What's going on, everybody? Welcome back to Stacking Slabs. This is your hobby content alternative.

I am your host, Brett. It is a big week, big episode here on the flagship. This is a one of one, the first time that I have launched something officially into the hobby universe using the flagship episode as a vehicle for promotion.

I'm a marketer. It feels like I am tying all of my pieces of content together in real time and sharing them with you.

You know, I put together a launch plan. I put together, a strategy in order to make sure as many of you, were tuned in to what was happening, than ever before.

I felt like I was maybe back in my old days as a marketer building tech companies, creating launch plans. Maybe some of that experience I had over the last fifteen years, helped me. I don't know. But I'll say this out of the gates.

This is a really fun time to be building business in the hobby. It is fun from a lot of different perspectives. The infrastructure is forming. The ideas are rapid. Technology is better than ever before.

And in the business that I'm building, stacking slabs, a media company for the collector, the opportunity to educate and make education a pillar of everything I'm doing is more inviting than ever before.

And what I wanna do here in this episode is share with you, a big content project that I've been working on, and it is my first official, book.

Today, I am launching the book that I have been working on in the background for oh, man. I don't even know how long. Maybe since I've been going solo. Maybe since November. Now this has been a labor of love.

We are it's any free moment where I've had some space in a I identify spaces at least a hour or two hour, block where I can sit down and go through the process of of writing and editing and all of those fun things.

This has come from it. And I'm I'm really excited, and I'm gonna get into all of the reasons why I'm excited. The book is Collecting for Keeps, Finding Meaning in a Hobby Built on Hype. You all will have access to this book.

It is no cost. All you need to do is follow the link in the show notes. You'll be brought to a landing page. I'll ask you for your name and your email address. Yes. The cost of some data on your side, that's what it'll cost you.

But I am, really, really excited to share this with you. You know, I didn't write collecting for keeps because I had all the answers. I wrote it because I had too many questions when I came back into the hobby.

And this book isn't just for people returning to the hobby. As I went through the process of, formatting, writing, I thought, you know, regardless, like, this hobby is changing so quickly.

Like, I wanna have some sort of, deliverable that I can turn to whenever I need some inspiration on if I am following my North Star as a collector.

And so I think many of you collectors, long time collectors are gonna really enjoy this. I think when I returned, everything felt really loud. Everything still feels loud.

Although I feel like it's massaged in a way where it's more tolerable than every ever before. There's always hot takes, but I couldn't find a single piece of content that actually helped me understand why I was collecting again.

That's when I started to stop searching, and I started documenting. And, obviously, the documentation happened with the start of this podcast, specifically the flagship episode of the podcast.

And that project became stacking slabs. And now over 700 episodes later, I've poured literally everything that I have, and that I've learned into one place. And so this book, I wish I had when I returned.

And like I mentioned, it's free, it's digital, and I made it for you. Maybe we'll I've already gotten some questions like, is there going to be a physical copy? And perhaps there there will be.

I'm gonna just kinda get the initial reaction, get feedback. But what I wanted to do in this episode is kinda give you all context, into why I did this and the reason why I decided to spend all of this time putting this together.

So let's get into it. I'll say this first out of the gates. I have always loved writing. I love the opportunity to be creative. I love the space it presents. I love how it is you have an opportunity to express yourself.

It's not black and white. Whenever I was in school and I was very fortunate to, attend some great educational institutions, in my life, I feel very privileged and fortunate for that.

All of the classes that weren't writing based, I was never really interested in, but I got motivated and excited whenever I had an opportunity to take a topic and explore it in my own way, to do the research, to understand, and to find the reasons why behind thing things.

I'm a very curious person. I'm always asking questions.

I feel like asking questions leads to the answers. And we're in this era right now where everyone's got an opinion, and it's easier than ever to distribute your opinion on whatever social channel is possible.

And that's just the nature that we're in, and we're inundated by opinions, and it pollutes our social feed.

But I'm constantly searching for the opinion of the individuals that are informed, that have taken the time to deeply understand the topics to research.

And so when I got back into the hobby, I and started stacking slabs, I realized the volume of content that helped collectors and helped inspire collectors around this reason why we collect and why we would rather have cards and cash.

In our case, it was very small.

I mean, you can go on on for days with the amount of content around, making money or trying to make money in the hobby, and that's prevalent. And I'm not, I'm not saying that that's not that content isn't needed.

It certainly is. We're a huge hobby, a massive industry. It's very diverse, has many different interests, and we all these interests, kinda fit and help this hobby expand and grow.

But when I went solo in November and said, I'm doing stacking slabs full time. I'm gonna build a network. I'm going to go all in even more.

