welcome back to segment two of episode
19 so Louis CK he did something kind of
cool he said screw it i’m gonna put
together my own special i’m gonna sell
directly to users online um so what do
you think ash is he on to something or
is this just something that a big name
can pull off first of all how big of a
name is he just not to be a smartass
Justin um shit you know I really don’t
know I only recently discovered his
comedy I’ve heard people saying his name
for the last few years so I’m pretty
much going on like the the word of mouth
barometer there’s a little confession
I’ve never seen any of his material he’s
hilarious no I don’t tell you to watch
it here’s the funny part I’ve had him
pop up on my facebook feed now for a
couple years people are like ash you
gotta check this out you’d like comedy
comedians first of all I’m very busy I
don’t think you understand just like so
it’s like to sit there and watch comedy
it’s not like work and no play no no
lots of play lots of balance but I’m
just saying do I have time to start to
you know invest time in a new comedian I
know that’s why people don’t realize
maybe he’s not as big as he could
because he doesn’t really do movies he
only does stand-up but it doesn’t get
into that acting cameo stuff you know I
mean who cares about my taste or lack
thereof and comedy na that’s all my
point though is is it’s very different
for a louis ck I don’t even know if it
was Louis CK or Louis CK that’s why i
was i’m happy you set it up but but my
point is it’s one thing when a guy like
him does this who has somewhat of a
following verses when we see a Chris
Rock or a Jerry Seinfeld and I know that
dates me quite a bit but I’m just saying
one of the SuperDuper established guys
do it there is something to be said like
self-publishing works I’ve
self-published a couple books it’s been
but it’s different when like you know
like a major person does it versus a guy
who’s either unknown or or like a few
bands have done it I remember Radiohead
doing it Madonna did it didn’t she and
this also reminds me of the kindle
authors you know you you get these
kindle authors who are selling like a
million volumes a month and everyone is
like yeah that’s great but they were
established authors they had an
established following they fired their
publishing i just and they went solo but
there have been a one or two people
who’ve actually
become super top kindle authors without
having had that first so it might be it
might actually be possible it is going
to happen more and more but I think that
it’s the reasons and the background that
is different and also i think it’s
different for authors and for musicians
and for others let’s just break it down
so what are the numbers he basically
says and props to him that he sold a
hundred thousand downloads at five bucks
a pop for 500,000 gross revenue which is
insane and then he said he netted about
a hundred thousand bucks I’m sure does
okay good because I was like what’s four
hundred thousand costs in this forget
that but here’s my point so much of this
i think was driven by two things the
novelty factor right that people like in
social media and Twitter it was every
other freaking tweet was Louis CK great
no drm and I was like a lot of people
are talking about this not because of
the actual media but just of the novelty
& 2 I think a lot of people were doing
it not out of pity that’s not the right
word but to encourage them to say look
we’re gonna support this that novelty
wears off you know it’s like the first
time you see a musician playing in the
subway you’re like wow great art now you
walk in a subway and you see a musician
you’re like okay it’s not you don’t say
oh my god but I’m just saying it’s not
novel you’re not gonna give a dollar to
everyone so I think this is great but
this goes back to like the sort of oh
it’s really cool you know I’ve seen the
same thing with these online YouTube
celebrities they come out there like
download traditional media television is
that we’re the future kumbaya what
happens the first time that they get big
and a TV network cable advertiser
whatever comes to them and about face
that’s it and they go we want you to
actually be on that supposedly dead box
called television that still is the
biggest freaking media platform ever oh
my god I love it this is what I want and
then they drop online or they basically
forget about online and then you go look
at the big established stars like Ashton
Kutcher who says oh yeah I’m in a set of
catalyst films I’m going to do this but
then c CB s phase and millions and
millions any sort of forgets about the
online so i just think we need to take
these things with a grain of salt I love
you know let’s all get on the crack pipe
and talk about how great the internet is
and how it’s going to kill traditional
media and they’re clueless but come on I
