Today we’d like to introduce you to Oren Cohen.
It’s an honor to speak with you today. Why don’t you give us some details about you and your story. How did you get to where you are today?
Well, I’ve been writing online for over 11 years, but I’ve suffered from a “shiny object syndrome,” which made success only a distant dream.
People don’t want to hear that doing big things usually involves work. We always look for shortcuts because we want to be efficient with our time. But some things can’t be rushed.
When I started YouTube, I didn’t know how long it would take, and my goal wasn’t subscribers or money – it was making the connections I wanted to make. And now, after almost two years on the platform, those dreams are coming true.
I was making content about the things I loved without any expectations, and I just put it out there. When you do that enough times, the universe starts to reciprocate.
I’m sure your success has not come easily. What challenges have you had to overcome along the way?
The first challenge I keep dealing with even today is the language barrier. English isn’t my native language, and sometimes I would find myself stammering or not knowing the right word to use in the middle of an interview. Thankfully, I can edit my videos to remove those disruptions, and I’m much better at speaking fluently now after conducting more than 20 interviews.
The second challenge was learning to make videos. I use Camtasia, and today, I’m more proficient with it, but in the past, it’s been tough to edit videos the way I wanted them to be.
The third challenge is that I’m still working a day job, so my work as a creator sometimes happens in the dead of night or in the very early morning. I once interviewed a creator at 6.30 AM in my local time, and they were in the US, so it was the evening for them.
Let’s talk about the work you do. What do you specialize in and why should someone work with you over the competition?
So, I’m a blogger and YouTuber in the nerd “niche.”
If you have a TV show or some online production, I could curate fan questions from your audience and interview you about your show for free. My only requirement is that I’m not prohibited from monetizing the interview on YouTube.
My specialization is also offering repurposed pieces of content from the interview. Is there a specific part from the video that you want to share on TikTok or IG Reels? I can make it for you as part of the interview.
In addition, I’m not against competition. Not many people on YouTube do what I do for nerd productions, and I’m excited to see more people do it.
What’s your best piece of advice for readers who desire to find success in their life?
Have a road map.
Waking up each day knowing that there’s something you can do today – as small as it may be – that advances you towards your goal is very reassuring. And if you’re a full-time employee like me, doing even that tiny thing reduces a lot of stress.
Speaking of success, what does the word mean to you?
For me, success is building a community of nerds that come together in a safe place to discuss all the nerdy things we love, from books to TV shows and movies. Starting a book reading club or even doing watch parties for fantasy TV shows could be extraordinary things that I’d love to offer my community.
Success is building a home to bring all these people in who can share their love of nerdy media without judgment.
So what if you absolutely loved season 8 of Game of Thrones?! We might disagree, but I fully respect you.
What’s next for you?
My next target is diving into the world of podcasting. I’ve already started repurposing my interviews as podcast episodes on Geek Peek (available everywhere you can listen to podcasts). But, aside from those interviews, I also want to start creating audio content. This could be as simple as reading my blog posts aloud or diving into it from another direction – producing the podcast episode first, and the written blog post will come after.
We’ll see. I’m still simmering on how that would work best for my listeners.
Finally, how can people connect with you if they want to learn more?
You can find me on Twitter and Instagram:
https://twitter.com/theorencohen_
https://instagram.com/theorencohen
Sign up for my newsletter to be able to connect with me on a deeper level and reply to any of my emails to reach directly to my inbox:
https://theorencohen.com/#/portal/signup
For anything else, visit my linktree:
https://linktr.ee/theorencohen
