The Future of Travel Video Creation | Ed Ventures

PROFITABLE TALKS...

In this episode of the Profitable Creative, host Christian Brim speaks with Ed Ventures about his journey in content creation, specifically focusing on IRL (In Real Life) streaming and the unique niche of travel video creators. They discuss the challenges and opportunities in the world of live streaming, the importance of community and networking, and the financial aspects of turning passion into profit. Ed shares insights on his podcasting journey, the distinction between content creation and video editing, and the emerging market for streaming backpacks. The conversation emphasizes the need for problem-solving in the creative industry and the evolving landscape of content monetization.


PROFITABLE TAKEAWAYS...

• IRL Ventures focuses on travel video creators and IRL streaming.
• The podcast was created to fill a gap in the market.
• IRL streaming allows creators to engage with audiences in real-time.
• Networking is crucial for success in content creation.
• Shifting from a service provider to a problem solver is key.
• Content creation is more fulfilling than video editing for Ed.
• Monetization strategies include sponsorships and community engagement.
• The IRL streaming community is growing rapidly.
• Technical challenges exist in live streaming.
• Building a streaming backpack can be a business opportunity.

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Transcript

Christian Brim (00:01.558)
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. Special shout out to our one listener in Vernal, Utah. I have not visited Utah before, except going through the airport at Salt Lake, but that didn't really count. My wife and I are traveling through, we're driving up to the Grand Tetons.

and back down through Utah. So I'm looking forward to that next month. In any case, welcome to the program Ed Ventures. I keep wanting to pronounce it Ed Ventures. Ed Ventures of IRL Ventures. Welcome to the show.

Ed Ventures (00:46.808)
Hello, thank you. Thank you for the intro. Yeah, I have a lot of people think that my last name is Ventures. It's not, it's a stage name. But it's funny. Like if my name was something like crazy like Ed, I don't know, like technology, then no one would think my last name was technology. But Ventures is close enough, so yeah.

Christian Brim (01:10.322)
No. Yeah, no. I mean, I totally thought it was Venturis, but have you been to Utah?

Ed Ventures (01:16.526)
Yeah. I have not been to Utah. I only recently started going out west. I've been to 35 countries, but I've barely explored the US. I've been up and down the East Coast, and then I've been to California.

Christian Brim (01:24.77)
Go.

Christian Brim (01:31.8)
So where do you reside?

Ed Ventures (01:34.328)
wait, Michigan too, I bet. I'm in the Northeast, I'm in the New York City metropolitan area. So I'm right outside of New York City.

Christian Brim (01:40.597)
Okay.

Okay, well we're driving, so this is like a two week deal here. My wife and I, if you know, if there are any headlines, she killed me. It was her fault, she killed me. 100%. So why don't you tell the audience what IRL Ventures is and how you got started.

Ed Ventures (02:06.358)
Yeah, so IRL stands for in real life if you didn't know that. So IRL Ventures is for travel video creators and IRL streamers who is me basically. So I made the podcast for myself. It's very selfish. No, but it's like basically for people like myself who yeah, people like myself, the intended audience is like people like myself who are getting into content creation specifically having to do with travel.

Christian Brim (02:24.3)
Nothing wrong with that.

Ed Ventures (02:34.87)
international culture, language, travel vlogs, live streaming while going around the world or different cities, like around your town even, but just whatever you're doing, not behind a computer screen. So I made the podcast because I wanted this kind of information. And I noticed that it was like, there wasn't really like a dedicated travel video creator podcast.

and especially not one for IRL streamers. So to give a little bit more context as well. So IRL streaming is basically instead of doing a live stream where you're sitting at your computer, you know, you're playing a video game or you're talking to chat or whatever, you take the camera, you take yourself and you're out in the world somewhere, right? So you could be at a restaurant talking about the food. You could be in a different country, walking around a new city, you know, whatever.

Christian Brim (03:03.98)
Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.

Ed Ventures (03:31.224)
but you're out and about, and so it's under the umbrella of travel video creator, obviously. So I'm pretty sure I'm the first podcast to focus specifically on IRL streamers and travel video creators. So I saw this kind of gap in the market, and I thought, OK, so I don't want to be like everyone else. I don't want to, you know,

shout into the void of a thousand voices. So let me be that one kind of unique space. And it's also what I am doing in content creation. So it's perfect fit.

