Useful Not Famous

MAVEN
  • 5.0 (2)
  • ENTREPRENEURSHIP
  • UPDATED WEEKLY

If your goal is to make more money, you're in the right place. We've built our careers on being useful to some of your favorite creators, while staying widely unknown to the public. Leave a message to be featured on the show! https://call.show/usefulnotfamous If usefulness, not fame, is the precursor to revenue, why do so many people seek fame first? Assumptions. They assume that big fame equals big money. They assume that big views equals big wallets. That couldn't be further from the truth. While everyone else is chasing fame, we're here to show you how being useful is the "shortcut" to build the life of your dreams. Useful Not Famous is the podcast for people who care more about revenue than ego. Hosted by Jeff Sarris and Amara Andrew.

  1. 17H AGO

    500K Followers. $323 a Month.

    Half a million followers. $323 a month. That's the average. In this episode, we break down why fame is one of the worst goals you can chase — and why the people getting rich aren't the ones you see on your feed. They're the ones solving hard problems you'll never hear about. We get into:• Why the right tools in the wrong hands are worthless• The "aspiring entrepreneur" trap (and how to escape it)• Why your phone is enough to start — and proof from creators doing it• The real reason famous people spiral while engineers thrive• What a study of nuns' brains taught us about staying sharp• Why hiding behind the camera is killing your content• How constraints (not gear) actually make you better If you've been waiting for the right setup, the right camera, the right moment — this one's for you. Stop buying. Start making. Leave us a voicemail to be featured on the show: call.show/usefulnotfamous Chapters (00:00) - The right tools in the wrong hands (01:15) - We built a call-in platform (call.show) (03:30) - Infinite tools, zero skill (05:45) - Why "aspiring entrepreneur" is a trap (07:20) - 500K followers, $323/month (09:40) - Hiding behind the camera kills content (12:15) - Wrong tools, right hands beats the opposite (14:30) - The gear is the easy part (17:00) - Why most people get stuck on the wrong problem (19:45) - The nun study and why you need other people (23:00) - Why famous people spiral and engineers don't ---Useful Not Famous is the podcast for people who care more about making money than getting likes and subscribers. Join our useful family at usefulnotfamous.com to get one actionable tip delivered to your inbox every Monday morning. Follow us! Jeff Sarris | Amara Andrew Support the ShowReadwise is the way to get the most out of what you read and is the only subscription that we find so valuable that we can imagine keeping it until the end of time.  Sign up for Readwise using our special link, readwise.io/maven/, and get 60 days free!

    32 min

  2. APR 20

    You failed because you chased "what" instead of "when"

    Change doesn't fail because you're too early. It almost always fails because you're too late. In this episode, we explain why chasing views, followers, and “fame” won’t pay the bills without a real business behind it, and how to flip the whole game by becoming genuinely useful to a specific group of people. We break down usefulness as a chain (audience → business owners → advertisers/customers), why we evolve offerings instead of constantly restarting, and how patience beats high-risk hype. We also share a real hyperlocal case study: two simple videos helped a brand-new coffee shop with no marketing open to a slammed weekend and why that only works when the product is actually good. If you don’t feel useful, it’s time to change...before it’s too late. Chapters (00:00) - Change Too Late (00:05) - Meet The Hosts (00:36) - Useful Not Famous (01:22) - Fame Vs Business (04:37) - Define Being Useful (07:07) - Change And Trends (08:41) - Evolving Revenue Mix (11:47) - Sunk Cost Trap (14:27) - Low Risk Long Game (17:55) - Patience And Passion (20:42) - Make Them Feel Something (21:06) - Every Post Is Marketing (21:30) - Be Useful With Content (22:12) - New Coffee Shop Pivot (23:09) - The Bold DM Ask (23:55) - Not An Imposition (25:38) - Hyperlocal Reach Proof (27:11) - Opening Day Chaos (30:34) - Turning Crowds Into Regulars (33:20) - Usefulness Connects Everyone (34:04) - Passion And Sustainability (35:48) - Final Call To Change ---Useful Not Famous is the podcast for people who care more about making money than getting likes and subscribers. Join our useful family at usefulnotfamous.com to get one actionable tip delivered to your inbox every Monday morning. Follow us! Jeff Sarris | Amara Andrew Support the ShowReadwise is the way to get the most out of what you read and is the only subscription that we find so valuable that we can imagine keeping it until the end of time.  Sign up for Readwise using our special link, readwise.io/maven/, and get 60 days free!

