Daily Youtube Kickstarter Show

[DennisD]

My slowlane/sidewalk friends think I've been "living the life". In reality, I've been coasting.

Picking up work here and there, spending the rest of my time on small projects and hobbies, gaming. I've been lazy. Well that's boring. I'm bored.

It's time to build something again.
So I'm hopping back on platform I've found some initial success: Youtube.

How I Chose My Niche

I started 6 blogs on Tumblr and ripped content from across the net. Each blog posted 5 times a day for 2 weeks.

The niches were things I've persued before but have stopped due to lack of time/resources.:

• Kickstarter
• Manosphere
• ComicBooks
• Fiction
• Trivia
• Random/Geek

After the two week trial period, each blog had less than 5 followers except the Kickstarter blog which had 14 followers. I decided to move forward with this niche. It's not an exhaustive test, but I hope if copy+pasted kickstarter pages generate followers, perhaps original content will do much better on social media.

Long Term Strategy
My endgame is to become so popular with kickstarter buyers that my channel becomes valuable to them.

I want this to be the platform that crowdfunding project owners NEED to get onboard with.

This can lead to advertising revenue from paid spots at the top/bottom of each show, entire sponsored episodes, and the ability to get a boost when launching MY OWN kickstarters.

Short Term Tactics
The idea right now, is to Email each individual project owner I do a review on, and ask them to host this video on their kickstarter page.

They get social proof adn boosted conversions as a result, and I get some viewers and potential fans.

My video will be placed DIRECTLY in front of kickstarter backers, which is the core audience.

Risks
A "kickstarter backer" may not be an actual demographic. That's like saying that an "amazon buyer" or "ebay shopper" is a demographic. Kickstarter has a wide variety of products and categories and I may be placing myself at risk by not niching this down even further.

However, I'm hoping that I'm right about something. I hope that Kickstarter backers are actually a demographic in and of themselves. I hope they're trendsetters that enjoy getting the latest and coolest stuff before anybody else. I hope that they like to support the underdogs and get joy out of buying on kickstarter as opposed to in stores.

If I'm right about this hidden demographic existing, I'm in for a fun ride. If I'm wrong, I'll clear the drawing board and start over again.

Video A Day
I firmly believe that if you do ANYTHING once a day, you set yourself up for success. People are in need of QUALITY CONSISTENT content. I can provide them this, while also getting BETTER at my craft each day.

By releasing every single day (I'm not including the weekends) I will grow a following rapidly. The sheer numbers are what drive this forward.

At the end of every month I will have released 20 videos, spotlighting 20 kickstarters, and potentially embedded on each of their 20 kickstarter pages. This is 5X the potential for VSEO that a weekly vlogger would generate.

Current Struggles

I'm embarrassed to say that one of my struggles is CLOTHING. I'm only 3 days in and I stress out before each video like a highschool girl going on a date. I DON'T KNOW WHAT TO WEAR!

With the last video, I have decided to wear a black shirt every single day. This eleminates a point of stress for me, and allows for me to shoot a few days worth of content back to back, without worrying about wardrobe changes.

Another similar sruggle is MUSIC. Good music is hard to find and expensive, especially when doing AN EPISODE A DAY. It's a huge struggle and puts a TON of extratime into each video. I have decided to just use the same music every day. This might change in the future, but for now it is what it is.

The final thing I'm dealing with is writing headlines. I need to think of some interesting angles that will get picked up on big blogs. My titles and headlines being the name of the product just won't cut it.

This will probably be something that I will need to come up with before I even write each video. Of course, doing a video a day, there's plenty of opportunities to practice.

 

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[DennisD]

My progress thus far:

I'm 3 days in and 3 videos successfully completed. I think they've gotten progressively better, so if you're only going to watch one, watch the latest.

I need to adjust my sleeping schedule to get these out earlier in the day. I'm used to waking up "whenever" but I think I'll have much better luck waking up at 6-7AM and getting these done by 10am, leaving me time in the day for other stuff.

 

[ilrein]

This is pretty smart man. I approve.

 

[splok]

Seems like a good idea for a channel, and if the video for a particular campaign end up being better than the backers own video, you'll probably end up on a lot of their campaign pages.

I'm probably the wrong person to comment on the clothes thing, but it seems fine to have a sort of uniform for the show. If it seems like something you'll stick with, get a few shirts made with a pocket screenprint of your logo so it feels like a more official uniform.

