Can You Really Make Money with Youtube with Samer Brax

In this episode, I sit down with Samer Brax.  Born in Lebanon and now lives in Montreal, Quebec Canada, he has a successful and profitable youtube channel discussing selling on Amazon and Shopify.  In this episode we talk about his journey, growing his youtube channel, using influencers to sell his products, and growing his Shopify sales.  We dig into his realization that he didn’t want a corporate job, documenting his amazon journey, and now continuing to grow his online community.

In this episode we mentioned:
Helium 10: Amazing suite of products for research and refunds.

JungleScout: Discounted offer for product research.

FeedbackWIz: Special offer 50% off First Month with TACOS50 Promo Code

The Brax Amazon FBA Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/TheBraxGroup

Samer Youtube Channel

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Transcript

[00:00:00.210] - Rob
Have you ever wondered how much YouTube creators make out the superstars, but the average creators talking about selling online and this episode, I sit down with Samer Brax, who's a YouTube creator who talks about selling on Amazon more lately, Shopify and using Instagram influencers to drive sales. Let's hit the intro.

[00:00:20.340] - Rob
Welcome to the selling from the Beach podcast, where we talk about selling online, making money and creating a lifestyle that you want recording from the white sandy beaches of Costa Rica. Here's your host, Rob Cosman. On this episode, I sit down with Samer Brax, Samer was born in Lebanon and now lives in Montreal, Quebec, Canada is a successful and profitable YouTube channel discussing selling on Amazon and Shopify. On this episode, we talk about his journey from his YouTube channel using influencers to sell his products and growing shop buy sales.

[00:00:59.080] - Rob
We dig into his realization that he didn't want a corporate job documenting his Amazon journey along the way and now continuing to grow his online community. Let's get to the interview. Samer Brax, welcome to the show. Great to have you on today, man. 

[00:01:17.610] - Samer
Thanks for having me. I'm excited. 

[00:01:21.110] - Rob
You're excited because you stayed up so late last night and you're worried about if I'm going to film this video, I mean, the YouTube guy, you're always on video.

[00:01:29.160] - Samer
Exactly. That's why you need to be prepared like I have an image to, No just kidding. But I stayed up all night talking to China and I'm tired. If anyone's watching this at some point you'll know 

[00:01:41.310] - Rob
Hey I don't know buddy you look good. Your hair looks good. Keep it tight. 

[00:01:44.630] - Samer
Thanks. 

[00:01:44.910] - Rob
Let's just get into it. Just let's go through a bit of your background. I mean, obviously, you're you're an Amazon seller. You're a big YouTuber I think YouTube this is might be bigger than your Amazon business, but can you just give us a little bit of your background, you know, kind of your journey into selling online, making videos? Take us through that. 

[00:02:02.250] - Samer
Yeah. So I studied mechanical engineering in Lebanon, which is where I'm from, and did that for five years. And then as I graduated, I got accepted to well, we were accepted just a bit before to to move to Canada as immigrants. We got the permanent residency. So when I graduate from engineering, I had a few options in mind. It was either to move here and pursue this and become Canadian at some point, hopefully soon. I just got accepted, not accepted.

[00:02:32.070] - Samer
But the application that I sent in back in March was just open. Now we're in what September. They just opened it now for citizenship. But yeah, it was either I come and do this or there's no there's jobs really in Lebanon. So my other option was to go to either Dubai or Saudi Arabia or one of these desert countries. And I grew up in Saudi Arabia, so I decided to try something new and move to a different kind of desert, which is the Santa Claus kind of desert that the cold, cold, cold, cold one, which you know nothing about.

[00:03:05.280] - Rob
Hey don't pretend  like that I didn't live the journey of my life there. 

[00:03:08.930] - Samer
Right Right

[00:03:08.980] - Rob
 I put it more years in the cold than you have.

[00:03:11.510] - Samer
 So that's the reason you're there. 

[00:03:14.160] - Rob
Exactly. I'm done with the cold. That's the reason why I'm in Costa Rica now, because it's I'm done with winter and I got out of skiing and I'm not going back to it.

[00:03:21.600] - Samer
 Right. You're not going back to ever. 

[00:03:23.420] - Rob
I'm not going to go back to skiing. Well, funny enough, I used to ski and then I moved to the Cayman Islands.

[00:03:27.630] - Rob
And then when I came back, no, I of course, I didn't have any gear or anything. And, you know, to make that investment again, I was like, yeah, it was kind of cold. It was fun when I was young. But now I don't really like the winter. I don't miss it. OK, so you said you you said we. Who would you come over with?

[00:03:43.710] - Samer
 Did I say we?

[00:03:45.470] - Rob
 yeah, 

[00:03:45.990] - Samer
we got accepted as a family, like my family got accepted to. I know what it's called to become immigrants, I guess, but I moved alone. They stayed back in Saudi because my parents had a job and it was complicated. So I moved along and I was looking for an engineering job at first. But it wasn't easy because I didn't know what I was doing, I don't know what I was looking for. And I was competing with I don't know if you know Montreal, but it's like everywhere you look, there's university.

[00:04:13.880] - Samer
So I was competing with a lot of students who come from universities that employers have heard of is my excuse. And I didn't have much experience. So it took me a whole year to find a job. So while I was looking for a job, I was you know walking around Montreal enjoying the weather. Not really. But also I was trying I started thinking of what I can do to fill my time or to at least use some skills to maybe make money, but really just to do something with my time.

[00:04:44.360] - Samer
And back then, I was doing a bit of Instagram stuff. I had a Instagram food blog. I don't know if you know about this. 

[00:04:52.660] - Rob
Yeah I did,

[00:04:52.820] - Samer
Yeah I used to just post food and I started that in Lebanon and I grew it to like 78,000 followers. And we would get invited to restaurants like just before I left Lebanon it got to the point where we'd get invites and I'm like, well, this is cool. So so when I was thinking back to a skills I have, I'm like, maybe I can do something with that.

[00:05:13.940] - Samer
So I started an Instagram page in Canada, in Montreal for food, just for fun. And then I started learning about Instagram marketing. I guess I started learning about what do people do with this skill. And I stumbled on a title as a social media marketing agency course. That was back when it was super hot, back in 2016 or 2017. And I didn't buy I don't think I bought it. I probably did and I just watched it and I'm like, oh, this is like I can make money with this.

[00:05:45.170] - Samer
So then I try to get a few clients to do their social media for them, at least Instagram. Eventually I got like two clients but very quickly stop doing it because I didn't like it. I didn't enjoy it as much because as I was learning about the stuff, I saw the same kind of people do something called Amazon FBA. So that's when I was introduced to Amazon. 

[00:06:07.040] - Samer
So I, I, I watched a bunch of videos and I bought a course on Udemy for like twenty dollars called Amazon Arbitrage for Canadians, which was perfect for me. So I watch the course in like a day and then went to I think I went to Walmarts and ToysRUS. There's, there's there too right next to each other and in Montreal. So I went to both and I went to Dollarama and I think I bought a bunch of stuff like fifty dollars total and I sent them to Amazon. And then I got my first sale a few weeks later and I was like, oh, this is this is real.

[00:06:40.130] - Rob
This actually works. Right?

[00:06:41.360] - Samer
 It actually works. I guess so. Yeah. I took it from there, slowly got into private labeling. And when,

[00:06:48.560] - Rob
 What's your job? I thought you get a job at some point. 

[00:06:51.460] - Samer
So I got a job after that.

