It's 9AM
Did we talk about VeeFriends?
I’m sure I mentioned it, at least in passing.
Especially around the world of Web 3.0.
I know, I know, a lot of you were/are skeptical about the changes that are coming about.
I am versed enough to remember selling ads in newspapers and mentioning websites to the business owners who made fun of me.
They said people would always shop in person because they wanted the social interaction.
If you take a few moments to consider the changes you’ve seen, and how the world has evolved, then the stuff of the next iteration of the Internet is just another step on a long journey.
Or what we hope is a long journey.
I mean. Putin or Kim or some other idiot could push a button any day, and those of us left in the middle are in for a long cold winter.
Or a tornado could rip through the neighborhood in the dark and level it all.
That almost happened here on March 31, so I give just about anything a 50/50 shot.
Either it will or it won’t.
Yes or No.
And saying yes to web 3.0 sort of opens you up to some new possibilities.
Back on the old baseball team, there was a sixteen year old kid who liked talking to me about a VR business.
He wanted to use a camera like Google Maps, but take it into museums and onto battlefields, so people could visit on their Occulus.
We then added VR simulations to the idea, so people could be immersed in it.
He’s headed to college this year and guess what he plans to study.
Which means I’ve got two years to raise his seed money before he drops out to build it!
Gary V, or Vaynerchuck is the head of a media company that is all in on social media and the future.
When they started talking about NFT’s and the blockchain, he said there would be a lot of failures.
There were.
But he built VeeFriends and pitched it to his big following on all social media platforms.
Buy the NFT at auction and it gets you access to a once a year conference.
He brings in a ton of speakers, and gives attendees time with him too.
Which is his strategy on social.
VeeFriends round one sold out, and he created a couple of more rounds, and showed it all across every one of his social media channels.
It got a ton of attention.
People saying it was stupid.
People saying it wouldn’t work.
That it was a scam.
Words used when I talked about it.
Except…
He ignored all the naysayers and the hate and just kept building.
His original doodles went to auction in NYC and sold for over a million dollars, based on the traditional media attention he was getting.
And he’s made licensing deals for the VeeFriends which included toys in vending machines, images on merchandise AND yesterday, an exclusive Squishmallows line of stuffed animals.
Squishmallows had a billion dollar year and they are hugely popular.
What’s funny to me is he predicted all of this would happen.
He built an intellectual property based on attributes like kindness and empathy, and built a world around that intellectual property.
Next, he plans to evolve into cartoons, movies, TV, and more as he keeps growing the world.
He’s compared it to Marvel or Hanna Barbara.
And he says there are plans for it in VR and on the blockchain with Web 3.0 as people begin to use it more, though he won’t say what exactly that is yet.
It makes me think about the stories I’ve written and the world’s I’ve built.
I can see The Dipole Shield as a TV series.
I can see Beachead as an animated adventure series or a movie.
All 64 books so far, all ready to be exploited in a world I’m still learning about.
And more, which is why I’m working so diligently on Youtube right now.
Yes, you’re getting a ton of free audiobooks every time you click on it.
But guess what’s coming?
Original made for Youtube adventures.
It’s slow right now because most of it is just me.
But as I grow and expand, it includes a team that does most of the work and behind the scenes stuff.
The strategy is sound, the tactics I think will work, and the pleasure, I hope, is all yours.
Because not only will it be audio, it will be print in ebook and paperback, and it will be everywhere all at once.
So if you buy it from me, great.
Buy it from Kobo, or Barnes and Noble or Amazon or get it at the library.
Then you get to see it how you like.
Except in VR because that’s going to be two years down the road when the kid gets done with college!
And yes, I wish it was more, better faster, but that takes two things.
Time or Money.
So if each person on this list goes and gets a $2 book, it speeds up.
Because I can get time back with that, and spread out the to do.
That feels like a fair trade, right?
Grab a book for less than the cost of a cup of coffee AND get a couple of hours of entertainment in the bargain?
Or go to Barnes.
Or go to Kobo.
Or go watch/listen to an audiobook on Youtube.
More clicks tells the algorithm that it’s popular, it shows it to more people, who watch it.
Or upgrade your Substack subscription and get a free book every week and more.
Let’s build something together faster.
Maybe my ambition exceeds my reach.
For now.
But that’s how you grow, I think.
Else what are stars for?
Are you building something?
High Range Revenge - a free wild west audiobook
The Criptid Chronicles
Silent Run - a Full Length Post Apocalyptic Audiobook
What Are 20 Yogi Berra Quotes that Make You Smile (no paywall)
PLUS
Did you see Jack Ryan series yet? Really well done and boosted book sales, which is the circle we talked about above.
Get these free today: