Making Media
Episode 7 Driving Content to Commerce
Making Media

Episode 7: Driving Content to Commerce

Making Media

Episode 7

Driving Content to Commerce

Doug DeMuro is a YouTube pioneer and the co-founder of Cars & Bids. We cover the intricacies of YouTube, why Doug insists creators need to graduate off the platform, and TCG's investment in Cars & Bids.

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[00:01:35] - Pre-brief

[00:10:58] - [First question] - How he earned credibility among niche car communities and leveraged it

[00:13:34] - His car review philosophies and why he pays his own way to automaker events

[00:15:56] - How he got into videography and YouTube in the first place

[00:18:31] - Data, algorithms, major platform changes, and his performance on YouTube

[00:19:56] - A major turning point for his business stemming from diversification of content

[00:21:18] - The analytics parameters he pays most attention to and why 

[00:22:15] - How he balances new content ideas and passions with tried-and-true formats

[00:24:13] - His takes on the widespread YouTube criticism by content creators

[00:25:30] - To what extent he communicates with YouTube through his assigned rep

[00:26:22] - A look behind the scenes at his production process (or lack thereof)

[00:28:59] - How he capitalizes on public perception of his authenticity

[00:30:33] - How the YouTube landscape continues to evolve and become more competitive

[00:33:02] - Why he doesn’t focus on branching out onto other social media platforms

[00:34:33] - His view on paid growth and on Chernin Group in regards to growth 

[00:36:54] - How his business sense developed after his channel became a success

[00:40:18] - Going blindly into his new business venture with Cars and Bids

[00:41:42] - The simple marketing strategy for Cars and Bids

[00:42:51] - Challenges in data attribution and analytics on their marketplace

[00:44:01] - Why he still reviews every car that goes up for sale on the site

[00:45:07] - Why he chose to partner with the Chernin Group

[00:49:36] - What his day-to-day operations look like then and now

[00:51:43] - Why underwriting his business appealed to the Chernin Group

[00:53:42] - Advice he might give other creators for diversifying income streams

[00:54:54] - How he managed the transition into running multiple business arms

[00:56:53] - Where he thinks creator-led new media businesses will go in the next ten years

[00:58:43] - His second channel “More Doug DeMuro” as a creative outlet

[01:00:47] - His views on monolithic algorithms

[01:02:42] - De-Brief

Driving Content to Commerce

Introduction

Matt
All right. Welcome back to Making Media. Dom, we are flying high off of our episode last week with Packy. I think it just proves the point. People love a list?

Dom
Yes, the snowball is getting traction and lists never fail.

Matt
Lists and rankings. I think they're the go to when all else fails, if you want to build an audience, just tap into that, auctions, drafts, lists, they are fool-proof plans for content growth.

Dom
Well, I don't want to overdo them because I think it becomes boring. So spoiler alert, we won't be overdoing them.

Matt
They will be sprinkled into the broader mix of content, yes. But this week, I think the episode is particularly awesome because it kind of crystallizes the magic of content creation and what's possible. And there's a really interesting story behind it, which we'll get to. But I want to go back to one of the things that you highlighted from the last episode, which was this really important section in Kevin Kelly's 1,000 True Fans.

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