Episode 79Jan 2, 2026· 49:22
The Unhinged New Year Planning Session Every Content Creator Needs to Hear
About this episode
This might be the most honest, unfiltered conversation about being a content creator you'll ever hear. Robert and Ashley have known each other since they were teenagers working at a movie theater, and now they're both navigating the chaos of making money as content creators in an AI-disrupted world—and they're holding nothing back.
From admitting they both hate social media (while being on it constantly) to…
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Full transcript
00:19
What's up, my bloggy friends? Famous Ashley Grant
00:21
here, and holy cow, I can't believe it is about
00:24
to be the new year. It seems like just yesterday,
00:27
2025 began, and yet... We're just upon 2026.
00:32
When did this happen? So... I just want to let
00:35
you know that what you're about to hear is probably
00:37
the most unhinged interview I've ever done. I
00:40
interviewed Robert Yannis Jr. He and I have known
00:43
each other since we were both working at the
00:45
theater. I think I was 16. He may have been 17,
00:48
maybe 16. I'm not sure. But we've worked together
00:50
forever. We were working at the theater. Then
00:52
we both got into freelance writing. He worked
00:55
for me whenever I was working for a magazine
00:57
for a little bit. And we've kind of just hung
00:59
out and known each other ever since. We're both
01:01
content creators. And so I wanted to sit down.
01:04
with him and talk about our new year's goals
01:05
because I feel like it's important to kind of
01:08
reflect on where you are right now and where
01:10
you want to be in the new year. I feel like if
01:12
you do that, you're setting yourself up for success
01:14
for the new year. So I tried to not edit this
01:17
as much as possible. So it's very unhinged, but
01:20
I find it kind of entertaining and I hope you
01:22
will too. And I hope you'll glean some sort of
01:24
insights from it and hopefully it'll get you
01:25
to think about what you want your 2026 to look
01:28
like, what you want your new year to look like.
01:30
Happy holidays from all of us here at the Bloggy
01:32
Friends show. And let's get into it. Robert,
01:36
the reason I wanted to bring you on is because
01:38
you and I have known each other forever. And
01:39
you kind of were both in the same boat in the
01:43
sense that we're both content creators. We're
01:44
both writers. We're both trying to figure out
01:47
what we want to be when we grow up. And so, like
01:51
I said, I kind of wanted this to be an accountability
01:53
thing of what are you doing in 2026? What do
01:56
you want to do? What do you want to? see happen
01:59
in your career? And the idea being, maybe we'll
02:02
inspire other people who are listening to figure
02:04
their shit out too. Yeah. I mean, for me, I just
02:10
keep running into a roadblock when it comes to
02:12
the content writing side of things. I think the
02:15
proliferation of AI, as we've sort of been talking
02:17
about, has kind of decimated in large parts the
02:23
reliability of that industry. You're seeing journalists
02:26
and... And writers kind of laid off left and
02:29
right. So since leaving my last job about, I'd
02:34
say a year ago, but it was also more like January
02:36
because I did stay on part time for a few months
02:38
to kind of help transition to the new person
02:41
and everything. But it's I've really been focusing
02:44
on kind of other skill sets and like developing
02:47
my skill set. I think that's even in the last
02:51
role that I did. I was writing, but I was also
02:54
editing, but I was also doing social media, but
02:56
I was also, you know, working on a podcast, but
02:59
I was also hosting webinars. Like that was kind
03:02
of the day to day workload was kind of all of
03:04
that on and off. And I think that was sort of
03:08
a good crash course and a good sort of way to
03:11
shake things up. So I've been leaning a lot more
03:13
on the video side of things, on the audio side
03:16
of things, kind of developing skill sets. I've
03:19
kind of been toying with editing. I've actually,
03:22
for most of this year, been kind of doing a little
03:25
bit of content editing for test prep materials
03:30
and things like that. And it's not a reliable
03:32
paycheck, but it's new experience. So what I've
03:35
really been doing the last few months is kind
03:38
of exposing myself to a variety of different
03:41
types of content creation. I've even done a little
03:45
bit of voice acting for AI training, ironically
03:48
enough. Being like, hey, this is how this should
03:50
be read based on the prompt, et cetera. So it's
03:53
been that's kind of been where I've been really
03:55
turning my focus to in addition to my own podcast
03:59
and all that other stuff. But like just trying
04:02
to sort of spread my wings and embrace the new
04:05
multimedia landscape that we're all facing and
04:09
try and familiarize myself with some of the tools,
04:12
including AI that are. slowly creeping in and
04:15
I think just kind of becoming, well, not even
04:17
slowly creeping in, quickly creeping in and sort
04:20
of becoming the norm because, you know, I've
04:22
seen two extremes, the people that are just like,
04:25
well, we're going to have AI do that. And the
04:27
people that are just like, nope, I won't use
04:29
AI. I won't work with anyone who uses AI. I am,
04:32
you know, complete anti that technology. And
04:36
I think there's got to be some more nuance in
04:39
that conversation and there's got to be more
04:41
of a balance because it is. It is here. It is
04:45
growing. It is developing more sophisticated
04:47
responses all the time. And I think it's really
04:52
become more of an art of how to properly use
04:55
it. We're focusing so much on should we use it?
04:59
Should we not use it? That we're not educating
05:01
people on, okay, it's here. It's infiltrating
05:06
everything anyway. What is the best way to implement
05:09
it? And how can we apply it to improve things
05:12
or improve efficiency? Without getting lost in
05:15
the shuffle, because those people who are so
05:16
anti are, I think, going to really wake up one
05:19
day and find themselves at a disadvantage. I
05:22
agree completely. I mean, and, you know, it's
05:26
funny you said the skill set thing, because five
05:28
years ago I started working for a client and
05:30
I was required to start a podcast as part of
05:33
like, you know. being able to write for them.
05:36
And I started trying to build that skill set
05:38
myself. That's how the bloggy friend show came
05:40
to be. You know, I started it on April Fool's
05:42
Day in case it was awful. I could say it was
05:44
a joke. And, you know, I too have been like I've
05:49
been hard pivoting lately, like really trying
05:51
to do a lot more audio, looking for gigs that
05:53
are audio related, because even though there
05:57
are an annoying amount of people that are using
06:00
AI for podcasting now, too, I still feel like.
06:04
You can still tell when it's actually a person
06:07
that's recording it, you know, because you don't
06:09
have those robotic sounds and you don't have
06:11
those monotone in the, you know, although I will
06:13
say it's scary how good it's getting. I mean,
06:15
I heard I heard an overdub of of someone that
06:18
that I kind of respect. And when I was listening
06:21
to it, it sounded like him. I was like, I couldn't
06:24
tell that he didn't record it live. And that's
06:26
scary as hell. But at the same time, I feel like
06:29
if we're going to be bloggers, we, you know,
06:33
I said this about a year ago. I can't remember
06:35
who I was talking to, but well, I've said it
06:37
to several people. Let's be honest. You can't
06:40
just have a blog anymore. You need so much more
06:42
than that. You need to build like a full media
06:44
brand behind yourself. And I think podcasting,
06:46
it's kind of just like. the next evolution for
06:50
us content creators. We have to all have a podcast
06:52
or something. And I feel like if we have a podcast,
06:59
maybe that's the way we build community now.
07:01
Maybe that's the way we can talk directly to
07:02
our people because it is intimate, right? It's
07:05
intimate. I'm in your ears or, you know, well,
07:08
I'm probably in your ears because we're not doing,
07:11
we're not listening to podcasts passively. In
07:16
a way, we're sort of actively listening to it.
07:18
But at the same time, we're we're doing our grocery
07:21
run or we're doing our commute or we're, you
07:23
know, doing laundry while we're listening to
07:25
a podcast. So I guess that is passive, isn't
07:26
it? At the same time, it's like active, passive
07:30
listening. Does that make sense? Yeah, absolutely.
07:33
Because like you're still listening to the person,
07:35
even though it's sort of it's sort of the whole
07:39
parasocial thing where you're like, oh, I feel
07:41
like I know these people because it's like. You're
07:43
a fly on the wall on their conversation, whatever
07:46
the topic may be. And so it's like, you know,
07:50
it does feel like that intimate connection. And
07:52
I think the fact that a lot of times, you know,
07:54
especially if you're listening to it with headphones
07:55
or AirPods or whatever, it's like no one else
07:58
can hear you. It's like you're let in on that
08:00
conversation. Yeah. I think and I think that's
08:03
you're seeing a lot of not only, you know, independent
08:07
podcasters enter the fray, but like. All the
08:11
celebrities now have podcasts. I mean, if you
08:13
if that isn't an indication that that's where
08:15
the industry is going, that's where the money
08:17
is. Everyone like literally every time I turn
08:20
around, I'm like, oh, that's right. Kiki Plummer
08:23
has a podcast. I forgot. Oh, Amy Poehler has
08:25
a podcast. Oh, Dax Shepard has like every famous
08:28
person who was an actor, a singer on movies,
08:31
television, whatever authors. Reality. There
08:35
was all of them. Yeah, exactly. Like my guilty
08:38
pleasure is gravy. level podcast girls next level
08:40
podcast is um holly and bridget from the girls
08:44
next door circa you know the 2000s and uh and
08:48
i i was one of those annoying people that watched
08:50
girls next door because okay fine i wanted to
08:53
be a kept woman i thought it was cool you know
08:56
and just hearing the background of what was really
08:58
going on behind the scenes that's fascinating
09:00
you know It's all these nostalgia things that
09:03
are happening as well. Like we have the House
09:06
of Hallowell podcast. That's the charmed rewatch.
09:09
Or the office ladies that are doing an office
09:13
rewatch. And it's kind of funny how all these
09:17
people that are doing podcasts that are rewatch
09:19
ones, like even the Full House one. I can't even
09:23
think of all the ones that are probably in existence
09:25
right now. There's a How I Met Your Mother one
09:28
that I think just started. It's like one of the
09:31
co -creators of the show and Josh Radner, who
09:33
played Ted, just like How We Made Your Mother,
09:36
I think it's called. It's terrible. Of course
09:39
there is. Okay, so all these people that are
09:41
starting podcasts, all of them are also starting
09:43
websites, and many of them are starting blogs
09:46
to go with the podcast so that they can get the
09:49
SEO, so they can, you know, hell, get into the
09:52
AI agents, to get into ChatGPT browser, to get
09:54
into ChatGPT browser. I've not tried it out.
09:57
I don't hate. But but yeah, I think I think as
10:03
content creators, if we are not adding more skill
10:06
sets to our repertoire, to our toolbox, you know,
10:10
we're going to be that much more difficult to
10:13
employ. And I mean, I used to joke that I had
10:17
to get fired seven times before I was unemployed.
10:20
And that number is dwindling and that scares
10:22
the shit out of me. And so it's like if we don't
10:24
find new avenues, new ways to bring in revenue.
10:29
oh i'm scared for us yeah yeah i mean and and
10:34
when i officially left full you know uh my last
10:39
in office full -time role was 2014 and i was
10:44
like i gotta get out of here and that's when
10:45
i first took the jump and was doing freelance
10:48
and was kind of started with entertainment writing
10:50
and then was doing some content marketing stuff
10:53
in there and then kind of trying to balance the
10:56
two of them and so for a lot of the last decade
10:59
I was kind of bouncing back and forth between
11:01
entertainment journalism or features and or content
11:05
marketing or like business journalism and back
11:07
and forth and back and forth and some combination
11:09
of the above. And now it's I doesn't feel it's
11:13
it suddenly it doesn't feel like it's enough.
11:16
Like all of that experience is kind of like,
11:18
yeah, OK, but what else can you do? I'm like,
11:20
oh, OK, well, I spent the last decade kind of
11:22
focusing on the writing part of it and these
11:26
particular sort of subsets. And now I feel like
11:29
a lot of that is devalued in a lot of ways because
11:31
of the technology, because of the world that
11:33
we sort of find ourselves in today. It's 100
11:37
percent right there with you. I mean, you know,
11:39
it's it's funny because I, too, have written
11:42
about all kinds of different things. And I make
11:43
it sound like a prison sentence when I'm like,
11:45
yeah, I did two years of security, you know,
11:47
writing for security, which it felt like a prison
11:49
sentence because it was bloody awful. It was
11:50
boring as hell. Don't get me wrong. I was very
11:52
good at writing it. Yeah, but I didn't like it.
