#18: Content overload and Holy Goldin
š Hello, Iām Brett from the Stacking Slabs Podcast and welcome you each Hey week to my newsletter the Weekly Rip. The goal of this newsletter is to elevate the people who make the Hobby better.
Howās it going?Ā
This is the 18th edition of the Weekly Rip Newsletter. I love the number 18.
Itās the number of my favorite athleteĀ to ever lace them up. Itās the number of the one player that made my jaw drop to the floor, brought me tears of joy and happiness, and a guy that I admire.Ā
I canāt wait for Peyton Manningās enshrinement into the National Football Hall of Fame later this year. Hopefully, Iāll be there. I think I owe that to him and owe it to my fandom.
Itās hard to erase all of those memories that he has given me over the years. Hereās just a few that stand out in my mind:
The TD pass to Brandon Stokely in the RCA Dome to eclipse 49 TDs - the single season record for that timeĀ
2003 come back out of nowhere on Monday Night Football in Tampa
6 TDs in one half on Thanksgiving against DetroitĀ
The miraculous AFC Championship win against Tom Brady and the New England PatriotsĀ
Super Bowl XLI
The list could go on forever. You add his historic run in Denver and the list never stops.
Thatās what happens when you have a Hall of Fame career. You touch the hearts and minds of passionate fans like me. These memories and moments of nostalgia allow us to escape from the trivial nature of day to day life. These moments give us a jolt of happiness to the brain when we need it most.
This introduction is a tribute to Peyton Manning, but also a tribute to my evolution in the Hobby.Ā
This evolution has allowed me to demand certain expectations from the cards that I acquire.
Itās not just a monetary thing. Itās a forever thing.
Associating your collecting with players, teams, and moments that shape your fandom is unstoppable. The more that I have done this the more that I am assured that I will never leave this Hobby that we all love. Thereās more on this on todayās episode of SSP with Josh and Chris from Card Ladder.
There are so many distractions with sports cards. Iāve fallen victim to many of them.
My advice to you, the reader of the Weekly Rip is to zoom out and reflect on those players throughout your life who have made similar impacts on you like Peyton has on me.
Dedicate some time thinking about this and then spend time researching cards.
I promise you that it will rejuvenate your interest if you are in a slump.
Find the nostalgia and go all-time.
On with the damn newsletterā¦.
š¤¢Content Overload?
Iāll preface this section by letting you know that I am not calling out any specific content creator or platform. Whenever I talk about ābad contentā or ācontent that isnāt unhelpfulā I always get inundated by several messages from people wanting me to provide the āwhoā behind the āwhatā.Ā
Curiosity is amazing. It is one of the most important assets for strong operating in the Hobby. I donāt want to put the spotlight on creators that I donāt align with because:Ā
Any promotion is good promotionĀ
Although the content might not be for me others might find valueĀ
Also, I was messaging with a good buddy about this topic and he reminded me of a fantastic quote from Eleanor Roosevelt:
Great minds discuss ideas
Average minds discuss eventsĀ
Small minds discuss people
Now that is over I want to address a potential theme of content overload in sports cards. Also, I want to make it clear that I create content for a living (I donāt get paid for SSP) and I am building a company currently that is solving big problems in the content marketing space. My process is to delegate to subject matter experts in specific areas of the Hobby that I do not have authority to speak on and double down on areas of the Hobby where I believe that I am in the top percentage of people who understand a topic - because of a decade + of experience in working in the content space I can say that I have authority on this topic that I believe can be valuable for anyone who reads, listens, or watches what I have to say about it.Ā
The Hobby went from very few content producers to hundreds of creators in a 12 month span. I was a contributor to the influx of content that was quickly filling up podcast feeds, YouTube subscriptions, and social accounts. There was a need and desire by participants for content and creators came to the plate to deliver. The problem isnāt with the volume of people who are labeled as Hobby Content Creators. The problem is the substance for which many of these channels are producing on a regular basis.Ā
First, just because I donāt consume specific content and have decided that itās not content for me does not mean that I donāt think there is a place for it within our ecosystem. There are different flavors of the sports card market and for each of those flavors there should be content that is created to serve those needs. Thereās content about collecting, breaking, sharing best practices, investing, and the list goes on and on and on. I am an advocate for further segmentation of content in our Hobby based on interests and desire. The one to many approach is for the birds and provides no real value to consumers.