[00:06:53.550] - Rob
 Oh OK.

[00:06:54.290] - Samer
 Yeah. So I did the social media stuff, I did the arbitrage stuff and I had started doing the private label stuff and I, I was looking for jobs and I realized that maybe I can use these skills to get a job because I studied mechanical engineering and I remember learning a bit of things about manufacturing.

[00:07:12.830] - Samer
And I'm like, maybe I'm doing some of this like logistics, you know? So I started changing my CV to match a bit more industrial engineering and logistics. So I actually started a I signed up at McGill for continuing studies in a program called Supply Chain Management or something like that. And as soon as I did that and I added to my CV, the Amazon stuff, it's like I, I sourced products, I got samples, inspected samples, I contacted suppliers, I created shipments, you know, the full supply chain, basically.

[00:07:47.930] - Samer
So as I did those two things before even starting McGill, I went into their their job board or whatever it's called, like the thing where they show you all the jobs that go specifically for McGill students. I got into that, went to a few of their meet ups and then was contacted by or I applied for a job, an internship at CN CN railway, railway company. And I got I got accepted at the internship before starting McGill because of McGill.

[00:08:18.600] - Samer
You got it?

[00:08:19.540] - Rob
Huh? 

[00:08:20.370] - Samer
Yeah, so I started my internship at CN the same day that I started my McGill studies. And around the same time that I started really private labeling, also around the same time that I started my YouTube channel, so I started YouTube after starting arbitrage, but just before or around the same time that I started private label. So my first videos are like, hey, I'm doing this arbitrage thing and I'm about to do this private label.

[00:08:47.340] - Samer
I have I have this product coming in. If you want to see what happens, subscribe and then people subscribe. And later, I quit my McGill thing because I'm like, I have a job now. I did it just to find a job. So I stopped going to classes. I went up to them. I'm like, hey, if I want to stop doing this, what do I do? They're like, just don't show up.

[00:09:05.940] - Samer
I'm like, OK,

[00:09:07.970] - Rob
 We're keeping your money, but that's it.

[00:09:09.780] - Samer
 Yeah. So I did the internship for four months at CN and it was fun. I really liked it. And then they didn't offer a job. They usually offer like a bunch of internships before they offer you a job, a full time job. But I did get a job, a full time job offer at L'Oreal, also in supply chain. And I, I crushed the interview only because of Amazon.

[00:09:31.740] - Samer
I talked about all the Amazon stuff that I was doing. And even with CN, I only talked about the Amazon stuff and they were blown away for some reason, like, well, you can do that? And even if it's not too related to the job, which it is, you're still impressing the employer and then being impressed. You're probably not impressed by anyone else as much.

[00:09:53.410] - Rob
Yeah, it's interesting, though, because a lot of people would kind of want to keep their side hustle separate, you know, and not really talk about it. Right?

[00:10:00.400] - Samer
I don't care. I also didn't know, you know, I went into the CN interview and I don't know if you know about CN, but it's very well, in Quebec. It's very English. And it's also very like suit and tie. Right. I went in with jeans and a polo T-shirt not knowing and confidence you know, it's like, hey, what's up? And I was like,

[00:10:25.390] - Rob
Meanwhile the guys with suits are like it oh, this guy really must be the new age, right? He knows Amazon and he doesn't wear a suit.

[00:10:31.830] - Samer
Right  while I'm like, I don't know what I'm doing, I just ended up here. And the guy was like, did he just come from school? I'm like, no why?, I'd be with No. And then at the end of the interview, she was like, OK, everything looks good. Like we're we're we're impressed. They're like, yeah, if you if you join, would it be interesting for you to teach us, like on the side, you know, how I do this Amazon stuff, like I want to do this and then she's like, is there anything that you think you're going to struggle with, you know, adapting with this new job?

[00:11:00.770] - Samer
Like, no, I don't know. What do you mean?

[00:11:03.050] - Rob
Like, how do I tie tie? 

[00:11:05.220] - Samer
Yeah, exactly. So, yeah, after CN I got a job at L'Oreal for the same reason, like I talked about Amazon and they're like, oh wow, supply chain. The guy even said, even if you don't have a job, I'll create one for you. And I'm like, why? I was confused because 

[00:11:21.090] - Rob
then he want to learn about Amazon?

[00:11:23.820] - Samer
Maybe I don't know  they liked the entrepreneurial spirit, you know, the fact that I learned by myself.

[00:11:31.410] - Samer
But I also realized later that L'Oreal is a horrible place to work at because there's so much pressure and it's it's so tough and everyone's angry all the time. I guess they wanted someone like me who knows how to figure things out for themselves. But they also didn't account for the fact that I need to be motivated to do that. To do that, I need to be excited to do that. And I'm not excited if I'm pressured to do something for big companies like L'Oreal, you know?

[00:11:54.840] - Samer
So I quit two months later.

[00:11:57.030] - Rob
So you just quit because you hated it or because Amazon business was picking up or.

[00:12:01.650] - Samer
It was everything. Everything. At the same time Amazon business was picking up you two business was picking up. And I would go I would get to work in the morning. I would check my YouTube earnings and my Amazon earnings and stuff. And I'm like, I already made more money than I'm going to make today here. So at some point it was I think it was like the toughest winter that that I've been in in Montreal. And I had to rent to lease a car just to get to the job, which was like thirty minutes away.

[00:12:33.750] - Samer
And I was driving in this snowstorm every day and I'm driving stuck in traffic, looking at my sales, making more money than I was going to make, getting to the place. So then I was like and then and then my manager, the person who I was following around trying to learn from and basically trying to become at some point I saw how miserable she was. And I'm like, where is the motivation for me to become you? Right.

[00:12:57.050] - Rob
I want to be the opposite of this. 

[00:12:59.550] - Samer
Exactly. So I don't know if that was a smart decision, but I just quit. And I am doing now YouTube and Amazon and I keep the L'Oreal badge on my door, on my closet door, 

[00:13:11.260] - Rob
as a reminder, 

[00:13:12.230] - Samer
as a reminder, not as a driver, because I don't want to have a motivation. I don't want to be motivated by something that's shitty. But as a reminder, for the days when I'm like, oh, this is tough because this is stuff like this is not easy at all.

[00:13:25.620] - Samer
So I look at it. Like yesterday at 4:00 a.m., I should have just looked at it and kept e-mailing suppliers. Yeah, that was long. That makes sense. 

[00:13:35.640] - Rob
Absolutely. I didn't know you started an Instagram food and then I knew you went to, L'Oreal. I didn't know what you were doing there. I didn't know if you're you're always fixing your hair to a good product. So I'm like, oh, I don't know, maybe like a stylist or something. I didn't know.

[00:13:50.830] - Samer
I'm not always fixin' for someone who's for someone who's listening to this and not watching them and imagine someone with, like, sexy hair. No, it's just making it look, you know, just good enough.

[00:14:03.310] - Rob
OK, let's let's talk about your YouTube. You know, kind of what started to pick up. I mean, I just before we jumped on this call, I looked and you had like thirty three thousand subscribers and you just rolled ten thousand on your Facebook group. 

[00:14:14.820] - Samer
Yes, 

[00:14:15.330] - Rob
Obviously. Awesome. I mean,

[00:14:17.710] - Samer
Thanks

[00:14:17.840] - Rob
 you've been have this for only, what, two or three years now. Three years maybe.