    36 min

  3. APR 13

    Forget "work smarter not harder" Do this

    "Work smarter, not harder" is comforting advice—until you realize it's also a complete lie. Your competitors are doing both: using AI to sprint through research, production, and decision-making while everyone else scrolls. This week, we break down why tools like Grok and Claude can compress hours of work into mere seconds (if you know how to prompt well), why offloading your thinking is the fastest way to lose your edge, and how a single search can reveal what's completely hidden from Google. Finally, we tackle the quiet mistake draining most small businesses: treating platforms like separate worlds. In an interest-graph, algorithm-driven world where 75–85% of views come from non-followers, the smartest move is to cross-post everywhere, ignore vanity metrics, keep personal and business accounts separate, and let the audience, not your assumptions, decide what hits. Chapters (00:00) - Smarter And Harder (01:16) - AI Output Trap (03:27) - Daily AI Workflow (05:41) - Research Story Grok (09:37) - Skills Still Matter (11:55) - Cross Post Everywhere (15:17) - Vanity Metrics Myth (16:00) - Hyperlocal Growth Example (17:16) - Algorithms And Discovery (20:15) - Train Your Algorithm (20:55) - Personal vs Business Accounts (22:32) - Personality With Relevance (24:21) - Non Followers Drive Views (25:09) - Hashtags For Discovery (27:16) - Post Everywhere Strategy (28:32) - Monetize Across Platforms (31:30) - Teams Behind Big Creators (34:07) - Small Business Content Efficiency (37:00) - Final Posting Hacks Wrap ---Useful Not Famous is the podcast for people who care more about making money than getting likes and subscribers. Join our useful family at usefulnotfamous.com to get one actionable tip delivered to your inbox every Monday morning. Follow us! Jeff Sarris | Amara Andrew Support the ShowReadwise is the way to get the most out of what you read and is the only subscription that we find so valuable that we can imagine keeping it until the end of time.  Sign up for Readwise using our special link, readwise.io/maven/, and get 60 days free!

    38 min

  4. APR 6

    Small problems ruin your happiness

    Most people are stuck solving the wrong problems. They obsess over pixel-perfect website tweaks, compare follower counts, and replay awkward conversations in their head while the questions that actually move the needle go unanswered. What are you building? Who is it for? Why does it matter? In this episode, we break down why small problems shrink your life and how choosing bigger, harder problems is the fastest path to growth in business and personally. We dig into the "pick your battles" framework, why the interest graph has made followers nearly irrelevant, and the real math behind creator income. One YouTuber made $1.2M from a single video while a TikToker with 1.4M followers and 360M views couldn't cover rent. If you want to be useful, not just famous, this one's for you.Topics covered: vanity metrics, interest graph vs. follower graph, AI search, hyperlocal platforms, timeless marketing, and what it means to be a student of the craft. Chapters (00:00) - Small Problems, Small Life (00:35) - What Counts as Small (02:18) - The Vanity Metrics Trap (04:10) - Small Stuff in Your Personal Life (06:17) - Pick Your Battles (09:13) - The Reset Button of Social Media (15:02) - Why the Interest Graph Wins (15:41) - Being Useful Pays (16:10) - AI Search Finds You (18:02) - TikTok vs. YouTube Money (18:40) - Fame vs. Freedom (19:02) - The Million-Dollar Video (19:50) - 1.4M Followers, Can't Make Rent (21:27) - In Service of What? (22:09) - The Hyperlocal Platform Model (23:09) - Who Should Do Marketing? (25:32) - Timeless Marketing Tactics (26:28) - Students of the Craft (33:18) - Big Problems Worth Solving (35:11) - Wrap Up ---Useful Not Famous is the podcast for people who care more about making money than getting likes and subscribers. Join our useful family at usefulnotfamous.com to get one actionable tip delivered to your inbox every Monday morning. Follow us! Jeff Sarris | Amara Andrew Support the ShowReadwise is the way to get the most out of what you read and is the only subscription that we find so valuable that we can imagine keeping it until the end of time.  Sign up for Readwise using our special link, readwise.io/maven/, and get 60 days free!

