215. What's the formula for successful brand partnerships (f. Rob Balasabas)
Struggling with the guesswork of sponsored content partnerships? 🤝 Join us as we unravel the secrets to crafting meaningful collaborations with Rob Balasabas, a leading expert in this field. Rob shares insider insights on creating profitable and authentic partnerships between content creators and brands. Let’s dive into the art and science behind successful collaborations in this era of democratized media.
Episode transcription
Phil
Tired of guessing games with sponsored content partnerships, if that's something you're exploring.
Seeking the inside scoop on what brands are really looking for in a collaboration.
Our guest expert today is Rob Balasabas he's a great friend of mine. He's at the forefront of creating meaningful and successful content partnerships.
Today he pulls back the curtain to reveal how content creators and brands can craft partnerships that are both profitable and genuine. Without further ado, let's explore the art and science of a great partnership.
Woohoo! Okay.
Rob
I'm good. How are you?
Phil
I'm good. I'm good. Wait a second. You're my friend and there are so many things I want to talk to you about actually. I feel like it is so, we're at this really interesting time where you could be a digital marketer. You could be a consultant or a coach, but you could also Rob, you could be a plumber and you can have a part time job, with a full time salary, creating content and showing up on the internet. Isn't it such an interesting time to be in? I don't know, I feel like we're reaping the benefit of democratized media. That sounds very fancy, but like, the money that companies used to spend on billboards, that we couldn't even measure, the performance and success of, although I'm sure there were advanced ways, antiquated ways of doing that, but like, the money is being shared among the people that are good at storytelling and that know how to build community.
And I find that really exciting, and you must find that exciting too.
rob
I do, yeah. Yeah, I think all of that, you boil down the last sentence there, it's the storytelling and community. I think that's, kind of the key. I don't think even you need to have a massive audience. I mean, I know so many creators that have, obviously there's the Mr. Beasts of the world, but there's also creators with like 5,000, 7,000, you know, subs on YouTube, but looking at the backend of things and talking to them, they have like massive businesses. They have. Complete agencies, they have brand deals, they have digital products. So, yeah, like you said, it's a very interesting time, right?
I mean, especially even with AI, which I know you know very well, much better than I do. And people that are leveraging AI and man, some crazy things out there. So, yeah, it's a really interesting time to be like, you can still kind of do like the plumber example. You can still be a plumber, but then also maybe not work as long because you're also sharing your expertise online and helping other people in this more sort of scalable way, where you're not putting in 40 hours a week to get 40 hours worth of salary. You're maybe putting a small number, a much less number of hours for maybe even more than your salary as a plumber. But then you can still be a, you still can practice your craft and your trade because you truly love it, but not be forced to just trade time for money. Forever.
phil
I love that. You also have a front row seat into this world, which is going to make this conversation really exciting. I've known about you, I think longer than you've known about me. I remember you as like a, you know, someone that we had a lot of mutual connections while you were at TubeBuddy.
And we, we had adjacent circles, but they hadn't circled the circles, hadn't a circled until I think it was Adobe Max. And then we became friends and then we worked together and I have to just sing the praises of Uscreen for a moment, which is your current employer. I'm sure it will be your employer for a while because you're doing a great job for them, but Uscreen, a platform that I'm using and currently building a membership on. Had to write a book first. The book had to come first for the membership. So it's that little thing. Yeah. You got to get that done. So it's next on the list, but like, I can count on one hand the number of brands that I've worked with as a content creator that turned me into an ambassador or an evangelist or a super fan, whatever you want to call it.
I can count on one hand and I've worked with 86 brands in four years. Who's counting? Me. 86 brands. And I can count on one hand, the number of brands that have turned me into a raving fan of their platforms.
Obviously Adobe is one of them. And obviously Uscreen is one of them. I went from talking about the brand because I was hired to talk about it to going, Wow, this could be a really and will be a very powerful vertical in my business. So there's some feedback for you.
rob
That's so nice, Phil, that's so nice. No, you know what, I would argue I knew about you as well, probably around the same time, maybe before. I mean, you've been doing amazing things on YouTube.
phil
I got a lot of gray hair.
