The Importance of Authenticity in Digital Marketing | David Griffiths

PROFITABLE TALKS...

In this episode of the Profitable Creative, host Christian Brim interviews David Griffiths, founder of Content Creating Academy. David shares his journey from being a musician and music minister to becoming a successful content creator. He discusses the importance of understanding one's audience, building an online presence, and the challenges of transitioning to entrepreneurship. David emphasizes the need for authenticity, community, and personal growth in the content creation space, while also highlighting the significance of integrity in business. The conversation concludes with insights on finding value in content creation and the importance of nurturing a supportive community.

PROFITABLE TAKEAWAYS...

David's journey began as a songwriter and music minister.
Content creation became a way to connect with others and mentor his son.
Building an email list is crucial for long-term success.
Authenticity in content creation resonates with audiences.
It's important to unplug from social media periodically.
Content Creating Academy helps people connect through social media.
Overcoming the fear of creating content is essential.
Community and integrity are vital in entrepreneurship.
Personal growth is necessary for effective leadership.
Finding value in content creation leads to fulfillment.

Ready to turn your PASSION into PROFIT?!? Let's get CREATIVE ➡️
https://www.coregroupus.com/profit-first-for-creatives

Transcript

Christian Brim (00:01.486)
Welcome to another episode of the Profitable Creative, the only place on the interwebs where you will learn how to turn your passion into profit. I am your host, Christian Brim. Joining me today is David Griffiths of Content Creating, Creating or Creator, Creating Academy. Sorry about that, David. Before we get into it, I want to give out a shout to our one listener in Lawrence, Kansas. Never been to Lawrence, heard it's a beautiful place.

but thank you for listening. David, tell us about your journey, how you got here and content create, Academy. I'm gonna get it eventually.

David Griffiths (00:42.202)
Well, first of all, thank you for having me. I love people and I love making an impact with people. so from the early years, I guess I was content creating as a songwriter. But in recent years, having spent years as a minister of music and then teaching in the university level and

Christian Brim (00:55.299)
Yes.

Christian Brim (01:01.674)
okay.

David Griffiths (01:12.218)
elementary, high school, and then middle school level. I wanted to have an opportunity to do something that would allow me to enjoy my mother's twilight years and to mentor my son, who's now 20. And so content creation ended up being the vehicle for this departure.

Christian Brim (01:33.72)
Okay, so let me recap that real quickly. Songwriter, music minister, teacher, and then you decided to go into content creation as a business. Why did you choose that?

David Griffiths (01:51.044)
So as a musician, as an independent gospel recording artist, the thing that I, in the early years I would hear was, you need to have an email list. You need to have a fan base. So you need to create an email list. And then more recently, well, David, actually what you need is not just an email list, what you wanna have is a Facebook following. You need to have like a Facebook page. And in fact, you need to be on all the social media platforms.

Christian Brim (02:15.768)
Right.

David Griffiths (02:16.922)
So I said, okay. And for 13 years I was on YouTube and I only had a little over a hundred followers. So I was, I was, I was missing something. And today I would say what I was missing. Maybe this can be helpful for some of your listeners. As I was creating content about me, kind of like self expression.

Christian Brim (02:26.528)
Not what you'd call a success.

Yes.

David Griffiths (02:45.882)
Like, oh, you know, hey, you know, here's what I'm doing. you know, here's, here are these cool things that I'm versus me going, huh, who, who are the people that I'm trying to connect with and serve? What value do I have from what it is that's authentically me that would benefit them? Oh, okay. Let me post that on a consistent basis.

Christian Brim (02:49.752)
Right?

Christian Brim (03:00.878)
Mmm.

Christian Brim (03:06.99)
Okay.

And what, what, give me an example of what that looks like.

