Chris is a 4-time Emmy Award-winning broadcaster, he has 95 million views on his YouTube Channel and has co-founded a company (WOO! Tungsten) from $0 to millions of dollars in revenue in 4 years. I wanted to talk to him to get his take on social media. I feel like there are so many “experts” it was great to get somebody who actually has a proven track record and reach. Plus, he’s easy on the eyes so that’s not bad.
MS) You Co-Founded Woo Tungsten to go from 0 to millions. Did it really start at zero? How did you help get it started?
CVV) Yes, believe it or not, we started from scratch and a whole bunch of passion! My business partner Aaron Anders and I absolutely love bass fishing and it’s something we have been doing our entire lives. We saw a huge hole in the industry that wasn’t being filled, so we decided to start WOO! Tungsten to fill that gap. Instagram has been a huge key in helping us to grow the business. Before we even launched our e-commerce store, we created an Instagram account and spent months searching different hashtags related to fishing and liking and commenting on photos, and interacting with people who knew could be potential customers. A few months later when we did officially launch our online store, we already had 10,000 followers and made our first sale within a few hours.
MS) You’re Canadian but live in the states. Given the current world, where do you prefer to stay?
CVV) I am an extremely proud Canadian and was born and raised just outside of Toronto in a town called Pickering, Ontario. My career brought me to the US in 2010 and I feel incredibly grateful for the opportunities that I have been able to explore here. And let’s be honest, the winters in California are slightly warmer than they are in Ontario. Canada will always be my home and I am open to the idea of moving back if it made sense.
MS) You’ve done quite a lot of red carpet work. Will the red carpet come back?
CVV) That’s a great question! I’d like to think that red carpets will definitely come back, it’s just a matter of how long we have to wait until they happen again. If you’ve ever been to a red carpet, it’s pretty chaotic with fans everywhere, dozens of reporters and all of the stars of the movie in one place. It’s the exact opposite of a Covid-friendly situation.
The first red carpet premiere took place in 1922, so I can’t see this nearly century-old tradition going away completely. I would have to think that when the first few red carpet premieres start, that they’ll look a little different for a while with plenty of precautions in place.
MS) Is a Podcast something that can actually be successful financially or is it more of a branding play?
CVV) I think it’s a little bit of both. For the people at the top of the podcasting heap, it can be an extremely lucrative venture. The best thing about podcasting is that anyone can do it. And the worst thing about podcasts is also that anyone can do it. It takes a lot to stand out and be that proverbial needle in the haystack.
Podcasting is definitely a labor of love and you need to go into with a long term game plan because if you expect to become the next Joe Rogan after recording a few episodes, you’re in for a rude awakening. If you focus on making content that you like, then I promise you that other people will like it too and the possibility to earn money from it will eventually follow. It also gives you a platform to be able to have interviews and conversations with people who you otherwise might not be able to spend time with.
MS) A lot of people have an interest in Instagram, but it feels like for purposes of branding only Twitter/FB can actually send traffic, so is IG just more so for branding?
CVV) I feel that every social media app is like learning to speak a different language. Something that works on Twitter may completely bomb on Instagram or a video that crushes on Facebook may not get any traction on YouTube. Each app has its strengths and weaknesses and I think it’s important to create different content for each one. The “share” button on Facebook and the ability to retweet on Twitter definitely have the ability for something to go viral quicker, but I think there’s a reason why the biggest stars on the planet like The Rock or Kim Kardashian still favor Instagram as their app of choice.