Rob
My job is to kind of, you know, look for those amazing creators out there. And yeah, you were definitely on my radar. And yeah, it was funny why it took so long for us to actually connect. But thanks to Emily and the whole crew at Adobe Max and Adobe Express for making the connection. Yeah, no, that's, that's a huge compliment, Phil.
We do try to be, you know, in terms of partnerships, there's so many brands that are doing partnerships, you know, we're not the only one obviously in the game, but we want to kind of create more of a relational partnership program rather than this transactional partnership program that is so widespread nowadays, you know, sort of this like exchange of like, Hey, here's some affiliate money or here's some sponsorship money and send us the link to the video when you're done and thank you.
phil
Yeah, a lot of them are like that.
rob
Yeah. Yeah. We'd rather go deep rather than wide, you know, which is very cliche, but it really is true. It's a much easier, more enjoyable way to build a partnership program. And I feel like you're kind of part of the team. Like you really know sort of our pain points and what our goals are and who our ideal customer profile are.
And you really like, not just take direction, but also add value of, hey, here's some feedback. Here's some things you guys should do. And, you know, so.
phil
I try to go deep as well. That's why we get along. I would rather have quality over quantity. I mean, mama's got to pay the bills. So, you know, occasionally I'll take on a tool that I don't know that well.
And the truth is by making one video for a brand one and done, I'm only going to learn the tool so far. Because it's not a tool I'm using. I might make a video for a tool, fall in love with the tool, and then start using it. But brands like, so it's two ways. I mean, the reason I can make a great video is because I've had more than one chance to make a video.
And every video I make, the platform I learn better. And yes, I want lots of people to watch it on YouTube. It doesn't always happen if it's more of a niche topic, but what's just as powerful as me saying to someone yesterday, actually 15 minutes ago, recording another podcast episode, someone wanting to launch a membership.
I say in conversation, you need to check out Uscreen. Talking to my friend LaShonda Brown, who is also now a huge fan of Uscreen. Like, clients of mine, Simon T. Bailey is one of my longest clients and has his membership on Uscreen. Like, when you pop up in conversation, that's how you know you're doing something right.
That's more powerful, I would argue, than any kind of plug or great, tutorial video that's and that's just showing that's proof of the good work I think.
Rob
That makes my day. I think it's very like one of those lines, right? There's like a saying or a tweet out there that's like your brand is what people say when you're not around.
I mean, that's just yes, that's beautiful to hear so, thank you so much.
Phil
Yes, but you have to focus on the things that you can control and I'm always upfront about that I can't control if a video goes viral I can't control that millions of people are going to watch a specific angle on a marketing topic. I can't control that, so I don't put a lot of energy into that. Of course, I want to optimize the video and I want to do what I can within my control. But I focus on what I can control and I can control making a damn good explainer video that's produced high quality, that's 4k, that's delivered with enthusiasm.
Those are things I can control. So that's what I focus on. And I think to myself, and this is advice for anyone listening, that's thinking, oh, I'm an interior designer. Oh, I'm a personal trainer. Oh, I'm a landscape architect. I wonder if I could do content on the side. You can. And having people like Rob in your circle and the support of platforms like Uscreen, I mean, it's incredible. I think you have to focus on the things you can control, right? And you have such an interesting vantage point as someone who is a content creator yourself, has been working with content creators for years, and hires content creators like me. You hired me. So I don't think there's anyone bad that led us to this conversation today.
It took me 10 minutes to get there, but like you have such an interesting vantage point. Maybe just like, that's not even a question, but you know, as someone who has a window into all of those worlds, what are the things you look for? The things that you take note of?
Rob
Yeah, that's a good question. It is a really interesting vantage point to be a creator and have a YouTube channel.
By the way, I just realized you, you, I think have doubled your channel over the last. Year, correct? almost exactly double. Congratulations.
phil
Chugging along.
rob
I got more than that. No, that's great. I do have this interesting vantage point. I do have brands approaching me as well because I have a personal YouTube channel and a podcast.
And it's really kind of cool to see what other brands are doing that way, you know, and kind of seeing what brands are offering and how they're approaching this game. And yeah, it's really interesting. And then, yeah, on the Uscreen side, when I put my, uh, Head of Creator Partnerships hat on at Uscreen, I kind of take all of those things that are really good best practices that I really appreciated and like kind of apply it to what we're doing.