11:55
You know, it's like there are certain pieces
11:57
of content that I'm so glad no one knows I wrote
11:59
that they were ghostwritten because I would just
12:02
be ashamed if anyone knew like some of the stuff
12:05
I've written. But no, it's just like it was dark
12:09
content, like really like suicidal ideation and,
12:13
you know, depressing. And it's like, thank God
12:16
I had those gigs because it paid the bills. But
12:20
thank God my name's not on it. But I find myself
12:23
now like trying to really dive into what do I
12:26
even like? Like it kind of reminds me of that
12:28
scene in Runaway Bride whenever Julia Roberts
12:31
character is trying 27 different types of eggs
12:34
because she has no idea what type of eggs she
12:36
likes. Do you remember that movie? It's been
12:39
a long time since I've seen it, yeah. Well, basically
12:41
every guy that she has ever dated, that's her
12:43
favorite type of ex. She dates one guy, she wants
12:46
scrambled. She dates another, she wants poached.
12:47
Right, right. She dates another, she wants ex
12:49
-Benedict. But, well, I guess that is poached.
12:51
But you get the idea. So she likes different
12:53
eggs depending on who she's with. And so it's
12:57
kind of like that for a freelance writer. We
12:58
fall into this, oh, where that's what we like,
13:02
but do we really? So I'm sitting here with 27
13:06
plates of eggs trying to figure out what kind
13:08
do I even like? Yeah. Yeah. And so that that's
13:12
kind of been one of the things that I've been
13:14
trying to figure out myself. You know, at the
13:17
time that this comes out, it'll have been more
13:19
than 100 days, like well, well over 100 days
13:21
that I've been kind of getting obsessed with
13:23
fitness. I had my. 100 day mark in October. So
13:28
thank you. Thank you. I busted my ass and lost
13:31
three pant sizes and 20 pounds. Go me a little
13:34
attaboy right there. But but so that's kind of
13:37
become my passion right now is talking about
13:39
fitness and talking about movement. And so I
13:41
did start a I soft launched a podcast called
13:45
More Movement, Please. By the time this airs,
13:48
I will be going public with it. That is the plan.
13:51
So hopefully future Ashley can. Be excited. But
13:55
it's like, OK, if I love that right now, do I
13:58
then go after fitness blogs to write for? Or
14:01
do I start talking to more fitness podcasts?
14:03
Because I was actually doing some ghostwriting
14:05
for a fitness podcast. I was writing all their
14:07
show notes. And so it's like, OK, so since I've
14:11
since I've acquired the tool of being able to
14:14
podcast and I can also can do kind of decent
14:17
graphics and Canva for social media. Right. What
14:21
else can I do? You know? But at the same time,
14:24
I'm really at that point in my career, and I'm
14:26
sure you can relate to this because we've had
14:28
similar conversations. I'm at that point in my
14:30
career where I'm like, I want to build something
14:32
that is mine that no one can take away from me,
14:36
even if it's ghostwritten in the sense that it
14:39
has a pen name. I don't want to have to keep
14:42
chasing people to tell me I'm worthy of being
14:45
paid. I want to find ways to acquire sponsors,
14:49
to acquire affiliate partnerships, to acquire
14:51
all those things to feel like I matter. I want
14:56
the people to love me. I just need external validation.
14:59
And a paycheck. Yeah, and a paycheck would be
15:02
nice. And, you know, if that paycheck happens
15:05
to have seven zeros, that's fantastic as well.
15:07
find another number that is higher than zero
15:10
right and not in the negative what yeah i was
15:14
gonna say what if it's on the right of the decimal
15:16
point no i don't want it no need a couple million
15:20
and i'll be good but yeah no that's i think that's
15:25
the thing i was thinking of when you were talking
15:26
about the 27 different kinds of eggs it's like
15:28
okay what am i interested in one and then two
15:30
how can i pursue that like that's that's the
15:34
that's the The real challenge is like, OK, I'm
15:37
interested in this. Where is there space for,
15:40
you know, in the marketplace for me to kind of
15:43
go after that topic or pursue it? Or and or is
15:46
it something like you like you're doing with
15:47
the other podcast? Like, is that is it something
15:50
that you create on your own? And then my challenge
15:52
has also been, one, I have the creative mind
15:56
and I have the interest in all the crooked table
15:58
stuff that I've been doing with my podcast. But
16:01
it's like I don't have the business mind. So
16:03
I'm like, I can. plan podcasts and get guests
16:06
and create content and then I put it out into
16:09
the world and then I'm like now what because
16:12
I don't have the I don't have the knowledge or
16:16
the direction like or I you know I need to try
16:20
and work on that but then it's also like but
16:23
in the meantime I also need to bring in things
16:25
that are going to make money now not eventually
16:28
you know and that's the big challenge with the
16:31
podcasting but then also with like any sense
16:33
of creative writing because every once in a while
16:35
the people in my life will be like you should
16:38
work on that that's that novel that others that
16:40
whatever creator I'm like yeah when like exactly
16:43
with what time with what energy because I you
16:47
know my wife and I have two small children for
16:49
people listening and don't know that I know Ashley
16:51
does and with what time with what energy with
16:54
what money yeah am I gonna sustain doing that
16:57
and not and justify that focusing on creative
17:01
writing rather than trying to pursue some form
17:04
of income, even if it takes the form of taking
17:08
online courses and skills development, because
17:10
that at least will lead to presumably better
17:14
opportunities down the line. So I've kind of
17:16
been trying to focus more on the skills development
17:20
side of things and then sort of to dovetail off
17:22
of your fitness goals. I've been working on a
17:25
lot of trying to get my mind and body and spirit
17:29
all aligned because everything's been really
17:31
thrown out of whack the last several years and
17:34
so using this sort of forced downtime um to to
17:40
kind of get everything in order so that when
17:43
the next big thing does arrive or at least or
17:46
i create it whichever the case may be um i'm
17:49
more and i'm in a better i'm in a better you
17:52
know personal space to actually devote time and
17:56
focus to it Yeah, it makes perfect sense to me.
17:59
And I mean, that's one of the things I was saying,
18:01
like you and I have that in common that we we
18:03
have these goals, but then trying to figure out,
18:06
OK, how the hell do you make it happen? Because
18:08
we can sit there and write, you know, 20 blog
18:11
posts. We can sit there and record 20 podcast
18:14
episodes. But you want me to monetize it? What?
18:17
Like, how do I how do I tell a person, hey, this
18:20
is worthy of you sponsoring me for 20 grand for
18:23
the year? Right. Madeira and headlights going
18:26
I don't think I can do this man right and if
18:30
you're like me and I know a lot of creative people
18:32
are you're you get really passionate about the
18:35
things that you're creating but then as soon
18:36
as it turns time to convince people to to you
18:41
know take it in to read it write it or to read
18:43
it listen to it watch it whatever suddenly you're
18:46
like uh I made this thing I hope it probably
18:47
sucks I don't know check it out like all you
18:50
completely retreat all that self -worth stuff
18:52
starts bubbling up and then you're like, oh,
18:54
I made this thing. I'm so sorry. Yeah, you know,
18:57
yeah. Even if you're proud of it behind the scenes,
19:00
it's it's a very different energy to put forward
19:04
that that level of confidence, at least for me,
19:06
it is. Oh, I same boat, bro. I mean, and funny,
19:09
though, is because of the fact that, you know,
19:12
the the new podcast that I'm working on, the
19:15
more movement, please, for some reason, something
19:17
about it. it feels like it would be easier to
19:21
sell than to sell like the bloggy friend show
19:23
because I guess the bloggy friend show it feels
19:24
like it's my baby and and it's my story of of
19:29
um of how I became a content creator and all
19:32
that stuff and how people can do the same thing
19:34
that I'm doing but something about the more movement
19:37
please it feels more like this is so cheesy it
19:40
feels more like a movement in in some weird way
19:43
like I I feel like there's a passion and a um
19:47
purpose behind it because, you know, I'm watching
19:51
right now as, as family members are dealing with
19:53
health problems that I, you know, I don't want.
19:57
And that was actually one of the things that,
20:00
that started the hundred day fitness journey
20:02
is I, I got word that someone close to me was
20:06
having a medical issue. And I remember whining
20:10
to my instructor. I'm like, I don't want to be
20:13
like that. I don't want to, you know, I don't
20:15
want to be that age and having all these woes.
20:18
And she's like, so change it. You're the only
20:20
one who can. Yeah. And I'm like, damn it, woman.
20:24
Why do you have to always be right? You'll have
20:27
to ask her that on the podcast. That's the plan.
20:29
That is one of the many plans. But but yeah.
20:32
And then and then, you know, she said that phrase
20:34
to me of, you know, the exercising is a choice
20:37
just like anything else. take the time for it
20:40
and it's like well damn it hit me again with
20:41
another dagger yeah but um i guess it's just
20:45
a matter of figuring out okay now that i have
20:47
this skill set number one how do i do it to bring
20:50
money in and number two how can i build something
20:53
that i own like i i just i keep coming back to
20:56
that because like i've been in the game since
20:58
2007 and i have nothing to show for it except
21:00
for famous ashleygrant .com yeah and people still
21:04
ask me if it's a porn site Which I always say
21:07
yes. You're like, not yet. No, I always say yes.
21:12
And here's why. It's because whenever I was working
21:15
for Metromix, huh? You'll get more traffic that
21:17
way. Exactly, exactly. You're just going to check
21:19
it out. Back when I was working for Metromix,
21:21
I gave this guy a card and he looked at me and
21:23
said, famous Ashley. Does that mean it's a porn
21:25
site? And I said, absolutely. And he sent me
21:28
an email, no, no, a text message at three o 'clock
21:31
in the morning. And he's like, I have been to
21:32
every single page of your website. There are
21:34
no boobs. And I was like, I literally texted
21:39
back. You're the boob, but thanks for the traffic.
21:42
Yeah. Yeah. Right. It's the only thing I could
21:45
think to say, because what do you say to that?
21:47
But especially at three in the morning, he's
21:49
like, I've all set up. I have my station ready
21:51
and nothing. I'm not finding any material to
21:54
work with. In a drunken stupor, he's like, there
22:01
is nothing here. Well, I can just imagine. I
22:05
didn't use any explicit terms, just to say. You
22:09
can put onto that whatever you think. He had
22:14
his station ready. All right. He had his station
22:16
ready. Audience, take from that what you will.
22:20
I'm over here blushing. You can't see it because
22:22
I'm not going to show this video to anybody,
22:23
but I'm probably as red as a tomato. Phew. Oh,
22:29
man. Okay, so let's kind of reel things back
22:32
in. Sure. If you woke up tomorrow. Well, I hope
22:38
you wake up tomorrow. But if you woke up tomorrow
22:40
and. It feels like a threat. What is it that
22:43
if you tell someone to have a good day, it's
22:46
sweet. But if you say have a good 24 hours, it
22:48
sounds like. Yeah. The countdown begins now.
22:51
The countdown begins now. Have a good 24 hours.
22:54
OK, if you woke up tomorrow and money was not
22:57
an issue, what would you do? I would still be
23:01
doing the podcasting stuff that I've been doing
23:03
mostly unpaid for the last decade. I would still
23:06
be doing that and I would hire people to do the
23:10
promotion stuff for me and doing at least marginally
23:13
better than I'm doing now. And that's why that's
23:17
been such a passion project for me because it's
23:18
really the connections that I've made from doing
23:21
all my Crooked Table podcast stuff because it's
23:27
like I made real... IRL friendships from, from
23:32
those, from those podcasts, like people that
23:33
I only met on Twitter, which I'm not on anymore
23:38
at all. Cause I backed out of Twitter slash X
23:41
after events occurred. Now your ex got it. Yeah,
23:45
exactly. X is my ex. And then, um, you know,
23:48
I've met some of these people in real life. I've
23:50
started my, have a, uh, my, my podcast back to
23:53
Bluey that I, my cohost and I. met online and
23:57
then a few months ago met in person for the first
24:00
time and we've been doing that for a couple years
24:01
and that's been really fun so i mean i would
24:04
continue doing the entertainment coverage that
24:08
i've been doing on my own podcasts and videos
24:10
and stuff and i would probably crack open the
24:12
creative writing thing again it's like it's i'd
24:15
be doing the stuff that i want to do that i don't
24:18
feel like i can justify because i'm trying to
24:21
do the stuff that will get me paid i mean it's
24:23
tale as old as time right So it's like trying
24:27
to find a balance between those two or even better,
24:29
having them be one in the same is the, you know,
24:33
the long term like pipe dream, maybe, but at
24:36
least like the goal, like in the back of my mind,
24:39
that's always kind of nagging at me. I hear you.