Christian Brim (04:13.496)
So a couple of questions there. In your mind, and I apologize for my ignorance, but is the difference between doing it live versus recorded and edited, is the fact that it's live what engages people or is it something else?

Ed Ventures (04:39.65)
Yeah, I mean, think that's definitely part of it because you can be part of the content basically. So, you know, with really popular live streamers, of course, they have thousands of viewers and the chat goes by a mile a minute and you can't really read everyone's individual messages, but you could kind of scan. Like if you're a super popular, you know, live streamer, you could kind of scan and see what the general like.

Christian Brim (04:47.105)
Okay.

Christian Brim (04:56.651)
Right.

Ed Ventures (05:08.014)
keywords or questions are that keep recurring, blah, blah, blah, everyone's saying this thing. And so you can, instead of like replying to a single person, you're like replying to this group, right? So it's a very interesting thing. And when you're a small streamer like myself, if there's someone in the chat, which is great, then, you know, basically they ask you questions, they talk to you and you're directly communicating with them live. So if you're out there and you're eating,

Christian Brim (05:36.536)
Okay.

Ed Ventures (05:37.89)
this food and they're like, well, how spicy is it? And you're like, well, it's pretty spicy, but it's not, I can still handle it, whatever. So like, you're engaging directly in the content and obviously watching everything unedited as it unfolds. So that's the appeal versus like, the produced content.

Christian Brim (05:58.572)
Okay, so what would you say the distinction between IRL doing something, live streaming in real life as opposed to somebody doing, you know, watching Twitch and watching someone play Call of Duty?

Ed Ventures (06:15.362)
So, I mean, it's similar in a way because you're still reacting to what the live streamer is doing, but it's just in different context. instead of like saying, man, wow, that was a really good kill in Call of Duty. Like, I can't believe you got him from all the way over there across the map, you know? Like instead of saying that, let's say, or like, man, I didn't even see that guy. He got you good, whatever, right? In the context of the game or giving tips about the game.

that, you know, the chat is reacting to that directly. Instead, it's just about what's going on, who you're with, what you're doing, where you are, questions about, you know, like if you're traveling to different country, questions about, hey, what's the culture like? What's the, you know, the food like, whatever. Or if you're in your own country, and there's viewers from across the world, they can ask you about like, hey, well, what's the, you know, the deal with this culture in your country versus because my country, it's like this, blah, blah. So it's

You know, there's all different things. And with IRL streaming, it's unlimited because anything that you can do, basically you'll, you can stream it. can stream driving a car, you can stream, you know, jumping out of a plane with a parachute, you know, whatever.

Christian Brim (07:13.528)
it.

Christian Brim (07:30.226)
No, you can't because I'm not. I mean, you might, I'm not. Hypothetical. excuse me. what, really? Like, I'm a pilot and...

Ed Ventures (07:31.278)
The hypothetical you, yeah. Yeah. I've never done that, but I would love to. yeah. I went bungee jumping and that's way more dangerous,

Christian Brim (07:49.72)
I'm a pilot and not a very good one or a very seasoned one, but you know, the only reason I'm jumping out of a plane is if it's going down. there's no... So my question to you is, was... You said you started this to kind of scratch your own itch. What was the conversation that wasn't happening that you wanted to have happen? Or in other words,

Ed Ventures (07:55.736)
Humble brag.

Ed Ventures (08:03.918)
you

Ed Ventures (08:11.842)
Mm-hmm.

Christian Brim (08:19.582)
What do you talk about on the show?

Ed Ventures (08:23.246)
Right. So I was a travel vlogger, right? I had a YouTube channel for years. It's not that it's successful or anything. I've been doing it since 2017. you know, I was doing that format on and off, you know, the consistency ebbing and flowing. And I kind of got back into like this creative mode. And I was like being more consistent. I was like, OK, I'm going to do it. It's it's, you know, going.

and I was feeling good about it and then I have super bad insomnia. So every night when I go to sleep, I listen to either audio books or lately it's been podcasts past couple of years. So, you know, just something to like take my mind out of my thoughts and into, you know, this other world or whatever is going on so that I can relax and go to sleep. So I started consuming a ton of podcasts and

Christian Brim (08:59.704)
Hmm.