[00:14:21.370] - Samer
 Yeah, three years maximum I think. Yeah, actually, I started in August, 2017, so it's been three years, it's been three years.

[00:14:29.380] - Rob
OK, so let's let's talk about your YouTube channel, what is what's it about and what's kind of the keys to your success and how you've been growing it? What's working well for you?

[00:14:39.400] - Samer
So like I said, it started back when I was starting private labeling and when I was about to start my private label product, I did that by learning from a few courses, but also from being involved in a bunch of Facebook groups and asking a lot of questions, just watching what people are doing, reading, researching, just finding a lot of time and Amazon, Facebook groups and eventually in these Facebook groups, because I was asking a lot of questions and basically with each step that I was doing, I probably talk about it or ask a question about it.

[00:15:15.250] - Samer
It got to a point where people in those groups knew my name, I guess because I was there so much and I would get questions about my, my, my, my progress or about whatever I had just figured out. So at some point I would get enough questions where I'm like, I answered this already three times today. So so I was like, OK, I'll make a video. Instead of answering the same question and the same answer, I'll make a video to send to these people.

[00:15:43.000] - Samer
So one day in one of these Facebook groups, I'm like, Hey guys, I want to do a I want to start a YouTube channel. Hold me accountable Augusts. Every day I'm going to post a video. And then that post got like a few hundred comments, which was crazy, but it was cool because most of these people I knew because I talked to. Right. So that was my my my launch audience. I guess without even thinking of a launch strategy, I was just like doing things organically.

[00:16:08.440] - Samer
And I started with my first video with that. But then every next video that I would post, I really made sure that it was a video that I can share and that answers a question and that people would also share without me wanting them to share. So. So with every video that I posted, I would hustle for every single view almost. So I would make go to Facebook groups asking questions related to the topic, get people talking about the topic or answer questions related to this topic.

[00:16:44.260] - Samer
And then same thing. People would come to me talking about the specific topic and then I'll direct them to my to my YouTube channel. So I did that for a while. I had to hustle for every single view. And then one of the videos or a few of the videos started picking up organically with YouTube traffic. And then a few of them blew up to like a couple hundred thousand views. And that's when I had to stop, or that's when I could stop the hustle for every view.

[00:17:10.690] - Samer
From there, I started a Facebook group 

[00:17:14.500] - Rob
for that. So you were posting your videos in other people's groups? 

[00:17:18.730] - Samer
No, I wasn't doing that. 

[00:17:19.970] - Rob
OK, 

[00:17:20.820] - Samer
because 

[00:17:21.240] - Samer
is everybody's hate that?

[00:17:21.280] 
if I had done that, then yeah, of course, if I had done that, then it wouldn't have worked. Its people wouldn't have like so I would just talk about the subject, talk about it so much to where people would come to me and ask me questions.

[00:17:33.820] - Samer
And that's when privately I would do that

[00:17:37.230] - Rob
OK slide in your DM's like oh hey, I can help you with that. So you suddenly became a DM guru and 

[00:17:43.330] - Samer
No, I would never say PM. I would provide so much value where they would just PM. 

[00:17:50.740] - Rob
Yeah, I know. 

[00:17:51.530] - Samer
I was I was in desperate for the views.

[00:17:53.380] - Rob
 But it's a balance though I'm sure you get it now like these people that are just super lazy, just want to DM you PM you whatever you want to call it and ask you a whole bunch of questions. And just like, oh, I owe you something, you just slide in here. Like I have all these questions. Can you answer them?

[00:18:09.940] - Rob
I'm like, Oh, hi, how are you. Nice to meet you.

[00:18:11.830] - Samer
Yeah. So at the beginning I would answer a lot of these questions. I would even get on a video call with the person if I'm too lazy to answer that's how free I was.

[00:18:24.370] - Samer
But also it was it was it was fun because I was figuring it out as I go. And then there was this other person who's asking me a question. I'm like, yeah, this is exciting. I just figured this out. Let me help you. But it sucks now because it's hard to stay in touch with these people because I have so many new questions coming in because of the channel, I sometimes miss being able to just like chat with people the way I used to.

[00:18:45.620] - Samer
But yeah, I would. I like I never launched YouTube with a strategy. And the only reason it worked is because I think I just did it because I was I wanted to to answer these questions. Right. I feel like a lot of gurus, they have the strategy and then they either get burned out or it's just not authentic and it doesn't. People can see that. 

[00:19:08.000] - Rob
Right. So you started putting the videos out, they started getting the views, then I guess you hit enough so you could monetize it, right?

[00:19:14.990] - Samer
It took a while. Well, no, not not a not too much of a while between August and January. I think I wasn't monetized. And I think I remember going to Vancouver for New Year's that year and then around New Year's, I. I got approved for monetization. I think if I'm not wrong. And that's when I started getting money from from YouTube itself. But along the way I was making money from affiliate marketing. If I'm talking about Jungle Scout or Helium 10 or even courses that I took.

[00:19:44.810] - Samer
I made some commissions here and there. 

[00:19:48.000] - Rob
Right during before you were doing the monetization from the ads, you were getting affiliate links, you know, in the details like, oh, you talked about feedbackwhiz or helium 10 or whatever, and then.

[00:19:57.380] - Samer
 Right, 

[00:19:57.840] - Rob
click and you make some money on that. 

[00:19:59.760] - Samer
Right. 

[00:20:00.690] - Rob
And then you started a Facebook group.

[00:20:03.430] - Samer
Yes. So I didn't want to start a Facebook group at first because I was like, there's all these cool ones out there. Why would I add one? I'm already in all these groups and I enjoyed my time in there. I don't want to just add another one just to add one. But then eventually these groups started dying down a bit or like the value wasn't as good. And I had more to to offer to people. And I wasn't really posting it on my own personal Facebook because I still to this day, don't use it that much.

[00:20:32.280] - Samer
I only use the groups. So I'm like, if I had a group, it's easier to contact these people. So I created a group and same strategy as as YouTube, I guess. Just organically grew it and hustled for every new member, and then eventually Facebook picked it up, like with with their algorithm. I'm sure you know how it works. And then now people just join without me doing much.

[00:20:56.310] - Rob
 Yeah, it's weird on my group, I mean, it's pretty niche. But by the time this comes out, we're going to rebrand. But yeah, I was in the other day I had like 20 new people just kind of came out of nowhere requesting. And I was like, whoa, what happened? And I was trying to figure out, you know, I was trying to mine and figure out what the common group is. Did somebody, you know, mentioned it somewhere? And I couldn't put it together. So I was like, oh, somebody must have the algorithm must have picked me up.

[00:21:18.330] - Rob
And just 

[00:21:18.890] - Samer
right

[00:21:19.260] - Rob
 Now, the Facebook God said, here's a bunch more people for you. Oh, perfect.

[00:21:22.920] - Samer
Right. It's just like Amazon. You you show you show them that you're valuable and they rank you somewhere. I don't know where, but somewhere. But I'd suggest you you add a question to your to the questions that you ask. When people join the group, just ask them, how did you find this group that always answered this question that you can answer right now? To me, 

[00:21:41.300] - Rob
that's that's a good point. Mine are a little different. I usually have. What are the questions I ask is what's your biggest struggle? Because then I use that which also leads into you know content to create or post to talk about. 

[00:21:53.370] - Samer
Right. That's a good question. 

