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Lady Rich - I need your advice

Idea threads

fmvpinho

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Hi everyone!
It's already been a long journey for me but I finally have my one thing to show and ask feedback for.

I read TMF back in the summer of 2021.
Moved on straight to the Great Rat Race Escape and then on to Unscripted .

Half way through TMF I thought: what is the thing that I can do right here, right now?
I thought immediately: I can write a children's story. Well, it is easier said than done!

Today, I am able to share a Youtube video for one of the stories that I wrote and for which I would appreciate your feedback on, particularly, on what I can improve. More details on background and process below.

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


Background

My mindset has completely shifted after reading TMF.
Coincidently, around the same time me and my partner were having a rough time.
The job, the kid, the constant tiredness, the stress, the lack of time, the lack of life... everything was weighing on us.
The mortage was already paid, which was something we did in 5 years, way ahead of what we would've expected, but which only added to the feeling that there needed to be more to life than what we were experiencing. Before the breakdown, I used to think to myself: well the mortage is paid, now I can work and have a relaxed life. But something truly did not add up. More than 40 years of this life? But I could not grasp exactly what it was wrong. The FIRE thing only added to that. I am a slowlaner, except for the fact that I don't invest in the stock market. It just has never felt as a way that I could make money. It is true that anyone can invest in the stock market and despite my background in finance, I just feel it is not for me. And it only felt that the promise was roughly the same as keeping the job and keeping being good at it in order to climb the corporate ladder.
Rich Dad, Poor Dad also shifted my vision of the world somewhat and in 2021 (before reading TMF) my husband and I took our savings and invested in real estate rental properties. We bought two in the same day, which also felt extraordinary and which are contributing to our income today, but it was a one time thing as we are now in debt again for those two properties plus a mortage because we took advantage of the real estate market to sell our house on a profit and move to a bigger one but still with recourse to a loan.

The journey after TMF
Only TMF provided me with answers and a sense of purpose.
I started writing stories. At night. After the job and after putting the kid to bed.
I wanted to publish a book so I send them to publishers and contests to see if I had any positive feedback.
Nothing.
My job was consuming a lot of my time and it was not until my birthday, when my brother gave me an illustrated hard copy of one of my stories that a fire light up within me. I was so happy to held that book. I knew at that moment that I had to try and make a book happen.

Process and execution

1. Copyright
a) I needed to register copyright to the stories. So that was the first thing that I did. That was easy. I submitted a form, paid a fee and it was done.
b) Children's books need to be illustrated and I can't draw and don't know any one that can.
Illustrators own the copyright to their illustrations and because control is key I had to take care of that.
I needed to have control over the illustrations. So I hired a lawyer. It took me a few days, I think I asked for 30 budgets, until I found one lawyer specialized in intellectual property but that had never specifically dealt with copyright, that was willing to charge me a lower fee. She drafted an agreement that I could use to engage with illustrators.

2. Costs
When starting to think about publishing a book I tought about the costs to achieve that as well as distribution.
Everything felt so cumbersome and expensive that my husband suggested to make videos and put them on YouTube.
At first, I did not like the idea. Why should I be giving my stories for free? But then TMF helped me once again. The first copy I read was a pdf file that I found on the web (sorry @MJ DeMarco but I hope to have paid my dues as I have since then bought all 3 books and 2 extra copies of the TMF to give to friends - talk about value :)) so I thought ok, if people like it I will find a way to make money out of it. So I decided to pivot and start making the videos. To increase my reach I would make videos in my mother tongue (EU Portuguese) as well as in English.

3. Illustrator
Again, 30+ budgets that I ask for until I got to the one!
A young woman that worked in an agency but started freelancing with tremendous talent willing to help me for the smallest of the budgets.
Happy again!