And of course we have our own thoughts and the way we approach things, but It's great. It's a really cool, fun role that I'm in where I get to, you know, essentially create a partnership program that I would really like to be a part of as a creator. And so, yeah, make the, you know, it's like, be the friend you want to have, you know, and so, yeah, that's just kind of where, where we sit now and, you know, trying to always tweak the little things and again, the relational versus transactional things.
Paying creators fairly and all of those things, you know, and having follow ups and just, you know, when we go to events, how can we support you and not just in like the things that are just Uscreen, but like, how can we support you and be a fan of you and you know, how can we add value to their business, even if it's not about Uscreen, like if this is not, has nothing to do. Last week I went to Brandon Washington, who is one of our partners, one of our creators that uses Uscreen.
But his first event in Houston, in person event for his community and, uh, flew down for a couple of days, literally 36 hours in Houston. And you just want it to represent and just support them and be there physically. And, you know, obviously we sponsored it. We can like put money into it, but I think that's sort of the bare minimum almost. It's like, what really counts is like. You know, your presence there as a brand, you know, you can always kind of do those things, you know, without getting too deep. It's like, you can always kind of throw money at causes, but then until you kind of put your time and your action into it, it's kind of like, that means way more.
phil
From the brand standpoint, I love that, what makes a good content creator? Like, you know, when you reflect on wins or even hiring people again, what are the things that you look for?
rob
I look for someone that has the same values as us, very similar values in terms of how they approach their business, how connected they are with their audience. Loyalty means a lot and that kind of, it's kind of hard to measure, right? But when you see the comments, are people really tuned in? You know, if they get, I mean, vanity metrics aside, but like if they get 10, 000 views, but they get like three comments, that's probably not a creator, like what's going on there, but even if they have like a small number of views, you know, if they had 500 views, but they had like 50 comments asking questions, you know, and all these things, and like, there's a real connection that seems to be there, that's somebody that gets their attention.
So somebody that's really connected to their audience, somebody that's genuine, you know, they don't have to say, like, every tool that they use, every tool that they review is amazing and groundbreaking and earth shattering. It's like, are these honest? Because I think your integrity as a creator is like your currency, right?
That's your currency with your audience. And the moment that they feel like you are like somebody that can just be hired to say anything, then they lose trust. It's really hard to kind of win back. So love those. And then, you know, people like you that are just like, that are also here to kind of go deep rather than like, all right, cool.
You guys are not going to sponsor me, let me know when you guys want to sponsor me again. It's kind of like this very transactional thing. So those are probably the three or four traits that we look for. And then of course, you know, once we get connected with them, do we have sort of this, like, intangible sort of vibe feeling with them that like, okay, this is a great person to work with.
phil
So those are, those are great though. Those are great. Not only did you list them, but you explained them really well. It's a good reminder for people that might be like worried, you know, that, Oh, I can't get the views or I can't guarantee the views. Again, focus on the things you can control. You can control having good values and being genuine and investing time and energy into relationships.
YouTube is a tough platform because you're balancing all of those things. Yes, you're paid to recommend a platform because you obviously want to represent the platform while you want to keep the client happy, but you also want to keep your audience happy. You also want to keep people watching a video, which leads me to my next question.
It's. I'm so interested by the different ways that people make money on YouTube. I have friends that do, uh, fewer brand deals than I do and make more on ad revenue because people watch the videos longer. For me, my YouTube channel is actually more of an advertising platform in terms of I'm really focused on SEO. I'm really focused on coming up as a recommendation for something that people are looking for, and creating really high quality explainer video for that brand. And so for me, ad revenue is not very high because the goal is not always to watch the video in its entirety.
I don't think people want to watch a video, like, the only time you watch a video, an explainer video in its entirety is if like, you don't know how to do something, you're trying to follow it step by step.
Right. But I measure a win by someone watching 30 seconds to a minute of a video and going, I want to try this tool, I want to try this Uscreen. You know, it's so different, right? That we're all working the same medium, but the ways that we monetize are different.
rob
I want to just say first that this whole thing with creators and brand deals and like, my channel is not big enough.