24:41
And I mean, it sounds very similar to some of
24:43
the stuff that I've said that I, I too would
24:45
be still podcasting. I still would be writing
24:47
in some capacity. I'm not sure what type of writing
24:50
I am. I do love writing about food. I get a kick
24:53
out of that. I like figuring out recipes and
24:55
then telling people about them. So, you know,
24:58
one of the things that my husband and I were
25:00
talking about doing was launching a food blog.
25:01
But then when I watched the helpful content update,
25:04
which was anything but and it killed all the
25:07
recipe blogs that I loved. Like, I mean, one
25:09
of the girls I know, she was getting a million
25:11
page views a month and she went down to ten thousand
25:13
a month. And that's kind of a big deal. Yeah.
25:15
I mean, that is a that is a business killer.
25:17
And so it's like, OK, so if we know what we're
25:20
passionate about and what we would do. with not
25:23
getting paid considering well that's what we're
25:25
already freaking doing how do we now take that
25:28
and turn that into an actual revenue stream because
25:31
you know they say oh if you if you do what you
25:35
love you'll never work a day in your life yeah
25:36
but we still gotta eat yeah exactly we still
25:39
gotta eat sharon so if we have to eat how the
25:42
hell do we get paid and i don't know if you've
25:44
noticed but things are not getting any cheaper
25:46
out there in the world i don't even want to talk
25:49
about it And that's all I'm going to say about
25:52
that. Well, I will say one thing. I agree completely
25:55
because I remember when ramen noodles were less
25:57
than 30 cents a package and I just saw them for
25:59
$1 .50. What the hell? I'm not bitter. Ramen
26:06
noodles are pretty good, though. So, like, if
26:09
you got to eat for $1 .50, you could do a lot
26:11
worse. Yeah, you're not wrong. Have you seen
26:14
the ramen noodle cookbook? No. Oh, my goodness.
26:17
The recipe's in there. Like, I have one that
26:19
I still use. And we call it Thailand noodles.
26:22
Because there was this recipe that we tried when
26:24
we were in Thailand. And it was, well, interestingly
26:27
enough, $1 .50 on the street. Anyway. But, yeah.
26:31
So, we still make that here at home. Because,
26:33
you know, it's a cheap meal. Yeah. So, no. There's
26:37
nothing wrong with Thailand noodles. There's
26:40
nothing wrong with ramen noodles. But I don't
26:42
want them every day. Right. I like some variety.
26:46
Yeah. Because I'm a bougie bitch. And you can
26:50
cover food on your More Movement, Please thing.
26:53
That's like a whole, you know, if you're doing
26:55
a lot of movement, you want to eat right, it
26:58
complements it, the whole fitness thing. So there's
27:00
opportunities there. I've had this discussion.
27:03
Same page, best thing for everybody. It's just
27:06
a matter of figuring out, okay, how the hell
27:09
do you pay for it? And so, like, I've been looking
27:11
into new affiliate opportunities. Yeah. Yeah.
27:15
So I was looking at that. I was looking at Commission
27:17
Junction. I was looking at Warrior Plus. I was
27:21
looking at JV Zoo, you know, the joint venture
27:24
affiliate network company. And I actually now
27:29
that I've started trying to put out affiliate
27:31
offers, I actually have made a little bit of
27:34
money, but not as much as I need to pay King
27:37
Bill. Right. Oh, yeah. And that's always the
27:39
problem. Right. And I just I interviewed a blogger
27:41
yesterday who said that, you know, oh, you know,
27:44
I started my blog back of this and back in the
27:47
day and and I wasn't making any money. And then
27:49
then last year I got serious and now I'm making
27:51
between a grand and two grand. And I just wanted
27:55
to reach through the computer and be like, oh,
27:57
how? Because, you know, we've been at this forever
28:01
and I'm not making two grand a month on my own
28:04
shit. Right. Exactly. But I would like to. Sure.
28:08
Gimme. Yeah. There you go. So I'm curious, because
28:11
you do so much with entertainment, have you considered
28:14
doing a Patreon? I have considered. I have a
28:18
Patreon. I have not done much with it. Yeah.
28:22
But I do have a Patreon. I even put a couple
28:25
like bonus content things on there. Yeah. Because
28:28
I had this big plan of like, oh, I'll have the
28:30
Patreon and then like the older episodes of the
28:33
show that are either not on Apple podcast because
28:35
there's so many episodes in the. crooked table
28:38
podcast slash now close watch feed um kind of
28:43
dropped off or before the rebrand and just post
28:46
them on the patreon as a as a kind of a a perk
28:49
there or like uh bonus content from specific
28:53
episodes and that kind of thing i just haven't
28:55
kept up with it yeah and it's one of those things
28:57
that it's also like well there's nobody there
28:59
so It's a chicken and egg thing. There's not
29:02
going to be anybody there unless they put content
29:03
in it, into it. But it's hard to, again, to justify
29:06
putting content into it. If there's nobody there.
29:08
I get it. I totally do. But I, yeah. So I've,
29:12
I've had that in my, I had that in my script
29:14
when I do the whole welcome to close watch or
29:17
welcome to French's detours or whatever. And
29:19
then as my sign off, I had the whole thing about
29:22
support us on Patreon. I've just been like skipping
29:24
over it the last several months. Cause I'm like,
29:27
there's not anything there. It doesn't feel disingenuous
29:29
to promote it. So. I hear that. That's something
29:31
I need to I have a lot of things, even in the
29:35
crooked table space that I want to pursue that
29:38
I haven't because I keep scaling back the number
29:40
of episodes I want to do because I don't want
29:42
to overwhelm myself. So it's all about balance
29:45
again. This is my whole. Yeah, this is my whole
29:48
journey of this this year, especially is how
29:51
do I fit everything together? Like, how do I
29:53
make all these things work internally and externally,
29:57
personally and professionally? And so. That's
30:00
been a real kind of puzzling together situation.