4. Video
Even before I selected the illustrator I engaged with someone that I bumped into in a facebook group offering services to make videos. I asked a fee and it was so cheap that I decided to take the deal. I engaged with her to ask what she needed for the video and I asked for those specific things to the illustrator. It seemed it was going to be fine. It wasn't. Even thinking about a non-animated video, which would only require to change images as the reading went on, I feel that she delivered poorly, did not show any creativity, initiative or intent to achieve a good result. So I have that regret. I chose wrong. But the truth is that I don't know nothing about making videos, specially animated ones, so it was a learning experience. I did not even know what to ask from her. Now I know that there are different layers of animation, that Adobe Illustration has nice effects that can be used to create movement and a video may not need to rely on the illustrations itself to be animated. For a second video, which I am already working on, I will make totally different choices!

5. Text revision and translation
I felt that I needed someone to help me revise the portuguese text and again I asked for quotes and selected the lowest budget.
That process went well. With regards to translation into english, I learned from the lawyer that tranlators have copyright on the translations so I decided that I would do it myself instead. Even if it was not perfect, I would avoid having to ask for assignment of copyright on that. I even thought I could try to have someone revise the text in english but I am more eager for feedback on the video than waiting to complete that, so I thought I'd wait to check if anyone has comments on that. I will probably have to adjust this.

6. Audio
It is only my voice in what I think it is a low/medium quality audio but again I am rushing for feedback! As the initial idea was for a video that would be changing images as the story went, I thought to make the audio as if mom or dad was reading the story to the child. I am checking for ways to test including different voices and I think there are apps for that. It is definitely something I need to investigate further.

How to turn this into a business?
I don't really have an answer to this question yet but I am confident that I can create products around the stories and monetize them beyond YouTube. I am thinking, for example, that I could make puzzles out of some of the illustrations. And that is just one idea! But that is a whole different story (and post probably!)

I am ready for the roughest of the feedbacks!
Bring it on!

I hope you enjoyed the video and the post!
Let me know what you think!
 
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Practic

Bronze Contributor
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Nov 29, 2022
331
182
Hi everyone!
It's already been a long journey for me but I finally have my one thing to show and ask feedback for.

I read TMF back in the summer of 2021.
Moved on straight to the Great Rat Race Escape and then on to Unscripted .

Half way through TMF I thought: what is the thing that I can do right here, right now?
I thought immediately: I can write a children's story. Well, it is easier said than done!

Today, I am able to share a Youtube video for one of the stories that I wrote and for which I would appreciate your feedback on, particularly, on what I can improve. More details on background and process below.

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


Background

My mindset has completely shifted after reading TMF.
Coincidently, around the same time me and my partner were having a rough time.
The job, the kid, the constant tiredness, the stress, the lack of time, the lack of life... everything was weighing on us.
The mortage was already paid, which was something we did in 5 years, way ahead of what we would've expected, but which only added to the feeling that there needed to be more to life than what we were experiencing. Before the breakdown, I used to think to myself: well the mortage is paid, now I can work and have a relaxed life. But something truly did not add up. More than 40 years of this life? But I could not grasp exactly what it was wrong. The FIRE thing only added to that. I am a slowlaner, except for the fact that I don't invest in the stock market. It just has never felt as a way that I could make money. It is true that anyone can invest in the stock market and despite my background in finance, I just feel it is not for me. And it only felt that the promise was roughly the same as keeping the job and keeping being good at it in order to climb the corporate ladder.
Rich Dad, Poor Dad also shifted my vision of the world somewhat and in 2021 (before reading TMF) my husband and I took our savings and invested in real estate rental properties. We bought two in the same day, which also felt extraordinary and which are contributing to our income today, but it was a one time thing as we are now in debt again for those two properties plus a mortage because we took advantage of the real estate market to sell our house on a profit and move to a bigger one but still with recourse to a loan.