I don't get enough views. It really does depend on the brand you're working with. So for us, and just, this is kind of just being transparent between me and you, Phil, and all of your listeners. You know, Uscreen, you would probably consider more of a premium tool. It's not like, and my friends at TubeBuddy know this. TubeBuddy, for example.
phil
Which I use, religiously.
rob
You use, love TubeBuddy. But you can use TubeBuddy at like, I think starting at let's say 5 a month, right? Yes. If you have less than, you know, a thousand subscribers. And so 5 a month. Uscreen kind of starts around 200 a month and probably goes up more closer to 1,000, sometimes 2,000 or 3,000 a month.
And so we are targeting YouTubers, but two different segments of the creator economy or creator space. That said, the lifetime value of each customer Is very different. Let's say, uh, TubeBuddy is highest planned, the legend plan, I believe is still 50 a month, which is great, such great value there, but that's the top plan unless you go into enterprise.
And so that's, that's a much different segment of YouTube. That's like the NBCs and the Vox and, uh, you know, uh, CNNs of the world where they have multiple channels. But for the average creator, 50 a month. For us again, Probably two, 3,000 a month, let's say at the very top end. And so the lifetime value, let's say you multiply that by however many months is very different.
And so we are able to spend more on sponsorships, even if we only get a small amount of views, as long as those views are with the right audience that is able and able to spend at that level. And they also are able to, they have all the things that we need. They have the loyalty of their community. They can be successful with, with the type of business that we're going to help them with.
So that's why, you know, we are not. afraid or sort of reluctant to work with smaller channels, quote unquote, smaller channels, right? Micro influencers, nano influencers, as long as the audience, the audience is much more important than the size of the channel, right? There's very niche channels there that are like, Hey, we talk about, you know, building online businesses.
For plumbers, right? Whatever it is, right? Yeah, that's our example today. Very specific. And then if you can kind of see that, alright, cool. They also offer high ticket coaching. They also offer these things where like, okay, cool. Like, their audience is clearly, uh, The ICP, and they have the ability, they have the budgets, they have all those things, right?
In terms of different revenue streams, there's so many, there's so many out there. Brand deals, affiliates, digital products, of course, courses, memberships, paid communities, coaching and consulting, which I think I highly advise, even if you're, as soon as you're starting out. You know, coaching and consulting, like trading your time for money.
Yes, is like sort of the no go, but I think it's still a very, very strong. I know lots of really successful creators that have memberships that are really successful and six figures per month, but they still have an aspect of coaching. Very high ticket now, you know, they can be really selective because they don't have to, but they choose to only because they want to kind of keep their finger on the pulse of like, what's the pain points? What's trending? What are the things that like, you know, last year I was helping people with this pain point in my community, but like, that can change. They understand that, right? They understand that things change. Yeah, they kind of want to keep the finger on the pulse there.
phil
It keeps you in the game. I don't think I'll ever get rid of that. I hope it decreases, in fact. I'll just come out and say it, that I, I'm gonna, when I launch my membership community this year, I hope. that my number of projects decreases and I can focus on the higher end, the quality, but then also scale access. Like I can actually have greater impact. It's not just about money.
It's about being able to impact more people.
rob
Yeah. Yeah, exactly. So you continue your coaching and consulting. I think that would let you still keep understanding, keep you in the game. I love that. So there's multiple revenue streams. There's so many, I mean, merch and all this other stuff. It really does feel though.
I think Phil, it's. It's more of trying to make sure that you are prioritizing which revenue streams to build. That could be really based on a number of factors, but probably based on your audience. There are some revenue streams that you can start right away and start seeing the fruits of it, you know, affiliates right away, coaching right away, you know, and then you kind of build from there and you kind of build one at a time, then you get into things like courses and memberships. I think, and this is just being transparent, and even though I work at Uscreen, that is more for later stage creators. I wouldn't be a creator starting today and launch a membership. It would just be really difficult, right?