David Griffiths (03:13.848)
Okay, so for example, let's say that, let me use music for a second. During this, in the last several years when I've become fluent in content creation, I did a season where I was experimenting with my former Instagram account. And so I said, well, okay, based upon the principles that I've learned for creating,

attractive short form video, make sure you have a hook at the beginning in the first one to two seconds that gets people's attention, deliver the value, hopefully it's entertaining, it's educating in like a story format or teach some things and then have something as a call to action at the end. So in this format, I said, okay, well, I have a master's in vocal performance from Peabody Conservatory. I can teach people how to sing. Yeah, so I said, okay.

Christian Brim (04:07.681)
You have your chops.

David Griffiths (04:11.684)
Well, let me start creating videos like that. And when I did, they started doing well. And I said, okay. So because literally people can go, all right, David's gonna teach me how to sing better. I know if I follow his platform, that's what I'm gonna get. So if I'm interested in learning more about being a singer or how to sing better, let me follow David. And so I think there was a clear value proposition and people knew what to expect.

Christian Brim (04:17.358)
Mmm.

David Griffiths (04:38.744)
And so they started responding both in terms of the reels, the algorithm liked what I was doing, and then I started getting more followers on that particular plan.

Christian Brim (04:48.046)
So then you leverage that to create the Content Creating Academy. So what does Content Creating Academy do?

David Griffiths (05:01.444)
Well, Content Creating Academy allows me to help people to connect with the people they want to serve through social media. So I find that my sweet spot, the people who I serve most often and probably best, are people who are tech challenged and then people who are a little bit more mature, older. There we go, yeah. Because...

Christian Brim (05:17.966)
Okay.

Christian Brim (05:22.988)
Okay? People like you and I that have gray hair.

David Griffiths (05:29.666)
We didn't grow up using social media. know, like we're not fluent with it like our children would be or grandchildren if you have them,

Christian Brim (05:37.826)
Well, and frankly, I would add to that, maybe not comfortable. I, you know, I, I don't, I don't really like it. It feels a lot like self promotion, like getting out there and, and, that, I don't know, maybe it's the generation we were raised. I, that just doesn't feel good. I, you know, I, and I, I'm going to sound like an old man here, but like the, the, just don't get the whole,

you know, my kids age and and younger where like their whole life is is on social media. Like, I don't I guess I value my privacy too much. Like, I don't know, that just feels weird to me.

David Griffiths (06:22.682)
I would say that I understand both sides of the fence, which is a unique place to be, but valuable for who it is that I feel called to serve. Yeah. I recommend for those of us who choose to explore social media, I do recommend that you have seasons where you unplug because it...

Christian Brim (06:29.72)
Yeah.

Christian Brim (06:33.645)
Yeah.

Christian Brim (06:47.362)
Hmm.

David Griffiths (06:49.066)
I like being good at what I do. And so I like going all in, but, imagine I have over 1.5 million followers between my different platforms. I pray every day in the morning and most days in the evening, as well as put content of different kinds of value out during the day. So that could be all consuming and it can be stressful. Like there are things that I don't have to do now that I've already gotten some love from the algorithm.

Christian Brim (07:10.933)
Mm-hmm.

David Griffiths (07:18.862)
But I choose to keep doing them periodically so that I'm up on my game when I'm training someone else on how to grow on social media. But that can be very draining. So it's important. I even found last week, like it took me a while to just to unplug and reground and center because I had just gotten really wound up in a season of pushing really hard.

Christian Brim (07:30.989)
Right.

Christian Brim (07:48.714)
Mm-hmm. So is content creating Academy a service or is it more of like you're providing content for people can come and teach themselves or a combination of both? What?

David Griffiths (08:02.522)
It's a combination of both. This literally content creating academy would be a community where I teach people principles of what it takes to be successful using their content. And then we hold each other accountable on that journey. And because I found that...

Christian Brim (08:17.795)
Mm-hmm.

David Griffiths (08:22.446)
Here are the major problems that I see on a regular basis with the people who join Content Creating Academy. They're overwhelmed, right? So the idea of creating content, either because they're a perfectionist and they want it to be just right, or they're not comfortable being on camera, like yourself, they may be a private person and feel this is kind of intrusive.

