Welcome back to another Monday Check-In!
Every Monday, I post this newsletter to keep track of how my life, job, channel, and business are going. What’s working, what’s not, the things that happen to me, and the numbers behind it all.
If you’re new here, my mission for the next 10 years has three parts:
- Build a community of 100,000 happy creators who love their life, content, and business.
- Make $500,000 net income in a single year.
- Stay consistent enough to become one of the most influential people on the internet.
These posts serve as way for me to be disciplined and transparent about my journey — to build a business I love alongside you, so that we can do it together.
Today is September 9th, and the main thing I’m thinking about is…
Likability is the secret sauce.
People hang out with people they like.
People watch every video from creators they like.
People buy things if they like who’s selling them.
When you understand this, everything gets so much easier. Think about the restaurants you go to, the local services you use, the podcasts where you never miss an episode. What do they all have in common?
You like them. In some cases, you love them.
Growing up, my mom would always take me to get my haircut from the same lady, at the same place. She was super nice and good with me. I probably went there until I was 14, when she moved to a different location too far away from our house.
So we decided to go to my sister’s friend instead. And what did I find out? The lady who cut my hair growing up had been styling my hair THE WRONG WAY (right-to-left, instead of left-to-right) for my entire childhood.
I looked WAY BETTER from that point on. Why was my mom taking me to this lady who had cut my hair the wrong way for all of these years?
She liked her.
You will buy the wrong things from people you like before you buy what you need from someone you don’t.
How do you become likable? I’m no expert, but here’s a few ideas I have:
- Ask questions and let the other person talk. Everyone loves feeling like the main character.
- Compliment people on a non-obvious thing. People love it when you see them for more than what everyone else sees them for. Every hot girl has been told they’re hot.
- Lean into yourself. If you’re awkward, deeply passionate about something, or struggling with something – be it and share it often. The last thing you want is to have an audience relying on you to be something you’re not. Plus, everyone can see when you aren’t being you.
- You don’t take shortcuts. Everyone can tell that you’ve hired a ghostwriter for your posts (loved this post from Brandon Moore - hi Brandon!!). Everyone can see when you’re creating content specifically for a business outcome. We like the people who show up as themselves online because it’s the right thing to do – not because they can’t think past “content = money.” AKA every single person in your cold DMs.
- You’re building. I think as creators, we appreciate the people who support us – but we only want to work with the people who are clearly going for something, like we are. In my experience, the hungrier I seem to be successful on a call, the more likely the other person is to give me an opportunity. Show you can do something for them, and explain what a partnership with them would mean for you, too. Just saw this happen with the video client I picked up.
Now, let’s get to the good stuff:
The Good Stuff
This is the part of the Monday Check-In where I update on all of the good & exciting things happening around me and my business.
Here goes:
- The first episode of Buzzer Beater came out! I’m super happy with it, but also trying not to put pressure on myself to have a new episode every week. Luckily, I spent a long time perfecting all of the design elements (colors, fonts, music, pacing) so it’s really just hopping on a call with someone I’m interested in.
- Locked in on a video editing project for a new client. Turned in the first draft Friday evening and awaiting feedback. This was kind of a full-service project – I coached the client through their script in Riverside, helped with their video setup and screen recording, and completed the first edit. Niche thing but I love when a client has a killer brand guidelines file to follow.
- Abundant kindness. I’ve had a few people do some really nice behind-the-scenes things for me this week. I’ve also found tons of joy in helping creators who reach out to me for content strategy. Plus, the reactions to Buzzer Beater were incredible. Feeling the joy that came with taking my content seriously.
Now, here’s what’s got me down:
Got Me Down
This is the part of the Monday Check-In where I talk openly about the things I’m struggling with, in regards to my content, mindset, or business.
- Not seeing the success I’ve hoped for with the HeyCreator YouTube channel. We’ve only seen boosted views from promoted videos. I know it takes time to get it going, but it still feels like there’s a lot of work to do to nail the strategy. We believe we have one of the best shows for creators – the views just don’t show it yet.
- Need to get into a writing habit. I had a moment this past week where I tried recording with no script and I just fell completely flat. I’ve been trying to build that muscle of being able to talk to the camera about anything, and it’s not working. If I can write consistently, I can record videos consistently, and that means I can be the biggest YouTuber in the world.
- Impatience. I’ll likely write about this next week, but there’s a clip from Nat Eliason’s appearance on The HeyCreator Show that’s stuck with me and is especially relevant right now:
If you wanted to start building an audience (in the early 2010s), it would take a minimum of two to three years to get traction. And that’s just not the case anymore. You could blow up in a week if you hit the algos right.
And that possibility really screws with people’s heads, because as long as it’s possible, there’s a question of, “Why hasn’t it happened to me yet?”
Now, let’s check in on this week’s Running Numbers!
Running Numbers
Every week, I’ll take stock of multiple different numbers in my life and track them here, along with their % increase or decrease.
- 2024 gross income: $39,179 (no increase)
- 2024 product/service sales/dollars: $6,569 (no increase)
- YouTube Subscribers: 109 (+5)
- Total views: 2,667 (+128)
- Watch hours: 63 (+2)
- Newsletter Subscribers: 350 (-4)
- Open rate: 44.64% (-0.55%)
- Twitter followers: 553 (+4)
- Fantasy Football record across four teams: 2-1
- Rec league basketball points per game: N/A (first game is tonight)
That’s it!
Thank you for being here.
Tim