Ed Ventures (09:18.606)
I became interested in it and I saw on a meetup, which is an app and a website, there was this meetup for PodFest, which is like a podcasting convention. And so I, it was free and I was like, oh, there's free food there? Okay, cool. So I went there, I met all a bunch of these like really nice people, very open. And I was like, okay, there's a positive community. And they're all like, you gotta go to PodFest, you gotta go.

Christian Brim (09:40.535)
I'm there.

Ed Ventures (09:48.622)
And so I was like, okay, so I went and then I was like, okay, I'm going to learn all I can hear about podcasts. And I had this idea of like the IRL Ventures podcast, but I wasn't sure like, how like, you know, much of a actual podcast it could become, or if it was like not that great of an idea. So I went to the podfest, you know, it's like a several day convention, met a bunch of people and basically that

kickstarted the podcast because I met all these people that could be guests, all these mentors, and I figured out what programs to use and all this sort of stuff. And that was awesome. And so then I, you know, when I started creating the podcast, I wanted to talk to people who were involved in any aspect of travel video creation that could help someone like me who's not a successful, not a monetized, you know, content creator. And basically,

you they tell you to pick your avatar of like, who is your ideal listener, right? Or viewer. And I was like, well, it's me, right? So people that are just like me. So I don't, I don't go on the podcast, host the podcast, pretending to be an expert at all. I say the opposite. I'm like, I'm learning with you. And if you want to learn with me and like, we can grow together, then that's awesome. So basically, it could be about the financial aspect. could be about technical aspect of different cameras and mics and stuff to use. could be

Christian Brim (10:50.977)
Right?

Hehehehehe

Ed Ventures (11:14.722)
people's crazy travel experiences that they had, how to deal with different issues that come up as being, and some of them are a little bit more general to being creators, but I try to be as specific as possible to travel video creators and IRL streamers because that's the niche that I think is not being fed very specifically, especially in the world of podcasts.

Christian Brim (11:39.488)
Okay. So, you know, one of the things we talk a lot about on the, on this podcast is the, the business slash finance aspect of it. but you know, a lot of times it's, it's very rudimentary. Like what's, what's the target customer? What's the problem you're solving? You know, how do you price it? You know, not, not like tax strategies. That sounds awful.

Ed Ventures (11:49.283)
Mm-hmm.

Ed Ventures (12:00.59)
Mm-hmm.

Christian Brim (12:09.808)
what, what, what are the, mean, it, it, sounds like you, you've been doing this off and on some success, but not enough to like, you know, satisfy your financial needs completely. Like this isn't, this isn't your full-time gig, right? Is that accurate? I don't want to put words in your mouth.

Ed Ventures (12:26.932)
Mm-hmm. Yeah. No.

Yes, that's accurate. No, absolutely. I do do freelance video editing sometimes, so that's related.

Christian Brim (12:37.784)
Okay, okay, so then you...

Christian Brim (12:49.384)
You were cutting out so I didn't hear that. I heard freelance.

Ed Ventures (12:51.402)
sorry. I'm sorry. I said I do do freelance video editing and some light contract stuff. So that's related, but it's not my content, you know.

Christian Brim (13:03.829)
Okay.

Christian Brim (13:07.596)
Yeah. Okay. So, so what? I'm gonna wait and make sure that you can hear me.

Ed Ventures (13:16.334)
Yeah, I can hear you.

Can you hear me?

Christian Brim (13:19.552)
Okay, good. So what in, in you went to podfest, you got inspired and you said, I'm going to do this podcast. How has that impacted your, your business of either video editing or your IRL stuff, your live streaming stuff.

Ed Ventures (13:45.56)
So I think that, yeah, absolutely. So I realized recently that actually, IRL things, like being in person and networking, communicating face to face is really powerful. I didn't realize actually how powerful that still is because I was like, well, we have the internet, we have Zoom, we have phone calls, whatever. But.

still at our base, at our core, humans are face to face community minded creatures, right? We are made for interacting face to face. mean, that's how we've done it for thousands of years. So that's still at our core. And that kind of connection is unique and it can't really be replicated. Like you can meet people online and all this stuff and you can find awesome opportunities by, you know, emailing, calling, talking on video call. But

Christian Brim (14:23.389)
Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.