Christian Brim (08:31.502)
Mm-hmm.

David Griffiths (08:51.438)
but feel like it's a necessary evil in the landscape today. And so for a lot of them, the problem is getting them to press record, getting them to take the actions. So part of my secret sauce is only successful when you take action. So I encourage people to do some research to figure out what's already working.

Christian Brim (08:53.613)
Right.

Christian Brim (09:14.062)
True.

David Griffiths (09:20.726)
in your particular niche or area of interest. And then to, as you're studying this, to make some general observations of your theories, right? Like, okay, well, I'm thinking this was really successful because of X, Y, and Z. And then to go check some other creators and other pieces of content to see if X, Y, and Z over here is also successful. And then do your own version. And then,

Christian Brim (09:48.002)
Right.

David Griffiths (09:50.422)
at a week, at week intervals, look at the data. Okay, what did the best this week?

Christian Brim (09:57.344)
I call that David, I call that R and D, rip off and deploy. Yeah. I find out what other people are doing. Kim works. then I, yes.

David Griffiths (10:00.175)
Mm.

Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. so by studying what then has worked as you adapt your own version of what you discovered is already working in the marketplace, then you double down on what works. Then you start doing slight variations until you come up with your own secret sauce. But you're never going to be able to come up with the secret sauce if you're not

Christian Brim (10:22.318)
Mm-hmm.

David Griffiths (10:32.0)
Deploy a piece of content every day or you know in some platforms you can have two or three pieces of content every day Like a platform like tik-tok which skews younger You can put three to five pieces of content out in a day and people don't get fatigued of your presence so in order to learn what works you have to do the reps and then analyze and then Double down on what was effected

Christian Brim (11:00.024)
Are you familiar with Dennis Yu? Dennis Yu, Blitz.

David Griffiths (11:03.384)
No, Dennis, you.

David Griffiths (11:10.7)
Is he with Mindvalley?

Christian Brim (11:12.546)
No, it's it's blitz blitz metrics. I have to look at it. But if you look up Dennis, you why you is his last name. He'll show up in Google. But that's a lot of what he teaches on the advertising side of which is very similar, which is you just throw out little pieces and let the algorithm tell you what's working rather than you trying to figure it out. But to your point, it requires you to

David Griffiths (11:28.59)
Wow.

Christian Brim (11:41.848)
to do it, like you've got to put it out there so that you can get the feedback.

David Griffiths (11:47.194)
Absolutely. When I first started, I had a coach and one of the things that I got a coach for TikTok. So my origin story at the beginning of the pandemic, one of my high school buddies, Jeff Vargas, who's a public speaker, he happened to just feel the need to like bring together the guys that were like stuck at home and encourage one another. So he started a zoom chat called dudes.

Christian Brim (11:58.029)
Yes.

David Griffiths (12:16.804)
dude chat. So we would get together and you know see how everyone was doing and some of them you know we talked sports or crypto or something but but in general it was just to encourage each other. So the very first one one of our friends Kevin his mother had just died and so he asked me hey Dave would you be willing to sing a hymn every morning on Facebook to help me get through this difficult time. So I said yes.

Christian Brim (12:40.077)
Mmm.

David Griffiths (12:45.794)
And what I soon discovered was Kevin would be blessed by that. But if you never met me before, you'd never discover it. So I'd have to pay for advertising. And since I did not have an advertising budget for sharing him, I did some research and Gary Vee or Gary Banachuk was someone who spoke a lot about success on social media. And he suggested,

Christian Brim (12:49.813)
Mm-hmm.

Christian Brim (12:54.05)
Right.

Christian Brim (12:59.533)
Yes.