[00:21:54.680] - Rob
And yeah, then it was also your bookkeeper, an accountant, but it'll be a little different now. And but that's a good point. Like, how did you find me? why not. But I don't know, some people still don't want to fill out any questions and, you know, so be No.

[00:22:10.690] - Rob
OK, so YouTube, Facebook, what what pays the bills? Now, YouTube is where you make your money or the Facebook group or

[00:22:20.110] - Samer
 YouTube or Facebook there. I don't track where the sales come from or where the commissions come from. It's just a combination of everything. Just me being out there, but paying the bills between me or Amazon, as in my YouTube business or Amazon. Each business sorry each business for sure. Amazon. I don't think I've ever paid myself from it yet. I've just reinvested everything. 

[00:22:46.360] - Rob
Right, which is the Amazon business is so capital heavy and you get addicted, right? You know you start launch one product and that worked

[00:22:54.680] - Samer
 right 

[00:22:55.110] - Rob
Now I gotta to reorder. Right. And then you've got to have two or three months of supply on the either on a boat or in the air or a lot of cash. Yeah, yeah. It's it's tough. It's not easy at all. So if there are people out there that pay themselves, I respect that and I'm want to learn from them. How did they do that? But I feel like a lot of people lie and they don't pay themselves from Amazon. They just because every person that talks about their Amazon business also offers consulting or courses and all these things.

[00:23:24.460] - Samer
I don't know if it's in your world, but in my world that's the case. And I'm like, how do you pay yourself from Amazon? You're always launching new products and you claim, like, Amazon is making you rich yes it make you rich from your from your other stuff, consulting and the stuff that I'm doing. But to be honest.

[00:23:41.570] - Rob
 Well, it depends really, if you're in like an aggressive growth phase and no, you're not going to pay yourself.

[00:23:46.820] - Samer
Right, 

[00:23:47.390] - Rob
Right. But if you're just OK, you know what? I'm just going to you know, I'm selling 750,000 dollars a year. I've got the base inventory. And that's going to generate, you know, whatever cash flow every month. And then I'm only going to reinvest, you know, 70 percent of that new inventory or whatnot. And that's the key is deciding, OK, when is that point? I see a lot of people, when they first start out, they have a job and Amazon's a side hustle.

[00:24:10.640] - Rob
And I think that's one of the best times to do it because then you don't know the bills are paid and then I can continue to roll that over and generate that cash and reinvest that profit and build up that base nest egg. Because if you start doing the math and saying, OK, what are my margins look like, you know, and kind of reverse engineer to figure out, OK, what is the base amount of inventory I need given the inventory, how often it turns over and what my margins look like to kick off the two, three, five, ten thousand dollars a month I need to live on.

[00:24:39.130] - Rob
But deciding when deciding when to stop that and say, OK, this is enough. That's the hard part, because the Amazon, you want to sell more, just get more money, just get more stuff. Other products. 

[00:24:52.390] - Samer
Yeah.

[00:24:53.530] - Rob
 So I see a lot of people, as you say, that are always reinvesting, you know, launching new products and then you know have other avenues to pay the bills. Right, 

[00:25:02.140] - Samer
Right. Yeah. I feel like Amazon is a side hustle and it should be a side hustle until it's really not, like, really not.

[00:25:11.990] - Samer
For your own sake, like, why would you force yourself to take money out of the business?

[00:25:19.110] - Rob
 Yeah As long as you can, I mean, you know, I see people that make that jump, I have clients that have made the jump and I've clients that are close to making the jump. And it's funny, you know, some people could really explode it. Some of them are nervous. Some of them, you know, it's tough to give up that job, right?

[00:25:33.650] - Samer
Yeah.

[00:25:34.520] - Rob
 And that's why I ask you, like, oh, do you quit? Because you're like I still got bills to pay now, you and your bills are so small. I mean, you barely eat, I think. 

[00:25:44.400] - Samer
Yeah,

[00:25:44.810] - Rob
 But OK, let's switch back over to I wanna go more on Youtube, if you don't mind. I know you did one video and you were talking about your earnings and how much you made out of on YouTube and stuff like that.

[00:25:55.860] - Rob
Can you talk a little bit more about that? Because I know that was a great video for you. And I know people don't like to talk about that in detail, but I know you publicly shared it. So I think you would be OK sharing it with us.

[00:26:06.740] - Samer
Yeah, I don't know if people know how creators get paid on YouTube when it comes to ad revenue, but it's very different for each video and very different for each creator. And it depends on the topic of the video because it depends on obviously the ads that run on the video. So if I'm talking about Amazon and I'm attracting an audience that is interested in my video, which is about Amazon, I'm probably going to get ads on my videos that are about Amazon, which is basically probably a software selling a software or selling a course.

[00:26:41.890] - Samer
As opposed to if you're watching a comedy video, you're then the type of audience that would watch a comedy video and then what are you going to be targeted at about Pepsi or an ad about tickets to the show that's not as profitable as selling a software or selling, of course, on my videos. So if you're an advertiser selling a course on my videos and if your course is a thousand or two thousand dollars, you can afford to spend more to advertise on my videos than someone else is probably more profitable.

[00:27:14.390] - Samer
So because they can do that and because there is a lot of them that do that, it's I think it's a bidding system just like Amazon, I think. So then more people want to spend money on my videos and more people can afford to. So then I make more money. And that's how I get paid, because me and YouTube share the ad revenue. I think it's like fifty five. Forty five percent. And if I make a video that's not about Amazon, you can directly see that it's going to make less or more depending on the topic.

[00:27:44.020] - Samer
But Amazon so far has been Amazon and Shopify have been the most profitable for me. So when a regular creator makes, let's say, maximum, not maximum, but at the high end, four dollars per thousand views like two dollars to four dollars per thousand views, I make up to 70 dollars per thousand views for some of these videos, some of them no buzz. But like whenever I say Amazon and Shopify in the title, the combination of the two is like Amazon courses, Shopify courses, all these gurus.

[00:28:16.240] - Samer
It's like Guru Central, you know, they're all bidding on the on the on the video. And I'm happy and YouTube is happy. And I think if my audience knows me, they know that I teach to be careful from these gurus. So I don't feel too bad having these these ads because I've I don't know, maybe I've taught them enough to be like  careful. Don't buy all these courses. Be careful who you buy from. So, yeah, that's how it works.

[00:28:43.460] - Rob
It's also buyer beware. But, you know, the guy standing in front of a Lambo, I mean, we all know that joke. These guys still do it. They still do ads and they read Lambo's. They got a big fancy houses and say, buy my course and I'm going to dropship. And it's so easy, right? Like no it's not.

[00:28:59.110] - Samer
 Yeah. And maybe maybe it's going to take you buying that course to learn that. That's fine. And that's that's what happened to me. I bought a course for five hundred from a Lambo guru, but it got me here not because of the content of the course but because of the path that it put me on. 

[00:29:14.970] - Rob
Sure And you took action. But that's the other thing, too. Sometimes, you know, like you get stuff for free and YouTube is full of stuff that's free your stuff and my info. And but then there's also paid stuff. And, you know, sometimes it's you take more action when it hurt your wallet a bit. When you sell for money right? you know, you get that free check list, the free e-book, the free training you know. Did you really spend enough time on it? Did you to sign up and get it put it off to the side versus did you pay five hundred dollars. Did you pay a thousand dollars. are you gonna take that?

[00:29:45.010] - Samer
Yeah, very true. But I don't want to keep the standard low for the course just because of this. You know, let's let's keep our standards high for the content of the course while knowing that, OK, spending the five hundred is also going to help you stay. 

