How long does it take to see results from your content?

Okay, you ready?

I think so.

So, what are we doing?

Welcome back to Useful Not Famous. This is the show where we teach you how and why to create video content to help, help, help to help build your real estate brand. Not just your business, but your brand.

Yeah, I'm a brand man.

You're a brand man?

I am a brand man. So, who am I? I'm Jeff Sarris.

And I'm Amara Andrew.

Yeah, and I've been building brand and helping people be useful, not famous, make a lot more money by being useful for a lot of years, since 2009.

Good god! That's most of my lifetime!

And you? And you?

And I'm Amara Andrew! Yeah, I do stuff. We do a lot of things.

It was so funny, literally yesterday as we were getting ready for this podcast, you played a clip of our what was it? Side Hustle Saturday podcast? We've started like how many podcasts have we started?

There's been so many podcasts, but it's fun.

Yeah, but each one, it's like a little archive for us where each one shows where we've been in time.

Well, yeah, and it's all experimenting. So, so to get here, we had to do all the things we did.

Exactly. So, this show, Useful Not Famous, that we talked about yesterday in our little pre-planning, we planned this out, but we were talking about just I guess the central tenant of MAVEN, which is our videography business where we fly all over the country to film with realtors in their market, just FYI, is being useful, not famous.

Being so incredibly useful, which I know has informed your entire business and all the different brands that you've built. But being so incredibly useful that people need you. So, instead of being famous, famous is just it really doesn't matter.

Fame really doesn't do anything if you don't have a successful business, blah, blah, blah.

Well, yeah, there's no value in fame alone, but fame can be leveraged for things, but you have to leverage it. So, how about you just leverage what you have instead?

Exactly. So, that's going to be one of the guiding principles in the show. We're also going to be talking about consistency over everything and why that's so important and how to be everywhere because that's something that we do where you want to go places where nobody else is quite like you.

So, anyway.

Yeah, and this is an audio-first podcast. We have the video version. So, if you're on YouTube, hello!

Hello! I meant to put on a MAVEN shirt and I totally forgot, so I know I'm repping Vans.

But, yeah, so if you're on YouTube, hi! But this is really meant to be audio-only. So, we have the simplest system possible.

I'll probably do a video on our little system here because I like it. But–

It's awesome. We're all about systems, also, which that will come into the show.

–we have a three-part show. Every show is going to be about 15 minutes long. We have this little handy-dandy timer.

So, each segment is 5 minutes. So, how about I–

So, he's going to cue up the timer. And this is an analog timer for those of you listening. So, it literally it's not even like a anything remotely digital.

It is purely a physical thing. It looks like it's from like the '60s or '50s. It's very mid-century.

I like it.

And it's a Time Timer, which, yeah, we like a lot. It's very simple. And, yeah, you can see it on YouTube.

But, yeah, so we can glance at it at any time. Our time's already ticking because I started it already, but 5 minutes on the clock. What are we talking about for this first segment?

So, this first segment, I really wanted to talk about consistency specifically with consistent posting because that to me is the most important thing. So, when we started with MAVEN, this isn't going to be a whole plug for MAVEN, but just from our experience, when we started MAVEN, we weren't posting for people. And we realized that was the final piece that we needed to add to our business.

The final frontier.

Because like I do all the strategy and the planning or like we strategize together and then we create the content for the person. So, we fly out, we film it for them, and then we edit it, produce it, blah, blah, blah, all ready to go. So, literally, the last step is all they have to do is post it.

But even that is very difficult. And I've learned that with my stuff, too, where I have a whole catalog of things that I never put out. So, what I wanted to talk about was consistency in posting for this first one.

So, why do we tell people to stay consistent in their posting? And specifically about how long do we recommend you stay consistent? I know as long as possible, but what's sort of like the beginning?

Before you get results.

Yes.

Well, yeah, the consistency is really because you want to you want to sell what you're creating. So, if you think about the algorithms, you think about the audience, the people who might consume your stuff, you want to show them like showcase what you're actually doing. So, you need to be consistent enough in the– and we're just talking about frequency right now, not even like what you're posting.

That's almost another topic, but in your frequency–

And it will be.

–the consistency of your frequency needs to be kept up in order to train people what to expect, train the algorithm what to expect, and train it all to deliver your content to the people who want it most.

Exactly. So, what does that sort of look like then? Do you, in your professional opinion, and I can also chime in as well–

Oh, yeah.

–is do you think posting any day throughout the week, anytime, and that's fine?

Oh, I want you to talk on this part because you do all the scheduling.

Yeah, so I guess I was leading the witness. So, for me, personally, and just from a bunch of different, like nobody knows how much we actually study and learn throughout all of our existence.

How many videos last year real quick?

Just last year, it was over 4,000.

4,000 videos that we, you, edited, posted, scheduled.

Strategized, planned, fed people line by line.

Isn't it funny? It doesn't even sound plausible, 'cause 365 days–

No.

–but–

It's a fuck ton.

Yeah.

But anyway, so for the posting, what I and many other professionals in the in the field suggest is sticking to the like depending on how many videos you can publish, obviously, if you can publish every day, that's amazing. But what we do for our top bananas and people that we work with is at least like three videos a week, just to start, at like bare minimum.

And then I stick to three different days, and then the same time every single day, just because then you're telling the algorithm it's almost like a show. It's like, "Okay, your show's going to be on 9:00 a.m. Every Monday.

You know that for a fact." So, you tune in. Even if people don't know it.

Like Seinfeld and Friends. Sort of like I feel like those are the iconic moment shows.

Yeah, and now it's so different because you can watch anything anytime. But back in the day–

But it would be like watch– It's like, "Oh, Thursday night at 7:00 p.m. Is Friends," or whatever it was. Whatever the schedule was and then you knew.

It was so it's the same idea, as you're saying, with social media. You know what you can expect from someone and when.

Exactly. So, I guess for the final question, because we're already down to a minute.

-huh, no, this is perfect though. Like because we want this to be snappy. We'll we're going to be here every week talking about this stuff.

We talk about it all the time.

We don't have to preamble at the beginning either, so this episode's just a little bit longer. But what sort of accountability methods do you think are successful to help people be consistent?

Accountability methods, so that is so gamification of things is always super helpful. Obviously, we have ideas because we're always building new products, trying to make things easier and be more useful to the people we work with. So, we have things that we'll do around gamification.

But, you looked at the clock, too. I have 8 seconds left, I think. But basically gamification in some ways is good, but I think it does have to come from within.

You have to figure out your own markers and what you want to, what the return is that'll keep you consistent. I mean, I kind of think we all need to find it for ourselves.

I wholeheartedly agree just to wrap up this section. But–

I put the sound on!

You did! I was like, "It has a sound!" but just super, super quick, exactly that self-accountability. 'Cause like nobody, honestly, nobody cares.

Like we care a little too much, but genuinely nobody cares about your success, and like you have to find it in yourself to have that motivation and to be self-accountable. And if you're flaky and frazzled and everywhere, like it you can do any type of content, but you will never be successful because you're never going to put it out consistently.

Like you have to develop your systems, and unfortunately, most people burn out after like two months, three months, six months. Six months is kind of–

I don't think people even get that far.

Six months is the max that I've seen for people, but because I was posting for people! But then, it just I don't know, I could go down a whole other tangent, but we will stop right there for right now.

Well, yeah, and just to say real quick, that's the tough part is you can always have that carrot dangled.

Yeah, he's so cute. Anyway.

He is, though.

I know, carrot juice. I love your old smile.

But you can always have that carrot of like, "Oh, just keep going a little further, a little further, then you'll get there." But that is sort of true, 'cause all the people who we see who go down a new path, maybe they choose a new version a type of content that they're doing–

Every few months.

— -huh, and then they stop, they're either stopping before they get results or, we've had it a few times, where people stop, we've seen people stop the moment before it starts clicking in. So, then–

And then they literally are like, "Oh, you guys were right." And it's like, "Yes! Obviously!"