The journey after TMF
Only TMF provided me with answers and a sense of purpose.
I started writing stories. At night. After the job and after putting the kid to bed.
I wanted to publish a book so I send them to publishers and contests to see if I had any positive feedback.
Nothing.
My job was consuming a lot of my time and it was not until my birthday, when my brother gave me an illustrated hard copy of one of my stories that a fire light up within me. I was so happy to held that book. I knew at that moment that I had to try and make a book happen.

Process and execution

1. Copyright
a) I needed to register copyright to the stories. So that was the first thing that I did. That was easy. I submitted a form, paid a fee and it was done.
b) Children's books need to be illustrated and I can't draw and don't know any one that can.
Illustrators own the copyright to their illustrations and because control is key I had to take care of that.
I needed to have control over the illustrations. So I hired a lawyer. It took me a few days, I think I asked for 30 budgets, until I found one lawyer specialized in intellectual property but that had never specifically dealt with copyright, that was willing to charge me a lower fee. She drafted an agreement that I could use to engage with illustrators.

2. Costs
When starting to think about publishing a book I tought about the costs to achieve that as well as distribution.
Everything felt so cumbersome and expensive that my husband suggested to make videos and put them on YouTube.
At first, I did not like the idea. Why should I be giving my stories for free? But then TMF helped me once again. The first copy I read was a pdf file that I found on the web (sorry @MJ DeMarco but I hope to have paid my dues as I have since then bought all 3 books and 2 extra copies of the TMF to give to friends - talk about value :)) so I thought ok, if people like it I will find a way to make money out of it. So I decided to pivot and start making the videos. To increase my reach I would make videos in my mother tongue (EU Portuguese) as well as in English.

3. Illustrator
Again, 30+ budgets that I ask for until I got to the one!
A young woman that worked in an agency but started freelancing with tremendous talent willing to help me for the smallest of the budgets.
Happy again!

4. Video
Even before I selected the illustrator I engaged with someone that I bumped into in a facebook group offering services to make videos. I asked a fee and it was so cheap that I decided to take the deal. I engaged with her to ask what she needed for the video and I asked for those specific things to the illustrator. It seemed it was going to be fine. It wasn't. Even thinking about a non-animated video, which would only require to change images as the reading went on, I feel that she delivered poorly, did not show any creativity, initiative or intent to achieve a good result. So I have that regret. I chose wrong. But the truth is that I don't know nothing about making videos, specially animated ones, so it was a learning experience. I did not even know what to ask from her. Now I know that there are different layers of animation, that Adobe Illustration has nice effects that can be used to create movement and a video may not need to rely on the illustrations itself to be animated. For a second video, which I am already working on, I will make totally different choices!

5. Text revision and translation
I felt that I needed someone to help me revise the portuguese text and again I asked for quotes and selected the lowest budget.
That process went well. With regards to translation into english, I learned from the lawyer that tranlators have copyright on the translations so I decided that I would do it myself instead. Even if it was not perfect, I would avoid having to ask for assignment of copyright on that. I even thought I could try to have someone revise the text in english but I am more eager for feedback on the video than waiting to complete that, so I thought I'd wait to check if anyone has comments on that. I will probably have to adjust this.

6. Audio
It is only my voice in what I think it is a low/medium quality audio but again I am rushing for feedback! As the initial idea was for a video that would be changing images as the story went, I thought to make the audio as if mom or dad was reading the story to the child. I am checking for ways to test including different voices and I think there are apps for that. It is definitely something I need to investigate further.

How to turn this into a business?
I don't really have an answer to this question yet but I am confident that I can create products around the stories and monetize them beyond YouTube. I am thinking, for example, that I could make puzzles out of some of the illustrations. And that is just one idea! But that is a whole different story (and post probably!)

I am ready for the roughest of the feedbacks!
Bring it on!

I hope you enjoyed the video and the post!
Let me know what you think!
You should understand that money come from people. People pay you for products/services that solve painful to them problems. Find people who have painful problems and help them to solve the problems.

It seems you want to do what you like, not what the market want.

I would suggest to start from researching painful problems your potential customers have.
 