[00:29:59.420] - Rob
Yeah, absolutely. I mean that's assuming that the course is good and the variety of what you're putting out for sure. Absolutely. 

[00:30:04.810] - Samer
Yeah. But these gurus use that to be like you're going to spend money and then you're going to be motivated. But also give me good content. 

[00:30:10.830] - Rob
Yeah, exactly teach me. Give me the results. That's what I'm paying for. Right. 

[00:30:14.570] - Samer
Yeah.

[00:30:15.340] - Rob
OK, let's start. I always, I always want to know so and I get this every once in a while. I don't have many videos but I get some hate every once in a while you get some trolls, get some, some negative comments out there. 

[00:30:29.990] - Samer
Yeah of course when I first started every single dislike I'd be like why the video was good. But then you learn that people just like there's a preference and some people are looking for something they don't find it they might dislike. But then some people go out of their way to to buy dislikes. I had that happen when I was when my channel was growing at first I have like two or three videos that people bought dislikes to them. And it's obvious because I get like fifty dislikes and then like the ratio is like fifty percent. Fifty dislikes is a lot compared to the usual likes.

[00:31:08.350] - Samer
So I get 50 of them within like an hour or two and then I can go check where they came from and they're all like from Russia or something. So they're all maybe they bought them. I don't know why I'm not selling any courses. I'm not a competition to anyone, I don't think. But maybe because I just speak my mind. I haven't even exposed anyone or talked bad about anyone. But I do sometimes I'm not careful with what I say, but I've never said anything wrong in my videos.

[00:31:34.930] - Rob
So some people suck. We have, 

[00:31:37.130] - Samer
yeah.

[00:31:38.170] - Rob
 We did a couple of videos about moving to Costa Rica and as a family, 

[00:31:42.160] - Samer
right? Yeah, I remember 

[00:31:43.570] - Rob
A couple of them. Every once in a while they get posted to these Facebook groups like anti Canadian anti Islam anti like, oh, look at this family they're leaving because of you know, they used to rant against Justin, against Trudeau.

[00:32:00.670] - Rob
I'm just like, wow. Yeah, really. Like, come on, guys, you know? And then everyone's while I get these bad comments, I'm like, just delete. I'm like, this is why we can't have nice things. Like, really, I'm just telling you a bit of my experience and you're like, oh, this is like this guy's anti Canada, 

[00:32:17.140] - Samer
There's something that you have to learn eventually just to either ignore. It's a balance of ignoring them and see where they're actually right or wrong, because you want to ignore all the bad comments and then you're not listening to your audience, but some of them are just not worth listening to, you know? 

[00:32:35.050] - Rob
Let's switch up a bit, I want to talk about your lifestyle now, you originally talked about your commute, how that sucked, and I think a lot of people that are entrepreneurs hate the commute and hate all that. What is your lifestyle now? I mean, you told me you were up to 4:00 a.m. talking to suppliers but you know what does it normally look like? sure kind of

[00:32:51.880] - Samer
 Before we get into that? How many podcasts have you done so far? 

[00:32:55.440] - Rob
Uh, three.

[00:32:56.860] - Samer
OK, I just want to say excellent job 

[00:33:02.300] - Rob
Of like. Oh, you're calling me out.

[00:33:04.680] - Samer
 You know, I'm I'm very impressed. You're doing a very good job. Like the transitions, the questions. I like it. 

[00:33:12.720] - Rob
Thanks man, not gonna leave this and my editor is going to leave it in.

[00:33:15.870] - Samer
 Ofcourse yeah. Why am I saying yes to my lifestyle? So it's changed a lot throughout the years. And recently I've been learning that. I'm I'm still maturing and growing, like when I quit my job, I wasn't as mature as I am now, obviously. So there are things that I did back then that I probably shouldn't have or or maybe should have to to learn what to do and what not to do and to get to this point, but just to say that things have been different almost every month or every year.

[00:33:50.560] - Samer
Now, I spend a lot of time trying to balance YouTube and Facebook and sorry YouTube and Amazon. Trying to focus. I spend a lot of time trying to focus and trying to understand or know where to to put my focus with Amazon, I sell, I do private label, and I have a brand that I'm building. So it's not just like random products. So there's a lot of effort put in to building the brand. There's a bit more emotional than just building and then just selling random products.

[00:34:27.870] - Samer
So so balancing how much time I spend on that because I can spend hours and days on that and how much time I spend on YouTube, which is also the same thing. Like I love doing the YouTube stuff because it's personal and then I love doing the brand stuff because it's something that I care about, the product and the niche. So you trying to balance and trying to sleep properly and sleep enough is probably most of my time.

[00:34:52.860] - Rob
Well, how do you the start of the week, do you kind of map out what you want to? Do the kind of the key things you want to get done? Because, I mean, you can always make videos,

[00:34:59.520] - Samer
Right  

[00:35:00.040] - Rob
And those things, it's not like it's an instant payoff. You make that video, but eventually it's going to yield results. Right? 

[00:35:06.610] - Samer
Right. So, yeah, that's what I that's what I meant when I said, like, I'm still learning and growing because at first I had no work ethic. Like, I came from just studying. And to me, studying was easy. I just knew how to I knew what they were going to ask me in a way, and what they expect from my answers. So taking tests wasn't wasn't that hard. I never had a job during university or school just because where I grew up, it wasn't a thing.

[00:35:32.130] - Samer
I grew up in Saudi Arabia. People don't work when they're young. I went to school in Lebanon. Not many, not as many people as here go to like do side jobs while studying. So it's just not a thing. So having the work ethic wasn't it wasn't perfect. Right. So I had to spend a lot of time trying to build that and and figure out what works for me. So I watch a lot of videos and read a lot of books trying to see, like, should I schedule my days on Mondays, which I schedule my days on Sundays?

[00:36:01.890] - Samer
Should I wake up early? Should I workout before I wake up, before I start working at 5:00 a.m. all these things. So trying all of these things took a bit of time, but I'm just the kind of person that only knows what works for me after trying it, not by reading about it. So now I have a better picture of what works for me. I do a lot of writing. I always have notebooks. So writing works for me.

[00:36:30.210] - Samer
I it's not too structured. It's not to you know 5:00 am I do this 6:00 am I do that 7:00 am I do that. I tried that but it doesn't work for me. So I just go with the flow a bit more and I try to keep a big goal in mind as opposed to tiny goals with quick that with like, you know, deadlines for each single goal. Well, that's I'm saying now, maybe in a year it's going to change because last year it was different.

[00:36:55.380] - Samer
Right. But yeah, I try to. So now I'm back in the rhythm of doing the YouTube stuff. And what I like to do is just write down ideas on my whiteboard, just titles, because YouTube, that's what works title. And then from there I write out an idea on paper, just I spit out stuff, whatever lands on the paper lands, and then I try to organize it into bullet points and then talk about it. Same thing with YouTube.

[00:37:24.600] - Samer
I've been trying to find what my, my, my style is. So I try to do I try to do some presentation style videos. I enjoy doing those recently. I try to do some free flow videos. They're also enjoyable to do. But again, it's a continuous thing where I'm trying to figure out what works.

[00:37:43.090] - Rob
 Your last couple of videos where you know you edit them, you do you edit them yourself or do you have someone else do it?