Yeah, but it just takes time. And that's the thing, it's like we don't trust immediately. Like if you don't know who we are and, for some reason, you're listening to this right now, you have no reason to trust us.

No! Like we can say credentials and I could say how much money I've generated for people by being useful.

It is a stupid amount.

But, well, give it time. Like stick around and hopefully you'll trust us. But now we're done with the first segment, so we only have two more.

We're moving on to number two. Let's cue up this clock. We have 5 minutes on clock.

Let's go!

I'm sweating!

Oh, no. So, basically the structure of the show is the first segment is the philosophy behind how we work, how we think, and ways that you can improve your business. So, the second part–

The third part is how you can improve.

So, and I was going to say, yeah, the how you need to think about improvement. The second part is where we're touching a little bit on stuff just for us. This is a fun segment for us to sort of document our life because this is just a documentary for us on social media, podcast, blogging, email newsletter, all the things.

Like it's in There's a part This part is inherently selfish, but it has to be.

I kind of want to call this part "Relentless," because like we are. Like we've been doing this, like the middle segment is just us. What we're doing, how we're growing, where we're going.

And then the final segment, that's the final practical tips on things that you can do practically to improve your business. So, we want every single episode to have all three of those things.

So, tell me what you've been working on.

Oh, no. It's so open-ended 'cause it's so much. I mean, we could talk about what we spun up this weekend.

Do you want to start there or elsewhere?

Sure.

Okay. We won't get into, the actual name because–

Yeah, so we don't want you to follow it unless you live within 20 miles of us, which is highly unlikely. So,

But, yeah, it's hyper because we're doing a hyper-local–

–we're also from one of the most major cities in the country.

Well, I mean, but the likelihood of–

Yeah.

In this first episode.

So, even if you find it, don't follow us because I only want hyper-local people. So, we did we did start up another project. It's something we've been talking about doing for maybe a couple weeks or months, I don't Our sense of time is so warped.

I can't even begin to–

We're always building and growing, just perpetually.

So, it's something we've been talking about for a little bit, I'll leave it vague like that. But then we finally just pulled the trigger this weekend and I just got so fed up. I was like, "No, I'm just going to do this and start it." Well, 'cause that's who we are.

We're just like, "Okay, we want to do this. Let's just start it and like continue and see it through. Not just I'm going to start for–" That's my biggest pet peeve, I think.

"I'm going to start for four months." Then, it's like, why even bother?

I mean, you're you're being very, very generous saying four months, though. Usually, it's stop start for 5 minutes, 4 days.

Well, to see if it's to see if it's a success! Like people legitimately will not understand it takes these like, ugh, I hate using celebrities as like a qualifier. But like, let me say, Alex Hormozi: overnight success, 10 years in the making.

Like that's what everybody says, but it genuinely is true. Like even with the Mins, like one of your biggest clients.

The Minimalists.

Yes, one of your biggest clients, like they didn't just happen to become famous overnight. Just like, Paul Saladino, also, one of your people. Not client, but just–

I mean, no, we've done work for him, though.

Oh, okay. Well, there you go.

Yeah, but also, yeah, like sort of, an acquaintance.

It takes a long time. Yeah, it takes a long time to build up to literally anything. And then, people get discouraged after two months.

I'm like, "How do you expect to actually run a successful business? And how do you expect people to trust you with a big–" The amount of people I've seen quit, sorry, this is like a whole and another thing. But the amount of people that I've seen quit makes me never want to work with anybody for anything.

'Cause I'm like, "If you aren't even going to see this through, how are you going to have it in you to complete something for me?" Like that's why, we started our little side project.

You know the rule of thumb, if you want to get something done, that's your thumb. If you want to get something done, give it to a busy person.

Yeah, but even then people misquote that and like some of the laziest people I know have said that and they're like, "I'm so busy." And I'm like, "I know you're not for a fact."

So, yeah, that's the See, that is the differentiator.

