How to Sell Advice

Kevin C. Whelan: Hello, my friends.

And welcome to another episode of How to
Sell Advice, the podcast all about helping

you package and sell your expertise
so you can build a more leveraged

and profitable marketing practice.

In this episode, we've got Brad Hussey.

Brad is a tremendous web designer,
turned educator and creator.

He's a fellow Canadian like me out
of westward direction in Canada.

Uh, based out of Alberta.

And in this episode, we talk about how he
made that leap from an employee all the

way back in the day to being a full-time
web designer and now to where he is today.

Whereas he's an educator, a
creator, a community builder.

At utuber and a whole lot more.

So we talk about how he's
actually built this business.

That that is a, essentially a
flywheel for where he is today.

He sells courses on various platforms
that drive traffic and awareness

two is his own website, which
further perpetuates the flywheel.

He also sells courses and coaching
and services on his own website.

So it's a really interesting
business model that plays really

well with his expertise and creates
this harmonious relationship

between all the different parts.

So you're going to want
to listen to this one.

And we're also going to talk a little
bit about how he's built his YouTube

channel and any advice that he has.

To help you build your
own YouTube channel.

This is an interesting episode.

And if you're kind of in the mode
of how do I get out of some of these

services, how do I find new ways to
leverage my expertise into courses,

into community, into partnerships
he partners with Wix, which we're

going to talk about how that works.

Uh then you're gonna want to listen to
this as always if you get any value out

of it share with a friend that's all i ask
and i hope to see you on the other side.

Brad, thank you so much for joining us.

I'm super excited to unpack your
story and all the cool things

that you're doing right now.

And we had a recent discussion,
we connected online and you're an

interesting character because you have
this great background in web design.

You fell into, and I'm going to use that.

Generally into education work.

Now you're running a community
in partnership with Wix.

So as always, I want to unpack, how
did you go from that hands on keyboard

selling websites to, to packaging and
leveraging your, your expertise to, to

build a community that you're in now,
why don't you take us back to where

your roots are and then what led you out
of the path of just selling websites?

Brad Hussey: Oh, yeah.

Well, first of all, I
appreciate you have me on here.

It's a pleasure.

And, uh, yeah, I'll give you a bit of
a genesis of my career story, uh, from

where I came from and to where I am today.

So I started out, I went to school, uh,
out in the west coast of Canada here,

uh, For interactive design learning is
a catch all program, a couple of years

where you learn everything from graphic
design to animation to flash Adobe flash

before nobody uses that anymore, but,
uh, to backend programming, front end

design, the whole Adobe suite, you know,
we'd learned some business SEO, it's kind

of a catch all program to kind of prime,
uh, people in this technical and creative

field for a career in, in whichever route.

And so there's a lot of.

Colleagues, my colleagues,
whatever they're called,

you're my cohort in school.

Um, they went on to be game
designers, uh, app developers,

you know, graphic designers.

And, um, I, from the beginning
chose, I was like, I'm going to

figure out a way to do this solo.

Like, I don't want to work for a company.

I don't want to do any of that.

I want to find a way where
I could just do it myself.

It's gotta be a way.

And, um, so that was always on my mind.

And so I started doing freelance work.

In school, this was 2009 to 2011.

I started just taking on clients.

I, as soon as I learned HTML and CSS, I
was like, okay, I I'm, it's good enough.

I could do something.

I could sell something with this.

And so I got a client to build
a chiropractic website and

that led to another referral.

And so I just, I've had clients since
2009 and selling cheap websites and then

they'd get a little bit more expensive.

I get better.

And then, you know, as that story goes.

Finished school and I got a job as a front
end web developer at a boutique agency.

Uh, when we worked on big
campaigns, it was very cool.

Got to work on big projects for
like movies and TV shows, car

companies, like large kind of products
that, you know, household names.

We had to work on
campaigns and websites and.

You know, local restaurants,
even things like that.

So I got kind of deep dive into the world
of building sites for these sorts of

clients and, you know, working on budgets
that would be, you know, 20 to 200, 000.

And so I got to see how that all worked.

Um, but I still freelanced on the
side and it was, I got to the point

where I was freelancing almost full
time outside of working full time.

And this was prior to having children.

So I had the capacity to do it, but
I still had dissonance because I

wanted to spend more time with my
wife when we were newly married at

that point, just a couple of years.

And so I wanted to spend more time
with my wife and not just working and

then working and then having 20 minutes
before work and 20 minutes before bed.

You know, like I wanted
more time with her.

And so I was like,
something's got to give.

And I've been always wanting to
do something solo and have that

flexibility and that freedom.

And I don't necessarily
like my job, though.

It's a dream job, so to speak, in
this capacity, it's really cool.

And I just realized, you know what?

I think I need to go all
in on this freelancing.

And I think with the amount of time
that I'm going to buy from that.

I should be able to, I
should be able to do well.

And I had enough clients where, you
know, I, I had a strategic plan.

It wasn't some haphazard, I want freedom
and I'm throwing it all, you know, no, I

made a plan and, uh, gave them a heads up.

That job actually became one of my
bigger clients for about six months.

As I transitioned out of it, I
said, Hey, I'm, well, you know,

we're leaving, I'm leaving the job.

We're leaving the city.

My wife's, uh, pregnant, we're going to
have a baby and we were going to move.

So I can't stay here, but I can,
uh, keep doing your front end

development work on a contract
basis until you find somebody else.

And they said, sweet, that sounds amazing.

We appreciate it.

So that was a nice segue out of that
ramped up freelancing, kept that going.

And within the first three months of, uh,
Freelancing, this was like only like a

few months before we had our first baby.

Um, I went from like doing pretty decent,
like as a beginner freelancer, you know,

paying bills, like it wasn't anything
to blow your mind over, but it was

like, Hey, I could pay all the bills.

to like making like, I think
it was like a 716 a month.

And I was like, that's
not going to work at all.

I can't even pay rent
with that at the time.

And so I was like, well, my options
are an eye out for going back to a job.

which I did all this work to not
do, or find another way to make

income in addition to client work.

Because I, as I started to really realize
client work is up and down, up and down.

If you're selling fixed one off projects,
especially in the one to 2, 000 range,

you know, it's like, you got to hustle
a lot, scrounge up some work for that.

So I, uh, at the suggestion of my wife,
she was like, why don't you like teach,

like book a room at the university
or the college and like sell tickets

to teach web design or something.

And I was like, that's an
amazing idea in my mind.

I was like, what am I going to get?

Like 10 people.

And then what I got to
get another 10 people.

I'm still selling my, my time.

It's not scalable.

And it's a lot of effort.

And I was like, I don't like the lack of
leverage in that, you know, but I like

the idea of teaching and extra income.

So I like Googled at the time.

I was like, how do you teach
a course on the internet?

Because at the time, like 2000 and 12, it
wasn't as, it was more of a novel idea.

It wasn't as accessible as now everybody,
this is a thousand course platforms and

marketplaces and it's pretty common.

Like it's not a crazy
idea, but then it was.

So Udemy came up and this was long
before Udemy was like the number

one online course marketplace
for anything and everything.

At all.

Um, I was like, I'm going to try this.

I'll sign up.

We taught you, show you how
to record some videos and put

a course curriculum together.

And so I whipped together a course
called PSD to HTML5 and CSS3.

So slicing and dicing a Photoshop
mock up and coding it in HTML, CSS.

And I just kind of leaned on my,
um, personality and my passion for.

Subject.

And, uh, I have a theater background,
so I was cool with being on camera and

kind of hamming it up a little bit.

And, uh, content was, I
think it was pretty good.

I mean, looking back on it now,
it's kind of embarrassing, but

at the time it was pretty good.

And I put it on Udemy and I remember
going to bed one night after getting

it all published, waking up the
next morning and seeing like three

sales came through and it made like
60 bucks or something like that.

And it just like, it was like
a paradigm shift where I went.

That's a thing now that I could do.

Kevin C. Whelan: Wow.

Brad Hussey: it just, it blew my mind.

Uh, I couldn't believe it.

I felt like, um, felt rich, like
I struck a gold mine or something.

And, and so I realized
like, this is a great idea.

And so I.

Kept that course going and did
student support and all that.

And then I, out of the suggestions of
the students, Hey, we want to learn this.

Okay.

I'll create that course
and then sell that one.

And then you'd make a bit more.

And, uh, and then Udemy
started pushing my stuff.

Uh, so I was one of the early kind of.

Um, I'm trying to say this without
like sounding like I'm gloating or

anything because I don't mean to.

But I was lucky enough to be one of their
top instructors for a while, quite a while

in the design and development category.

Now there's like thousands and
thousands and thousands of instructors.

Then it was maybe hundreds or something.

Um, and so my stuff bubbled
up to the top pretty quickly.

And so I got like pushed.

I was on the homepage.

I was on the featured page.

Like so I got tons of traffic.

And then that.

You know, creating free
stuff, creating paid stuff.

And so that like for quite a while,
it was this amazing engine for

revenue, but also traffic and brand
recognition and awareness of me.

So people started searching
my name and Googling me.

Uh, and I realized like I should
probably blog or have a website or

collect email addresses so that I can
keep in touch with these people outside

of Udemy if they want to stay in touch.

Maybe sell them website services.

And so I would, I would also get,
that would be like a flywheel.

People say, Hey, I tried taking your
course and you're so good at it.

Or I really liked your vibe,
but I'm terrible at building my

websites and I'm an entrepreneur.

I'd rather someone do it for me.

Could you do it?

Absolutely.

So it was like a flywheel.

It was a lead generator in
addition to selling education.

Then that led me to another thing.

So I, my ethos for business has just been
to keep my eyes open for opportunities

and be open and, uh, you know, I have
business plans and ideas and strategies,

but I think I reserve like 50 to 60
percent of my career existence to just

open your eyes, man, and see what's there
because I might think this is the best

path, but there's something right here
screaming at me and I should try that out.

It's because of those.

That awareness of just being open, uh,
it's led me to like my biggest career

breakthroughs, including this Udemy thing.

When my wife was like,
why don't you try this?

I might've been like, no freelancing.

I have to do this.

And I got to sell WordPress websites.

Um, just keeping my eyes open
and trying an opportunity of

being okay if it doesn't work.

And so these students would say,
Hey, now how do I get clients?

Like, I kind of way.

How do you get clients?

And I was pretty good at it.

And so I was like, I can, I
could show you what I know.

I'm a few steps ahead of you, but I
can, I could show you what I know.

And so I would create a
course about freelancing.

And then I started to learn more
about freelancing, doing it and

building websites and getting better
as a designer and a business person.

So I was just going to share my
insights, like 10 steps up the road.

And package it into a course
or a live stream or a workshop.

And some of them would be free.

Some of them would be paid.

And, and then it just kind of real, like
all sort of kind of coming together.

I was like, Hey, I think I've built
this thing where I am not only a

web design freelancer or a creative
studio selling websites and marketing

assets and collateral, but I'm also
like a, somewhat of a expert who's

able to sell my expertise and sell
my knowledge and sell my advice.

People would book calls with me
and ask for my advice about this

client situation, or how much
should I charge, or these things.

So I started following that, and that
built up a list, it built up a list,

it built up courses, coaching, you
know, and that would again bubble

into people wanting me to build sites,
or build their sites, start to craft

a bit of a niche, um, and all the
while I'm creating content, YouTube

videos, courses, doing free training,
paid training, coaching people.

Kind of just being open and uh, so
I've got this like bulk of, or maybe

not bulk, like library of content
that I've created across the internet.

Um, both for my sites and also
other people's sites, kind of

like being on this podcast.

And those, I never really realized.

Um, until like five years
later, I've been doing this now,

like 10, 11, what is it, 2009.

So whatever that is, 14 years.

So it's a long time.

It's kind of weird.

Um, that compounds opportunities
like investing in the stock market.

So I created something and made a deposit,
let's say I purchased a share of, or I'm

trying to create this metaphor here by
creating a content, a piece of content,

of course, by You know, doing that,
investing and creating that, and years

later, it would create an opportunity.

Hey, I just signed up for your course, or
hey, I just saw your stuff on Udemy, or

hey, I watched that YouTube video you did,
oh, you changed my life here, or I tried

this thing, or I really love this, and I'm
like, man, I created that eight years ago,

and you're watching it now, or you're just
thinking of it now, like, so it blew my

mind, but that would create opportunities,
and one of the most notable opportunities

for me, um, was Over the pandemic,
uh, business was a bit slow for me.

Um, you would think that the freelancing
world offering services and coaching

for freelancers would be actually
a really good opportunity to get,

um, customers during the pandemic.

Cause all of a sudden everyone had
the opportunity to be freelance.

And, uh, I think a lot of folks did pretty
well because of the pandemic and, and that

they were positioned right, maybe they
got a stroke of luck or they're in the

right place, right time, not quite for me.

It actually was the opposite.

I don't know why.

Um, it was very much like people were
like, ah, I don't really have the cash

right now, or I don't want to invest in
a coaching program or another course.

Like I just need, I just need work.

I just need a job.

You know, I don't have the money for it.

So I had a lot of that.

And so it was kind of a little bit
slow, a little scary at times, but I'd

built up a portfolio of income sources.

That was kind of like a, like a huge
safety net to be able to like, it's

not just cut off or like tanking, like
one can be taken out, but you've got

these other ones that you've created.

So that very much was the case for me.

And so I was grateful for my
efforts in the past to do that.

Bye.