There was this part of me that, really got motivated around, okay, now that I have a little bit of space, and that space has certainly turned to none as I've, created more shows and as I've, brought on more partners, and I'm working on the revenue side of stacking slabs, That my my time to do something like this, the the the door is pretty much closed.

And so I had this window where I was in the forming stage of this business and I said, okay, this is the time to do this and it took many, many months.

But it was so rewarding. And it wasn't like I'm gonna sit down and I'm gonna write this thing, in a few weeks or overnight. It wasn't like that at all. It was gradual.

But I can tell you this, it was very inviting for me to go to those Google documents and to sit down and to think deeply about not only the categories that I wanted to cover, but how I wanted to share in getting into the writing phase.

And it's, I have I I feel so fortunate.

I'm continuing to say, like, favorite things I've created, favorite things I've built. I said that with cards in hand that the activation that we did that's we're launching every Thursday here on this in the Slacking Slabs network.

Like, getting face to face with individuals and talking about specific cars and creating content, so rewarding. This project, collecting for keeps, so rewarding.

And this momentum that is building and forming around stacking slabs and stacking slabs content, it it just makes it gives me so much confidence in, like, what I'm doing is needed and wanted in this space, and you all help tell me that every day.

So I love writing. I, love exploring, and I felt like this was a deliverable that was needed. And I was trying to debate, like, when do I launch this thing?

And I I I thought, you know what? I'll do it not the week after the national, but I'll do it the week, after that week because maybe it'll it'll be a time where, things are slowed down a little bit.

I don't think anything's ever going to be slowed down, but things are moving fast.

But it's it's it's there. And so the I'll say some things as I'm gonna, like, share as much information as possible without, like, reading the book aloud.

That's, like, the kind of the debate I'm having with this episode. I'm using this to promote the the book. I am. It's this is the space.

This episode specifically is where most of my audience comes in and gets to hear from me each week. I look at the numbers every week. The number one, most, listened to show on a weekly basis on stacking slabs is this flagship episode.

So I'm using this as a vehicle to get the word out, but I wanna hit some points. So this book isn't a blueprint, and I hope you will that's just understood. I don't write blueprints. I don't tell you what to do.

I don't tell you how to do it. I've never done that in the history of building stacking slabs and building this company. It's more of a reflection. I think there are plenty of tools, and there's tons of content in this space.

But I found there's very few resources that explore meaning, and I hope you understand how much I appreciate meaning. I appreciate the psychology behind collecting.

And when I came back in the hobby in 2019, I was overwhelmed. Right? There was podcasts, Instagram accounts, posts, products, but there was this little filter. Like, I was taking on everything, and I was having to sift through it.

And stacking slabs started as my way to process all of this. And the book is my hope is that the book, helps others do the same thing. I want this book to be a trust builder for new and returning collectors, and existing collectors.

I want it to be a mirror for veteran collectors to reflect on your own journey. And, ultimately, like, if you get through this and it's it's it's 86 pages in a PDF. You know, it's not all copy.

It's not too dense. But I want if you get through this, I want this to be a signal that stacking slabs is is is committed to leading with thoughtfulness, and thoughtfulness in this hobby, I think, is a premium.

So maybe what I can do here is just I wanna just, like I don't wanna read the book out loud. That's not what I wanna do. But I wanna do is maybe hit just, like, the chapters real quick and do a fly by.

So we've got, chapter one, which is why we collect. And I think if you don't know why you collect, the hobby starts to feel like work and start to feel like a job we never applied for.

So I think it's important as I wanted to set the stage for this is to to identify what connection means to collecting. You've heard me talk about escape and how I think this is the greatest escape.

And what's I have been since day one of this show, I have said the hobby is an escape, since 2019. I've said it over and over and over and over again, and it's fun because I'm hearing that phrase being used a lot in other places.

And I'm not here to, like, copyright it and say that I'm the one who created this, but I will say I have been habitual about using that phrase because I want it to stick.

And it it's sticking because I hear it and see it regularly. But I think that's important, and we highlight that.

I think, expression, your collection is a reflection of who you are as a person getting into that. Getting into some personal stories about me and my collecting, and ultimately asking the collector, why do you collect?

We move into the art of chasing, and I get into this. I I get into the, topic of bin smashing. I get into the cards that stay stay in your head for days are the cards that you really want and you need to go after.

And the emotional toll of missing out on cards, and how to differentiate between every card that's out there that you see on a regular basis versus the right cards.

I explore signal and noise, and, this this is an important, point in the book, I think, because it was an opportunity for me to say, like, I I don't need more alerts.

I don't need more notification. I just need some more time with my cards. And so I get into the fact and I I literally I I I try to be as, reasonable as possible, but I also, like, find opportunities to share how I'm feeling.

