178. Personal Branding is hard until you do this ft. Adrian Per

39:08Your audience doesn't know what they want yet if they've never seen what they didn't know that they wanted. Did you feel like once you maybe got 365 or maybe even it was after 200, you maybe noticed a few people were copying the style that you were doing did you sit back and say okay i'm going to finish out this 365 and then i'm going to think about what is the next iteration of ap's content like what were kind of your thoughts internally or with your team or with you know talking with sam about this about showing people like hey i'm seeing like people are copying this shit and i know that i'm i am the originator of this style or this sort of text or this color look what was that like it was flattering it's really cool it didn't make you mad at all no really that's awesome more the other people that i knew who are either on my team or my friends are more upset about it than i was and i think also because it it fed my creative ego at the time you know i was younger yeah i was also in my 30s but like i also didn't you know i never experienced that you know people hate being bit off of.

40:19But I don't think I was ever cool enough in school to be bitten off of. So this was like my first time in life. Like, oh, you like this stuff? This is cool. This feels good for me. And, you know, when I first started creating, I was, I guess there's a fine line between experimenting and copying and taking inspiration. Quentin Tarantino is the the big bold either yellow or red or you know just the high contrast font text on your screen as titles so I took that inspiration as far back as 2011 on some of the first music videos that that I've ever directed like you will see big bold yellow text directed by adrian purr did i start with you um this has been a great ornament great it's a great cast member huh yeah yeah she deserves credits yeah i agree we'll put her in there nothing to say anything to say she's actually just mind blown the conversation's been so good um but yeah that that's you know i was inspired by it and and it became somewhat of like my my personal online brand.

41:34And, you know, even Wes Anderson, like there's so many symmetrical shots and that are locked off or intentional camera moves that I've taken from it. And that is just a culmination of all these things that I liked. So when I see that from people in order for them to find their voice and their style is to try all the things that they, that they're inspired by and see if it works for them now if people use that and you know market it as i am a branding expert by taking the style whether it's of me or other creators on the internet and then selling it to people as to why they're this branding or marketing and visual experts slash coach that's where you cross the line that's where i'm like get the fuck out of here you're a snake oil salesman you know like you can't just, I guess there is an audience for it, but there's people out there who learn some things on social media for a year or two, and then they package it into a$1 ,000 course, and all of a sudden, they position themselves as an expert and become millionaires off of it.

42:50That's where I draw the line, but as for people who want to use that format or things that I've done that inspire them to help tell their story better it's cool of me like i'm flattered by it there's this uh quote that i saw actually on linkedin uh shout out probably ai's no i can't chat i can guarantee it was probably a real person it was a real person who said this and in in this post it was talking about just uh you know original ideas and when ideas become successful i hope i'm not butchering this but it was like this person asked this this person on somebody high up on the nike design team and was like when do you feel like ideas become a success and that person answered when the idea escapes just the success of completing and executing the project but actually supersedes that person you can't find the origin of where this thing started Does it shift culture?

43:55Did it move the needle? And I take a lot of pride and my creative ego was fulfilled because there's so many people who don't know, and I'm not even saying I started it necessarily, but there's so, I'm sure I've been inspired by something somewhere, whatever it may be, right? But to see that video postcards or like the video carousels is being made in like the most remote parts of like Norway, Iceland, New Zealand, like a reunion island in Africa, which is like a, I think like a French colony somewhere in the middle of the ocean or like Sri Lanka. That's insane. Like to know that that format was started as like a little experiment in an idea that has been, you know, played telephone from this creator to this creator to this creator that was inspired by this creator that posted it over here and like now this person is making it it's like I can't be mad at that like I can die tomorrow and this this style of content will live on so to answer the the copycat slash people being inspired the copycats who are selling it as a business I'm not I'm not about that but the people who are inspired by it.

45:21It's like, that's something that anybody who creates art can't pay for. There's not an amount of money that you can pay PR services and agents to make your idea shift culture. And some of these did that organically. And that is done by the inspiration telephone done so far removed from me that it's just spread across the world. And that's really

45:50Adrian Per:cool. There's certain things that you've brought into your content that are pretty synonymous with you. I think about your car. It's like fucking sick. You got this sick vintage Mercedes. And that's kind of part of this world that you've built as AP. And I want to talk about world building a little bit and how people can utilize world building to stand out on the internet, but also make themselves more relatable and how it relates to storytelling. Because I I know at the end of the day, like content creation or creating commercials or any type of content, whether it's on social media or some other platform, like you're a storyteller at the end of the day, whether it's behind or in front of the camera.

46:33Adrian Per:So how does world building come into play with your content strategy and how can people utilize world building to stand out? You know what I can't stand is when I watch podcasts and they're asked a question and being positioned as if something was intentionally done and then they answer it as if they intentionally did it and is speaking as an expert of the thing that they did as a podcast listener we all of us know like you fucking didn't mean to do that shit and so for me to answer that question truthfully i wasn't i didn't have world building in mind when i started making my content whether it was the consistent yellow text that's on my videos or the car mount shots or the things that you constantly see in my videos it wasn't necessarily perfectly planned out as to this is what is in the omg adrian universe that i want you to see none of that was intentionally picked more than what was intentionally picked was what was intentionally left out so there's a lot of things that i leave out and what you see on the internet really is just like my truest life whether it's my work desk or my car because i've always been a mercedes-benz boy from the jump my grandpa had one and that car was actually his for his whole life that was one of his babies and i had somehow convinced him like hey when can i get it someday can i can i ever drive this can i buy this from you and it was passed down to my uncle, which was then passed down to me.

