YoungGoGetter(YGG) is not just another tech news, entrepreneur focused blog. Travis proved that exponentially in this interview which offers both audio/text versions and a lot of great, honest marketing and blogging advice. He also talks about 80085 and goes old skool on us.
First, YGG is real. Plain and simple - they’re not hiding beyond a pretentious front. They’re completely transparent which makes their content so much more intimate and enjoyable. They tell it like it is and they offer great advice, write interesting posts, and they drink a lot of beer…or at least Travis does (and he “sips” it). So do we Travis…so do we 
What I’m finding out the more time I spend on YGG is that the YGG team consists of both creative marketing “idea” guys and “doers”, which is essential for a successful anything really, and this interview is a perfect example of what YGG brings to the table in both the content they create and the ideas they generate and share with their community.
For example, Travis took our normal text based interviews and saw an opportunity to make it a little more interesting. And although I don’t 100% agree the text version is less interesting compared to the audio I do agree that the audio interview is hands down much more enjoyable, but that’s because Travis’s voice is made for audio… I feel like Travis is giving me personal advice, on a one-to-one level. Travis, umm…where’s the podcast man? (click here to view audio player)
The experienced YGG team consists of 2 partners (Eric and Travis) and one contributor - Darius, who is also the creator of the great site COLOURlovers. Travis lives in Canada which makes our Canadian interviewee count a whopping total of 3 now (the great peeps over at CommandN.TV were our first and Howard Lindzon of Wallstrip was second). Beyond their main content draw (the blog) YGG also offers a forum, site directory, and a new community network - all which allow readers to expand their YGG experience, meet other young go getters, and participate with the community.
So, without further ado, this a Juxtaviews first - the interviewee interviews himself, and it works! Maybe we should require the interviewees do this all the time - save us a lot of effort that’s for sure 
But seriously, thanks Travis for the interview and please make sure to check out YoungGoGetter.Com. To listen to the interview you have to scroll to the bottom of the interview or click here and we’ll take you there.
What’s your name, what’s your title at YGG, last great book you read, and when you sleep at night you dream about…?
My name is Travis, and I’m a partner at YGG with Eric. I handle the content of the blog and creative direction of the site.
Last great book - well, I’m reading Losing My Virginity by Richard Branson right now, and it’s a fantastic collection of stories and lessons. Before that I read and loved Made to Stick by Chip and Dan Heath. Essential reading for any marketing geeks.
When I sleep at night I tend to kick into creative mode. I try to hit the hay with a problem on mind, and can usually generate a solution by the time I wake, or at least have some direction that I didn’t 8 hours earlier.
Describe Young Go Getter (YGG) in 5 words.
Friends that love business challenges.
YGG recently celebrated it’s 2 year anniversary. Congrats! Maintaining a successful website consumes a lot of time and resources and you’ll often find prospective publishers giving up after only few months or less. What has been the key to your persistence?
You have to determine how much you can commit to your website. As blogging is essentially amateur journalism, you have to be willing to knock out an article on schedule, whether you feel like it or not.
If you were to calculate what an amateur journalist makes, it would just about equal what a new blogger does: zilch. When someone puts an hour a day or every other day into writing for their blog, and after a month or two has only collected pocket change from Google, it can be frustrating. That’s why we have so few blogs that make it past the 3 month marker, or are abandoned for months on end.
You’re not going to be the next Darren Rowse or John Chow, forget that. Find your own niche, develop your own style, and be patient. Don’t compare yourself to the people at the top of the list. Compare what you have now to what you had the previous month. If you’ve progressed, give yourself a pat on the back, and keep going.
YGG is more than just a blog. You boast an active forum with 80,085 members (nice job btw) and have recently launched a new Network section of the site. Discuss this new Network because initially I assumed it was a social networking feature but it’s actually more of an ad/link exchange network, correct?
Yeah, that was a bit of a grade school joke that I came up with, that almost everyone has yet to get. That member count is the numeric representation of BOOBS, for all the immature entrepreneurs out there with a calculator on hand, like myself.
The Network is a simple concept that we’re still working on before we “officially” launch it. There are thousands of entrepreneurial bloggers out there, just like Juxtaviews, that don’t have a marketing budget, haven’t even thought about marketing, and have reached a plateau in readership and subscribers.
So we thought that if we were able to pick out a handful of these bloggers that have a bit of an established readership, we could help one another promote each of our sites through an ad network, and see where it goes from there.
We already have a few members, but am holding off for a little bit as we consider some suggestions that were made to help each member of the Network get the most bang for their non-existent bucks.
What insider secret can you give our readers to help them take their website/blog to the next level?
Do your best to develop a relationship with every single one of your readers. If they post a comment on your blog, reply ASAP. Read their blogs, subscribe to them, comment on them, genuinely. If you have a question or comment, send them an e-mail. Talk to them.
Write with the intent to help them in some way. Don’t write about yourself. Keep the personal stuff personal, and worry about the problems you think your readers face and how you can help them overcome them.
The most difficult obstacle you face every day at YGG is…? And the most rewarding aspect of working on YGG…?
Most difficult has to be finding the time to write for it. I’d love to make blogging my full-time position, put everything I’ve got into researching, drafting, and sharing insightful stories, but I just don’t have the time to become a “pro blogger”.
The most rewarding is definitely being able to interact with our community. I’m able to get help with my businesses, and help others with theirs, with entrepreneurs from all over the world. This was far from easy and next to impossible several years back.
What is the greatest piece of advice ever given to you, and if you could give one piece of advice for someone looking to start their own web project what would that be?
I find inspiration and advice in quotes. I have a huge collection that I’ve collected over the years. One that I’ve always enjoyed was from the late, great, Leo Burnett: “Curiosity about life in all of its aspects, I think, is still the secret of great creative people.”
That’s leads to the best piece of advice I could ever give, whether it be for web projects, life, or any challenge you face. Do everything you can to never do the same thing. Don’t get comfortable. Don’t lose your enthusiasm. Don’t stop experimenting. If you do, get your ass out the door and head in the opposite direction.
What are you most excited about these day (tech,work,life, whatever). Basically, what’s attracting you’re interest?
I’ve been obsessed with music over the past several months. I’ve finally found how to get into “the zone” and be more productive than ever — shut everything down and crank up the music.
So I’ve been trying to go to as many concerts as I can find time for, listen to hundreds of artists I normally wouldn’t, and pay more attention to the lyrics. As strange as that may sound, it’s amazing how horrible 99.9% of the lyricists are nowadays.
What online applications (ie gmail, delicious, etc) do you use to make your web life more effiecient/organized?
Basecamp has been a savior for me since I got back into using it faithfully for the past couple of months. I use it to manage all of my client and personal projects, and jot down any ideas or tasks as soon as they hit me (I have a horrible memory).
Since Pandora has been banned in Canada, I use Last.fm quite a bit, but it’s nowhere near as intelligent as Pandora.
For online bookmarking I use Ma.gnolia.com. Del.icio.us has just been so buggy and I gave it up due to frustration a couple months ago.
Being that I have to stay in the loop of news and happenings, I use FeedDemon as my RSS reader. I used to check it morning and night, but have scaled that back to only once or twice a week. If I miss an announcement or new website, chances are I can live without knowing about it before everyone else.
What technologies are you using to run YGG (forums, network, blog,etc)?
We use Wordpress to power the Blog, and couldn’t live with out it. We’ve been using Vanilla to power the Forum since we made the switch from phpBB well over a year ago.
We use dozens of open source plugins to integrate the two and add features that we wouldn’t be able to if they weren’t freely available.
What can we expect next from YGG?
That’s a good question. If you know, I’d love for you to give me some direction.
I’m not thinking or worrying about any gigantic features or announcements for a little while. My main priority is the content and community members. We’re going to try and find the best voice for YGG, generate much more insightful content on a regular basis, and get our members involved in it’s creation.
When you’re not busy being a young go getter - what are you doing?
I love to golf, when I have the time. Have a tournament this week, which I’m excited about.
When I’m not thinking about YGG, I’m ironically sipping every single beer you can think off in my YGG glass. Or you’ll find me watching a bit of mixed martial arts with my buddies.
As this lengthy period of global warming some call summer dies down, you’ll see me lacing up my skates and panting around the rink trying to get back into hockey mode.
