1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:03,960 For me, niching down really helped because bef it, it gave me direction, 2 00:00:03,960 --> 00:00:07,440 and then I think my audience, I, it just felt like my audience. 3 00:00:08,100 --> 00:00:10,980 Also had a kind of an idea of what I was making. 4 00:00:10,980 --> 00:00:13,650 Instead of one day I would do a, I do a tool review. 5 00:00:13,650 --> 00:00:17,700 The next day I was making a, a kind of, a high end is a strong word, 6 00:00:17,700 --> 00:00:19,830 but a kind of a nicer indoor desk. 7 00:00:19,830 --> 00:00:23,700 And then I was making a TV console table, and then I was making a table saw, you 8 00:00:23,700 --> 00:00:25,560 know, jig or accessory for the workshop. 9 00:00:25,799 --> 00:00:29,640 So, uh, in the analytics, I saw my views go up, which was nice. 10 00:00:30,000 --> 00:00:33,960 I think it gave me some direction in terms of what. 11 00:00:34,709 --> 00:00:37,019 I was going to make videos on. 12 00:00:37,110 --> 00:00:40,709 Hello everyone, and welcome to this week's episode of the 13 00:00:40,709 --> 00:00:42,330 YouTube Creators Hub podcast. 14 00:00:42,330 --> 00:00:45,870 For each and every Friday, I sit down with a wonderful content creator 15 00:00:45,870 --> 00:00:49,800 and I chat with them about their channel, the mistakes they've made, 16 00:00:49,800 --> 00:00:53,819 and just get an overall scope of what their life is like as a creator. 17 00:00:53,819 --> 00:00:56,819 So if you're interested in that, definitely subscribe to the show. 18 00:00:56,819 --> 00:00:57,839 It's absolutely free. 19 00:00:58,019 --> 00:01:00,870 And speaking of free, we have no advertisers on this show. 20 00:01:01,019 --> 00:01:02,304 I'm only going to tell you about. 21 00:01:02,675 --> 00:01:05,075 Things that we personally offer creators. 22 00:01:05,224 --> 00:01:06,605 I offer one-on-one coaching. 23 00:01:06,935 --> 00:01:10,865 I offer a mastermind group, which is one of the biggest in the whole space 24 00:01:10,865 --> 00:01:12,425 where you can chat with other creators. 25 00:01:12,425 --> 00:01:13,505 We do mastermind calls. 26 00:01:13,685 --> 00:01:15,035 We have creator led calls. 27 00:01:15,155 --> 00:01:18,515 I do exclusive podcast recordings distributed to that group. 28 00:01:18,515 --> 00:01:19,535 It's just an overall. 29 00:01:19,755 --> 00:01:22,545 Probably some of the best money you'll spend as a creator, 30 00:01:22,545 --> 00:01:23,955 as it's so inexpensive. 31 00:01:24,104 --> 00:01:27,675 And then we also offer channel reviews and audits where I'll record 32 00:01:27,675 --> 00:01:30,975 a Screencast video, six to eight minutes telling you where I think 33 00:01:30,975 --> 00:01:32,354 you should be spending your time. 34 00:01:32,625 --> 00:01:36,645 Uh, and then beyond that, we have the Entrepreneur's Minute, which is my 35 00:01:36,645 --> 00:01:39,164 email newsletter if you wanna keep up with me, things that I'm interested 36 00:01:39,164 --> 00:01:40,725 in, things going on behind the scenes. 37 00:01:40,905 --> 00:01:42,134 Definitely take a look at that. 38 00:01:42,315 --> 00:01:43,005 And then our. 39 00:01:43,085 --> 00:01:46,384 Entrepreneurs Toolbox, which is a running list of all the links, tools, and 40 00:01:46,384 --> 00:01:49,324 resources mentioned here on the podcast. 41 00:01:49,324 --> 00:01:52,655 And with that said, we'll go ahead and jump into this week's conversation. 42 00:01:52,774 --> 00:01:56,405 Hello everyone and welcome to the conversation portion of this week's 43 00:01:56,405 --> 00:01:58,475 episode of the Creator's Hub Show. 44 00:01:58,475 --> 00:02:02,464 As always, I'm joined today by a wonderful content creator, Thomas Kovich. 45 00:02:03,365 --> 00:02:04,685 I don't think I butchered that. 46 00:02:04,685 --> 00:02:05,285 Too bad. 47 00:02:05,285 --> 00:02:07,984 I had to practice off air before I hit record. 48 00:02:08,164 --> 00:02:09,574 But lemme tell you a bit about. 49 00:02:09,604 --> 00:02:13,984 Thomas, so Thomas runs the Thomas custom woodworks YouTube channel as 50 00:02:13,984 --> 00:02:16,385 of recording of this episode today. 51 00:02:16,505 --> 00:02:24,995 161,000 subscribers, just over 260 videos uploaded, and a crazy big and involved 52 00:02:24,995 --> 00:02:29,315 community over on that channel where he talks about woodworking tips on a budget. 53 00:02:29,734 --> 00:02:34,144 And I, I'm just so excited when Thomas reached out to me, I just realized 54 00:02:34,415 --> 00:02:37,685 instantly, I, I didn't even have to think about it when I went to his channel. 55 00:02:37,685 --> 00:02:39,035 I said, I wanna know. 56 00:02:39,405 --> 00:02:42,494 What he's done to grow this channel, and he's been a creator for about 57 00:02:42,494 --> 00:02:46,304 five years, and it's part of his online woodworking business. 58 00:02:46,304 --> 00:02:47,714 He sells digital plans. 59 00:02:47,894 --> 00:02:51,524 He has a digital course coming out in February, affiliate revenue 60 00:02:51,524 --> 00:02:52,964 plus obviously the ad revenue. 61 00:02:53,174 --> 00:02:56,625 And so Thomas has a really good thing going and I'm really excited about 62 00:02:56,625 --> 00:02:58,394 featuring it here today on the podcast. 63 00:02:58,394 --> 00:02:59,295 So Thomas, how you doing today? 64 00:03:00,704 --> 00:03:01,245 I'm doing well. 65 00:03:01,245 --> 00:03:01,575 How are you? 66 00:03:01,575 --> 00:03:01,935 Dusty? 67 00:03:02,805 --> 00:03:03,945 Doing fantastic. 68 00:03:03,945 --> 00:03:08,295 I'm just really intrigued by your business model, your channel as a 69 00:03:08,295 --> 00:03:10,305 whole, and so let's just dive into it. 70 00:03:10,395 --> 00:03:14,115 First open question as always, what's the origin story? 71 00:03:14,175 --> 00:03:17,655 Take me back five years ago, what made you start a YouTube channel 72 00:03:17,655 --> 00:03:18,715 and how did that process go? 73 00:03:19,710 --> 00:03:27,510 Yeah, so me and my wife had just bought a house in 2019 and the house, uh, needed to 74 00:03:27,510 --> 00:03:30,750 be furnished and, uh, famous last words. 75 00:03:30,750 --> 00:03:34,260 I said, I can build that, but I had, I had no prior experience. 76 00:03:35,924 --> 00:03:39,225 And so, you know, I went down the YouTube rabbit hole, uh, did some 77 00:03:39,225 --> 00:03:43,334 research online, looked up everything, and I, uh, I, it was at the time I was 78 00:03:43,334 --> 00:03:45,285 teaching, I was a full-time PE teacher. 79 00:03:45,825 --> 00:03:49,815 And Summer had, had just started, you know, around the time that 80 00:03:49,815 --> 00:03:53,745 I was, uh, you know, thinking about getting into woodworking. 81 00:03:54,464 --> 00:03:58,605 And so I thought, you know, I have a little bit more time on my hands. 82 00:03:59,070 --> 00:04:01,050 I'm gonna start getting a few tools. 83 00:04:01,050 --> 00:04:05,550 We had just bought the house, and in the house it had a third car 84 00:04:05,670 --> 00:04:10,950 bay, but it was, it was two cars wide and then one side was two cars. 85 00:04:11,400 --> 00:04:14,725 So it actually, I, I have three walls in my. 86 00:04:15,610 --> 00:04:16,810 Garage workshop. 87 00:04:16,810 --> 00:04:18,670 It's 198 square foot shop. 88 00:04:19,000 --> 00:04:24,100 And so I had the space, we needed the furniture, and I started building 89 00:04:24,100 --> 00:04:28,960 some very, uh, you know, rudimentary beginner type furniture that my wife, 90 00:04:29,050 --> 00:04:32,620 bless her heart, said that she really liked and let having the house. 91 00:04:32,920 --> 00:04:34,600 And since then my skills have grown. 92 00:04:34,600 --> 00:04:38,260 I've gotten some more tools and, uh, it has been a very. 93 00:04:39,450 --> 00:04:44,130 Exciting creative endeavor that I have gotten myself into. 94 00:04:44,190 --> 00:04:48,150 Uh, it's just nice, you know, you, you go online, it's tough to find, 95 00:04:48,150 --> 00:04:52,530 you know, the perfect nightstand, the perfect size, the perfect. 96 00:04:52,770 --> 00:04:54,270 And so the nice thing about, or. 97 00:04:54,549 --> 00:04:55,869 The perfect coffee table. 98 00:04:56,020 --> 00:05:00,070 So the nice thing about woodworking, you can build the exact dimensions, the 99 00:05:00,070 --> 00:05:03,909 exact style, the exact color, the exact wood that you want, which is really nice. 100 00:05:03,909 --> 00:05:06,880 So it's just a creative, a great creative outlet. 101 00:05:07,299 --> 00:05:10,270 And I started my YouTube channel around the same time, I believe 102 00:05:10,270 --> 00:05:14,109 in 2020, and it was just sort of a, Hey, here's what I'm doing. 103 00:05:14,109 --> 00:05:15,640 Kind of learn with me kind of a deal. 104 00:05:16,080 --> 00:05:22,170 And, uh, it has grown into, uh, a, a niche that is more workshop furniture. 105 00:05:22,170 --> 00:05:25,020 I still, you know, build the stuff for my house and build the stuff 106 00:05:25,020 --> 00:05:30,900 for, for friends and family, but it is a lot of workshop furniture, 107 00:05:30,900 --> 00:05:33,060 workshop jigs, setting up a workshop. 108 00:05:33,090 --> 00:05:36,660 It's more workshop focused, and that's what all the plans that I 109 00:05:36,660 --> 00:05:42,390 sell are, uh, are all, you know, workshop furniture to help you build 110 00:05:42,690 --> 00:05:44,220 a workshop you can really be proud of. 111 00:05:45,150 --> 00:05:46,350 So, wait a minute. 