[00:37:49.380] - Samer
It depends. I had someone for a while and then they and then during Corona like I posted less videos. So we just I'm like, it's not worth it. The first six months to a year, I was editing them myself. And then for a while I had that person. And then now I've been editing myself. But also recently I just got someone to help me. So it's a mix of both.

[00:38:10.650] - Rob
The last couple are great, like I love your style and it just kind of clips and it flows well and it's fun. It's energy.

[00:38:16.710] - Samer
It's so I have. So that's all me and I have to do that first before I can get someone to to outsource it to because I have to figure out what works and what you like, for example. And then I have to tell someone this is exactly what works. Please do this and only that for now. Yes, so I have to do it myself first. 

[00:38:36.190] - Rob
And are you are you writing it all, like you know you said, you put points, did you put the bullets? I mean, do you write out word for word? Just kind of just depends on which type of video you're doing?

[00:38:45.900] - Samer
It's a bit of both. Yeah. Like you said, it depends on which type of video. But it's also what I said about trying different things and seeing what lines of what works for me. I there's there's a guy whose name is what's his name, Cornelia something. Cornelia Spencer, Spencer Cornelia. He makes videos about entrepreneurship. He exposes gurus. You might have seen one of his videos. He I talked to him and he writes every word that he says and he reads it from the teleprompter.

[00:39:13.110] - Samer
It's very cool. I love how efficient it is and how to the point. And there's there's not there's no time wasted. And it's important to do when he's talking about so much detail and research. I tried doing that. It's just that I'm so ADD that if I spend so much time doing this, it's like it's over. It's over there. I can't move on to the next point. Right. So I learned that for myself because of my ADD ness, I have to I have to start with an ugly draft and not and not like write a perfect script and then film the perfect video and then edit it perfectly.

[00:39:46.290] - Samer
No, I have to have to do something. And then take from there, so whatever that something is, I just have to start with an ugly draft. That's why in my latest video, I talked about Shopify and I'm like, it took me so much time to start Shopify for my Amazon product. But eventually I started with an ugly store just to start. And when I was doing that video, I'm like, oh, damn, that's what works for me.

[00:40:09.570] - Rob
Let's talk about Shopify now, because you're brought it up.

[00:40:11.360] - Samer
 Yes, I love Shopify.

[00:40:12.870] - Rob
 It's pretty good right?

[00:40:14.040] - Samer
 Yeah, like a Canadian company. 

[00:40:17.740] - Rob
Yeah. Do you buy the stock or you can use the service? It'll both work out. But it's I built a couple of Shopify sites last couple of months and they're pretty neat. You're doing Facebook ads driving traffic to your own. What do you what's your strategy? What are you doing?

[00:40:34.740] - Samer
 So at first my strategy was a lot of influencer marketing. But not really paid, so I didn't go and ask people like, what's your rates? It was more that was before Shopify. I only had the product on Amazon and like I said, I was building a brand. So from the start, I'm like, I need an Instagram page, I need an audience, I need to do all this stuff. So I would send my products to every single influencer that I could find. Micro influencers. So anywhere from 4,000 followers to 8,000 followers, just anyone with an audience is interested in exactly my niche.

[00:41:10.270] - Samer
And with an audience that's just engaged in off, I've sometimes seen way more results from someone with 5,000 followers than from someone with 100,000 because the person with five thousand. And that's something that actually happened. They got me 40 sales in a day. And for Amazon, 40 like adding 40 sales is a lot. And as opposed to someone else with 100,000, like to convince 40 people they don't have that much of a direct relationship with their with their followers.

[00:41:43.390] - Samer
The person with 5,000. The followers are waiting for their opinion. So I did a lot of that, I sent my product to as many of these people as possible without expecting anything. The actual strategy at first was just to get content from them because I was like, I have an Instagram page, but no time to shoot content or resources or money. So I sent it to all these people. They would post about it just because I'm like, hey, I'd love to hear your feedback on the product.

[00:42:10.530] - Samer
I don't care about anything else. I just want to hear like, how is the product? It's a new brand and I want to make it the best that it can be. So then just because the product was thankfully you know good and it worked, people would post about it. I would be happy because I'm like, hey, this is content that I can use. But then eventually these because they're posting about it. Obviously people are interested in the product and they would buy it.

[00:42:34.050] - Samer
And that was before Shopify. So I was able to to know that that was happening because I had a PPC campaign on Amazon targeting my brand name. So I saw that someone out there was searching my brand name on Amazon. And it's a brand that I just made up. You know, no one's heard of it. So they must have came from these influencers. So that's when I was like, oh, I need to start Shopify.

[00:42:59.220] - Rob
OK  I want to go back before you go too far, because you would you would literally like a direct message someone and say, hey, I've got a product. I'd like you to just test it, review it, and I'll send it to you for free is that how would go

[00:43:09.540] - Samer
 Right. Not even review because reviewing is like expecting something to them. 

[00:43:12.670] - Rob
OK

[00:43:12.720] - Samer
Then I would just say, hey, I just started this brand with a friend to help people do whatever. I'd love to get you, to get you to try it and be like, yeah, of course, send it to us. People that post post, people that don't buy follow up. And if they don't, it's fine.

[00:43:28.530] - Rob
And so you weren't giving them like a particular coupon code or anything. They were just like, yeah, because it was just a brand. So you assumed OK, came from that person and they posted. I'm guessing you're still following them on Instagram and. Oh look, they just posted. So connect the dots. Right.

[00:43:43.080] - Samer
 Right. Like who would look up my brand if it wasn't from someone else talking about it. 

[00:43:49.230] - Rob
Right. And recently. 

[00:43:50.940] - Samer
Right, exactly. So so that was a proof of concept of that, that this works. Right.

[00:43:57.990] - Rob
 How many how many did you end up sending out? Just give me a ballpark. 

[00:44:01.220] - Samer
I don't know. And my partner does that.

[00:44:03.870] - Rob
Are we talking like one hundred thousand. Like fifty but. 

[00:44:07.690] - Samer
I couldn't tell, but it's like every day we're messaging 20 to 30 people and every week we're sending two to three. And if we're going hard, maybe five to 10 a week 

[00:44:19.360] - Rob
And you just like do multichannel fulfillment out of Amazon direct to them.

[00:44:22.270] - Samer
 Yes. Yes. So please give me your address and expect it soon. And then I send it through Amazon and relations with influencers. Nothing came out of them. Well, no one of them that I paid for, nothing came out of it. And I had a manage chat flow going to a swipe up story. So they swipe up, go to manage chat, and then there's a flow that says your enter to the giveaway. And then a few days later, I announce the winner. But I also give everyone a discount.

[00:44:53.170] - Samer
So I pay a hundred dollars for one of the influencers to do that. No sales, nothing. And only like ten people joined out of one hundred thousand followers. And I did it again with someone else who didn't want money. So we didn't pay them. And we got a bunch of more people join and we got people that bought the products with the discount, like the people that didn't win. I send them all the discount and we got a bunch of sales.

[00:45:18.790] - Samer
So that was the one of the first direct selling on Shopify strategy. Everything else before that was just like get our name out there and then people find us. And then now I'm doing more Facebook ads to sell the product at full price with no discount. And it's been working, thankfully. Maybe it's because of quarantine. Everyone's at home. It's working better now. I'm not sure, but it's working. And I'm trying to improve my skills. My Facebook add skills so that I can profit even more.

[00:45:47.830] - Rob
But your Instagram strategy then now, that's kind of ongoing. Basically, you're always finding new micro influencers, sending out the product. So you're only cost is really the time of your partner doing it and the cost of the actual item.