mean you can’t take this and then
extrapolated but what you talked about
just going back I think it’s different
when like a prince or a collective soul
gets into a contractual disagreement
with the record label and says we’re
already freaking loaded you know so so
we’re going to sort of do this as a
one-finger salute and even then they
sort of realized this is not the same
thing you know it’s like in publishing
anybody can write I’ve written a couple
books I talked to publishers I’m not
going to sit here and go they offered me
these amazing deals they were like we
might buy one of them we may never
publish them that was like okay well I
don’t need the money I’ll just publish
it myself but realistically I’m not
gonna lie there’s a certain amount of
credibility that comes with having a
publisher do this for you absolutely
because you’ve been curated you know
whatever it’s the fact that someone’s
willing to invest in what you have says
you know there’s a vote of confidence
there um what I think what’s interesting
go about the louis ck thing is it you
almost have to be a big guy to do
something like this just because he it
costs him like half a million dollars to
set this up right um he had that money
already he was able to pull that off you
could be the Internet’s hottest comedian
hottest internet celebrity ever you
don’t have that capital which means
unless someone comes along and offers
this kind of platform for you to do it
yourself such as like an iTunes you’re
kind of screwed here’s the the sort of
silver lining for me not the silver
lining like the the conclusion after six
years in the content business I’ve
always said content is king but without
distribution it’s meaningless and you
know content is king but how popular and
powerful are monarchies like does the
Queen Elizabeth really have any power
you know what I mean so you can throw
out the one cliché but then actually
understand what it means right now with
social media with YouTube with Twitter
with facebook with crap store with
everything that’s out there but they’re
being literally no filter to publish
produce be an artiste the supply of
content is so insane the clutter of
content is so insane that I think you
know this worked because there was a
middle level celebrity probably
hilarious I’m definitely gonna go check
him out you know who basically got a
free pass in terms of cutting through
the clutter because of the novelty you
know so this was a very unique thing I
think if anything this is like the
opposite case study you know what I mean
if anybody’s the exception that proves
the rule
well it’s it’s it’s the it’s the no it’s
not that it’s the sort of people reacted
very differently you can’t just put
something out and expect every single
Twitter account with hundreds of
thousands of followers retweeting this
get it cuz nobody cares it’s like what’s
in it for them it’s like oh this is true
commercial you know what I mean but here
it was just got a lot of PR because it
was novel so I’m just saying before we
write the you know the eulogy for
publishers or media companies like let’s
just realize that the world is not
really going like that like again
television at its best year ever you
know audiences are still watching a lot
of TV on a similar note i have a friend
he co-authored a marketing book that was
New York Times and Wall Street Journal
bestseller um his name’s Julian Smith he
co-wrote it with Chris Brogan was called
trust agents it did really well he made
a lot of money off of it he just
released his second book and what he did
two interesting things he published it
direct he bypassed his publisher on went
straight to Kindle to he also he’s
giving it away and I think in like the
first week he moved 15,000 copies yeah
you know I’ll say this when i launched
my first and second books i think i had
priced the ebooks of like five bucks
which I in hindsight now realizes way
too much but at the time it made sense
because if you priced it like a 2 bucks
or one buck dollar which a lot of people
do now people are like well there’s no
value it’s almost free but now on my
to-do list a bigger fish to fry I’ve
always said I would like to do an
experience and just put it like a buck
put it a too much just to see and it is
truly find that magic price point where
you know you the ball of volume I mean
I’m at a point where i’m like i would
give it away seriously to me but content
does like marketing like it doesn’t
matter if it’s gonna sell that’s just it
you know it’s goodies marketing yep
that’s what it is okay so props to louis
ck higher on the to-do list and bringing
down my ebook price to two dollars is
listen to louis ck but we’ll see if this
was the exception to the rule or if it’s
a sign of things to come we can take a
short but anything else room to
lightning well no that’s about it
lightning round it is
19 so Louis CK he did something kind of
cool he said screw it i’m gonna put
together my own special i’m gonna sell
directly to users online um so what do
you think ash is he on to something or
is this just something that a big name
can pull off first of all how big of a
name is he just not to be a smartass
Justin um shit you know I really don’t
know I only recently discovered his
comedy I’ve heard people saying his name
for the last few years so I’m pretty
much going on like the the word of mouth
barometer there’s a little confession
I’ve never seen any of his material he’s
hilarious no I don’t tell you to watch
it here’s the funny part I’ve had him
pop up on my facebook feed now for a
couple years people are like ash you
gotta check this out you’d like comedy
comedians first of all I’m very busy I
don’t think you understand just like so
it’s like to sit there and watch comedy
it’s not like work and no play no no
lots of play lots of balance but I’m
just saying do I have time to start to
you know invest time in a new comedian I
know that’s why people don’t realize
maybe he’s not as big as he could
because he doesn’t really do movies he
only does stand-up but it doesn’t get
into that acting cameo stuff you know I
mean who cares about my taste or lack
thereof and comedy na that’s all my
point though is is it’s very different
for a louis ck I don’t even know if it
was Louis CK or Louis CK that’s why i
was i’m happy you set it up but but my
point is it’s one thing when a guy like
him does this who has somewhat of a
following verses when we see a Chris
Rock or a Jerry Seinfeld and I know that
dates me quite a bit but I’m just saying
one of the SuperDuper established guys
do it there is something to be said like
self-publishing works I’ve
self-published a couple books it’s been
but it’s different when like you know
like a major person does it versus a guy
who’s either unknown or or like a few
bands have done it I remember Radiohead
doing it Madonna did it didn’t she and
this also reminds me of the kindle
authors you know you you get these
kindle authors who are selling like a
million volumes a month and everyone is
like yeah that’s great but they were
established authors they had an
established following they fired their
publishing i just and they went solo but
there have been a one or two people
who’ve actually
become super top kindle authors without
having had that first so it might be it
might actually be possible it is going
to happen more and more but I think that
it’s the reasons and the background that
is different and also i think it’s
different for authors and for musicians
and for others let’s just break it down
so what are the numbers he basically
says and props to him that he sold a
hundred thousand downloads at five bucks
a pop for 500,000 gross revenue which is
insane and then he said he netted about
a hundred thousand bucks I’m sure does
okay good because I was like what’s four
hundred thousand costs in this forget
that but here’s my point so much of this
i think was driven by two things the
novelty factor right that people like in
social media and Twitter it was every
other freaking tweet was Louis CK great
no drm and I was like a lot of people
are talking about this not because of
the actual media but just of the novelty
& 2 I think a lot of people were doing
it not out of pity that’s not the right
word but to encourage them to say look
we’re gonna support this that novelty
wears off you know it’s like the first
time you see a musician playing in the
subway you’re like wow great art now you
walk in a subway and you see a musician
you’re like okay it’s not you don’t say
oh my god but I’m just saying it’s not
novel you’re not gonna give a dollar to
everyone so I think this is great but
this goes back to like the sort of oh
it’s really cool you know I’ve seen the
same thing with these online YouTube
celebrities they come out there like
download traditional media television is
that we’re the future kumbaya what
happens the first time that they get big
and a TV network cable advertiser
whatever comes to them and about face
that’s it and they go we want you to
actually be on that supposedly dead box
called television that still is the
biggest freaking media platform ever oh
my god I love it this is what I want and
then they drop online or they basically
forget about online and then you go look
at the big established stars like Ashton
Kutcher who says oh yeah I’m in a set of
catalyst films I’m going to do this but
then c CB s phase and millions and
millions any sort of forgets about the
online so i just think we need to take
these things with a grain of salt I love
you know let’s all get on the crack pipe
and talk about how great the internet is
and how it’s going to kill traditional
media and they’re clueless but come on I
mean you can’t take this and then