112 00:05:46,350 --> 00:05:51,780 You had no experience in woodworking before the channel and kind of 113 00:05:51,780 --> 00:05:54,990 you starting this venture of your wife, letting you make some of 114 00:05:54,990 --> 00:05:57,000 this kind of mismatch furniture. 115 00:05:57,060 --> 00:06:00,300 Th this was something that was a new venture for you alongside 116 00:06:00,300 --> 00:06:02,040 YouTube being a new venture, right? 117 00:06:02,730 --> 00:06:03,300 Yes. 118 00:06:03,390 --> 00:06:03,780 Yeah. 119 00:06:03,960 --> 00:06:05,340 Th this was a new venture. 120 00:06:05,340 --> 00:06:09,300 I tell on the website that my, my upcoming courses on, in my bio, I 121 00:06:09,300 --> 00:06:12,780 actually say, you know, right out of college, I didn't even know. 122 00:06:13,859 --> 00:06:17,880 You know, what button to press on a drill to make it going forward and reverse. 123 00:06:17,880 --> 00:06:19,500 You know, that was maybe 15 years ago. 124 00:06:19,740 --> 00:06:23,789 And so, yeah, I had embarrassingly no knowledge, uh, long time ago. 125 00:06:23,789 --> 00:06:26,669 And then I sort of, you know, as I got a little older outta college, 126 00:06:26,669 --> 00:06:29,880 I got a little bit more experience, but nothing in the woodworking realm 127 00:06:30,359 --> 00:06:33,659 in terms of like building furniture and making things outta wood. 128 00:06:33,825 --> 00:06:34,245 But yeah. 129 00:06:34,265 --> 00:06:38,549 And then before, this is really actually my second YouTube channel. 130 00:06:38,549 --> 00:06:40,680 I haven't really, I don't really tell a lot of people. 131 00:06:40,680 --> 00:06:44,325 I had a. Had a, I've been a personal trainer for about 132 00:06:44,325 --> 00:06:46,065 13 years and I still do that. 133 00:06:46,065 --> 00:06:47,864 That's about 20% of my total income. 134 00:06:48,135 --> 00:06:53,445 But I had a fitness YouTube channel, which I don't think is any longer on YouTube, 135 00:06:53,445 --> 00:06:56,835 but I had, I must have had, you know, I had less than a hundred subscribers. 136 00:06:56,955 --> 00:06:58,275 This is sort of something I did for fun. 137 00:06:58,275 --> 00:06:58,934 This is really my. 138 00:06:59,085 --> 00:07:02,924 First YouTube channel that I believe it started in 2020 139 00:07:02,924 --> 00:07:05,055 that I really did my research. 140 00:07:05,145 --> 00:07:07,995 I'm still learning, obviously I'm still making a lot of mistakes, but this 141 00:07:07,995 --> 00:07:13,575 is, I'm really trying to, to, um, do this YouTube channel, uh, uh, right. 142 00:07:13,575 --> 00:07:16,965 So I had, you know, a tiny bit of experience with the YouTube, not much. 143 00:07:17,234 --> 00:07:20,325 And then, yeah, basically no experience woodworking prior to 144 00:07:20,325 --> 00:07:24,734 buying the house and, and starting, right, you know, 20 19, 20 20. 145 00:07:27,030 --> 00:07:31,980 Are you a full-time entrepreneur now as far as doing the personal training 146 00:07:32,010 --> 00:07:33,600 and then the woodworking stuff? 147 00:07:33,660 --> 00:07:37,590 Is that, I mean, I assume, are you no longer a PE teacher is what I'm asking? 148 00:07:38,865 --> 00:07:39,345 Correct. 149 00:07:39,345 --> 00:07:39,645 Yeah. 150 00:07:39,645 --> 00:07:43,935 So when the woodworking business started growing, maybe two years 151 00:07:43,935 --> 00:07:46,005 ago, I stopped being a PE teacher. 152 00:07:46,005 --> 00:07:49,065 We had just had our first child and, you know, when I was teaching 153 00:07:49,065 --> 00:07:51,375 and then personal training and then doing a little woodworking. 154 00:07:51,375 --> 00:07:57,015 And so I would basically, long story short, I, I'd go to work before my, uh. 155 00:07:57,465 --> 00:07:59,595 At the time we had just the one daughter. 156 00:07:59,595 --> 00:08:00,225 Now we have two. 157 00:08:00,225 --> 00:08:03,735 But at the time we had the one, I'd go to work, my daughter was still asleep. 158 00:08:04,305 --> 00:08:07,125 I would come home from work, uh, teaching and personal training. 159 00:08:07,365 --> 00:08:10,785 My daughter was put to bed and I thought, well, that's not gonna work. 160 00:08:10,785 --> 00:08:13,305 I wanna, you know, I wanna, uh, see my child. 161 00:08:13,545 --> 00:08:17,775 So I. Luckily, the woodworking business is growing, which I do 162 00:08:17,775 --> 00:08:19,544 from home in my garage workshop. 163 00:08:19,604 --> 00:08:21,734 And so I stopped being a PE teacher. 164 00:08:21,734 --> 00:08:23,895 So now I still do the personal training. 165 00:08:23,895 --> 00:08:26,145 That's about 20% of my total income. 166 00:08:26,565 --> 00:08:31,185 And then, you know, 80% of my, my total income is the woodworking business, 167 00:08:31,185 --> 00:08:35,834 which is the, the YouTube plans, Amazon affiliate, kind of all the 168 00:08:35,834 --> 00:08:37,334 things which I'm sure I'll go into. 169 00:08:37,334 --> 00:08:40,755 But yeah, I'm no longer a full-time junior, high PE teacher. 170 00:08:41,564 --> 00:08:42,309 What was the. 171 00:08:43,079 --> 00:08:48,329 Moment that you realized that this was something that you could do full-time 172 00:08:48,329 --> 00:08:52,530 and it wasn't something that you just were going to do as a hobby or something 173 00:08:52,530 --> 00:08:53,760 that you were gonna do just part-time? 174 00:08:54,540 --> 00:08:59,730 Well, it wasn't, when I saw my first AdSense check, I'll tell you that I 175 00:08:59,730 --> 00:09:02,670 am not one of the AdSense creators that sort of, I know they're, 176 00:09:02,670 --> 00:09:06,420 they're out there absolutely, but I am not the one that makes the 177 00:09:06,420 --> 00:09:08,250 majority of their income from sense. 178 00:09:08,250 --> 00:09:11,069 It's a, it's a fairly small piece of the pie. 179 00:09:11,069 --> 00:09:12,600 So I really started. 180 00:09:13,095 --> 00:09:17,685 When the plan sales, which is the majority of my woodworking income selling, uh, 181 00:09:17,715 --> 00:09:22,605 digital plans on how to build workshop furniture, when that started growing and 182 00:09:22,605 --> 00:09:26,835 taking off a little bit, I thought this could be a thing where I, where I can 183 00:09:26,865 --> 00:09:30,975 be home more and work on the woodworking business and it can, you know, more than 184 00:09:30,975 --> 00:09:33,550 replace the PE teacher income and I can. 185 00:09:34,305 --> 00:09:39,225 Do this almost full time, which was, which was nice because I started 186 00:09:40,275 --> 00:09:42,525 with selling physical products. 187 00:09:42,525 --> 00:09:45,225 When I started woodworking, I thought, Hey, you know, I'm making cutting 188 00:09:45,225 --> 00:09:49,125 boards, uh, you know, charcuterie boards, serving trays, things like that. 189 00:09:49,995 --> 00:09:54,105 So I started with that and in the first three months of, of selling 190 00:09:54,105 --> 00:09:56,175 those items, I had, uh, two. 191 00:09:56,610 --> 00:10:01,829 Sales total, which was not great when you have a family, which, uh, which 192 00:10:01,829 --> 00:10:06,270 taught me my first lesson in kind of the woodworking, YouTube, uh, uh, business 193 00:10:06,270 --> 00:10:08,490 area, which was listen to your audience. 194 00:10:08,490 --> 00:10:12,660 A lot of my YouTube audience and other social media audiences, other woodworkers. 195 00:10:13,045 --> 00:10:17,545 So when I was promoting my, my products and they were not doing well, 196 00:10:17,545 --> 00:10:21,175 I started, I took a step back and I thought, why are these not doing well? 197 00:10:21,235 --> 00:10:25,705 And I concluded a lot of my audiences, other woodworkers who could make the 198 00:10:25,705 --> 00:10:30,835 stuff I was making, the cutting boards, the serving trays, all the little, little 199 00:10:30,835 --> 00:10:34,135 stuff that I was doing furniture, I was trying to promote some, some furniture. 200 00:10:34,585 --> 00:10:35,665 And so then I started. 201 00:10:36,585 --> 00:10:37,095 Thinking, huh? 202 00:10:37,095 --> 00:10:37,635 What should I do? 203 00:10:37,635 --> 00:10:41,265 And I, I was just thinking about it for a while and, and while I was thinking 204 00:10:41,265 --> 00:10:45,585 about it, I was making workshop furniture for my, for my workshop, and I would 205 00:10:45,585 --> 00:10:48,615 get these messages, comments, emails. 206 00:10:48,675 --> 00:10:53,805 They, people would ask me if I had plans for this furniture and I would say no. 207 00:10:53,805 --> 00:10:56,145 And I would even tell them like other people who sold plans. 208 00:10:56,145 --> 00:10:57,405 And I did this for a couple months. 209 00:10:57,855 --> 00:11:00,675 And then finally I thought Thomas, it just clicked. 210 00:11:00,675 --> 00:11:02,415 I thought maybe you should make plans. 211 00:11:02,475 --> 00:11:06,315 People ask you for plans instead of saying, no, maybe you make the plans. 212 00:11:06,315 --> 00:11:09,525 And so I started making plans and that started growing. 213 00:11:10,380 --> 00:11:14,400 And then, uh, started growing enough where I could, uh, I could, uh, turn this 214 00:11:14,400 --> 00:11:17,400 into a, a large part of my, my business. 215 00:11:18,150 --> 00:11:23,670 So the moment that you realize that the audience was built on more woodworkers 216 00:11:23,670 --> 00:11:27,900 and not necessarily people who were interested in watching someone do 217 00:11:27,900 --> 00:11:32,069 woodworking, and you niched down to that target demographic, what were 218 00:11:32,069 --> 00:11:36,210 the changes that you saw as far as analytics wise and everything in between? 