We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Trevor Merchant. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Trevor below.
Hi Trevor, thanks for joining us today. Can you open up about a risk you’ve taken – what it was like taking that risk, why you took the risk and how it turned out?
Originally born in Dallas, TX on July 23, 1996, I moved around a lot as a kid for my father’s job to include Las Vegas, NV, Toledo, OH, Chicago, IL and finally Raleigh, NC in 2009. I began to play ice hockey at a very young age and even decided to pursue a career in the sport post high school. This journey took me to many new places, living in New Jersey, New York, and Connecticut playing juniors as well as spending time in Ontario, British Columbia, and many more amazing places. By the time I was about to turn 21, I decided to take a different path and attend college at North Carolina State University where I graduated with a Bachelor’s Degree in Business Administration within 3 years, while simultaneously playing ACHA DII hockey for the school, acquiring my real estate license on the side and jump starting my career as a real estate agent my senior year. I decided to graduate a year early (May 2020) as I had enough credits, already established myself as a real estate professional, and COVID-19.
In 2021, after the lasting effects of COVID-19 on the real estate market started to set in (my target demographic was young, recent college graduates looking to buy a house), I no longer enjoyed what I was doing for work. Taking non-wealthy, young home buyers to 30+ showings, submitting offer after offer just to get out-bid by crazy cash offers way over asking price became daunting and morally questionable. At this time, I decided to try and pursue a career in the field of my college degree… But to no avail as the job market was just as competitive as the real estate market. It was then that I decided to help out my mother with her fabric, quilting, and embroidery business that she bought in 2018. I went in as the marketing manager and helped double her sales within 6 months. This wasn’t the work I wanted to be doing and I was a 24 year old living at home, but I had no choice.
In August 2021, my mother and I got COVID at the same time. It was during this time, isolating in my room, that I discovered the idea for Timesaver9000. My symptoms were mild, but I had brain fog. I spent countless hours on social media, finding myself getting distracted during long story times, sucked into multi-part series, and overall bored with the content I was watching. Videos would have a hook in the first 5 seconds, but only after 3 minutes or 5 parts would they get to the point. I wished there was a way to get the answer I wanted in a reasonable time. That is when it started to all come together and people enjoyed the content I was putting out. It was time to go all in.
Since then, I have been able to move out of my parents house and into a quaint 1 bedroom apartment with my girlfriend and 2 dogs. Content creation is and always has been a dream job for me and it’s become more of a reality as each day goes by.
Trevor, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?
My name is Trevor Merchant, otherwise known as Timesaver9000 on social media. I started my content creation journey by creating informative and concise short-form videos, and have since grown into other areas as well! I got into this niche as, at the time of starting, I had trouble and frustrations with my ability to focus on something that could potentially be interesting, but took too long to deliver true value. At the time, the only account that had done something similar to this was “thepart2cop” and they had quit posting almost a year prior. So I took a chance and said “why not? If others experience the same sentiment as me, this could actually be helpful. If it doesn’t work, I’ve lost nothing.” And it did work. People enjoyed the content I was putting out and even more creators have since joined in on the cause.
The point of ‘Timesaver9000’ is to take long videos, click-baits, or multi-part series by request and condense them for people who otherwise wouldn’t have watched the original video or simply don’t have the time. My intentions are not to steal likes/followers or downplay the original creator’s content, it’s simply to help share their stories and save people’s time for those who don’t have much time or need/prefer a quick rundown.
I do extra research to validate, correct, or give additional information to deliver an honest, insightful, and to the point product to a community that benefits from instant information. I also do honest and to-the-point product reviews, viral trends/challenges/experiments so that people trust what they are buying or watching rather than promoting just anything for money.
Content creation is and always has been a dream job for me. My brother always filmed short videos growing up that I got to “star” in, and they even went on to pursue their PhD in Film Studies. For me, Timesaver9000 was about my 3rd attempt at making a channel that people enjoyed. It has since given me the freedom to work part time at my mother’s shop, and to find my hobbies and passions along the way.
Ultimately, I’m proud of myself for taking the leap of faith. I’ve experienced all the up’s and down’s of content creation. The ever-changing algorithms, the monetary instability and inconsistency, the hate, you name it. You push through because at the end of the day, you’re doing what you love. And my goal is to inspire others to do the same with whatever it is they truly want to do in life.
We’d love to hear the story of how you built up your social media audience?
For me with Timesaver9000, I didn’t force the content. I didn’t start the channel for monetary gain, in fact I had no idea there was money in social media other than sponsored content. For me, I started my content creation journey because I love to socialize and I believe it was just that that helped my account grow exponentially. I made sure that if someone spent the time commenting or DM’ing me, I responded to them because without them, I would not be where I am today. Obviously as you grow it becomes impossible to answer everybody, but showing your audience that you care goes a long way. Nowadays, I make sure to set aside at least 30 minutes to respond to people, which is not a lot of time at all, but it’s time nonetheless. Build a COMMUNITY.
Is there something you think non-creatives will struggle to understand about your journey as a creative? Maybe you can provide some insight – you never know who might benefit from the enlightenment.
One thing is that just because you have millions of followers, it doesn’t mean that you’re rich. In fact, I know people that have only 10’s of thousands of followers that are making nearly 10 times as much as me. I have around 4 million followers across all platforms, and there are months that I’ve stressed about money. Money for creatives is very inconsistent and monetization is lucrative. Views are inconsistent, algorithms change, and businesses advertising budgets vary by date. For a creator like me who refuses to promote a brand if it’s not truly a great product or doesn’t align with my brand or values, there are months that you will have to rely on a second job or adjust your budget accordingly. We’re not all rich, some creators like myself just enjoy what we do. Oh and we’re 1099…tax season is always fun!
Another thing is that content takes time, and sometimes it’s not so rewarding. You can pour hours and hours of work into a video or a project just for it to flop. You always have to be ready for that. The argument that content creators don’t have a hard job is ambiguous. No, the work isn’t laborious physically, but it is taxing mentally, emotionally, sometimes monetarily, and it demands time.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.timesaver9000.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/timesaver9000
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/timesaver9000/
- Youtube: https://youtube.com/@timesaver9000?si=tzlVYDDcyE4hOuQZ
- Other: TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@timesaver9000 Snapchat: https://t.snapchat.com/5ptfBWvq