If you are a casting director currently in need of a vegan for your upcoming show, you probably need to check me out.
I’m a good find for many reasons. Allow me to count the ways. How about 3 for now?
First, I have plenty of on camera experience. Thanks to my YouTube Channel, I am able to advertise my marketable personality on a daily basis. As you can see, I am dynamic, passionate, and yet emotionally intelligent.
Second, I am a male vegan. Most vegans are female. I can present veganism in a new light. For years, I had constant sinusitis, eczema, headaches, acne, and pet allergies. All of those health issues disappeared (and have remained gone) since I became a vegan nearly 3 years ago. What a testimonial, right?
Third, I am engaging. While I have zero interest in pushing my beliefs on others, I have much interest in “vegan apologetics.” In other words, I enjoy educating the general public on their preconceived ideas about vegan.
Yes, I get enough protein. Look at me. I’m not skin and bones. My doctor confirmed last April that I am healthier than most 34 year-olds he’s seen.
No, I’m not secretly hungry. I eat a lot and I’m always full.
No, my food is not disgusting. I love what I eat.
So there you have it. Why wouldn’t you pick me for your show?
I’ve got the experience, the personality, the story, the passion, and the chutzpah.
Then you’re going to set up a phone call with me for tomorrow afternoon.
Next, you’ll call me and realize that I am the real deal.
After that, you’ll set up me up with a Skype interview to show to the network. They’ll pick me after watching the highlights you’ve edited from that interview.
Then, you’ll officially select me for the role of “Token Vegan” for your show.
We both know it’s inevitable. Let’s just go ahead and get to it.
My YouTube channel, simply named Nick Shell, is now under a 1 year contract with BroadBandTV. They reached out to me last week, wanting to recruit me as one of their independent contractors.
Pssstt! A year has passed since this blog post. CLICK HERE for the results!
When you do a Google search on BroadBandTV, here’s what you’ll find:
BBTV is a media & technology company that represents the best YouTube talent in a global multi-platform network (MPN) and creates online video solutions for brands… The company is currently the fastest growing and the second largest multi-channel network worldwide, with head offices in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.
Here’s the simple concept:
They scour the YouTube for talent they think has enough potential to invest in; like me. Once they have me on board, they use their massive network to promote certain videos of mine which they see are relevant to their clients.
BBTV gets a cut of my YouTube revenue, meanwhile they promote my videos on their platforms. It’s a mutual investment.
Obviously, my wife and I did our research on them first. We had to make sure they were legit and that I wasn’t being scammed.
We read every line of the contract and even verified multiple times that there are no “perpetuities” or “annuities”; and that I would maintain all “intellectual property.”
In other words, I will always own my content.
All my songs (including both their lyrics and melodies) are mine. All ideas and characters and stories presented in my videos are mine.
I think this partnership could be the next step I’ve been working towards.
In case you’re unfamiliar, it’s no myth: YouTube really does pay people who have popular YouTube channels. The more people click on the ads on a person’s video, the more revenue that person makes.
Granted, the number of subscribers a person has ultimately determines how much money they make.
I didn’t seriously start making videos until last May. As of last week when I signed the contract with BBTV, I had 130 subscribers and had only made $52.84 total.
That’s not a lot.
However, I had enough going on with my YouTube channel to attract BBTV to reach out to me.
During the official interview, in which they called me from their board room, I asked them what ultimately inspired them to reach out to me.
With a laugh, one of the men told me that a friend of his told him about one of my “receding hairline videos.”
Once he arrived at my YouTube channel, he saw that I publish a couple new videos a day; consisting of not only my “hair” videos, as well as random “deep thought of the day” videos, but also all original series including “Jack-Man” as well as “Uncle Nick’s Enchanted Forest.”
My plan worked: Grow a core audience by acknowledging myself that many of us men have private insecurities in regards to having a receding hairline. From there, as subscribers grow on my channel, I also mix in my other series which truly display my acting and musical talents.
I’m curious to see where this partnership takes me in a year. The way I figure, if I keep doing what I do and BBTV keeps doing what they do, there’s a pretty good chance I’ll finally capture the attention of a major studio work.
And that point, my goal is to have my own children’s show.
I’ve always wanted to be a writer and an actor, but do I fundamentally believe in keeping things “G rated” for myself on camera.
Having my own kids’ show, in which I have some creative control over, would allow me to exercise my talents without having to worry about profanity or innuendos.
