:04:58.779 --> 00:05:00.059 No, I'm kidding. 93 00:05:00.119 --> 00:05:02.700 So I will say, I did, I will sidebar. 94 00:05:02.720 --> 00:05:03.640 That would work. 95 00:05:03.840 --> 00:05:06.681 I did show nip this year for the first time in seven years. 96 00:05:07.261 --> 00:05:11.442 I was getting in a cold plunge, and the top comment on TikTok was, nipple reveal! 97 00:05:12.362 --> 00:05:13.883 And I have not shown nip since. 98 00:05:14.383 --> 00:05:16.424 But what was the question? 99 00:05:17.944 --> 00:05:19.885 Tell everybody about your nipples. 100 00:05:20.905 --> 00:05:22.486 They match my lip color. 101 00:05:22.626 --> 00:05:24.827 What does it really take to go viral? 102 00:05:25.427 --> 00:05:26.868 What does it take to go viral? 103 00:05:27.788 --> 00:05:29.789 So I've went viral for dancing with my students. 104 00:05:29.849 --> 00:05:34.651 I've went viral for funny social commentary about Hurricane Beryl. 105 00:05:35.451 --> 00:05:37.312 I strip teased in front of Centerpoint Energy. 106 00:05:38.692 --> 00:05:40.033 I was in the Houston Chronicle for that. 107 00:05:40.273 -->

00:05:44.135 I went viral for getting stuck in Japan. 108 00:05:44.955 --> 00:05:48.977 With students, I went viral for doing things in Houston. 109 00:05:49.017 --> 00:05:51.599 My health museum video on TikTok went viral. 110 00:05:52.219 --> 00:05:55.041 I opened that video with, hey, ma, I'm in a giant colon. 111 00:05:55.521 --> 00:05:56.162 People like that. 112 00:05:57.062 --> 00:05:59.624 Go do that later, actually. 113 00:05:59.644 --> 00:06:00.044 That's a good look. 114 00:06:00.064 --> 00:06:01.225 Yes, go crawl through the colon. 115 00:06:02.025 --> 00:06:10.950 And, but the thing in all of the, you know, it's different styles of content, but the thing that is consistent is I am putting my personality first, right? 116 00:06:10.990 --> 00:06:16.113 I'm being myself authentically me as best I can and not being afraid of what people might think. 117 00:06:16.773 --> 00:06:23.677 I have haters, you know, I have people that will make fun of me for my appearance, the way I speak, the way I dance, whatever it might be. 118 00:06:23.737 --> 00:06:25.058 But like, fuck them, right? 119 00:06:25.438 --> 00:06:26.018 I don't care. 120 00:06:26.238 --> 00:06:27.599 I am being myself. 121 00:06:28.519 --> 00:06:29.000 And I think... 122 00:06:29.580 --> 00:06:38.782 bringing people into your personality and just authentically doing the things that you want to be doing or do on your day-to-day basis is the magic sauce, right? 123 00:06:38.902 --> 00:06:40.102 Or part of the magic sauce. 124 00:06:40.122 --> 00:06:45.803 The other part of the magic sauce is once you see what people are resonating with, doing more of that content, right? 125 00:06:46.203 --> 00:06:57.465 So like I noticed quickly early on when I was making fun classroom content in the first, you know, four or five years of my content creator journey that if I stood on a desk, 126 00:06:58.980 --> 00:07:01.503 danced on top of a desk, that always did better. 127 00:07:02.063 --> 00:07:04.927 If I'm holding a bag of chips while I'm... Like hot chips. 128 00:07:05.327 --> 00:07:05.928 Hot Cheetos. 129 00:07:05.988 --> 00:07:07.090 If I was a hot Cheetos girl, right? 130 00:07:07.890 --> 00:07:08.792 Takis or whatever. 131 00:07:08.872 --> 00:07:12.296 If I was doing that in the videos, that was always performing better. 132 00:07:13.297 --> 00:07:13.557 Right? 133 00:07:13.617 --> 00:07:15.139 Or I noticed in my classroom I had... 134 00:07:16.500 --> 00:07:17.301 I had a flag. 135 00:07:17.561 --> 00:07:18.701 I had a, what do you call it? 136 00:07:19.162 --> 00:07:23.704 Like different countries I would switch out or a pride flag or whatever it might be. 137 00:07:24.204 --> 00:07:30.086 And so I would notice people were all of a sudden commenting like the DR flag, the Dominican Republic flag, or those sorts of things. 138 00:07:30.106 --> 00:07:32.627 So I would like swap them out or I'd write messages on the board. 139 00:07:32.988 --> 00:07:36.589 So there's multiple layers in