219 00:11:36,915 --> 00:11:39,945 Yeah, I saw a lot on my YouTube channel where before I was 220 00:11:39,945 --> 00:11:41,415 kind of all over the place. 221 00:11:41,430 --> 00:11:45,465 It, it was really helpful because, at least for me, I, I don't wanna speak 222 00:11:45,465 --> 00:11:48,465 for everyone because I know people have different successes in different 223 00:11:48,465 --> 00:11:53,175 areas, but for me, niching down really helped because it, it gave me direction. 224 00:11:53,175 --> 00:11:56,665 And then I think my audience, I, it just felt like my audience and. 225 00:11:57,345 --> 00:12:00,165 Also had a kind of an idea of what I was making. 226 00:12:00,165 --> 00:12:02,865 Instead of one day I would do a, I do a tool review. 227 00:12:02,865 --> 00:12:06,944 The next day I was making a, a kind of, a high end is a strong word, 228 00:12:06,944 --> 00:12:09,074 but a kind of a nicer indoor desk. 229 00:12:09,074 --> 00:12:12,915 And then I was making a TV console table, and then I was making a table saw, you 230 00:12:12,915 --> 00:12:14,775 know, jig or accessory for the workshop. 231 00:12:15,015 --> 00:12:18,855 So, uh, in the analytics, I saw my views go up, which was nice. 232 00:12:19,245 --> 00:12:23,175 I think it gave me some direction in terms of what. 233 00:12:23,910 --> 00:12:28,740 I was going to make videos on where kind of, it was just an open 234 00:12:28,740 --> 00:12:32,070 slate, kind of a, a clean slate. 235 00:12:32,070 --> 00:12:35,940 Before it was, you know, it was a, a blank canvas and I had no direction. 236 00:12:36,360 --> 00:12:41,220 Where now I was like, okay, my niche is workshop, the workshop, 237 00:12:41,220 --> 00:12:45,360 furniture, maybe tools in the workshop, uh, furniture, jigs, 238 00:12:45,360 --> 00:12:47,130 things that help you with your tools. 239 00:12:47,130 --> 00:12:50,495 Kind of anything that will help you as a woodworker, but also help your workshop. 240 00:12:51,085 --> 00:12:53,485 And so that really helped. 241 00:12:53,485 --> 00:12:58,045 And I could see that in my, my audience, you know, my, my pe my audience 242 00:12:58,045 --> 00:13:00,115 was, was watching the videos longer. 243 00:13:00,115 --> 00:13:01,585 They weren't kicking out as fast. 244 00:13:02,005 --> 00:13:04,345 They were, my views were going up. 245 00:13:04,345 --> 00:13:05,575 They were more consistent. 246 00:13:05,575 --> 00:13:06,625 That was a big one. 247 00:13:06,685 --> 00:13:10,345 You know, I think before when I was making, I would make one on 248 00:13:10,345 --> 00:13:13,585 a, uh, I made one on a folding work, uh, a video on a folding 249 00:13:13,585 --> 00:13:15,895 workbench, which did well, and then. 250 00:13:16,575 --> 00:13:19,755 You know, I had another video that didn't have anything to do with the workshop, 251 00:13:19,755 --> 00:13:21,075 and then the views were back down. 252 00:13:21,075 --> 00:13:23,865 So I, the views were more consistent, which, which really helped. 253 00:13:23,865 --> 00:13:30,165 So for me, niching down really was a, a bonus in terms of my channel. 254 00:13:30,165 --> 00:13:31,755 And I think the audience felt it. 255 00:13:31,755 --> 00:13:36,645 I heard the, I've heard the, uh, people talk about, it's like going to 256 00:13:36,645 --> 00:13:39,915 a restaurant, you know, if you go to a burger place and you like their burgers, 257 00:13:39,915 --> 00:13:43,635 but then one day you go in and they have, you know, burritos, you know. 258 00:13:44,325 --> 00:13:48,855 They might not come back if you just never know what's what they're gonna have. 259 00:13:48,855 --> 00:13:51,105 Kinda like, well it's all food, right? 260 00:13:51,105 --> 00:13:52,005 Burritos and burgers. 261 00:13:52,005 --> 00:13:52,185 Yeah. 262 00:13:52,185 --> 00:13:55,005 But people wanna know and exactly what they're getting. 263 00:13:55,005 --> 00:13:56,625 And I kind of like that frame of thought. 264 00:13:56,625 --> 00:13:58,935 And I think that's really helped me, you know, when they come into my 265 00:13:58,935 --> 00:14:04,815 channel, it's not gonna be somebody renovating a, you know, a loft in 266 00:14:04,815 --> 00:14:08,505 their house and then another time it's gonna be building a workbench and then 267 00:14:08,775 --> 00:14:10,455 another time they're sculpting up. 268 00:14:10,500 --> 00:14:14,220 Project outta wood, it's all working with wood, but I think for my channel 269 00:14:14,220 --> 00:14:19,350 it's helped to, to niche down a little more on, uh, on the workshop as a whole. 270 00:14:20,280 --> 00:14:22,140 Yeah, I I, I love that. 271 00:14:22,200 --> 00:14:23,910 And it, it really to me. 272 00:14:24,285 --> 00:14:28,755 It's about, that's when you can lean into, okay, now that I know who I'm 273 00:14:28,755 --> 00:14:33,345 speaking to, you have no qualms about, well, what kind of videos am I creating? 274 00:14:33,345 --> 00:14:35,265 What videos do I put on my idea list? 275 00:14:35,265 --> 00:14:36,795 You, you don't have to worry about all that. 276 00:14:36,795 --> 00:14:40,125 It really eliminates a lot of that resistance, uh, that a lot 277 00:14:40,125 --> 00:14:43,755 of creators deal with, of honestly one of the main things creators 278 00:14:43,755 --> 00:14:44,955 have the hardest time with. 279 00:14:44,955 --> 00:14:47,625 And I work with creators every week, almost every day. 280 00:14:47,895 --> 00:14:50,475 And I, in the days that I don't work with them, I'm interviewing 281 00:14:50,475 --> 00:14:51,735 them like I am today with you. 282 00:14:52,395 --> 00:14:55,995 Is figuring out who their, who their audience is, because they'll 283 00:14:55,995 --> 00:14:58,215 just throw a whole bunch of stuff at the wall and see what sticks. 284 00:14:58,215 --> 00:15:01,725 And that never works on YouTube and it's not going to work going forward. 285 00:15:01,725 --> 00:15:03,945 Now I have to ask you this, Thomas. 286 00:15:03,945 --> 00:15:08,655 I look at your channel and I see that you have it posted a YouTube 287 00:15:08,655 --> 00:15:10,155 short in about three months. 288 00:15:10,515 --> 00:15:16,305 So I wanna ask you about that format of content You are getting averaging 289 00:15:16,305 --> 00:15:18,285 30 to a hundred thousand views. 290 00:15:18,660 --> 00:15:20,850 Some upwards of half a million views. 291 00:15:21,210 --> 00:15:24,750 What made you decide to lean in more on long form? 292 00:15:24,750 --> 00:15:26,100 Is it more of a time thing? 293 00:15:26,430 --> 00:15:28,170 If you had time, would you do short form? 294 00:15:28,470 --> 00:15:31,710 Give me your opinion on short form and hang what it has done for your channel. 295 00:15:32,370 --> 00:15:37,709 Yeah, I think the short form is actually great for, for starting, uh, a channel. 296 00:15:37,709 --> 00:15:42,329 For me at least, what I saw with the short form and how I view it now, we'll 297 00:15:42,329 --> 00:15:44,640 start with how I, how I used it before. 298 00:15:44,640 --> 00:15:46,949 I was having a lot of trouble getting subscribers. 299 00:15:47,520 --> 00:15:51,630 That sort of was taking the longest I get, you know, I have some videos pop off 300 00:15:51,630 --> 00:15:55,109 and do well and then I would have trouble getting that subscriber number to come. 301 00:15:56,520 --> 00:16:00,900 And so I found shorts was really helpful with getting subscribers. 302 00:16:00,900 --> 00:16:04,260 I was able to grow my subscriber base a lot with shorts 303 00:16:04,290 --> 00:16:05,670 'cause there's a, a little. 304 00:16:06,480 --> 00:16:10,349 I found it a little easier to get views and I could crank out more of 305 00:16:10,349 --> 00:16:12,300 'em because they were shorter videos. 306 00:16:12,689 --> 00:16:17,339 Now, I also know that subscribers don't really matter a ton in 307 00:16:17,339 --> 00:16:18,569 the grand scheme of things. 308 00:16:18,569 --> 00:16:19,740 It's more about views. 309 00:16:20,010 --> 00:16:22,290 The brands want to see a high view count. 310 00:16:22,620 --> 00:16:26,400 You know, you get more eyeballs on your products when you have higher view count. 311 00:16:26,910 --> 00:16:31,020 Having a high subscriber base does not necessarily mean you'll get high views, 312 00:16:31,380 --> 00:16:33,390 and so you'll get more AdSense with views. 313 00:16:33,540 --> 00:16:35,610 You know, the subscriber doesn't really help. 314 00:16:35,939 --> 00:16:42,750 Except, I will say, my thinking is, let's say a brand at just, they, they have, 315 00:16:42,780 --> 00:16:44,370 they're looking at a lot of channels. 316 00:16:44,699 --> 00:16:46,829 Maybe they, a brand doesn't have a ton of time. 317 00:16:47,099 --> 00:16:49,050 They just have time to look at a few metrics. 318 00:16:49,229 --> 00:16:54,089 I think having a channel with a higher subscriber rate base could potentially 319 00:16:54,540 --> 00:17:00,540 help put a, uh, you know, a feeling in that brand's mind of confidence. 320 00:17:01,470 --> 00:17:04,890 That they wanna work with you, if that, if that subscriber number is 321 00:17:04,890 --> 00:17:08,910 higher, let's say they're thinking between, oh, this person has a similar 322 00:17:08,910 --> 00:17:13,440 amount of views as this person, but this, uh, you know, person A has a 323 00:17:13,440 --> 00:17:18,360 hundred thousand subscribers, person B has, you know, 4,000 subscribers, 324 00:17:18,810 --> 00:17:22,200 uh, might as well go with person a with a hundred thousand subscribers. 