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Boom. And we are back in it today with a fantastic show The #PirateBroadcast.
And I want to invite you to be on the #PirateBroadcast or join the #PirateBroadcast follow the hashtag #PirateBroadcast.
Follow us on. You know some other social media. If you feel so inclined I'm out there you can search Google on the hashtag #PirateBroadcast and find me.
And what we do here if you haven't joined us before and if you joined us. Thank you all the gratitude in the world if you're joining now. And also we bring interesting people doing interesting things in and talk about what they're doing how their influence. How LinkedIn has influenced them how they're influencing LinkedIn and what is happening in their world.
And today we have Zack Scriven.

OK. Yeah man, it's a good day. I'm doing great man. You know woke up early a little bit earlier for this. I'm in the office right now.
And you know I got my mike setup just love going live during the podcast interviews and all the things like that. So thank you to anyone who's joining.
And thank you, Russ, for having me on.

Well, we have met in the past before LinkedIn local and I know that we've been following back and forth and you have really doubled down on LinkedIn to an extreme degree and a lot of cases. You know it's like it takes a lot of time and effort. So I know that I know what kind of effort it takes. So hats off to you for making the investment there. And hopefully today I'll be able to extract a few nuggets of knowledge on after the fact you know it's like OK what have you discovered along the journey. What is really worked for you and what is really kind of your next step in the evolution of being in LinkedIn and what the platform is going to do and what are you doing in life. Because I know you recently relocated to Arizona. So talk about that the last year what's the turning point that possessed you to move to Arizona.

[2:31] Well like for those of anyone who doesn't know like two years ago I was a control system engineer that typical 9 to 5 and had always a passion and interest in video and I kind of happened to stumble across a LinkedIn native video.

Yeah.

So I started posting videos there and really starting to get a lot of traction and so I felt like there was something there. So I had this wild idea to essentially quit my stable income job to do entrepreneurship and be a full-time LinkedIn video creator.

Yeah

and that started a LinkedIn video journey that has brought us to this live stream today where I started posting videos daily. I had like a daily LinkedIn video series and that you know I had a podcast and I went to LinkedIn locals around the United States around the world actually you know, I got clients from LinkedIn helping them grow using video on LinkedIn.
And you know my income initially was cut in half but I was much happier actually. Gary V just posted a video about this the other day and it was like you know if you're making one hundred thousand but you're not happy like what should you do. You know like how do you choose money or do you choose to do something you know especially when I was young. Yeah, I'm still pretty

I was gonna say that's all relative. Zack

You know my might as well take this risk now take this chance. Now my daughter was 1 at the time she's 3 now to pursue something that is like a better version of myself.
And to kind of build and grow on this amazing platform LinkedIn. And there was you know without really knowing where it was gonna take me you know recently pivot into,
real estate and you know that's been a blessing to have that large community of people there to support me even if they are not themselves moving or buying or selling in Arizona.
Their people that you know have reached out maybe referral opportunities and so to put in all that work. It wasn't lost you know like I still have a corporate video client I still do videos for myself because that's what I enjoyed doing. But you know that's really like that's my journey in a nutshell.

I suspect that the video. Chops that you acquired along the journey on LinkedIn will pay dividends in the real estate market. Because you know real estate is so visual and you could do virtual you could do the 360 videos where you're doing around homes and you could help people that are you know maybe you know, the snowbirds that are looking at property that haven't made it down yet they want to investigate a few properties in advance so that's a play that you could use video very effectively at. And I think it's really one of those emerging talents that you can actually leverage and transfer into the real estate market as well.

So yeah absolutely. That's one of you know in addition to being a great source of wealth creation through passive income and building a real estate portfolio from a video side of it,
like you said is one other thing that really attracted, me to real estate was being able to leverage my skill sets with video. I have a small team now and in the Philippines Art, Mac and Christopher they're great and they really helped me. They've taken my video editing to the next level and you know whether it's helping my clients doing listing videos there they're on top of it. So now I can kind of focus more on the lead generation and networking doing things like this.