the video to engage with, right? 140 00:07:37.069 --> 00:07:42.412 Or like when I do, so right now I mostly do like vlogs around town or I'll do things in, 141 00:07:43.132 --> 00:07:44.294 Things to do in Houston, right? 142 00:07:44.314 --> 00:07:53.688 So like when I was at the health museum and I was looking at all of the content I had, I always start with the most interesting clip I have, the most interesting two seconds, three second clip I have. 143 00:07:54.289 --> 00:07:55.571 It could be something funny. 144 00:07:55.611 --> 00:07:56.332 It could be like... 145 00:07:57.643 --> 00:08:19.350 something bizarre it could be um like i'm eating i'm at a restaurant trying something and i choke i'm not actually choke well maybe i'm not going to wood but but you know i get something funny on camera um but it's the health museum i'm in this giant colon and i like have this call out i'm doing kind of a voice it resonated with people right but when i came i did a clip of i did like a let's get fun 146 00:08:19.430 --> 00:08:24.097 physical, physical moment on the bicycle with the skeleton next to me. 147 00:08:24.518 --> 00:08:26.161 I did a thing where I'm hanging upside down. 148 00:08:26.201 --> 00:08:27.783 You know, I tried all sorts of different things. 149 00:08:27.823 --> 00:08:30.107 And then when I was looking through, I have a focus group too. 150 00:08:31.252 --> 00:08:36.294 Brittany has sometimes been my focus group, but I'll say, hey, what do you think is funnier? 151 00:08:36.314 --> 00:08:39.555 What do you think is more catchy, A or B, in that video? 152 00:08:39.575 --> 00:08:42.055 So you always want to start with something really catchy. 153 00:08:42.416 --> 00:08:48.157 Never, hey, my name is Jennifer Bassman, and here's what I'm gonna talk to you today about. 154 00:08:48.557 --> 00:08:49.618 Start with the most interesting. 155 00:08:49.638 --> 00:08:50.518 Definitely, I'll start with that. 156 00:08:50.738 --> 00:08:54.939 You start with the, actually, that might do well, but you start with the most interesting thing. 157 00:08:55.039 --> 00:08:56.360 You start with the most interesting thing. 158 00:08:56.860 --> 00:08:58.640 You want to have something visually interesting. 159 00:09:00.421 --> 00:09:02.022 So on and so forth. 160 00:09:02.062 --> 00:09:03.482 That's a few tips. 161 00:09:03.723 --> 00:09:04.123 Quick tips. 162 00:09:04.543 --> 00:09:08.885 Before I move on to the next question, really go to Trevor's content and just study it. 163 00:09:08.905 --> 00:09:11.926 Because what he's saying, it really is how he does it and how he formats everything. 164 00:09:12.166 --> 00:09:12.907 You'll see the patterns. 165 00:09:13.447 --> 00:09:18.229 OK, so in case somebody is curious, what happens when you go viral, even semi-viral? 166 00:09:18.249 --> 00:09:24.712 Like when you have something really get a lot of views, what actually happens to your account, your notifications, and the comments? 167 00:09:24.732 --> 00:09:27.053 Like what could people expect in that experience? 168 00:09:27.381 --> 00:09:30.126 Yeah, so I'll tell you in the beginning I was obsessive. 169 00:09:30.467 --> 00:09:31.389 I had a spreadsheet. 170 00:09:31.529 --> 00:09:33.152 So let me go back. 171 00:09:33.172 --> 00:09:34.214 Still have you had a spreadsheet? 172 00:09:34.274 --> 00:09:36.799 I had a Google Sheet. 173 00:09:36.919 --> 00:09:39.544 So my brother is a... Vanessa's excited about that. 174 00:09:41.917 --> 00:09:42.998 Vanessa will like this. 175 00:09:43.018 --> 00:09:51.446 So I am the, of my siblings, I'm the free spirit, do whatever I want, go where the wind takes me. 176 00:09:51.566 --> 00:09:55.369 My brother is like a true Texas oil capitalist, right? 177 00:09:55.790 --> 00:09:59.052 And so I went viral the first minute I posted. 178 00:09:59.393 --> 00:10:01.334 My first video, like within a minute. 179 00:10:01.355 --> 00:10:01.675 Hang on. 180 00:10:04.013 --> 00:10:07.634 I, anyway, I know, but, but I did, I did. 181 00:10:07.674 --> 00:10:15.197 I was on an airplane a few months ago and I was looking through, I decided to like do a, a cleanse on my, my photos and stuff. 182 00:10:15.237 --> 00:10:16.958 And I was looking through and I was sending Brittany. 183 00:10:17.418 --> 00:10:20.719 I had like a text that I was ready to send Brittany when I landed. 184 00:10:21.539 --> 00:10:30.462 Um, and it was like, I had posted four total posts, just four posts and had 70,000 followers on Instagram within like, within like four weeks. 185 00:10:31.183 --> 00:10:31.943 And, um, I, 186 00:10:33.285 --> 00:10:34.006 But I was obsessive. 187 00:10:34.026 --> 00:10:38.193 So the spreadsheet, my brother, my brother had the spreadsheet and he would literally track every day. 188 00:10:38.233 --> 00:10:40.296 Like you got 10,000 followers today, 5,000. 189 00:10:40.797 --> 00:10:42.639 Well, no, he wasn't doing it in an all way. 190 00:10:42.680 --> 00:10:44.522 He was doing it in a let's make money off of this way. 191 00:10:45.510 --> 00:10:50.194 And, you know, but that was not fun for me. 192 00:10:50.274 --> 00:10:53.857 And when I tried to like make money off of it, the content never did well. 193 00:10:53.977 --> 00:10:54.217 Right. 194 00:10:54.898 --> 00:10:58.581 It didn't perform well because it wasn't having the same energy. 195 00:10:59.241 --> 00:11:03.164 And but what happens, what I learned was that I needed to disconnect. 196 00:11:03.205 --> 00:11:10.711 So like I post and I ghost like I post and then I will not like I posted today before this and I will not check my accounts until tomorrow morning. 197 00:11:11.331 --> 00:11:11.551 right? 198 00:11:12.012 --> 00:11:15.978 Because when you have those viral, well, in general, you know, I don't check views. 199 00:11:15.998 --> 00:11:17.401 I don't check any of that until the next day. 200 00:11:18.182 --> 00:11:19.684 But when you go viral, it's, 201 00:11:20.690 --> 00:11:22.211 like all

consuming, right? 202 00:11:22.231 --> 00:11:25.514 Like if you have notifications, I don't believe in notifications on my phone. 203 00:11:25.534 --> 00:11:34.542 I would say like ditch them, especially for social media because it becomes this like constant thing where you have to check, check, check, check. 204 00:11:34.562 --> 00:11:35.022 What are they saying? 205 00:11:35.042 --> 00:11:35.542 What are they saying? 206 00:11:35.562 --> 00:11:36.143 How many views? 207 00:11:36.483 --> 00:11:40.386 And you get kind of obsessive about it, which to me, like for me was not healthy, right? 208 00:11:41.387 --> 00:11:46.151 I mean, for you, I don't know, other people, it might be fine, but for me, it just wasn't good. 209 00:11:47.572 --> 00:11:49.114 You also get like a lot of DMs, 210 00:11:49.614 --> 00:11:50.335 A lot of weird DMs. 211 00:11:50.395 --> 00:11:53.881 I've been, a lot of people want to date me right now. 212 00:11:55.643 --> 00:11:56.785 My spouse is not into that. 213 00:11:57.847 --> 00:11:58.628 No, but it's so weird. 214 00:11:58.648 --> 00:12:01.292 Like people will literally, you get, she gets a lot of DMs too. 215 00:12:01.773 --> 00:12:02.834 Like some thirsty DMs. 216 00:12:04.777 --> 00:12:05.658 but you know what? 217 00:12:05.998 --> 00:12:07.638 Maybe we should just see what happens. 218 00:12:07.818 --> 00:12:10.159 No, but it's wild, but you get weird stuff. 219 00:12:10.179 --> 00:12:11.100 You get weird DMs. 220 00:12:11.560 --> 00:12:15.621 You get some good DMs, and honestly, you ignore most of it, right? 221 00:12:15.641 --> 00:12:16.882 You don't have to respond to everything. 222 00:12:17.302 --> 00:12:21.083 If you get 1,000 comments on a video, you don't have to respond to all those comments. 223 00:12:21.523 --> 00:12:26.025 Of course, the more you respond to you're playing well in the sandbox, you know, it's... 224 00:12:27.345 --> 00:12:35.089 it's good practice to respond to as much as you can, but like Kalem knows too, Brittany, like some of these posts, like you literally can't respond to everything, right? 225 00:12:35.489 --> 00:12:39.511 Or like I'll have stuff where like there's someone posts something negative. 226 00:12:39.891 --> 00:12:43.593 So I did a video for Tony's Place, which is an LGBTQ homeless shelter. 227 00:12:44.413 --> 00:12:49.096 And on Instagram, it was like, they did well on every platform. 228 00:12:49.356 --> 00:12:51.997 On Instagram, it was like, yeah, support. 229 00:12:52.297 --> 00:12:53.918 On TikTok, it was mostly support. 230 00:12:54.238 --> 00:12:55.619 Facebook, I literally like... 231 00:12:56.519 --> 00:12:59.221 do not have not looked since because it was just the worst of humanity. 232 00:12:59.861 --> 00:13:00.642 That was commenting. 233 00:13:01.742 --> 00:13:03.383 Just like really hateful stuff. 234 00:13:04.164 --> 00:13:04.824 And from me. 235 00:13:05.184 --> 00:13:06.165 You leave them alone, though. 236 00:13:06.205 --> 00:13:06.825 I leave them alone. 237 00:13:06.845 --> 00:13:07.626 Leave the comments alone. 238 00:13:07.646 --> 00:13:08.667 You don't delete it or anything. 239 00:13:08.967 --> 00:13:09.427 I'll delete. 