David Griffiths (13:12.762)
that TikTok was the best place for organic growth for businesses. And I thought, oh, I thought that was like for high school girls to dance, not, you know, for business. But he had results that I didn't have. So I trusted him. I got a coach and I laser beam focused just on that platform and did what the coach told me. And the coach said, all right, Dave, what you need to do is you need to pick eight, nine different subjects that you're passionate about.

Christian Brim (13:16.237)
Yes.

Christian Brim (13:20.833)
Right, right. Yeah.

David Griffiths (13:42.466)
and create content on them and let your audience tell you what it is that they want from you. I did my first thing that went viral is I took my phone and I was at Chick-fil-A and then I videotaped the long line of cars and then I flipped the camera on me and I said, what's so special about Chick-fil-A? And that was maybe seven, maybe seven or eight seconds the video and

Christian Brim (13:48.61)
Mm-hmm.

Christian Brim (14:04.728)
Right.

David Griffiths (14:11.19)
it had like 17,000 views in the short amount of time and that was really exciting for me and I was like wow so maybe it's because this is relatable and the first principle was it's easier to be successful with a short piece of content than with a longer piece of content and so I always encourage my students to master a shorter piece of content first because now when you're doing 60 seconds it's harder to keep people's attention for that long.

Christian Brim (14:26.198)
Yes.

David Griffiths (14:41.912)
But then after that, I started making videos, like talking to myself. Like I would set it up on a stand and I would say, hey, wait, don't scroll.

Don't quit. Don't quit. And then I would share what I wish someone would have told me six months ago, right? And so that particular video is my first video that had over a million views. I realized that if you're authentic and you speak to what you would have, either what you need or what you would have needed, a previous version of you, that that will resonate well with people who are on.

Christian Brim (15:09.356)
Hmm.

David Griffiths (15:27.418)
the same path and especially if you're looking to serve people who are on the path that you just walked. And so I would encourage people to be authentic and to try different things that you're passionate about, but then speak to something that would be valuable to you six months ago or a year ago.

Christian Brim (15:47.788)
I love that. What's your favorite hymn?

David Griffiths (15:50.968)
My favorite hymn is We Have Not Known Thee. It's a little less known hymn, but...

Christian Brim (15:52.269)
Yes.

Christian Brim (15:56.078)
I'm not familiar with it, I'm gonna go have to check it out. I'll probably find a version of you singing it somewhere.

David Griffiths (16:03.642)
Probably. Yeah, but I play piano hymns at least on a weekly basis. I used to do it several times a week. you know, I often have people ask me for amazing grace, it is well, great is thy faithfulness. And then.

Christian Brim (16:29.486)
My favorite is, come thou fount of every blessing. I don't know why, it just, it really resonates with me.

David Griffiths (16:32.42)
David Griffiths (16:39.886)
Hmm, that's a beautiful...

Christian Brim (16:42.988)
Yes, so and what I really like is when people like, you know, David Crowder or others that take these ancient hymns several hundred years old and then modernize them. That's my favorite. So what were the challenges moving from the world of ministry and an education to

being an entrepreneur, what were some of the challenges you encountered?

David Griffiths (17:19.194)
Wow, you sure you have enough time? Man, so let me say this. I was just speaking with a mentor, friend, and business partner not long before getting on this podcast. And he told me, I think it was three years ago, he was like, it may have been four years ago, he's like,

Christian Brim (17:22.444)
We got all the time you want, David.

David Griffiths (17:49.26)
Dave, like in your business, the first 18 months, you're just figuring it out. Like I was trying to, you know, I was trying to make some decisions. He's like, you're just gonna be figuring it out for the next 18 months. Trust me. And I was like, I mean, and he has five, six businesses and you know, and he's being successful.

Christian Brim (17:55.202)
Yes.

Christian Brim (18:08.716)
Right.

David Griffiths (18:12.802)
So obviously he knows what he's talking about, but I'm like, well, you know, he doesn't know. He doesn't know me. Yeah. my goodness. So here are some of the challenges. Challenge number one. I did not get on social media to be a business, an entrepreneur. I went on social media to make an impact. And so while that's good,

Christian Brim (18:18.624)
Right. I can figure this out.