I think the same music is good too, as it helps set your brand. When you listed to radio shows/podcasts or whatever, they all have a standard intro/extro to brand themselves.

 

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[Deon]

I like the videos, you're a funny guy!

 

[DennisD]

This is pretty smart man. I approve.

I like the videos, you're a funny guy!

Thank you both so much.

get a few shirts made with a pocket screenprint of your logo so it feels like a more official uniform

This is brilliant. After a few weeks of a solid black tee, if I feel like I'll stick with it, I'll get some shirts made up. Great idea.

 

[DennisD]

Today was my very first attempt at creating a video with a "clickbait" headline. I chose the project based on how much I LIKE it, but I based the video around the connection this game has to Breaking Bad.

This allows me to share with Breaking Bad and television audiences to generate traffic. I hope for this to be my most popular video of the four.

I am self concious abou tthe Castle wall backdrop. It doesn't fit with the theme of the show, but I have decided to push it out of my mind until I actually have a solution. @LibertyForMe suggested that a background wouldn't alter his viewing habits. If he likes a show, he'll watch it. If he doesn't, he won't. I will push this out of my head for now.

I am also struggling with video quality. It's a pain in the butt to not have the equipment I use professionally, but until this earns me money, I simply can't afford to make it better... so I guess I will just keep doing the best I can with what I have.

 

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[AubreyJ]

These are actually really good! I love the idea and I thought your videos are really well done- I liked the Birdy Blast joke. I could definitely see this becoming a successful channel.

As far as your clothes go, I think that wearing generic, solid colors (like your black shirt) is a good choice. It's simple, it allows you to tape multiple episodes without having to change over and over again, and it keeps the focus on the video itself instead of your wardrobe- you're not a fashion channel, so that shouldn't be the focus. I subscribed!

 

[Gale4rc]

Love the idea, concept and execution. Remember to put just as much time into the marketing of each video as you do creating it.

 

[DennisD]

So Week 1 is over. I will no longer be posting individual videos to this forum.
I will only share "Landmark videos" where a YT newbie can learn some lesson. Anybody who wants to watch them will watch them will subscribe, anybody who doesn't won't have them pushed upon them.

This is yesterdays video and I REALLY came on strong with the hook/jokes, but I think it went over well with the few who have seen it so far.
I genuinely enjoyed this video and hope it got a few laughs.

Love the idea, concept and execution. Remember to put just as much time into the marketing of each video as you do creating it.

Thanks. About this, I have decided to PPC a channel trailer for one of my videos.

After some research and talks with serious YTers, the climb from 0-100 is the hardest. The climbs from 100-1,000 and from 1,000-10,000 are EASIER in comparison.

For these reasons:

1. The youtube algorithm works better on videos with more views and channels with more subs. The "video suggestion" feature will give videos with more views more weight.
2. Virility NATURALLY happens with videos that get more exposure. More social shares, more reddit submits/upvotes, JUST as a result of more people seeing it.

So the more people that DO see it, the more people that WILL see it.

I wrote/recorded/cut a channel trailer today. I threw in my personality and a few jokes, and I also explain what the channel is and why you should subscribe.

ALSO, IT HAS THE STRONGEST CALL TO ACTION YOU HAVE EVER SEEN IN YOUR LIFE!

I'm going to throw the minimum adwords $ at this and see how well it does.

WHY the minimum?

Adwords in-stream ads have a tendency to OVERSERVE channel ads, especially when they have nothing else to show the demographic.
I have spoken to youtubers who have gotten 6K+ views from a $5 adspend.

You stand the most to gain (for a small channel, with less than 1K followers) to spend as little as possible. Even 100 extra views would go a LONG way towards raising subscriber count. Since I have only 13 real subscribers at this point, the gains from an accidental overserving of my ads would really be something great. I'm not COUNTING on this to work, but at this point the #s work in my favor.

I plan to aim these ads NOT at people who show interest in kickstarter (very few kickstarter based videos on YT as a whole) but instead at people who enjoy channels with a similar attitude/style/humor as mine. I may make genre specific trailers in the future (gaming, tech, etc) but I'll see how this one goes.

 

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[Deleted2BB3x9]

Hey Dennis,

I'm liking the videos man. I like the speed and general tone of the videos. And, I love finding out about cool unique products, especially if they have a kickstarter. I often look back at kickstarters and say "I wish I didn't miss that". This seems like a really cool show. I'm part of your audience. (People looking for cool unique products they can't find anywhere else). Hope this was useful for you

Also, I'm curious about your business model. How will you be generating the majority of your revenue? Through media buying? Or will you be marketing something to your subscribers?