325 00:17:22,200 --> 00:17:24,690 So the, the shorts help me get the subscribers. 326 00:17:25,170 --> 00:17:30,090 The reason I don't do a ton now is I just don't know if it. 327 00:17:30,554 --> 00:17:33,044 Messes with my long form views. 328 00:17:33,044 --> 00:17:36,824 If it helps my long form views, if it hurts it, I know sort of 329 00:17:36,824 --> 00:17:40,455 the end game with the audience I want to grow is more longer form. 330 00:17:40,455 --> 00:17:45,495 I feel like maybe those people are, have a higher chance of buying my 331 00:17:45,495 --> 00:17:51,284 products, of being a bigger, you know, for lack of a better term, fan of 332 00:17:51,284 --> 00:17:53,745 the channel, more connected with me. 333 00:17:53,745 --> 00:17:56,084 I have a better chance of building more community. 334 00:17:56,490 --> 00:18:00,540 With the, the longer form viewers, which, which I really 335 00:18:00,540 --> 00:18:02,520 love the community on YouTube. 336 00:18:03,255 --> 00:18:05,565 So I've actually created a second channel. 337 00:18:05,805 --> 00:18:10,095 I'm still posting a fair amount of shorts on Thomas custom woodwork shorts. 338 00:18:10,095 --> 00:18:13,665 It's a very creative name, and so I, I do post shorts on that channel 339 00:18:13,875 --> 00:18:15,945 because I have these short form videos. 340 00:18:16,005 --> 00:18:19,275 Uh uh, I post a lot on Instagram, TikTok. 341 00:18:19,715 --> 00:18:23,975 Because again, I do have some, some products that I sell and, and it's 342 00:18:23,975 --> 00:18:26,014 quicker to make these shorter videos. 343 00:18:26,014 --> 00:18:30,215 So, and I enjoy creating the shorter videos, so I don't want to stop 344 00:18:30,215 --> 00:18:32,524 doing that as part of the marketing. 345 00:18:32,524 --> 00:18:32,824 Yes. 346 00:18:32,824 --> 00:18:34,925 But even the community on Instagram is great. 347 00:18:35,435 --> 00:18:40,534 So I do still make short, uh, content, vertical content, 30 to 60 seconds. 348 00:18:40,774 --> 00:18:44,254 I just now put those on a second YouTube channel. 349 00:18:45,405 --> 00:18:45,795 Yeah. 350 00:18:45,795 --> 00:18:50,325 The reason why I ask is because I'm doing somewhat of an experiment. 351 00:18:50,325 --> 00:18:54,645 Well, it started as an experiment, but I made a decision when we had the 352 00:18:54,645 --> 00:18:58,845 triplets that I was going to start a family channel, and I wasn't gonna do 353 00:18:58,845 --> 00:19:02,190 long form because I didn't have the time I was gonna open up, you know, a TikTok. 354 00:19:02,925 --> 00:19:07,335 A YouTube channel, but I was gonna do vertical video and I'm about 30 to 40 355 00:19:07,335 --> 00:19:10,635 days in and across all the platforms. 356 00:19:10,665 --> 00:19:16,305 I think I'm at around like 70,000 followers already, and we're talking 12 357 00:19:16,305 --> 00:19:18,735 to 15 million views across all my videos. 358 00:19:18,825 --> 00:19:24,405 And so I'm learning how to tell stories in a different format, but I've realized 359 00:19:24,405 --> 00:19:28,365 that vertical video and short form content is not made for all different types 360 00:19:28,365 --> 00:19:30,075 of channels like my tutorial channel. 361 00:19:30,629 --> 00:19:33,689 I've tinkered with some stuff and, and things of the nature and, and I'm 362 00:19:33,689 --> 00:19:37,020 gonna do some down the road 'cause I do think there's benefits to a certain 363 00:19:37,020 --> 00:19:42,570 degree, but that channel really thrives with long form video, educational 364 00:19:42,570 --> 00:19:46,110 style commentary by myself as I'm showcasing stuff on the screencast. 365 00:19:46,590 --> 00:19:50,580 So really learning and it's kind of helped me sharpen my skillset of 366 00:19:50,745 --> 00:19:53,159 becoming a storyteller and learning how to edit short form, and I'm 367 00:19:53,159 --> 00:19:54,629 having a whole lot of fun with it. 368 00:19:55,139 --> 00:19:57,840 And so I'm gonna be able to report back here on the podcast, so it's 369 00:19:57,840 --> 00:20:01,740 good to hear you say that and kind of how, how you've diversified 370 00:20:01,740 --> 00:20:03,120 and you've kind of segmented it. 371 00:20:03,149 --> 00:20:05,970 You're putting your short form here, where it lives and 372 00:20:05,970 --> 00:20:07,170 where you think it can thrive. 373 00:20:07,379 --> 00:20:10,560 And then you're really leaning into where the bread is buttered on the main 374 00:20:10,560 --> 00:20:12,240 channel, which is the long form content. 375 00:20:12,689 --> 00:20:16,889 Now let's talk about the strategy of the channel design. 376 00:20:17,340 --> 00:20:20,520 When I go to your channel, it's super clean. 377 00:20:20,850 --> 00:20:22,139 There's not much fluff. 378 00:20:22,199 --> 00:20:26,699 The packaging is super simple, yet super intuitive of knowing 379 00:20:26,699 --> 00:20:28,050 what the video is about. 380 00:20:28,379 --> 00:20:32,219 Can you talk about how you've settled on a thumbnail and title styling 381 00:20:32,909 --> 00:20:36,209 as far as the channel now, and kind of how it's evolved over time? 382 00:20:36,960 --> 00:20:37,290 Yeah. 383 00:20:37,290 --> 00:20:40,560 So I mean, podcasts like this has really helped other podcasts 384 00:20:40,560 --> 00:20:41,910 doing some research online. 385 00:20:41,910 --> 00:20:45,750 But I, I've settled into a style that is very simple in terms of a thumbnail. 386 00:20:45,840 --> 00:20:50,490 There is one thing kind of going on, and I try to put in a little curiosity 387 00:20:50,490 --> 00:20:51,840 with a thumbnail in the title. 388 00:20:51,840 --> 00:20:55,830 So they, they, I don't wanna make it so curious that they 389 00:20:55,830 --> 00:20:57,990 have no idea what's going on. 390 00:20:57,990 --> 00:20:59,340 I did that a little bit. 391 00:20:59,340 --> 00:21:01,740 I, I didn't find that it, that it worked as well. 392 00:21:01,740 --> 00:21:01,889 I, you know. 393 00:21:03,060 --> 00:21:07,020 I want them to have some idea of what's going on instead of a, you know, a 394 00:21:07,020 --> 00:21:10,680 thumbnail of just my workshop and then a title that says, don't do this. 395 00:21:11,130 --> 00:21:16,500 You know, I, for my, for my style, I like a little more in terms of what's going on. 396 00:21:17,610 --> 00:21:19,560 And so my thumbnail very simple. 397 00:21:19,620 --> 00:21:25,050 Let's say I did one a video that did well a little while ago on drawer slides. 398 00:21:25,080 --> 00:21:28,890 It was, the thumbnail was of me pulling out a drawer very 399 00:21:28,890 --> 00:21:31,050 close up so they could see. 400 00:21:31,725 --> 00:21:33,105 It's a drawer. 401 00:21:33,105 --> 00:21:36,405 There's something going on with building drawers, with an arrow 402 00:21:36,405 --> 00:21:38,895 pointing at where the slide is. 403 00:21:39,330 --> 00:21:44,010 The wooden drawer slide, which the video was kind of about saving money, not buying 404 00:21:44,010 --> 00:21:48,060 metal drawer slides, but you couldn't really see the wooden drawer slides. 405 00:21:48,060 --> 00:21:51,420 Just an arrow pointing to that area of the drawer opening. 406 00:21:51,690 --> 00:21:56,640 And then I think the title was something like, you know, stop buying drawer slides. 407 00:21:57,030 --> 00:22:00,300 And so I'd like to have a sense of curiosity without 408 00:22:00,300 --> 00:22:02,400 making it so much curiosity. 409 00:22:02,400 --> 00:22:03,660 They have no idea what it is. 410 00:22:03,960 --> 00:22:04,050 So. 411 00:22:04,555 --> 00:22:07,945 Even though there is some curiosity in that video, for example, they 412 00:22:07,945 --> 00:22:08,905 can see it's about a drawer. 413 00:22:09,945 --> 00:22:13,245 They can see it's about a drawer slide 'cause that was in the title, 414 00:22:13,695 --> 00:22:15,225 but there's still some curiosity. 415 00:22:15,285 --> 00:22:17,535 Why should I not buy drawer slides? 416 00:22:17,625 --> 00:22:18,885 Are drawer slides bad? 417 00:22:18,945 --> 00:22:19,995 Are they too expensive? 418 00:22:20,024 --> 00:22:22,095 I mean, it was, I don't know if that was the exact title, but 419 00:22:22,095 --> 00:22:23,145 it was something around that. 420 00:22:23,145 --> 00:22:25,245 So that's sort of the style that I've settled into. 421 00:22:26,054 --> 00:22:32,445 And I like the idea of having some sort of similarity and cohesiveness 422 00:22:32,445 --> 00:22:35,264 in the thumbnails, especially the thumbnails titles are good too, 423 00:22:35,264 --> 00:22:36,435 but especially the thumbnails. 424 00:22:36,824 --> 00:22:38,264 I heard this a little while ago. 425 00:22:38,625 --> 00:22:41,834 You know, it's kind of nice if somebody looks at a thumbnail and thinks, 426 00:22:42,405 --> 00:22:44,205 oh, that's Thomas custom woodworks. 427 00:22:44,205 --> 00:22:45,344 I don't know if that happens. 428 00:22:45,945 --> 00:22:48,225 Uh, but I like the idea of that. 429 00:22:48,225 --> 00:22:51,885 If somebody sees immediately, oh, I like his videos. 430 00:22:52,304 --> 00:22:55,245 That I can just tell that's one of his thumbnails. 431 00:22:55,605 --> 00:22:57,554 Let me click on that instead of another one. 432 00:22:57,554 --> 00:22:59,504 That's sort of the idea behind it as well. 433 00:22:59,715 --> 00:23:02,534 I also like to have, you know, the lighting pretty, uh, pretty good. 434 00:23:02,534 --> 00:23:04,395 So simple to the point. 