    36 min

  5. MAR 30

    Certainty or success, you can only have one

    You crave certainty, yet that need is precisely what's holding you back. This week, we talk about why building trust with a personal brand, going hyperlocal, and creating real-life experiences people want to talk about are the only left ways to thrive in the AI future that's rapidly approaching. Chapters (00:00) - Certainty Quote (00:05) - Engagement (00:28) - Why We Disappeared (01:56) - Plane Germs And Stress (02:49) - Recovery And Reset (05:03) - Certainty And Growth (05:31) - Readwise And Procreate (06:29) - Stepping Stones Mindset (08:59) - Artists And AI Fear (14:50) - Jobs Change Over Time (18:29) - AI Tools And Small Teams (21:05) - App Gold Rush Reality (22:36) - AI Tools Need Skill (23:00) - Why AI Editing Lags (24:26) - Sora Shutdown Story (25:15) - Claude Runs Your Mac (29:08) - Entrepreneur Window Now (31:08) - Personal Brand Survival (35:52) - Hyperlocal Media Strategy (37:59) - In Person Experiences Win (39:23) - Miami Yogurt Viral Play (43:17) - Wrap Up And Plug ---Useful Not Famous is the podcast for people who care more about making money than getting likes and subscribers. Join our useful family at usefulnotfamous.com to get one actionable tip delivered to your inbox every Monday morning. Follow us! Jeff Sarris | Amara Andrew Support the ShowReadwise is the way to get the most out of what you read and is the only subscription that we find so valuable that we can imagine keeping it until the end of time.  Sign up for Readwise using our special link, readwise.io/maven/, and get 60 days free!

    44 min

  6. MAR 3

    Were we wrong about mindset? (PLUS, the proposal story!)

    We’re engaged! But before we share that story, we talk about pronoia (the opposite of paranoia), choosing to believe the universe is working in your favor. And how that simple shift changes what you notice, how you feel, and how you perform. We also talk about a gratitude practice that’s not a reaction (“grateful for”), but surprisingly far more effective. Plus, a wiener dog joins the show mid-episode! So many kind strangers have randomly taken our photo and shared them with us over the past ten years. See them all here! See our engagement photos on Instagram! 00:00 Pronoia Mindset Shift02:10 From Funk to Optimism04:56 Belief Creates Results06:00 Nickelback and Perspective07:33 Body Image Reframe09:54 Gratitude as a Practice10:52 A wiener dog joins us!14:48 Strangers Taking Photos18:59 Miami Beach Setup19:28 Beach Stranger Approaches20:19 Unexpected Photo Offer21:06 Birthday Dinner Cover Plan23:06 Staged Photo Setup24:06 The Proposal Moment25:43 Ring Details and Reactions26:29 From No Marriage to Yes28:01 Keeping Surprises Secret29:28 Miami Favorites and Friends32:07 Pronoia and Gratitude Mindset34:55 Back to Work and Opportunity35:41 Wrap Up --- Useful Not Famous is the podcast for people who care more about making money than getting likes and subscribers. Join our useful family at usefulnotfamous.com to get one actionable tip delivered to your inbox every Monday morning. Follow us! Jeff Sarris | Amara Andrew Support the ShowReadwise is the way to get the most out of what you read and is the only subscription that we find so valuable that we can imagine keeping it until the end of time.  Sign up for Readwise using our special link, readwise.io/maven/, and get 60 days free!

    37 min

  7. FEB 23

    AI will replace you (unless you do this)

    If you think being adept at shortcuts will make you indispensable in an AI world, think again. Mastery takes time, practice, and, like Steph Curry who shoots 500 shots every single day, lots of reps. The best results come from action, learning, and exploring the stepping stones right in front of you. That also means choosing better inputs: books, high-level conversations, and real proof of skill, not endless scrolling. In a world full of AI, low-effort work and copy-paste content won’t stand out for long. Trust, taste, and being truly useful will matter more, but only if you can show you’ve done the work. The future will reward people who use AI to boost real skill, not replace it. 00:00 Why Shortcut-Seeking Kills Mastery (Robert Greene Quote)00:59 What “Mastery” Really Means: 10,000 Hours & the Long Game02:26 Steph Curry as the Anti-Shortcut Blueprint05:25 Mastery = Transformation: Action → Experience → Opportunity07:29 Einstein’s Patent Office: High-Level Inputs Fuel Breakthroughs10:27 Avoiding the Ideation Trap: Baby Steps & “Keep Going” Momentum11:52 World-Class Inputs vs Noise: Social Media, Books, and Signal15:31 Trust, Bias, and Vetting Expertise in the AI Era22:56 Curation Becomes the Product: Paying for Trusted Taste24:43 Personal Brand as Proof: Being Useful in an AI World27:07 Taste Makers, Luxury Signals, and the Rise of Experiences30:56 Does Mastery Still Matter When AI Can Do the Menial Work?33:23 Nvidia, Amazon & the Rise of the Digital Middleman34:25 Tesla/SpaceX as Rare True Manufacturers (and Why Most Outsource)34:58 Mastery + AI: The 10x vs 1/10x Divide36:21 Jobs AI Will Wipe Out—and Why Menial Work Won’t Matter37:01 Data vs Personal Brand: Two Kinds of Power38:33 Robots Are Closer Than You Think: 30-Month Timeline & Constraints39:53 Training Optimus: Tesla-Style Data, Simulations, and the Go/Watson Lesson42:05 Assume You’ll Be Replaced: Becoming Irreplaceable Through Experience45:09 How Mastery Is Built: 2009 Grind to MAVEN's 10,000-Videos-a-Year System46:43 Why AI-Generated Content Is a Dead End (TikTok/ByteDance “Seed Dance”)48:22 High-Effort Systems Win: Barrier to Entry, Autonomy, and “Fire Yourself” Thinking53:35 Final Story & Wrap-Up: The Buffalo Airport Flight Miracle --- Useful Not Famous is the podcast for people who care more about making money than getting likes and subscribers. Join our useful family at usefulnotfamous.com to get one actionable tip delivered to your inbox every Monday morning. Follow us! Jeff Sarris | Amara Andrew Support the ShowReadwise is the way to get the most out of what you read and is the only subscription that we find so valuable that we can imagine keeping it until the end of time.  Sign up for Readwise using our special link, readwise.io/maven/, and get 60 days free!

