Spencer Scott Pugh

I really miss YouTube. I gave it up for Lent and talked about it here.

But I truly do miss being on the platform, talking with subscribers, watching videos in my free time, and creating helpful content for those looking to make intentional tech purchases.

Luckily, I do have a good amount of sponsored videos lined up for my return and I can't wait to release them into the wild.

BUT

This really has shown me how much of a hold YouTube has on my life and is encouraging me to tread lightly with this passion.

I hope I can place new restraints and limits on my usage both physically and in my mind space when I return to the platform.

God is most important, followed by family, friends, and work. Then comes fun little personal projects like YouTube.

So, as always, I need to keep that list right-side up.

I am thankful and excited to continue creating and making a little extra cash for the family bank account via YouTube.

So, here is to a renewed outlook on a passion. Lent is good. God is good.

#contentcreation #journal #god

I've got a little bone to pick on the subject of affiliate marketing.

As you may or may not know, I work in marketing and advertising for my day job and love the industry.

I also have a YouTube channel which allows me to be at the other end of the affiliate marketing channel.

I have worked with various brands to review and give my opinions on their products.

Most brands start with free product sent, others entertain a paid collaboration, others want the “review unit” back after the content is published. All have some amount of commission percentage off sales through an affiliate link.

I've worked with each of these types of partnerships. I obviously like the free product and paid flat rate with affiliate sales option best.

And, honestly, this should be the only option, especially if the content creator is able to prove a track record of sales off similar partnerships.

The flat rate and commission percentage can and should be negotiated off how each creator performs in moving product.

Now, my least favorite kind of brand to work with is one that is both stingy with their payouts AND basically wants full control over what is said about the product.

The only real reason I can see this being such an issue for a company is because they aren't confident enough in their products.

If a brand needs to know everything you are going to say, how you're going to say it, then ask for edits to be made before the video goes live, that is an absolute pain and completely defeats the purpose of an open and honest review that makes a creator credible to begin with.

Brands need to be confident enough in their products that they are willing to either impress creators with the products alone, or be able to respond to a negative review positively and consider what opinions are given about how they could improve.

I have turned down some brands for this level of control, others I have level-set with, others I've found I can work with if they aren't too controlling of what comes out of my mouth, they just want a grasp of what is going to be done to help ensure the video does well in the market.

I think as a rule of thumb though, if you are a brand considering affiliate marketing, you need to do five simple things:

1. Be confident in your products.
2. Send out free product for the creator to keep or do whatever they want with.
3. Make sure to have a commission platform in place at the very least so the creator can have some equity in the performance of the content. (Flat fees are also a great incentive for better content that you can then also use for any of your own marketing creative needs in the future.)
4. Be smart about which creators you choose to approach. Research their content and personality before reaching out. This way you know relatively what you can expect from the creator when they review your product.
5. Maintain a relationship with and continue to work with creators that make great content and bring in sales.

I don't know why it needs to be any more complicated than this. If you find you are only getting negative reviews of your product, it is reason enough to think things need to change or be improved.

That feedback is invaluable as it is.

Best case scenario, the creators love the product, impress that upon their audiences to bring in more sales, and your brand becomes beloved over time.

Send the product, pay the creator for their work, and adjust when needed.

Okay, rant over.

P.S. In the off-chance you are a brand and want to work with me, check out my channel here: https://www.YouTube.com/@spencerscottpugh and reach out. I'd love to discuss featuring your product on the channel!

#contentcreation

I have a super special date night planned..

It is too expensive and my wife will probably kill me when she finds out the price. But I think it is much needed and I wanted it to be really special because Maria has been going through a lot lately.

As I solidified the details of the date itself and what we will be doing (will probably write about the details another day), I realized something:

The date itself doesn't matter.

Let me explain.

For us, at this point in our lives, we are busy and have a lot of responsibilities when it comes to work, social life, and family.

For any of you who have kids, you will know it truly can take a village to raise a kid. Add in another child (or more) and things get hectic quick.

There are so many little rhythms and habits and ways of doing things that have to be kept up in order for things to run like a well oiled machine in a family unit.

My wife handles most of these things, for which I am truly grateful. I think she would tell you I help quite a bit and I really do prioritize being a dad pretty heavily, but there is no doubt she carries most of the weight.

Especially the mental weight.

She makes sure all the little details and bits and bobs are constantly and consistently being taken care of.

So when I say, the date itself doesn't matter, I mean everything around the date is what matters.

I was talking to my friend, Jonathan, this morning about this very topic.

I told him, we could literally go to Walmart for an hour and it would still be a great date night as long my wife's mind isn't at home with the kids and those various responsibilities that weigh on her daily, hourly.

Therefore, today is a day of preparation for tonight's date.

The date details are all planned and ready, but now comes the more important part:

Making sure child care is taken care of (thank you in-laws!!!!), making sure dinner is planned for the kids, making sure the house is clean, making sure bed times are set up and laid out, making sure the dog is fed, making sure my in-laws have everything they need for it to be easy on them to watch the kids, etc. etc. etc.

These things are what matters because in making sure they are taken care of, my wife's mind can actually be at ease on our date.

Couple that with an awesome, special date activity, and it's sure to be a really nice night... I hope!

