AskPat 557 Episode Transcript

Pat Flynn: Hey, everybody. Pat Flynn here, and welcome to Episode 557 of AskPat. Thank you so much for joining me today. I appreciate you so much.

All right, here's today's question from Scott.

Scott: Hi, Pat. My name is Scott Gilmore. I am a new affiliate working on my first website, gymnastdolorain.com. It's about my daughter, who is a very gifted junior Olympic gymnast. It will be information about her and how she does it in meets and progression as an athlete, as well as information about gymnastics as a whole. I figured this would be great, first, because I'm passionate about my daughter of course, very proud father. It would be taking a very large niche and making it a very small, unique niche. As I'm building this site, I'm kind of questioning myself. I feel like I'm using my daughter in a way, even though it should be mutually beneficial to both of us as her career takes off. I'm also worried about online creepers. Am I putting her at an unnecessary risk level? What are your thoughts on that?

Pat Flynn: Hey, Scott. Thanks for the question today, and this is obviously a very important topic. Being a father to a daughter myself, I know where you're coming from with this question. It could be a battle in your head. Even leading up to me hitting record here for the particular answer, I was kind of battling in my head. What's the right thing to do here? There isn't exactly a right answer at this point in time. It's also different on a case by case basis, most likely, but there are parents out there who have exploited their children and taken advantage of them and have made a lot of money from them. Even when I saw that, it sounds really bad right? When I use the word “exploit.” There are other parents out there who have featured their kids where it was beneficial to the kid and the entire family and to the world because of the serving that this kid is doing. I'm speaking specifically about Evan from EvanTubeHD on YouTube. He is a kid my son absolutely adores because his father filmed him just building and playing with Legos. That's how he got famous. Literally millions of subscribers. I don't even think this kid is 10 yet, and he goes to these YouTube video conferences and he's surrounded by kids who want his autograph. He gets Lego to send him stuff, and other toy companies to send him stuff to just play with it. He's still being a kid, and that's the cool thing about it.

So there is a line there, Scott. You want to make sure you draw that line. Now with that said, Evan is a boy, and your daughter is obviously a girl, and that matters. It shouldn't, but it does. Because there are creepy guys out there who may, whatever. I don't even want to get into that conversation. It's something to worry about, for sure. So you have to be conscious about that as you're posting up this information. If you post pictures and whatnot. You want to make sure it's done in a tasteful way, and with the consent of your daughter too. Having your daughter come along on this process is gonna help make you feel that you're not just taking advantage of her. Because you're not; you're coming from a good place. You want to share this information with the world. You want to build a website and brand for her too, with all the success she's had. I think it's important to have a website, but what do you put on it? How much do you put on it, and where is the line? That's gonna be different for everybody. I think it has to be a conscious decision that you and her are comfortable with. You just want both of to you to agree on what's being posted. I feel like you don't have to post things that everyone else is doing either. If you see other people doing stuff that might make you feel uncomfortable, then don't do that.

Again, my entrepreneur brain isn't even on right now. It's more the father brain, and I just want to make sure that when my daughter grows up, I want her to have a website and I would love to film her doing things that are also cute or serve the world in some way if she becomes pro in something. We're gonna share those dance videos, for example. But where is that line? That's a decision not only I have to have, and my daughter would have to have. I think she's too young to post or have a website, but it's also a conversation my wife and I have to have, because she's very much a part of the process too. Anyone who is important in the life—and to your daughter, you'd want to make sure that you speak to them and communicate to them too.

I would also be curious to know if anyone else is doing this with people you know. Are they doing this too, and what their thoughts are. I think that might be a conversation to have with them, because they are in that world you're in. Gymnastics, I don't know anything about, so I'd be curious too. You might want to look at other websites and see how they're doing and what's tasteful.

Scott, I appreciate you asking this question. It's obvious you care and that you want to make sure you're doing the right thing. That comes with communication, and also asking around like you've asked me. Hopefully, we can get other people on board here too. I think it's okay, but where is that line, is what's the big question. I was to know what other people think. If you want to use the hashtag #AskPat557, I think we can continue this conversation. I think it's a good one to have, and if you have some insight and thoughts. Perhaps you have a child who has a website, and you've dealt with this before. How do you keep things secure? I would definitely make sure not to have any personal address on there. Maybe not even say what upcoming events are happening, because even thought that's something you'd want to share, that's a lead into where your daughter is in that moment in time. That's something I try and stay away from when it comes to family. I've stopped tweeting and Instagram real time when my family is somewhere, just because you never know. It's not worth putting it out there in real time just for that cool kick back for those likes and hearts on Instagram and social media. Just something to think about. And I'd love anyone else's thoughts on it. #AskPat557 on Twitter. #AskPat557, and I'd love to hear your thoughts.

Thanks, Scott, for your question. I appreciate this. All the best of luck to you and your daughter with all of her competition. We're gonna send you an AskPat t-shirt for having your question on the show. If you actually, or when you get an email from my assistant, mention that. This is the show with the gymnast, and I'd love to send your daughter an AskPat t-shirt as well. We'll hook you up with two shirts, and that's for your question today. If you're listening and have a question you'd like potentially asked on the show, just head on over to askpat.com and you can ask it right there on that page.

As always, I love to end with a quote. Today's quote comes from Glenn Gilmore, and this is about social media. He said, “When you lose followers because of where you stand, you strengthen your tribe.” Cheers and take care. I'll see you on the next episode of AskPat. Thanks. Bye.