Yeah and just for those out there that are unfamiliar with Zack and his journey. It's really an opportunity to utilize video. I don't think there's I mean I see a lot of people using video just because I notice a lot of people using video right. I'm in the video field and you know like yourself I'm doing a broadcast every single weekday. And I think that I take that and I convert into a transcription a blog post and a podcast and it's on you know all of the podcasting community, many of the sites that are out there and so continuing to add more and more all the time.
So Zack, you know what is going from a full-time engineering position to jumping off the cliff into an entrepreneurial world and having a family. I mean that's I mean you have to have some feedback from your spouse and say OK dear were in it for the long haul or what this conversation like.

Yes. Before I pulled the trigger and quit I had talked to Mary and she's the mother of our daughter and we're engaged and she's a flight attendant.
So she travels a lot for work. And so actually being able to be home with my daughter Zoe was one of the plus side it's being able to work from home or be able to control my schedule a little bit more.

Right

So that was definitely one of the things that drew me towards that career but also the fact that I still had the opportunity to do some freelancing doing industrial automation programming.
I would I've got on a platform. You've heard of it Upwork. Yeah. And I kind of you know it typically thought out for like video editing or social media management Web sites but more and more you know maybe influenced a little bit by me. But also you know kind of putting the word out there for people that are doing PLC programming or SCADA systems that hey look it Upwork too. I'm on there. And then that kind of draw, drew you know more buyers and more suppliers on that platform and that you know that represented about 50 percent of my income in addition to the video content and sponsorships and so it was largely subsidized. It was a transitionary period know going from W2 too, completely independent contractor or freelancer you know being able to leverage my existing skillset was absolutely necessary. And so that that gave her the confidence that. OK. It's not like we're just gonna go straight to rock bottom right.

But it's not like jumping out of an airplane you do have a parachute right.

Yeah.

Coming up out of the airplane is not the only option. It's like there's some other comforts there.

But surprisingly I didn't have any video clients before I quit but people I had been going like really hard on LinkedIn for like two or three months before I did quit.
And people were already starting to kind of take notice and they kind of almost sensed that something was happening and I couldn't tell what it was. But I just knew like this is something I want to be doing. I quit. Like I got reached out to. I made a video that kind of went back then it was pretty viral today. Five thousand views as you know. That's so pretty good actually.
But you know I reached out to the like, hey you know once you do for us what you get what you've been doing for yourself you know and so it's just a natural evolution.

Exactly. Exactly. And I noticed that the more you put yourself out there the more conversations you have. And as a result of those conversations, you actually have some people reaching out to you or saying hey I want to figure out what you're doing and I like what you're doing and you know let's do some more let's do some work together. Because all my clients right now are you know based on relationships that I've already had pre-existing or developed over the years with you know linked in you know friends of friends and things like that. So it's always a good idea when you're on LinkedIn or any platform to develop a relationship with people and actually try to go deeper and try to get them into a conversation that's not necessarily just a chat session or DM session. And like you were saying before the show started now that you're in real estate and you're doing a lot of experimenting with your business now and in Phoenix, there's a lot of opportunities there and meeting new people is going to be key. You know maybe doing some meetups and some opportunities there. So, in fact, I just.
I received something yesterday I had to share with you after the show. So it's an effort for training on technology around the idea of helping veterans. So.

Oh wow, that's awesome.

Yeah. So I'm working with a friend here in Houston I've put a couple of posts out for him and share it with my network is, what he's doing is taking technology people out of,
you know he's helping veterans transition back into civilian life and training them on technology, to actually be positioned to work in companies and utilize their talents in other ways. So it sounds familiar.

I think I might. It sounds like someone I've been talking to who also does LinkedIn live but maybe that's someone else. He's not on LinkedIn much. That's their first mistake right there.

Yeah, that's what I told him I said you should start a #PirateBroadcast. It's like I can help you with that because one of the things that I'm doing Zack is I'm taking this all the systems you know you mentioned you have the V.A's in the Philippines I have VA's as well and so I've got it down to systems where I show up I do the show and pretty much everything else is managed for me.