240 00:13:10.247 --> 00:13:15.531 When I was posting stuff with my students, I very actively would monitor and delete. 241 00:13:15.691 --> 00:13:15.891 Yeah. 242 00:13:15.991 --> 00:13:19.492 Because if they're talking about a 17-year-old, 16-year-old, I'm deleting that, right? 243 00:13:20.273 --> 00:13:22.854 But if they're talking about me, sure, call me a faggot. 244 00:13:22.874 --> 00:13:24.254 Sorry, sorry. 245 00:13:24.594 --> 00:13:26.095 So on and so forth. 246 00:13:26.335 --> 00:13:26.895 I don't care. 247 00:13:26.915 --> 00:13:34.738 There's nothing that someone, a stranger in Duluth or wherever the fuck it is, I'm so sorry, everyone, can say about me that's really going to hurt me. 248 00:13:34.778 --> 00:13:37.059 I haven't said fuck once until just now. 249 00:13:37.219 --> 00:13:38.279 I've said it a lot. 250 00:13:41.062 --> 00:13:41.763 Vanessa said it. 251 00:13:42.124 --> 00:13:51.433 No, but like, the reality is when you go viral, there will be a lot of people that are supportive and there will also be people that want to hate on you just because you're going viral. 252 00:13:51.994 --> 00:13:56.238 And the reality of it is you have to be okay with those things. 253 00:13:56.899 --> 00:13:58.040 And I find... 254 00:13:59.021 --> 00:13:59.741 Just don't engage. 255 00:14:00.322 --> 00:14:00.542 Right? 256 00:14:00.562 --> 00:14:04.824 Like, I know some people might follow stay-at-home Tom on Instagram. 257 00:14:04.884 --> 00:14:05.885 He's massive. 258 00:14:06.445 --> 00:14:08.926 And everything he posts is incendiary. 259 00:14:09.447 --> 00:14:13.128 He's like, he's a stay-at-home dad, like a male feminist. 260 00:14:13.429 --> 00:14:14.209 I think he's great. 261 00:14:14.569 --> 00:14:19.152 But he gets so much hate in his comments from men that are uncomfortable with 262 00:14:19.972 --> 00:14:43.386 uncomfortable right with this man saying he's a feminist and like supporting women right um and he engages and it's part of his thing but like i couldn't do that i would just have to like leave it yeah so so when you go viral you have to sort of figure out like are you okay with the negativity are you not okay with the negativity you know and if you're not okay with it you need to find a routine that's not going to actually put you in front of the negativity 263 00:14:44.358 --> 00:14:44.558 Okay. 264 00:14:44.938 --> 00:14:45.799 So, so, okay. 265 00:14:45.819 --> 00:14:51.100 Say somebody here goes viral or even what I call semi viral, mini viral, some sort of something exciting. 266 00:14:51.661 --> 00:14:53.201 Um, what's your advice? 267 00:14:53.261 --> 00:14:54.102 Like next step? 268 00:14:54.362 --> 00:14:57.803 Um, is there something, should they change something, keep doing the same thing? 269 00:14:57.823 --> 00:14:58.963 Like

what, what's the next? 270 00:14:59.283 --> 00:14:59.844 Yeah. 271 00:14:59.884 --> 00:15:03.005 So sometimes there's different reasons to go viral. 272 00:15:03.025 --> 00:15:05.506 So like when I went viral for the Japan saga, um, 273 00:15:06.687 --> 00:15:12.954 I couldn't replicate that content, and I also couldn't talk about it more than so many times before it was desperate. 274 00:15:13.774 --> 00:15:17.438 But I couldn't get stuck in Japan again with 34 students. 275 00:15:17.879 --> 00:15:21.883 And then Hurricane Barrel, we didn't have power, and my videos was like... 276 00:15:22.775 --> 00:15:27.759 the content was like me dancing to try to get a generator, me dancing to try to get center point. 277 00:15:28.419 --> 00:15:32.002 I was like doing a strip tease kind of dance in front of center point to get them to turn the power back on. 278 00:15:32.022 --> 00:15:32.202 Right. 279 00:15:33.383 --> 00:15:41.609 But, but then the power comes on and the story has moved on, you know, but what you can do is you very much study, you do an audit, right. 280 00:15:41.689 --> 00:15:45.812 Of your content and very much try to figure out what are people, what's resonating with people. 281 00:15:45.852 --> 00:15:46.092 Right. 282 00:15:46.172 --> 00:15:46.413 Is it, 283 00:15:47.173 --> 00:15:50.214 The actual trend, is it something you're doing? 284 00:15:50.294 --> 00:15:51.335 Is it where you're shooting? 285 00:15:51.835 --> 00:15:54.796 Is it the story itself, the current event itself? 286 00:15:55.396 --> 00:15:57.157 And you can try to replicate those things. 