435 00:23:04,395 --> 00:23:09,570 One thing going on in the thumbnail, I. And then, uh, a descriptor in the 436 00:23:09,570 --> 00:23:11,850 title and thumbnail with some curiosity. 437 00:23:11,850 --> 00:23:13,800 I can't give everything away. 438 00:23:13,800 --> 00:23:18,120 I mean, just from a psychology standpoint, it's just if they already have the answer 439 00:23:18,270 --> 00:23:22,980 when looking at the thumbnail and title, there just won't be, even if it could 440 00:23:22,980 --> 00:23:25,169 be really useful, they may not click. 441 00:23:25,815 --> 00:23:26,475 On the video. 442 00:23:26,475 --> 00:23:32,265 So that is, again, I'm still a very much work in progress with my channel, but that 443 00:23:32,265 --> 00:23:35,235 is my ideas in terms of the packaging. 444 00:23:35,295 --> 00:23:38,805 Interrupt the show just briefly to tell you about two different things. 445 00:23:38,805 --> 00:23:41,745 First is our YouTube channel review service. 446 00:23:41,925 --> 00:23:46,335 For $50, you get access to myself and my opinions on your channel. 447 00:23:46,365 --> 00:23:49,185 I record a Screencast video telling you where I believe you should be 448 00:23:49,185 --> 00:23:51,045 putting your time as a creator. 449 00:23:51,255 --> 00:23:54,195 And then lastly, we do offer the mastermind group. 450 00:23:54,354 --> 00:23:58,764 I record an exclusive podcast episode for those folks over there every Friday. 451 00:23:59,004 --> 00:24:01,705 You also get access to our mastermind calls, our creator 452 00:24:01,705 --> 00:24:03,534 led calls, our creator forums. 453 00:24:03,774 --> 00:24:07,524 It is probably the best money you can spend in the creator space. 454 00:24:07,554 --> 00:24:09,745 With that said, let's go ahead and get back to the interview. 455 00:24:09,774 --> 00:24:15,955 Are you using any AI tools to help you along the way, or are you just 456 00:24:15,955 --> 00:24:20,395 kind of winging it as far as not using the latest and greatest? 457 00:24:21,090 --> 00:24:25,800 Yeah, I am not using as much as other people and that I probably should, 458 00:24:25,800 --> 00:24:32,130 I do have it, I usually have it for some, some idea generation of titles. 459 00:24:32,550 --> 00:24:37,050 Um, you know, I'll have, usually I'll tell 'em what the, what the video's about, 460 00:24:37,560 --> 00:24:39,030 uh, or what I think it's gonna be about. 461 00:24:39,030 --> 00:24:43,020 I try and create my title and thumbnail before I start filming the video, so 462 00:24:43,020 --> 00:24:44,670 there can be some cohesiveness there. 463 00:24:45,090 --> 00:24:49,260 But, uh, I will have it, gimme some ideas, sort of quick ideas, and then, 464 00:24:49,980 --> 00:24:54,120 uh, I'll sort of pick one or two that I like and I'll tweak it myself and I'll 465 00:24:54,120 --> 00:24:55,800 say, gimme some more ideas like this. 466 00:24:55,980 --> 00:25:00,899 So I don't use any AI in terms of creating the thumbnail. 467 00:25:00,960 --> 00:25:04,555 I use some ai just chat GPT at the moment. 468 00:25:05,610 --> 00:25:10,830 For idea generation, sometimes for the video, but mainly for the titles in 469 00:25:10,830 --> 00:25:12,720 terms of just getting ideas flowing. 470 00:25:13,200 --> 00:25:17,640 For my business, I use AI for a, for the title generation for YouTube, 471 00:25:17,640 --> 00:25:22,290 but in a business in general, a lot of writing and outline tasks for the 472 00:25:22,290 --> 00:25:26,130 course that I am coming out with, I use it a lot for creating the outline. 473 00:25:26,480 --> 00:25:29,300 Took it takes a long time to prompt it and then I tweak it. 474 00:25:29,570 --> 00:25:33,230 So it still takes, it's not like it takes zero minutes, but when I use it 475 00:25:33,230 --> 00:25:38,150 to write things or create outlines or create rough drafts of things, it just 476 00:25:38,150 --> 00:25:41,090 take for writing tasks for myself. 477 00:25:41,180 --> 00:25:46,400 It, you know, it might take the, the task from an hour down to 20 minutes. 478 00:25:46,940 --> 00:25:48,560 And so that's a real time saver. 479 00:25:48,560 --> 00:25:51,290 So, so that's sort of where I'm using AI at the moment. 480 00:25:52,100 --> 00:25:56,000 And you mentioned that you do a lot of the thumbnail. 481 00:25:56,370 --> 00:25:59,070 The packaging before you record. 482 00:25:59,070 --> 00:26:02,070 So do you have a running list of ideas? 483 00:26:02,159 --> 00:26:03,570 I mean, I would assume it's endless, right? 484 00:26:03,570 --> 00:26:05,970 Because you could make all the, the things and that you could 485 00:26:06,060 --> 00:26:07,169 think of with woodworking. 486 00:26:07,169 --> 00:26:09,330 So how does that process work? 487 00:26:09,480 --> 00:26:12,120 Does it go from ideation, from a list of ideas? 488 00:26:12,389 --> 00:26:17,340 And then once you have, you know, set on a topic or a title of a video, it 489 00:26:17,340 --> 00:26:20,700 moves over to the next phase, which then is you designing the thumbnail. 490 00:26:20,939 --> 00:26:22,169 How does that process work? 491 00:26:23,520 --> 00:26:24,900 It's like you've looked at my Google Doc. 492 00:26:24,900 --> 00:26:25,110 Yeah. 493 00:26:25,110 --> 00:26:29,700 So I, I have a whole list of ideas, ton of ideas, but it's important for 494 00:26:29,700 --> 00:26:34,260 me to have to, to make sure those I I, that that, uh, document is fluid. 495 00:26:34,440 --> 00:26:37,020 So I have ideas I think will work, and I have a ton of 'em. 496 00:26:37,020 --> 00:26:42,120 And every time I think of an idea, I put it on the list, but I, it has to 497 00:26:42,120 --> 00:26:43,890 be fluid because if I make a video. 498 00:26:44,700 --> 00:26:50,040 I think I had one video idea about drawer slides, and so then I made the video. 499 00:26:50,040 --> 00:26:51,000 It did really well. 500 00:26:51,240 --> 00:26:54,510 Well, I can't just keep doing the list of ideas that I had. 501 00:26:54,540 --> 00:26:57,120 I created some more ideas that were different, of course, 502 00:26:57,360 --> 00:26:58,680 but also about drawer slides. 503 00:26:58,680 --> 00:27:02,070 Similarly, I had a folding workbench video Do well, saves a 504 00:27:02,070 --> 00:27:03,720 lot of space folding workbench. 505 00:27:04,800 --> 00:27:06,660 And so, oh, that video did well. 506 00:27:06,780 --> 00:27:07,770 I keep the list fluid. 507 00:27:07,770 --> 00:27:11,550 Let me come up with some ideas of maybe space saving furniture, 508 00:27:11,580 --> 00:27:13,379 folding workshop furniture. 509 00:27:13,379 --> 00:27:15,030 But yeah, so I come up with some ideas. 510 00:27:15,030 --> 00:27:18,570 I think we'll do well on my channel when I, when I pick an 511 00:27:18,570 --> 00:27:20,070 idea to do for my next video. 512 00:27:20,070 --> 00:27:23,250 Then it moves over to the title generation where I have to 513 00:27:23,250 --> 00:27:24,524 come up with the title first. 514 00:27:25,240 --> 00:27:28,870 Because that will affect my hook and my intro. 515 00:27:28,870 --> 00:27:33,820 The hook first five seconds, maybe intro first 20, 25 seconds. 516 00:27:34,180 --> 00:27:37,120 'cause that will affect the hook because I don't want a title. 517 00:27:37,180 --> 00:27:39,010 The thing for me, the tough part. 518 00:27:39,010 --> 00:27:42,820 If as I make, if I make a video, I'm done with the video and then 519 00:27:42,820 --> 00:27:44,470 I try and choose the title later. 520 00:27:44,980 --> 00:27:47,890 I want the title to be intriguing enough to click. 521 00:27:48,550 --> 00:27:51,310 But if I make a really intriguing title, but I have not said 522 00:27:51,310 --> 00:27:54,460 anything about that title in the video or the hook or the intro. 523 00:27:54,885 --> 00:27:57,675 Then that could be a little clickbait. 524 00:27:57,735 --> 00:27:59,595 People might, I could lose trust. 525 00:27:59,955 --> 00:28:01,815 So I come up with the idea. 526 00:28:02,355 --> 00:28:06,315 Then I come up with the title so that I can incorporate what's in 527 00:28:06,315 --> 00:28:08,865 the ti, and then I come up with a thumbnail kind of together. 528 00:28:09,315 --> 00:28:11,175 They're kind of a matching pair. 529 00:28:12,135 --> 00:28:14,835 So idea, then title and thumbnail. 530 00:28:15,045 --> 00:28:20,205 And then once I have the title, then I can create the video of the idea, 531 00:28:20,265 --> 00:28:22,755 which includes the hook and the intro. 532 00:28:23,535 --> 00:28:27,735 Which I gotta make sure to reference the title because when someone clicks on the 533 00:28:27,735 --> 00:28:33,615 video with the title and thumbnail, I need to make sure they, um, I can't remember 534 00:28:33,615 --> 00:28:37,605 the term, you know it obviously, but you know, it's like confirm the click, maybe. 535 00:28:38,130 --> 00:28:42,000 So when they click on the title and the video, they need to make 536 00:28:42,000 --> 00:28:43,380 sure they're in the right spot. 537 00:28:43,560 --> 00:28:48,000 So then my intro kind of reinforces what the title and thumbnail say. 538 00:28:48,150 --> 00:28:52,920 And then in the voiceover, I also make sure that it's, you know, it has to do 539 00:28:52,920 --> 00:28:57,180 with the, with the title and thumbnail, the, the voiceover that I put in when I'm 540 00:28:57,180 --> 00:28:58,800 done filming the video and editing it. 541 00:28:58,800 --> 00:29:00,270 So it all kind of works together. 