That's awesome.

And I've been able to develop systems that I can scale this. So if you're a coach or somebody that is, concerned about your time and your investment and you still want to get on video and you want to do live or you want to do something like that and I think that's just like you've done. You utilized and leverage video to your advantage and it's a really powerful tool. It's an incredibly powerful. It's the best way to start conversations as far as I can tell.

Yeah I mean it's like you can reach so many more people like right now and like hi Sherry. Gabriel Hey Silvio, Vicky, Maureen I mean our car like there are so many people Jessica on the live chat. What's up, guys. Thank you guys for joining.

Yeah and you know and the funny thing about it is, is the conversations are much deeper. They're really great conversations Sherri I hope you're feeling better, have DayQuil, she's been under the weather so she hasn't been feeling that great but, and Vicky O'Neill thank you so much for introductions the other day I appreciate the fact that you're sharing those introductions with others. And so Zack I want to kind of shift gears here a little bit and talk about some of the techniques that you've developed for your Daily Show and, what you discovered along the way that you could share with others that are just getting started maybe some tips that you know took you a while to learn and then once you learned it was like I can't believe I didn't think about that earlier. so I'm sure there's a few. So why don't you share a few things with us like that?

Yeah, it's funny you mentioned The Daily Show because I only went about maybe a couple of months doing it consistently daily. Maybe missing a day or two here or there but I mean going daily is a really daunting commitment and I see far too many people come on to LinkedIn doing a daily this or daily that And then they burn out and then you don't see them for like two or three months and then it's like well that person would've been much better posting you know, maybe not a daily video but like try to post something every day or at least and get on the platform every day but maybe do a video once a week you know to do that for three years or in perpetuity ideally. That's a much easier commitment. So like right right now I don't know if you guys see, over there the seven-figurelisting.com that's my new kind of weekly series where I show off a new million-dollar home here in the Phoenix area. It's hosted by me and I just you know I call it different agents see what's on the market. See what I like and what my audience might like and even if you're not necessarily in that market if you're buying that home.
I'm not personally right now but I just enjoy showing off the product and being like I feel like I'm kind of an entertainer at heart and that's what I love about video is if I can evoke an emotion whether that's happiness or excitement or maybe it's like when I did the video in Skid Row in Los Angeles it's like oh you know my mom I brought my mom to tears when I showed her that video. That's what I love about being a video creator is your ability to evoke strong emotion in someone.

Yeah. Well, the same with Homes you know some of these homes are amazing. They're just incredible homes. And in talking like you were doing the other day with the builder I think was the builder you're talking to and the contractor and you're walking through the hall and talking about some of the appliances and some of the countertops and all the furnishings there was you know it's when you have the storytelling background I think it gives a little more depth in what you're sharing. You know it's really amazing so.
And I think you're spot on with the idea of you know less is more.
You know if you could shop be consistent if you can show up consistently over time you know you have to do that. And.

I mean if you want to if like it's in your heart to do daily. I mean that's you know I know your shows daily.
You know some of the best creators on line like Casey Neistat when daily for like over 600 days. So you know I'm not saying don't do that. I'm saying really think about it.
And you know Goldie Chan was one of my inspirations for going daily, daily Goldie. And you know I think it was good for me in the sense that it got so many repetitions.
I think people put too much emphasis on any one video and it's really that video is kind of insignificant in the long run.
Video is a stepping stone to get to the next video to get those additional skills to get more confident on camera to maybe add one new person to your network. And then just keep going forward now and don't overthink it.