287 00:15:57.177 --> 00:16:05.920 So like, for instance, the fun classroom content, I very much was like, hey, if I have Takis and I dance to this one song by Migos, it goes viral every time. 288 00:16:06.660 --> 00:16:15.304 like every single time when I do the same exact, and I will repost like a throwback Thursday every once in a while where I use these old videos and they still go viral. 289 00:16:15.324 --> 00:16:17.765 And people will comment, I think I saw this four years ago. 290 00:16:17.785 --> 00:16:19.166 And I'm like, yeah, you saw it four years ago. 291 00:16:19.186 --> 00:16:19.986 You saw it last year. 292 00:16:20.006 --> 00:16:20.947 You saw it three years, yeah. 293 00:16:21.427 --> 00:16:23.568 So on and so forth, because it always does well. 294 00:16:23.668 --> 00:16:24.348 Right. 295 00:16:24.649 --> 00:16:25.189 And so I think... 296 00:16:25.849 --> 00:16:30.033 for anyone here, like whatever you're making, like very much lean into those things that do well. 297 00:16:30.073 --> 00:16:35.377 So like Christina, you do this really well with your, uh, queen of Tejano tribute content. 298 00:16:35.737 --> 00:16:36.838 We don't, you know, not Selena. 299 00:16:37.499 --> 00:16:38.980 Uh, and Caleb does this really well too. 300 00:16:39.000 --> 00:16:39.801 Brittany does it as well. 301 00:16:39.821 --> 00:16:44.765 We, we've had, we know what that magic sauce is for each of us and we are not afraid to beat it 302 00:16:45.525 --> 00:16:48.127 And, you know, just beat it. 303 00:16:48.167 --> 00:16:48.587 I don't know what. 304 00:16:49.467 --> 00:16:52.009 Just like repeat it, repeat it, repeat it as much as we need to. 305 00:16:52.029 --> 00:16:53.930 We've watched the same episode of Friends a million times. 306 00:16:53.970 --> 00:16:54.691 We've watched the same. 307 00:16:54.711 --> 00:16:55.311 I'm like, who cares? 308 00:16:55.451 --> 00:16:55.671 Yeah. 309 00:16:55.991 --> 00:16:56.211 Okay. 310 00:16:56.832 --> 00:16:57.092 Okay. 311 00:16:57.512 --> 00:16:59.733 I want to make sure we move on so we have time for questions in a few minutes. 312 00:16:59.774 --> 00:17:05.677 But my last official question for you is, so away from the viral conversation and on to just general social media growth. 313 00:17:06.713 --> 00:17:17.965 three tips, two tips, whatever, a couple of top tips for how to grow on social media, even if you're not going viral on a regular basis, but just growth, increasing following, increasing your views, increasing your engagement. 314 00:17:18.637 --> 00:17:20.258 A couple of just like juicy nuggets. 315 00:17:20.599 --> 00:17:21.960 Yeah, a little juicy nuggets. 316 00:17:22.160 --> 00:17:23.261 It's not just about you. 317 00:17:23.401 --> 00:17:26.324 It's about playing well in the playground, right? 318 00:17:26.364 --> 00:17:36.193 So commenting, engaging with other people's content is important, especially if there are people that are in a similar niche, location, business than you, right? 319 00:17:36.233 --> 00:17:39.536 So say you are just someone give me a business. 320 00:17:40.016 --> 00:17:41.137 A yoga instructor, right? 321 00:17:41.177 --> 00:17:52.202 So if you're a Pilates yoga instructor in town, like following and engaging with other Pilates yoga instructors in town, and then don't expect people to engage with your stuff if you're not engaging with theirs, right? 322 00:17:52.543 --> 00:17:58.586 So if you go to Kalem's videos, you'll see Christina's commenting, Brittany's commenting, Davina's commenting, I'm commenting. 323 00:17:59.446 --> 00:18:01.307 So on and so forth, because we're supporting each other. 324 00:18:01.367 --> 00:18:02.348 So that's important. 325 00:18:02.708 --> 00:18:08.272 It also tells the platform that you are a good member of that platform, right? 326 00:18:08.332 --> 00:18:10.133 And they will reward you sometimes. 327 00:18:11.314 --> 00:18:17.878 Other nuggets, you need to invest in, or not invest, I'm saying invest with air quotes. 328 00:18:19.314 --> 00:18:22.256 But good lighting, good sound are important, right? 329 00:18:23.116 --> 00:18:25.717 Good sound doesn't necessarily mean you need a microphone, right? 330 00:18:25.737 --> 00:18:29.999 But if you're in a place and the sound is not good, then you can't post that. 331 00:18:30.019 --> 00:18:31.700 You should not post that, you know, content. 332 00:18:32.140 -->

00:18:33.921 Make sure your lighting is well done, right? 333 00:18:33.941 --> 00:18:41.104 Those little things are what separates someone that's getting 300 views and someone who's getting 30,000 views, right? 334 00:18:41.184 --> 00:18:42.645 If you watch Britney's content... 335 00:18:43.365 --> 00:18:45.828 Notice it's always well lit, right? 336 00:18:46.449 --> 00:18:50.914 When I was in my classroom, if it was, I had two windows in this kind of old dark building. 337 00:18:51.395 --> 00:19:00.966 And if it was overcast at all, I could not, like we could do stuff, but it would never be stuff we actually used because it was too dark. 338 00:19:01.607 --> 00:19:02.567 Right. 339 00:19:02.848 --> 00:19:05.269 And so that's just like basic one-on-one. 340 00:19:05.309 --> 00:19:08.410 And like, I know you do the same thing with your like content at your house. 341 00:19:08.450 --> 00:19:09.991 Like we, you can't do it. 342 00:19:10.151 --> 00:19:10.371 Right. 343 00:19:10.931 --> 00:19:13.072 Or like, I have a thing I'm doing at Miller outdoor theater. 344 00:19:13.092 --> 00:19:17.755 I was supposed to do it like two weeks ago, but every day I've planned, it's like gloomy and not good weather. 345 00:19:17.795 --> 00:19:18.935 So I keep having to postpone it. 346 00:19:20.236 --> 00:19:20.836 So that's important. 347 00:19:20.856 --> 00:19:23.717 And then the third tip is like, I don't be afraid to be yourself. 348 00:19:23.777 --> 00:19:23.958 Right. 349 00:19:24.018 --> 00:19:29.300 And also like Brittany has said this a bunch, like if there's something you do well and something you do different, don't, 350 00:19:29.340 --> 00:19:30.482 do it on social, right? 351 00:19:30.522 --> 00:19:39.819 So if you can swallow swords or fire the fire situation, juggling fire, do it, right? 352 00:19:40.280 --> 00:19:41.001 If you can... 353 00:19:42.249 --> 00:19:45.292 you know, do a handstand, do it on social media, right? 354 00:19:46.272 --> 00:19:47.253 Use those talents, right? 355 00:19:47.273 --> 00:19:54.399 And I think a lot of people in this room actually do a really good job of that, of showcasing like who you are and not being afraid to do that. 356 00:19:54.800 --> 00:19:57.322 I would follow people that you like genuinely want to follow. 357 00:19:57.342 --> 00:20:00.084 Yeah, I don't want to follow you. 358 00:20:00.304 --> 00:20:05.849 But like, it's not, once you get, and also once you get to a certain size, like you can't, like you literally can't follow everyone back. 359 00:20:06.208 --> 00:20:07.970 They're also not going to probably care. 360 00:20:07.990 --> 00:20:08.451 It's not. 361 00:20:08.471 --> 00:20:09.932 I hope they do. 362 00:20:10.092 --> 00:20:17.321 So the social contract of Facebook as it was built, and that was like our first big, big platform, was like you had to be friends with someone. 363 00:20:17.821 --> 00:20:17.961 Right? 364 00:20:17.981 --> 00:20:19.904 So it's like a reciprocal agreement. 365 00:20:20.364 --> 00:20:22.547 But that agreement does not exist on TikTok or Instagram. 366 00:20:22.567 --> 00:20:22.687 Right. 367 00:20:24.113 --> 00:20:24.774 That's my opinion. 368 00:20:25.455 --> 00:20:26.776 But I will do like in real life. 369 00:20:26.796 --> 00:20:30.180 Like anybody here to me that we follow back. 370 00:20:30.220 --> 00:20:32.042 Because that's an actual connection that we made. 371 00:20:32.102 --> 00:20:35.506 But like if it's a stranger and they follow your account, you don't know. 372 00:20:35.686 --> 00:20:39.050 Yeah, like when I went viral, I would get messages from like teenagers that were like, follow me. 373 00:20:39.070 --> 00:20:39.811 And I'm like, no. 374 00:20:40.772 --> 00:20:42.013 Like I don't want this. 375 00:20:42.033 --> 00:20:42.674 I don't want this. 376 00:20:45.115 --> 00:20:47.577 so content creation is my part-time side gig. 377 00:20:48.077 --> 00:20:54.601 I have no team, although I will say like Clarissa works with me in my full-time job and she's shooting content at me right now. 378 00:20:55.262 --> 00:21:00.065 Um, or like if I'm going to something, I always try to like bring people to, so like Brittany does a lot with me. 379 00:21:00.685 --> 00:21:03.447 And so I, I try to bring someone with me who can like shoot content. 380 00:21:03.547 --> 00:21:03.747 Right. 381 00:21:04.308 --> 00:21:06.789 Um, and also isn't going to be like, when are we going to be done? 382 00:21:06.849 --> 00:21:07.069 Right. 383 00:21:07.089 --> 00:21:08.750 We're going to be done whenever I say we're going to be done. 384 00:21:08.971 --> 00:21:09.251 Yeah. 385 00:21:09.811 --> 00:21:10.932 No, no, that's true. 386 00:21:10.952 --> 00:21:11.452 It's true. 387 00:21:11.772 --> 00:21:15.494 So, like, my family, like, doesn't come with me because it, like, is not good for our family. 388 00:21:16.154 --> 00:21:17.454 And at the end of the day, it's work. 389 00:21:17.514 --> 00:21:21.896 Like, sometimes I'm getting paid and, like, it's work and, like, I have to do a certain thing. 390 00:21:21.936 --> 00:21:23.337 And it can be annoying. 391 00:21:23.357 --> 00:21:27.159 So I try to bring people that understand it and see the fun in it. 392 00:21:27.199 --> 00:21:27.599 We have fun. 393 00:21:27.619 --> 00:21:28.299 I think we have fun. 394 00:21:28.319 --> 00:21:28.719 So much fun. 395 00:21:28.879 --> 00:21:29.140 You know. 396 00:21:29.160 --> 00:21:29.800 It's ridiculous. 397 00:21:29.900 --> 00:21:30.160 Yeah. 398 00:21:30.640 --> 00:21:34.383 So it is just me, but I will say there are people that are... 399 00:21:34.463 --> 00:21:37.426 I know Hangry Houstonian is a big content creator in Houston. 400 00:21:37.446 --> 00:21:38.546 She has an assistant. 401 00:21:39.647 --> 00:21:41.168 And people have managers. 402 00:21:41.249 --> 00:21:42.970 I just like to do my own thing. 403 00:21:44.191 --> 00:21:44.771 I don't think you need it. 404 00:21:44.931 --> 00:21:47.353 At my level, at our level, I

don't think you need it. 405 00:21:48.054 --> 00:21:49.175 So my content for... 406 00:21:50.527 --> 00:21:51.287 40 before 40. 407 00:21:51.667 --> 00:21:53.708 So what year? 408 00:21:53.748 --> 00:21:54.368 2025? 409 00:21:54.388 --> 00:21:55.508 So I would say six years. 410 00:21:55.548 --> 00:21:59.009 My first six years of content was not really location-based. 411 00:21:59.509 --> 00:22:03.149 I kept trying to break into Houston, and I just couldn't do it. 412 00:22:03.169 --> 00:22:04.249 People didn't want it. 413 00:22:04.369 --> 00:22:07.190 The style I was doing, people weren't interested, so on and so forth. 414 00:22:07.650 --> 00:22:11.331 When I was turning 40, I wasn't trying to do anything big on social. 415 00:22:11.391 --> 00:22:16.552 I just thought it'd be fun to do 40 new experiences before I turned 40, like the 40-day lead-up. 416 00:22:17.052 --> 00:22:17.572 And it was... 417 00:22:18.392 --> 00:22:23.156 It was things that I had been putting off, things that were outside the box. 418 00:22:23.256 --> 00:22:24.217 Everything was a new experience. 419 00:22:24.497 --> 00:22:26.559 Like nothing in that 40 days I had done before. 420 00:22:26.999 --> 00:22:28.220 I had never been to those places. 421 00:22:28.260 --> 00:22:29.781 I had never tried that thing before. 422 00:22:30.422 --> 00:22:33.244 And I think what happened, and it blew up, right? 423 00:22:33.264 --> 00:22:39.689 And that's what led to me being, you know, I get a lot of good stuff, right? 424 00:22:39.709 --> 00:22:40.250 Because of that. 425 00:22:40.830 --> 00:22:44.993 And it very much was, I think people love the joy. 426 00:22:45.923 --> 00:22:47.666 It's like this person is having fun. 427 00:22:48.306 --> 00:22:51.331 And also, we're old. 428 00:22:51.451 --> 00:22:51.931 It's wild. 429 00:22:52.152 --> 00:22:52.813 I know, I know. 430 00:22:52.833 --> 00:22:53.373 I know. 431 00:22:54.455 --> 00:22:56.558 No, but like when I, it's wild. 432 00:22:56.578 --> 00:22:57.779 Like when we go to influencer. 433 00:22:57.820 --> 00:22:59.942 My whole brand is based on the fact that we're not old yet. 434 00:23:02.436 --> 00:23:03.457 I'm going to get kicked out. 435 00:23:03.777 --> 00:23:13.644 No, but the reality is like when I, if I'm invited to an influencer event, whether it's like a new restaurant's opening or a Pilates thing or yoga, I am almost always the oldest person there. 436 00:23:13.944 --> 00:23:22.330 And so I think that's what resonated is you have, I'm showcasing things to do in a way that's not that different than the 20 year old, 25 year old doing it. 437 00:23:22.730 --> 00:23:27.473 But people who are middle aged or above are like, Hey, that's a, an actual adult, right? 438 00:23:27.633 --> 00:23:28.755 doing the thing, right? 439 00:23:29.356 --> 00:23:29.997 And having fun. 440 00:23:30.017 --> 00:23:34.063 And I think that is what, at the end of the day, connected with people, you know? 441 00:23:34.083 --> 00:23:36.726 I mean...