542 00:29:00,270 --> 00:29:03,750 But yeah, for me, idea first, then title, then thumbnail. 543 00:29:04,820 --> 00:29:08,595 Uh, video with, with the hook and the, uh, intro and the voiceover. 544 00:29:09,480 --> 00:29:11,850 A lot of that is similar to my Notion workflow. 545 00:29:11,850 --> 00:29:15,210 It's just you're doing it within your Google Docs, so it's, it's 546 00:29:15,210 --> 00:29:18,240 really cool to hear kind of the comparisons of what you're doing now. 547 00:29:18,300 --> 00:29:22,980 I'm on your website right now, and one of the main sources of your income 548 00:29:23,040 --> 00:29:24,960 are these plans that you're selling. 549 00:29:24,960 --> 00:29:29,040 So people watch your videos, which then lead them to your website, which 550 00:29:29,040 --> 00:29:30,995 is just thomas custom woodworks.com. 551 00:29:31,560 --> 00:29:35,370 And you have a page where you're selling a number of plans. 552 00:29:35,370 --> 00:29:38,159 You've got a bunch of them on your website, which is amazing. 553 00:29:38,159 --> 00:29:39,600 So let's talk about monetization. 554 00:29:40,530 --> 00:29:43,560 Tell me the different buckets because, you know, listening to 555 00:29:43,560 --> 00:29:44,970 this podcast, I love talking. 556 00:29:45,360 --> 00:29:49,410 Uh, honestly, I get more excited when I hear someone tell me the different 557 00:29:49,410 --> 00:29:52,500 avenues that they're making money, as opposed to like, oh, you know, I 558 00:29:52,500 --> 00:29:54,780 mean, I've had people come on this podcast and say, they're making, you 559 00:29:54,780 --> 00:29:58,830 know, $50,000 a month, that's great, but man, where are you making it from? 560 00:29:58,830 --> 00:30:01,350 Like, where are these different sources of revenue coming from? 561 00:30:01,350 --> 00:30:05,100 So maybe break down that for us, for you and your business, 562 00:30:05,100 --> 00:30:07,830 and give us a percentage of what those may be for, for your income. 563 00:30:08,565 --> 00:30:08,865 Yeah. 564 00:30:08,870 --> 00:30:11,625 And, and these, these percentages are gonna be really exact just 565 00:30:11,625 --> 00:30:18,555 because I, I just kind of, uh, made a spreadsheet and figured out exactly, 566 00:30:18,555 --> 00:30:23,655 you know, the, what I did last year in terms of income, uh, 2025. 567 00:30:24,225 --> 00:30:28,335 And so, um, I'll break down the buckets and the percentages, absolutely. 568 00:30:28,340 --> 00:30:30,375 And, and some, as you'll see, are much higher than others. 569 00:30:30,675 --> 00:30:31,035 Uh. 570 00:30:31,485 --> 00:30:33,075 I'll go from kind lowest to highest. 571 00:30:33,075 --> 00:30:34,935 So lowest is Amazon affiliates. 572 00:30:35,625 --> 00:30:39,495 So I will, you know, I'll put an affiliate link of a product or. 573 00:30:40,155 --> 00:30:43,995 A tool or an accessory in my YouTube videos and other places. 574 00:30:44,055 --> 00:30:46,785 And then if somebody buys that product from the link, then they, 575 00:30:46,905 --> 00:30:48,495 I get a, a very small percentage. 576 00:30:48,495 --> 00:30:53,115 So of my woodworking income, that's the smallest at 3%. 577 00:30:53,895 --> 00:30:58,515 Now, my whole income, again, I mentioned it's about 20% of my whole income is 578 00:30:58,515 --> 00:31:01,605 the personal training, but I'll just go over the woodworking, YouTube kind 579 00:31:01,605 --> 00:31:03,195 of woodworking business income here. 580 00:31:03,195 --> 00:31:04,095 So Amazon. 581 00:31:04,565 --> 00:31:06,395 Amazon affiliates is 3%. 582 00:31:06,725 --> 00:31:10,085 Then I get some money from TikTok and, uh, Facebook. 583 00:31:10,385 --> 00:31:14,195 Uh, they pay a little bit in terms of just natively on the platform. 584 00:31:14,555 --> 00:31:21,005 So, uh, about 6% of my income is from TikTok and Meta, and then the 585 00:31:21,005 --> 00:31:23,375 next highest is YouTube AdSense. 586 00:31:24,285 --> 00:31:28,695 So I do get some money from just Google pays me based on the views. 587 00:31:29,115 --> 00:31:32,024 So AdSense for me is 9%. 588 00:31:32,024 --> 00:31:36,254 So this is a fairly small percentage of my, of my woodworking income. 589 00:31:36,615 --> 00:31:40,274 You know, I'd, it's, I would love for that to be higher, but that's just the reality. 590 00:31:40,665 --> 00:31:47,565 9%. Then brand deals is my, is my second highest, uh, at 11%. 591 00:31:47,565 --> 00:31:49,995 So sometimes brands will reach out to me. 592 00:31:51,254 --> 00:31:57,014 And they'll wanna have me do a, uh, 60 or 92nd ad read in one of my 593 00:31:57,014 --> 00:31:58,965 videos, or use a tool in a video. 594 00:31:58,965 --> 00:32:04,274 I, of course, I only, I only, um, if the product is, is woodworking 595 00:32:04,274 --> 00:32:07,095 related, you know, I don't take anything that I wouldn't use in my 596 00:32:07,095 --> 00:32:08,655 shop because that's my business. 597 00:32:09,044 --> 00:32:12,555 Um, but yeah, it has to be, you know, a, a good product or service. 598 00:32:12,555 --> 00:32:17,955 But brand deals, that's at 11% and then the highest percentage. 599 00:32:18,780 --> 00:32:24,210 My income is my plans at 71%, which is the majority. 600 00:32:25,409 --> 00:32:25,889 It's the most. 601 00:32:25,889 --> 00:32:29,250 And so, you know, when I, when I did this, um. 602 00:32:29,820 --> 00:32:34,050 Two years ago, it was kind of similar where I was kind of nervous. 603 00:32:34,050 --> 00:32:38,700 I think in 2024 the plans were about 60% and I was kind of nervous. 604 00:32:38,700 --> 00:32:40,590 I thought, oh, all my eggs in one basket. 605 00:32:40,590 --> 00:32:44,070 And then I, although I still think it's good to have different streams of streams 606 00:32:44,070 --> 00:32:48,540 of income, I was reading this book and, and this the, the author was saying. 607 00:32:49,055 --> 00:32:54,965 That it's okay to have one stream that is much higher and it's 608 00:32:54,965 --> 00:32:58,955 almost, you almost wanna focus on that more like that is working. 609 00:32:58,955 --> 00:33:02,525 So put your focus on what is working and increase that. 610 00:33:03,120 --> 00:33:07,740 Instead of putting all your focus on maybe the other buckets that aren't working 611 00:33:08,010 --> 00:33:12,240 and then you neglect what is working and then the highest percentage goes down. 612 00:33:12,300 --> 00:33:14,159 Now I've, I've accepted that that is okay. 613 00:33:14,159 --> 00:33:18,270 And I've actually been focusing a lot this past year a lot on the, on the 614 00:33:18,270 --> 00:33:22,469 plans to really keep what is working I want, I wanna make sure it keeps working. 615 00:33:22,530 --> 00:33:28,469 So plans on my website is, you know, on how to build workshop furniture 616 00:33:28,770 --> 00:33:31,199 is the majority of my income at 71%. 617 00:33:32,625 --> 00:33:36,525 So I love that you're, there is an old saying, and I don't, I don't 618 00:33:36,525 --> 00:33:39,945 wanna misquote what the saying is, but it's basically lean in, 619 00:33:39,975 --> 00:33:42,885 like you said, to what's working and eliminate everything else. 620 00:33:43,365 --> 00:33:49,155 Normally I believe the, the, the quote is like 90% of your work or 90% 621 00:33:49,155 --> 00:33:52,935 of your income comes from 5% of the work is something along those lines. 622 00:33:52,935 --> 00:33:54,075 It was Jim Rome who said it. 623 00:33:54,285 --> 00:33:57,495 Zig Ziglar might have said it back in the day, but basically what 624 00:33:57,495 --> 00:34:00,405 creators and entrepreneurs do is. 625 00:34:01,050 --> 00:34:02,760 That would be like me ignoring this podcast. 626 00:34:02,760 --> 00:34:07,020 This podcast is a good percentage of my income from auxiliary, from 627 00:34:07,020 --> 00:34:10,020 YouTube coaching and the creator program and things of that nature. 628 00:34:10,679 --> 00:34:13,860 So why would I be tinkering around with other stuff? 629 00:34:13,920 --> 00:34:18,389 That doesn't mean you don't experiment, so how do you balance trying new things like 630 00:34:18,389 --> 00:34:23,175 you're doing with this course coming out in February and still leaning into what 631 00:34:23,179 --> 00:34:28,260 you know is the bread and butter of the income generating, which is your plans? 632 00:34:29,115 --> 00:34:29,385 Yeah. 633 00:34:29,385 --> 00:34:33,765 So one thing that I have been really trying to do in my business, and I 634 00:34:33,765 --> 00:34:38,265 just keep telling myself this, and it is, uh, it sounds simple, but believe 635 00:34:38,265 --> 00:34:43,935 me, it's, it was hard for me to grasp this for a while is in my business 636 00:34:44,205 --> 00:34:49,605 if, uh, I, I'll try something and then if it works, I keep doing that thing. 637 00:34:50,175 --> 00:34:52,695 I do more of that thing if it doesn't work. 638 00:34:53,850 --> 00:34:56,400 I stopped doing that thing and I, I try something else. 639 00:34:56,400 --> 00:35:00,750 So that is really, it sounds simple, but it's really helped me out where sometimes 640 00:35:00,750 --> 00:35:04,560 I think we can get into a, a mode where it's like, something's not working, let 641 00:35:04,560 --> 00:35:07,320 me just try and fix it and let me try and put all my time and effort into it. 642 00:35:07,830 --> 00:35:10,650 And I don't know how, you know, you do need to give things time, but I 643 00:35:10,650 --> 00:35:14,820 think it can be, it can be tricky to, to focus on things that aren't quite 644 00:35:14,820 --> 00:35:17,640 working and, and you don't see them, you know, working out on the future. 