Well and also it creates a body of work that you can continue to share out. And that's the beauty of it. If you can actually position it as evergreen to some degree you can actually repurpose this video repurpose you know take it in cut it. You know it's like the waterfall method. Watching a recent YouTube video from Reuben Dua who's going to be on the show next month is the founder of dub. And it's a platform that I love using and Ruben was talking about the waterfall method and Gary Vaynerchuk talked about this. I developed this. I used to coach my clients on what I call a traffic circle you know where you start with a large, piece of content and then you break it down into smaller pieces of content and then you repurpose that content into different platforms that go back to your intent and your call to action. So it's a strategy that I've taught over the years in a lot of people have done the same thing.
And like you're saying if the single video can actually be repurposed you know two months later three months later or whatever sometime in the future the ideas are still intact.
It doesn't really matter when it was published if you can republish it and re-share it and put that idea back out into the world because I think it's important for growth and stability and like you said burnout. I've created this because it's you know I do take the weekends off.

Yeah, that's a great idea.

And well you know I was doing the two-minute tips in 10 minutes or less. And I did that for I think over almost two hundred days consistently. You know I had some life events that kind of derailed that and I'm still getting questions it's like what are you going to do your two-minute tips again. I'm thinking about doing it in Instagram Stories and then publishing it over there as a thing. So we'll see how that rolling out

Good point about the kind of like the parado principle or like the 80 20 rule that you could spend I mean I've spent hours editing videos in some of those videos it's well worth it like last about a year ago. I did Top Ten Linkedin influencers. And that took me about almost all day to edit and film and everything but it went super viral. Like at the time as my most viewed video at twenty-five thousand views and all of those people like Sam Lister and Sarah Gross and like all the top ten influencers they were like messaging me. They're like I got like 200 300 connection requests today like Dude they're like you're the influencer. Like I'm like a man I'm just if you make it not about you. Like if you put the spotlight on your customers or your audience or others then it you know it could flow back to you you know and I think that's so that is a timeless piece of advice right there. Like servant leadership.

Yes. what is the value I can add to the community? And that's the beauty of what I'm doing here. In my opinion anyway. You know what it's like I have a body of knowledge that I've acquired over time. However, every guess I bring on drops some piece of information that I think is valuable. And even though you know I'm not Casey Neistat or anything close to that it's like you know it's like Gary V you know he did Wine Library four years before anybody noticed. So it's like you just show up every single day and do the work.
And Vicki was I was laughing at Vicky because she got she did the 30-day challenge she goes. She would not recommend it. So I'm curious Vicky. What was the biggest challenge for that? I would love to know that. So, Nick Dorsey, I agree with your input about videos. It also you know the reason why I do live. Zack you know why I do live don't you.

Because it's posted right away and so there's no time to market is like instant and I don't really like to edit. I do edit but I guess it's not my favorite thing to do. So there's editing is good in the sense that you can make like those first ten seconds really engaging like I did this one video when I went to Australia and it was kind of like visual storytelling.
I mean actually the journey of getting there and I spent like an hour just editing the first 20 seconds but the way it was so fastly edited and it told a story like you could see me leaving the house going to L.A.X. like getting on the plane landing in Australia and like it brought people with me.

It was total Casey Neistat editing

Yeah. And that one went like ten thousand views and so like that was worth it to me. But then also I can't do that. Like I can't do that every day you know like those are hard.
Yeah. So it's a balance of like you know finding some really good quality pieces of work but also doing something that you can keep up with on a consistent daily basis like going live is a great way to get out there. Not overthink it and also just develop that on-camera presence.

Yeah. And here's the trend behind this story that we're talking about today and the takeaway that I'm hearing and maybe you can agree or disagree or add to it is,
you have to love the process you have to love the journey and love what you're doing at that moment because it's a lot of work. It's a lot of time and effort. Digital online technology is here to stay. You know back in the day when companies just say I don't need a website I don't know how to do business on a website. You know then that went away. Now companies are saying well I don't really need to be online my customers aren't online. It's like well yes your customers are online and they're people too. They're just people. So if you can control and manage your brand your message your audience and your community to the degree that you have control over it then you have to put in the effort.
I mean it's not as if it's it's when and how and so loving what you do with the video or the social media or the interaction with your community.
I think it's important for you that to really enjoy it appreciate that. This is for me this is I find joy in doing this show every day. You know I. I enjoy doing this.

We're having a conversation man. Yeah, we're connecting. This is the best part.

It's like why not have a zoom session for the rest of the world. It's the same thing. It's like we're having a conversation. People can listen in. right.

Laurie says she prefers live but she says that she'd probably be way down the list to get live. Laurie, I would.
I would apply and if I'd play again because I wouldn't you know I wouldn't doubt yourself. Just put it out there and you know you'll see it took me a few times to get it and.

Yeah. And then also when you apply and they say hey, you're on you know we'll review your thing and then respond again and say hey well I've been you know I've been doing this and this and this I've been creating for this amount of time and give him some backstory and then just keep knocking on the door.

So one of the things that I like about my journey is that I'm using myself as like a case study to help inspire other people like me taking that leap into, video creation and now like me starting a new venture with the real estate being able to document and share you know how I'm able to overcome. Like for me it's like I was always afraid of sales you know and now I'm going into a field that is basically it's sales you know and so I'm having to challenge myself, so I can grow in areas that I know I need to be able to hopefully share that with someone.
But I'm curious Russ like based on what you've seen from me. Like do you have any advice?

Yeah

And that's like a hard question.

Yeah. Well, no-no. I think I think now that you're dialed in real estate the I love the Phoenix networking environment the fact that you're here and new I would start reaching out to a lot of influencers when I get back. Let's sit down. We can look at my network and see who else is out there because there's a lot of people that I could probably connect you with.
Then you know it's just building relationships with them. And the thing. There's a couple of things that I really love to look at dub. I'll send you a link. I think I've probably sent your link in the past. Because that is by far my number one connection tool. Dub.com.

Yes OK.

And it's a video tool. So you fit right into the mix right.

Oh, nice.

And then I would parallel mortgage brokers and insurance, people that are in transition because obviously you know there's people out there that are moving in and doing and there's a lot of in your market. There's a lot of transitional housing. I would look at empty nesters or snowbirds that have a second or third home and possibly look at that market there and see what they see.
And then also there are real estate networking groups. And then I would create a mastermind. I would get together with some of the top influencers in the Phoenix market and start up a mastermind and just so you can keep a pulse on the market. So Yeah. Those are just some of the general tips that are good for anyone anywhere. Yes, it's like.

Yeah, it's funny you mentioned mastermind because next month there's a knowledge broker. I don't know if you follow Dean. Gratcoso and Tony Ronda they have this mastermind program and they have this product called the knowledge business blueprint. And so they're having their now knowledge business Blueprint 2.0 launch in February. I've signed up as an affiliate to kind of help promote it but I'm also gonna be taking in purchasing the course with my own money, but basically learning how I could package up the kind of information and the way I want to what I want to the product I want to create is like my video knowledge and how I've set up my outsourcing system and with my VA's and be able to help, give that to like a business or an entrepreneur rather than me being an agency and doing that for them give them the tools that they need packaged in like a mastermind or a course but yeah that's another thing I'm doing is the knowledge the KBB 2.0. So in my Linkedin in feeds coming up here pretty soon

so yeah they did a great job on the first round. And they got like crazy a lot of traffic on that man. I just can't believe some of the things that picked up traction and there are so many of these things and you know when I get back in town let's get together and connect and sit down have a bite. Yeah whatever, have a safe trip. Thanks so much for having me on. I know we got to probably go soon here.

Oh yeah. And so one last thing. If you had to share something with the world today what would it be.

You know in light of recent events you know I guess just live every day like it's your last you know because it very well could be and death is inevitable but you can't have a life without death and can have light without dark. And so I would just say you know to treasure your loved ones and follow your passion.

Yeah. Good words. Great advice. I love it. Well, Zack appreciate you. Thank you for taking the time and joining us today.
Thank you, everyone, for joining the pirate broadcast joined in. And I love the fact that we can get back maybe you can go back in the comments and make some comments Zack and share this out as well afterward. Back then later in the day what I'll do is I'll shoot you some information and we can add this on the post podcast and the pirate broadcasts.

So you know kindness is cool smiles are free and you enjoy the day.

Have a good one Zack

We'll see you, Russ. Thanks.