Ed Ventures (14:44.774)
when I went to podfest and different networking events and stuff like that, I go to a, you know, monthly creator meetup in New York. and that stuff is huge because I, the, like the connections I've gotten from that, the clients, that that's really big. And just, like I said, I was able to start the podcast because I met all these people at podfest that kind of gave me the tools, whereas like,

You know, if I wasn't spending all day, multiple days at this convention with these people, getting to know them, having shared experiences, we wouldn't have that kind of connection and they wouldn't have that same kind of level of trust in me to be like, yeah, you know what, I want to help you start your podcast. I want to be on it. I want you to be on my podcast and you know, actually I have some video editing opportunities for you and blah, blah, blah, blah, because blah, blah.

So that, don't think that would have happened if I didn't go in person. And that's why I'm trying to do as much in-person networking as possible. The other job I do,

Hello.

Ed Ventures (15:57.486)
Hello?

Ed Ventures (16:55.097)
Hello?

Christian Brim (16:58.038)
He's back, ladies and gentlemen.

Ed Ventures (16:59.585)
Okay, I don't know what, I didn't lose internet, I don't know what happened. It just said, oops, there's a problem, and it cut me out. Alrighty, what was the last thing you heard?

Christian Brim (17:15.222)
Well, I heard you talking about how that increased your opportunities for video editing. Right. So let me ask you this. So you are a freelance video editor. How long have you been doing that?

Ed Ventures (17:22.145)
Yes, yes.

Ed Ventures (17:32.367)
Mm-hmm.

Ed Ventures (17:36.239)
Since 20, let's see.

2019.

Christian Brim (17:44.792)
Okay, so a while, all right. So one of the things that I find creative struggle with is finding this.

Christian Brim (17:58.668)
business I don't like to use the word model but it's it's really it's it's like bringing the business part of it into the creative part of it and like they're they're good at the creative they enjoy whatever it is that they do but to what I think you described it how do I get it fully monetized right and I I think the struggle is flipping that

Ed Ventures (18:07.854)
Mm-hmm.

Christian Brim (18:27.384)
It's really a fundamental thing. It's a simple thing, not necessarily an easy thing. It's flipping that thought process from essentially, I have a skill and I'm looking for work to being a problem solver. And if you are looking through the world as a problem solver without limiting yourself to

Ed Ventures (18:46.158)
Mm-hmm.

Christian Brim (18:56.544)
the skills that you normally work in. you know, like I do accounting. So I haven't done accounting myself personally in probably 10 years. I haven't done my own tax return. you know, like I have I started as a professional doing something right. And that was how I built the business. And that's great.

But really where it took off was when I changed that mindset from a professional providing a service to a problem solver and saying, okay, what problems do I see with the people that I'm already doing business with? You know, I'm not going out and looking for trouble. I'm dealing with the clients and the people and the vendors and the people that I'm dealing with. What do I see?

That allows you to have a lot more opportunity to create a business than just be someone that does a service. Because I hear this all the time. It's like, you know, I'm out here pitching myself. I'm out here trying to get work. I'm hustling. And, you know, one question I love to ask is like, okay, as a video editor, I'll ask you, why do I...

Why do I hire you Ed the video editor over all my other options out there?

Ed Ventures (20:30.447)
Mm hmm. Yeah. That's a great question. No, like, mean, honestly, that I think there's a lot of reasons why I am struggling business wise with the video editing. I think it's because I, you know, don't necessarily have that sort of brand that I have for my content creation. Right. And I have for my own content creation, I have this very clear vision.

Christian Brim (20:32.608)
and your answer would be, I'm gonna put you on the spot.

Christian Brim (20:44.504)
Mm.

Christian Brim (20:55.319)
Mm-hmm.

Ed Ventures (20:59.055)
of, okay, I'm a travel video creator, blah, blah, I do this very specific thing. Podcast is very clear. When it comes to video editing, I'm like, I'll do anything because I could do it and I need money. So I mean, it's like, look at my portfolio. Do you like it? Does it seem good to you? Then I can do similar things for you. I could do live streaming.

Christian Brim (21:11.264)
Right, right, right, right.

Christian Brim (21:16.738)
Well, which would you prefer? If would you prefer to have your content creation make money or your video editing make money? Which would you prefer?

Ed Ventures (21:29.197)
I would prefer to have content creation make money. Because it's more personally fulfilling.

Christian Brim (21:32.874)
Okay, so yeah, and you know, I've already stipulated by asking dumb questions, like I don't really understand what what you do. I mean, as a bit I mean, I don't I don't consume it. I don't produce it. So I you know, I, I, I found it fascinating, fascinating when my teenage son was playing video games or watching Twitch and I'm like,

Ed Ventures (21:59.417)
Mm-hmm.