You're an actual adult? 442 00:23:37.167 --> 00:23:38.129 I am, I am. 443 00:23:38.449 --> 00:23:39.450 I'm struggling. 444 00:23:39.470 --> 00:23:40.973 I'm still figuring it out, but... 445 00:23:42.195 --> 00:23:47.399 And the before times, but when I was in my 30s, you know, I was in New York. 446 00:23:47.419 --> 00:23:50.801 I was at a Broadway play and someone stopped me and was like, oh, my God, you're the guy who dances with their students. 447 00:23:50.842 --> 00:23:52.563 And I was in L.A. and people recognized me. 448 00:23:53.023 --> 00:23:53.544 And that was it. 449 00:23:53.584 --> 00:23:55.845 I'd have to be like a way to get recognized. 450 00:23:55.905 --> 00:23:57.967 And here, like every day of my life. 451 00:23:57.987 --> 00:23:59.088 Everywhere we go. 452 00:23:59.188 --> 00:23:59.568 Every day. 453 00:23:59.588 --> 00:24:02.931 It's like I could run for mayor. 454 00:24:02.951 --> 00:24:03.391 Yeah. 455 00:24:04.362 --> 00:24:05.123 What do y'all want? 456 00:24:05.143 --> 00:24:06.703 Y'all want me to fill the potholes? 457 00:24:07.244 --> 00:24:08.084 Yeah. 458 00:24:08.164 --> 00:24:08.624 Yeah. 459 00:24:08.644 --> 00:24:09.405 What else do you want? 460 00:24:11.946 --> 00:24:18.310 And honestly, I think this is the thing that no one wants to actually believe or accept about going viral is it is luck. 461 00:24:18.992 --> 00:24:19.612 It's skill. 462 00:24:19.752 --> 00:24:22.353 At the end of the day, you need some skill, but it is luck. 463 00:24:22.413 --> 00:24:30.375 And if you look at the most viral video from everyone in this room who creates content, none of us would say, yeah, that's the thing that would go viral. 464 00:24:30.875 --> 00:24:34.876 Your video with how different generations hit their shoulder on the door. 465 00:24:35.816 --> 00:24:37.676 When you posted that, you weren't thinking 80 million views. 466 00:24:37.696 --> 00:24:38.897 The Snoop Dogg shared that, though. 467 00:24:40.057 --> 00:24:44.298 Right, but like, and it's not the best thing you've done, you wouldn't say, but... 468 00:24:45.313 --> 00:24:46.634 You get right. 469 00:24:46.654 --> 00:24:48.675 Like you just luck sometimes happens. 470 00:24:48.755 --> 00:24:50.637 And like my my niche. 471 00:24:50.677 --> 00:24:58.482 So I don't at the time now, if I made commentary about Centerpoint Energy and the hurricane and what we're doing with, it would make sense. 472 00:24:58.522 --> 00:25:02.385 But like at the time, I was entirely posting classroom content. 473 00:25:02.965 --> 00:25:06.927 And then I just pivoted and was like, I'm dancing in front of a tree that's fallen. 474 00:25:06.967 --> 00:25:07.747 My fence is down. 475 00:25:07.787 --> 00:25:08.468 The tree's down. 476 00:25:08.488 --> 00:25:09.748 I have no power. 477 00:25:09.768 --> 00:25:10.789 I'm in a raincoat. 478 00:25:10.809 --> 00:25:21.934 So I would say if you have those moments where you accidentally go viral or you get that luck and it has nothing to do with your niche, well, it has something to do with something because you posted it, right? 479 00:25:22.394 --> 00:25:25.676 But maybe creating, maybe weaving that into your content, right? 480 00:25:25.776 --> 00:25:26.976 Like that kind of vibe. 481 00:25:26.996 --> 00:25:27.477 Do you agree? 482 00:25:28.608 --> 00:25:29.209 Also, cool. 483 00:25:29.289 --> 00:25:31.151 Welcome to my world. 484 00:25:31.191 --> 00:25:32.432 10,000 people in one day. 485 00:25:32.452 --> 00:25:32.632 Yeah. 486 00:25:32.812 --> 00:25:33.193 Awesome. 487 00:25:33.233 --> 00:25:34.574 Maybe you'll also like this other stuff. 488 00:25:35.495 --> 00:25:37.737 And I guess if not, they can unfollow you. 489 00:25:37.758 --> 00:25:43.023 Well, what I also do is sometimes I will strategically do a throwback video. 490 00:25:43.403 --> 00:25:48.148 So that video, whatever you posted that went viral, post that again in a year. 491 00:25:49.049 --> 00:25:50.791 And 10 months, a year, 14 months. 492 00:25:51.432 --> 00:25:52.793 And do it strategically. 493 00:25:52.834 --> 00:25:57.679 So do it, and then the next day or the day before, post your, like, mission video, right? 494 00:25:57.719 --> 00:25:59.281 Like, the overview of your business. 495 00:25:59.301 --> 00:26:01.203 So on and so forth. 496 00:26:01.223 --> 00:26:04.487 So that you get the views on, you know, the views will pancake. 497 00:26:04.907 --> 00:26:05.728 Not pancake, sandwich.