Shownotes
John and Kaylee sit down with Zach, the owner of Tactical Advisor, to dig into a question every gun buyer has asked: can you trust a paid gun review? Zach explains why he built his channel around a 30-second breakdown that hands you the verdict up front, so you can leave or stay and hear the reasoning. He works by himself, films out of his closet, and treats research like a discipline. The conversation moves quickly into the realities of being a creator in this space: YouTube's shifting rules, demonetization over words like "thermal," a strike that locked him out for a week, and why he runs on every platform he can instead of betting on one.
The heart of the episode is money and honesty. Zach and John agree creators should be paid, because a review can cost thousands in ammo, camera gear, and editing time, and YouTube revenue is pennies. The harder part is the gray area. Zach is blunt that when a check comes in every month, it gets harder to say negative things, so he refuses non-competes and has zero contracts that dictate what he can say. His rule is that brands pay for the work and the viewership, not the opinion. When a product is bad, he tells the company first and asks whether it's a one-off or a real issue, and he has declined to post a positive review on something that simply didn't work even when the company pushed for it.
The group also makes a case for fun. Not every gun needs to be the deadliest, fastest option, and platforms like the GOAT 15 and cool novelty guns can pull new people in. Kaylee frames the through-line around the first-time owner who goes to YouTube to learn, and why censoring creators' language hurts that person most. Zach praises Rumble as a free-speech outlet while arguing against building a 2A-only echo chamber, and he recalls GOA's GOALS show as a relaxed, family-friendly event with real time to talk to companies. He closes on transparency and on inviting his own audience to keep him in check with constructive criticism.
Questions this episode answers
Should gun content creators get paid, and does payment compromise an honest review?
Zach and John argue creators should be paid because a single review can cost thousands in ammo, camera gear, and editing time while YouTube revenue is pennies. Payment does not have to compromise honesty, but it creates a gray area that takes discipline to manage.
How does a reviewer stay honest when a brand pays them every month?
Zach is blunt that a recurring monthly check makes it harder to say negative things, so he sets a firm rule: brands pay for the work and the viewership, not the opinion. When a product is bad he tells the company first and asks whether it is a one-off or a real issue.
Why does Zach refuse non-competes and contracts that dictate what he can say?
Zach refuses non-competes and keeps zero contracts that require him to say specific things, so no brand can dictate his verdict. He has even declined to post a positive review on a product that simply did not work, despite the company pushing for it.
What does YouTube censorship and demonetization do to firearms education for new gun owners?
Demonetization over words like "thermal," strikes, and shifting rules push creators to self-censor, which Kaylee argues hurts the first-time owner most. That new owner goes to YouTube to learn, and watering down a creator's language makes honest firearms education harder to find.
Is Rumble the answer for the gun community, or does it risk becoming an echo chamber?
Zach praises Rumble as a free-speech outlet but warns against building a Second Amendment-only echo chamber, which he sees as bad for growing the community. His own approach is to publish across every platform he can rather than betting on one.
How should a creator handle a product that performs badly?
Zach tells the company privately first and asks whether the failure is a one-off or a real issue before saying anything publicly. He gives a brand grace to fix it, and rewards a company that takes the constructive criticism and actually evolves.
Why does fun matter in the shooting community, and what role do guns like the GOAT 15 play?
The group makes the case that not every gun needs to be the deadliest or fastest option. Fun and novelty platforms like the GOAT 15 pull new people into the hobby, which matters for the health of the community.
What made Gun Owners of America's GOALS show stand out for a content creator and his family?
Zach recalls the Gun Owners Action Leadership Summit (GOALS) as a relaxed, family-friendly event with real time to talk to companies. It was the kind of show a creator could bring his family to rather than a packed industry grind.
Chapters
- 00:00 — Welcome and Zach's resume
- 00:21 — Rapid fire questions
- 03:11 — Why Tactical Advisor and the 30-second breakdown
- 05:57 — YouTube rules, strikes, and censorship
- 07:14 — Rumble and the echo-chamber question
- 14:05 — The most satisfying part of creating
- 15:42 — Health of the industry and innovation
- 17:04 — The GOAT 15 and guns that are just fun
- 22:29 — GOALS show and bringing family
- 25:44 — Building partnerships and transparency
- 28:53 — Influencer vs content creator
- 31:30 — Soapbox: should influencers get paid
- 36:46 — Constructive criticism and giving companies grace
- 43:09 — Reviews you can't post and keeping creators in check
- 49:34 — Closing words and GOALS 2026
About the guest
Zach is the owner of Tactical Advisor, a firearms content channel he started seven or eight years ago. His full-time job is in law enforcement, fire, and EMS; the host's intro adds that he has over 11 years in law enforcement, is a SWAT team sniper, and a lieutenant with more than 12 years in firearm and EMS [VERIFY]. He works by himself and films out of his closet. He is a husband and father of three with a fourth on the way, and a born again Christian who shares the gospel at the end of his videos. He is known for a 30-second breakdown format that delivers the verdict early, and he publishes across Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, Rumble, X, and Telegram.
Key quotes
"You're paying for the content to be created. You're paying for the viewers to see the content. You're not paying for my opinion." — Zach
"I have zero contracts with any company that says you have to say specific things." — Zach
"I don't think we should have an area that's an echo chamber. I don't think it's good for growth of this community if you have an echo chamber that's just 2A only." — Zach
"Things can just be fun. You can have fun guns." — John
"If the company then takes that constructive criticism and begins to evolve and change and make those changes, then we should reward that company." — Zach
"I can't grow as an influencer and change without hearing that." — Zach
Transcripts
Welcome to Gun Owners of America State of the second podcast.
Speaker A:I'm Kayleigh.
Speaker B:And I'm John.
Speaker B:And today we're joined by Zach, the owner of Tactical Advisor, a full time deputy Sheriff with over 11 years in law enforcement, a SWAT team sniper, and a lieutenant with more than 12 years in firearm and EMS.
Speaker B:Man, that's a resume.
Speaker B:How are you, my friend?
Speaker B:Thank you for joining us.
Speaker C:Great.
Speaker C:Thank you guys.
Speaker C:I appreciate it.
Speaker B:So we're going to start our first segment which is rapid fire questions.
Speaker B:We're going to ask you five questions.
Speaker B:You answer them how you see fit, first firearm you've ever owned or shot.
Speaker C: First fire would have been a: Speaker C:I shot it at a milk jug my dad would fill up with water and that's how we ended up starting getting the shooting.
Speaker A:That's awesome.
Speaker A:Who is your most watched content creator in the space right now?
Speaker C:To be honest, I don't watch a ton of content.
Speaker C:Spending a lot of time filming it.
Speaker C:I would say most.
Speaker C:Most I would watch probably Donut operator.
Speaker C:I really like his breakdowns and stuff.
Speaker C:I think those are really interesting.
Speaker C:So I think he does a good job.
Speaker B:One gun that's on your bucket list.
Speaker C:Bucket list gun.
Speaker C:I really want a scar.
Speaker C:I know it's, it's not really like a crazy gun, but I've never had one and I don't know why I never had one.
Speaker C:I just got my bucket list gun last year actually, which was a P90 strictly because of Stargate.
Speaker A:Okay.
Speaker C:Yes, Yep.
Speaker C:And I, I finally got it last year and I was like, I'm content.
Speaker C:I'm very happy.
Speaker B:You are the third person in this batch of filming who said that it's the coolest gun.
Speaker B:You, me, Adam Rola from century all want P90s only because of Stargate.
Speaker C:The only reason.
Speaker B:Yes, yes.
Speaker B:The nerds can come out now.
Speaker C:Yep.
Speaker C:Absolutely.
Speaker A:What is your.
Speaker A:What is one item aside from your everyday carry that you think everyone should have on them?
Speaker C:One item that everybody should have on them, aside from my gun.
Speaker C:I think a knife is an incredible tool to have that you do a lot with it.
Speaker B:Go to everyday carry setup between gun, knife and everything else.
Speaker C:Go through it.
Speaker B:No.
Speaker B:What is your go to?
Speaker B:Like, if you were gonna go walk out of the house, you can only pick one.
Speaker B:What is your go to knife?
Speaker B:Go to carry gun.
Speaker C:Okay, so my go to carry gun is a Glock 45 with a Radian ramjet.
Speaker C:It's got the Guardian with an eps and then it's.
Speaker C:It's completely stock.
Speaker C:Other than that and Then my knife is a A5 spry from Tecto.
Speaker C:It's like an out the front knife.
Speaker C:I like knives like that.
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Speaker B:Let's go ahead and get into this.
Speaker B:Tell the folks a little bit about besides what we said in the intro, who you are, what you do, why you got into this space, all that stuff.
Speaker C:Yeah, absolutely.
Speaker C:So I am a husband, father of three, soon to be four.
Speaker C:They're actually here at the beach hanging out, playing and born again Christian and then full time my job is law enforcement, firing ems.
Speaker C:And then I started this business, Tactical Advisor seven or eight years ago.
Speaker C:One of the biggest reasons I started it was because when I go to buy something, I'm not an impulse buyer.
Speaker C:I have to research for like three weeks before I buy anything.
Speaker C:So like for instance, we're looking at a new van for the family just because we've been traveling and we're like we need a new van.
Speaker C:Like looking at like sprinter vans or like, like a, like an.
Speaker C:What's the Chevy passenger van.
Speaker C:Like the panel vans that are kind of creepy but like super convenient because they have so many seats.
Speaker C:But I've been researching those for the last week and I realized that like there just wasn't somebody in the space at the time that would just get the information super quick.
Speaker C:I just want the information quick and then move on to the next thing and continue.
Speaker C:Because I like to, I don't like to follow just one person and, and oh, I don't know, tunnel myself into one area.
Speaker C:I like to get different opinions from different areas.
Speaker C:So I wanted to get my information quickly.
Speaker C:You know, a lot of times it'll take three minutes to even start the review.
Speaker C:You know, there's like a shooting mantra or a montage and then you've got sponsors for two minutes and everything.
Speaker C:So that's where the 30 second breakdown came into play.
Speaker C:And that's where I do, you know, the initial of hey, this is what my product is within 30 seconds or less.
Speaker C:Usually it's longer than 30 seconds.
Speaker C:But gives you the information early, then you can stick around and watch if you want to and find out why I say those things.
Speaker C:So I just really wanted to get content out there quickly and then started out with guns and now I've just started a second channel that's completely unrelated to guns just because of what YouTube and social media is doing and everything.
Speaker C:So I'm just really trying to take that and, and put it into different areas as well that I'm interested in.
Speaker B:So you took what people have been doing, which is gun reviews, and just kind of shrunk it down into bite sized information like I want that quick.
Speaker B:What made you kind of go this is a niche nobody's hitting.
Speaker B:This is something that people need and.
Speaker C:Want mainly because there's something I needed, something I wanted.
Speaker C:And that's the biggest thing when it comes to, to social media that I found and people that are successful in it is doing what you're interested in.
Speaker C:You know, a lot of people will just do like, well, I see this guy doing it, it's really popular for him.
Speaker C:So I'm going to try to like mirror that.
Speaker C:The best thing I did was just do what I enjoy, what I find interesting.
Speaker C:And I found that other people were interested in that as well.
Speaker C:And that's where I think my following grew, is people that shared that same opinion.
Speaker C:And then I realized, okay, cool.
Speaker C:People also want their information quickly.
Speaker C:And my videos are not short.
Speaker C:Like I'm usually 10 minutes long, but I try to get the information as quick as possible.
Speaker C:That way you can leave or you can continue to watch, which is appreciated because the algorithm and everything, you know, minutes watched is super important.
Speaker C:But you know, try to try to in one video cater to two different people as well.
Speaker B:So what you, you decide to do this, you're getting into this, you go out and put yourself on camera.
Speaker B:You know, how have you felt it's been with the, from the YouTube side of, you know, you mentioned how it's, it's kind of can be how YouTube judges things and you can get strikes and things like that.
Speaker B:How do you feel that you can combat that?
Speaker C:Oh, it's incredibly difficult.
Speaker C:But unfortunately as it is to combat it right now is the biggest thing.
Speaker C:You just have to follow the rules.
Speaker C:You know, it's incredibly frustrating because the rules are ridiculous and they change constantly.
Speaker C:But the biggest way to get your content out there is to be able to follow the rules to build you build a credibility within their AI system or their algorithm, whatever it is we work with.
Speaker C:There's a Couple guys that work for YouTube that are like representatives that help you out and tell you, hey, this is kind of the thing changing, this is what you can do better.
Speaker C:So you kind of lean on them a little bit and you try to follow those rules because you will build a credibility.
Speaker C:There's other ways to do it as well.
Speaker C:There's a lot of other platforms.
Speaker C:You know, I'm multi platform.
Speaker C:So when YouTube's being hard on me, they gave me a strike and I was, I was unable to post for a week.
Speaker C:You know, I'd go back to Instagram and Facebook and Rumble and live streams and all these different platforms.
Speaker C:But it's incredibly difficult right now for content creators because of what they're doing and the censorship.
Speaker B:Now I love that you brought up Rumble.
Speaker B:What are your feelings about Rumble?
Speaker B:How do you, you know, how do you use Rumble to it.
Speaker B:To its advantage?
Speaker B:And should we have, because we've seen others do it, should we have a platform which we have with kind of with Rumble that is more 2A friendly.
Speaker C:So rumble is an awesome platform.
Speaker C:There's a, it's a weird view about Rumble in our community, which is odd because everybody's been asking for a platform that like allows us to have that freedom of speech.
Speaker C:But then Rumble comes along and people are like, ah, well, Rumble like puts too many views on their stuff or they're not, they're not big enough or something like that.
Speaker C:And I think we need to support Rumble more because of what they're doing.
Speaker C:But also at the same time with your question saying how should we have a two way space only.
Speaker C:And my answer might be a little odd, but I think it's no, I don't think we should have an area that's an echo chamber.
Speaker C:I don't think it's good for growth of this community if you have an echo chamber that's just 2A only.
Speaker C:And now rumble's not 2A only, it's a freedom the speech type platform.
Speaker C:But it has kind of become a platform.
Speaker C:People are like, oh, that's just for guns.
Speaker C:It's not.
Speaker C:But you know, I don't think it's good to have a platform like that.
Speaker C:I think that's why YouTube so popular is because anybody can be on there.
Speaker C:But that's how you grow this community.
Speaker C:I can reach anyone on YouTube and rumble, I might not be able to reach those people.
Speaker C:So that's where I think obviously there's a little bit disconnect, but Rumble to me is probably the best so far that's done it.
Speaker C:You've had a lot of other platforms.
Speaker C:Like, I think Parlor was a good one for a while.
Speaker C:She has a handful of other ones.
Speaker C:I don't even go through the list, but it just seems like they just fizzle out.
Speaker C:You go on there, you spend a ton of time trying to build that following and it just fizzles out and it's frustrating.
Speaker C:Rumble, to me, has been the most successful and they seem to be growing pretty well.
Speaker C:But the view on the gun community is kind of odd because I feel like there should be more support.
Speaker C:But people don't transfer platforms very well.
Speaker C:And I don't know if you guys have noticed that with your platform as well, but I mean, my Instagram followers are Instagram.