Just like the truth of the world. It's just really difficult because you don't have an audience, they're not loyal to you. You may not understand all of the email marketing and online digital funnels and all this stuff. So you just kind of have to really have a plan when you become a creator, but also have a plan to make money, not just create cool content.
phil
Yeah, that's such a good point. And it has to be kind of this like happy middle ground area of like keeping a brand happy if they're paying you, keeping your audience engaged and creating content that they're going to enjoy. And obviously the third one is creating something that you're proud of. But also not being so much of a perfectionist that you wait to hit publish or you miss a week or two or three or four weeks or months posting.
I mean, when you kind of word it like that, it's like, Oh god, that sounds tough. It is tough. But every video you publish, it gets easier. And when you have the trust of brands and when you have brands that actually give you more than one opportunity to create, that to me is like, that's the ultimate as a creator is having that trust.
rob
Yeah, when did you get your first brand deal? Like, what, how many subscribers?
phil
5, 000 subscribers. Yeah, that sounds good. Yeah, sounds about right.
phil
But the truth is, I've grown my channel by leaning into what I enjoy doing. I love trying tools. Like, I love experiment, like, I love trying out different software. I love finding out what makes it interesting.
And then I love sharing that with someone that can digest it easier. You know, like, I like showing people what they're capable of doing. You know? I'm a nerd for that stuff, and that's why I've written a book, and that's why I'm, I have more, I always have a queue of brands that I'm working with. I do have to consciously make sure that it's not 100 percent sponsor content, because I still want to innovate, I still want to experiment, I still want to like, try things that will, succeed and try things that will fail because that allows me to keep innovating in some way, you know?
rob
Yeah, that's a, that's interesting that you say that, that you want to make sure it's not 100 percent sponsored. That's actually really interesting to me. I hear that all the time as well, like I don't want every video to be sponsored. At the same time, I also wonder like, what would be wrong with that?
phil
Well, the truth Rob, most of my videos are sponsored. So I'm saying that, but I don't even know if my behavior matches what I'm saying. Because I actually agree with you. I say that out loud, but at the same time, I think even if it's sponsored video, it can still have a ton of value, a ton of value. And it's my job as a creator to make sure that it's not a commercial that you're watching on TV in between the content that you're there for, but it's more seamlessly and thoughtfully integrated in the fact that it's also valuable.
That's a really good challenge.
rob
Yeah, I think that is a really good challenge. When you can make your integrations really natural, it just It's appreciate, I think viewers appreciate it. I know I do. It's like, that was a really interesting, it didn't get in the way of the video. It's not like a YouTube, um, ad or anything.
It was, it was a really well put together and it added value to me. Like that is a tool that I may actually use, you know, as long as, again, you kind of pull back, like if this is a, you know, before you say yes to the brand deal, make sure it is something useful. It's a tool or software or product that is useful to your audience.
And you can just talk about it, I think, that's my opinion, I think you can talk about it and your audience would appreciate it because it's like, yeah, Phil, thanks for, I know that was paid, you got paid on that, which is great, it's great, you got to keep the lights on, you got to do this so that you can serve us well, and that's the tool that I'm actually going to use now and it's going to make my life easier, right?
So, Yeah, as long as it's, it doesn't conflict with like your audience product fit, I think, man, every video should be sponsored. That's just my opinion.
phil
I love that. I love that you challenged me on that because it actually is closer to how, to what I actually produce. Do you have any advice for people on pricing? You get creators that quote how much it costs to create a video and you must see it at all, all ends of the gamut. Do you have advice for people that have no idea how much to charge.
rob
We've never countered. We don't count her. We don't do that's just not how. And again, we're trying to be very creator centric. We have a lot of creators here. You know, somebody says, we'd rather say, you know what, that seems like, can we do more with that? It's like, that seems like a, you know, it's just, let's say it's somebody with 500 subs and they want 10,000, let's say, right? Or like an ad read. It's like, is there anything like, you know, typically with this, you know, range, this is kind of what we expect, you know, this is sort of our, you know, lifetime value of customers, you know, we usually expect X amount of like, you know, prospects to kind of come through our funnels this way. Is there anything else that we can do together? Maybe we can kind of, you know, and so yeah, there's definitely like when it's like really strikingly sort of mismatch and misaligned in terms of fees and, you know, deliverables, but in general, most creators kind of know one time though, I did say, you know what, you are way too low, let's do this.