Bekit

Legendary Contributor
FASTLANE INSIDER
EPIC CONTRIBUTOR
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Aug 13, 2018
1,135
5,601
Hi everyone!
It's already been a long journey for me but I finally have my one thing to show and ask feedback for.

I read TMF back in the summer of 2021.
Moved on straight to the Great Rat Race Escape and then on to Unscripted .

Half way through TMF I thought: what is the thing that I can do right here, right now?
I thought immediately: I can write a children's story. Well, it is easier said than done!

Today, I am able to share a Youtube video for one of the stories that I wrote and for which I would appreciate your feedback on, particularly, on what I can improve. More details on background and process below.

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


Background

My mindset has completely shifted after reading TMF.
Coincidently, around the same time me and my partner were having a rough time.
The job, the kid, the constant tiredness, the stress, the lack of time, the lack of life... everything was weighing on us.
The mortage was already paid, which was something we did in 5 years, way ahead of what we would've expected, but which only added to the feeling that there needed to be more to life than what we were experiencing. Before the breakdown, I used to think to myself: well the mortage is paid, now I can work and have a relaxed life. But something truly did not add up. More than 40 years of this life? But I could not grasp exactly what it was wrong. The FIRE thing only added to that. I am a slowlaner, except for the fact that I don't invest in the stock market. It just has never felt as a way that I could make money. It is true that anyone can invest in the stock market and despite my background in finance, I just feel it is not for me. And it only felt that the promise was roughly the same as keeping the job and keeping being good at it in order to climb the corporate ladder.
Rich Dad, Poor Dad also shifted my vision of the world somewhat and in 2021 (before reading TMF) my husband and I took our savings and invested in real estate rental properties. We bought two in the same day, which also felt extraordinary and which are contributing to our income today, but it was a one time thing as we are now in debt again for those two properties plus a mortage because we took advantage of the real estate market to sell our house on a profit and move to a bigger one but still with recourse to a loan.

The journey after TMF
Only TMF provided me with answers and a sense of purpose.
I started writing stories. At night. After the job and after putting the kid to bed.
I wanted to publish a book so I send them to publishers and contests to see if I had any positive feedback.
Nothing.
My job was consuming a lot of my time and it was not until my birthday, when my brother gave me an illustrated hard copy of one of my stories that a fire light up within me. I was so happy to held that book. I knew at that moment that I had to try and make a book happen.

Process and execution

1. Copyright
a) I needed to register copyright to the stories. So that was the first thing that I did. That was easy. I submitted a form, paid a fee and it was done.
b) Children's books need to be illustrated and I can't draw and don't know any one that can.
Illustrators own the copyright to their illustrations and because control is key I had to take care of that.
I needed to have control over the illustrations. So I hired a lawyer. It took me a few days, I think I asked for 30 budgets, until I found one lawyer specialized in intellectual property but that had never specifically dealt with copyright, that was willing to charge me a lower fee. She drafted an agreement that I could use to engage with illustrators.

2. Costs
When starting to think about publishing a book I tought about the costs to achieve that as well as distribution.
Everything felt so cumbersome and expensive that my husband suggested to make videos and put them on YouTube.
At first, I did not like the idea. Why should I be giving my stories for free? But then TMF helped me once again. The first copy I read was a pdf file that I found on the web (sorry @MJ DeMarco but I hope to have paid my dues as I have since then bought all 3 books and 2 extra copies of the TMF to give to friends - talk about value :)) so I thought ok, if people like it I will find a way to make money out of it. So I decided to pivot and start making the videos. To increase my reach I would make videos in my mother tongue (EU Portuguese) as well as in English.

3. Illustrator
Again, 30+ budgets that I ask for until I got to the one!
A young woman that worked in an agency but started freelancing with tremendous talent willing to help me for the smallest of the budgets.
Happy again!