 

[DennisD]

Also, I'm curious about your business model. How will you be generating the majority of your revenue? Through media buying? Or will you be marketing something to your subscribers?

Most the kickstarter blogs and networks that exist right now are B2B. They're people giving "How to make a kickstarter successful" advice to their audience. I plan to buy ad space on these blogs that leads to a landing page. On the landing page is information on my YT channel, the current # of subscribers I have, the audience demographics, along with information on how much $ it would cost to get featured on my show.

The MOMENT I hit 10K fans, I'm opening up at these prices, gauging interest, and moving forward from there:

Cost for a 10 second shoutout at bottom of show: $100.
Cost for a fully feature episode about your kickstarter: $500

I have full right to reject/refund you if I don't like/want to spotlight your project, my fans come first and I will only take on projects I feel I can show off in an entertaining way.

If/when the demand gets high, I will raise prices and see what the sweet spot is. If I can't start that high, I will lower the prices.
When the channel makes decent $, I will be able to start outsourcing some of the work (writing, editing) and open myself up to further opportunity with other mediabased work.

The main goal for me has ALWAYS been to create a media empire. This is where I feel "at-home." If this generates some cashflow I'd love to get a fulltime blogger on board and pay them to write about kickstarters on a website.

I will ALSO leverage this platform to promote my own interestes. I have another YT show I want to create but lack the $ for, I have a task management app idea, a web app idea, etc.. I originally was going to pursue investors for the $, but with a kickstarter audience in front of me, I may be able to fund/spotlight myself.

 

[Deleted2BB3x9]

Interesting. Sounds like a great opportunity. Your prices sound very reasonable. Also, do most kickstarters have problems promoting themselves? How big is the demand?

Once this starts to get popular, it would be a great way to get some exposure for campaigns. I think being able to spotlight yourself later on is a great idea too.

Good job man. I'm rooting for you. I just subscribed.

 

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[DennisD]

Alright,
super quick update:

Because of my longterm monetization strategy, I have a decent idea about how much $ my subscribers are worth and so I'm not afraid to spend cash to get them.

I put $15 into google adwords. Took me a bit to figure out the interface (I haven't used adwords since my minecraft site 4ish ago.)

I should be getting 250-1K views per day for the next two weeks (starting tomorrow or tuesday).

I targeted the ads so they'd only play on 8 superpopular personality-based youtube channels (so no sketch comedy, gaming, etc).

I chose youtubers like Swoozie, Ray William Johnson, Jenna Marbles, Rhett and Link, Jenna Marbles. All funny high-energy people that talk directly to the camera.

Hopefully the trailer will catch attention within the first few seconds before people skip the ad. Regardless of this ads success, I will create others and test to see which is most successful.

I found some very powerful marketing features within adwords... such as a remarketing feature which targets anybody who's seen my channel before, yet isn't subscribed. I can also target people who are subscribed to other channels and not subscribed to mine, and create specific videos to target their interests. SO COOL! SO USEFUL!

Sent from my KFTHWI using Tapatalk

 

[SeanyHang]

I really like the videos Dennis! Keep it up, I'm sharing them with some friends! They seem to flow pretty easily, do you put a lot of time into writing the script or just start talking and create the flow with some editing magic?

 

[DennisD]

I really like the videos Dennis! Keep it up, I'm sharing them with some friends! They seem to flow pretty easily, do you put a lot of time into writing the script or just start talking and create the flow with some editing magic?

I spent time experimenting with this privately. I had videos where I just talked to the camera and edited later. Most came out okay, but some were boring. My on-the spot commentary is usually pretty funny, I have a natural sense for comedy/storytelling/pacing. However, it's not enough to carry every video every time.

Rebelfund is something I care deeply about and am actively TRYING to get an audience for. As something I do EVERYDAY, I decided I can't afford to have a 'bad day'. ALL of Ray William Johnson's videos are funny. I can't afford to have anything less than that if I want to actualize the growth I see in my head.

Of course, bad days will inevitably happen, but I should do everything in my power to minimize them.

So, I script all Rebelfund videos immediately before I record them. Many of the bits within the video are on-the-fly, but I always have a bare minimum of content scripted. I have the opportunity to read through it before it's cemented, and say "this isn't funny enough," or "This part is going on for too long, I need to break it up".