extrapolated but what you talked about
just going back I think it’s different
when like a prince or a collective soul
gets into a contractual disagreement
with the record label and says we’re
already freaking loaded you know so so
we’re going to sort of do this as a
one-finger salute and even then they
sort of realized this is not the same
thing you know it’s like in publishing
anybody can write I’ve written a couple
books I talked to publishers I’m not
going to sit here and go they offered me
these amazing deals they were like we
might buy one of them we may never
publish them that was like okay well I
don’t need the money I’ll just publish
it myself but realistically I’m not
gonna lie there’s a certain amount of
credibility that comes with having a
publisher do this for you absolutely
because you’ve been curated you know
whatever it’s the fact that someone’s
willing to invest in what you have says
you know there’s a vote of confidence
there um what I think what’s interesting
go about the louis ck thing is it you
almost have to be a big guy to do
something like this just because he it
costs him like half a million dollars to
set this up right um he had that money
already he was able to pull that off you
could be the Internet’s hottest comedian
hottest internet celebrity ever you
don’t have that capital which means
unless someone comes along and offers
this kind of platform for you to do it
yourself such as like an iTunes you’re
kind of screwed here’s the the sort of
silver lining for me not the silver
lining like the the conclusion after six
years in the content business I’ve
always said content is king but without
distribution it’s meaningless and you
know content is king but how popular and
powerful are monarchies like does the
Queen Elizabeth really have any power
you know what I mean so you can throw
out the one cliché but then actually
understand what it means right now with
social media with YouTube with Twitter
with facebook with crap store with
everything that’s out there but they’re
being literally no filter to publish
produce be an artiste the supply of
content is so insane the clutter of
content is so insane that I think you
know this worked because there was a
middle level celebrity probably
hilarious I’m definitely gonna go check
him out you know who basically got a
free pass in terms of cutting through
the clutter because of the novelty you
know so this was a very unique thing I
think if anything this is like the
opposite case study you know what I mean
if anybody’s the exception that proves
the rule
well it’s it’s it’s the it’s the no it’s
not that it’s the sort of people reacted
very differently you can’t just put
something out and expect every single
Twitter account with hundreds of
thousands of followers retweeting this
get it cuz nobody cares it’s like what’s
in it for them it’s like oh this is true
commercial you know what I mean but here
it was just got a lot of PR because it
was novel so I’m just saying before we
write the you know the eulogy for
publishers or media companies like let’s
just realize that the world is not
really going like that like again
television at its best year ever you
know audiences are still watching a lot
of TV on a similar note i have a friend
he co-authored a marketing book that was
New York Times and Wall Street Journal
bestseller um his name’s Julian Smith he
co-wrote it with Chris Brogan was called
trust agents it did really well he made
a lot of money off of it he just
released his second book and what he did
two interesting things he published it
direct he bypassed his publisher on went
straight to Kindle to he also he’s
giving it away and I think in like the
first week he moved 15,000 copies yeah
you know I’ll say this when i launched
my first and second books i think i had
priced the ebooks of like five bucks
which I in hindsight now realizes way
too much but at the time it made sense
because if you priced it like a 2 bucks
or one buck dollar which a lot of people
do now people are like well there’s no
value it’s almost free but now on my
to-do list a bigger fish to fry I’ve
always said I would like to do an
experience and just put it like a buck
put it a too much just to see and it is
truly find that magic price point where
you know you the ball of volume I mean
I’m at a point where i’m like i would
give it away seriously to me but content
does like marketing like it doesn’t
matter if it’s gonna sell that’s just it
you know it’s goodies marketing yep
that’s what it is okay so props to louis
ck higher on the to-do list and bringing
down my ebook price to two dollars is
listen to louis ck but we’ll see if this
was the exception to the rule or if it’s
a sign of things to come we can take a
short but anything else room to
lightning well no that’s about it
lightning round it is
Please follow and like us: