Steve Dougherty Interview

Editor:

This time we're chatting with someone who's been working in the online space since 2007. Steve Dougherty has been creating white label or rebrand how-to videos for internet marketers and others who wish to learn how to make money online through his company, PLR Video Direct. With over 16 years experience, I think we're in for a fascinating conversation. It's my pleasure to say welcome, Steve Dougherty.

Steve Dougherty:

Thank you. Glad to be here.

Editor:

Well, it's great to have you here. Now, is it true, Steve, that you come from a military background?

Steve Dougherty:

Yes, yes. My father was in the Air Force. Retired about, I guess, 20 years ago. The Air Force Brat label is attached to my name.

Editor:

I was going to say, because that seems like a million miles away from the industry that you now almost dominate in many ways, how did that come about? Was your father supportive of you doing something so radically different?

Steve Dougherty:

Well, actually he didn't have a whole lot of say in the matter, but it's weird that you brought up that because what got me into the PLR business to begin with was the information part. I've always been an information junkie. Without going too deep into the weeds there, what got me to be an information junkie was as a child, I always looked up to my father because he was full of information. I was full of questions, as most young kids are. I recall, not specifically, but I remember the moment whenever I asked a question and his reply was, "I don't know." I'm sure that it was out of frustration. He had a long day, whatever it was, but it was the first time that this God-like figure to me, this wealth of information that always had an answer for my annoying questions didn't have one. And that set me back, wait a minute. I think that sparked my curiosity to get more information, regardless of the answers that I got when I asked the question. If it wasn't enough, I kept asking it differently and to different people. That just grew into this information junkie mindset that I have. That I think is what helped me become better at the videos that I was creating, because it wasn't just a matter of getting information, regurgitating it in a video format, it was getting information. Was that enough for me to understand it? If not, then I would get information elsewhere until I was able to understand it, and then I would take that understanding, putting it into training.

Editor:

Well, I guess as well, the military is all about discipline, isn't it? You need to be disciplined to run a business like this where you are creating videos on an ongoing basis. I mean, 16 years is a long time in this space. What first inspired you? What was your first video?

Steve Dougherty:

Well, I can't think of the gentleman's name, but it was Louie something. He was one of the first introductions that I had to private label rights videos. I want to say it has something to do with RSS. For the life of me, I don't even know how to do RSS now, but it was a video that I'd seen of his that I purchased for 99 cents I think off of eBay. This is 2005, 2006. I mean, I purchased rights, didn't know what that was. But through watching his video, knowing that I could turn around and sell his video, let alone my own, I just couldn't believe it. This whole internet marketing thing was about to blow up for me because that first video that I made from having watched him do it and he wasn't that great, I figured I could at least do that good. I turned around and sold my video, which again, I think it was on RSS feeds, which was pretty much a copy of his, only in my words, I made 99 cents also. And that proved to me that I can make money online doing this, and that was what blew things up from there.

Editor:

For anybody who's not heard of PLR Video Direct, maybe you could just give us a quick overview of the company and the service that you provide.

Steve Dougherty:

Well, the company's been around, like you said, for a long time. Basically, I just create training videos mostly in the internet marketing niche and provide them for sale. Folks can come to my site, purchase the videos that are available. A lot of times they'll ask me questions about, "Do you do this? Do you make videos about this? I saw this, but I actually wanted this." If it's something that I can tackle fairly quickly, then I'll go ahead and do that as well. That's basically the services that I provide. 70% of the time I'll do custom white label training for private individuals, and I'll do that with the knowledge and with the acknowledgement that after six months, I'll be able to sell that to my customers. They've got full access. They've got the full-blown thing for six months, do with it as they wish, and then after that I'll be able to sell it to my customers as well, along with my just general training that I create.

Editor:

I think the interesting thing here is that you have the multiple revenue streams. You will take a commission from a client as such, but then later down the line you can still monetize it yourself to your own list. When you say rebrandable and white label, I guess those terms are interchangeable with PLR anyway?

Steve Dougherty:

Yes, for the most part. Actually, I want to say that I had not heard the term white label until I started using it probably 2012, 2013. I'm sure it was around. I'm not taking credit for having brought that up.

Editor:

No, take credit. Take credit.

Steve Dougherty:

I haven't heard it until then, and since then I have. Maybe it's just me. But for me, rebrandable is something that is not necessarily private label, but you have the ability, you have the right to rebrand it. The items that you have to rebrand might be different. In other words, I've seen folks that have rebrandable. And then in the list of what you can and cannot do, it might say something, you do not have copyrights, or you do not have these what I would normally consider to be private label rights. You can rebrand it, but that's it. You can't change anything. You can't change any of the content. You can slap your name on it. That's it. That would be the white label part or rebrandable part, not necessarily private label. For me, private label is you can do whatever you want with it unless there's that little asterisk in those licencing terms that say you can't do this. But if it's not there, then you can do it. But as far as the rights, that would be a whole topic I'd want to spend more time on than probably what we have available.

Editor:

When you're putting one of your videos together, Steve, what is the process that you have to go through and how long does that take?

Steve Dougherty:

Good question. Thank you. That I think is what sets me apart from other folks that are in a similar niche, videos, private label rights, and such. I take great pains in making sure that I am nowhere in the videos. And by I, I mean my name, my site, anything that can be traced back to me. You have to be a pretty good detective to be able to find who made my videos, and that's the way that I want it. That's a double-edged sword, but that's the best way for my customers, I think, to be able to make sure that their customers remain their customers and don't find their way back to me, if that makes sense.

Editor:

Yeah, completely. Completely. Your client base, I guess, is twofold, isn't it? You've got the people, as you say, the internet marketers if you like that, that want to take your content and use it as their own, but also you have your own end consumer as well. You do direct to consumer sales of your content as well.

Steve Dougherty:

Correct.

Editor:

Where do we need to go to find that, Steve? Where are your sites?

Steve Dougherty:

Well, my main site is plrvd.com, and that is kind of a store of sorts. I mean, it's got some blogs in there too, but that contains all my other sites as well and all the individual products are there, as well as the other sites that have their own individual products.

Editor:

I love the fact as well that you've worked with some of the biggest names in internet marketing. It can be seen as quite a lonely industry because you're working in isolation in many ways, but that must be quite rewarding for you that even the big names in this space, people might not recognise your name or your face, but they will recognise your voice from the videos.

Steve Dougherty:

Exactly. And that's weird too because I've had folks... I'm not going to drop names, but I've had folks that I look up to that I think, "Yeah, you're pretty cool," that have mentioned me in promotions that... They'll be promoting somebody else's product. I'm on their email list, and I get their email promoting another product. Somehow or another my name gets brought up in there as the guy that created this video or that video that's part of that package that they're promoting. I said, "Well, that's pretty cool. This guy knows me." Well, he doesn't know me. But like you said, though, he knows the voice in the videos because those videos have been out there since 2007, 2008, and thankfully some of those older ones are not out there anymore.

Editor:

In the introduction I should have said, perhaps one of the most recognisable voices in internet marketing, because your voice is recognisable.

Steve Dougherty:

It is possible, yes. I've got the face for radio, so there you go.

Editor:

Oh, don't worry, I've got the face for radio and the voice for prints. That's the way it works at this side. What are some of the successes that you've encountered, Steve? I guess success maybe didn't come straight away, or do you think it did?

Steve Dougherty:

Well, for me, like I had alluded to earlier, success, even so small as it was, was immediate. As soon as I got that first 99 cents sale, less than a dollar, I was ecstatic. I was over the moon. This was possible. This was not a scam. You can make money sitting on your tail end in front of your computer and all I had to do is scale it up from what I did to generate that 99 cents. Well, I was able to do that and have been having a blast ever since.

Editor:

That's great. That's great. Any tips for anyone who's keen to get into internet marketing? Any tips, any resources for them that you'd like to share? Maybe your own sites, for example?

Steve Dougherty:

Well, yeah, definitely. If you're in need of content and don't want to spend the time making it yourself or you just want to learn or both, definitely check out my site, plrvideodirect.com or plrvd.com. Either one will end up at the same spot. But as far as advice, I would say no matter what niche you're planning on going into, be organised. Be organised from the onset, create folders, create files for those folders, keep notes. Otherwise, you're going to be chasing your tail spinning and wasting a lot of time finding those files. It may seem like a small thing right now this guy's talking about, but trust me, you'll thank me later. Stay organised.

Editor:

It's good advice. In terms of your own pipeline, if you want to look at it like that, how far ahead do you work, Steve? I mean, have you got projects that are underway already that will be released soon, or is it the case of you have to work three or four months in advance?

Steve Dougherty:

No, it's for the most part I would say three to four months in advance. Definitely. I've got one project right now that I'm looking at early 2024, and that's only because some of these other projects that are the two to four months, that has kept that main project pushed back. But every single day I try to whittle away a little bit at that big project so that 2024 won't end up 2025. But yeah, I try to keep things about I'd say two to three months.

Editor:

Because it can so easily happen, can't it, that you end up pushing things back.

Steve Dougherty:

Oh, definitely, especially in this business.

Editor:

Good luck with that launch when it finally rolls around in just a few months time. You've given us your website resources. But for anybody that wants maybe to reach out to you directly, maybe they've got some ideas for some videos that they'd like to have created, what is the best place that they can do that?

Steve Dougherty:

Probably the best place would be Facebook. I would've to say Facebook begrudgingly. I mean, it's not my most favourite of social media platforms, but it's there. It's being used. For the most part it's business, but I do hang out there from time to time. As far as if any questions come up, you can always message me on my Facebook account. I've got plenty of groups and even a couple of different accounts. Finding me on Facebook won't be hard. Just look for Steve Dougherty and you'll find me, or PLR Video Direct, you'll find me.

Editor:

Great stuff. Thank you, Steve. It's been an absolute pleasure chatting with you, finding out more about you and your business. We wish you continued success.

Steve Dougherty:

I appreciate it. Thank you much.