I will report back on details of this secret little date and if it all went to plan. I can't wait!

#family

Here's an idea.

Record player Pomodoro timer.

I'm sure you've heard of the Pomodoro productivity technique where you do deep work for 25 minutes, then take a 5 minute break, then back to 25 minutes of deep work.

You repeat this rhythm for your allotted time, until you get the project done, etc.

It allows for a good balance of focus AND rest and I have found it to be super effective.

The average side of a Full LP record is between 22 minutes and 25 minutes depending on the length of the album.

How about putting on an album lightly in the background and working till the music stops, take your five minute break, flip the record and get back at it?

I grabbed my old record player from the basement, dusted it off, and brought it into the office to give this a shot.

Just gotta figure out how to hook up speakers to this thing...

#productivity

This morning as I drove the kids to daycare something simple yet amazing happened.

I glanced into my rear view mirror and asked my daughter, Lina, if she had her water bottle back there in her car seat.

I watched her think for a split second about what I said and simply nod her head.

This sounds simple and mundane and not special whatsoever, but it struck me that this, as simple as it was, was an interaction I would have with a friend, my wife, a colleague – an adult.

However this wasn't a friend, my wife, or a colleague. This was my daughter. Someone I created (with my wife).

I had a very simple, yet very real interaction with something I made.

I talk a lot about how I love making YouTube videos because you go from something that didn't exist to something you can package up and share with the world. Out of nothing, something.

Creation.

But this isn't just some art piece or stereo system or YouTube video. This is a living, breathing human being. That started as nothing and is now something.

How beautiful and gracious that our God allows us to create life much the same way he did?! We get to experience the creation, love, and admiration of our own offspring.

It was just a simple question and an unspoken answer, but it was beautiful. And it made me wonder at all God has done and all he allows us to do.

We have a good, good Father.

#god #family

I have written on this topic before and I have to revisit it.

It really is a simple and perhaps obvious thing, but doing work in a coffee shops is one of the most productive states of work I have found in my life.

There has to be something about the business meetings being conducted and other folks working that gives off a certain energy of get-sh*t-done.

I find that putting on noise cancelling headphones, sitting in a corner and making sure to have a nice coffee next to me gets me into a flow that I just can't seem to find at the office or at home.

Home is full of personal distractions – notably food – and work is full of social distractions – notably coworkers popping in for quick questions or meetings.

Both of these things are great and I love the office environment for the amount of synergy that goes on when working close to others who share a cohesive interest in the work being done, but I think there is just something revitalizing and special about working in an environment where getting tasks done becomes a flow – one thing after another.

I am sat here at Mill Mountain this morning in between meetings and thoroughly enjoying checking off one task after another.

I wonder if anyone else shares this notion with me.

#productivity

I really enjoy work.

Like a lot.

More than work, I just like the work day.

My job allows me a lot of freedom and allows me to be independent and work on my own schedule as long as I am getting my work done.

I am able to take longer lunch breaks or run errands or exercise or work from wherever or work on side projects here and there.

So the work day is a huge time of opportunity and excitement and freedom.

Something I feel a guilty about is the end of the work day.

I don't look forward to it.

That is the time that my kids get home and I switch to full dad mode.

Don't get me wrong I really love my kids and I love hanging out with them, but that time becomes more of a waiting and duty mode – waiting until bed time and doing everything to get the kids ready for the next day, get them fed, and get them ready for bed.

After that, Maria and I just chill together and kick up our feet.

So I look forward to waking up and going to work, then I look forward to our evening chill time, then I look forward to work again.

That sucks.

I think one reason why this is the case is that I don't feel I have enough time in the evenings with the kids to do a whole bunch.

We either 1. sit on the couch and watch kids shows, or 2. play in the playroom. Because the kids get home around 4:30, dinner is around 5, Joel goes to sleep at 6, and Lina goes to sleep around 7.

So what all can we do or where all can we go for a tiny 30 minute or less window?

Not to mention it's currently winter and cold, it gets dark early, and we don't really want to be spending money.

I need to think some more about how I can make these evenings with my kids count. How I can make them more enjoyable for THEM? In doing so, I know they will be more enjoyable for me.

The short of it is I'm selfish, lazy and not content.

But at heart I am a creative person and I need to be more creative and thoughtful about these tiny windows of time I have with my kids because before too long, those windows won't exist as they do now.

Those kids won't be as little as they are now.

And I don't want to miss a thing.

#family

Today I stayed home with Lina. She was up last night puking and into the morning. I didn't take off work, I just watched her closely and kept email and Slack open in case anyone needed to reach me.

It was a bonding day for us. We barely did more than sit on the couch and watch tv but I loved being with her and talking with her and after nap we went on a little walk to the park.

Maria is having a really hard time with her anxiety with all that has been going on but we are hanging in there and leaning into the Lord more and more.

I played Death Stranding more during Lina's nap and I am really really enjoying the game it is just the right amount of relaxing and stressful and I have really just started. The story is so intriguing.

I hope both kiddos can make it to school tomorrow and make it through. I find it highly unlikely that I don't also get this stomach bug. I ALWAYS get what the kids bring home. It sucks but it is what it is and God is good, always.

#family #journal