Speaker C:My YouTube people are YouTube.
Speaker C:My Facebook people are mostly from Baghdad for some reason.
Speaker C:But, like, they're very.
Speaker C:They're very Facebook oriented.
Speaker C:But like, they just, they.
Speaker C:They don't really transition well.
Speaker C:So I've noticed that.
Speaker C:That it's hard to get people to switch platforms.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:And I, I seen that.
Speaker B:And I love how you brought up how we don't need to be in our echo chamber.
Speaker B:We talk about that a lot, about how as firearms owners, we tend to listen within our echo chamber.
Speaker B:And I believe if.
Speaker B:If we can get people to go over Rumble, and I truly believe this, if we can get people to come over to Rumble to kind of expand that echo chamber a little bit.
Speaker B:And again.
Speaker B:But YouTube is also one of the largest places that we can help get people outside of our echo chamber in to see what we do.
Speaker C:No, absolutely.
Speaker C:And it is so relieving.
Speaker C:When I film, I'll.
Speaker C:I'll film all day and I'll film on YouTube.
Speaker C:I'll do live streams on YouTube.
Speaker C:I'll film my videos on YouTube.
Speaker C:And like, it's almost stressful because you're constantly checking your words.
Speaker C:You can't say thermal.
Speaker C:Like I've typed in my video was monetized.
Speaker C:I changed the title to Thermal Demonetized because you can't do thermals on YouTube, which is ridiculous.
Speaker C:But it's frustrating because you have to constantly.
Speaker C:So I'm sitting here saying I'm testing a dark timey scope that you can see at nighttime with.
Speaker C:And like, I hope that people understand, understand and don't think I'm a lunatic, like, trying to, like, sound like a weirdo.
Speaker C:But with Rumble, I'm able just to talk.
Speaker C:Whatever that comes to my mind, I could say.
Speaker C:And I know that it's not going to get censored or blocked or demonetized.
Speaker C:And it's, it's, it's relieving sometimes to film in that setting than the other side where you're constantly trying to check yourself.
Speaker B:Yeah, I totally agree.
Speaker B:Just saying or changing the smallest thing can flag it.
Speaker B:I mean, I've changed tags and changed things and all of a sudden it goes from fully monetized to.
Speaker B:You get that?
Speaker B:Only slightly monetized or only approved for certain advertisers.
Speaker B:And it's as small as a word that flags it, which is, drives me up a wall.
Speaker B:You sit there and you're like, okay, this is going to do great in the algorithm if I do it this way.
Speaker B:And then it doesn't.
Speaker B:And YouTube's like, whoa, wait a minute.
Speaker C:Yep.
Speaker A:Well, I think it also plays into more of a cultural issue and I think that is, you know, when we're talking about building an on ramp for the second Amendment, when we're talking about encouraging gun ownership, preparing someone to maybe go purchase their first firearm or feel more confident in searching for an upgrade, when we have to censor our words in such a way that we're not able to educate them properly on what they should be asking we or what they can be asking for behind a counter, it, it ultimately has downstream effects because like your example of a thermal, if someone's wanting to go into there, if they're a first time gun owner just now getting interested in hunting or something like that, they might not be able to put all of those things together.
Speaker A:And so having Rumble as that counterculture ability so that people can learn the correct verbiage or, or see the video because it's not being hidden or demonetized or taken down, it is vital and is important.
Speaker A:And so I agree with you.
Speaker A:I think we need to be encouraging more people to try Rumble.
Speaker A:I think we need to be encouraging more people to support it from a non two way space so that we don't build an echo chamber, but also have some, some place where we can say, okay, we're having to put it out in this version here, so this way you at least have some access to it.
Speaker C:Yep, exactly.
Speaker A:But we're not going to let them be the only place, the only marketplace of ideas.
Speaker A:We're also going to support over here where we are able to say exactly what that product is.
Speaker A:And so you kind of have the good, better, best situation.
Speaker A:We're not abandoning ship because then the anti gunners win because there's no countercultural movement.
Speaker A:But at the same time we want to make sure that we're preparing people and That's a very fine line to walk.
Speaker A:And also think about the amount of time that as a creator you have to now spend making two different versions of one video and in order to survive in the algorithm waters.
Speaker A:Yep.
Speaker C:And I did that for months.
Speaker C:I was doing two different videos and it was, I stopped.
Speaker C:I ended up just posting my YouTube version on the Rumble, which pisses the Rumble people off.
Speaker C:But I just couldn't.
Speaker C:There's no way.
Speaker C:I like, with a full time job, a full time family, all those things, like I can't film two videos of the same thing.
Speaker C:But one thing I noticed that people do, which I think's odd with Rumble, is it's either YouTube or rumble.
Speaker C:There's no, like, just Rumble's another platform.
Speaker C:It's just like Instagram, like Instagram and YouTube aren't the same.
Speaker C:Twitter and Instagram aren't the same.
Speaker C:Like, they're all different.
Speaker C:Like, use it for what it is.
Speaker C:They have a great live streaming plat.
Speaker C:So it's, it's just another platform to use and it's just another option for us to be able to, to create content and put it out there for people to see and help educate and, and spread awareness and the word of, of the two, a community and all those things.
Speaker C:You know, everything that we're doing.
Speaker B:As a content creator, what has been the most satisfying?
Speaker B:What is that moment where you, you mentioned how you spent all these hours filming.
Speaker B:Where's that moment where you're like, this was so worth it.
Speaker B:This is this touched somebody or did something where you know, I am satisfied with what I've done.
Speaker C:A lot of times that's in the interaction from the people.
Speaker C:When you, when you put a video, you put that time and effort and you're like, man, this is kind of goes both ways of the most exciting, the most degrading and sad when you put the time into you like, this is going to do really well and then it goes out there and then people are like, thank you.
Speaker C:This is so helpful.
Speaker C:This was, this was helpful in my purchase.
Speaker C:And that's always the goal is to help people spend their money in the best way possible.
Speaker C:That way they can be confident in that purchase or they can be confident and not purchasing it because they're like, oh, some of the things he said, I don't really want that.
Speaker C:So that is where like the, well, this is awesome is when you get that reaction and something I've been doing differently too in, in my videos and since being saved fairly recently, being able to share the word, the Word of God and, and, and the Bible and, and, and how to be saved and, and my transition and what's happened to me and that's been incredibly awesome because I didn't know how that was going to do.
Speaker C:You know, I, I did a whole testimonial video and I did a, I'm sharing the, the gospel at the end of my videos and stuff and, and as you're going to get people that are angry with it and they are.
Speaker C:But it's been received pretty well and I've been happy with that.
Speaker C:So seeing that and that to me is guns are awesome.
Speaker C:I love guns.
Speaker C:I love, I love all my content.
Speaker C:But the most important thing I could ever share you is, is the word of God and, and that relationship.
Speaker B:Well said.
Speaker B:As a content creator you get to see a lot of things either firsthand or brand new as before they launch and things like that.
Speaker B:How do you feel the industry is going.
Speaker B:The health of the industry and how, how do you think see it getting better or what can the industry do better to help not only the, the people buying their products but also the new gun owners coming in to the, to the space.
Speaker C:The biggest thing is just continuing to create something new, create something different.
Speaker C:There always is different niches that come in.
Speaker C:Right now it's ported guns, everything's ported.
Speaker C:Like everybody's reporting everything.
Speaker C:It's like holy cow.
Speaker C:But continuing to evolve and change and make something new and get it exciting.
Speaker C:I feel like this year, this year's been slow I think just because of the slump and, and there's just not a lot of people buying and everything.
Speaker C:So there's just had been a ton of innovation this year.
Speaker C:You know, there's only so many times you can show the same AR15.