Yeah, it's a little too low. It's way too low. And this is just a favor, like, you know, outside of my Uscreen, you know, Creator Partnerships hat, like, you should triple your price, like, and, and we would be happy to do that. Like, we would be happy to pay that. I think that's just going to make your life better and you're going to create better content, all that stuff.
But in terms of pricing, there's lots of different formats, Phil. Like, you know, there's, you know, you calculate your CPMs and then, you know, what would that cost? Sometimes you can then also work out like, hey, here's what I call, you know, one, one brand. that reached out to me, which is really interesting, is that they said, well, here's the fee.
Here's what we would like to offer you. But if you get to it, there's a performance sort of like clause to it. If your video gets X amount of views in the first 30 days, then here's an additional bonus, which I thought was an interesting model. Have you been approached with anything?
phil
I've seen it. Yeah, I've seen it. But for me, I declined it actually, because it felt weird to have to handle so much bookkeeping after the project finished. True, that's true. So, yeah, I've got a manager and I'm sure she could handle it, but it, you know, it didn't sit right with me for the, the types of my projects. My clients need to see value in the video that we create.
The video that I create for my client is going to be so great that they should be proud to embed that on their blog or even on a, on a help article on their website. That's my goal. Even if they don't do it, I want to make a video that, that they're so proud to embed. And so I have to make sure that I charge the right amount for my time.
Luckily, prior to this, working as a brand strategist, which I still do, I don't know why I said prior to this, but that's all I did prior to creating, I have an hourly rate. And my goal is always to make sure that my creator hourly rate matches my, it's the same thing in my eyes, you know, it's the same kind of work. I definitely prefer making videos though, uh, being on calls for endless hours a day. But to me, yeah, that's how I was able to establish my pricing. You kind of look at what I know I need to make to run a business plus the expenses. I've got a manager, I've got an editor, I've got optimization.
We've got a lot of people helping out making a great end product, but yeah, that's really insightful. I love that you actually told someone to increase their prices. Cause. I would say more cases than not, people tend to go too low.
rob
People do. Yeah, but then you also get the folks that are a little bit misaligned, like I said, asking for a little bit too much from what they have to offer for now anyway.
But yeah, luckily, like, you know, sort of the way that we look at it is like, my role is kind of like this, like, talent scout, you know, like who is sort of up and coming. The established creators, we already know who they are, you know, the Phil Pallens of the world and, you know.
phil
I don't know about that. I'm doing my best.
rob
You know, so, but it's really interesting and it's kind of the fun challenge I get is who are the up and comers, who are the ones that have a thousand, 2000 subs, you know, that you just know there's something about them, you know, and I do kind of feel like that, like talent scout.
Kind of seeing out there. What's hey, hey, like my, uh, I report to our CMO Shrey like, hey Shrey, you got to like, have you seen this? It's like, I feel like that talent scout going to like the, the, the high school games, like looking for the next university NBA star sometimes.
phil
That's so cool. That shows you, you don't need to be that way, but you've basically taken your job and you've added this kind of layer of pride and motivation that I think speaks volume for the work that you're doing. I do the same. I feel the same pride and joy for what I do day to day that I will, no one's telling me I need to make a 4k well, you know, like, edited video that I'm really proud of. But the fact is, because I take pride in that, it has opened up a lot of opportunities.
rob
It does, yeah, I mean, a video that you made once with us, where you, you know, uh, online courses are dead, and you like, went through articles, like, you did your homework. You did your homework.
phil
That was fun. That was your idea, by the way. You, you planted the idea for that, and I just ran with it.
rob
You, yeah, I mean, the team was so jazzed when they saw that. I shared that on Slack and everything, and yeah, it was so well received.
phil
Also, it took me a few videos to get there. I was able to deliver that video with authority because I knew the platform well. And I should let our listener in, since you're a transparent guy and so am I. I've told Rob that I am not creating any more videos, even if you try to pay me, until I have my own Uscreen membership.
I mean that because I've only been able to go so deep. with it, and this is actually probably a good note to kind of round off on, but Uscreen as a brand. I've had calls with all of your top leadership. I think the only person I've had a call with is the founder. And I feel so supported by the team, not just as a creator or not just as someone who's going to buy your product or service or recommend it to my clients that are higher end.
