Barb Wire Trolley

I made a big deal about being involved in the development of the latest wire spinner from Fencestay in this week’s video. It worked like this; I got to use a prototype wire trolley for a couple of months, complain about it like a whinger and then Steve (Fencestay) did all the work to fix the issues. Lovely. Aside from how easy it was for me, this process was brilliant. I got to make a video about the prototype, give it to a few people to use and collect some amazing feedback from people like Gavin Jones, a subscriber who sent me photos of one he had made years ago.

This got me thinking. How confident Steve had to be to share a prototype with me in the first place. Literally thousands of viewers got to see me identify faults in his product. A product that his business relies on to pay his employees, keep the bills paid and grow. Not only that, but there were the hours of work that went into the design and production of the prototype, just to have some guy on YouTube find fault with it.

In the end, his confidence paid off brilliantly. Not only did Fencestay get audience involvement and buy-in for a new product. Steve also got some great feedback from farmers, wonderful subscribers like Gavin Jones, and myself. We got to see it being developed and designed, flaws and all, then see it’s final launch, refined by this feedback to be a pretty damn fine little product. This is a really significant moment for the channel, helping test a prototype and then launch the result, improved by industry professionals and viewers alike. It’s come about from a really deliberate strategy.

You might notice that some weeks I don’t upload. That we go for two weeks without a video. While there are several reasons this can happen (from power outages to travel) one of the most important reasons is an old adage my father taught me. “If you can’t say anything nice about someone then don’t say anything at all”. Some weeks I don’t like a product. It just doesn’t make the grade. Rather than get the views, I decline to release a video on a product I don’t like. This is important because I do reviews, not ads. This means pointing out things I don’t like as well as those I do. If a product does not make the grade, this would turn into a sledging match on some poor person who has invested a heap of time into an idea. I have a deep respect for those people who stump up significant funds to develop a product, run a business and employ people. Trashing anyone, no matter who, is not my thing. You can rest assured that if I release a reviewed product video, even though (as most products do) it will have faults, I like the product. I’ll be respectful. That’s also why I have a no tolerance policy to Trolls. People who leave horrible comments or are disrespectful have no place on this platform. Even though fights and negativity might drive engagement, disrespect in all its forms is not welcome.

I hope you all continue to enjoy learning about amazing innovations and people running great businesses. See you next week. Stay positive!