48:32And, you know, yeah, I didn't, you think I had the bread to buy something like that, something that cool, that pristine? Nah, that thing was babied because my grandpa had babied that thing. And, you know, everything in my videos is just a true reflection of the life that I live and what's around me. And I can't act like there was some sort of expertise as to what I'm building in the OMG Adrian sphere of what I show on camera. Now, I know what I'm not showing. I know what vulnerabilities, I know what parts of my personal life, and I know what parts I'm not talking about, which then crafts what I show on the internet.

49:21I think that's just an extra layer of crap and noise that I have to think about. Because whether, let's just say, I'm building the world, right? If I had this intentionality of building the world, I then had to think about that on top of what camera angle do I want to use to deliver my story best or thinking about how I'm going to communicate this. So yeah, I'm sorry. There was no secret sauce or formula. But I think what you said as far as what you leave out, I think a lot of people are searching

49:57Adrian Per:for clarity. Like, what kind of content should I make? Who should I make content for? Like, how do I want to show up online? And getting clarity on like, what it is you don't want to do and who you don't want to make content for or what you don't want to say is just as powerful and gives you clarity on what it is you should do and say yes to. So I think that without maybe answering the question how you might've thought, like I wanted it to be answered, I think there's a lot of value in there is clarity in no. I agree. I think a lot of people try to fit in all these things based off of what they see on the internet and thinking it's like intentionally curated.

50:42I think there's a lot more things that you can intentionally like leave out. Not every hobby has to be your business. Not every hobby or interest needs to be included in your content. And not to say that you can't share that. But it's more noise. It's more friction. It's more friction that's getting in the way of you connecting with whoever may be watching. And the more things on that list that I have to think about when I'm making content, the less content or storytelling I'll be able to do. so yeah it wasn't any magic aha moment of this is going to be in my video this is going to be in it this is going to be in it this is what's going to make up me and my you know unique look as to what i bring onto social media it wasn't like that at all on the topic of what's in it what's in the camera bag right now and what what are you thinking about what'd you buy what's in the camera bag currently i'm super camera agnostic it's whatever works with me at the time i just recapped an event i've done so many event recaps that are on my phone and do you upgrade or no or like are you you get the new one i did not get the new one yet did you think it's worth it or no i don't think the camera is impressive enough to make me shell out over a thousand bucks.

52:10Back camera ain't worth it. The front camera is nicer, I've noticed. The back camera is just the same. I think the camera on both sides have been good two iterations ago. I have to be completely honest. I have a 15 still.

52:22Adrian Per:I got the 17, but I didn't get the 16 because I was like, it's so funny. I used to stay home and fake sick when the new iPhone announcements would happen. and i would be like the guy at school like the next day come in and be like i coast is like what's it like what's new and i'm like i'll do this this this i was like so dialed and i was like always getting the new phone and now i've just don't tell you what's new it's just orange that's about it yeah it's so hard for them i think now to to make upgrades and their stock price went down quite a bit really it's just they're trying to wow us with how much better the camera is when honestly the new Samsung Galaxy S20.

53:06The Samsung Galaxy S23 had 100 megapixels already, right? The S25, it now has 200 megapixels. So you're telling me the baseline that's higher than already what's on the iPhone is what you're trying to sell me on? There's no way. There's literally no way that I'm supposed to be impressed with tech that I wouldn't say is archaic, it's just not better than what's out there so why would anybody feel the need to spend that much money to upgrade when if you're trying to sell me on a camera that's already not as good as its competitors what are what is the samsung price is the same or a little bit cheaper

53:49Adrian Per:it depends on what size you get also i don't pay attention to samsung if i'm being honest i need airdrop dude i need the i'm so in the apple system it's not even funny i i just because i'm not camera agnostic whether it's a phone yeah whether it's shooting on sony whether it's shooting on canon dji black magic i use the best tool for the job so sometimes if i want to walk the streets of tokyo and i don't want to carry my tripod because that's just like not the culture to be you know putting your tripod and your camera down flipping it around and talking to your camera out there. People are very mindful and that's not a mindful thing to do.

54:37So sticking the DJI Osmo onto a street lamp and it has a magnetic back, wandering from that. Or if I want to be at an event recap and the goal here is to not necessarily capture cinematically what the event looks like, but what does the event look like from my perspective that I'm using Ray-Ban metas. I'm using my phone. I want to use the tool that's going to give me the least amount of friction from trying to, the least amount of friction in telling the story that I want to communicate. But to just wrap this whole thing up, I have Sony's. I have the FX3. I have three ZVE1s. I have one FX3. I have a Canon C80.

55:29I have the Blackmagic 6K. I have the Osmo. I have both versions of the Osmo, the Action in the Pocket. it i have all the cameras i need to tell the right story with the right tool for the job and to be honest the fx3 just isn't worth it i bought one recently like a couple months ago and because i shot on this zve1 for so long and it's it's smaller i'm shooting in short bits like i it's never overheated on me like i i don't i just you're never gonna get that fx3 to fully match image quality of this FX6 ever.