Christian Brim (18:39.278)
Mm-hmm.

David Griffiths (18:44.428)
Also, it means that when I showed up, I showed up to do the things that I thought would be the most beneficial. So I had a ministry mindset. And so I pray every morning online. So maybe of the 1.5 million followers that I have, maybe 1.2 or 3 of them, they look for encouraging words and to pray with me. So there may be a smaller subset that would be interested in

if I were teaching people how to do social media, for example. So then how do you do something that's successful in terms of making an impact and at the same time is able to fund things? And then, my goodness, I used to have, I haven't counted recently, but I used to count all the fake accounts pretending to be me. I'd have 17, like between Instagram and TikTok, people pretending to be me.

And this is what was killing me. They would go to people and they'd say, hi, this is David. God has told me if you would just sow a seed of a thousand dollars, you'll receive a blessing.

There were even people that were former clients of mine that gave money to different scammers. And like, I was so frustrated because I felt there was nothing that I could do. At the time, you could get a little check mark, say on Instagram, but there were PR firms that say, oh yeah, for 5,000 bucks, I can help you get the check mark. Really? So, yeah.

Christian Brim (20:10.926)
Mm-hmm.

David Griffiths (20:30.498)
It was very frustrating to me to try to have a mindset that works for a ministry oriented thing. And then at the same time, seek to make money. And it was frustrating to me because I dealt with a lot of scammers either pretending to be me or even on the other side. Let's say if I had merch to sell, then I had people using, you know, like other people's credit cards to order.

my prayer journal or the thing. And I was just like, what? Like, that doesn't make sense to me. Like, why is someone scamming for something that's like spiritual in nature? don't get it.

Christian Brim (21:08.448)
Well, because I think it's easier. I mean, you've got the emotional buy-in, you've got people that are engaged and it's, it is unfortunate. And, and, you know, but what, what you, what you described there, I think is, is, I think universal for all creative entrepreneurs, right? They, they have a passion and it's like, okay, how do I make money with it?

David Griffiths (21:10.776)
Hmm.

Christian Brim (21:35.744)
Like I want to I want to do this thing that I love that impacts people that makes a difference. But but how can I do it to make a living to provide for me and my family? And I think you nailed it maybe unintentionally. I don't know that you meant to, but it is the it is a mindset thing. It is shifting your mind shift because it's not an either or right. It's it's not.

I can do what I'm passionate about and what I love and, you know, be hungry or I can, I can do this thing that maybe I don't really want to do, but it pays the bills. Right. I think that's a false choice. I think it's, it's just a matter of, repurposing your creativity. Like just, so how can I, how can I be creative in a way that serves someone else?

but they're willing to trade dollars for me for it. I heard one speaker say, cause a lot of creatives are, are maybe uncomfortable with that financial dynamic. Like, you know, I, I, I, I'm doing this because I love it. I don't want to get paid for it. Right. That doesn't feel right. was, was he described it as, as look at dollars as, as thank you notes, their, their, their notes of appreciation. Right. And I'm like,

David Griffiths (22:57.997)
Hmm.

Christian Brim (23:00.938)
Okay, yeah, that resonates.

David Griffiths (23:05.922)
I never heard it expressed that way, it's thank you notes. Wow.

One of the things that as I was reflecting in that conversation I mentioned, I really enjoy being able to help the people that I can help now. And so part of the reason why I can is because life sucked for a couple of years while I went through trial and error of different approaches.

Christian Brim (23:26.926)
Mm-hmm.

Christian Brim (23:32.556)
Yes?

David Griffiths (23:40.196)
to doing what I'm doing, which in essence allows me to save time to people who are trying to do a similar thing. So whether it was learning the process of running ads or what kind of content will really work, what platform makes sense depending on who it is that I'm trying to reach. And then,

Christian Brim (23:48.365)
Yes.

