2008: I first hear of Tesla Motors & the original Roadster.
2012: Tesla Model S starts shipping & making the news. I was fascinated by all the tech but it was way out of my price range.
2014: Model S cartoon makes me officially decide that my next car would be the affordable mass-market Tesla.
March 2016: I upload my first ever Tesla video when I traveled to Cincinnati to reserve my Model 3. That video got the most views within 24 hours than any of my videos up to that point.
May 2017: I create a video for the Tesla Project Loveday contest. Even though it got a lot of positive feedback I was heartbroken when I wasn’t one of the finalists.
Feb 28 2018: I upload my “First Impressions of the Model 3” video after traveling hundreds of miles & paying $300 to rent one. I immediately fell in love with the car.
Apr 30 2018: I take delivery of my Tesla Model 3. I did not have a referral code of my own at this time.
May 11 2018: After Tesla starts enabling referral codes for Model 3 owners, I create my Genius link but at the time the code only applied to Model S & X purchases.
Jun 24 2018: I upload my full Model 3 review video which eventually becomes the #1 result on YouTube for “Tesla Model 3 Review”. However, I never mentioned my referral code in the video. It was only in the description.
Aug 1 2018: Tesla enables referral codes to be applied to Performance Model 3 orders along with Model S & X.
Sep 6 2018: I upload my “True Cost of a Tesla Model 3” video which eventually becomes one of my most popular videos.
Oct 7 2018: I upload my “Tesla Model 3 Uber/Lyft” video which goes semi-viral after Elon likes it on Twitter & Tesla tweets it. Around this time I notice that I’ve gotten a handful of referrals.
Oct 19 2018: Tesla makes all vehicle orders eligible for referrals so I start mentioning my code in all my Model 3 videos from then on.
Nov 11 2018: I upload my “Tesla Model 3 Buyers Guide” video. At that time the referral program was set to end on Dec 10 so I had less than a month to get over 30 referrals in order to reach 55 referrals which was the amount needed to win 100% discount on one future Tesla Roadster. This was also when Tesla was urging people to order their Model 3 by the end of November to lock in the full tax credit. This skyrocketed my referrals.
Nov 15 2018: I upload a video about how my Model 3 handles cold weather conditions.
Nov 16 2018: I hit 55 referrals to win my first Roadster.
Nov 25 2018: I release my Model 3 Road Trip video. By this time, Tesla was strongly pushing Model 3 sales and this is when my referrals went crazy – multiple per day. I surpassed 105 referrals which was the amount needed to win a 2nd Roadster.
So how did my small amount of Model 3 videos lead to roughly $17,000,000 revenue for Tesla? I think it came down to these main things:
Value & Unique Perspective: Producing high quality content for a specific audience it in a unique way.
Passion & Timing: I’ve been passionate about Tesla for years even before I got my Model 3. My videos mixed with the increasing popularity & excitement of the Model 3 along with Tesla’s biggest sales push due to the federal tax credit ending – it all happened at the perfect time for me as a referrer.
Experience & Strategy: The strategy I used to create my Tesla videos that led to 300 referrals is the same strategy I’ve used for years to create my other product review videos: provide value to a target audience and give them a call to action.
Why is Tesla ending the referral program? I personally think Tesla couldn’t afford to keep giving away free Supercharging to each referral. What do you think?
Big thanks to Tesla for the referral program and big thanks to all who used my code! I’m very fortunate to have participated & end with the most Tesla referrals in the world. It’s been a heck of a ride, and I can’t wait to continue to refer people to Tesla & EV’s in general.
Hard/Soft Reboot: Sometimes something will freeze up on the touchscreen or for example if the web browser doesn’t work, you can soft reboot the touchscreen by pressing & holding both scroll buttons (can continue to drive the car while touchscreen reboots). The hard reboot involves pressing both scroll buttons while pressing the brake which reboots the touchscreen and the car itself and during the hard reboot the car cannot be driven until it comes backup.
Quick App Viewer: Swipe up on App Switcher to bring up the last app that was opened. Swiping also works on music icon. Another useful way to minimize music app, tap album art to move the music player up/down instead of tapping music icon or swiping the player. Can also swipe left/right to quickly adjust climate control temperature and same with volume.
Quick Navigation: Drag down or right on Navigate button to go Home/Work depending on your current location
Quick Climate Control: When the defroster or defogger is enabled, instead of turning it off by pressing the defroster icon again which leaves the climate control on – you can hold down the fan icon which turns off climate control and the defroster to help you maximize your range efficiency if you don’t need the climate control on.
Accurate Projected Range: For a more accurate estimation of your projected range, instead of going off the Rated range next to the battery, look at the energy app and go off the projected range it shows on the average range screen based on your last 30 miles.
Quick Speed Limit: When on Autopilot, tap the Speed Limit icon to set Autopilot to that speed
Quick Set Speed: We all know scroll wheels can adjust set speed (1 notch for 1mph or quick scroll for 5mph). When you’re on cruise control you can press the accelerator up to a certain speed and then scroll up on the right scroll wheel and it will send cruise to that speed
AutoPilot Alert Dismiss: On Autopilot, instead of nudging the wheel if it prompts you, you can alternatively toggle the right or left scroll button one mile up/down to dismiss the alert.