See, I don't like those things. Like if you're so busy, you don't talk about how busy you are. You just do things.

Well, that's the thing. Like someone who's actually doing things and we have the TRY angle, T-R-Y-A-N-G-L-E, which is action creates experience, experience is what creates the opportunity, and opportunity requires more action. So, that's it's a cycle.

You just sort of You start pedaling on that cycle and you never stop. That's the big thing, because we're constantly adjusting. That's what we're doing.

We're pivoting and adjusting. And, so our the thing that we're doing is a hyper-local channel for the area that we live in. And we are building it for various reasons, but partially because it's also fun to be able to create content locally.

And we do this for everyone else, so why not do it for us?

Exactly. So, it's something we just started working on. One of our many, many things we're working on.

We spun up the website in about 15 minutes.

Yeah, legitimately 15 minutes. It was like, "Okay, this is what we need."

Time!

But it was these are the basics that we need for it, and then literally the next day we were out recording content for it, which will be coming out this week.

Well, yeah, and you already have it edited and it's like it's a lot of fun. I think you did a great job.

Yeah, and you tell me one thing that you're working on.

Oh, we can stop there. We have more for next week.

We do.

Stay tuned. There's so many things. There's always so many things.

It's too many things.

And just what gets us excited right now. So, we're working on–

Unwinding.

–unwinding. Is I was like, "Why are you gagging yourself?" But, yeah. So, okay.

Final segment. This is the practical tips segment. We are cueing up the little timer here.

We have 5 minutes on the clock. 5 minutes is so little. I like it though.

5 minutes is so little. I like it though.

But, see, this is perfect though because then every episode will be 15 to 17 minutes.

Oh, and fun fact, we actually do use this timer with our top bananas to make sure that we keep on schedule 'cause otherwise we could just keep on talking forever.

We just have so much fun. And top bananas are the people we film with. We love brand and, like, just being silly.

This is the MAVEN yellow, if you're watching. And you can imagine, yeah, the banana is yellow, the bumblebee that we're using for other projects that we'll talk about later, that's also yellow. We have a very, deliberate color scheme across everything.

It's hilarious because yellow is one of my least favorite colors.

She hates it.

I hate yellow. I hate purple, and you love both of them. Anyway.

Hey, just wait until you see the, third color for the other podcast.

Hi!

Yellow and purple, they're a perfect pairing.

What are we, the Vikings?

Perfect.

Anyway, let's get to our practical tips. So, I think I guess we haven't even talked about this.

No, I didn't know what we were doing for this segment.

Neither did I! So, I think, like, obviously we'll keep it toward the subject for the episode.

-. And to reiterate, what's the subject?

So, the subject is– No, I know what it is. I just thought it'd be funny. I had to tell you that was funny, just FYI.

Ha, ha, ha.

Yes! Just tips for consistency. So, I guess say somebody makes the terrible choice to not work with us, what would you recommend?

I had to. So, if somebody's like doing this on their own, 'cause this is obviously to help DIYers, what would you recommend someone do to be consistent with their posting? Even just like at whatever stage in the process, whether it's even like the batching of the content, the I guess you don't do editing, but even just like figuring out your systems, because you are the best systems person that I've ever met.

Well, that's that's what I was I was just going to say systems. That my answer is systems.

Okay.

I know it's it's a little vague, but I think everyone needs to find their own system.

So many people are not good with systems, also.

It shocks me.

And I'm like, "How do you get ready in the morning?" Like you have a system already. You just need to keep doing that throughout the day.

Well, and it's problem solving. Like I've reached I actually wrote something today where you need to stop learning and start doing because–

Oh yeah, that was good.

This is your manifesto.

Ay-yay-yay!

But if you just start doing, like ideally if you don't even know anything about what you're about to do, you're going to hit a roadblock so quickly.

Yeah.

So, then once you hit that, then you learn how to solve that and how to traverse that problem.

Well, and it's stopping and thinking for just a few minutes instead of just like running like a crazy person.

And never starting. I think my big tip is you need to start. And you start creating videos or photos or stupid things.