Speaker C:It's like, oh cool, it's an 15.
Speaker C:Like they're cool, it's something new but like it's very fewer a brand comes out with something like Franklin Armory.
Speaker C:I mean just what they.
Speaker C:I did a social media fast for the last week which I highly recommend you should absolutely do.
Speaker C:It was amazing.
Speaker C:So I come back to social media which was today or last night was last night.
Speaker C:I've seen what they did with the new, the new rifle that's like passes all the ATF's stuff and I need to do more research on it because I haven't dove enough deep into it.
Speaker C:But that's cool.
Speaker C:Like that's exciting.
Speaker C:Like something new, like something they're, they're fighting against what the ATF's doing and trying to find those Gray areas and stuff.
Speaker C:So that's cool.
Speaker C:You know, I think that's where you need to do is, is really find ways to innovate that way.
Speaker C:Another gun that I just did a video on is the goat 15, which was cool.
Speaker C:And it's a really simple product.
Speaker C:It's like a miniaturized AR15, but for me it's super cool because like I have young kids.
Speaker C:I have a six year old, a four year old, a two year old and a newborn coming soon.
Speaker C:And that's cool because it's, it is the platform that you want it to be, but everything's condensed.
Speaker C:So I, My, my six year old can control it really well and then he can practice to go deer hunting and all these things and to get him into other things and help him get into firearms.
Speaker C:But I think that's one of the things you do to help new people as well, is get those kind of firearms out there that help people that can get into guns in a different way.
Speaker B:I am so glad you brought up the goat 15.
Speaker B:For those of you who don't know what he's talking about, Mountain Billy Goat Lab, who was at goals this year, they make a miniaturized AR15.
Speaker B:They got a lot of hate for it originally.
Speaker C:Did they really?
Speaker B:So they were.
Speaker B:If you don't know, I know the story.
Speaker B:They came out at Shot show two, three years ago as the Wii one.
Speaker C:Okay.
Speaker B:And their, their marketing was again, it's a gun marketed to children, marketed for children to shoot.
Speaker B:And they got a lot of hate because of a gut.
Speaker B:Because of the, because people were saying, oh, you're marketing guns to children.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:So they've changed the tough one.
Speaker C:That's a tough marketing platform.
Speaker B:Yeah, they changed their name.
Speaker B:I'm so glad.
Speaker B:They're great friends of ours.
Speaker B:They've done a really good job and I really applaud them trying to get the younger generations into the shooting sports by again doing that smaller compact gun to teach them.
Speaker B:Just like you, you're teaching your children with.
Speaker C:The problem is people take it way too seriously sometimes.
Speaker C:Like if it's not like the most deadly AR15 that can shoot a mile away and, and kill somebody, it's.
Speaker C:They, there's a place for that, obviously, and it's incredibly important.
Speaker C:And one of the most important things is having guns that are incredibly deadly.
Speaker C:And, and you know, some people want to stray away from saying things like that, but you, that's the purpose of fire.
Speaker C:So hopefully that doesn't demonetize this for you guys.
Speaker C:But you know, there's a reason that you have these things is to protect your life, protect your family and to prevent yourself from a government that wants to overthrow you or do whatever they want to do.
Speaker C:And this prevents them from doing some things that they want to do.
Speaker C:But there's also a place for cool guns.
Speaker C:And there's things that are fun and things that help people get into the shooting sports.
Speaker C:There's the, the life card, the credit card gun.
Speaker C:Is it.
Speaker C:Is it something I would use as I could still carry every day?
Speaker C:Absolutely not.
Speaker C:Like, no, that's silly.
Speaker C:But like it has a place.
Speaker C:Like my Glock 45 can't do the things that thing does.
Speaker C:You know, it has a place and sometimes there's just cool guns out there that people just want to try and maybe that gets somebody into firearms.
Speaker B:I think you hit the nail on the head really well.
Speaker B:There is that as a community, sometimes we take ourselves too serious.
Speaker B:Like everything has to have a purpose.
Speaker B:But sometimes it can just be fun.
Speaker C:Exactly.
Speaker B:That's.
Speaker B:That's the problem.
Speaker B:Things can just be fun.
Speaker B:You can have fun guns.
Speaker B:They don't have to always be the cool tactical fast guy go thing.
Speaker B:It can.
Speaker B:It can just be for fun.
Speaker B:I.
Speaker B:What did I.
Speaker B:What was I playing with?
Speaker B:There was something.
Speaker B:I was.
Speaker B:Oh, the, the pen gun.
Speaker B:And unfortunately they.
Speaker B:They've gone out of business.
Speaker C:That sounds cool.
Speaker B:Liberty Manufacturing.
Speaker B:Unfortunately he's.
Speaker B:He's gone out of business.
Speaker B:But it was.
Speaker B:We had him at goals the first year.
Speaker B:Goals.
Speaker B:It was a.
Speaker B:A pen gun.
Speaker B:And he has a book all about the story of how the pen gun was this thing for the OSS and things like that.
Speaker B:Is it practical?
Speaker B:No.
Speaker B:But is it cool as heck?
Speaker C:Yes, it is.
Speaker B:It's so cool.
Speaker B:But.
Speaker B:And that's.
Speaker B:That is something as a community we need to go out and go.
Speaker B:Sometimes things are just cool and fun and you can go out and enjoy yourself.
Speaker B:You don't have to go out and run fast and shoot a subs second build drill and do this and that and just go have fun.
Speaker C:Exactly.
Speaker A:Well, I think it's that element of fun that keeps people training, that keeps people involved and that makes you better and more well rounded as a gun owner.
Speaker A:I think that there is.
Speaker A:I think that there is something that is almost harmful to the movement when all you talk about is the life or death aspect of protecting your family.
Speaker A:That definitely should be top line item.
Speaker A:But if you want to go out on the weekend and just have fun at the range, guess what?
Speaker A:If you're.
Speaker A:If you're practicing good discipline it's okay if you, if you're not always practicing with your concealed carry gun.
Speaker A:As long as you are practicing the fundamentals and getting out there on the range.
Speaker A:I would much rather have a diversity of platforms and, and enjoying your time at the range than going, okay, well it's been six months.
Speaker A:I probably should should go to the range and, and maybe dust off my, my skills a little bit.
Speaker C:Yep.
Speaker C:No, absolutely.
Speaker C:And sometimes that training and when you're having fun is sometimes the best training because you learn the most from it.
Speaker C:You know I will.
Speaker C:We went out the one time and we did like just revolver 10, 22 or 22 revolvers and we were like, oh, let's do some like cowboy action style stuff like because it's cool, we're doing some other actions and stuff and, and as that training wasn't super realistic.
Speaker C:Am I going to carry a western style revolver?
Speaker C:No, but like we had a blast doing it.
Speaker C:It was so much fun.
Speaker C:And, and that's something you can invite people to like, hey, like you're not super comfortable with an Air 15 and like super tactical stuff because now I got my helmet and body armor and everything on and it looks a little intimidating like here, come out here and do this.
Speaker C:And that might also get new people in as well being able to do some more entertaining style shooting.
Speaker B:So I want to ask you something.
Speaker B:You were at Goals how last year, last year, how did, how did you like Goals?
Speaker B:What was your thought of, of the show itself and, and as a content creator, I believe you're the first content creator we've had on since we started Goals.
Speaker B:How did that, how did that go for you and how did the GOA community and membership feel for you at the, at the show?
Speaker C:Goals was incredible.
Speaker C:And I'm not saying that just because you guys eyes.
Speaker C:It was a great show.
Speaker C:I've been to a handful of shows over the last how many years I've been doing this.
Speaker C:Me and my wife actually went together and, and she even mentioned she's like this, this was awesome.