56:11Adrian Per:Okay, hold on. It's actually hilarious that you bring it up because my new FX3 is coming in the mail tomorrow. I have a ZVE-1. We've compared the image quality between the ZVE-1 and the FX3 specifically for like podcast angles. And the FX3 compared to the ZVE-1, in our experience, the FX3 like blows it out of the water. when you zoom it up what settings are you shooting on the same exact settings of the FX 4.2.2 10 bit I noticed it looks a little muddy the highest one it looks like when you scale it up and you look at them both scaled up next to one another who's doing that I mean we punch in on you if we punch in on you I think if you just flip them vertically and you look at them side by side and they're scaled to 100 like yeah you're not going to notice anything but as soon as you start to punch in, I noticed that it looks a little off.

57:08I think if I told you I filmed everything on an FX3 or a ZVE1, my videos, I don't think, I think you guys would have believed that I was shooting it on an FX3.

57:17Adrian Per:Sure. I was just, it's just interesting that, I don't know, I'm excited to get my FX3 but you're also like, you don't think, it's so funny, you don't think, you're not the biggest fan of Sony. It's not that I'm not the biggest fan, And it's just I use Sony for convenience. It's not because I like the brand. It's not because I think they make, I do think they make amazing products. But I've owned Red. I've owned Ari. I've owned Blackmagic. I've owned every new camera and different brands under the sun. I've shot on the Venice. I've shot on the Burano. Fuji. I've shot on IMAX. So not IMAX film, but I've shown them like, I guess the super big like sensor open gate.

58:10I just don't think the image quality is that great. It takes, I think it's good enough, which is why I use it. I'd say I use it 70 % of the time, but it's just, it has the right buttons until a camera is you know until a camera brand is going to innovate and truly like blow my mind and say this is everything that i need in a small body which in my opinion canyon canon almost got there with the c50 there's a couple things that some people may not like about it like the ibis but if you're shooting on a tripod in my opinion canon colors out the box is way better than sony have y 'all used canon you think way better way better dynamic range i was i was a canon guy for years i had two c70s at a c200 i don't know i just hated the no 12800 the c50 what did it not

59:10Adrian Per:have it didn't have ibis it doesn't have ibis i don't know what else there was one other thing it didn't have didn't have one other thing that i talked to you about i don't remember what it was what's the what's the iso on it what does it go up to i don't remember but my c80 has a 12800 base iso and it's so clean i like this i like the c70 a lot the only oh okay i like the c70 a lot the only thing i hated about it was super 35 the c80 full frame right c80s full frame internal nds three three base isos 12 800 being huge triple base is big the the internal stabilization c-log 2 c-log 2 beats s-log 3 any day wait but you also bought a new camera do you think this new camera is going to be legit the nikon zr 12-bit raw r3d absolutely i've seen the image like i i've had a red weapon you know i've had the weapon i didn't need the komodo it just wasn't the komodo in my opinion was worse than the black magic pocket 6k that was full frame and the super 35 version um i could talk cameras for hours man seriously like i'd be glass away it's rf mount so you'll have to get you'll get canon lenses correct for the for the nikon camera no it's nikon mount oh it's the nikon yeah so you're getting nikon glass nah they have really really thin adapters that you can mount your EF glass, not EF glass, your Sony FE glass.

1:00:46And you think the autofocus will be lit?

1:00:48Adrian Per:It's an Icon. Icon's really, really good. Are you going to be using that as like your daily driver replaced as EVE-1? No, I wouldn't even say any of these cameras are my daily driver. Really just, what is my daily driver for recapping events? It's my phone. It's my Ray-Ban metas. It's a pocket cam. What's my daily driver if I'm filming longer videos where maybe I leave the camera running for 45 minutes, it'll be the FX3. If I'm going outside to, you know, and I'm traveling out the country or even like shooting anywhere in LA, it's my ZV-E1. I don't need the FX3. It's just heavier, clunkier. I don't think the front facing record button is that much more convenient.

1:01:32I could control it with, you know, the other cameras of my apps. So there is a camera that I use more often than not, which is the Sony, but my daily driver just depends on whatever, whatever the assignment, whatever the task is. So if the Nikon ZR fills a space of me creating my short form videos and I have more latitude, you know, more dynamic range, and I can get the colors of the Nikon ZR closer to what I like in my personal taste, that I'm using that. You can't tell me that the three-inch screen is good enough. No, that four-inch looks phenomenal. I've seen it in person. It's incredible. it's it truly is game changing people are upset that they have the micro hd uh the micro hd uh port and not the full hd i mean with that monitor it's just what do you need it for i don't think they're making that camera for the professional pick up the camera run and gun docu style like no you you get the zr and it's just like lower stakes to throw it on a drift car than than putting your fx6 or your komodo on there um and also i think for solo creators who are looking for more you know you can play with your colors more and you don't need a screen and you want to travel minimally with you know the least amount of gear and you just use a flip screen and you're shorting you're and you're filming in shorter bits i think that's a camera for you now the files are huge that's what i was gonna i was gonna ask you about the files you're shooting 12-bit all the time i would be shooting 12-bit red raw absolutely wow i like the way the red image looks i can turn the red image

1:03:29Ari. Ari's going to get bought. Black Magic. Ari's going to get bought, I think. Red. I think Red and Black Magic are around the same space, but I think the Black Magic is a really good pocket Ari. And then Canon, Fuji, and then Sony. You're putting our guys at the bottom. Dude, I think S-Log 3 looks fucking fine. That's the thing, though. That's why I use it. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. It's good enough. Yeah, yeah, yeah. But I don't love it. I mean, I look at my videos when I was filming with a Blackmagic and then when I started filming with Sony, I could tell the difference. Sterile. I don't really like the sharpness.

1:04:12It takes more. And I'm speaking from a professional colorist background. It takes more for me to get the Sony image to be at my level of taste and quality and acceptance but none of that tells my story better which is why i will rock with the sony but it's just i don't know i think the most exciting camera brand right now is dji with the little pockets well yeah it's exciting man and then how they're you know they're releasing their drones have you seen the new mavic the mavic pro the four yes yeah dude it looks like you're flying a sony

1:04:54Adrian Per:it's crazy but aren't they having yeah what's the deal with the having trouble bringing them into the u.s and stuff oh i smuggled mine in that's perfect i smuggled mine in through a canadian friend i call her my drug mule i might get in trouble for doing this but the day it came out um the day let's just not mention the that i smuggled it in so the day that drone came out i hit up my canadian friend and i said i can't order this to my door can you buy this for me as a gift and then send it to me in the mail as a gift and it showed up at my doorstep because you can't right like right now i couldn't buy a dji drone and get it shipped to me is that what's going on no you can't do it damn dude that's crazy image the image quality that i've seen like the footage uh looks pretty amazing though dude it's it's amazing is actually a wild understatement just because i know what it used to be like shooting with like you know like the eight prop drone and then throwing like you know your red raptor on it and then having two operators one person control the flight and then one person control the camera it's at that point as a solo operator now and at like a fraction of the price what does it go for do you know i think like three grand wow you don't really use drone footage or am i in your short form stuff no i don't it's just my own personal i just do it for fun they're like so there's so much footage that i've i've captured and collected over the years and all these world travels that i've just that's another one of the things that i just decided to personally leave out i don't need to show any of that to my audience yeah okay i do want to take it back to because you brought up friction and a big takeaway from this conversation is removing as much friction as possible to allow you to get the job done.

1:06:51Adrian Per:What are some things that you've incorporated into your content creation workflow that has allowed you to remove friction and allow you to batch content at the level that you are and create content and stay consistent? Because I'm seeing your story post and you're posting that you're making 77 videos in one day and I'm over here trying to make one video every single day. Probably not the right way to go about it. So I'm just curious about how you've been able to remove friction in your content creation workflow. That, for example, is less about the friction and I'm planning for efficiency. And the way I now write my content yields me more than just one video.

1:07:31It's not write one script, film one day, get one video out of it. I'm now able to use one video and experiment repurpose maybe even change subjects what bits of this are evergreen and that comes from like i'd say now so back then it would be 33 writing 33 filming 33 editing 1 % crying and then I don't know what that 1 % is I don't know figuring it out but now I'd say it's about

1:08:1360 % 66 % the pre-production and then 10 % of it is like filming and the rest is just editing and repurposing and fitting it into the different the different places and directions that that piece of content can go. I know that's really vague, but for example, if I'm shooting, if I, if my goal is to make a video on maybe let's just call it this filter, let's just say it's an ND filter. There's so many great purposes that an ND filter gives you more than just being able to shoot, you know, the shutter speed that you want, right? One, motion blur. Why is motion blur important? It's cinematic. Why should your footage stylistically be not choppy or maybe why you might want it choppy?

1:09:11So when I go plan a video about an ND filter, that's already multiple subjects that I can now implement in the writing process instead of just making a singular video about one use case scenario of an ND filter. Does that make sense?

1:09:30Adrian Per:Yeah, I think it's interesting. I just think that pre-production is oftentimes so overlooked. And I think that's a great point of if you can really plan out how you can utilize a filming day, but also a style of video or a content piece and how can I repurpose it and utilize it in multiple ways. It allows you to stay way more consistent, which is why you're winning. Yeah, you know, quantity doesn't necessarily win unless there's quality involved. But if you can match the quality and quantity and it doesn't affect, and the quantity of what you're putting out doesn't affect the quality at all, then you're going to win you're going to put more shots up of quality and i could go on and on about this i think it's a very specific formulaic and nuanced process depending on the subject matter as to how one subject or one film day can yield me 10 plus videos like it's something that i I can't even explain in a 90-second video as to how I do, which is why I'm actually doing a free workshop on this.

1:10:46Free 99. Free 99, yeah. Okay. For the first time ever, I actually don't even think I announced this yet on any of my platforms by the time this comes out. Wow, 505 is getting the exclusive. I love this. That's actually crazy. I'm being dead ass like that. I, by the time this pod is out, I wouldn't have announced it to my audience yet, but I am doing, you know, I'm, I'm actually in the middle of a build in public type. Let me work on something that's interactive with audience. And I'm building this workshop or I guess this webinar, this free workshop online where you're going to be able to attend it.

1:11:37like a class, just like a regular webinar where I break down my system as to how I'm able to not just do a one-to-one shoot day and get one video out of it. It's how do we take your one idea and make multiple pieces of not just breakout content, it's not ancillary content, but brand new yielded content, net new content out of that one singular idea. And hopefully you guys could, you guys could actually, I'll give you the link for your viewers to be able to sign up for the waitlist and, and get the link. It's all going to be done through email. I'm not going to, this isn't like, this isn't like a for the public thing.