And so one of the way one of the big things that I'm I share is that the loudest voices in the hobby often say the least.

And I map that back to collecting in the value of collecting per and how what it means to us from on a personal level.

And so in filtering this noise out, it's creating a filtering system for yourself, which relies on experience, instinct, data, and community.

I think we all should have filters in a way. But that was a key point where I was like once I got to that phase, I was like, okay. I need to talk about this.

Really importantly, we dig into building with intention and how every card you buy is a decision, and every decision tells a story. This is where we get into the CEO of your PC mindset, which should sound pretty familiar.

And that's the been the fun part of doing this is that so many phrases that I've used so long in this show's history, I got an opportunity to, use as, key themes in this book and share, maybe a little deeper than I do normally.

But it's, you know, getting into fast moving projects versus long term piece PC, building, thoughtful collecting equals satisfying collecting, and ultimately showing up with a plan and a plan that means something to you and not something else.

Like, what can result from that?

Get into letting go, and we all have to get used to letting go, when we're into cards. Right? There's emotional attachments. It's hard to sell. There's perceived value versus real value and reinvestments as progress.

You you know, it's this idea that your collection changes and it evolves. And sometimes based on this world we're collecting in, that's just natural, and it's a part of it.

Spend time on community. And the best how I talk about the best cards in my collection don't necessarily come from auctions, but they come from people.

And that comes from me going out and hunting and then building rapport, which is a result of great communication, curiosity, natural relationship building, and how eventually those leads lead to, new cards in my case.

I revisit this idea of neighborhoods of the hobby and how it's important to to find your neighborhood.

Not saying you can't go visit other other neighborhoods, but, like, really, the power is connecting with other people who are similar or adjacent to the way you collect and how motivating that can be.

Get into the role of chats, group chats, DMs, and relationships, and what real community is to me.

It's it's people who want to win and want to share. Making moves is a part of this story, building around projects to create clarity and momentum and knowing seller types and how to approach each one.

People are different. The way collector or the way collectors are are different. The way we should communicate with each other are different.

And I found the more you can research people, and their motivations and desires, especially when you're trying to get a deal done, the more successful you can be because you can craft your message to those people and do it in a way that's, not manipulative, but is, organic and can be helpful.

Talk about funding. Right? I think funding in this hobby and some of the stuff that, you know, Nick's doing at the Wharf Sports Cards is is is critical.

Gives us opportunities. It gets us, makes us less scared to go make a big jump when we can use equity in our PC. Shows as as closing events. I talk about that a lot recently as the nationals, a closing event.

I talked about that at on last week's flagship. And then trust and legacy and future. Right? I think the trust is the most important thing in our hobby. Legacy collecting is really, really important.

And, ultimately, like, when I think about collecting for keeps, it's not talking specifically about individual cards, but it's it's it's collecting in a way that's hobby for a very long time.

Now I think this this book, collecting for keeps, really matters in this moment. It's it's content. Everything's content, but I'm I wanna position it more as a cultural signal.

I think the hobby is maturing, and this book is a part of the evolution. It's not just about adding more noise. It's about giving people better language for what they already feel.

I want this book to help ground collectors in this era that's so dominated by hype. I want this to be, a book that helps, give intention to you, the collector. I made this free for a reason.

I want this to travel. I want this to get into as many hands as possible. So I just ask you, if you read this and it resonates, send it to another collector who needs to hear it. I would love for you to post about it.

I would love for you to share. I would love for you to DM me your thoughts. I would love for you to text your friends. There's a landing page. I told you upfront, like, all you need to do, name, email address.

The landing page is subscribepage. i0backslashcollectingforkeeps. I think you need to have the h t t p s, dot, you know, I think you needed to have that upfront, but it's subscribepage.

I0backslashcollectingforkeeps. Like I mentioned, I will have the link direct link in the show notes. So just pop up open your, whatever you're listening to this on.

You'll have the there'll be a link in this. I will post it on my Instagram. It'll be as in as many places as possible. So would love for you to, download this, take a look, read it, give feedback.

If you feel compelled, tell a damn friend. But as I close this out, I think it whether you've been collecting for thirty years or just, you know, ripped your first pack, I want this to be for you.

I want this book to be for you. It's for the collector who's tired of just chasing trends. It's for, one, looking for peace and a very noisy hobby. It's for the person who knows down deep this stuff means something.

And that's why I wrote it. And I'm glad you're here, and I really appreciate all of you and your support and all the passion that you have poured into the Stacking Slabs brand.

It's so motivating, and I feel so lucky and inspired to call this my job and get to do this every day.

Thank you so much. We will be back with more stacking slabs on this feed, always and forever. We're we're we're not stopping. Appreciate you checking out collecting for keeps. I will talk to you very soon.