30:06
Hey, I get it. Are you using ads on your CrookedTable
30:09
.com? No, I have not. In fact, I haven't even
30:14
kept up with CrookedTable .com. CrookedTable
30:16
.com now forwards to the link tree with all the
30:19
different links. And CrookedTable .com is officially
30:22
even a fully active website at the current time.
30:26
It's a holy whaty? Sorry. It's not even fully
30:28
active at this current time. Not fully active.
30:31
I thought you said something else. Sorry. That
30:34
too. Probably that too. Been a long day. So,
30:37
okay, if we were to reverse engineer this to
30:41
figure out how to get you paid, because we're
30:43
going to figure you out first, and then maybe
30:45
we'll think about it. Oh, boy. Others have tried.
30:48
Best of luck. All right. So if you were to revive
30:52
kirkatable .com, basically it would entail taking
30:56
every single episode that you have created and
30:58
writing a blog post about every single episode.
31:01
Yeah. What say you? So, okay. So writing a blog
31:08
post, do you mean like, hey, in episode such
31:13
and such, we talked about the show notes blog
31:15
post? Basically show notes. Yeah. I had done
31:19
that. And then. So I'm probably have most of
31:23
like up until the last year or so, most of them
31:26
written and on the, you know, the the WordPress
31:30
site of all of that. OK, haven't been that posted.
31:34
So now how could you refresh that to include
31:37
affiliate links to every single movie you talk
31:38
about and include like a donation button to support
31:44
the show or things like that? Like, how could
31:47
you how could you do something like that? I mean,
31:50
the obvious thing is buying things on physical
31:52
media or merch connected to each film, that kind
31:56
of thing. And then. Yeah, I don't know. What
31:59
do you mean? What do you mean buying? Why would
32:02
you buy it? Well, you're talking about affiliate
32:06
links to services or to purchase products or
32:10
purchase products. Like, do you have to actually
32:12
purchase the product to be able to? Oh, no, I
32:13
don't have to purchase. I'm saying for other
32:15
people to purchase it. Yeah, yeah. No, no, no.
32:18
OK. Because it would be like, you know, I did
32:20
an episode on The Wiz just recently that's about
32:23
to be posted. Probably by the time this is up,
32:25
it will be live. And there's a 4K Criterion collection
32:30
of The Wiz that retails for like $39 something
32:33
on Amazon. So that's kind of on the smaller end
32:37
of things. But still, it's something. That would
32:39
be the most obvious one to add. And I had an
32:42
Amazon Associates account at one point that I
32:45
did not. keep up with. And I think I tried recently
32:48
and they were like, no, thank you. And I was
32:49
like, oh, okay, thanks. So then instead you should
32:52
sign up for like Rakuten and then instead of
32:54
using Amazon as your, you know, your video links,
32:59
you could link to Walmart and Target, buy the
33:02
video there. Yeah. Yeah. Just a thought. Yeah.
33:07
These are all things I have not been putting,
33:09
not been focusing on because I've just been creating
33:11
the content and then praying that it does something.
33:15
What does that mean to you, praying that it does
33:18
something? I don't know. Downloads increase on
33:23
their own, basically. I don't know. I haven't
33:25
been doing that as strategic with it as I probably
33:28
should have because I have more of the creator
33:30
mindset. And I've been kind of putting so much
33:34
focus on the content creation that I haven't
33:37
put the same amount of care and effort into what
33:41
happens next. And also, I've been doing full
33:47
-time jobs in the midst of all this. So when
33:49
I edit stuff, it's usually at night or whenever.
33:52
So it's easy to slip through the cracks. Sorry,
33:54
go ahead. No, no worries. I was just going to
33:56
say, who is it that you host your podcast with?
33:59
Well, right now it's with Speaker because I'm
34:01
also part of a podcast network. That's only been
34:06
the last year or so, less than a year that I've
34:10
been doing that. So now I do have... some ads
34:13
on throughout my episodes because of that. That's
34:16
what I was going to ask you. So you have dynamic
34:17
ads that are OK. So if you if you needed to increase
34:22
revenue, the fastest way would be to increase
34:24
your downloads. Sounds like. Yeah. OK, so if
34:28
you were going to increase your downloads, what
34:29
would you do? How would you go about it? I mean,
34:32
it feels like the most obvious answer is social
34:35
media marketing, which is, again, as we've established,
34:37
not my strong suit. OK, so no, no, you're not
34:41
going to social media instead. I think what you
34:43
should do is go back to all of your past episodes
34:45
and refresh the SEO on them, like make them more
34:48
searchable. And they all need to be on YouTube,
34:50
too. And if you're not on all the podcast directories,
34:54
you need to get your show on all the podcast
34:55
directories. Yeah, that's another thing. So.
34:59
I don't want to say social media is like the
35:02
is like the worst thing to do. Instead, I think
35:04
what you should do is be strategic if you are
35:06
going to use social media, maybe instead. write
35:09
some LinkedIn blog posts, like write articles
35:12
on LinkedIn about the different episodes, maybe
35:16
make them related to something business oriented
35:19
or I don't know, anything really. And then link
35:23
back to the episodes. Maybe that would help build
35:25
your integrity, make you look marketable. Because
35:29
I've actually been playing with that myself.
35:30
That's actually how I landed some of the affiliate
35:32
commissions I did this year. I was repurposing
35:35
some of my posts about how to be a podcaster.
35:38
and actually made some sales. Who knew? So, I
35:41
mean, it's just, that's a thought. Yeah. And
35:44
it's one of the things I'm playing with. Like
35:46
I'm playing with all kinds of different ideas.
35:48
Like one of the things that my husband and I
35:50
were talking about is we were talking about starting
35:51
an actual website for the food blog that I was
35:54
telling you about. But the more I talk to people
35:56
and the more I discuss things with like how everything
35:59
is moving, I can't help but wonder if my better
36:01
way. of moving forward is just to have everything
36:04
on my own personal website, famousashtagrant
36:06
.com and have categories of all the things I
36:08
give a damn about. That way, it's only one thing
36:11
to take care of. Yeah. So like the More Movement
36:14
Please podcast. Yeah, OK, it's a new podcast,
36:17
but it redirects, you know, to famousashtagrant
36:20
.com slash more movement, please. The podcast
36:22
I deal with podcast. It will go to famousashtagrant
36:26
.com backslash podcast I deal with or bloggy
36:28
friends show. Even that has the same thing. And
36:31
so I'm like, OK, so. If I if I'm creating all
36:33
these things and it only goes to one place, maybe
36:37
that'll be easier. Yeah. Yeah. Like one source
36:41
of truth. Like I mentioned Denise Duffield Thomas
36:46
earlier. Anyway, she's also my money mentor.