Christian Brim (22:00.374)
What is this? this like so this is new to me. It's not from experience. But I guess my question would be.

You know, obviously most content creators monetize by I guess one of two ways. You've got subscription and then you've got, you know, ads, know, content. mean, promotional items, etc. Is there a third way to make money as a content creator that I'm not aware of?

Ed Ventures (22:29.759)
Mm-hmm. Yeah.

Ed Ventures (22:39.715)
Well, I guess kind of similar to you and your book, right? So you can have physical products as well or digital products, right? Coaching, different things. Personally, I'm not interested in coaching because I don't pretend to be an expert and I don't think I have like anything worth like coaching someone for money. I feel really weird about that. And I'm also not passionate about coaching personally.

Christian Brim (22:44.726)
Hmm. Hmm. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.

Christian Brim (23:04.152)
Mm-hmm. Yeah. Okay.

Ed Ventures (23:06.855)
I you know, so that's something that like when for example when you look on YouTube for how to make money as a video creator how to make money as a YouTube it's like they all want you to do what they're doing which is teaching people how to make money as a video creator I'm like You're just telling me how to yeah, you're like you're telling me how to do what you're doing of but like if I need you why would I?

Christian Brim (23:22.488)
All right. Sounds a lot like Amway.

Ed Ventures (23:35.007)
sell that to someone else if I'm learning from you and I'm, you know, and if that's not what you're passionate about, about teaching success, like why do it? So anyway, that's the tangent, but I'm personally not really interested in that. But yeah, I think that would be another way that you could make money as a content creator. You could also do like sponsored posts, sponsored ads.

Christian Brim (23:36.255)
No, no, no,

Christian Brim (23:55.532)
And it's kind of a chicken and the egg.

Yeah, I had a conversation with a creator or creator influencer agent in California last year. And I guess five years ago that wasn't even in a business, but now there are a bunch of agencies that represent content creators. And he was saying, so he'd been in it since the inception. he'd done it for five years.

Ed Ventures (24:19.887)
Mm-hmm.

Ed Ventures (24:28.655)
Mm-hmm.

Christian Brim (24:29.568)
And he said what he had seen was there are. I'm so sorry. Please hold on. I got this new clock. It was it was a joke gift. It's a it's a bird clock. And I normally don't run my shows across the top of the hour. So it's never been an issue. But today it is. OK. So anyway, he's been he's been back. That's a bluejay.

Ed Ventures (24:40.746)
that's a clock.

Ed Ventures (24:45.007)
Ed Ventures (24:53.657)
You

Christian Brim (24:58.776)
By the way, in you were wondering. You go back five years ago, you had to have a whole bunch of followers to make money as a content creator. But he said he's seeing influencers down with like 50,000 making, getting sponsors and endorsements and ad revenue. But it all has to do with the engagements.

Ed Ventures (25:20.419)
Mm-hmm.

Christian Brim (25:27.168)
That to me speaks to like how tightly you understand the audience, who your listener is, what they're about and what they want. How far along that journey are you with your podcast?

Ed Ventures (25:48.463)
So it just started this summer basically, launched it. I had a whole launch party in New York City for the podcast, got around. I didn't know you yet. If I did, you'd get an invite, but you'd have to make it to New York. So I'm not paying for your flight. But you are a pilot, so you can fly over. But anyway, so I had about like 100 people.

Christian Brim (25:57.824)
I didn't get invited.

Christian Brim (26:07.704)
I'm down to clown. Yeah.

Ed Ventures (26:16.269)
I put a lot of time and effort into this launch and stuff. So it just started. So basically what I do is I livestream the podcast on my Twitch channel. And then I have a little bit more edited version with enhanced audio, et cetera, that goes on my YouTube. And it also goes on Spotify and the podcast platform. So that's kind of how I do it.

Christian Brim (26:27.618)
Nice.

Ed Ventures (26:43.681)
I think I'm on my seventh episode that is formally released right now. yeah, so that was, that's how I, you know, just getting started. So the viewership and listenership isn't super high. Sometimes I'll get people in the chat when I do the live stream, which is cool. And sometimes they add questions and, but right now it's not super high to be honest. I believe in being totally transparent.