 

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[FastNAwesome]

Awesome videos, lots of fun...and I don't even care about the topic.

Backdrop is awesome too but seriously

ALL of Ray William Johnson's videos are funny

I thought of that guy watching your videos...except you're 100 times cooler, funnier and more authentic.

His only advantage (in my opinion) is covering topics of wider interest, like funny cats and making fun of funny videos

Anyway, much luck and hope this takes off.

 

[DennisD]

I thought of that guy watching your videos...except you're 100 times cooler, funnier and more authentic.

His only advantage (in my opinion) is covering topics of wider interest, like funny cats and making fun of funny videos

That means SO much, thanks! For real. Really.
Like.. really. No really.
Seriously, thanks.
Really...

Yeah, I was thinking about this too. He covered viral videos which were funny in themselves, AND he was also entertaining. The main reason I watched was for the videos, and the commentary is just bonus. However, all that people TRUELY care about is being entertained, so as long as I try my hardest to get THAT done, everything else will follow.

Anyway, much luck and hope this takes off.

Oh, it will, I won't rest until it does!
For real, having a hard time getting to sleep. All I can think about is this damned YT channel. It's nice to be so absorbed by something again, but it gets ridiculous.

I don't care about eating, or sleeping, or spending time with friends or family, or taking breaks. This must be how drug addicts feel.

 

[Testament]

I always love reading your stuff Dennis - you're very about the giving value mentality, and your posts are always packed past the top with it, accordingly. I'm sure I speak for a lot of people when I say that I genuinely appreciate it.

I think you have a great idea too. I know a few people running Kickstarters/Indiegogos right now, I'll ask if they have some time to check out one of your videos and give me their thoughts.

 

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[ttoke]

I understood the potential of the idea before opening the topic, good luck! Subscribed.

 

[Gale4rc]

You should probably do more than just Adwords unless you have a big budget. IMO you should consider partnering with an inbound marketing expert.

I'm sure it takes most of your time/effort creating the videos and you really need to be marketing them online.

contact youtubers and get a mention (don't just straight up ask, that's lazy and people will say no)
Get involved on more forums with a sig link to your youtube chan
Get mentions from bloggers
Guest post on blogs to drive traffic to your yt chan
Basically just find out where your target audience is hanging out and figure out how you can start appearing all those places
etc

Your videos only have 100 views and they're all most likely from this forum... I'm afraid if you ignore marketing / rely on adwords you're not gonna be successful in this venture and we all know this could be a huge hit!

 

[DennisD]

I'll ask if they have some time to check out one of your videos and give me their thoughts.

Thank you so much! There's really no need to worry about it since the backer and the project-owner are different demographics. For the time being, the project owner will likely undervalue the channel until there's something "in it" for them, which there isn't yet.

I'm more interested in what the general public thinks, as these will make up the actual viewers. Once they're subscribed, THAT'S when I'll start tailoring to project owners.

Your videos only have 100 views and they're all most likely from this forum... I'm afraid if you ignore marketing / rely on adwords you're not gonna be successful in this venture and we all know this could be a huge hit!

Thanks for the suggestions, Don't worry, I've got a grasp on the marketing, PPC is for a boost to subscribers. It costs $16 and it took 2 hours to do the video, it seems silly not to do it.

I'm doing other marketing tasks too, but I don't want to share in detail until I've got a solid gameplan. Talk is cheap.

As for the traffic source, it seems this forum accounts for ~10 views per video. The rest are from reddit/twitter. Each project owner shares my video with their fans and backers.

 

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[DennisD]

Get mentions from bloggers

I've been thinking about this.

What do you think I can do to spark this? I've mailed out a videos to 200+blogs (on the topic the actual kickstarter was based on).

This is how I want the channel to be percieved in the future:
I want my channel to be a SOURCE that other bloggers look towards to see what's up-and-coming in kickstarter. I want them to see something I vlog about, and they write about it in their blog.

This might happen naturally if I become popular enough... but I want to take further action to get it to happen SOONER.
Does anybody have any advice to accomplish this?

 

[Gale4rc]

I've been thinking about this.

What do you think I can do to spark this? I've mailed out a videos to 200+blogs (on the topic the actual kickstarter was based on).

This is how I want the channel to be percieved in the future:
I want my channel to be a SOURCE that other bloggers look towards to see what's up-and-coming in kickstarter. I want them to see something I vlog about, and they write about it in their blog.

This might happen naturally if I become popular enough... but I want to take further action to get it to happen SOONER.
Does anybody have any advice to accomplish this?

