GRIM: A Unique Spin on Something Old = Success

[MTF]

There's sometimes some motivational fluff and generic advice in this channel but F*ck their production is top notch and I absolutely love their unique spin on the genre:

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4aCmUvWE1-o

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g3t-nY89wY4

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TLRmLC2LFT8


They hired an actor to pretend he's an ex-Russian gangster. The actor is F*cking awesome and I love watching their videos just for his fake Russian accent and mannerisms.

 

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[Antifragile]

There's sometimes some motivational fluff and generic advice in this channel but F*ck their production is top notch and I absolutely love their unique spin on the genre:

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4aCmUvWE1-o

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g3t-nY89wY4

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TLRmLC2LFT8


They hired an actor to pretend he's an ex-Russian gangster. The actor is F*cking awesome and I love watching their videos just for his fake Russian accent and mannerisms.

Absolutely brilliant.

Any creator or marketer on this forum should study the F*ck out of this channel and all their tactics.

Example: on YT
"They try to cut us off from you. Connect to us here, secure, always free. Be honorable. https://www.grimletter.com/"

Then on Twitter their tagline is brilliant too:
"Imagine John Wick´s father but weirdly motivational."

It's just a 10/10 - in a world where creatives can barely make a living... these guys are killing it.

 

[Black_Dragon43]

Absolutely brilliant.

Any creator or marketer on this forum should study the F*ck out of this channel and all their tactics.

Example: on YT
"They try to cut us off from you. Connect to us here, secure, always free. Be honorable. https://www.grimletter.com/"

Then on Twitter their tagline is brilliant too:
"Imagine John Wick´s father but weirdly motivational."

It's just a 10/10 - in a world where creatives can barely make a living... these guys are killing it.

My lads, this is a channel for brokies! Why are you two sharing wantrepreneur brokie propaganda?

Who has the time to ogle to videos about “disappear to get rich” or “stay in the shadows”. That’s just feeding you what your lizard brain really wants: travel on lil money + safety. Ofc a brokie wants to be anonymous. F*ck, I talk to these people every day, they’re like “uhh I don’t want to use my personal profile, I don’t want people to see my face” and I’m like “F*ck it, then stay broke!” Personally I want my face plastered everywhere if possible, like Mao Zedong! I’d even put my face on urinals — it’s better that people pee on you than being anonymous!

In my eyes everything that is entertaining is for brokies. Real education isn’t entertaining, and has (relatively) few admirers and pursuers.

There is a big current on YouTube from gurus like Ali Abdaal, Hamza, Andrew Tate — these guys just sell you lifestyle, muscles, freedom and entertainment… not actually helping you break out of your chains, but instead giving you a drug that makes you think you’re being productive while you’re actually plugged into the Matrix consuming crap.

 

[Antifragile]

My lads, this is a channel for brokies! Why are you two sharing wantrepreneur brokie propaganda?

Who has the time to ogle to videos about “disappear to get rich” or “stay in the shadows”. That’s just feeding you what your lizard brain really wants: travel on lil money + safety. Ofc a brokie wants to be anonymous. F*ck, I talk to these people every day, they’re like “uhh I don’t want to use my personal profile, I don’t want people to see my face” and I’m like “F*ck it, then stay broke!” Personally I want my face plastered everywhere if possible, like Mao Zedong!

In my eyes everything that is entertaining is for brokies. Real education isn’t entertaining, and has (relatively) few admirers and pursuers.

There is a big current on YouTube from gurus like Ali Abdaal, Hamza, Andrew Tate — these guys just sell you lifestyle, muscles, freedom and entertainment… not actually helping you break out of your chains, but instead giving you a drug that makes you think you’re being productive while you’re actually plugged into the Matrix consuming crap.

You missed the point by both @MTF and me.

It's NOT about their message! It's about being successful in a creator economy against the odds. The odds are bad, really bad.

In 2022, 9 million musicians on Spotify - less than 0.2% of them made $50,000.

Take rates by the giants like Meta are 99%, Youtube is the most generous of all and still takes what? 55%?

These guys created a brilliant marketing play:

• Production 10/10
• John Wick inspiration - hell yeah. Who wouldn't want to be a John Wick?
• Practical newsletter, membership not to be "cancelled" by the giants? Check!

You tell me what they are doing poorly, critique their style. I am not surprised their YT channel has over 1 million subscribers. They know how to market.