Christian Brim (23:59.47)
Right?

David Griffiths (24:08.844)
If I could go visit David four years ago.

Christian Brim (24:12.62)
You're prescient. That was exactly the question I was going to ask you. What would you tell yourself?

David Griffiths (24:15.578)
I would say, okay, so I believe that I suffer with some ADHD. And so the blessing of that is I really like to dive deep on a structure that I really get into and understand, and I really want to dive deep into it. So I think it allows me to be...

Christian Brim (24:25.251)
Mm.

David Griffiths (24:43.15)
a gifted songwriter or worship leader, et cetera, because, you know, I can see the connections between songs and that whole world, I really enjoy it and went deep in it. But new structures that I have to learn, they can be daunting. And so at the beginning of my journey, I knew the importance on paper of having an email list and creating a lead magnet.

and that social media is rented territory, but an email list you own. But I did not prioritize that. So that's what I would do. I would go back and I'd be like, David, no, no, no, you don't understand. Like you need to master this side of the fence. In fact, if you only get 150,000 followers instead of 1.5 million, but...

Christian Brim (25:16.525)
Yes. Right.

David Griffiths (25:41.082)
You have a 10,000 person email list that is well aligned with the value that you offer. Oh, you'll be so much happier for the rest of your days. Yeah, so I wish that I had made that decision earlier, but part of my simplifying my life for 2025 is having one focus.

Christian Brim (25:49.356)
Yeah.

Christian Brim (25:57.197)
Yes.

David Griffiths (26:10.732)
and therefore building a better list and making sure that I'm being intentional at each juncture to do things that will allow me to serve at a higher level and provide for myself and my family.

Christian Brim (26:25.742)
Well, it sounds a little bit like what you've created as a community. and, and obviously they're, they're,

gathering around a topic, but it's deeper than that. They share your values, they share your passions, and more importantly, they trust you. And that puts you in a powerful seat. It could be used for good, it could be used for bad, right? And...

But I think that the, I think the world, because of all of the technological changes are really craving that connection, that authenticity, because it's, it's to your point, the scammers, you know, hopped on real quick, right? And, and to me that just shows the

the thirst, the hunger for people wanting some type of real person that connects with them and creating community, I think is gonna become more and more important. And so it's not necessarily about the metric views, right? Obviously that drives the number of people that get onto your email list, but it's not what...

necessarily has long-term value.

David Griffiths (28:12.066)
I think, yeah, I think you're right. There's...

David Griffiths (28:21.976)
Okay, when it comes to allowing people to enter your world, say through something that you're offering them as a lead magnet, there is a difference between people who will take something for free that you're offering and people who will spend $7 to get something that you're offering. So.

Christian Brim (28:47.512)
Yes.

David Griffiths (28:49.546)
often that's used as a wedge to say these are free people, people who want free things, and then here's someone who's willing to invest to get value. And so in that example, it may be more valuable for you to figure out who the people are who are willing to invest for value and have a smaller number like that.

Christian Brim (28:53.784)
Yes.

David Griffiths (29:15.194)
that you have in a community because then you know that a higher percentage of them would benefit and take advantage of the benefit of the higher level of value that you have to give. so, whereas at the beginning of my journey, I might've just been just happy for the affirmation of the following, but now I go, oh, you know, this was cool. you know, there was things that were really cool. We went to Jamaica.

One of my mom's friends had a 63rd wedding anniversary trip and their son lives in Montego Bay. so my son, my mom and I, went on this wonderful, I'll say it was the trip of a lifetime. My mom wanted to show me, but also really my son, like the places that she grew up in, in Jamaica. And I didn't know that

She grew up in Trench Town, which is where Bob Marley grew up. I didn't know that. I'm like, wow. This is a cool place. know, this is cool. Or she did her nurses training in Black River. And so that was a different part of Jamaica. I'd never been to and they, we went on a boat ride and saw crocodiles. So we had all these, there were all these stories that my mom would tell, but now we had context to where they actually occurred. And I'd been on trips before, but normally it's for a funeral.