If this partnership isn’t what it’s cracked up to be, then I’ll know in a year. I just feel that having only earned $52.84 since I started, and I haven’t even been cashed that out yet… I’m not really losing anything if it doesn’t work out.
I am feeling really good about this. I have been praying for God to increase my responsibilities based on my talents and for me to find ways to do that.
To me, it’s not a coincidence this happened.
Let’s just see what happens in a year.
Pssstt! A year has passed since this blog post. CLICK HERE for the results!
The answer is simply no. Whatever it is, you shouldn’t be offended by it.
Because you can choose to be more intelligent and psychologically stronger by making the decision to not be offended.
There’s no question that in an age of social media serving us in the likeness of Big Brother, word travels quickly and even makes national headlines when someone or some group out there gets offended by something.
Some of these cases seem more legitimate than others, of course.
But my challenge to you is that whatever the offense, choose to not be offended.
Here’s why.
I am a believer in choosing to be victorious.
(After all, that’s literally how my name translates. Nicholas is Greek for victorious.)
My observation is that if you don’t proactively choose to adopt a “victorious mindset,” you by default fall in danger of having a “victim mentality”.
I can choose to be on top of this thing, psychologically.
Or, I can choose to allow someone else to “do me wrong.”
If I believe that the entire free world has the ability to offend me (or for lack of a better term, “hurt my feelings”), then I am fair game to constantly being a victim.
But if up front, each and every day, I decide that no one has the ability to offend me, then I instead place myself in a position where being offended by someone else is always one less thing I can worry about that day.
My observation is that most of the time, people aren’t intentionally trying to offend each other.
And even if they are, that simply reflects the offender’s own character.
I’ve learned the best thing to do when someone says something seemingly offensive, whether they are outright intending to offend or not, is to simply acknowledge what they are saying, with confidence and a smile, but no sarcasm nor biting remarks.
In the past year alone…
-Taller men than me have pointed out that I am shorter than they are.
-Men with lower hairlines and no thinning spots at the back of their head have pointed out that my hairline is higher and that my hair is thinner in the back.
-Smaller nosed men have pointed out my nose is bigger.
Consider those things. Other grown men have taken time and energy out of their day to point out perceived imperfections about me.
What does that say about their own level of confidence?
More importantly, what does it say about my level of confidence when I am quick to respond that I indeed am shorter, have thinner hair, and a bigger nose than those who are pointing it out?
I simply own up to their perception.
What does it hurt me?
I go on with my day. And they realize that their lack of self-confidence was unable to bring down my level of self-confidence, which ironically is something they don’t have.
After that, this letter will then be going out to the all the casting agencies and directors for all the major children’s (and family) television networks; including PBS, Nickelodeon, Disney, TLC, Animal Planet, and The Discovery Channel.
Dear [casting agencies for television studios of major networks that feature children’s programming],
I believe you may be interested in meeting me. I think I can solve your problem in that I am who you are looking for if you are currently in need of a children’s television host.
However, please do not take my word for it…
Instead, simply watch me at work. My passion is creating original content to entertain children; as I have a 5 year-old son, as well as a daughter due to be born in April.
Just watch this quick webisode of my newest web series, Uncle Nick’s Enchanted Forest. Everything you see here is original content. I write, produce, and direct my shows; as well as serve as the protagonist and voices to the animal characters:
I write and perform my own songs, just like the beloved Mr. Fred Rogers did. I play both guitar and harmonica; and obviously sing.
You will see how I simply engage children in nostalgic ways, similar to that beloved uncle everyone has.
To further showcase my acting and production skills, as well as my musical talent and over all creativity, I also ask you to watch a short webisode of my other original web series, Jack-Man; which is a sci-fi super hero show starring my son and me.
In this series, you will see my acting skills as a villain; not just simply the kind and warm “Uncle Nick” character I play on my other series. Again, I created all of this content from scratch, including the lyrics, music, and performance of the songs.
Also, I already have a following on my website, Family Friendly Daddy Blog; where I maintain a minimum of 15,000 views per month. (For 3 years, I had previously served as the official daddy blogger for Parents.com; the website for the legendary Parents magazine.)
Thank you so much for your time and consideration today. Even if I never hear back from you, please know I will continue creating original content to entertain and engage children in the YouTube world; knowing that one day I will get my big break.