Christian Brim (26:59.128)
Mm-hmm.

Christian Brim (27:10.092)
Yeah, well.

Ed Ventures (27:11.316)
And you know, this is this is the reality.

Christian Brim (27:14.404)
I think when I started this podcast a year ago, and we'd get like 18 downloads in a month, I was like, huh, okay. And I kept talking to people like Alex Sanfilippo and the people that have experience in podcasting is like, no, dude, you gotta be in it for 100 episodes before you see anything, which is normally two years.

Ed Ventures (27:21.763)
Mm-hmm.

Ed Ventures (27:38.295)
Yeah, exactly.

Christian Brim (27:44.344)
twice a week in the fall and have kept up that pace. But, know, I guess it's like anything, you have to build the audience and the audience doesn't just get to you. I mean, you know, it's, I guess, as Marketing 101, but I think you have an interesting leg up on that in that

Ed Ventures (27:47.321)
Bye.

Christian Brim (28:13.72)
the community element. And, and I agree with you that there is this craving for in-person connection. Um, I see it with, uh, creative entrepreneurs specifically and, and something like podfest would be one of these things where people are wanting to be serious about it as a business. It's not just a show and tell of, what I did. It's I, I want to

Ed Ventures (28:20.239)
Mm-hmm.

Ed Ventures (28:36.579)
Mm-hmm.

Christian Brim (28:43.126)
I want to make money at this.

Ed Ventures (28:45.153)
Exactly. Yeah. And I think, you know, who you surround yourself with are, you know, your biggest influences. So if you want to be successful in your field, you surround yourself with people.

that are successful in the field that you're getting into, et cetera. I think stuff like that is really important, learning from your peers and stuff like that. think that's why I kind of, went to PodFest, I was like, this is awesome. So now I'm going to VidFest in August, I'm going to TwitchCon in October. So I was like, okay, I like this. I think that that is a great way to grow and learn. just the networking is huge, I think.

It's so huge. Without networking, wouldn't have any of the guests I've had on my podcast. I wouldn't be here on your podcast. The networking and community aspect is huge. And so I'm just really trying to focus on that and build that and learn from it and know that it's going to take time.

Christian Brim (29:45.152)
Yeah, and the fact that your content is predicated on being there in person is the leverage that I'm referencing. Like, I'm not going anywhere. I'm sitting in this chair. my leverage is nonexistent in that regard. But I guess my question would be to you, if you were going to...

Ed Ventures (29:52.463)
Mm-hmm.

Christian Brim (30:14.434)
quantify the number of IRL content producers out there. Do you have a guesstimate as to what that number is?

Ed Ventures (30:26.625)
I mean, not really, because it's difficult because there might be people that consume, yeah, like certain kinds of IRL content, or they might only be interested in, I want to watch people in Japan only, whatever, or, you know, the Spanish language market versus the English language market versus the Chinese language market versus the Japanese language, you know, and there's all these little things. So

Christian Brim (30:32.78)
How are you gonna define it?

Christian Brim (30:43.106)
Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.

Christian Brim (30:50.786)
Mm-hmm.

Ed Ventures (30:53.099)
I don't have those numbers. That's actually an interesting thing to learn about. But I mean, there's a lot. And it's growing very, very fast in popularity. There's juggernauts of the IRL streaming world that are out there that are very popular with especially younger Gen Z, Gen Alpha viewership that are like, I've seen IRL streamers on, when I'm out at the bar,

and there's a commercial for Dick's Sporting Goods. And I see iShow Speed, who is one of, if arguably not the biggest IRL streamer right now. And he's, you know, in this commercial with these sports superstars for this major company. And it's like, I'm in a bar and I'm seeing that. So it's like, and people might not notice if they're not in that world, like who is this guy? But he's got enough clout, he's got enough pull that he's in a

Christian Brim (31:23.979)
Right.

Christian Brim (31:37.676)
Mm-hmm.

Christian Brim (31:47.191)
Right.

Ed Ventures (31:52.151)
nationally syndicated commercial for a major brand with, you know, AAA sports stars, you know, collaborating with him. And I forgot it was like, I don't know, I'm not into sports, but it was like, don't Brett Favre and whoever people like that. So, you know, the poll is massive. And I think the thing that is the limiting factor is, because it's kind of new, it's very technically difficult to do, actually.