Now as far as the message goes. We can debate this back and forth too. But the richer you get, the more you wish you were invisible. Some of our businesses don't let us be invisible, then lean into that public persona... but the point stands, with wealth, we don't need to flex anymore. And those who flex the most often have the least.

 

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[Black_Dragon43]

You tell me what they are doing poorly, critique their style. I am not surprised their YT channel has over 1 million subscribers. They know how to market.

No issue with their marketing, it’s good, at targeting and converting brokies. Is that what you or MTF want to do? Because if it’s not, it’s unlikely that those strategies would be very effective for you.

In my case I work B2B — these consumer marketing strategies don’t really work on rational business people.

Now as far as the message goes. We can debate this back and forth too. But the richer you get, the more you wish you were invisible. Some of our businesses don't let us be invisible, then lean into that public persona... but the point stands, with wealth, we don't need to flex anymore. And those who flex the most often have the least.

So you want to be famous for wealth acquisition, but not famous for wealth maintenance (once it has already been acquired)? That is the paradox isn’t it… Elon Musk can’t go alone on the street or at the Mall, and yet he’s the richest man in the world. I’m sure many of these guys would give a ton of money for anonimty. But, that wealth can’t really be acquired while being anonymous. And that’s precisely the point. These brokies need to acquire that money, they can’t care about anonimty at their level. At their level, they gotta put their faces even on urinals, metaphorically speaking!

 

[Antifragile]

No issue with their marketing, it’s good, at targeting and converting brokies. Is that what you or MTF want to do? Because if it’s not, it’s unlikely that those strategies would be very effective for you.

You are throwing away baby with the bathwater.

No, it's not what I plan to do. I have zero interest in becoming a social media influencer - anonymously or otherwise. I have a business, old school business that seems to work well.

But I do like to see success and learn from it, adapt it for my own use and create new things.

Marketing is marketing.

In my case I work B2B — these consumer marketing strategies don’t really work on rational business people.

You, of all people on this forum, should be finding ways on how some of what they do CAN work for your business.

For example, you run an ad agency, right? The effectiveness of your business is directly and proportionately related to the ability of your clients to sell. The better you can demonstrate your creative and convert non-buyers into buyers, the more you can charge.

Ergo... if you were the one behind the creation of a 1 million + followers on YT for your clients, behind an anonymous account... you could charge quite a bit. And maybe get invited to market global companies before you know it.

By you declaring that "these strategies don't work on rational business people" you are missing the most rational part - it's not about YOU, it's about giving your clients what THEY NEED.

So you want to be famous for wealth acquisition, but not famous for wealth maintenance (once it has already been acquired)? That is the paradox isn’t it… Elon Musk can’t go alone on the street or at the Mall, and yet he’s the richest man in the world. I’m sure many of these guys would give a ton of money for anonimty. But, that wealth can’t really be acquired while being anonymous. And that’s precisely the point. These brokies need to acquire that money, they can’t care about anonimty at their level. At their level, they gotta put their faces even on urinals, metaphorically speaking!

Black and white limiting thinking... I call BS on that.

I know people with 9 figure net worth that drive 10 year old cars and live a relatively anonymous life.

Disassociate the wealth acquisition from fame. As this channel clearly showed you, you can have over 1 million followers without having your face on the urinals.

 

[Black_Dragon43]

For example, you run an ad agency, right?

No. I help agencies who sell to other B2B businesses build relationships with their ideal clients. Creativity isn’t as important as clarity for my work.

Why should they buy what you’re selling?

Why should they buy it from you?

Most people don’t have a F*cking clue. That’s why they’re broke (meaning not as rich as they could be, I don’t actually work with brokies making < $100K/year) and they need my help.

The weakest parts of my business are:
1) Awareness / top of funnel activity / traffic

2) Content Engine — it’s good, but hard to produce / be consistent so I need to change it up. Significantly increase quality + ease of production so it works like clockwork, like the other parts.

That’s what I’m working to fix now. Here’s the other bits of my business that are good (or, well, excellent, but I always say good so that I don’t go to sleep on them):

Audience — good

Offer — good

Social Proof — good

Sales Process — good

Lead Magnet — good

Intellectual Property — good

Positioning — good

Service — good

it's not about YOU, it's about giving your clients what THEY NEED.

I agree.

Black and white limiting thinking... I call BS on that.