Last night I finished the 1989 movie, Back to the Future Part 2, which takes place in the future: October 2015.
I suppose now that I’m officially living in the future, it’s quite appropriate that I announce that as of last night at 9:01 PM, I am now a smart phone owner.
That makes me the last cool person you know to finally get a smart phone.
At this point, who do you know who doesn’t have one? I literally don’t know anyone in my social circle who doesn’t have a smart phone.
In fact, it’s not unheard of here in the Nashville area to see a homeless man selling newspapers to people stopped at the red lights, but then to see him check his smart phone during the green lights when the cars are no longer stopped in front of him.
I’m not sure how that all works out, but obviously, it only proves how counter-cultural my own lack of a smart phone has made me up until now.
Here’s the truth: I kind of hate smart phones. Actually, if it were up to me (it’s not- it’s up to my wife), I wouldn’t own a cell phone at all.
Sure, it’s ironic that a blogger with a YouTube channel doesn’t like the idea of always being “connected and plugged in”.
It’s just that I refuse to become another cliché who looks down at my phone to acknowledge another Facebook “like” while you are trying to talk to me, face to face in real time. It’s perhaps my rebellion of that cliche that keeps from wanting to be so connected and plugged in.
After all, a guy I recently met at Whole Foods, Jarrid Wilson, did a blog post that went viral; which addresses this social issue: “Why I Am Getting a Divorce in 2014.”
He’s actually talking about “divorcing” his smart phone.
See, that’s the whole point. I despise the concept of naturally and gradually disconnecting from real life via a smart phone, allowing myself to believe the illusion that what’s going on in my Facebook feed is more important than my family right in front of me.
It reminds me of the 1980 Genesis song, “Turn It on Again”. The protagonist of the song watches TV so much that he begins to get lonely when the characters of his favorite shows aren’t on. I see a parallel with people who constantly check and update social media, via their smart phones:
“I can show you some of the people in my life
It’s driving me mad just another way of passing the day
I, I get so lonely when she’s not there
Turn it on, turn it on, turn it on again
Turn it on, turn it on, turn it on again
I can see another face”
Someone on my Facebook page for Family Friendly Daddy Blog immediately asked me last night, after I posted my 1st official Instagram post (featured below), what made me decide to finally get a smart phone.
Here’s my answer:
After being with Verizon for at least a dozen years, things finally got to the point with where they no longer offered incentives to faithful customers like me to stay; customers who always paid on time; no more free phones, for sure. Those days are gone.
I even walked in to my Verizon store to calmly explain I would be leaving them if they couldn’t provide me a free “dumb phone” to keep my budget the same; since I was nearing the end of my latest 2 year contract.
Verizon sincerely yet simply apologized they could not. I tried.
This time around, it was going to cost just as much to have “regular service” with them, as it would to finally just get a smart phone.
So now my wife and I are with a hilariously named service provider called Puppy Wireless; which is basically a 3rd party that uses Verizon’s towers.
Here’s the one and only part of being a smart phone owner that excites me:
There’s a good chance I can grow my “blog business” because of it.
I now have access to Instagram, which means I am more attractive to Acorn, an influence company I have worked with a little on the side.
For example, I did a project for them earlier in the summer in which I promoted the mobile app game, Best Fiends, by featuring the product in a Jack-Man video I made, in lieu of an Instagram post.
With my Instagram account @nickshellwrites, which is the same as my Twitter handle, I am pretty sure I will find myself with a much steadier stream of blogging gigs through Acorn, which pays me to advertise for their clients.
Also with that in the pipeline, my YouTube channel has finally begun to start making me some money. Plus, in the near future, I will be featuring ads on my blog for Beacon Ads; a Christian company who found my “family friendly” daddy blog to be appropriate for their advertisers.
Over this next year, I am going to really be making a much more conscious effort to make my blog more of a business; not just a hobby.
And as much as I don’t want to admit it, a smart phone can be a great tool to help make that happen.
One of the main reasons I refused to get a smart phone all this time is because I refused to change my budget over it. But if I can make up the financial loss of having to pay for a data plan, not to mention my phone, I suppose it’s worth it if it also leads to me actually making money.
I am a bitter, cheap, old man. I just happen to only be 34 years old.
Sure, I have a smart phone now… but that doesn’t mean I have to be happy about it.
Family Friendly Daddy Blog 