Auto Park: When you are in drive and you come to a stop (Hold) the car will automatically put itself in Park if you open the door.
Quick Gear Shift: To shift into reverse when you’re in drive (& vice versa) you don’t have to press the brake as long as you’re going 5mph or less
Maximize Battery Life: Set charge limit below 90% for daily driving to maximize the life of the battery
Windshield Wipers: Press windshield wiper button on left stalk to bring up the wiper icon on the touch screen (what I would love to see is the ability to double-press the wiper button to enable the wipers)
Bug Report: Press voice activation scroll wheel and say “Bug report” and say whatever bug or software recommendation you have and it will automatically send it to Tesla’s software team
12V Socket: You may not have noticed but the Model 3 does have a 12V accessory socket inside the armrest. Due to the location it’s actually hidden quite well. The port does not have power when the car is in sleep mode.
AutoPilot Tip: Set your steering wheel & seat & save it to your driver profile in such a way that you can comfortably rest each of your elbows on either side for one handed Autopilot
Interior Protection: Use 303 protectant spray on the dash and glovebox to prevent scratches/scuffs
Turn Off Seat Warmers: When remotely turning on heat from app, hold down on drivers seat to turn off all seat warmers (they all turn on by default)
Romance Mode Without Heat: If you want to activate Romance Mode but you want to turn off the heat, you can’t do it from the touchscreen but you can do it from the app
Phone Easter Egg: Hold down phone icon to change from “Call” to “Ahoy hoy”
Quick Charge Port Unlock: Gently tap the rear door handle to unlock the charging port (This may be fixed in a software update soon)
So you’re interested in buying an Apple laptop. Congratulations, a laptop is a big purchase so it’s very important to choose the right one. In this video I’ll explain which MacBook model is best for you in 2018.
Currently there are 3 MacBook models: MacBook, MacBook Air, and MacBook Pro (All MacBook models come standard with an SSD and at least 8GB RAM)
Comes in 3 configurations starting at $999, $1199 & $1399. Comes in same colors as MacBook: Gold, Space Gray, and Silver
8GB RAM (up to 16GB); 128GB SSD (up to 256GB, 512GB, or 1.5TB)
With the Air you have 2 main versions: the older standard display non-Retina version and the latest Retina display version with Touch ID, the latest-generation keyboard, and a Force Touch trackpad.
Get 13″ NON-Retina MacBook Air if you
Have the lowest budget (Apple’s most affordable laptop since it doesn’t have a Retina display or latest hardware)
Want the widest variety of legacy ports (still has USB-A ports, SD card slot and MagSafe port)
Get 13″ Retina MacBook Air if you
Care about battery life more than anything (up to 13 hours of use which is the longest battery life of any current Apple laptop)
Want the small thin lightweight design similar to the 12” MacBook for travel & on-the-go work but you need the better performance & features like the louder speakers and better webcam (720p HD)
Want the best display without spending more to get a Pro model (Retina Air has over 4 million pixels w/ higher pixel density than 12” Retina MacBook)
Want the newest MacBook model with the latest 8th Gen Intel processor (released Late 2018 which is the most recent release out of all the current Apple laptops)
Fine with having only two USB-C ports total for the entire laptop
Want the most environmental friendly Mac (made from 100% recycled aluminum)
Comes in silver or space gray (no gold) and 2 screen sizes: 13″ starting at $1299 (non-TouchBar) & $1799 w/ TouchBar. 15” w/ Touchbar starts at $2399
All MacBook Pro models (13” and 15”) have the following in common:
They all have IPS Retina displays (13″ has 227ppi; 15″ has 220ppi)
They all get up to 10 hours battery life
Have all new 8th-Gen Intel processors up to quad-core on 13” model and up to 6-cores on 15” model
Get a MacBook Pro if you
Value productivity and performance over everything. The Pro lineup has the best performance and fastest speeds of all the Apple laptops (for professional work) 15″ has the best specs out of all Apple laptops; 13” TouchBar is the best blend of high performance and fairly compact size out of all the Apple laptops
Need the most internal storage: 13″ starts at 128GB SSD (configurable up to 2TB); 15″ starts at 256GB SSD (configurable to 4TB)
Want the best/brightest display & best speakers out of all Apple laptops (All MBPs have 25% more colors than standard RGB along with 500 nits of brightness; The Touch Bar models have True Tone technology where the white balance automatically adjusts to match the color temperature of the light around you and besides the display it also has high fidelity audio
Often multi-task with multiple programs open since you can get up to 32GB of RAM
Run CPU-intensive or graphics-intensive applications like photography, coding, HD & 4K video editing, 3D graphics, and certain gaming (For best graphics performance get 15″ which has dedicated Radeon Pro GPU with up to 4GB memory)
Don’t mind having a slightly bigger laptop compared to the other MacBook models (having said that, I own a 13” MacBook Pro with TouchBar and it’s still very mobile and portable)
Have a large budget (expensive; most expensive config is over $7,000)