Message them first and build a relationship with them.

Instead of emailing them your youtube video try just starting a conversation with them via email and having your youtube channel in your signature, they will most likely check it out and then when you ask if they might be interested in covering it later you already have the relationship built and they might ask you first.

My general strategy is to Tweet at them or share one of their articles on twitter, leave a comment on their blog and then email over the course of a week and it works 80% of the time

 

[DennisD]

Message them first and build a relationship with them.

Instead of emailing them your youtube video try just starting a conversation with them via email and having your youtube channel in your signature, they will most likely check it out and then when you ask if they might be interested in covering it later you already have the relationship built and they might ask you first.

My general strategy is to Tweet at them or share one of their articles on twitter, leave a comment on their blog and then email over the course of a week and it works 80% of the time

Cool. I'll give this a shot this week!

 

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[DennisD]

Looked at my channel analytics today.
To be honest, It was tough.

"Vanity metrics", I believe they call it.
Lots of information I can't do ANYTHING with.
All it did was make feel feel anxious.

Not doing that again.
For now on, BEFORE I look at analytic, I will have a specific purpose and a specific question I need answered. Putting a bunch of questions into my head isn't going to help me get to the next stage.

And what IS that next stage?
My current goal: get to 100 subscribers and every step I make should be to attain this goal.
No worrying about a single thing that doesn't influence subscriber count.

So, what do I do to attain this goal:

• As per @Gale4rc advice I am reaching out to bloggers, making contact, saying hi.
• I will also increase my twitter activity. I will reach out to and interact with the people who are fans of similar content
• I will write more blog posts for Lifehack, linking to my channel.
• I will set up IfTTT recipes to push my daily videos to every social media avenue I can. All it takes is a single person seeing a single video they like to gain a new subscriber.
• I already have some PPC ads running, waiting to see how those play out.

 

[Travis Phipps]

Dude...I love this idea, your show, and everything about it. I subscribed. I have a bunch of ideas for you. I'll try to put something together for you and post it in this thread.

I'll be watching daily.

T

 

[Gale4rc]

Also go through all the top tech sites, research what journalist cover kickstarter and pitch them

(techcrunch, theverge, recode, etc)

GJ so far

 

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[DennisD]

AUTOMATING THE CHANNEL

So there's a lot more businesswise to making a legit youtube channel than meets the eye.

My current problem is time management. These videos are very unpredicatable in how long they take me to accomplish.
The easy ones will take me 2 hours, the hard ones take me closer to 8 hours!

Ripping stock footage, collection of stock images, sound leveling, creation of thumbnail, upload and syndication of these videos REALLY eats up a lot of my time. In the end, I have almost NO time left to do clientwork (moneymaker).

If I want this to be a FASTLANE BUSINESS and not just a hobby, there are systems I need to create and put in place to streamline things.
So I've started to put my brain to work and use tools and systems to get things accomplished so tasks take less time.

FOR INSTANCE:
I have set it up so that everytime a video is uploaded, my girlfriend and VA are notified via email with specific instructions. I am having them take care of:

• Subtitles
• Adding Annotations
• Creating Thumbnails
• Notifying Project owners I've made a video about them.
• Resource Gathering

I have created training videos to teach them how to do these tasks.
Here's video teaching my VA how to create a thumbnail:

Setting up these systems will help me long-term so I have more time for promotion and marketing tasks.

Sponsorship
I decided tp approach crowdfunding marketers and freelancers with a sponsorship opportunity.
When people start watching a new show, fans often go back and watch the entire backlog. Getting a sponsorship in EARLY means long-term exposure for the company.

I will pitch the idea of having a 10 second shoutout within every episode that urges viewers to check out the sponsor's website if THEY have an idea for a kickstarter project of their own.

If I play my cards right I can get some funding which will allow me to market this full time, as well as buy some better equipment. I will start pitching companies today.

 

[DennisD]

I have a bunch of ideas for you. I'll try to put something together for you and post it in this thread.

Waiting on those ideas!

Travis (accidentally) gave me the idea yesterday to run PPC ads to Shark Tank fans on youtube. I never thought of this before.. but it seems like a prime demographic.

Also, can somebody help me out with youtube PPC? Does anybody have experience with this? I THOUGHT I had a handle on it a few years ago, but the mechanics fall away from me. Apparently 1/3rd of the people who view my ad click on it, but I have seen less than 4% of them actually subscribe after doing so.