4. Video
Even before I selected the illustrator I engaged with someone that I bumped into in a facebook group offering services to make videos. I asked a fee and it was so cheap that I decided to take the deal. I engaged with her to ask what she needed for the video and I asked for those specific things to the illustrator. It seemed it was going to be fine. It wasn't. Even thinking about a non-animated video, which would only require to change images as the reading went on, I feel that she delivered poorly, did not show any creativity, initiative or intent to achieve a good result. So I have that regret. I chose wrong. But the truth is that I don't know nothing about making videos, specially animated ones, so it was a learning experience. I did not even know what to ask from her. Now I know that there are different layers of animation, that Adobe Illustration has nice effects that can be used to create movement and a video may not need to rely on the illustrations itself to be animated. For a second video, which I am already working on, I will make totally different choices!

5. Text revision and translation
I felt that I needed someone to help me revise the portuguese text and again I asked for quotes and selected the lowest budget.
That process went well. With regards to translation into english, I learned from the lawyer that tranlators have copyright on the translations so I decided that I would do it myself instead. Even if it was not perfect, I would avoid having to ask for assignment of copyright on that. I even thought I could try to have someone revise the text in english but I am more eager for feedback on the video than waiting to complete that, so I thought I'd wait to check if anyone has comments on that. I will probably have to adjust this.

6. Audio
It is only my voice in what I think it is a low/medium quality audio but again I am rushing for feedback! As the initial idea was for a video that would be changing images as the story went, I thought to make the audio as if mom or dad was reading the story to the child. I am checking for ways to test including different voices and I think there are apps for that. It is definitely something I need to investigate further.

How to turn this into a business?
I don't really have an answer to this question yet but I am confident that I can create products around the stories and monetize them beyond YouTube. I am thinking, for example, that I could make puzzles out of some of the illustrations. And that is just one idea! But that is a whole different story (and post probably!)

I am ready for the roughest of the feedbacks!
Bring it on!

I hope you enjoyed the video and the post!
Let me know what you think!
I watched your video and found it really engaging! Your use of the technique of creating an open loop at the beginning was very effective, and I found myself wanting to keep watching to find out who Lady Rich was!
- One very minor quibble was that there seemed to be a small contradiction between the fact that Lady Rich was loved by everyone, but ALSO she was driving too fast, scaring people, and stressing people out, and she even hurt the protagonist's legs by the rocks that were scattered by her tires badly enough for her father to notice the wounds at dinner! ... so it seemed to subtly convey the "entrepreneur as a villain" idea that so many sidewalkers have, rather than dispelling that idea.

Idea of how to turn it into a business - This thread

If you get enough subscribers, you could just make YouTube ad revenue your business model, but that's violating the commandment of Control. However, you might want to check out Valier's thread for inspiration if you haven't seen it already, as a model of someone who started their channel from zero.
GOLD! - HOT! - Creating a Thriving Personal Brand w/ YouTube - A Journal & A Personal Guide.

Thoughts on need -
Children's content on YouTube is a HUGE minefield full of AWFUL things, so I think parents do feel the need for wholesome, engaging, non-toxic stories for children. I'm not a parent, but I think some of them would pay for it. Here's an example of a business that is charging $15/month or $144/year - and their stories are JUST audio - they don't even have video. So it's certainly a concept that other people are charging for.

Thoughts on your execution -
I thought the illustrations were really well done and contributed a lot to the story. I didn't feel the need for there to be additional animation, but I also don't think it would hurt if you end up having more sophisticated illustrations down the road.

One bit of feedback on the audio - Between the music and the sound effects, your narration was sometimes hard to hear, so maybe work on balancing the levels to turn down the background sounds a little bit next time.

The story of your journey through all the steps to produce this video was really inspiring! I'm personally really impressed by all the legwork that you put into pulling this off.

Curious about different aspects of your process...
Would you mind sharing how long it took you from start to finish to produce this video?

Also, would you say the next one will be quicker based on lessons learned from the first time around? If so, what were the things that you learned that will shorten the process next time?
 

fmvpinho

Contributor
FASTLANE INSIDER
Read Rat-Race Escape!
Read Fastlane!
Read Unscripted!
Speedway Pass
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
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Jan 8, 2022
41
28
You should understand that money come from people. People pay you for products/services that solve painful to them problems. Find people who have painful problems and help them to solve the problems.

It seems you want to do what you like, not what the market want.

I would suggest to start from researching painful problems your potential customers have.
Thank you for your comment!
 
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fmvpinho

Contributor
FASTLANE INSIDER
Read Rat-Race Escape!
Read Fastlane!
Read Unscripted!
Speedway Pass
User Power
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Jan 8, 2022
41
28
I watched your video and found it really engaging! Your use of the technique of creating an open loop at the beginning was very effective, and I found myself wanting to keep watching to find out who Lady Rich was!
- One very minor quibble was that there seemed to be a small contradiction between the fact that Lady Rich was loved by everyone, but ALSO she was driving too fast, scaring people, and stressing people out, and she even hurt the protagonist's legs by the rocks that were scattered by her tires badly enough for her father to notice the wounds at dinner! ... so it seemed to subtly convey the "entrepreneur as a villain" idea that so many sidewalkers have, rather than dispelling that idea.

Idea of how to turn it into a business - This thread

If you get enough subscribers, you could just make YouTube ad revenue your business model, but that's violating the commandment of Control. However, you might want to check out Valier's thread for inspiration if you haven't seen it already, as a model of someone who started their channel from zero.
GOLD! - HOT! - Creating a Thriving Personal Brand w/ YouTube - A Journal & A Personal Guide.

Thoughts on need -
Children's content on YouTube is a HUGE minefield full of AWFUL things, so I think parents do feel the need for wholesome, engaging, non-toxic stories for children. I'm not a parent, but I think some of them would pay for it. Here's an example of a business that is charging $15/month or $144/year - and their stories are JUST audio - they don't even have video. So it's certainly a concept that other people are charging for.

Thoughts on your execution -
I thought the illustrations were really well done and contributed a lot to the story. I didn't feel the need for there to be additional animation, but I also don't think it would hurt if you end up having more sophisticated illustrations down the road.

One bit of feedback on the audio - Between the music and the sound effects, your narration was sometimes hard to hear, so maybe work on balancing the levels to turn down the background sounds a little bit next time.

The story of your journey through all the steps to produce this video was really inspiring! I'm personally really impressed by all the legwork that you put into pulling this off.

Curious about different aspects of your process...
Would you mind sharing how long it took you from start to finish to produce this video?

Also, would you say the next one will be quicker based on lessons learned from the first time around? If so, what were the things that you learned that will shorten the process next time?
I truly appreciate your comments and that you took the time to watch the video and reply. Thanks!

I get it when you say I am portaing the entrepreneurs as villains, but I felt I needed to explore the contradiction that things associated with money are not after all that bad.

I will look into the materials you shared carefully!

I started last august to engage with the lawyer to draft the agreement. The illustrator began working mid-november and was done by the year end. I uploaded the video a couples of days ago. It is a long time.

I have been thinking of ways to shorten the time to market and I think it could be through shorter stories or by making episodes. It could also be by hiring other illustrators and not rely on the same person for every single story which is also a way to reduce the dependency on that person (I also suspect she will be able to charge more because she's great!).

The second video is already underway but it is a Christmas story so I only plan on releasing it around november. The illustrator will be the same and she accepted to also make the video. She has never done it but I trust in her work because she was very pro-active in suggesting ways to improve this video. We will structure the video in a different way so it is more animated. So it will be a learning experience for both of us.

In the meantime, i will try to find a different illustrator for another story that is already written and go through the process of finding another illustrator for that one.

I regret that didn't take the time to look at the portfolio of the person that made the video. I feel I could find someone more professional and proactive.

Best regards!
 

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