Speaker C:The coolest thing about Goals that I really liked is the media day before that you guys allowed us just to go in and like have that conversation with the companies and like every company I talked to was like this is so awesome because when you go to these bigger shows and like I'm like fighting to talk to Guy and like we're like trying to have a conversation, trying to do an interview, trying to, you know, it's just really difficult.
Speaker C:But with Goals it was the most relaxed chill, shake hands Give hugs, hang out at their boost.
Speaker C:You know, you could spend a little bit longer and actually get to see everybody again and reconnect because, you know, because sometimes it's months before you see these guys.
Speaker C:So Goals was great.
Speaker C:Absolutely loved.
Speaker C:I really like the panel aspect.
Speaker C:That way, if you and your kids are walking through the show and you're like, okay, like, we're done looking at Boost, like, let's go sit on a panel for a little while.
Speaker C:Sit down.
Speaker C:Like, but you're not just sitting down where like some shows you would just sit down and do nothing.
Speaker C:Like, you go and you sit in a panel, you listen to that.
Speaker C:It was cool.
Speaker C:I think you guys did a really, really good job.
Speaker C:I wasn't there this year, unfortunately.
Speaker C:Um, I really wish I could have.
Speaker C:Cause that was.
Speaker C:Me and my wife were talking about events.
Speaker C:Usually we try to only do one a month because if you do more than that, it almost gets too much.
Speaker C:Um, so we try to only travel once a month with that kind of stuff.
Speaker C:And, and it's nice when I can bring my wife to that, you know, some of these events.
Speaker C:I was like, huh, she's not going to want to come to this.
Speaker C:But like, it's really cool when I can bring my family to that stuff.
Speaker C:And I think Goals was one of my favorite, if not my favorite event.
Speaker A:That's awesome.
Speaker A:And I love that you bring your family along.
Speaker A:You know, we pride ourselves at goa being very family friendly.
Speaker A:Yep.
Speaker A:You know, this last year we had doubled our kids zone.
Speaker C:Oh, geez.
Speaker C:That was awesome.
Speaker A:I won't give too many details on what our kid zone is going to look like for our 50th anniversary, but this last time we added laser tag.
Speaker A:And let me tell you something, these kids went crazy over some laser tag.
Speaker C:That would be a blast.
Speaker A:So we're upping our game even more this next year and it's going to be.
Speaker A:It's really fun to see the whole community get involved.
Speaker A:And that's awesome that you bring your family around.
Speaker C:No, and that's the.
Speaker C:One of the worst things about this.
Speaker C:I don't want to.
Speaker C:A profession, I guess, is the traveling.
Speaker C:You travel a lot and I don't.
Speaker C:I don't like being away from my family.
Speaker C:That's.
Speaker C:That is the worst part of going to these events.
Speaker C:Like, I love the events, I love the people, but I cannot stand being away from my family.
Speaker C:So when I can take my family with me, that is so much better.
Speaker C:So it's very cool.
Speaker A:But so do you guys do a lot of Camping or are you like so we.
Speaker C:Not really because where we live.
Speaker C:So we live in the middle of the woods in the middle of nowhere and like we have a campsite there and stuff.
Speaker C:So like we don't really.
Speaker C:Whenever we vacation it's not too like a lot of people go to Kentucky and get like a cabin and stuff.
Speaker C:It's like, well I don't want to just go somewhere else.
Speaker C:That's kind of like my house.
Speaker C:So we usually go to like the beach is like our trips whenever.
Speaker C:So camping at the house stuff.
Speaker C:Absolutely.
Speaker C:But not like trip wise.
Speaker C:We don't do a ton of camping.
Speaker B:As a content creator, you get reached out to by a ton of companies.
Speaker B:When you get reached out to by somebody, how do you look at when it comes to forming a partnership, a collaboration with them?
Speaker B:Is there any expectations?
Speaker B:Things like that just if for transparency sake for the listeners, just how does that work?
Speaker B:That we have a lot of content creators who watch this, you know how does that work to first off build that partnership and collaboration and how do you decide if this is something that's right for me and my audience?
Speaker C:Yeah, that's a super important question and transparency is huge.
Speaker C:And that is another reason when I started this channel is I was like I'm always going to share my relationship with a company and what that looks like and if anybody asks I will tell you like if there's any payments what that looks like, I am happy to share that with you guys.
Speaker C:So it's always different for every company.
Speaker C:I don't do a media kit.
Speaker C:I think it's silly.
Speaker C:Just do one media kit because you work with companies like Smith and Wesson and then you have a company that just brand new and just started the thing.
Speaker C:I'm not going to share that same media kit with them.
Speaker C:So it's always a case by case and when working with a company you're usually looking for me at least I want to build a relationship.
Speaker C:I don't want just a one off thing.
Speaker C:I don't want to just.
Speaker C:My goal isn't to just make a bunch of money and leave.
Speaker C:I won't be in law enforcement and fire Name as a vet was like clearly not my career driven path.
Speaker C:If you make money, it's cool.
Speaker C:That's always obviously a benefit.
Speaker C:I'm never gonna say no to that.
Speaker C:But you have to make money in this.
Speaker C:Obviously that's a.
Speaker C:There's a big disconnect which says something that we can absolutely touch on a little bit later is, is should influencer get paid and everything like that.
Speaker C:But when building that relationship, you know, it's important.
Speaker C:And what I always do is I always do phone conversations or Zoom meetings.
Speaker C:Zoom has been amazing since, since like Covid and being super popular.
Speaker C:Like, I love Zoom because you can at least have a connection with somebody instead of just doing it over email and everything.
Speaker C:Getting to know that company, what they stand for, what the product is and what they're passionate about.
Speaker C:Is it something to care about a lot or is it just another product in their, their list and stuff?
Speaker C:And then obviously there's those bigger companies that are just releasing guns every month and that's awesome as well, because then you just get new guns to show off and everything.
Speaker C:But, um, for me, it's never the same.
Speaker C:There are some companies that pay me.
Speaker C:Whenever there's a payment involved, I always make sure to tell them.
Speaker C:I think that's incredibly important is you're paying for the content to be created.
Speaker C:You're paying for the viewers to see the content.
Speaker C:You're not paying for my opinion.
Speaker C:I can say whatever I want.
Speaker C:I don't.
Speaker C:I have zero contracts with any company that says you have to say specific things.
Speaker C:I have no non competes because I think it'd be incredibly ridiculous for me to sign a non compete.
Speaker C:As a reviewer, I couldn't be honest if I had to not compete with someone.
Speaker C:And I've had multiple brands be like, hey, to show our optics a little bit more, show our gun a little bit more.
Speaker C:No, that's dishonest.
Speaker C:So I don't, I will not sign non compete with anybody.
Speaker C:I don't have a contract with any specific brands.
Speaker C:That's like you're my agent or anything like that.
Speaker C:I'm specific.
Speaker C:I work by myself.
Speaker C:And my, my closet is where I actually work.
Speaker C:And I think that's incredibly important to have that transparency.
Speaker C:And I do that in every video I do is, is this is my relationship, this is how I work with them.
Speaker C:They sent me this, I paid for this.
Speaker C:You know, it's hard to go through the, the financial part of it like, well, they paid me this specific amount.
Speaker C:But it's very important to me that you are not paying for my opinion.
Speaker C:You're only paying for the fact that it takes me 10 to 15 hours, a lot of money and ammo, a lot of time and everything like that.
Speaker C:And you're paying for a viewership, you're paying for that recognization of your product.
Speaker B:Do you think the.
Speaker B:Because I've talked to a lot of YouTubers.
Speaker B:Do you think that the word or the term influencer has this negative connotation behind it because a lot of them like to be called content creators instead.