36:48
And her thing is she sells a money boot camp
36:51
like that's that's her big bread and butter item.
36:54
She sells money boot camp and she sells sacred
36:56
money archetypes. But money boot camp is her
36:59
big thing. And so. Her mantra, even though it's
37:03
not always sexy, is all roads lead to boot camp.
37:06
And so everything she does, the whole goal is
37:09
to get people into her boot camp. So whatever
37:12
she's creating, everything goes to DeniseDT .com
37:16
because they're all trying to get you into the
37:19
boot camp. And so I'm looking for my all roads
37:22
lead to moment. I'm trying to figure out what
37:24
the hell that looks like. And the only thing
37:26
I can keep coming up with is all roads lead to
37:29
famoushushagrant .com. I don't know what else
37:32
to do. Like, I really do not know what else to
37:34
do. I know there's all kinds of things I want
37:36
to write about. I know there's all kinds of things
37:38
I want to podcast about. But the idea of creating
37:40
a single website for every single thing that
37:42
I want to do just sounds exhausting. Yeah. It's
37:47
funny that you mentioned that because one thing
37:49
that I've talked to Kai about, obviously, all
37:54
of this, she hears most of my... grievances throughout
37:57
the years as you may assume um she'd be like
38:00
well why don't you use crooked table for like
38:03
if i'm doing the my own shows on crooked table
38:06
.com why don't i just when i do work for other
38:10
people like have that be as like as have crooked
38:13
table be like the hub for all of that stuff and
38:16
then the more that i've gotten into video and
38:19
audio production for like clients or as a as
38:23
on more of a freelance slash contractor basis
38:26
the more i'm like yeah does crooked table productions
38:30
doesn't have to just be me talking about movies
38:32
it can be audio video production period and so
38:38
that's one thing that i'm thinking about is just
38:41
expanding that scope to include production services
38:45
that i do for other uh, for other shows outside
38:49
of the ones that I've already kind of created
38:51
under that banner. Then it sounds like you already
38:53
know what you need to do. Create a page with
38:55
your services. Uh, cricket table .com. Yes. So
39:00
what do you want to do with it? It sounds like
39:02
you need to add a production services page to
39:05
site and, um, then start promoting the shit out
39:09
of yourself. So if we, if we get a, um, a services
39:12
page. then at that point we just need to promote
39:15
you to other podcasters. And do you feel like
39:19
you're in a position that you have enough experience
39:22
that you could actually sell this stuff? Do you
39:25
feel like you're in a position you could actually
39:27
sell this stuff? Could I do the job? Yes. Could
39:35
I sell it? I don't know. That's the problem.
39:39
Because I'm not, as we were saying, selling myself
39:41
is not a strong suit. How'd you get your writing
39:43
gigs? Yeah, I know. Good question. That's what
39:46
I wonder a lot of the time. Other than me emailing
39:50
you one day randomly and saying, hey, you want
39:51
to write for the magazine? Me emailing people
39:54
randomly? Me emailing other people randomly?
39:57
I got my, well, my first like major post -college
40:01
online entertainment thing was with Screen Rant.
40:06
And that was literally me just tweeting out one
40:08
day, man, I wish I could write for at Screen
40:10
Rant. And the guy who ran the who owned the site
40:13
at the time responded and was like, hey, send
40:16
me an email, blah, blah, blah. And that's how
40:18
that happened. And I worked with them for several
40:20
years. And that kind of was the starting point
40:22
for that. So I think I'm just not vocalizing.
40:26
I'm not manifesting things as much as I should
40:28
be. I'm keeping all my cards close to my chest
40:31
and saying, like, I want this and this and this
40:33
and this and dealing them out. And I think I
40:35
need to. I need to try and meet the universe
40:38
halfway. I'm working on I'm working on a lot
40:41
of stuff internally, actually, that it's hopefully
40:44
going to help with a lot of this thing. A lot
40:46
of the confidence and the self -worth and and
40:50
the putting myself out there of it all. I do
40:53
think that's been holding me back quite a bit.
40:55
Absolutely. So here's what we're going to do.
40:57
You're going to get the page up, get the page
40:59
up and I'll promote it. Damn it. OK, sounds good.
41:03
Yes. So this is your accountability reporting
41:05
for duty telling you that, yes, get the page
41:08
up and I will promote it to my network. OK. And
41:11
then you're just going to retweet it or not retweet
41:13
it, reshare it. How do you do it? Repost it.
41:16
Repost. You're going to repost it. Yes. That's
41:19
step one. I do think this is also like all of
41:22
this is coming at a really good time, too, because
41:24
I usually take like the end of the year, the
41:28
beginning of the next year, like November, December,
41:31
January to kind of. not be recording podcasts
41:34
constantly and to kind of be in more of a regroup
41:37
and refresh type of mode. So maybe that's a good
41:41
window to sort of do some of these things and
41:44
make some of these changes and kind of prepare
41:46
for the future of Crooked Table Productions.
41:49
Okay, so you're going to do your page and I'm
41:51
going to do mine where I'm going to say people
41:53
can hire me as their voice. There you go. And
41:56
then you're going to put it on your page and
41:57
I'll put yours on mine and then we'll promote
41:59
each other. That works for me. Digital high five.
42:05
that's the cheesiest fucking thing i've done
42:06
all day it's but we both participated so we're
42:09
both equally uh guilty yes we're we're cheese
42:13
and cheese whiz who's who is anyway um so yeah
42:18
i think that could be a fun way to play uh that's
42:20
one idea and then i'm already harassing you about
42:23
whether or not you're working out so maybe i'm
42:25
going to start harassing you about other things
42:26
too i know i was even going to say i'm like oh
42:28
she's going to have a new question every monday
42:31
Did I tell you you're in my calendar? Am I really?