645 00:35:17,880 --> 00:35:19,620 Another thing where to put my time. 646 00:35:21,000 --> 00:35:23,130 I, I'll go back to the listen to your audience. 647 00:35:23,130 --> 00:35:28,350 So, you know, people are like, I get, you know, sales is one thing. 648 00:35:28,350 --> 00:35:31,050 That's something my audience telling me that they like my plans. 649 00:35:31,080 --> 00:35:34,740 YouTube, you know, the people will ask for plans and so my audience 650 00:35:34,950 --> 00:35:36,420 in the comments, I'll get emails. 651 00:35:36,420 --> 00:35:39,600 I try and listen to what my audience is saying, you, they're liking the plans. 652 00:35:39,600 --> 00:35:40,590 I'll do more of those. 653 00:35:40,680 --> 00:35:43,170 And now, you know, and, and listening to your audience, it might mean 654 00:35:43,170 --> 00:35:47,460 reading the comments, getting direct messages, getting emails, views. 655 00:35:47,895 --> 00:35:48,945 What are they saying? 656 00:35:48,950 --> 00:35:49,875 What do they want? 657 00:35:49,875 --> 00:35:54,765 Sometimes that can, the comment can be, can be rude, but, but even 658 00:35:54,765 --> 00:35:58,185 the rude comments, you can, you can get some information from 'em. 659 00:35:58,185 --> 00:36:00,645 I like to use the example, you know, someone said to me how 660 00:36:00,645 --> 00:36:03,375 my, my audio was like, horrible. 661 00:36:03,375 --> 00:36:05,745 And they were like, it was like a pretty rude comment about how like, 662 00:36:06,225 --> 00:36:08,625 you know, I should stop making videos that it gets so horrible. 663 00:36:08,955 --> 00:36:10,095 And it's like, yeah, that is rude. 664 00:36:10,095 --> 00:36:11,685 But it's also good info that my. 665 00:36:12,180 --> 00:36:14,520 My audio is not good, so I should try and fix that. 666 00:36:14,520 --> 00:36:17,850 So listening to your audience, which is what, why I'm focusing 667 00:36:17,850 --> 00:36:18,990 so much on this course. 668 00:36:18,990 --> 00:36:24,930 The course is how to use the seven most common power tools in woodworking. 669 00:36:25,140 --> 00:36:30,600 It's a full video course on how to use the seven most common woodworking tools. 670 00:36:30,600 --> 00:36:34,145 You can build whatever you want and how I came up with this course idea. 671 00:36:35,174 --> 00:36:38,444 Because I was listening to my audience were people that would 672 00:36:38,444 --> 00:36:42,734 buy my plans or people in my, my YouTube comments or I'd get emails. 673 00:36:43,185 --> 00:36:48,734 They would in some way inform me that they were a beginner with using tools. 674 00:36:48,734 --> 00:36:50,535 Maybe they don't have a ton of tools. 675 00:36:50,815 --> 00:36:52,165 They just got some tools. 676 00:36:52,165 --> 00:36:53,335 They're still learning. 677 00:36:53,605 --> 00:36:55,825 They don't know everything about using tools. 678 00:36:56,095 --> 00:36:58,405 Uh, they would say, oh, you know, can I do, I'm not 679 00:36:58,405 --> 00:36:59,845 comfortable with the table saw. 680 00:36:59,845 --> 00:37:02,185 Is there any way to build this without using the table saw? 681 00:37:02,515 --> 00:37:08,485 So the reason I'm focusing on this full course is because I was, I was 682 00:37:08,485 --> 00:37:10,375 listening to what my audience wants. 683 00:37:10,375 --> 00:37:11,075 So that's sort of. 684 00:37:11,700 --> 00:37:17,040 Yeah, with the sales and views and some of those metrics, I is what I choose to focus 685 00:37:17,040 --> 00:37:23,850 on, but also listening to my audience really helps me decide what to focus on. 686 00:37:24,420 --> 00:37:28,500 Last quick thing, I thought I. A couple years ago, I thought 687 00:37:28,500 --> 00:37:30,029 I, I should start a Patreon. 688 00:37:30,029 --> 00:37:33,779 Everyone's starting a Patreon, not one person in my, you know, 689 00:37:33,779 --> 00:37:37,109 at the time, maybe three, four years of YouTube and social media. 690 00:37:37,109 --> 00:37:40,319 Not one person that ever asked me to start a Patreon or wanted 691 00:37:40,319 --> 00:37:43,080 to support me in that way, but I thought, oh, I should start a Patreon. 692 00:37:43,319 --> 00:37:44,130 I started it. 693 00:37:44,190 --> 00:37:46,065 The most I had at one time was like. 694 00:37:46,590 --> 00:37:47,910 Three paid patrons. 695 00:37:48,120 --> 00:37:49,440 And so, oh, okay. 696 00:37:49,440 --> 00:37:51,180 My audience did not ask for this. 697 00:37:51,510 --> 00:37:53,100 Maybe I, and I gave it a while. 698 00:37:53,100 --> 00:37:57,420 Like I gave it like eight or nine months, and so maybe I should not have started it. 699 00:37:57,420 --> 00:38:00,390 So, you know, I just say it helps me focus, uh, you know, 700 00:38:00,390 --> 00:38:01,470 listening to my audience. 701 00:38:03,150 --> 00:38:03,900 I love that. 702 00:38:04,770 --> 00:38:08,610 I think a lot of it is looking what other people in your niche are doing, like what 703 00:38:08,610 --> 00:38:13,200 are other, you know, trades, channels doing and some are leaning more towards 704 00:38:13,200 --> 00:38:17,220 courses, some for, you know, selling plans and products, like what you're doing. 705 00:38:17,220 --> 00:38:20,820 And that's just when I was looking at my creator business, I was not 706 00:38:20,820 --> 00:38:23,970 offering coaching and I had so many people just requesting it and I kept 707 00:38:23,970 --> 00:38:26,520 trying all these different things and I was swinging and missing. 708 00:38:26,940 --> 00:38:30,240 But when I offered coaching and a mastermind group, those two things 709 00:38:30,240 --> 00:38:34,890 really stuck out and people really took to them and I. Kick myself knowing 710 00:38:34,890 --> 00:38:37,589 that I could have made a lot more money if I would just have done it sooner. 711 00:38:37,589 --> 00:38:40,140 And so listen to your audience because they can tell you 712 00:38:40,410 --> 00:38:41,490 what they wanna buy from you. 713 00:38:41,490 --> 00:38:42,480 I mean, you're the authority. 714 00:38:42,480 --> 00:38:45,060 And so they can kind of tell you, you know, where they would like to invest 715 00:38:45,060 --> 00:38:46,770 in, in your business and help you out. 716 00:38:47,100 --> 00:38:49,650 So as we approach the end of this conversation, Thomas, 717 00:38:49,650 --> 00:38:50,670 this has been fantastic. 718 00:38:50,670 --> 00:38:55,290 You are so knowledgeable and it it, you're the epitome of why I love doing 719 00:38:55,290 --> 00:38:59,910 this podcast and why I love YouTube and the creator business in as a whole. 720 00:39:00,240 --> 00:39:02,250 Because five years ago. 721 00:39:03,060 --> 00:39:04,350 You weren't even woodworking. 722 00:39:04,710 --> 00:39:08,820 And now 2026, you have a tax return sitting right next to you 723 00:39:08,820 --> 00:39:16,590 as we're talking, where YouTube is directly influencing your family's 724 00:39:16,590 --> 00:39:20,700 life for the better financially, and just overall your wellbeing. 725 00:39:20,700 --> 00:39:25,380 So as creators are listening to this right now, what would your parting words 726 00:39:25,380 --> 00:39:29,190 be to them, whether they're starting or growing or trying to monetize a channel? 727 00:39:29,460 --> 00:39:32,130 What would your words of advice be to those people? 728 00:39:33,825 --> 00:39:34,755 That's a great question. 729 00:39:34,755 --> 00:39:35,505 I'm glad you asked. 730 00:39:35,505 --> 00:39:39,585 One thing I'll say, even with people saying, oh, the, his product is the 731 00:39:39,585 --> 00:39:42,075 biggest source of, of his income. 732 00:39:42,134 --> 00:39:47,174 Well, the reason it is a larger part of ManCom is because of YouTube. 733 00:39:47,205 --> 00:39:51,795 I mean, YouTube, obviously, each video provides, I try to provide him into value 734 00:39:51,795 --> 00:39:57,250 on a standalone video, but it is a great tool to get the word out that I have. 735 00:39:58,035 --> 00:39:59,355 These products and services. 736 00:39:59,535 --> 00:40:04,035 But what I would love, what I wish somebody would've told me when I started a 737 00:40:04,035 --> 00:40:08,235 YouTube channel, I wish somebody would've sat me down and said, Thomas, you will 738 00:40:08,235 --> 00:40:10,845 not get any views at the beginning. 739 00:40:10,965 --> 00:40:11,385 You know? 740 00:40:11,445 --> 00:40:15,135 And I, that would've actually really helped because, and you know, there, 741 00:40:15,135 --> 00:40:16,815 there are some that get views. 742 00:40:17,400 --> 00:40:21,000 Right at the beginning, but most do not get like any views. 743 00:40:21,000 --> 00:40:25,259 And I didn't get any views at the beginning and I thought I was going to 744 00:40:25,259 --> 00:40:28,770 get views at the beginning, which I'll tell you why that hurt me in a second. 745 00:40:28,830 --> 00:40:29,940 I see these videos. 746 00:40:30,660 --> 00:40:34,950 This person made this table saw accessory, and they got a hundred thousand views. 747 00:40:35,220 --> 00:40:38,879 I have an idea for a table saw accessory, and I think my video's pretty good. 748 00:40:39,555 --> 00:40:41,535 And it gets maybe a hundred views or less. 749 00:40:41,895 --> 00:40:47,654 And I was just confused and, and, uh, disappointed when, uh, because the 750 00:40:47,654 --> 00:40:51,555 views that you see when you open up your YouTube homepage, it's mostly 751 00:40:51,734 --> 00:40:53,685 videos with a high number of views. 