Speaker B:Do you think that that negative connotation comes from just years of hearing the word influencer and that bad negative press of people who are just paid to say nice things about products or is it just a word that is just thrown around too much?
Speaker C:That's a little bit of both.
Speaker C:I mean I don't like the word influencer.
Speaker C:Don't care if you call me it.
Speaker C:But it is, it is a negative tone to it.
Speaker C:Especially TikTok.
Speaker C:I mean you just, every, every video you scroll is an ad.
Speaker C:It's like okay, okay, that's, you know, you're trying to influence somebody and purchase something so you get commission and get paid for it.
Speaker C:I usually don't do commission stuff.
Speaker C:I don't like discount codes.
Speaker C:I hate doing a video and I will, I mean obviously if I can save my viewers money I'll, I'll share it.
Speaker C:But I hate when people are like this is the coolest product I've ever seen.
Speaker C:Never seen a cooler product use my code.
Speaker C:This is, you know, it's just like so like I don't know, it's just dishonest and I don't like that.
Speaker C:I, I like it, I like that transparency.
Speaker C:And yeah, I don't love the name influencer.
Speaker C:It's just got a weird term but I don't know what else you call it.
Speaker C:Content creator.
Speaker C:Sure.
Speaker C:Absolutely.
Speaker C:Dude that shares his opinion in his closet.
Speaker C:Whatever you want to say.
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Speaker A:All right, so it's time for the segment from the Soapbox, the time where we take a little spicier side of the conversation and go into some hot takes.
Speaker A:So are there any hot takes about content creation, the culture to a community at large that you want to take on this week?
Speaker C:Anything doesn't.
Speaker C:Doesn't matter.
Speaker C:Okay.
Speaker C:You know, absolutely.
Speaker C:I think one of the big ones that's important is that disconnect of should influencers get paid?
Speaker C:You know, should you make money doing this?
Speaker C:And is there, is there dishonesty with that?
Speaker C:Is there, is there your.
Speaker C:Is your opinion swayed because of that?
Speaker C:In my opinion is that you are doing a service.
Speaker C:You, you know, back in the day, YouTube wasn't a job.
Speaker C:It wasn't a career.
Speaker C:You know, people, people just did it for fun.
Speaker C:They just posted videos.
Speaker C:There was no monetization to it.
Speaker C:Everyone, you know, marketing people didn't reach out to people and pay them for this.
Speaker C:I was just like, hey, here's a cool product.
Speaker C:Buy it and then make a video.
Speaker C:Now it is very different.
Speaker C:You know, you're not seeing companies use magazines anymore.
Speaker C:They just give it to influencers.
Speaker C:That's what they do.
Speaker C:They send it to them and they make content creation.
Speaker C:And then, then you have evergreen content that's out there forever.
Speaker C:You should absolutely get paid for what you're doing.
Speaker C:Like, it's like an hourly rate.
Speaker C:You're doing work.
Speaker C:You should be compensated for that.
Speaker C:It's where there's that gray area of are they paying for that opinion?
Speaker C:And is your opinion swayed based off of, well, if I say something negative, they're going to stop paying me, and I don't want that.
Speaker C:And that's difficult.
Speaker C:And, you know, there's no good answer to that, in my opinion, that says, like, well, this is the yes or the no.
Speaker C:You know, you just have to make that opinion based off of who you're watching to make that decision of, okay, this person is clearly getting paid for his opinion or they're being as honest as possible.
Speaker C:I think when you add money, you're always going to have a little bit.
Speaker C:I mean, I, I could try to be as honest as possible, but if I know every month I'm getting paid 1,000, 2,000, 3,000, whatever that number may be a month from this company, it's harder to say negative things about them.
Speaker C:So.
Speaker C:But you, you, you have to audit yourself and Be like, you know, am I doing this for a paycheck?
Speaker C:Am I doing this to get a lot of money?
Speaker C:Or am I doing this to build a viewership?
Speaker C:And that viewership is going to grow you a lot longer than the money is because I've seen a lot of guys do it for the money.
Speaker C:And their, their career ends pretty quick.
Speaker C:The people that do it honestly, and they do it for the right reasons, that, that viewership grows and they grow for the right reason.
Speaker B:Okay, I'm going, I'm going on a rant.
Speaker B:You ready?
Speaker C:Going rogue.
Speaker C:Let's do it.
Speaker B:No, I, I agree.
Speaker B:So there's always that there, you're absolutely, There's a fine line because there's the, there's the payment and do I 100% believe content creators should be paid for their content?
Speaker B:You are creating basically advertisement for the company, be it in review form or in non review form.
Speaker B:But, and I was talking to a good friend of mine and we were talking about the breakdown.
Speaker B:Somebody was sending him a firearm for review.
Speaker B:Wasn't going to get 60 day term.
Speaker B:60 Day limit.
Speaker B:You get it for 60 days, you gotta send it back to us.
Speaker B: worth of ammo,: Speaker B:This that you added up, it came out to like $3,000.
Speaker C:Yep.
Speaker B:They're getting the benefit from the content.
Speaker B:You're getting the benefit.
Speaker B:If YouTube decides to monetize you, you're getting the benefit of pennies, which is nothing.
Speaker C:For Those who believe YouTube, you're making.
Speaker B:Tons of money on YouTube.
Speaker B:You are not.
Speaker B:It is pennies.
Speaker B:There is a fine line though, and it, it can become blurred.
Speaker B:It can become.
Speaker B:Because you don't want to, you never want to sell it.
Speaker B:Because again, this industry, for those of you who want to become content creators, I highly recommend you do it.
Speaker B:Go get in front of it.
Speaker B:I always encourage people to get in front of the camera.
Speaker B:This industry is big but small at the same time.
Speaker B:So you have to be careful about how you word.
Speaker B:And that's the unfortunate part, how you word things.
Speaker B:You can say something negative.
Speaker B:Hey, this is what it is.
Speaker B:There's a, there's a way about, about doing it.
Speaker B:So you can say something negative like, okay, this whiz bang.
Speaker B:It doesn't have this, or it's not that great at this.
Speaker B:But then there's also the positives.
Speaker B:You go into positives.
Speaker B:If you word it in that way, where you just point out the.
Speaker B:The small negatives.
Speaker B:That, to me, you're being honest, you're being truthful, but you're not bashing the company.
Speaker B:If you come out and go, this is the biggest piece of garbage I've ever done in my life because of one thing, that is where I feel like you've crossed the line.
Speaker B:And that's.
Speaker B:That's my personal opinion on that.
Speaker B:And I. I've seen it because working on the manufacturing side, I've seen that you.
Speaker B:You get it really quickly.
Speaker B:And there's no.
Speaker B:I can't give a. I'm not going to give a specific example, but it's like, hey, so and so reached out to me.
Speaker B:Let me go look.
Speaker B:Okay.
Speaker B:They worked with this company.
Speaker B:Let me.
Speaker B:I know that marketing director.
Speaker B:Let me call.
Speaker B:Hey, how did it go with it?
Speaker B:Oh, well, this guy just did this, this, and this and that.
Speaker B:Okay, well, then I don't want to work with him if he's doing this, this, and that.
Speaker B:So that's my high horse.
Speaker B:I will step off my soapbox now.
Speaker C:That's a great point, though.
Speaker C:I mean, you need to do it in a constructive criticism way, because the thing is, there's nothing positive and there's no growth and no benefit to.
Speaker C:If you just go in there, you downgrade a company and downgrade the product.
Speaker C:There was a product recently that I tested, and the gun was cool.
Speaker C:It's a great gun.
Speaker C:It had a lot of nice features, shot incredibly reliably.
Speaker C:Reliably.
Speaker C:But it was slippery, it was slick.
Speaker C:There was no grip to it.