42:34
Yes. What I did. I appreciate that. I literally
42:37
put in my calendar every single Monday at I think
42:40
it's 730 a .m. I get an email that says harass
42:43
Robert and ask him his fitness goals for the
42:45
week. And every Monday or Wednesday, depending
42:49
on how soon I sheepishly respond. It's usually
42:54
me being like, not much. I have two small children.
42:57
They drain me of all my energy. Yeah, you're
42:59
like, I open Facebook and I see she's messaged
43:01
me. I ain't fucking touching that. I know there
43:06
are people that do that because they've told
43:07
me. I open my phone and I see I got a message
43:10
from you and I don't open it because I don't
43:12
know what it holds. Now I know. I know that feeling.
43:17
I know your game, Robert. I'm going to make you
43:22
work, damn it. That's the plan. More movement,
43:26
please, and more work, please. I mean, yeah,
43:30
there you go. That's one of the tabs on, you
43:33
know, one of the things you can have on Famous
43:36
I Should Grant. More movement, more work next
43:39
to it, whatever. You just go with the more blank.
43:43
Right. Anyway, I don't even know if we have enough
43:47
meat on this bone to come up with something good,
43:49
but I'll edit it so that it sounds good. The
43:53
magic of editing. Yes. That guy said, we'll fix
43:56
it in post. Yeah. Yeah, exactly. So, okay. Bringing
44:00
all this back together, you're going to make
44:02
a services page. I'm going to make a service
44:05
page. So we're going to promote each other. What
44:08
else? What can we do in 2026 to finally be the
44:10
rock stars we deserve to be? I like your creative
44:14
writing thing. I might want to do, I might brush
44:16
up more on some of that. I think there's a lot
44:19
of catharsis from. And I think I want to refocus
44:24
some of that. Also, the fact that I have these
44:28
podcasts, it has not eluded me that that's an
44:30
easy place to put ads for, I don't know, if I've
44:33
written a book or if I have another podcast,
44:35
which I've been cross -promoting my Back to Bluey
44:39
podcast that I co -host on episodes of Crooked
44:42
Table stuff as well. And I think also just cross
44:45
-promoting in general with more people because
44:48
I know a lot of... Podcast people, obviously,
44:51
because I've had a lot of them on my show. And
44:53
maybe just being more vocal about cross -promoting,
44:56
not just by being on each other's shows, but
44:58
like, you know, you see every once in a while
45:00
on social media, like, hey, anybody up for an
45:01
ad exchange? Because I have a 30 -second spot
45:04
of me being like, hey, listen to the Crooked
45:07
Table, Close Watch, and Franchise Detours, and
45:09
blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. So being more open
45:11
and more vocal about collaboration and tapping
45:14
into the community more. I think that's a great
45:18
idea because if we don't ask for what we want,
45:21
it's definitely a no. So I think we just start
45:24
just asking who knows what could happen. I mean,
45:27
we have no idea where our conversations could
45:29
take us. We have no idea where, you know, if
45:32
we just start finally putting ourselves out there,
45:34
who knows, maybe, maybe by the, in fact, I'm
45:37
going to bring you back at the end of 2026. We're
45:39
going to rehash this out, find out where we've
45:41
been. and kind of just see what's next. I mean,
45:45
that is, of course, if Bloggy Friends Show even
45:47
still exists. I kind of hope it does because
45:50
what I'm kind of thinking is with Bloggy Friends
45:53
Show, it's kind of like my business more than
45:55
photographs. It was the beginning of everything.
45:58
Like I named it more than photographs because
45:59
at the time I literally was, well, doing more
46:03
than photographs. That's why I named it that
46:05
because, you know, people are asking what I do
46:07
and I'm like, well, you know, I do a little of
46:08
this, a little of that. And they're like, well,
46:10
aren't you just a photographer? I'm like, no,
46:11
I do more than photographs. And so that's why
46:14
that stuck. And so now it's like, OK, well, if
46:17
I'm doing a little bit of this, a little bit
46:19
of that, maybe I keep the bloggy friend show
46:21
because blogging is how it all got going. Yeah.
46:26
But I keep saying it and I'm still going to I'm
46:29
going to sing it. You know, this is the hill
46:31
I will die on. You cannot just have a blog. anymore
46:36
like if you want to make money online as a content
46:39
creator in 2025 2026 and beyond for god's sakes
46:44
brandon you need there it is you need to have
46:48
more than that it has to be more than that you
46:50
have to have things that drive people to it you
46:52
have to i mean yeah okay social media but i we
46:55
both have already made it pretty clear we hate
46:57
social media like it's it's a it's a time suck
47:01
it's a it's a no Even though I have to do it
47:05
because I'm on it all freaking day. Like anybody
47:08
knows that they can send me a message and I will
47:10
be on social media for now. Yeah. But it's like,
47:15
okay, if that's the case and we have all these
47:19
things at our disposal, surely to God we can
47:21
figure out how to funnel them into a way that
47:23
we can make money. Yeah. Doing things we love.
47:26
Exactly. Yeah. And I mean, I think that at least
47:34
with the more movement, I think that that, like
47:37
I said, it's becomes more than just a passion.
47:40
It's also got purpose behind it. Anyway. So we
47:45
talked about all that. I know where I'm going
47:47
to go with the episode. I'm going to make it
47:48
sexy. I'm going to wrap it up in a bow. It's
47:50
going to be awesome. Enjoy your next 24 hours.
47:54
Have a good 24 hours. Have a good 24 hours. So
47:57
where can people find you online, Robert? Are
48:03
we really doing that? Because I'll do it. We're
48:05
really going to do that. We're really doing that.
48:06
Find you online, Robert. You can find me on social
48:09
media at Crooked Table. I'm on Blue Sky, Instagram,
48:13
and Threads. You can also find me at CrookedTable
48:15
.com, which will mostly forward you to the link
48:19
tree where you can find my podcasts, Close Watch,
48:22
Franchise Detours, and the one I co -host, Back
48:25
to Bluey. And you can find me on LinkedIn and
48:28
all of that good stuff, Robert Yannis Jr. Well,
48:31
we will definitely leave all the links in the
48:33
show notes. And Robert, I just want to thank
48:36
you for being on the show. And I hope you have
48:38
a very happy new year. I hope all of our dreams
48:41
come true in 2026. I hope that we become the
48:44
rock stars that we deserve to be. And until next
48:47
time, may your paid shoes be high and your bounce
48:49
rate be low.
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