861 The Power of Keeping It Real

MAKE YOUR OWN RULES. If you want to become a social media star, you have to find your voice and carve out your niche. It’s important to be flexible and open to change- as long as you stay authentic. Staying flexible with your vision could keep you from being pigeon-holed in your industry. Staying YOU will keep your followers interested. If you stay consistent, keep creating, and have fun, you will find your core audience. For this Five Minute Friday, I revisit a conversation I had with Justine Ezarik, where she shared her creative process and the philosophy behind her social media empire. Justine is a social media powerhouse. When she isn’t busy being a YouTube personality, she’s busy being a producer, writer, and author. Justine made her mark in the industry creating videos about tech, travel, and gaming. Her loyal following includes over 6 million subscribers on YouTube and almost two million followers on Instagram and Twitter. Justine says that you need to be creative and unlimited when it comes to life and business. Learn how to be successful on your terms in Episode 861. In This Episode You Will Learn: How to have fun and create content without stressing goals (22:30) The importance of not being pigeon-holed in your industry (23:15) Building your brand on authenticity (26:33) How to make decisions based on the opportunities that come to you (26:50) If you enjoyed this episode, check out the video show notes and more at http://lewishowes.com/861 and follow at instagram.com/lewishowes Get more from Lewis! Get my New York Times Bestselling book, Make Money Easy! Get The Greatness Mindset audiobook on SpotifyText Lewis AIYouTubeInstagramWebsiteTiktokFacebookX

Speaker names marked ? are inferred from speaking time and the show’s known hosts — they are not voice-verified.

• 0:00Lewis Howes?

  This is Five Minute Friday.

• 0:10Lewis Howes?

  This is a very special episode. We've got Justine Ezarik. I always forget how to pronounce her last name because she never says it. It's just I Justine for the interwebs. And for those that don't know who I Justine is, you've probably never been on social media. She's a producer, actress, host, technology expert, and one of the most subscribed to personalities on YouTube. That's right. She has been nominated for two Teen Choice Awards and four Streamy Awards and is the winner of the People's Voice Webby Award for Best Web Personality Host. She has been named one of the Hollywood Reporter's 50 Most Powerful Digital Players, was called the Most Influential Person Online by Fast Company, and ranked number six on the Daily Beast 2012 Digital Power Index.

• 0:55Lewis Howes?

  She is a powerhouse. And what I love about Justine is her authenticity. She is unapologetic in her expression and who she is. And she allows herself the permission to be goofy and silly and fun and creative and whatever she wants to be in the moment. And she has built up an incredibly large audience in the process.

• 1:23Lewis Howes?

  How many subscribers do you have over all your channels on YouTube right now? Do you know?

• 1:26Speaker 01

  It's over 3 million because I really only count like the top three.

• 1:29Lewis Howes?

  Okay, top three.

• 1:30Speaker 01

  Again, this is one of these things where I don't ever look.

• 1:32Lewis Howes?

  Really?

• 1:32Speaker 01

  I don't because I don't want to know. No.

• 1:34Lewis Howes?

  Why not?

• 1:35Speaker 01

  It's like as long as, because then it takes the fun away for it for me.

• 1:37Lewis Howes?

  Really?

• 1:38Speaker 01

  I want to have fun. I want to create content. As long as I know people are watching it and enjoying it and coming out to meetups, like that for me is enough. And so many of my friends, I see them so obsessed with numbers.

• 1:48Lewis Howes?

  Stats.

• 1:48Speaker 01

  I'm like, I can't hang out with you because I don't, I don't want to hear how you. Kind of deal with this world.

• 1:55Lewis Howes?

  Right.

• 1:55Speaker 01

  I mean, I think I'm very different in that sense.

• 1:57Lewis Howes?

  So what's your vision then for your growth strategy for or just for your strategy in general for what you're creating? Just to have fun or do you have a vision of like, I want to hit 10 million subscribers or I want to make this much a year? Or do you not even think about that?

• 2:08Speaker 01

  I don't really.

• 2:09Lewis Howes?

  As long as you make enough money that comes in, you're happy, you're not like focused on a big dream or big goal with that.

• 2:15Speaker 01

  No, and the weird thing for me is like setting goals is I always set these goals. I'm like, I'm bored. I don't want to do that anymore. And I find something else that's even cooler than that. And I've talked to a lot of people who have set these goals that they will do nothing until they achieve that. And they're so pigeonholed in getting to that goal, that there's other things that you could have been doing that are so much better than that.

• 2:34Lewis Howes?

  So what are the things you want to be doing? And what's the, what's the dream for you then?

• 2:38Speaker 01

  Wow. I don't, that's, I don't know. I mean, I have so many things, like every day there's something else I want to do. And it's like, if I don't want to do that the next day, then I change.