1:12:22I don't want it to be, I want to get the most people to watch this workshop. It's more like, hey, I'm hosting this private little cohort. If this is really of interest to you, you're going to click through this series of links in your email if you really want to learn this. And this goes back to, I don't think viewers are created equal because obviously I could do a live stream on YouTube and you know maybe get i don't know a few thousand people watching the live stream and you know concurrently a few thousand but overall i could say yeah there were 400 000 people in the live stream who were coming and going but that means nothing to me like if there's like a core of like 50 people who stayed the entire time who really really wants to learn those are the 50 people i want to talk to so i'll send you guys a link i'm gonna tune in i'm excited i i'm sorry I didn't mean to actually shamelessly plug this in the middle of the podcast.

1:13:19No, no, no. I'm down. It's just such a, I get asked this a lot, like, yo, how are you batch filming? And still putting out videos of quality. Like, nobody, if you looked at my profile, I'm sure nobody could tell, like, a lot of this was batch shot. I'm rarely filming nowadays because I feel like it just, I've gotten it so dialed. I used to film, like, three-ish times a week. Now, it's probably one and a half. and I'm yielding more videos out of it and the quality isn't going down. That's amazing. One and a half days of shooting. How long, does it take one full day to write or is it multiple days to write?

1:14:00Yes. So I spend a lot of the time writing. So that goes back to me saying it's like 60 to 66 % of my workflow now, That pre-production time. And it does sound intimidating, right? But it goes back to point number one on this list of five things that I only said like two or three things on. I use natural language to ask AI, how can I organize all these thoughts? and once I found out, oh, this is the best way I can formulate or I can make like a formulate process, and it isn't done through AI, right? It's, I had AI help me make a structure which I could then always plug my ideas and writing into the structure and think about all these things to get the best out of that singular idea.

1:14:57And that's something I don't think I would have ever been able to get if it wasn't for the help of an LLM. Like, I talked to this thing in regular natural language and it gave me a fill in the blank. And I've tweaked it. I've added my touch to it. And now I'm going to share it for the world to get for free. Yeah. That's awesome.

1:15:24Adrian Per:As someone who's been able to create content, not only consistently, but the quality is extremely high. You actually won a pretty awesome award. Yeah. And I'd love to talk about how that came about and what it means to you to be, I believe it's called an Instagram featured creator or what is it called? The Instagram rings. Okay. Instagram rings. Instagram basically said that you got the sauce and you're that guy. And so I'd love to hear about how that came about and what it means to you. How that came about, it was these judges and these judges were, I don't know how it was presented to these judges, but it's people that I look up to.

1:16:04Everybody from Spike Lee to Mark Jacobs, Adam Masseri, Pat McGrath, cause. I have been buying those cause dolls, like the legit ones, right? Like for a long time, I have multiple ones of those. And I don't know how meta presented the creators to them. And maybe they're like, Hey, these are a handful of creators, pick the ones that you like. And somehow my content was, it landed on their laps and they said, yeah, he's deserving of this acknowledgement. I would assume that's how it went, but Ash is really cool. It's cool to be acknowledged in something that isn't a popularity contest because so many things that are out there where people are acknowledged, it really is a popularity contest.

1:16:57How many views and followers do they have? And it's not about creativity because creativity, once again, is a subjective thing and you can't quantify what you've brought to the creative world as much as how many followers and views does this creator have and so many people are recognized on that objective aspect so to be recognized in a subjective way it means a lot like honestly that i got a phone call one day and I was surprised by it. And I was like, yo, this, really me? I never win things just because while I do have a big platform, there's so many more accounts out there that I know that implement the things that I've brought onto the internet that have bigger platforms.

1:17:48So it's like, why don't you, they're highlighting the people that I've inspired as people to that are noteworthy so i'm so used to that and like so i don't really uh i never really see these things coming you know uh something that i've been told a lot is like i'm a creator's creator and you know i feel like a behind the scenes type of guy on the internet so for the behind the scenes idea guy to be highlighted it's just it's unreal it's it's unreal to be recognized by the platform that single-handedly changed my life.

1:18:27Adrian Per:Do you feel pressure now or is it more so validating that you're doing the right stuff and what you're doing is working? I don't feel pressure. I'm honored. I'm flattered. I don't think I've ever felt pressured by making anything like any content. I don't think the level of content or quality that I put out will ever feel pressure because of the things that I've been acknowledged by are people who've seen my work if people like it cool if people don't like it also cool so yeah it's validating for sure and that that's really it like i think it's it's just super flattering what else are they going to do with it they're allowing you guys to do something else yeah so i have a gold ring around my profile picture type shit yeah it's like it's like you made it to the delta club you know you get the red boarding pass now You get to board before everybody else.

1:19:22What's crazy is that like - You got to earn the status though for a year. You only get - It's, you know, everybody wanted the blue check on Instagram and it used to be, I guess, an exclusive thing. And now you can just pay for it, right? And so it's not, you know, I guess this is like the new version of that. Like - But you can't buy it. No. Can't buy the gold. They have the -

1:19:45Adrian Per:Fuck, no, you can't buy it. I mean - You can't buy the gold. My profile has its own background color. I could change that to whatever I want. And I have my own like button. So if you click like on my profile, you'll see what I designed and I worked on the Instagram team with. That is mine. Well, I guess it's Instagram's. But that's something that's unique to the profile. Can you keep that? The like button will not change? or is it just for a year you get to have the background and all that stuff? Do you know? I was told it's a year, but I don't know. I hope it's forever. That'd be really cool.