Like, you've actually helped me navigate my business, you've given me spreadsheets to help calculate how much my membership should cost based on my brand, all of these ambiguous things you've helped me answer. And that's this, it's in line with this kind of trust that we are building. I'm, I know for a fact that I will look at Uscreen as a business partner in some respect, as I launch this new vertical of my business, you know?
rob
Yeah. Yeah. No, it's that it's great, Phil. Thank you so much. Yeah. I mean, you know, at the end of the day, like for us and I think any brand, if you can help your customers succeed, that's beautiful. Probably the best advertisement you're going to get, especially in our space, Phil, like everyone talks to each other, right?
You're right. Like you talk, I'm sure you have conversations each week, like multiple with other creators and other influencers and man, your membership is going to come up, right? Once that's launched. And if it's doing well, we're going to sort of be part of that conversation. If it's not doing well, we're also going to be part of the conversation.
You know, one of the things about software is that, especially in business, it's like, how was that course? Ah, it was, it was all right. And, and, and the blames will sometimes shift to the platform. You're like, well, yeah, you know what? It was, it was all right. Didn't do that well. You know, I maybe should have thought of a different platform.
And so the platform gets a little bit of the negative rather than maybe the performance or the marketing or strategic stuff. And so we try to, you know, one of the things is we want to get ahead of that. Like, that's why, you know, you, you spoke with, um, yeah, Joe, Joe Horowitz, our VP of growth. And Joe has just been so generous with his time.
He's like, Rob, throw me in. I want to talk to anybody and everybody that's that you're talking to. And, yeah, I saw the spreadsheet, I was like, wow, this is, this is a very scientific way to, uh, calculate your membership, monthly membership fee.
phil
And I would say just, um, for creators, I imagine people are listening to this episode because they're thinking either I create content now or I would, I'm, Bill's, Bill and Robert giving me permission to maybe dabble in this as a side thing, I highly recommend it. And I get excited about it because. At the time of recording this, my income is 50 percent brand, 50 percent agency stuff, and this was zero four years ago. So it's drastically changed my life and my work for the better. I studied broadcast journalism. I went to school for this. I moved out to LA when I was 22 and wanted to become a TV host stood in line at my first audition and thought, I'm not gonna pay bills by standing in this line, at least to start. But my dream of being a TV host on a shelf. I became an expert in branding and social media. 10 years later, I sit at my desk in pajamas and record YouTube videos that you pay me to make and it, I could not be happier. When I was 22, if you had told me that my ideal job would be working from home in my pajamas, being a TV host on my terms on YouTube, I would've never believed you. But here we are. Isn't that so cool? I love it.
rob
That's so good. You know, I think something, sometimes our dreams come true, but not in the exact way that. We envisioned it. It's like a, it's like it is our dream and like you kind of living it out, but it's not exactly how you had like envisioned it, you know, it's a almost a better version. I mean, it definitely sounds like you're getting everything, but even better pajamas and everything. So great genius.
phil
Where should we send people to get more of you and get more of Uscreen?
rob
Oh, Phil, thank you so much again. This is awesome. Such an honor to be here. Yeah, just head over to uscreen.tv I'm sure Phil will have a link for you guys and reach out to me. You can connect with me and my team directly. I'm on LinkedIn, so feel free to copy and paste my name. I got a really long last name, but there should only be one Rob Balasabas out there on LinkedIn and, um, yeah, and also Instagram or YouTube.
Uh, you can find us, uh, both me and Uscreen there. Listen, I'd love to just connect with either if you are looking to build a membership I'd love to connect with you and kind of just like sort of brainstorm that with you, or if you are also a creator that may be open to doing some partnership or brand deals, love to hear from you as well.
phil
Rob, you're the best. You're also one of the most, you're the nicest and like most approachable people and people shouldn't even think twice if there's just an idea, creating, even membership reach out. And like I said, you screened for me, they're like becoming quickly, like what I feel like is like a business partner in the development of my personal brand.
So thanks for hanging out with me on brand therapy. It was, dude, you know, we finally did it and I'm glad we did.
rob
I know. Finally, finally. Thank you, Phil.