    1h 2m

  8. FEB 16

    Do you see me?

    Not everybody wants to be looked at, but everybody wants to be seen—and that fear shows up fast online, especially when friends and family might judge us. In this episode we also discover that we fall into a new category: “all bite, no bark”—doing real work without talking about it—and why success often needs both strong work and smart marketing. 00:00 Not Looked At, But Seen: The Quote That Sets the Tone00:42 Looking vs Seeing: Why Visibility Feels So Scary Online02:15 Art History Lens: The Active Work of ‘Seeing’03:40 Amanda Palmer & The Art of Asking (Plus How We Save Quotes)04:59 All Bite, No Bark: Doing the Work Without Talking About It08:03 Bark vs Bite in the Real World: Billionaires, Brands, and Balance11:34 Useful Not Famous: Why Fame-First Usually Fails12:59 The Iron Law of Stardom: The 3-Year Fame Window15:43 Turn Fame Into a Business: What Actually Sells18:09 Proof in the Age of AI: Real Humans, Real Trust, Better Output22:07 AI as a 10x Team: Scaling Creative Output Without Hiring23:23 Beyond “AI Slop”: Taste, Intentionality, and the Dead Internet Problem25:09 Proof You’re Real: Why Authentic Local Presence Matters More Now27:02 Human Slop & Trend Chasing: Why Copycat Content Builds Nothing27:54 The Influencer Money Myth: Views, Burnout, and the Hamster Wheel30:19 Own Your Audience: Escaping Algorithm Dependence with an Ecosystem33:22 All Bark vs All Bite: Start, Keep Going, and Manage Your Time37:39 No Magic Pills: Temporary Fixes, Root Causes, and Getting to Work39:41 Resulting & “Thinking in Bets”: Luck, Variables, and Long-Term Compounding43:10 Closing + How to Support the Show --- Useful Not Famous is the podcast for people who care more about making money than getting likes and subscribers. Join our useful family at usefulnotfamous.com to get one actionable tip delivered to your inbox every Monday morning. Follow us! Jeff Sarris | Amara Andrew Support the ShowReadwise is the way to get the most out of what you read and is the only subscription that we find so valuable that we can imagine keeping it until the end of time.  Sign up for Readwise using our special link, readwise.io/maven/, and get 60 days free!

    44 min
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Ratings & Reviews

5
out of 5
2 Ratings

About

If your goal is to make more money, you're in the right place. We've built our careers on being useful to some of your favorite creators, while staying widely unknown to the public. Leave a message to be featured on the show! https://call.show/usefulnotfamous If usefulness, not fame, is the precursor to revenue, why do so many people seek fame first? Assumptions. They assume that big fame equals big money. They assume that big views equals big wallets. That couldn't be further from the truth. While everyone else is chasing fame, we're here to show you how being useful is the "shortcut" to build the life of your dreams. Useful Not Famous is the podcast for people who care more about revenue than ego. Hosted by Jeff Sarris and Amara Andrew.

Information

  • Creator
    MAVEN
  • Years Active
    2023 - 2026
  • Episodes
    59
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © 2026 MAVEN
  • Show Website
    Useful Not Famous