Christian Brim (30:20.237)
Yeah.

Christian Brim (30:38.21)
Yes.

David Griffiths (30:43.756)
Right? So I just go into Kingston and then stay there for a few days, do the funeral and then go home. But this was an opportunity to really to explore. And so while we were there during that season, every day when I did prayers, I would wear this hoodie, like not this physical one, but like I have like eight of these or something. Right. And so when I went to Jamaica, I was going through customs and it was like

Christian Brim (30:49.549)
Right.

Christian Brim (31:00.302)
Mm-hmm.

David Griffiths (31:13.7)
What? David!

Christian Brim (31:17.038)
Did I do something?

David Griffiths (31:17.252)
happens this. Yeah, hi. She's like, I prayed with you this morning. And so that, you know, that was kind of cool. It happened eight different people during our couple weeks there in different places at a restaurant. The waitress was like, I pray with you every day. So that felt really special. Like, I went my, my youngest child, my daughter, she lives in Atlanta.

Christian Brim (31:27.267)
Yeah.

David Griffiths (31:46.77)
And so when I go to visit her, then there were people coming up in the hotel. Hey, are you that guy that praised me? So I'm having this great experience. This is exciting. However, while it was novel and exciting, I much would rather have this community. I'm grateful for the impact that I feel that I'm honored to make to a larger group, but it's really important for me to be able

Christian Brim (32:09.645)
Right.

David Griffiths (32:16.1)
to support these lovely children that I have, for me to know who are the people that I can offer this higher level of value to. And so that's what I wish I knew more about when I was young.

Christian Brim (32:24.622)
Yeah. And, and, yeah, a hundred percent. I, one of the better business books I've read is Perry Marshall's 80 20 sales and marketing. And, uh, he, he talks about it's the Pareto principle, the 80 20. And he goes, I mean, he, talks a lot about it and puts out a lot of content on it, but how this 80 20.

ratio shows up in human behavior all over the place. And so to your to your example, you know, 20 % of the people that are in your mailing list, and it's not always exactly 80 20, but it's some larger percentage to a smaller percentage. 20 % of them, for instance, would be willing to pay something.

But what's interesting to me in learning this is that it's a fractal that keeps on going. So 20 % of the 20%, which would be 4%, are willing to do even more with you. really exploring that, I intentionally didn't use the word exploiting it because that has a negative connotation, but

exploring that fractal in your customer base to see how deep you can go. There's probably a small percentage of your group that would say pay for a high ticket live event that would come to Maryland. It's an interesting concept, but I've seen it be true in

all instances that have to deal with people.

David Griffiths (34:20.858)
So, 4%. I love that. Like what you're saying, I've been... So first, let me say I've been really working on not getting distracted by shiny objects. But, you know, the Alex Hermoses of this world...

Christian Brim (34:39.66)
It's hard. It's how we're wired. I get it.

David Griffiths (34:50.242)
one offer one platform you know one avatar one offer one platform and also if the sooner you're able to remove yourself from working in the business and now work on the business and have people who are executing it and you just are doing sales and but you have these other people executing it you know i've also heard that at the point where you're doing the one

Christian Brim (35:10.552)
Yes.

David Griffiths (35:20.26)
but you're outside, that's when you'll see the great growth occur in your business. And so I'm looking forward to that this year because that's literally what I'm transitioning to. I think there's a certain part of you where you get satisfaction from the fact that you know how to do several different things that are really important for the people you're serving until you realize, I could probably be serving 20 times as many people if...

Christian Brim (35:25.282)
Yes.

David Griffiths (35:50.564)
there was a little bit more consistency in what we were delivering. And therefore it could be delivered not by me, but by a team. Right. So that's what I'm looking forward to.