Christian Brim (32:08.535)
Okay.

Ed Ventures (32:21.679)
People think you can just like take your phone and you know start live streaming, but there's a lot more that goes into that If you get disconnected like if you're streaming to twitch for example you get disconnected because of the internet you have it's like Ten seconds or something to reconnect and if you don't your stream ends your whatever viewers you had a hundred something goes to zero then you have to restart a new stream then people have to

Christian Brim (32:47.511)
Mmm.

Ed Ventures (32:51.821)
Go back to your page and click back on your new stream. that's, you know, having disconnect protection is huge, but it's not easy to do. It took me three weeks of self-taught YouTube University, Reddit, Discord, you know, all this stuff of trying to figure this out. Three whole weeks of just troubleshooting until I was able to just use my phone in the proper way to do IRL streaming where I had disconnect.

protection, could switch scenes on my phone. I could say, OK, I'll put a Be Right Back screen if I'm going to the bathroom or I'm using my credit card or whatever, something I don't want chat to see. That stuff is important. anyone can technically go out there and start. But if you don't have a Wi-Fi connection consistently, if you're out there, you get disconnected eventually. And then what happens?

You you can do it, but, the thing is I just have my phone and it costs me $10 per month for the disconnect production. Everything else I set up by myself with free software and stuff, but it is a limiting factor.

Christian Brim (34:02.74)
Is that disconnect, is the disconnect protection through a service provider like a wireless provider or?

Ed Ventures (34:08.481)
It's Bailabox Cloud. it's an independent, I think it's one guy who just created this solution and made it accessible, 10 bucks. you know, so that's the other thing too, is like, it's very community driven. The other people that I learned from are other people in the IRL streaming community, right? So the thing is it's super powerful and it's super popular.

and the top creators are millionaires and they're on TV and blah, But the barrier to entry is somewhat high because yeah, I mean, you could go on TikTok live and just start with your phone or whatever, but it's a little bit of a different beast than let's say a YouTuber, Twitch live streamer. There's kind of different categories, different kinds of streaming as well. But yeah.

Christian Brim (35:03.906)
So it sounds like, you know, I don't know if you know the story of Levi Strauss, the company. They, right, they started in the gold rush selling picks and shovels to miners during the gold rush in California. It sounds like you might be the one to be a picks and shovels kind of guy.

Ed Ventures (35:11.193)
the jeans.

Ed Ventures (35:17.581)
Mm-hmm.

Ed Ventures (35:24.419)
Thank

Christian Brim (35:34.116)
cause it sounds like you may be a little ahead of the curve and learning. but then finding opportunities like this guy that did the disconnect protection, like you're, you're seeing the problems and it's like, well, maybe if I could come up with a solution for this, my own problem, scratching my own edge. it sounds like you're in a very intriguing space. Like it sounds like a great opportunity.

Ed Ventures (35:51.567)
Mm-hmm.

Ed Ventures (35:59.756)
Yeah. I mean, that's why I started the podcast because I noticed there wasn't one. But, you know, even just like, you know, most of my opportunities of people now that I'm getting on the show on my podcast are from me engaging in their IRL streams and being a chatter and them getting to know me. And in a couple of cases, then meeting in person in New York and then basically

Christian Brim (36:05.559)
Mm-hmm.

Christian Brim (36:19.49)
Mm-hmm.

Ed Ventures (36:28.271)
inviting them onto podcast and you know, sometimes I do it in the chat and they're replying to me if they want to be on my podcast live on their stream. Oh, bless you. Bless you. know, and they're and but they're yeah, so they're replying to me on their live stream about my podcast. And then I have people interested in talking to me and they're like, Oh, so you're a streamer too. Oh, you have a podcast blah, blah, blah. And that's now I have someone that

Christian Brim (36:37.496)
Excuse me. Pardon. I'm glad we're not live.

Ed Ventures (36:58.415)
So there are these things called streaming backpacks that are basically like a computer in a bag that is like a step up from just using your phone, right? So you have all this stuff in there. It's complicated. If you bought one ready to go, it'd be the cheapest you could find pre-built is maybe $1,600, $2,000 cheapest, but they're normally three, four, five, $30,000.

Christian Brim (37:06.573)
Okay.

Christian Brim (37:10.049)
Okay.

Ed Ventures (37:28.107)
up to that range, right? Depending on the level you're talking about.