Speaker C:And I talked to the owner.
Speaker C:I was like, hey, this is the.
Speaker C:The issue with it.
Speaker C:Like, it's like, fix these little things.
Speaker C:And he's like, oh, very receptive.
Speaker C:In the video, I also shared that, like, this is the downside.
Speaker C:It's very slippery.
Speaker C:But I want that.
Speaker C:You got to tell your viewers, because if you don't, they're obviously going to buy the gun.
Speaker C:They're like, oh, my goodness, is that at all what he said?
Speaker C:So you got to be honest with that, but you need to be constructive with it.
Speaker C:And then along with that is see what the company does with that.
Speaker C:Are they defensive?
Speaker C:And they're like, well, I'm not going to fix it because we think it's perfect.
Speaker C:Or are they changing?
Speaker C:Because that's something that I've noticed with the gun community.
Speaker C:I don't know if you guys have either is once you hate a company, that company's done, you hate a man, it's over.
Speaker C:But, like, once they get a view on them.
Speaker C:Holy cow.
Speaker C:But if the company then takes that constructive criticism and begins to evolve and change and make those changes, then we should reward that company.
Speaker C:Like, okay, you listened, you made a change.
Speaker C:You can't make a perfect product right off the gate.
Speaker C:Like, let them hear their constructive criticism.
Speaker C:Give them a chance, and then see what they do from there.
Speaker C:Now if they're just like, we don't care.
Speaker C:We're doing whatever we want.
Speaker C:We don't care what you say.
Speaker C:Okay, cool.
Speaker C:Like, do what you got to do, but give the company a little bit of a chance and some grace and then see from there.
Speaker B:See?
Speaker B:And I love how you said that.
Speaker B:And I'm going to give this example because they're good friends of ours.
Speaker B:Ross Martin.
Speaker B:Ross Martin came out with their first gun.
Speaker B:I got to shoot it, play with it.
Speaker B:And Chris, who's the owner over there, and his wife Stephanie, who are amazing people.
Speaker B:I walked up to them after shooting it, and they're like, well, what do you think?
Speaker B:I'm like, okay, do you want my honest opinion, or do you want me to just kiss your butt?
Speaker B:And they're like, no, we want your honest opinion.
Speaker B:I'm like, okay, well.
Speaker B:Gunshot.
Speaker B:Great.
Speaker B:Here's what I would change.
Speaker B:It needs more grip texturing up here.
Speaker B:Needs this, here, needs that.
Speaker B:There just small little things.
Speaker B:Everything else, great.
Speaker B:These are the things I changed.
Speaker B:Very next gun they came out with.
Speaker B:They made the changes, which.
Speaker C:That's incredible.
Speaker C:That's awesome.
Speaker C:Like, they listened, and then, like, then they can adjust from there.
Speaker C:Like, that is.
Speaker C:That's very cool.
Speaker B:And I think there's.
Speaker B:This is.
Speaker B:And this is what I'll say.
Speaker B:There's two.
Speaker B:Two types of gun companies out there.
Speaker B:And not to bash any, but there's two.
Speaker B:There's very distinctly two types of gun companies out there.
Speaker B:There's the gun company who is receptive and wants to listen to you and hear everything out, and then there's the engineer who decided to design something and do it, because the engineer goes, this is perfect.
Speaker B:I designed this.
Speaker B:And then they take it very critically as.
Speaker B:And as for working for the manufacturer when something was a problem, you can't take it personally.
Speaker B:You can't take the criticism.
Speaker B:You have to go, okay, well, this.
Speaker B:If this one person said this, let's see, hear what the other people have to say.
Speaker B:And if it's a repeating thing where it's like, hey, this is what's happening.
Speaker B:Maybe we need to make a change.
Speaker C:Yep.
Speaker B:Now, okay, go ahead.
Speaker B:You can go on your.
Speaker A:I really don't have any, anything to really add.
Speaker A:I think you guys have already said it really well.
Speaker A:I know that I'm, I'm always the, the person in the room that goes, okay, so what about the first time gun owner?
Speaker A:What about the people who don't know anything that are gun curious, that go to YouTube and, and they're the ones that are looking.
Speaker A:And I know because that is my passion is always how do I share the gospel of the Second Amendment as much as possible.
Speaker A:And so I guess for me, my take on this, should the influencers get paid is of course, yes, because it is a job and it is something where they're providing a service.
Speaker A:Do I think that it should be legal to pay somebody for their opinion and say this is the demanded outcome?
Speaker A:No, I don't think that that should be a thing.
Speaker A:Maybe illegal is the wrong word, but I don't think that that should be good operating regardless of what industry you're in.
Speaker A:But I think that the consequences of not having this be a business and seen as a business is how many voices are silenced because let's face it, the economy's tough when you're trying to raise a family, provide all of the needs.
Speaker A:Most people don't have time for a hobby that is not pushing them close, closer to their family's goals.
Speaker A:And I think for a lot of people, having the opportunity to get sponsorships, having the opportunity to get in front of a camera, to put their opinions out there to be monetized, even if it is just pennies as they work towards the brand deal, I think that it has caused more voices to get involved and it has made the Second amendment stronger.
Speaker A:And I think on the whole it's a net benefit.
Speaker A:But I think that just like anything, self regulation is the best thing that we can do when it comes to paying for opinions, when it comes to being honest with, you know, with your viewers on whether or not there is a sponsorship or not.
Speaker A:And then I think that it's also important for self regulation for the companies to say, you know, I'm not going to just ignore everybody who has any constructive criticism to say, I'm actually going to take that and understand that for probably 99% of content creators, they're willing for the best for the Second Amendment community.
Speaker A:They are hungry for innovation and they're a direct reflection of the audience that they represent in many cases.
Speaker B:I have a weird question because I've known other people to do this.
Speaker B:I guess this is the, have you ever gotten a product where it was so Bad that you were like, to not.
Speaker B:Because it can be a big company, a small company.
Speaker B:It was so bad that you were just like, I'm not gonna just be honest with the company.
Speaker B:I can't.
Speaker B:Oh yeah.
Speaker B:I can't post this.
Speaker C:Yes.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker C:And, and the weirdest thing is that they're like, we just want.
Speaker C:It was, it was terrible.
Speaker C:It was off.
Speaker C:They didn't care what you said.
Speaker C:They won the full review.
Speaker C:I was like, I will not.
Speaker C:I'm like, I, I will do it.
Speaker C:But I'm like, this is what I'm gonna say.
Speaker C:I'm like, so if you want that, like it's not gonna be a good review.
Speaker C:Like, I'm totally okay with you saying, like, just don't review it anymore.
Speaker C:Like, if anyone asked me a pit.
Speaker C:Right.
Speaker C:Personally, I'm going to tell you what I think about it.
Speaker C:But like, I totally understand if you don't want this because what would be pretty bad of me if I got right and just slammed it.
Speaker C:It's like I'm going to, I always, if I have an issue, I always go to the company like, listen, here's my issues.
Speaker C:What.
Speaker C:What's going on?
Speaker C:Is this a one off problem or is this like a serious issue?
Speaker C:And I got two of them and the second one was just as bad and I was like, I can't, like, I can't do anything with this.
Speaker C:And, and they were like, we don't care.
Speaker C:Like, just do something.
Speaker C:Like, I'm like, I can't.
Speaker C:This is, it doesn't work.
Speaker C:It doesn't function.
Speaker C:I will never give, I will never tell anybody to buy this.
Speaker C:Like, it's just not good.
Speaker B:Well, and I, that's a, a big thing when it comes to.
Speaker B:There are, there are content creators out there who will get a product and then immediately go bash it because it didn't work or whatever.
Speaker B:The.