[00:46:00.460] - Samer
 Yes. And yeah. So so even like up until now, if I check my PPC campaign targeting my brand, there's continuous sales. So that must be from that, unless there's something that I'm not thinking about. 

[00:46:18.490] - Rob
But so many people think that you need to pay the influencers and, you know, OK, how much is it going to be? What's your rate? You're trying to figure out what their engagement is and this you're literally just sending them a free one. And she said the micro ones, which people are more responsive, they haven't, you know. 

[00:46:33.980] - Samer
Yeah, I also might be lucky because my product is more Instagram shareable kind of product, so maybe if it's if it's something else, it might not work as well. But but at the same time, like there's an influencer to every niche, there is an audience for every niche.

[00:46:48.210] - Samer
And if there's no audience, there's no demand. 

[00:46:51.300] - Rob
Yeah, then you probably should be selling it anyways. 

[00:46:53.650] - Samer
Yeah, 

[00:46:54.110] - Rob
no matter how much PPC you spend. 

[00:46:56.650] - Samer
Yeah, maybe, maybe like maybe there's no audience for garbage bags, but I don't know.

[00:47:02.560] - Rob
I'm sure there is because it's recyclable and environmental and all kinds of jazz. OK, give me I was asked this. Give me an example of something that just didn't work out and it may be a disaster how you kind of overcame it and rallied that. 

[00:47:20.100] - Samer
Can you give me an example I can think of anything. Yeah, give me one of yours while I think. 

[00:47:25.750] - Rob
My disasters, I've had lots of them, 

[00:47:27.970] - Samer
yeah, we can talk about one that we had together. Do you remember my first book keeper? 

[00:47:35.980] - Rob
The guy who just went missing, MIA, 

[00:47:38.230] - Samer
yeah,

[00:47:39.270] - Rob
 stopped responding, 

[00:47:40.900] - Samer
yeah, so so I usually when it comes to working with these kinds of services or people, I choose them from referrals. I don't try something from scratch or it always has to come from someone else that I trust, which is how I found you basically. And then the bookkeeper was a referral from someone I trust a lot. But then he disappeared on me and my friend, and then we coudn't get contact him.

[00:48:07.060] - Samer
What did we do at the end? I think he surfers out of the out of nowhere. 

[00:48:12.180] - Rob
Oh yeah, message you back like oh, hey, what's new? Kind of like where you been it's been months  like if you're

[00:48:22.030] - Samer
 Hiring hiring people and finding qualified people to work with, whether it's hiring or just partnering up or just choosing who to work with or not is a skill that I'm getting better at and I'm learning how to get better. But it is something that's not easy at all. 

[00:48:39.040] - Rob
No, it's super hard. I do what you do. I ask other people and ask trusted friends, you know, hey, who do you suggest? Because, you know, somebody asked me. I'm you know, I almost feel like I'm putting my neck on the line when I'm telling them, yeah, this guy is good or this girl's good or whoever. So needs to be good. But I don't know, man, sometimes people just don't have the work ethic or people mess things up.

[00:49:01.480] - Rob
Here's my other issue lately. And I'm venting because I've had a few people let me down lately. If that's something up own your mistake and then try to come back in over deliver. Whenever I make a mistake, I'm like, OK, I need to come back. I need to over deliver on it. I need to be go above and beyond. Because if I can do that, some of my best clients are people that I've worked with.

[00:49:22.510] - Rob
We make a mistake. We recovered so well and overcompensated. They become customers for life. And it's how you respond when you do crappy. But then I have people that just do crappy and they're like, yeah, sorry, that was on me. OK, so let's try to wow me and really come back and speed up the timelines and over deliver, like that's just me common sense in a very easy way to redeem to make it up. Right.

[00:49:48.560] - Samer
That's the problem with telling people that they can do whatever they they want to do, because I don't I don't believe in that. You can't do anything that you want to do because you get so convinced, like, oh, yeah, I can start a bookkeeping agency. It's so easy. Hey, Rob, I want to do this for you and that and you'll be so like they'll say in such a promising way and you get sold, you're like, oh, OK.

[00:50:08.490] - Samer
I guess this guy knows what he's talking about. But then he figures out that he can do it and he figures that he was sold on the idea and then you're stuck with. Yeah You know what I'm saying?

[00:50:19.760] - Rob
Oh, I hear you, I hear you take it to make it, but you've got to make it at some point. 

[00:50:25.400] - Samer
Yeah. You  got you got to market a product that works. 

[00:50:29.240] - Rob
So one thing that you said earlier on, and I had a conversation on my last episode, but entrepreneurship being hard.

[00:50:35.420] - Samer
Yeah. Again, excellent podcasting skills, 

[00:50:39.690] - Rob
because I remember actually what you said ten minutes ago. 

[00:50:42.260] - Samer
Yes. Yes, yeah. Go ahead.

[00:50:46.780] - Rob
I know, but entrepreneurship is hard. Like, what is your is it I mean, I asked you about your routine and, you know, you're trying different routines, motivate yourself. And, you know, just how is entrepreneurship hard for you?

[00:51:00.640] - Samer
Entrepreneurship is I think it goes hand in hand with, it or it should go hand in hand with mental health, because anyone that wants to become an entrepreneur wants something better for themselves, right? They're choosing to become better and to do that, it's basically saying. I want to be healthier, right? Does that make sense or am I talking bullshit? 

[00:51:27.660] - Rob
No, keep going,  this is exactly

[00:51:30.450] - Samer
 I'm making this up as I go because 

[00:51:34.010] - Rob
it's what you said when you started out. You're like, you know, you had a boss and you're like, yeah, I don't want to be like you. I don't want to. And I think a lot of us have done that. You know, we've had a boss or something. And you're like, OK, you know, this is what you've been told so long and this is where I'm going to go with me. I'm like, yeah, I want to be a CFO of a big company, blah, blah, blah.

[00:51:50.040] - Rob
And then you see the people I get there just like 

[00:51:54.060] - Samer
Right 

[00:51:54.750] - Rob
No, 

[00:51:56.040] - Samer
Right

[00:51:56.370] - Rob
 No

[00:51:56.620] - Samer
So I guess it starts with mindfulness. It starts with having knowing to ask or knowing to evaluate, because a lot of people don't ask, like, why am I doing this or why do I want this? And then once you do that, that's when you start going like, oh, I want this and not that. And that's what to me, entrepreneurship is.

[00:52:16.980] - Samer
And then to get those things, you have to figure out what works for you. And that's what therapy is. And then to figure out what works for you, you have to figure out how to do that. And then it's a whole thing. Yeah. 

[00:52:29.180] - Rob
But you're younger and, you know, like when I asked you about quitting and you're like, yeah, I just quit who cares 

[00:52:35.640] - Samer
Right , I'm lucky because I listen to my gut and my gut has been has not let me down too much.

[00:52:43.930] - Samer
So I don't know what it is. Maybe genetically somehow I'm wired in a way where I'm at least pushed in a direction that's a bit favorable somehow and then want and like the the figuring out what works for happens after. And then it's a correction from there. It's like an optimization from there. Is that what you're asking? 