We’re talking about generalities. Yes, there are exceptions. You have 1 Amancio Ortega for every 10 like Bill Gates. The higher you go in terms of wealth acquisition, the harder it is to stay anonymous.

 

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[MJ DeMarco]

I love stuff like this.

It is simply amazing what one individual can do with today's video technology.

As I said before, Some things get a lot easier, and some things get a lot harder.

Easier = Making compelling movie content.
Harder = Standing out.

BTW, this thread was extracted from Random Thoughts.

 

[Zizu]

There's sometimes some motivational fluff and generic advice in this channel but F*ck their production is top notch and I absolutely love their unique spin on the genre:

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4aCmUvWE1-o

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g3t-nY89wY4

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TLRmLC2LFT8


They hired an actor to pretend he's an ex-Russian gangster. The actor is F*cking awesome and I love watching their videos just for his fake Russian accent and mannerisms.

My dad tells me about this dude all the time and he still believes its an actual ex-Russian gangster. Funny thing is he also tells about it to other people.

On another note, my blog has reached 1000 viewers throughout March, the first month of posting. A huge milestone for me.

Edit: Never mind somehow I misread and thought this was the random chat thread. Otherwise I wouldn't mention the other thing.

 

[MJ DeMarco]

You missed the point by both @MTF and me.

That seems to be his objective today.

But MJ, if you drive a car you still can get into an accident and get paralyzed!

But MJ, if you smoke 3 packs of cigarettes a day, you still might not get lung cancer!

 

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[MTF]

It is simply amazing what one individual can do with today's video technology.

Just to clarify for those who may have misread it: Grim Hustle is run by a group of people with the actor as their spokesperson. Their videos have to be super expensive to produce considering the locations, props, lighting, etc.

In the first video I posted, they announce linking up with another channel that is run by a single, anonymous guy.

If I were to resurrect my (sold) Discomfort Club, I'd go exactly the same route as Grim Hustle. It's just way more fun and effective marketing-wise to create some fictional characters and then have them share the knowledge as this over-the-top but still believable character.

 

[Black_Dragon43]

But MJ, if you smoke 3 packs of cigarettes a day, you still might not get lung cancer!

Only if you’re female

As a male, stay away from cigarettes. Also measure the Radon gas level in your home. It’s an odorless, invisible radioactive gas and it’s actually the 2nd leading cause of lung cancer.

When I lived in the UK I was exposed to 200Bq/m3 of Radon Gas which is around 5.4 pCi/L, which means smoking 10 cigarettes a day, every day.

You wouldn’t believe how common Radon gas actually is. Esp if you have a basement or you live in a house connected to the ground or on the ground floor.

Buy a detector of Radon gas — costs like $100-$200 USD for a small device which will calculate an average over time.

As I said in the other thread, there’s so many risks in life, if you knew about all of them you’d live in constant dread.

 

[MJ DeMarco]

Just to clarify for those who may have misread it: Grim Hustle is run by a group of people with the actor as their spokesperson. Their videos have to be super expensive to produce considering the locations, props, lighting, etc.

In the first video I posted, they announce linking up with another channel that is run by a single, anonymous guy.

If I were to resurrect my (sold) Discomfort Club, I'd go exactly the same route as Grim Hustle. It's just way more fun and effective marketing-wise to create some fictional characters and then have them share the knowledge as this over-the-top but still believable character.

It certainly hits what's important to you --- you can create value and be faceless. And why would YT cancel or suspend you?

 

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[MTF]

It certainly hits what's important to you --- you can create value and be faceless. And why would YT cancel or suspend you?

It is certainly tempting.

Very tempting.

I decided to shut down the Discomfort Club because my philosophy changed and veered too far away from the typical Goggins stuff most people consider as the bible. I didn't want to praise destroying your body for ego or doing hard stuff without ever pausing to think if it makes sense (sometimes the easy way IS the correct way).

I've also experienced areas of life where pushing for discomfort produces the exact opposite (freediving) and that made me realize there's a lot of nuance to toughness and that discomfort isn't always the answer. For example, you certainly don't want to push for discomfort each time you exercise.

But recently I've spent time with people who are so weak-minded that I rediscovered how important mental toughness is for me.

It's unquestionably my core value.

I absolutely can't stomach weakness.