The intention of content marketing is to generate interest and educate. The problem with some of the content that hits my radar is that it leans too heavily on self-interest and replaces education with manipulation. I study and execute go-to-market motions for a living. I can see right through manipulative content processes:
Hereās an example:Ā
We are going to pay or optimize for specific card related search terms to show up first in the ranking when new people come in and are interested in coming back to the Hobby
We have created a sales funnel where we are going to use shitty content that is baseless to push you through our processĀ
We are going to produce content about making money off of reactionary picks that we deliver to you through affiliate links in eBay where we get commission on the back endĀ
We are going to get you to buy our productĀ or service
I am seeing more and more people and companies running the digital marketing playbook from 5 years ago in our industry to profit off the uneducated. Thatās where I have a problem. Itās preying on new entrants. Itās marketing for your advantage and not the advantage of the audience that you allegedly are supposed to serve.
Making money and profit off of sports cards is a big driving force of the Hobby. It all gets twisted when creators use manipulative tactics to profit off of people who havenāt had the time to fully understand the game and how to succeed in the Hobby.
Ever heard of churn?
Churn is when people come in the top of the funnel, become a customer, and then end up leaving because they have had such a shitty experience with your brand. Thereās been a lot of churn over the past year. People talk about the market expansion. More people should talk about the retraction. I canāt even begin to tell you the number of people who were here 6 months ago who are nowhere to be found now.
I am a content creator and I have had it.Ā
The vultures are eating scraps right now as the market has come back to reasonable. Have you noticed?
Platforms that lack creativity, donāt provide value, and pursue profit over passion will fail. It might not seem like it, but all shitty things come to an end. These platforms arenāt protecting their reputation and brand...their most important asset.
We are on a content overload in the Hobby and if you are listening and reading my stuff I want to say thank you. We canāt save everyone, but we can educate people who are re-entering the Hobby and make sure they donāt fall victim to the same traps.
Be aware. Be vigilant. Do whatever you can to help out others.Ā
You might not have a show, but if you have a mini computer in your pocket and use social media you are a creator.
We need your voice.
Share your ideas and help this Hobby grow.Ā
š¤Another Amazing Acquisition
I was finishing up my post lunch walk and decided to pull up my Instagram. The first piece of content in my feed was a video from Ken Goldin. This isnāt unusual. Ken understands that Instagram is where his audience lives and we all know he likes to go live to communicate whatās on his mind.
I was getting ready to watch the video and then I read the copy of his post:
This is the most exciting news of my career š. Weāre proud to announce that @goldinauctions has been acquired by Collectors Holdings. Together, we push The Hobby to new heights!
Wow!Ā
The same group that acquired PSA has now purchased the most prestigious auction house that we have in the sports cards market. You can watch the video to listen to Kenās thoughts. I highly recommend you do that if you have not already done so.Ā
Typically, I need some time to collect my thoughts and share thorough feedback on what I believe this means and as I finish up this newsletter I am only a couple hours removed from the news.Ā
Iāll give you, the reader a couple quick thoughts:Ā
The confidence in the sports cards industry is greater than ever and the addition of new technology to support the growing infrastructure is criticalĀ
The exposure that this acquisition will bring to the sports cards market is vast - more eyeballs globally will lead to more interest for the sports cards we hold
As with everything there will be plenty of people with hot takes and uninformed opinions on the fall out of this news. Make sure you listen to the sources for facts and try to educate yourself on the groups of people responsible for making this massive deal happen.Ā
I ask you two things in closing:
Do whatever you can to use your skills to give back to the Hobby - we need it more than ever
Please share this newsletter with whoever you think can benefit