How did Tim Swanson get into cigars?
He helped plant a church that ran short of money. He says he went two months without a paycheck. So he took a part-time job at a Phoenix cigar shop chain, around mid-2015. At the time, the chain also owned the website TNT Cigars.
He started as a part-time clerk. Soon he was running operations for the whole company. His advice to anyone who wants in:
"The getting into cigars is 100% about building relationships."25:36 in the episode
Why did Cigars Daily delete 900 videos?
YouTube gave the channel a strike, then two more the next day. Under YouTube's rules, a third strike can end a channel.
"My only real option was to delete every piece of content on my channel. And that's what I did. I deleted 900 videos."50:33 in the episode
Afterwards he and his partner built Cigars Daily Plus, their own online community. On YouTube he still won't smoke on camera. He cuts the cigar band out in Photoshop and shows it next to him instead.
Should you start a cigar brand?
His first answer is no.
"The first step to start your own cigar brand, the categorical first step is don't do that and go do something else instead."28:15 in the episode
In 2015, he says, $10,000 and a ticket to Nicaragua could get you a brand. Not anymore.
"It's probably less complicated to start a brand of whiskey in America today than a brand of cigars."31:15 in the episode
A good cigar and great packaging only get you in the door. The brands he sees growing have owners who show up online every day.
"They're out in front of the logo. They're not counting on the logo doing the job for them."34:14 in the episode
What can a lounge owner take from it?
Swanson worked in churches before cigars. He sees one big difference.
"The church is really trying. Cigar shops create community without trying."15:51 in the episode
He's blunt about marketing too. Nobody, he says, markets a shop like the owner with everything on the line.
What makes a good cigar, in his view?
Construction comes before flavour.
"If the draw is plugged, if it burns sideways, it doesn't matter if you have the best flavor in the world."1:07:57 in the episode
He's no fan of oversized cigars either.
"The big cigars, they don't make any sense. And I tell people not to smoke them. And every time I do that, they buy me out of them."1:06:57 in the episode
In this episode
- 2:36How we met, and Tim's cigar for the episode
- 5:39From church planter to cigar shop clerk to operations manager
- 11:26Cigar rules in Canada versus the US
- 14:35Cigar shops, churches and community
- 22:57Why he says not to start a cigar brand
- 43:57What a week at Cigars Daily really looks like
- 49:15Three YouTube strikes and a deleted catalog
- 57:34Making every video himself
- 1:05:33Rapid fire, and advice to his younger self
Quotes come from the episode captions. Filler words like "uh" are trimmed, and names are spelled correctly.