Um, it was slow and I was like,
I don't know, I don't know

what I'm going to do here.

Like clearly I'm in like a, a massive
crossroads in my business and I don't

know what it looks like in the future.

It was like for the first time ever
that I was pretty uncertain and pretty

scared and was fully open to like,
I don't know what's next, but I got

to really keep my eyes open here
to see what's next, the next step.

And, um, I got an email from somebody,
uh, an agency who partners up large brands

with creators to create content for them.

And in this case, they were like,
Hey, we need you, uh, we need you

to create a video ad, uh, for, uh,
you know, first piece of software.

And I looked into the software and
I was like, yeah, it looks cool.

Like I actually kind of liked that
it was in the web design space.

So I got to film a YouTube ad.

And kind of was a one off project.

And anyway, that, that was fine.

And I was grateful for a little
project, um, that was different.

And then anyway, this person from the
company who was creating it for, so

this is Wix, uh, they reach out and,
uh, he goes, Hey, I'd love to talk more

to see if we can work together, like, I
like what you're doing, got on a call.

And I was like, why, why, why me?

Like, why are you reaching out to me
when there's like a whole bunch of

creators out there and you're like,
what, what do you, what draws you to me?

And so he's like, I like your vibe.

I like your stuff.

I've watched your content.

I've seen your videos, your courses,
the thing that you did for us here.

Like, I like it and I like you
and I'd like to work with you.

And so that led to some conversations
and fast forward a little bit.

Um, now, like I have this really
cool, relationship with them

helping to bring awareness.

And, uh, recognition and to draw
the conversation in the web design

and no code space to editor X.

So that's the no code creation platform,
no code web creation platform for agencies

and professional designers who are
building websites, but without code, you

know, and that's a huge thing right now.

So lots of software competing
for their share in the market.

And so editor X is an incredible
product that I use myself now,

and I really enjoy and they've.

Basically, because of the work that I've
done over the last 10 plus years, created

an opportunity for them to say, I'd
like to work with you because I've seen

your portfolio of efforts and content.

And I like that.

And I want you to, to
help us in this capacity.

And I was like, say what?

Like that.

I just is one of my clients.

Wix , like, and I'm going from, from
restaurants and smaller, you know,

you're kind of scrounging up work or
you're getting medium sized businesses.

And, and I'm pretty good at
that to just go like, boom.

Like what?

So I was very grateful.

And so now bringing it to today,
um, I, I still do client work.

Uh, it's very choosy and picky.

Um, so I, I'm in a
privileged position that way.

Very grateful for it.

But I get to pick the projects
I work on and we can talk

about that in a little bit.

And I create a, uh, content
on YouTube and a community.

I'm facilitating and growing a
community for creative professionals,

web design agencies, and creative
studio owners who are building

websites for clients, building products
for clients, uh, designs designers

and we want to help them succeed.

And so that's a free community.

And because of my partnership with editor
X, They, um, allow everybody wins here.

So the community wins because the content
that they're getting from me in terms of

bringing in guest experts, interviewing
experts, uh, creating content, creating

original content, videos, training
courses, uh, resources, tools, assets.

Um, live Q& A sessions, co working
sessions, networking opportunities.

It feels like they should be paying a lot
of money to be a part of that community.

But it's free.

So I've had people ask, like, when are
you going to start charging me for this?

But I'm not.

And that's because of my
partnership with Editor X.

So you can thank them for that.

They've paid your admission.

And I get to just create the best
version of what I've always wanted

to do, but I've had limitations.

The wrong gear, not enough time, not
enough resources, had to scrounge

money over in the freelancing
department, over in this, I had to do...

Now I just get to create
unfiltered, pure content I've

always wanted to be able to do.

And so now I get to do that for
free, for these folks, and Editor

X wins because we also create
content, training, and guidance.

For editor X, but also, Hey, if you're
using a different tool, it's okay.

That's fine.

But you also know you get this access
and this network because of editor X.

So you're going to look
at them in a nice light.

And the, the feedback has
been nothing but positive.

Whenever I ask, whenever people ask
me what's going on here, I tell them

and they go, man, that's really cool.

I've never seen that before.

So that's what I'm doing now.

Uh, in addition to some client work
and some consulting and coaching,

very much selling my thinking.

Uh, and my advice selling my, uh,
selling my brain instead of my hands.

Uh, and so that's kind of where
I'm, that's where I'm at now.

And that's all because I've just
kind of kept my eyes open and kind

of, uh, allowed myself to explore.

Kevin C. Whelan: Wow.

Well, that's an amazing story.

And you know, yeah, it just kind of
reminds me of like little parts of my

early story when you were talking about
cheap websites and then kind of, you

know, figuring things out and going one
client to the next and then wondering

where that recurring revenue is going to
come from so that you can actually have

some stability and working two jobs.

I built my web business on
the side of my full time job.

And so I also didn't
have kids at the time.

It was burnt, you know, I was like
burning out, but like trying to

make this thing work like you,
I wanted to be self employed.

And so there's kind of a lot of echoes
to what, what you're doing there.

And I love how you just sort of landed on
teaching and you thought, okay, maybe the

in person stuff might've worked for you.

Probably would have to some extent, uh,
but you went, you know, online as an.

Almost a pioneer in the Udemy space,
which is, which is interesting.

Um, do you, let's, let's
break it apart a little bit.

So you currently have the Wix, you
know, funded editor X community, right?

Well, it's, it's, uh, it's not, it's
not a Wix editor X branded, but it's

kind of the sponsorship and it's a
brand play, so they pay you some money.

That's, I don't know if you call that a
sponsor deal or kind of a partner deal,

I guess, some kind of a partnership.

Brad Hussey: Yeah, the technical
term, yeah, because when you say

sponsor, you know, people are kind
of aware of how that works now.

Like you sponsor a YouTube video
or you, it's not like that where

they're sponsoring a one off stuff.

It's like, it's like very much
like a partnership in terms of.

my marketing expertise and
ability to create content.

It's kind of like, Hey, we want to
help you do the best in your field,

but bring us along for the ride.

And, uh, and let us know if
you need something you need.

If someone has questions about how
to direct, or if we want coupon

code or this or whatever, like
we've got a really good setup there.

So it's way more than a.

Sponsorship in the sense
that it's more authentic.

It's not just, Hey, we'll give you 500
bucks for a video or something like,

Kevin C. Whelan: Yeah, less
transactional, but it feels like a

partnership, although that, that term
has a bunch of things built into it.

That may or may not be true.

Can we talk a little bit about
the, uh, about that arrangement?

Uh, you can, I'm, I'm not sure what you
want to disclose or not, but, uh, are

they paying you a fixed sort of fee to
do this and, and is there an in exchange?

Are they looking for any KPIs or
are you compensated by any kind of

things separately, like how, what's
the rough shape of it without getting

into, you know, anything sensitive?

Brad Hussey: Um, yeah, so it's like
ongoing and ongoing relationship.

Um, and yeah, KPIs are
very much a part of it.

So it's fascinating for me.

Um, because when you are working
with a, like a large company.

You know, KPIs are really important.

You need it.

Like if you're getting a budget for
something, you know, the people who are

all got the purse strings, like they
want to know, like, well, what are we

getting for that, you know, and let's
set some benchmarks for, you know, for

determining if this is valuable or not.

So it's very cool to, to be a part
of that, but it also, you know, you

know, it's not just like, okay, I
opened up my community and answer

some questions and I create a cool
piece of content or a fun video.

It's like, no, no, no, no.

Like all these things have to be
tied to what's the theme here.

And how is this going to.

Increase engagement in the community.

So we have benchmarks for what good
engagement is and what it should

be and what's not good enough.

So conversations started, uh,
DMS happening between members,

uh, people attending events.

So when we do events, uh, and guest
experts, it's like, Hey, you usually

have a 30 percent attendance rate.

This one had 50 percent with
a longer, uh, stay time.

Like, what did you do differently there?

Okay.

Let's do more of that and see what
happens and change the call to action.

So there's lots of strategy,
um, lots of figuring out like.

You know, it's not just numbers.

Like let's get lots of
people in the community.

It's we want engagement rate.

We want, um, people conversing, attending
events, consuming content, but also

sharing feedback, helping each other
out, collaborating, and also ultimately

at the end of the day, signing up
for an editor X account and ideally.

You're an agency owner and that's
like our target market here.

Uh, and you build sites for clients.

So you sign up for editor X,
you take our free course on it.

We help you out.

We do a live call.

We walk through, we help you
out, or they help you out.

We've got a cool
arrangement there for that.

And you go, okay, I love this.

This is going to be a game
changer for my, my business.

Uh, and I've got a whole bunch of
clients and all my new clients.

We're going to set them up
on the editor X platform.

So what's nice.

Uh, KPI as well.

How many people are signing up?

And how many of those people are
bringing in new editor X accounts?

You know, so if you're an agency
and you got 10, 20, 50, a hundred

clients on editor X, well, that's,
that's excellent for editor X because

that's that many premium accounts.

And if we bring in a whole bunch of
agencies and we really help them succeed

on the platform and, and not only on the
platform, it's like holistic approach,

like, Oh, your pricing's way off.

Or like, Oh, your marketing is way off.

Or have you set up automated email
marketing or your branding or

your design is pretty janky, man.

Like we've got to fix that, you know, so
that sort of stuff so that they can really

succeed using the editor X platform.

Now, if they don't use it, that's
fine, but we have KPIs for.

What we'd like in terms of all of these
metrics and so it's very cool to see

community building as like a business

Kevin C. Whelan: And so in
terms of compensation, do they

pay you as a fat flat fee?

Like, obviously you're accountable
to, it's interesting to hear you

say that the things you're doing
have to create a downstream impact.

You're still there, you know,
showing there has to be a performance

element to the community, you
know, to some extent they may be.

Um, obviously cool with you
innovating and figuring it out and

fluctuating and that kind of thing.

Uh, but are they paying you basically
to like, how is that, like, is it a

fixed, like, are they, is it based on
hours or anything or is it all, you

know, is it a fixed fees or performance?

Like what's that, how
did you come to the deal?

Brad Hussey: yeah.

Yeah, that's um, it's a fixed fee and
it's more like Kind of minimums of what's

required like there's expectations of
what's required in terms of like, uh, you

know, we create videos for the YouTube
channel So it's less about a volume of

videos because as we know like you can
create lots of bad stuff You So they want,

and I want, we've mutually agreed on this.

Like that I put out has to be good.

So if that's once a month or twice
a month or early, the earlier stage

last year, it was once every week.

Cause I was able to do that and I wanted
to get the channel rolling then cool.

But it's not like, no, you
have to hit four videos a month

or, or this, it was more like.

It has to be quality.

It has to be good.

And if you are doing it, like it has
to meet your standard that you set

for yourself, like high production,
high quality, entertaining, educating.

Um, and in terms of the community, like we
do try to set like, you know, when we do

certain meetings, numbers of members are
ideal because at this point with about a

year and a bit of data behind us, we can
see roughly how many people convert to.

Like to signing up for editor X or to
create a premium accounts, um, roughly.

So it's like we, okay, well, let's, um,
let's say within the next X timeline,

we want this many new members, but
remember, it's not just members.

Cause if you're bringing in a whole
bunch of like newbie freelancers.

Who love platform Y over here, it's
not going to do anyone much good.

If they're all like asking, how
do you make 500 on, you know,

WordPress or something like that?

So it's like, you know, we
try to create craft or target

audience and, and focus on that.

But, you know, make sure that
we're accommodating for other

folks who are, we're not using.

Uh,

Kevin C. Whelan: Yeah.

I mean, your, your job is hard because
some of it is non attributable, right?

Like someone could listen to this
podcast and be like, what is this editor

X by Wix and then kind of Google it
and then see, Oh, I see how it fits

into the ecosystem of other tools.

I'm just going to sign
up for that's great.

Or they hear about it today.

They see your YouTube video in two years,
and then they sign up for it in eight

years, like you were saying earlier.

So, so like, it's hard, like, as you
know, this is where partnerships are key,

mutual trust, where it's an understanding
of, okay, this is a, a brand play.

And yes, there's performance indicators.

There are signals that it's moving
in the direction that is creating

sign ons of agencies who have
downstream clients, who's then

going to create that ripple effect.

Um, but we also have to be realistic
about measuring everything and, you

know, it's really proxies for success,
you know, and does this feel good?

Is that quality of interaction?

Is that quality of video high
and not knowing whether that's

going to perform a result?

Do you find it difficult to juggle
that performance element with this?

Brand element at the end of the
day is what, what you're building.

Uh, is that difficult for you
or are they pretty understanding

of how that all works?

Brad Hussey: I gotta say, like,
that I've been, um, wildly impressed

and pleased with how pleasant
it has been to work with them.

Um, and how trusting of like,
Hey, you, you do you do it.

And I'm like, okay, but
like, I do it like this.

And they're like, yeah, that's cool.

So I'm like, this is incredible.

So they really trusting, but that
also, I think what it does as well as

when someone trusts you, you want to
make sure that you're worthy of that.

And so I like.

I don't slack off about this.

I treat it very, uh, uh, professionally.

And, you know, I, and every single
individual member who comes into the

community and joins an event or asks
a DM or any of these sorts of thing or

needs help, you know, it's like, I see
them all as like, I have the capacity

now to really serve this person.

Whereas before I'd be like, ah, they're
not in the top of funnel and then buy my

99 course and the three month timeframe.

I'm not very profitable.

And I got a quick, I got to get
a client job to pay the bills.

It's like, no, like set me up
for success so that I can set

other people up for success.

And so they're really accommodating
and trusting that way, which

in turn makes me show up hard.

And so it is interesting juggling.

You know, like KPIs and certain metrics
and like, okay, what's your goal?

What are you going to do next
time we meet is this timeline.

Uh, what are you going to bring to us?

I'm like, Oh, wow.

You really want to know that.

Okay.

So I'm going to bring you, we're
going to have this many more members.

We're gonna have this
many more conversations.

We're gonna have a 10
percent increase in this.

And I'd like to see this many premiums.

Like, sweet.

Okay.

Make it happen.

I'm like, Oh crap.

Okay, let's go.

Let's make that happen.

But in a genuine, authentic, fun way.

That, that truly helps the person.

And so that's why sometimes we'll
have people come in and say like,

ah, I'm a WordPress developer.

I'm on this platform and I've
been doing this, it's my business.

And then I go like, look, I'm not
going to just like, try and like

convert you over arbitrarily.

Like if this is your thing, that's
cool, but I want you to win and I want

you to succeed whatever you're using.

Because also it's the same sort of thing
if I pay that forward and I serve this

person, help them increase their price,
add a new model to their, their business.

Or really helped them out
of a sticky situation.

They're going to go, well, you know what,
Brad and his crew helped me out with that.

And that's because of that
situation he's got with editor X.

And so maybe someone, you know, wants
to know more about editor X and they

see it in a positive light because it's
been beneficial to them in some way.

Kevin C. Whelan: Yeah.

Yeah.

I mean, it's, you, it.

It's interesting going back to that
performance element, because I think so

much of the success of what you're doing
is going to be felt way down the line.

And so like, and even like growing
a community really hard and getting

engagement from people really hard and
being different really hard and like

being agnostic and also having your own
brand and then folding in this thing.

All that is like really hard.

And so I don't even know
how you would measure.

Or like, it's good to have these
measurements and to aim for them.

Um, you know, so to some extent it sounds
like this, you know, you're, you're cool

with it, but there's a bit of pressure
to deliver performance where really

the main performance is like, you're
only seeing the tip of the iceberg.

I don't know.

I mean, you've kind of already commented
that on that, but it's an interesting

mix that you're dealing with there.

Brad Hussey: It is, but as I say,
pressure makes diamonds, right?

Kevin C. Whelan: Yeah, I like it.

Uh, what I do also like about your
setup is, uh, is you've managed to

integrate your own business into it.

So you're not, you're not just like
becoming an employee of this business and

you're kind of losing your sense of self.

Like you're allowed to, um, you
know, maybe you can talk about this

integrated with your email list and,
uh, and sell your other products.

So it's very much you sponsored by
like powered by financed by editor X.

And that's kind of a context.

That adds the brand value, but you
don't have to give up any of your own

independence as a, as a professional.

You know, educator and freelancer.

How does that work?

Like do all the people who join the
community become your subscribers and

then you have that relationship or is
that more of like, this belongs to the

community and maybe one day I'll go away
and someone else will take the reins.

How does that work in terms
of owning that relationship?

Brad Hussey: Um, so yeah, the, when people
sign up for the community, you know,

it's all, it's tied into my email list.

And so, um, they would then opt
into my email list as well and have

access to me via my newsletter.

Um, and it, you know, and, and
the broadcasts that I'll send out

occasionally for certain live updates.

And so, yeah, it builds my list, you
know, if I grow this community to

thousands or tens of thousands or
whatever, uh, members, like that's

all growing my list in tandem.

So long as they opt in, you know,
people obviously unsubscribe or

they're not interested in marketing
emails, um, as well, or, or newsletter

emails, cause everybody's got too many
newsletter emails in their inbox anyway.

So, but it is like, In tandem,
growing my audience as well.

Um, whereas the community,
so the community.

Is, um, it's its own thing, but
it's tied into my list that way.

So, and then also in terms of you get
on my list, uh, and you'd go through

my welcome series and you realize, you
know what, I'd really like to learn how

to increase my prices or switch over
to value pricing for my, uh, agency.

You know, or product ties.

I'd really like to learn
how to product ties.

It looks like Brad's offering a workshop
and, uh, and then you could buy it.

You're it's like, and it
very much feeds into that.

So people will buy my freelancing
courses, pricing courses, workshops,

uh, certain replays products.

You know, you can buy my Udemy courses
anytime, but same with my other courses.

Um, people will book
calls, coaching calls.

Yeah.

You can book me for one
off coaching calls as well.

Uh, I have a restrictive schedule for
that, but I still offer it occasionally.

And if, um, I also offer kind of a
freelance, uh, intensive service for

email marketing and website refreshes.

So if you need a, like a brand
refresh or you need a, you know, email

marketing, automation, sequencing,
and convert kit, you can, you can book

me, uh, either by a day or a week.

And so I still do those, but again,
you know, like I'm just, I, I allot

the time that I, that is appropriate.

So my priority is my community
and content that I'm creating, but

sometimes I got a good week there or
a few days where I go, you know what

I could take on an intensive there.

And if someone is looking for that.

Often they come through
the community or my list.

Then, uh, I'll then we'll book it in
and we'll do that and I'll make sure

to allott that time for it as well.

So yeah, I very much have
that capacity to do that.

Kevin C. Whelan: Yeah.

I think that's really great because you
don't lose your independence and, uh,

and yeah, you can still, you can build
something that's more sustainable, both

for you, like if you align the incentives.

Then everyone wins.

And, uh, as long as you're putting in the
effort and energy for this main thing,

which also benefits you, that's part
of the compensation for performance is

like, if this thing does well, they'll
do well, I'll do well, everyone wins.

That's really great in
terms of a partnership.

So in terms of the breakdown, right?

So you've got.

Money coming in from this, from the
community via your, your partnership.

You've got Udemy, which maybe you
can talk a little bit about that.

Um, you're on YouTube.

Uh, do you monetize your YouTube?

I guess there's a little
money coming from that.

Brad Hussey: Yeah, a little bit
of ad revenue coming in from that.

Um, you get monetized at
like 10 K subscribers and,

or I don't remember what the

Kevin C. Whelan: something
right now, right?

Brad Hussey: Well, I have my own
personal YouTube channel and I

created a new YouTube channel as
a part of this in, uh, initiative.

And that was a specific decision because.

I wanted to start from scratch and
I wanted to not rely on my past, you

know, YouTube audience or reshift.

I didn't know what the
algorithm would think.

I was just like, start from
scratch and rebrand it.

And I just like, start like from a
creator from zero and see what happens.

And, um, I have like 17.

2.

Like 17, 200 subscribers at
the time of this call, which

like, I think it's incredible.

So we've been able to monetize, you
get a little bit of ad revenue, nothing

crazy, but it's, it's validating.

Um, and, uh, it means that
the content is very specific.

Like it's not a little bit of
this, a little bit of that.

Like my other channel, it's more
like, no, it's like helping creative

professionals and agency owners
succeed using editor X, no code.

Um, You know, improving your design
discussions about this industry.

It's like, it's really targeted.

Kevin C. Whelan: Okay.

We're gonna talk about
YouTube in just a second.

I wanna finish off on
the business model piece.

So you got, you got your w.

Community rather, uh, Udemy, YouTube,
which has a little bit of money maybe

coming in your own products, freelancing
and consulting and, uh, or coaching

and consulting and freelancing.

What, what's the rough makeup
of your revenue streams?

Is it like 80 percent sort of the
community and then sort of the

rest great straight 20 percent or
how does that break up for you?

Roughly?

I mean, I don't know.

Brad Hussey: roughly.

Yeah.

So, um, let's say, uh, I would say about
80 percent community and content, what

we're building with the creative crew.

10%, 15%.

Getting that right at 15%, 10%.

Again, these are rough numbers, give
or take 5 percent for everything.

Um, 80 percent community,
10 percent courses.

So I'm going to lump all that
in from Udemy to my courses.

I have courses on awards,
the awards Academy.

Uh, I have it on various other
platforms, um, teachable marketplace,

my own sites, my own memberships.

So 10 percent ish, maybe around there.

And then that leaves me with another 10%.

Is it so give or take a bit, it's going
to be a sorted income from affiliate

revenue from just like links on my blog
or my YouTube videos, uh, sponsorships.

So we do sponsorships as well.

Like on the channel, I got
to do sweet sponsorship for.

Like a password security manager, uh,
it's not on frame right now in the camera,

but like I got a whole bunch of desk
organization gear that I got to review.

So we do the occasional sponsorship,
affiliate revenue, um, uh, ad ad

revenue from YouTube, from my.

This channel and my other channel.

Um, and the occasional, did I
not include freelancing in that?

Kevin C. Whelan: You 120%, no

Brad Hussey: Oh, okay.

So then I need to change these numbers.

75 community.

Kevin C. Whelan: no
one's going to get mad.

That's totally

Brad Hussey: man, I want
your business model.

I want that portfolio of income.

So shave everything down a little bit
and include, there's a, probably a good

10 percent that's service based income.

So I'm going to say, you know, there's
80 percent community, 10 percent

courses, affiliates, sponsors, 10%.

Kevin C. Whelan: Services.

Consulting.

Would you lump consulting, coaching,
freelancing together in that

Brad Hussey: for sure.

For sure.

Yeah,

Kevin C. Whelan: Very interesting.

So what I love about your
model, obviously, is that you've

got a lot of revenue streams.

So like, you know, depending on
the catastrophe that happens in

the world next, you should be at
least covered by some, in some

part by some of these things.

Um, very good.

Very cool.

Thank you for that.

And would you recommend people get
into Udemy today based on, or platforms

like that, like, and you're talking

Brad Hussey: I would.

Kevin C. Whelan: teachable
and everything else.

Brad Hussey: Yep.

I would.

Um, I know some people will
say like, don't do that.

Build your own audience and you
know, go, go solo right from

the beginning and go indie.

Sure.

Do that.

But why can't you do both?

Like, there's no reason you can't.

Um, other than you're not productive and
you're not very good at Producing you

create one thing like the Jack Butcher
ethos, like build one, sell twice.

It's like, why can't you build once and
sell twice on eight different places, you

know, like, and create various versions.

So what I say, I'll say this
quickly is yes, absolutely.

100 percent build your list,
build your audience, build your

personal brand, build that.

Yes.

But let's say you don't really
have much audience, much leverage.

Well, Udemy has got millions
and millions of users.

So you got a Skillshare, you got all
these places, um, create a course

that's on your, for your list and make
it the, the, the full kitchen sink.

You got a community, you've got
weekly live calls, you got coaching

for the first a hundred members, free
coaching call, and you got the course.

Which is like five modules
plus three extra ones.

Sweet.

Sell it for whatever you want.

I don't even care.

50 bucks, 5, 000 bucks.

I don't care.

Like just whatever works for
you, the value you're creating.

That's your thing.

Take that and look at it in
context and go, you know what?

This, these three modules, I'm going to
spin around into a Udemy standalone course

for that market, create new intros and
outros for each of the modules and make

sure you craft it so that it is genuinely
helping and serving the Udemy audience.

And it's not like a recycled
knockoff of your main course.

Like make it real, make it good.

Kevin C. Whelan: Mm hmm.

Brad Hussey: And maybe you
got one for Skillshare.

Maybe you got one for
this one and that one.

And maybe you got a free version
that you put on YouTube as your

lead magnet to come into your list.

So why not do it like that?

There's no reason you can't.

That's what I would, would recommend
for anyone trying to create a

course and they have zero audience.

It's like you can do
multiple things at once.

Kevin C. Whelan: I'm a big fan of the
Yes and approach and, uh, and even

things like you can have a niche and
be general at the same time, and we can

sort of talk about that sometime, but
that's, that's interesting you say that.

And I, and I'm a firm believer, what
I really like as a takeaway from that

is, yes, you're building independence
and you are then taking it, packaging

it into a discreetly valuable thing,
which you put on U Udemy for a fee,

which you'll get maybe some small
percentage of in other platforms.

Really easy to replicate and it's
lead gen for your main thing.

All of this is a big
flywheel for, for you.

And it's amazing how that works.

And then putting it as a lead gen
opt in incentive, you know, and

then a taste, a sample, if you
will, of your content and your.

Your style and your vibe really love
how all that, that works together and it

just maximizes the benefit of your labor.

So, um, yeah, super,
super interested in that.

It's, you know, as you're talking,
I realized like, it was like at some

point I'm like, you know, when the
narrative voice comes in, it was

like at this moment you realized.

He should have booked him
for three hours, you know?

And so now I'm like wishing that
we were on a three hour podcast

because I have so many rabbit holes
that I want to go down with you

Brad Hussey: I hear

Kevin C. Whelan: we don't have the time.

So, uh, we'll come back to many
more of the questions, but let's

talk a little bit about you.

Yeah.

Yeah.

YouTube.

Um, and so YouTube, obviously the
second biggest platform in the

search engine in the world, and
it's such a great top of funnel.

Place for people to build awareness.

And now most of the people listening to
this are consultants, freelancers, and

expert service providers of some kind,
mostly in the marketing creative space.

Um, how would you recommend, and it's
great because this is a little bit

fresh for you've done this now twice
building a subscriber based on YouTube.

How would you recommend some of crack?

The YouTube, not like getting into
YouTube, getting your first, you know,

a thousand subscribers, what would
you need to know going into a mindset?

You've talked to a quality
as a main North star for you.

What would you say is like, what,
what, what advice would you give to

someone thinking about building not
just an audience to monetize and sell

courses, but maybe to drive services
and other benefits to your direction?

Brad Hussey: For sure.

Yeah.

And that was like my first, uh, my
first and personal channel, I guess

I'll call it, it's just my name.

Um, that was very much the case.

People would Google me and find
my YouTube videos about web design

and tutorials and whatnot, and.

I thought they would buy my courses.

And so, yeah, they did.

But there are people who were
like, I like your vibe, but

I don't have the time for it.

And so how much?

And so I'd set up a bit of a funnel
where, Hey, you want to hire me or buy

my courses, hire me, request a proposal.

I'll get back to you.

We'll jump on a call and
then we'll talk business.

So very much like you use your content
marketing and video form to generate

service clients like a hundred percent.

Um, and so recommend, uh, advice in that
department would be, That's a great one.

Okay.

So what I found is consistency
really does matter.

And the first bit is a bit of a grind.

So they say like the YouTube grind,
you know, you're on the YouTube

content, hamster wheel, and you
burn out and all that sort of stuff.

Um, if you're not making income outside
of it, the burnout will happen much

sooner because this was for me, I
had like this, uh, this partnership

or this, uh, this cool relationship.

Where I'm building the community,
the content, like I wasn't needing

for YouTube to make me money.

It was more like we're creating
something here, a marketing asset.

Um, so I didn't really experience
that like, Oh man, when's this

going to start making cash?

So I didn't have that,
you know, uh, panic.

So I'm trying to like, keep that
in mind for if I'm doing this with

zero funding at all, you know,
and that'd be a lot of folks.

So consistency really does matter.

Um, if you can put out one video a week.

Like that would be awesome.

Pick your cadence and stick
to it for like a year.

Um, and like, just like, and
don't look at the numbers.

Don't worry about it.

Don't over, uh, analyze it just
like consistency really matters.

Cause somebody told me this is
that you're paying the YouTube tax.

And it's just like a term that
they use paying the YouTube tax.

Basically, I think what YouTube is
doing is they're watching you to see,

are you actually going to show up?

Are you going to be like 98 percent
of the other YouTube creators who

burn out at month four and a half.

Or even eight.

You push through, you got to a year
and you crack that thousand subscribers

or whatever the minimum num number is,
or this many hours on your shorts or

this, this, this, okay, we'll monetize
you and we'll put you as a YouTube

partner and you, and then you go,
oh wow, like this is really working.

And then you get a little more views
and you get suggested, and it's

basically you're paying a YouTube tax.

Uh, in one sense, yeah, people
are watching your videos, there

are ads on all your videos, but
you don't get paid for those.

YouTube does.

You know, like, meaning, or YouTube
doesn't have to pay you out.

So in a sense, you are
paying a YouTube tax.

You're creating content.

For revenue, you know, in this ad, in
this ad world where you're not getting

that revenue share for a little while.

So put in the time, be
consistent, but also balance.

I know a lot of people would
be like, just use your webcam.

Everyone's got a fancy
camera in their pocket.

I say bollocks to that.

Like if your stuff looks crap, I mean,
you got to have really, really good

content in order for someone to look at
a crappy iPhone video on like reverse

and widescreen and with bad audio.

Like Make it look decent.

Like you can, you can set
it up, you can get a window.

Like it's not that hard to
make your setup look good.

You don't have to spend like a mortgage
payment, getting that set up, but make it

look good, make it sound good and show up.

Like if it's every two weeks,
do it, do it for a year.

Um, being consistent, that's a huge thing.

Uh, also like, pick a, pick a
niche and be like specific to that.

Um, cause if you're here and there
and everywhere on your channel, you're

just gonna extend the time it takes
for you to find your voice and for the

algorithm to find your audience cause.

Who is it for?

Nobody knows.

The algorithm doesn't know.

That's for sure.

Pick your audience.

And if you just want to be really
specific and your channel is a stupid

specific, like the people who create
content for notion only, or in my

case, you know, like it's really hyper
focused on editor X and using that to

amplify your, your creative business
focus on, you know, and that niche, like

it's really important and it helps you
come up with better content ideas too.

And that would be kind of like
my, it's like really unglamorous.

There's no secret hacks, you know?

And I've, believe me, I've
tried some of the secret hacks.

None of them are real.

Kevin C. Whelan: Yeah.

I, a hundred percent.

The only, the only shortcut is the
long way and it's sticking through it.

And I think a lot of people
don't realize how long it takes

for anything to get traction.

I think you pay that tax, no matter what
you're doing, any new venture anything.

Right.

And, and then you have to go
through the phase of being not

good at the skill or the craft.

So it's good that you have
a good quality microphone.

You need audio, you need decent
lighting and a decent camera with all

of which, like, if you go to Kevin
dot me slash AV, you can see my setup.

Uh, you should check out.

Brad, do you have a similar resource?

Cause I feel like you've got this

Brad Hussey: do.

I have a kit like kit.

com or kit.

co slash Brad Hussey.

I'll give you a link afterwards.

Same idea, but I'm pretty sure, well,
I'm looking at your stuff here and

it's exactly what it should look like

Kevin C. Whelan: Okay.

Oh, I'm a little self conscious talking
to you because of how good your setup is.

And, uh, but like, you know, I think this
is something you just accumulate over

time and I think you, you don't, like
you said, originally don't overthink it.

Get, get the content going, get the taps
rolling and get the good water come out.

Um, it'll naturally, you
know, build in the reps.

It's like anything you've ever done in
the past, I mean, willing to start, okay.

And have your taste be
higher than your skills and.

Brad Hussey: Yeah, exactly.

And, and really just hit
the hit publish like cliche.

Yeah, that's, that's true.

My first video on the channel, like
I sweat over it too much, but I still

hit publish and it wasn't that good,
but man, I can put together a video

now and it's like 10 times better.

And I don't even have to think about it.

And it's great.

You really just have to do it.

Kevin C. Whelan: Do you

Brad Hussey: in the reps.

Kevin C. Whelan: do you
outsource your editing now?

Are you still doing all that yourself?

Brad Hussey: From the beginning of this
channel, I've outsourced the editing.

Um, it's been great.

It's been probably the best thing.

If you can afford to do that, for sure.

Or get a freelancer to do it.

But I understand that I
had a unique situation.

Um, where I've had help from a brand.

But, it's like, uh, oh, it's so good.

Not having to edit your
own videos all the time.

And I've

Kevin C. Whelan: Well, it's
a, it's a skill, right?

And like, you can do things poorly or
you can delegate that and just offset

one of your retainers or your client
projects and just lump it in and say,

this is an investment in the future
and create a little budget for that.

And, um, Yeah.