These recent experiences have made me realize that as much as I don't agree with Goggins anymore, I'm still very, very much a believer of mental fortitude and hardening yourself to be a useful, resilient, man.

Me and @Antifragile argued about this (and I regret this today as it was stupid). Now I see we really believe in the same thing, only I worded my newfound philosophy very poorly or it still needed some developing.

I'm taking time off from business now but this idea is very tempting. Either hiring an actor or doing high-quality faceless videos could be interesting. I'd love to write movie scripts so this could be a good alternative and a more realistic chance to be in this industry than getting a novel turned into a TV show.

 

[StrikingViper69]

Just to clarify for those who may have misread it: Grim Hustle is run by a group of people with the actor as their spokesperson. Their videos have to be super expensive to produce considering the locations, props, lighting, etc.

In the first video I posted, they announce linking up with another channel that is run by a single, anonymous guy.

If I were to resurrect my (sold) Discomfort Club, I'd go exactly the same route as Grim Hustle. It's just way more fun and effective marketing-wise to create some fictional characters and then have them share the knowledge as this over-the-top but still believable character.

A note on the expense, if you hire people yeah the cost goes up and fast. But if you have friends into this sort of thing, they might help you for free, just for the fun of it - people like working on cool projects.

 

[Panos Daras]

My lads, this is a channel for brokies! Why are you two sharing wantrepreneur brokie propaganda?

Who has the time to ogle to videos about “disappear to get rich” or “stay in the shadows”. That’s just feeding you what your lizard brain really wants: travel on lil money + safety. Ofc a brokie wants to be anonymous. F*ck, I talk to these people every day, they’re like “uhh I don’t want to use my personal profile, I don’t want people to see my face” and I’m like “F*ck it, then stay broke!” Personally I want my face plastered everywhere if possible, like Mao Zedong! I’d even put my face on urinals — it’s better that people pee on you than being anonymous!

In my eyes everything that is entertaining is for brokies. Real education isn’t entertaining, and has (relatively) few admirers and pursuers.

There is a big current on YouTube from gurus like Ali Abdaal, Hamza, Andrew Tate — these guys just sell you lifestyle, muscles, freedom and entertainment… not actually helping you break out of your chains, but instead giving you a drug that makes you think you’re being productive while you’re actually plugged into the Matrix consuming crap.

The presentation is perfect, but the message is shit.

Especially the random "God is with you" message is stupid AF.

"It's easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God (Matthew 19:24)."

Sorry, the message is always more important.

I will pass on this channel, as have many others.

At some point, I think we, as the audience/consumers, should start rewarding channels that really help us achieve something and not perpetuate mental masturbation.

The Dragon is right on the money.

 

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[Andy Black]

Study it as a producer, not a consumer.

@MTF ... Good to see you considering how you can get content created without necessarily doing it all, and how the written text can be turned into video, and audience, and a newsletter.

 

[StrikingViper69]

It is certainly tempting.

Very tempting.

I decided to shut down the Discomfort Club because my philosophy changed and veered too far away from the typical Goggins stuff most people consider as the bible. I didn't want to praise destroying your body for ego or doing hard stuff without ever pausing to think if it makes sense (sometimes the easy way IS the correct way).

I've also experienced areas of life where pushing for discomfort produces the exact opposite (freediving) and that made me realize there's a lot of nuance to toughness and that discomfort isn't always the answer. For example, you certainly don't want to push for discomfort each time you exercise.

But recently I've spent time with people who are so weak-minded that I rediscovered how important mental toughness is for me.

It's unquestionably my core value.

I absolutely can't stomach weakness.

These recent experiences have made me realize that as much as I don't agree with Goggins anymore, I'm still very, very much a believer of mental fortitude and hardening yourself to be a useful, resilient, man.

Me and @Antifragile argued about this (and I regret this today as it was stupid). Now I see we really believe in the same thing, only I worded my newfound philosophy very poorly or it still needed some developing.

I'm taking time off from business now but this idea is very tempting. Either hiring an actor or doing high-quality faceless videos could be interesting. I'd love to write movie scripts so this could be a good alternative and a more realistic chance to be in this industry than getting a novel turned into a TV show.

Have you seen the YouTube channel DUST? They do a lot of sci-fi shorts, and a lot of those get funded by charities and grants. They’re anything from a couple of minutes to 15-20 minutes. Might be an interesting way to test out creative writing for screen - maybe reach out to people and see if you can get involved?