Christian Brim (37:32.77)
This is like solar backup going off the grid kind of.

Ed Ventures (37:36.555)
I mean, you can get crazy with it because first of all, you know, instead of using your phone, you can use a professional DSLR camera, 4K, you know, you can use like these professional mics, you can have it linked up, whatever. So it's, it's this whole thing and you, have like a bonded internet connection with different carriers so that it combines like Verizon and T-Mobile and AT &T and then puts them into one super strong connection and then you can switch between everything and whatever. So

I found someone through one of my podcast guests who's my friend. And I found them and they are, they just started, they built IRL streaming backpacks for like 10 people. And I'm like the 11th. And with me, they're like, I gotta start charging you because this is becoming like a thing. Like I just started helping out my friends, but like now I'm actually like, I can create a business from creating these backpacks for people because you know, it's technical and they're

Christian Brim (38:34.082)
Yeah.

Ed Ventures (38:36.003)
You know, they're in computer science, so they know how to kind of program the stuff that I don't. I don't have that background. So basically, the parts, and I, like I had some stuff already, it cost me like 400 bucks for all of the parts, basically. And then I'm paying him 250 for his labor. So you put that together, right? It's cheaper than the cheapest streaming backpack and

Christian Brim (38:52.568)
Okay. Okay.

Ed Ventures (39:05.593)
The thing is, it's like, you know, those kinds of opportunities exist out there to do that, but I would have never had that opportunity. I would have had to save and save up for these $3,000 backpack if I wanted to get to the next level or build it myself and I don't have that capability, like technically, right? So because of networking and because of the community aspect of live streaming, I found this person through the chat of someone else's stream and they had built their backpack.

Christian Brim (39:06.167)
Yeah.

Christian Brim (39:22.262)
Right?

Ed Ventures (39:33.975)
And so they're like, I can help you out and blah, blah. And now they're going to be a guest on podcast talking about, how can you create your own backpack and all this stuff? So it's just great. The networking and the community aspect is awesome. And it's what drives everything for me. I've noticed any success I've had recently has been through networking and community. yeah, so I just want to emphasize how important that has been.

Christian Brim (40:03.542)
Well, yeah. And again, it sounds like it's a fascinating opportunity to kind of like being on the ground floor, you know, but at least you have one, you have a step ahead. but you, you also, have the ability to look backwards at what people have done in influencing and content creation when it was static and not, you know, well, mean, Twitch has been going on for what?

Ed Ventures (40:25.038)
Mm-hmm.

Christian Brim (40:32.376)
10 years? I don't know if it's that old or not, but it's close.

Ed Ventures (40:34.839)
I think it's over 10, yeah. YouTube just turned 20, and I know TwitchCon is having their 10th anniversary, but TwitchCon happened after Twitch started, so I think Twitch might be like 13 years or something like that. 14.

Christian Brim (40:38.944)
Okay, yeah.

Christian Brim (40:45.536)
Okay. Yeah. Yeah.

Christian Brim (40:52.312)
It's fascinating and how do people find your show and find out more about how to get a backpack?

Ed Ventures (40:53.379)
Yeah.

Ed Ventures (40:59.619)
Yeah, if you go to, yeah, you can just search me on any of your podcast platforms of choice, Spotify, Apple, anything. If you just search IRL Ventures, IRL Ventures, the IRL Ventures Travel Video Creators podcast should show up. So wherever you get your podcast, search that. You could also go to youtube.com slash EdventuresVlog, and that's my YouTube channel.

But yeah, you you can follow me at adventures official on Instagram. I post everything on there, updates. And if you're so inclined, if you're interested in live streaming and travel video creating and all this sort of stuff, you can join my discord as well, the links are, you know, you can find it through my Instagram. But yeah, so all those things are out there for you to connect. And for the streaming backpack, I have a connection.

You got to message me. It's very exclusive. soon, the episode will come out about that. I don't know when, but yeah, if you want to figure out how to create a streaming backpack yourself or just start with your phone, I'm going to have episodes coming up about that. They're not launched yet, but they're in the works.

Christian Brim (42:17.912)
Okay. Perfect. Well, listeners will have those links in the show notes. If you like what you've heard, please rate the podcast, share the podcast, subscribe to the podcast. If you don't like what you've heard, shoot us a message, tell us what you want to hear and we'll get rid of it. Until then, ta ta for now.