752 00:40:54,105 --> 00:40:57,105 And so I wish somebody, so I would like to say if you're starting a 753 00:40:57,105 --> 00:40:58,455 YouTube channel or at the beginning. 754 00:40:59,190 --> 00:41:00,900 Just be prepared that you won't get any views. 755 00:41:00,900 --> 00:41:03,540 'cause what happened to me is I was expecting a lot of views. 756 00:41:03,660 --> 00:41:04,680 I didn't get them. 757 00:41:05,010 --> 00:41:08,280 And after four or five videos, these videos take a long time for me, 758 00:41:08,280 --> 00:41:11,880 especially at the beginning, I was so disappointed 'cause I thought I 759 00:41:11,880 --> 00:41:13,080 was gonna get views and I wasn't. 760 00:41:13,080 --> 00:41:14,040 But I took a break. 761 00:41:14,040 --> 00:41:15,990 I took a break for like four or five months. 762 00:41:16,020 --> 00:41:18,240 'cause I was like, why, why am I putting this effort? 763 00:41:18,270 --> 00:41:19,110 Nobody's watching. 764 00:41:19,845 --> 00:41:22,665 Then I did a little more research, a little more digging, and then I 765 00:41:22,665 --> 00:41:26,625 discovered that, oh, it's normal to not give views at the beginning. 766 00:41:26,715 --> 00:41:28,904 So I wish I would've got that four or five months back, but 767 00:41:28,904 --> 00:41:29,835 I'm glad that I learned it. 768 00:41:29,835 --> 00:41:33,375 And then now looking at like first last time I looked at my first video ever, 769 00:41:33,375 --> 00:41:35,595 now it has like over 30,000 views. 770 00:41:35,595 --> 00:41:38,145 It's actually pretty dang good, at least from my channel. 771 00:41:38,745 --> 00:41:41,295 The other thing that, the last thing that I will say. 772 00:41:42,180 --> 00:41:45,540 That I wish I would've known at the beginning or people, people starting 773 00:41:45,540 --> 00:41:46,710 out or been doing this a while. 774 00:41:46,770 --> 00:41:50,370 I thought when I started and at the beginning of YouTube and even before 775 00:41:50,370 --> 00:41:55,590 I started my channel, I thought that the YouTubers, the creators, just got 776 00:41:55,590 --> 00:41:58,590 paid with AdSense and brand deals. 777 00:41:58,650 --> 00:42:00,000 I was like, those are the buckets. 778 00:42:00,030 --> 00:42:01,200 That's how they make their money. 779 00:42:01,320 --> 00:42:04,500 When in reality, if, if you watch most. 780 00:42:04,920 --> 00:42:06,210 YouTube videos. 781 00:42:06,210 --> 00:42:09,300 Most creators that you enjoy, you will notice that they 782 00:42:09,510 --> 00:42:11,070 their own product or service. 783 00:42:11,070 --> 00:42:14,400 I mean, you do it on this podcast 'cause you're helping so many creators. 784 00:42:14,400 --> 00:42:18,060 I do it on my YouTube channel 'cause I have products that I really think 785 00:42:18,060 --> 00:42:19,380 will help people in their workshop. 786 00:42:20,759 --> 00:42:27,419 Most people get, most of the YouTubers, they're a big part of, I would say maybe 787 00:42:27,419 --> 00:42:28,830 even the biggest part of their income. 788 00:42:28,830 --> 00:42:30,689 A lot of 'em is their own product or service. 789 00:42:30,689 --> 00:42:31,410 So just keep that on. 790 00:42:31,410 --> 00:42:33,540 I would tell people keep that on the back of your mind. 791 00:42:33,540 --> 00:42:37,140 You know, as you're going along, you're making some money with AdSense. 792 00:42:37,140 --> 00:42:38,100 Maybe, maybe not. 793 00:42:38,160 --> 00:42:41,310 Maybe you're doing some brand deals or you're, you're excited 794 00:42:41,310 --> 00:42:42,569 to maybe get some in the future. 795 00:42:42,839 --> 00:42:43,020 Have that. 796 00:42:43,300 --> 00:42:46,210 Thought in your head of is there a product or service that could 797 00:42:46,210 --> 00:42:48,670 really help my, my audience? 798 00:42:48,670 --> 00:42:53,800 And you know, that's really what, what helped me in terms of my income, but 799 00:42:53,800 --> 00:42:55,270 just, just helping a lot of people. 800 00:42:56,560 --> 00:43:01,120 And I think that the common misconception is that the amount of people you have 801 00:43:01,120 --> 00:43:06,490 to have willing to give you money has to be an astronomical amount when 802 00:43:06,490 --> 00:43:10,180 we think of ad revenue, which is why putting all your eggs in one basket is 803 00:43:10,330 --> 00:43:12,640 really frowned upon and I discourage it. 804 00:43:13,424 --> 00:43:17,444 All the time because yes, ad revenue fluctuates. 805 00:43:17,505 --> 00:43:18,884 Some months it's great. 806 00:43:19,095 --> 00:43:20,355 Others, it's not so great. 807 00:43:20,805 --> 00:43:25,184 But if you have a few hundred people willing to give you 25, 808 00:43:25,184 --> 00:43:29,115 50 bucks a month or whatever it may be, you can do the math. 809 00:43:29,115 --> 00:43:31,305 That's real good money. 810 00:43:31,365 --> 00:43:35,355 And so going ahead and targeting your audience, like we talked about 811 00:43:35,355 --> 00:43:38,295 at the top of the show, figuring out who you're speaking with and 812 00:43:38,295 --> 00:43:41,505 then figuring out what problem they have and how you can solve it. 813 00:43:42,210 --> 00:43:43,290 That, that's really it. 814 00:43:43,290 --> 00:43:44,910 It's really boils down to that. 815 00:43:45,120 --> 00:43:48,690 And I tell you, the past 45 minutes have absolutely flown by. 816 00:43:48,960 --> 00:43:53,580 Uh, so I'm gonna have all of Thomas's links in the show notes as I always do. 817 00:43:53,580 --> 00:43:56,280 Again, it's Thomas custom woodworks on YouTube. 818 00:43:56,280 --> 00:44:00,570 I encourage you to go to his website, which is just thomas custom woodworks.com. 819 00:44:00,840 --> 00:44:05,220 Go to the tab that says plans and just look at what he's selling and all 820 00:44:05,220 --> 00:44:09,060 of these YouTube videos where people are watching every time he uploads. 821 00:44:09,210 --> 00:44:11,070 It's a potential thousands of sales. 822 00:44:11,475 --> 00:44:15,075 Not just that day, but for months and years down the line, which 823 00:44:15,075 --> 00:44:17,025 is the cool thing about YouTube. 824 00:44:17,355 --> 00:44:21,495 So Thomas, thank you again for giving us your time today and I really 825 00:44:21,495 --> 00:44:23,055 appreciate you coming on the show. 826 00:44:24,105 --> 00:44:24,705 Absolutely. 827 00:44:24,705 --> 00:44:27,405 Dusty, if I could mention one last thing about the course, if 828 00:44:27,405 --> 00:44:30,315 you wouldn't mind, super quick, just where people could find it. 829 00:44:30,315 --> 00:44:30,765 Is that okay? 830 00:44:30,765 --> 00:44:31,845 Yes, absolutely. 831 00:44:32,595 --> 00:44:37,725 Um, I'll keep this really brief, but I, I really, this is a, I'm really excited 832 00:44:37,725 --> 00:44:40,995 about this 'cause I think it could help a lot of people, you know, really learn 833 00:44:40,995 --> 00:44:45,134 and build and create anything they want with, with power tools for woodworking. 834 00:44:45,615 --> 00:44:49,245 Um, the course is called Master Your Power Tools. 835 00:44:49,305 --> 00:44:51,195 It's actually on a separate website. 836 00:44:51,315 --> 00:44:53,325 It's Thomas Woodworking. 837 00:44:55,545 --> 00:45:01,214 Enrollment is going to be in mid-February 2026, and it's gonna be just for 10 days. 838 00:45:01,725 --> 00:45:07,005 And so go over there, get on the wait list because since en enrollment is is 839 00:45:07,484 --> 00:45:10,904 pretty short amount of time, I want people to wanna make sure people don't miss it. 840 00:45:10,904 --> 00:45:14,714 And then, um, the next open enrollment, the next time I'll, I'll open it 841 00:45:14,714 --> 00:45:17,415 won't be for several months, so Thomas woodworking academy com. 842 00:45:18,870 --> 00:45:19,620 Get on the wait list. 843 00:45:19,620 --> 00:45:22,200 I have some cool freebies over there to help you get started, but 844 00:45:22,200 --> 00:45:25,230 um, I'm really excited for that course coming out in mid-February. 845 00:45:26,010 --> 00:45:26,520 That's awesome. 846 00:45:26,520 --> 00:45:27,870 I'll also link that down below. 847 00:45:27,870 --> 00:45:29,730 Thomas, thank you again for your time. 848 00:45:30,450 --> 00:45:30,925 Thank you, dusty. 849 00:45:32,205 --> 00:45:35,055 And that is a wrap on this week's episode. 850 00:45:35,205 --> 00:45:38,174 If you are a creator and you'd like to get in touch with us, all of our 851 00:45:38,174 --> 00:45:42,194 services will be linked in the show notes as previously mentioned, our 852 00:45:42,194 --> 00:45:47,625 Creator coaching program, our creator Mastermind, our creator channel reviews, 853 00:45:47,654 --> 00:45:52,064 and everything such as the Entrepreneurs Toolbox, as well as the other list of 854 00:45:52,064 --> 00:45:53,774 resources mentioned here on the show. 855 00:45:53,955 --> 00:45:56,294 But if you've made it this far, I wanna ask you a favor. 856 00:45:56,634 --> 00:45:57,984 Go ahead and subscribe to the show. 857 00:45:57,984 --> 00:46:01,165 Whether you're listening on a podcast player or you're watching over on 858 00:46:01,165 --> 00:46:02,694 our YouTube channel, subscribe. 859 00:46:02,694 --> 00:46:06,805 That way you're notified every Friday when we go live with a new interview and 860 00:46:06,805 --> 00:46:10,345 there's gonna be a ton of extra stuff coming, so you don't wanna miss that. 861 00:46:10,584 --> 00:46:13,942 With that said, hope you have a great day and I'll talk to you guys next week.