But you start creating and you start posting. But you need to give yourself sort of rails to go on. Like we've talked about it that we're going to do our recording for us.

We're trying to treat our ourselves like a client. We're going to record on Saturdays. That'll be our recording day.

Today is not Saturday because it's the first episode and we're excited. Today's Monday.

Well, this was already on our calendar.

Yeah. But now we've shifted it. We're like, "Okay, Saturday is content day.

Content for us, content for this show, content for various things that we're doing."

Speaking of, I'm going to take a photo of us so I can post it to our stories.

Smile! But I think my big tip is to be doing. Like you need to start doing.

You can't delay. Like you're already behind everyone else who takes action. Every single minute you wait, and everyone's going to blow by you.

So, you need to start, but then you need to it's hard for me to say to create accountability because you and I both, not you, listener, but the person the beautiful person across the table from me–

Who's that?

–but like we have the strongest accountability within.

Yeah.

So, it's actually hard for me to say how to create your own accountability. I mean, maybe this is a thing where we can help people with. Like I don't I don't want to spin up an accountability thing, but if you're listening to this and you're like, "I need accountability," reach out.

Like we can talk and maybe we can find a solution for your accountability.

It almost feels like it has to be something inherent, like within, like we were talking about earlier.

Outside of gamification.

Yes.

Like we can provide gamification. That's part of what we're building, but how do you gamify stuff yourself?

Yeah, that's a really good question.

But, yeah, I think basically starting. Taking action is the tip, which it sounds lame. Oh, time!

There we go.

But it sounds really like nothing, but I think this is the most important piece is starting. Start on whatever it is. Like this podcast, like if you want a podcast like this, you start.

Like we've done a lot of different things like this, so we're already sort of ahead of where we'd be if this is the first time we ever recorded together.

Yeah.

But this will get better and better with time.

Yeah, and granted we haven't stayed consistent with the things, like we did in the moment, but we didn't have our systems in place for it because it was something it was an ancillary part of what we were doing, but now it's going to become like an integral part of MAVEN and all of the other things that we're starting.

We are consistent, that's the thing.

Yes.

But we consistently start new podcasts. No, not even that, but we're consistent. We've never stopped.

No.

We have 'cause why would you? Basically sunset the podcast, we have spun down this, or done this. Like my whole thing, we'll leave with this, is balance, like work-life balance or whatever it is, is completely misunderstood.

Like balance is if you can imagine standing on a basketball. You're standing on the ball, your arms are out, you're leaning left, leaning right, leaning you're you're going back and forth all around trying to stay balanced, and it's very difficult. But when you're when you're in that almost equilibrium, it's because you're constantly moving.

You're not falling off the ball. And it's the same for work-life balance, for building something. You have to do more until more is too much, you tilt this way, and then less until less is too little, and repeat.

You constantly are going back and forth, front and back, and that's the secret to it. That's consistency. You push until you realize, "Oh, that's too much, I need to pull back." Then you pull back until you're, "Oh, that's too much," and you go forward.

And that's everything. That's what it means to be consistent.

Yep. I feel like we're going to start a drinking game where every time we go over 5 minutes, it's like, "Take a drink," even though we don't drink. I'm not drinking for the rest of the year.

Nice.

It's going to be fun.

But, yeah, we should wrap. If you like practical tips and want them delivered straight to your inbox every Monday, go to myhiveway.com. And also, if you are a real estate agent and you want to know exactly what you should be creating, what types of videos, if you want someone to just tell me what to do, that's what everyone always says to us, go to myhiveway.com and you can get that.

Every single Monday, we give you a prompt of exactly what you should be creating for that week.

How do they get to our newsletter?

It's also at myhiveway.com.

Is it?

-huh, right below the prompt.

Oh, look at that. I don't even know. I make the newsletters and I have no idea where they are.

Okay, with that, I think we'll wrap. This has been Useful Not Famous.

Remember, be useful. Not famous. Fuck fame, make money.

Bye!

Bye.