1:20:22Adrian Per:Maybe the product person forgets. Yeah. I would also talk to Adam and I'd say, look, man, the fancy stuff is cool, but just boost my fucking page a little bit more. Dude, Adam, push my stuff out, man. Yeah, dude. I'm down to reach 50 % of my audience every single time. You know? Do you feel like that's Instagram's fault or do you feel like that's your fault? No, no, no. I'm just saying, I'm not, listen, I'm not projecting. I'm saying it'd be a funny conversation to be like, dude, I need you to reach. I need every single person that follows me. 50 % of them. Yeah. Like now that I'm, you know, I got the rings.

1:21:00Adrian Per:I get to reach more people. Yo, do you think it's possible for me to reach more followers? I mean, I, for me, for example, I don't think I'd ever say anything like that. I know a lot of people feel discouraged by that though. You know? Your boss is your audience. And if you're not serving to that, then it could hurt your feelings. But because I'm not creating for the sole purpose of maximizing reach, like I'm not maximizing reach per video, then it doesn't hurt my feelings, right? What would you tell someone who is maybe blaming the algorithm a little bit more than they should for why they're not seeing success?

1:21:43Adrian Per:You see a lot of people who are like fucking shadow banned or fuck Instagram's algorithm. It's like the reason why people aren't seeing my stuff. Is there any validity to that or are they just not making good enough content to stand out and to be seen? So I have two answers to that. Okay. One, it goes back to what your goal is, right? What are you creating for? like is it for yourself for your audience is it both is it for maximum views and reach and follower growth then there's a different answer for that but if the answer is i just like sharing my little art and i feel proud of it regardless if to me this feels like a flop or it goes viral or it does well or it doesn't then that shouldn't matter it really doesn't matter and i think that's why I feel so detached from whether my views get the vanity metrics or the the follows per post like I I really don't feel affected by it because I'm creating this not just for myself but for the people who actually gives it their time I'm so proud of that you know on average let's just arbitrary numbers here.

1:23:07If on average my videos get 100 ,000 views and, I don't know, 100 comments of people who truly enjoy it. But if at any point the average viewership goes to 5 ,000 and then only 300 people watched it till the end, fuck yeah. You go 300 people. I love that for us. it doesn't really matter because at the end of the day, I am creating this thing that one, I like. And the fact that other people like it, whether it's 300, three or 3 million, damn, that's a good feeling. You go around and you're shopping at Erewhon and one person walks up to you. That feels good that they remembered your work. And that's just one person.

1:23:57Now imagine two other people do that later in the day. Damn, that feels really good. So I don't really look at it as a loss of viewership. I feel really proud and appreciated by the people that do get to see it. So because I am looking at it through, I guess it would be considered an abundance mindset, I don't feel discouraged. And for the people who solely want views and the vanity metrics and whatnot, who feel discouraged by the algorithm and they're blaming social media, then go follow the gurus. Go follow the, here's your top 10 viral hooks. Try using that. The platform pushes what people want to see.

1:24:48And what those people want to see on their explore page or their reels page or their following page is solely based off of what that person's interest is. So we can't blame the algorithm for my page being curated. And let me rewind. Because I have curated what I want to see on my explore page, which is cars, dogs, golf. and if your content doesn't fit within what i want to see that's not instagram's fault i love that instagram curates exactly what they think i want to see because that was based off of my explore page a funny thing is it's like have you ever seen those uh those videos of like the guys like scrolling next to their girlfriend and like some like crazy provocative thing shows up.

1:25:41He's like, whoa, I've never, I don't know why this popped up. Yes, you do. You know why that popped up. That is your interest. So you can't blame the platform for feeding what the audience's interest is truly. And if you want to fit into that, then be self-aware enough to understand that you have to play their social media game and maybe have to follow those hacks. Maybe you have to reevaluate how you deliver your first three seconds or your first seven seconds, your retention, your different levels of retention and storytelling, how to get somebody or a viewer to watch to the end of the video.

1:26:23You do have to follow those. And if you solely think it's because you make great art, but the algorithm doesn't push it out and you're not self-aware enough to adapt, you got to put your ego aside a bit if that's what your goals are and you don't want to follow the roadmap to achieve those goals in this in this era then that's on you but if you're creating for the sole purpose of i just like making things i don't care if it gets views or not and i just like expressing myself and hell yeah to the five people who do love it then there's no reason why you should be complaining about the algorithm yeah man you've probably taken an ego hit just