Um, that's great to know as well that
you didn't, cause I think people,

they're just, they burn themselves
out trying to do everything, be

everything, you know, and there's certain
things you just better delegating.

You know, if you're not a web developer,
just delegate the web development.

If you're not a designer, just
delegate it, have a budget for it.

Treat it like a business, you know, and
don't try to do everything yourself.

Brad Hussey: Your time has value.

And if you're doing it all yourself,
you're still paying for it.

And the most valuable asset
that you'll never get back.

So like frigging pay 200 bucks
a month for the thing, like

Kevin C. Whelan: Yeah.

Do you have any resources or
recommendations on video editing, or

is it just kind of check out Upwork?

Brad Hussey: for sure.

Um, what I use, who I use as be creatives.

So be creatives.

co they're an unlimited
video subscription agency.

Um, and, uh, they got a
couple of packages there.

Uh, but there's also, uh, video husky.

com, which is another one I've considered.

And, um, there's more and more freelancers
and service providers realizing that the

subscription productized model is the way.

And we talk about that
in the community a lot.

Um, and so like.

And if you can get a freelancer
who does video editing as a

subscription for, you know, 500 bucks
a month, thousand bucks a month.

I don't know.

Like, and they have a certain capacity.

Like that's, so it's worthwhile for sure.

Kevin C. Whelan: Yeah.

Okay.

Well, we're getting close on time and
to know that there are some hard stops

coming up, uh, shortly, um, last kind of,

Brad Hussey: let's say
like five to six minutes

Kevin C. Whelan: okay, cool.

So, um, a couple of
quick questions actually.

Yeah.

One question for you.

So you've kind of positioned the
community, it's the creative X, right?

Is the name of the community.

Um, you've positioned it like your
domain is creative X dot show.

And so you're sort of positioning it as a
show, which is your YouTube sort of, and

then it kind of backs into the community.

Why'd you do that?

As opposed to calling it
creative X community with a show.

Brad Hussey: Yeah.

Yeah.

So, uh, funny ask, we're
actually going through a bit of

a rebrand right now, actually.

So maybe by the time this comes out,
it'll be even closer to, uh, but

we're rebranding to the creative crew.

And so, um, the YouTube channel
is still, you know, creative X

and we'll probably find a way to.

You know, maybe it'll just stay creative.

I'm not sure about that yet.

Still working on that.

But the community is
the, the creative crew.

And so we have a new domain for that too.

And so that's going to change a bit.

So we'll have all the forwards and
stuff if someone's going to an old link.

Um, but, uh, initially it was just,
that was the domain I could get.

Kevin C. Whelan: Yeah.

Brad Hussey: some obscure domain.

Kevin C. Whelan: And I guess the
show was the front end and how you

were advertising and YouTube was the
main tropical funnel driver for that

was originally the concept, I guess,
and that backed into the community.

Yeah.

Brad Hussey: It was, there was like
the 90 percent focus was the content

and the videos on the channel.

And then now it's been more like,
okay, this is a nice asset to bring

more people in and to create content.

But the community is the main focus now.

Kevin C. Whelan: Yeah.

Interesting.

Great.

And it's a great community.

Anyone listening to this,
definitely go check it out.

I'll put the link in the show notes
and then I'll update it when you

have the new branding as well.

Um, one last question for you before
you go, is there a book that you've

read a business book that has changed
the trajectory of your career and

or your thinking that comes to mind?

It could be the first thing comes to mind.

I didn't

Brad Hussey: Yeah.

I got

Kevin C. Whelan: question,

Brad Hussey: the first
thing that comes to mind.

I have two recommendations.

Um, little dated, but almost
timeless and cliche, but so good.

Uh, the four hour work week.

When I read that and the 100
startup by Chris Gillibeau.

So I'm going to have three

Kevin C. Whelan: good books,

Brad Hussey: both good books.

When I read those, this was like 12
years ago, 13 years ago, I was like, wow.

Um, this is, this is what I'm looking for.

And it wasn't some like sit on
the beach with like a margarita

and like wasting my days away.

It was like, no, no, no, no.

Like I want to provide for my family
and do good work and have fun doing it.

But like.

I want, I want that sort
of freedom and control.

And so that changed my
thinking paradigm shift.

Those two books.

Um, and then the one I've been really
enjoying lately is, um, uh, the,

the book, uh, by it's not by Naval
Ravikant, but it's using his words, the

almanac, they all, yeah, the almanac by.

Uh, forget his name right now, the
author, I usually have it on hand,

um, but I've been, I split through it.

Just little ideas, little bits.

I go, ah, it's really good.

It's very validating and
kind of opens your thinking.

Kevin C. Whelan: right.

I love that.

And we'll leave it there.

You know, and that I know ties into
like wealth creation and asset, you

know, building assets, which is,
which is really the, at the heart of.

Creating more profit and leverable
profitable and leveraged business

is turning your expertise into
assets that live outside of you.

Share them with the world.

Um, Brad, this has been a really
informal, informative discussion.

I wish we could go another
two or three hours and make

it a Joe Rogan style podcast.

Brad Hussey: I know.

Kevin C. Whelan: definitely
have to pull you back in.

Cause I have too many
rabbit holes not to go down,

Brad Hussey: I'd love to.

Let's do a part two for sure.

Kevin C. Whelan: yeah,
this has been great.

I really appreciate it, Brad.

And, uh, yeah, all the notes will be in
the show notes and, uh, just to sign off,

where can people go to, to find more to
follow along with what you're working on.

Brad Hussey: Cool.

Uh, yeah.

So go to creative x.

show and that's the community, but you
also get on my list, my newsletter.

It's kind of like my go to.

You can also go to brad hussey.

ca, which is my personal site where I
kind of loops into the same newsletter.

It all goes to the same place.

Kevin C. Whelan: Great Brad,
really appreciate it and I look

forward to the next conversation.

Brad Hussey: Thanks so much, Kevin.

Thank

So that was it.

My friend.

Thank you so much for
staying with us to the end.

If you want to learn more about Brad,
you can go to bradhussey.ca or check

out the creative crew crew community.

Try saying that fast creative crew
community at creativecrewcommunity.com.

He's got a really interesting.

Uh, community there on
circle that we talked about

throughout this podcast episode.

And as always, if you want to get more
involved, you can head over to kevin.me.

And on that website, you'll find
information about, how to build a more

profitable and leveraged marketing
practice as well as mind share.

It's our membership community
for marketing consultants.

Really designed there to help
you build a more leveraged and

profitable marketing practice.

And I think you'll love all the
content and resources that we have

available over on that website.

Go check it out.

It's at Kevin dummy and the membership
details are out how to sell advice.com.

And I'll leave you there for now.

My friends.

As always, if you liked this
podcast, please share with a friend.

It goes a long, long way,
and I really appreciate it.

Alright, bye for now