• 2:45Lewis Howes?

  You don't do it.

• 2:46Speaker 01

  Yeah. So, I mean, I know I'm going to be working on a movie, which is really fun.

• 2:50Lewis Howes?

  Really?

• 2:50Speaker 01

  Yeah. And I think another reason I started writing the book too, is because I wanted to pitch sort of a web series idea based around my life. But nobody could really grasp their head around the crazy things that have happened. So it's like, I'm just going to put it in a book and then we'll talk.

• 3:03Lewis Howes?

  I feel like it could be, you could be a reality show on MTV or VH1 or any of these networks.

• 3:08Speaker 01

  The problem with reality shows is they're not real.

• 3:10Lewis Howes?

  Of course, I've done one.

• 3:11Speaker 01

  Even filming sort of my own stuff, like something funny will happen. I'm like, oh man, I'm like, my sister, her name's Jenna. I was like, you have to do it again. Because that was so funny.

• 3:19Lewis Howes?

  So it's a reality show in itself.

• 3:21Speaker 01

  It is, but at least like, these are things that have actually happened. And a lot of times we just will film something and just leave the camera rolling because we know something funny will happen.

• 3:28Lewis Howes?

  Wow.

• 3:28Speaker 01

  And I mean, for me, like, that's actually real. And I think there's a fine line between what is real and what's not real for a lot of YouTube vlogging type people. And the internet can see through it. I mean, they're so perceptive and they're so used to seeing people that they know and trust. And if you deceive them, you are gone. I mean, that is one of my biggest goals is to never upset my core audience. And any brands that I work with, it's something that I love. It's something that I would have probably talked about anyway. And thankfully I'm actually able to get a sponsorship for it. So I can survive.

• 3:57Lewis Howes?

  Right. So being authentic and being you is the most important thing. So what do you, how do you make your decisions based on the opportunities that come in? The brand opportunities, because I'm sure you get a lot of companies that say, you know, can you put this on your YouTube channel or promote this? What, how do you know, uh, what's your gauge of saying yes or no? Or, you know, if it's going to resonate for you and your audience?

• 4:17Speaker 01

  I mean, it's just something if I can, you know, integrate it organically, like the Steak and Shake thing, like they sent me to Indy 500. I knew nothing about racing, had no interest in it, but I was like, I love Steak and Shake. And now I'm a huge IndyCar fan. It was so much fun. So it's like, I mean, I like to agree to these random projects, even if I think it might be something that I might not be into.

• 4:35Lewis Howes?

  Sure.

• 4:36Speaker 01

  Because it's fun, sort of taking my audience along that ride of, I don't know what I'm doing. Watch me potentially maybe fail. So it's fun.

• 4:43Lewis Howes?

  And do you get all these opportunities yourself? Or do you have an agent now that represents you and tells you what to take or brings you deals?

• 4:49Speaker 01

  I mean, I do. I do have an agent, I have a manager and like a whole squad of people, which is amazing, but it's still like, the deals will still come to my inbox.

• 4:56Lewis Howes?

  Right, right, right.

• 4:56Speaker 01

  It's like, you emailed me, you tweeted me. And I think that's amazing, because it's like, I can still make those decisions. And again, you know, it's, it's our brand, it's us, it's people. And, you know, I'm not gonna have somebody else tell me what I should do.

• 5:08Lewis Howes?

  Sure.

• 5:09Speaker 01

  That's why I quit my job. That's why I'm here.

• 5:12Lewis Howes?

  Right, that's cool. But if you don't have a vision of like, how much you want to make, then are there just months where you're like, I don't feel like doing anything because I have enough money? Or, you know, how do you really make that decision of like?

• 5:21Speaker 01

  Well, I definitely want to make more each year.

• 5:23Lewis Howes?

  Okay.

• 5:23Speaker 01

  So that's, that's nice.

• 5:24Lewis Howes?

  Well, you say that, so I wasn't sure.

• 5:25Speaker 01

  Okay, yeah. Um, but there are times where I'm like, I don't want to film anything. And it is that, that authentic sort of, I guess vibe, because if I don't feel like filming, it's gonna be very obvious. So like, even I was supposed to film some stuff this weekend. I'm like, I have to push this video because I don't feel like it.

• 5:42Lewis Howes?

  You're not in the mood, you're not ready, yeah.

• 5:43Speaker 01

  And it's, you know, it is, it's stressful. I mean, a lot of people don't understand that. It is emotional. And, I mean, there is that impact where it's like, I'm so exhausted. I physically cannot bring myself to even turn the camera on.

• 5:54Lewis Howes?

  Gotcha. Well, I appreciate you coming here to do this.

• 5:56Speaker 01

  Yeah, no, it's great. No, I'm good. I slept all weekend. I'm feeling wonderful.

• 6:06Speaker 02

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