1:27:03Adrian Per:listen to him talk about getting uh recognizing air one huh that's brayden's dream if i got recognized three times i'd feel like i show speed dude i might do a backflip on the spot don't even know how to backflip you might see me just send one be like here hold my beer real quick they're like no no you don't have to do that i'm like no no i gotta show you that i can do a backflip yeah brayden's dream is to just be going to get that yerb and breakfast burrito at air on someone's like dude it happened this morning brayden jack took a photo of it i could barely walk into the damn store it's getting just out of hand hit 25k on youtube barely could walk in i was like no cameras no cameras really but you just trying to get the yerb just trying to sir you need to pay for that sir you you can't walk out with that you see like that one person interaction feels really good like one person hitting like bro it feels crazy when i i was actually at jack's birthday and i met a rock at dinner and i was like that was the coolest experience ever and jack was like what the fuck just happened 500 for things that never happened did it happen you guys all were like what just happened i was like he said he actually didn't say the list of the pot he just said are you being oh you're just assuming though well i mean i don't know what the hell else it would be like i'm like he's like he's like you've been hitting home runs in the baseball field no he was nice but i was crazy i was i was actually taken aback because i was like we're mid-ap and he goes yo you be figgy and i was like yeah really nice to me i was like what the fuck just happened that was crazy it was really but it made my night and he did not say that he watched my stuff at all just introduced himself super nice guy and i was like damn that was really cool see if people were to look at it through that lens their perspective as to how they view their work you know it would change completely it would change overnight like one person taking the time out to whether it's watched 10 seconds of your video or 45 seconds or leaving a nice comment you know people look at their videos like oh it's a flop or did all right i had three comments but it's like what happened to three people who took their time out bro if you met them in person you're so right you'd freak out if three people were like if three people today were like hey i really love your podcast i would call my mom and say i'd say this is a you'll never believe this mom i know we haven't talked in a while mom i know i told you about an hour ago but i have to tell you about this insane experience you guys have more followers and you guys have more subscribers now that could fit you have you guys have more subscribers now than can fit into the kia forum it's crazy isn't that insane it's insane yeah and then you try to compare yourselves oh we need to get to 100 000 we need to get to 50 000 like dude 25 000 that's crazy bro i wrote that newsletter at 1 a.m last night because i was so fired up when we hit it i kept refreshing yeah and it was stuck at 24 99 for like probably and then it dropped to 9 8 oh did it actually twice bro no it didn't it was at 9 9 i posted i posted a story who's fucking with us i posted a story and i was like help the boys out and maybe someone thought it was funny but then it just shot past i got it right on the dot too right at 25 000 i hit it i was it i was watching ozark just close it can you watch the fucking show and i'm like i am trying to watch it's a big marty bird right now but like i gotta hit this because it was gonna bother me if it said 25 001 i really wanted the i wanted the number you know but it was a really exciting moment it's crazy though you're so right i was thinking about staples center because where i used to work i think it was 19 ,600 something and i was like the fact that we now have a bigger community than staples center is is like mind-blowing because you sit you're down there and you look up and it just feels like a sea of people that goes on forever it's crazy yeah and you know the frustration comes from people's creative egos feeling like it you know it's not fulfilled right oh my video only did 3 000 views shut the fuck up what out of those 3 000 people maybe a handful of them stayed to watch to the very end maybe a few of those people told their friend about an awesome video that they saw that day we're so blinded by the comparison shit you know by people we look up to it's like start appreciating those wins and and people say oh appreciate the little things the little wins like those aren't even little wins they're huge wins the fact that you can share an idea a thought your passion whatever it may be on the internet and for somebody that you may not know enjoy that that's fucking huge i want to talk about 2026 the future where you're going because you talked about how you're going to start doing a new series correct uh a few of them okay and you know on the topic of like finding a style and then also what's that racy ryan's finally stretching it out hey bud um on the topic of you know continuing to keep things fresh and trying new things what is your strategy looking like and what type of like new formats are you planning on on breaking out because you're gonna to start featuring other creators on your page is that correct i don't want to say featuring them but it's going to be a collaborative thing it's going to be bringing other people on to execute execute a series of shows like one of them is uh the creator confidence series which is getting creators who i think have built oh big stretch you can't look at a dog who does a stretch a big stretch and not be like oh big stretch it's so funny sometimes i'll do like downward dog before a runner yeah like stretch out and this and nella would go into downward dog if she sees me do it yeah dude it's so cute do you tell her big stretch oh yeah big stretch when did that start i don't know i feel like you can't let a dog stretch without acknowledging that they let out a big stretch goose can literally do downward dog on command do yoga and he will sit in downward dog it's crazy shit chloe hasn't trained it's it's i'm not even kidding it's fucking insane it'll be like downward dog and he just pops into it and he'll just hold that's awesome it's insane i love that yeah i love dogs so much so you're collaborating with other creators yeah so that's part of a series and And yeah, by the time this is out, I don't know.

1:33:29It's not out yet by the time this pod comes out. But yeah, it's something that I've been working on. It's something that I've been working on. Just doing more packaged episodic shows. You know, the series follow this for every day or every week. That's been done. Like I got to experience that. The once a week thing of like a certain style. It's just how do I continue to challenge myself? And I want to treat my channel like a media channel, I guess. How does a solo creator approach packaging the things that, I guess, these singular ideas and breaking them out into, I guess, something that a streaming platform.

1:34:17Like if a streaming platform made a just for short form series, what would that look for? What would that look like? I think BK Coffee Shop does a great job. Subway Takes does a great job. That's a collaborative thing. And it's not really featuring. You know, it's like you don't just get Austin Butler to be featured on your thing. It feels like a collaboration between the two of the people on there. So, yeah, that's what I'm aiming for in 26. and like full blown 100 % effort as to if a streaming platform had a verticals section, how would they take it in? Like what kind of branding needs to be involved for this to be a polished product?