 

[MitchC]

@Black_Dragon43

Why don’t you change your forum name to your real name and use your actual photo as a profile picture?

 

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[Oso]

Who has the time to ogle to videos about “disappear to get rich” or “stay in the shadows”.

My favorite aspect of entrepreneurship is the fact I can be financially successful without being known (depending on industry, of course. Kinda). In general, I avoid people like the plague they tend to be.

Being famous sounds F*cking awful, tbh.

“F*ck it, then stay broke!” Personally I want my face plastered everywhere if possible, like Mao Zedong! I’d even put my face on urinals — it’s better that people pee on you than being anonymous!

@Black_Dragon43

Why don’t you change your forum name to your real name and use your actual photo as a profile picture?

This.

Elon Musk can’t go alone on the street or at the Mall, and yet he’s the richest man in the world.

Keanu Reeves rides the train alone almost everyday, walks NYC alone, etc. They "can do" whatever tf they want. Whether or not it's a "good idea" is the variable.

It seems to play out well for Keanu. It didn't play out well for Lennon.

Most people don’t have a F*cking clue. That’s why they’re broke (meaning not as rich as they could be, I don’t actually work with brokies making < $100K/year) and they need my help.

In my eyes everything that is entertaining is for brokies. Real education isn’t entertaining, and has (relatively) few admirers and pursuers.

It's like you watched an Andrew Tate video this morning. What color Bugatti you got, bruv?

Cheers.

 

[MTF]

Study it as a producer, not a consumer.

@MTF ... Good to see you considering how you can get content created without necessarily doing it all, and how the written text can be turned into video, and audience, and a newsletter.

That was the entire point of this post. Not analyzing the content of every video but looking at it as a producer.

They're doing an excellent job and stand out a lot. In such saturated niches it's firstly about HOW you're saying it rather than WHAT you're saying.

There's a huge difference between saying the exact same things as a boring talking head video vs doing this movie-like quality production.

Have you seen the YouTube channel DUST? They do a lot of sci-fi shorts, and a lot of those get funded by charities and grants. They’re anything from a couple of minutes to 15-20 minutes. Might be an interesting way to test out creative writing for screen - maybe reach out to people and see if you can get involved?

I haven't. That's interesting, I'll check it out.

 

[Black_Dragon43]

@Black_Dragon43

Why don’t you change your forum name to your real name and use your actual photo as a profile picture?

Certainly not because I wish to remain anonymous. I most likely don’t change it because people already know me for this nickname + photo on the forum. It has brand equity. If I changed both, it would take some time for people to get readjusted to the new image / name. Anyway, finding out my real name isn't that hard, it's not a secret, and I certainly don't try to keep it so.

 

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[Andy Black]

There's a huge difference between saying the exact same things as a boring talking head video vs doing this movie-like quality production.

Check out James Jani's channel, and his progress thread in the forum (username @Valier).

GOLD! - HOT! - Creating a Thriving Personal Brand w/ YouTube - A Journal & A Personal Guide.

Let's get this started with a basic introduction. Hi, I'm James. 19 y/o from the UK, chose not to go university since there wasn't any subject I wanted to study that would suit my direction in life. The big goal is to be semi-retired by 30, but that's okay if I don't get there, I'm focusing on...

www.thefastlaneforum.com

 

[MitchC]

Certainly not because I wish to remain anonymous. I most likely don’t change it because people already know me for this nickname + photo on the forum. It has brand equity. If I changed both, it would take some time for people to get readjusted to the new image / name. Anyway, finding out my real name isn't that hard, it's not a secret, and I certainly don't try to keep it so.

That wasn’t what I was implying

I was just curious since you said you want to be well known or famous or whatever to get rich

I was wondering why you wouldn’t want your name and face everywhere here building that equity

But I guess the name and logo serve a similar purpose

 

[TempusFugit]

There's sometimes some motivational fluff and generic advice in this channel but F*ck their production is top notch and I absolutely love their unique spin on the genre:

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4aCmUvWE1-o

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g3t-nY89wY4

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TLRmLC2LFT8


They hired an actor to pretend he's an ex-Russian gangster. The actor is F*cking awesome and I love watching their videos just for his fake Russian accent and mannerisms.

"Never forget God...When your time comes, when you finally become successful, remember who helped you get there."

So, so real.

Deus Vult.

 

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