[00:53:08.640] - Rob
Hey, I just threw it out and see where it went, because it's always when everybody everybody struggles, though everybody struggles with being an entrepreneur. Some days are great, you're crushing it. Other the days is terrible and then, you know, there's freedom. But sometimes it's a double edged sword because you're like, OK, well, what am I doing today? you know and that's what I'm asking you, kind of what your routine is checklists and things. And I'm the same. You know, I got a lot of things on the go and it's always just trying to plan, OK, what am I going to do and what am I prioritizing?

[00:53:37.420] - Rob
And, you know, like I talked about my videos I did with my family videos, and that was after, you know, I was at a conference that I met Reezy Resells and he's like, dude, you got to do a family channel. It's a good story. And I did a couple. And then, you know, it just falls down because at the end of the day, I need to pay bills and, you know, what am I going to monetize?

[00:53:58.480] - Rob
What is what is the best asset you can kind of creating that that someday maybe I'll get some free hotel stays. But like, you know, 

[00:54:07.030] - Samer
Reezy does a lot, he does everything somehow.

[00:54:10.840] - Rob
But everybody, you know, like there's so many different things you can do. Even just talking to you, like I've got my Facebook, YouTube, I got my private label, you know, and whatever else you're doing in Montreal these days. 

[00:54:21.450] - Samer
Yeah. Yeah, you need to learn quickly to to assess what you're doing and to see what's worth doing and what's not, because like I said, you can be sold on ideas very easily, especially with YouTube and Facebook and Instagram and Tik-Tok and all these people talking at you, carry these things, start all these things that you need to start and then you're like, oh damn, they're going to start all these things.

[00:54:42.580] - Samer
He has a new podcast. I need a new podcast. He has a Facebook group that I need a Facebook group. And it makes sense on paper because it makes money.

[00:54:47.950] - Samer
But then at the same time you're like, oh, and then, 

[00:54:52.510] - Rob
as you said, to be talking on my new podcast.

[00:54:55.210] - Samer
Yeah, yeah. But that's all I'm acknowledging how good you are at it, because I wouldn't want you to go into it and you're like. One not good at it, and two, not for you, but I can tell it's for you. 

[00:55:08.290] - Rob
Thanks, man. I appreciate that. OK, I've taken up a ton of your time. Appreciate it today. 

[00:55:14.280] - Samer
I'm having fun.

[00:55:16.030] - Rob
Good and you survive  and that's that's why I interview people that I like, my friends like and I put it out there, you know, oh, hey, you stuffy guy with a CV who's looking for podcast bookings, you might I want to talk to my bros 

[00:55:26.580] - Samer
Yeah

[00:55:27.160] - Rob
 Final thoughts for anybody who's looking guy like me, I need to build up my YouTube channel. Any final suggestions for a new YouTuber

[00:55:36.220] - Samer
For a new YouTuber well, obviously, you have to go with what people are searching for because that's how YouTube works.

[00:55:42.490] - Samer
It's a it's a search engine. So what are people looking for? You have to make sure that when you're starting, at least you're going after these big, not big keywords, but big enough keywords to where someone is searching for it. So if you're interested in something but no one's searching for it in a specific way, it's a waste of time. But then maybe later, once you have the audience, you can do whatever you want. That's at least how I see it.

[00:56:07.730] - Samer
Someone has to find you somehow unless you figure if you figure out another way for someone to find you. And consistency is so important. And it's something that I've struggled with consistency on YouTube for the algorithm and for the audience and just for your own self. Consistent consistency is very important. So if you can do that, you'll have you'll be at least better than me in one area. So if you're consistent and you're putting up content that people are looking at, are looking for and that people can share, and that's helpful, you should be fine.

[00:56:43.960] - Samer
But at the same time, don't force it and make sure to reassess everything that you're doing every once in a while because you could suck, but try to force it. And that's something to work. That goes back to what I said, where I truly don't believe that you can do anything you want. You can try, but you might not be good at it. And that's not a good point. 

[00:57:08.580] - Rob
And you are right. I mean, hey, I get it, you can't you can't be great at everything, 

[00:57:19.770] - Samer
But let's end on find what your greater self-awareness. I said that Gary V says that you should do everything and that's bad. But he's very good at talking about self-awareness and finding. And I think I saw a video recently where he was like. I don't know if he said he regrets talking about how much you should start all these things, or maybe he says that self-awareness over everything because that's what's going to work.

[00:57:45.490] - Samer
So you figure out what works for you.

[00:57:47.840] - Rob
 Awesome. OK, buddy, where if anybody wants to try to find you, give me your social media, the YouTube channel, Facebook 

[00:57:56.180] - Samer
Samer Brax on Instagram if you want to DM me and chat about random stuff, Samer Brax  on YouTube, if you want to watch Amazon, Shopify, E-commerce stuff, The Brax Amazon FBA on Facebook, if you want to join the best Facebook group out there. I'm sorry Rob, but mine's better than yours, yours actually, yours is very good for the size people. Go to your Facebook group for answers, so yours is really good compared to other Facebook groups.

[00:58:21.190] - Rob
I'm gonna edit that out anyways. 

[00:58:24.000] - Samer
Edit out? 

[00:58:24.580] - Rob
I'm going to edit out what you just said, 

[00:58:26.480] - Samer
which part? 

[00:58:27.450] - Rob
That mine is avery good, 

[00:58:29.000] - Samer
No I just said it very good. It's not gonna make sense. No, I'm just teasing you. Yes. So The Brax Amazon FBA group on Facebook and. Yeah, I think that's it. 

[00:58:42.030] - Rob
Thanks so much today. This is it's been fun. 

[00:58:45.260] - Samer
Yeah Thanks for having me. We'll do it again if you want something.

[00:58:48.180] - Rob
Yeah, absolutely.

[00:58:50.370] - Samer
What more do you want to hear about? And then Rob can either find someone better than me to talk about or talk about it 

[00:58:57.870] - Rob
Everyone wants to know more about L'Oreal.

[00:59:00.240] - Samer
Oh, sure. I had a hater once in my Facebook group. He for some reason had made a mission to to go out and expose me. I can remember why, because he was asking a lot of questions and they didn't make sense. And then it's one of those things where you fail and then you're like, oh, you guys are lying. That's why I failed. So. So then he started commenting all day on Facebook, talking about you guys are listening to this guy.

[00:59:27.360] - Samer
He's fake. Look at his LinkedIn. LinkedIn is for for grown ups. People don't lie on LinkedIn. And his LinkedIn says that he works at L'Oreal. This guy is putting makeup on while he's clowning you I don't know what he was saying, haven't touched my LinkedIn in a while. That doesn't mean that I'm lying 

[00:59:42.740] - Rob
To you that's kind of a funny bird putting on makeup or he's clowning you.

[00:59:46.920] - Samer
Yes I don't know if he said it that way. That might have been made up by me. But he didn't say makeup and he did say like maybe I made it made him sound better that he than he did.

[00:59:55.970] - Samer
But but yeah. Speaking of haters, that's one of the things that happened recently. And it's fun 

[01:00:01.750] - Rob
LinkedIn for grown ups I'm so like that 

[01:00:03.850] - Samer
People don't lie on LinkedIn. 

[01:00:06.210] - Rob
I don't know. My pictures still's me in a suit. And no beard. I'm clearly lying compared to what I am now. 

[01:00:14.010] - Samer
Right. It's funny. 

[01:00:15.470] - Rob
All right Buddy,

[01:00:16.590] - Samer
See you soon,

[01:00:17.250] - Rob
good chat with you man.

[01:00:18.120] - Samer
Alright

[01:00:20.830] - Rob
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