Speaker B:And you said something that I, I wanted to really want to touch on is that you reach out to the company and go, hey, this is the problem I'm seeing with this because there are, there are a few times where I've tested products for companies and I go, hey, there's this problem.
Speaker B:I'm letting you know now that this is the problem I seek.
Speaker B:Have you guys had anybody else have this problem or is it a me issue?
Speaker B:Because it could be a me issue.
Speaker C:Yep.
Speaker B:And they go, oh no, send it back.
Speaker B:We'll send you another one.
Speaker B:Or you are.
Speaker B:You've noticed this.
Speaker B:Let me go see this and, and figure out the, the problems.
Speaker B:That is something and then they'll, or they'll just be like, okay, yes, this is a problem.
Speaker B:We know about this problem.
Speaker B:Here's the fix that's coming.
Speaker B:This is what we would like you to say about the fix.
Speaker C:Exactly.
Speaker B:And the people who go out and immediately go bash.
Speaker B:There's also a secondary part to a review that I think is important.
Speaker B:You go, hey, this is the problem.
Speaker B:I ran into it, I sent it to their customer service.
Speaker B:This is how they reacted.
Speaker B:This is the.
Speaker B:And that just goes on because I, I'm gonna say that I think there's three type of YouTube viewers for gun content.
Speaker B:There are the people who are watching the reviews to decide they're gonna buy the product.
Speaker B:There are people who are watching the review because it's a new product and they want to go it.
Speaker B:And then there's the people who are watching the review because they want to justify their purchase.
Speaker A:If you're looking for a one stop shop for all of the parts that you need for your current build, your next build, or to dial in your everyday carry, look no further than Primary Arms.
Speaker A:They are a fantastic supporter of Gun Owners of America.
Speaker A:And for many of us, they are the first place that we stop when we're looking to build our next gun.
Speaker A:So check them out at Primary Arms and you won't be disappointed.
Speaker C:Something that I wanted to touch on too.
Speaker C:And while you're saying that it brought to my attention was, you know, with, with giving grace to that gun company and making sure you're keeping them in check, keeping your influencers in check that you, that you follow.
Speaker C:You know, it's not just the gun company, you know, when I started to grow and fault to me, absolutely.
Speaker C:But at the same time, not fault to the person that this happened to because it's all new.
Speaker C:I influencer ship as a whole is very new.
Speaker C:There's no like case studies on this long term, like, okay, this is good for mental health.
Speaker C:This is, this is this that, you know, this is the reaction they should have.
Speaker C:When I started to get bigger sponsorships, wasn't a thing.
Speaker C:I lost a lot of money the first couple years.
Speaker C:I did this to like sit down conversations with my wife of like, is this like something we should do and good for our family and you know, a lot of, a lot of prayer too involved in that.
Speaker C:You got.
Speaker C:Well, let me back up.
Speaker C:When I started to grow, all of a sudden these sponsorships are coming.
Speaker C:That never happened before.
Speaker C:Holy crap.
Speaker C:People are wanting to pay me, you know, and then I, I went way too far on that.
Speaker C:Side, it was like, holy cow.
Speaker C:Like, I just did three ad reads in one video.
Speaker C:But my viewers, I had some great viewers that were bold enough that put a comment out there, said, whoa, dude, you need to slow down.
Speaker C:This is too much.
Speaker C:And then I reeled it back.
Speaker C:I was like, okay, wow.
Speaker C:Viewers didn't like that.
Speaker C:Like, that was wrong.
Speaker C:Should not have done that.
Speaker C:But that's where you need to keep them in check as well.
Speaker C:And are they making the appropriate changes, or are they just like, we don't care as long as I'm getting paid.
Speaker C:You know, there's some influencers out there that they don't give a crap.
Speaker C:They will say whatever they have to say to get that money.
Speaker C:But, you know, making sure you keep your influencers in check as well, that you follow and do it in a caring way and with constructive criticism as well.
Speaker C:Not just hateful and.
Speaker C:And hurtful.
Speaker C:You know, it can be hurtful.
Speaker C:We're all.
Speaker C:We're all people.
Speaker C:And reading comments sometimes sucks.
Speaker B:But don't read the comments.
Speaker B:Yeah, don't read the comments.
Speaker C:Yeah, no.
Speaker B:And.
Speaker B:And you can tell I.
Speaker B:They will tell you how, you know, if you do too much.
Speaker B:I. I remember for the old company I worked with, somebody was like, there's too many ads on your.
Speaker B:Your videos.
Speaker B:I don't control the YouTube ads.
Speaker B:Unfortunately, I can't control them.
Speaker B:But.
Speaker B:But you can 100 tell who is getting paid for their opinion and who's not.
Speaker B:And the I. I get.
Speaker B:You're getting paid.
Speaker B:You got to get them.
Speaker B:Got to make money off.
Speaker B:This is a.
Speaker B:But just be honest with yourself and honest with the people.
Speaker B:And is this a product that you're truly going to.
Speaker B:That you as a person can 100% rely on?
Speaker B:Because I don't think I could ever do a product review, say, I trust this with my life, and then have somebody, something, God forbid, something happen.
Speaker C:You know, one of the worst things, though, is when you review a product, and it's like, this gun's great.
Speaker C:Like, I love this thing.
Speaker C:And then someone gets one, and, like, it just happens to be a bad one, and they're like, you lied.
Speaker C:It's like, I can't control every gun they make, man.
Speaker C:Like, I had a really good experience with it.
Speaker C:Like, I can't.
Speaker C:I can't help it.
Speaker B:I used to like saying, I have a sample size of one.
Speaker C:Yes, that's a great way to turn.
Speaker C:I have a sample size of one.
Speaker C:And, like, sometimes I try to buy two if I can.
Speaker C:Like, sometimes I just can't.
Speaker C:But Like, I can't.
Speaker C:Like sometimes they handpick them, which I hate that companies do that, but I can't control that like it is unless you just purchase it from a website, which is always an option.
Speaker C:But you know, unfortunately it's hard to buy every single gun that comes out.
Speaker B:Zach, thank you for being on.
Speaker B:As a thank you, I also wanted her gift for our guests brought to you by Palmetto State Armory and AAC Ammo.
Speaker B:So thank you to them.
Speaker C:Thank you guys.
Speaker B:I appreciate getting a gift from Palmetto State Armory and AAC Ammo.
Speaker B:Go ahead and shout out socials where people can find you.
Speaker B:Any closing words for the folks out there?
Speaker C:Yeah, so I don't know which camera to look at, but on all, all different platforms.
Speaker C:So I'm on Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, rumble.
Speaker C:I do live streaming X on Telegram as well.
Speaker C:Unfortunately, a lot of those you have to type out like exactly it like Instagram, it has to be tactical underscore advisor to find you.
Speaker C:But I'm on all different platforms.
Speaker C:So always recommend that if you are new getting into content creation, do every platform you can because you will, you will grow on one and then they'll start to shut you down because they're, they're goofy and their algorithm stinks.
Speaker C:And then you can start focusing on another one and everything.
Speaker C:So I'd love for you guys to check out the channel and everything.
Speaker C:I appreciate that.
Speaker C:And give me some constructive criticism as well.
Speaker C:So I can't, I can't grow as an influencer and change without hearing that.
Speaker C:But I appreciate you guys so much for having me here.
Speaker A:Yes.
Speaker A:Thank you for, for coming out and thank you all for watching this week's episode.
Speaker A: ahead and register for goals: Speaker A:Our 50th anniversary celebration is going to be in des moines, Iowa, August 1st and 2nd.
Speaker A:You will not want to miss it.
Speaker A:Be sure to follow us on State of the Second and Goals at Goals Underscore Con and we will see you in Des Moines, Iowa.
Speaker B:Catch you guys next time.