Christian Brim (36:00.034)
Yes. Yes. Yeah. And, and, figuring out what, what you personally, what the, the highest value that you can contribute, right. And focusing on that and letting the, the other people in your organization focus on, on the less valuable, not, not that they're not valuable, but it doesn't require you. Like you don't have to, that's not where your genius is.

I think as we were talking, to go back to your example, I think of Christ and his inner circle was only 12, right? And thinking about like, who are the 12 people in your community that you could really drive value for? Not the 70.

Not the multitudes, right? That's where the real profit is. mean, financially, that sounds awful that I'm comparing Christ's apostles to a business model. I mean, it's that 80-20. A lot of people will hear the message, but not everybody is going to buy in. And then only a very few are going to actually become disciples, right?

David Griffiths (37:00.793)
Yeah.

David Griffiths (37:27.417)
Yeah.

Christian Brim (37:28.618)
So, I mean, that's just human nature. That's the way it works.

David Griffiths (37:33.198)
Yeah, very true. And I do think that looking at the principles, not only for how we live our lives, but also for how Jesus organized his community, you know, I think.

Christian Brim (37:50.958)
Mm-hmm.

David Griffiths (37:55.022)
There's a lot of wisdom. Some people also look at what Solomon did as another model as well. But I think that is very helpful for people in the business space to look at those principles, to lead as Jesus led, and also to think about how you are, well, I guess Moses.

and Solomon and Jesus looking at structures of how they led people, how to organize that leading, how to mentor people. I think that's very valuable. and it's sometimes we think of business as a secular enterprise, but I think that it is very spiritual. And I would hope, I honestly feel as though the more that

Christian Brim (38:28.546)
Right.

David Griffiths (38:49.79)
I get into actually being a businessman and interacting with other business people. I realized that in order to be successful in business, the highest level, you need to be a person of integrity and the character. hate saying it, but what's not working seemingly for me is working on me to be the me that I need to be for that next level of responsibility. So I find that my walk.

Christian Brim (39:12.76)
Mm-hmm.

David Griffiths (39:18.83)
my faith walk, my relationship with God grows exponentially even as a result of me choosing this path of entrepreneurship and that people wouldn't view it in such a negative light if they understood the principles of character that it takes to be the person that people can trust to deliver value on a higher level.

Christian Brim (39:41.442)
be a leader. Yeah. I mean that that takes a lot of personal growth. I mean, even if you have natural skills, or people, know, you have one of those personalities that people turn to you for leadership, doesn't mean that you know how to be a leader. you, you have to grow into that. and it, and it, you said, it starts with yourself and that's a, that's a,

It's a difficult journey. you know, confronting the things about yourself that need to change. And it's uncomfortable. And most people pass. They're like, I don't want to do that work.

David Griffiths (40:25.624)
Yeah, it's not for the faint of heart.

Christian Brim (40:28.542)
No, no sir it's not. David, how do people find out more about Content Creating Academy?

David Griffiths (40:36.26)
Well, that's a very good question. One easy way is to send me an email, David at contentcreatingacademy.com and I'd love to answer questions you might have. And they can visit contentcreatingacademy.com, the website as well. And, you know, I'm on social media. So if you want to follow me on social media.

Christian Brim (40:52.014)
Perfect. Go ahead. Sorry.

Of you are.

David Griffiths (40:58.132)
I spend more time on Instagram, would say, than Instagram and Facebook, just by virtue of habit. So on Facebook, you can find me at Orphan Helper, Orphan Helper, or on Instagram at DavidTheDigitalCreator.

Christian Brim (41:17.454)
I love it. Thank you very much for your insights and your experience. Sure. I appreciate it. Listeners. If you like what you heard, please subscribe to the podcast, share the podcast, rate the podcast. If you don't like what you heard, uh, let me know and I'll see if I can find a replacement for myself. Uh, we'll bring David back and have somebody else interview until then. Ta ta for now.