1:35:03And that's what I'm working on. That's what I'm aiming for. So many different ideas that I have and I don't want to spoil it yet. Just know they're really, really cool concepts and they involve more than just me and i don't know if they will all be on my page or if it'll be separate pages but i think a series of shows that are hosted by me or produced by me that has their own free pages to watch on these short form platforms that's what i'm working on oh so you're

1:35:38Adrian Per:considering potentially even starting like other instagram channels too i already have okay they're just i just haven't brought them to life that's exciting that's really cool i have the the branding i have the i have some shows i have some episodes filmed we're in post-production for a lot of them right now oh what a sleepy girl oh wow oh yeah i have gotten the instagram names for them and you know some logos we'll talk about it at lunch what after what is something else that's really exciting that you're coming out with that you can share to the group before we get out of here oh man tell them oh man come on you don't have to know if i'm gonna get in trouble for sharing it too soon okay but no you don't have to say it if you don't want to

1:36:33let me think what day is this coming out again october the week after the 16th 23rd okay i already brought one exclusive thing on here sure why not content college content college yeah what does that mean exactly it's just your one online stop for everything you want to learn to elevate your content it's it's everything it's everything from the color grading presets to you know free scripts and templates there's going to be a free section where it's just you know the the the freebies that i put out whether it's that webinar or whatnot but also they're so I hate the course world because 98 % of it is trash I don't think students should be teachers and I don't know if the audience knows this but I'm 35 now I just turned 35 in September and Happy birthday Thank you September what?

1:37:5310 oh wow let's go happy belated come on i'm a triple virgo and yeah i i have been so turned off by what's out there just like the hot garbage and kids becoming millionaires off of like They're just really good marketers. And I don't necessarily want to... I don't... They're not my competition necessarily. It's just I want to create a place that, one, I feel like I have built the trust by have given out so much free game over the past three years. and it was finally time for me to package it all up and house it somewhere and and that's done by the free stuff that's going to be on there the small ticket items that's going to be on there and the bigger ticket item that's going to be on there which is the two courses that i've made in the past few months two two what what is the difference between one and the other so one of them is i wouldn't even consider a beginner course but it's less of a 101 but it's more it's like a 201 201 yeah but i'm considering it a beginner course because anybody and everybody can watch that beginner course and have all of the hand-picked knowledge and tools for you to succeed in this modern digital content era.

1:39:40It's what I don't like. So many courses pride themselves off of, we have 13 hours of content for you to watch, but let's be real. Like what's a completion rate? Why are you fluffing up this course with things that people might not need? Mine is short. I'm going to be honest with you. It's short and these are just the best handpicked things that I've learned over the 15 years as a professional that isn't filmmaking advice. It's not filmmaking lessons. It's this is the filmmaking world. This is what works in traditional media. This is what works in the content world. How do I take the best of those worlds and give it to you as directly and as concise as possible with the right actionable worksheets to follow along?

1:40:32And yeah, it's taken a long time to develop what that is. And that was done through my professional life and now as a full-time creator. Like the things that worked, what are the things that worked two years ago that don't work now? What are the things that's going to work for you in the future? What are the things that I found work that is going to be a timeless thing that you should know? And that's all in the beginner, which I think anybody who is intermediate or advanced would benefit from. And then I made something that's more intermediate, which is honestly more advanced. Like what is the theory behind using a 35 millimeter focal length, right?

1:41:14Or how many different ways can you film a medium shot? And all of those, if I want to film a shot that is chest up, if I film it with a 14 millimeter, a 35 millimeter, an 85 millimeter, or a 200, those are all going to visually communicate your story for the better or for the worse. and knowing exactly which focal length to use, whether you want to deliver the emotion of sadness, fear, anxiety, happiness, whatever it may be, I will teach you exactly this is the lens to use if you want to invoke this emotion. If you want your story to, it's it's just basically how do you make film school but for consumable content in the intermediate it's going to be exciting i'm super happy for you i want to know one gold nugget for someone looking to become full-time with this that they can take into the future what's give me one from the from the program give me one thing that someone can really take as we wrap this off today and take it into the future of their content?

1:42:37Do you think it'll be really helpful for somebody? I know there's probably a thousand, but what's the big one? The big rock. Everybody, there's a lot of people out there that are selling courses based off of what they think or what their opinion is, is what the world wants from you, right? And that's based off of making you fit into the mold of what social media is telling them that they should tell you what to be. Basically, how do we take these 50 viral hooks and share them with you so you can make better content or not better content. How do you take these viral techniques and help you get followers?

1:43:25This course isn't, or content college, isn't about how do I help you grow as a content creator? that's not the transformation that I'm going to do for you. You're not going to learn how to go viral. You're not going to learn how to garner the most amount of followers in said promised amount of time, which is what a lot of people promise, right? The one thing, and I don't even want to say it's a lesson. You're right. There is a lot of things. But I think the biggest thing that they're going to get out of it, damn, I know you wanted the one thing, whether it's like talking about techniques or scheduling, but I don't think that it's any of that.

1:44:16You're going to learn how to tell your story and communicate that as uniquely to you and as authentically to you as possible. I'm going to drive the best out of you. No matter what your upbringing is, no matter where you come from, no matter what camera you have, no matter what part of the world you're from or what your culture is, you're going to be able to take these things and communicate that as uniquely to you as possible. not by telling you what you should do, but by giving you all the tools to puzzle piece, this is how I want to best communicate my story that's unique to me. And in my opinion, that's what a lot of these, the course world is missing.

1:45:00It's, this is what's worked in 2025 and I'm going to teach it to you so you can prepare yourself for 2026. This is a timeless transformation to take the very selected handpicked things that I think will help, not even I think, the handpicked selected things that will directly help whoever sits through this course from beginning to end to help them become a better storyteller for themselves. God, I can't wait to see the transformations that you have. This has been such a fun conversation. Ladies and gentlemen, this is episode 177 with Adrian Perr. If you're still here, please hit the subscribe button, drop us a comment, leave us a like, and we'll see you guys all next week.

1:45:41Peace.