Ecom Youtube Challenge - Building a channel with 120 videos in 120 days

[Simon Angel]

Hey everyone, things got wild since my last update. I was doing 5 views per day when I posted with a few hundred subscribers and now I'm doing 20,000 views per day and over 3,200 subscribers. One of my videos is now at 120,000 views (in just 2 weeks) and the others are in the tens of thousands. It's absolutely wild. I had been working on this channel for 8 months and then BOOM, it suddenly took off.

This screenshot shows the data since the day I updated the forum here (10th of Feb) until today.

View attachment 47962
I think Youtube just suddenly figured out my audience and it's going bananas showing it to every viewer that likes the music I play and the feedback has been insanely positive. I'm getting DMs from other producers, and DJs (many that I look up to) asking to do collaborations. I'm also now thinking more about how I can monetize this.

I've been looking into licensing the tracks with the labels so that I can make youtube ad revenue from the views (but I'm also careful about non-skippable ads on my videos which can hurt the quality), maybe starting a patreon account, selling merchandise (a bunch of people have asked where I get the unique shirts I wear in my videos) as well as where to find the gear I use (could use affiliate links). At the moment I'm just trying to send my fans to my instagram so I have a place to communicate with them more easily. I'm also considering starting an email list where they get access behind the scenes vlogs and secret sets in order to build up that contact list in the case I lose Youtube/IG or any other social media platform. I do already have a website set up just to have a presence but I could take things further in this way.

Anyway, the next adventure continues and I'll keep you guys updated if it's something you're interested in. I'm posting a new video every 2 weeks. Here's the one uploaded today, the editing and quality is getting better every single video:

Dude, I noticed your growth recently! I wondered if it was spontaneous or if you were doing something behind the scenes.

Congrats man!!

 

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[MartinG]

Incredible story. Combining the power of content to

1. Scale your business
2. Start a passion project

What an incredible time we live in where you can easily grow a business if you are able to build and capture attention over time.

 

[Levon]

@Phikey, this is awesome man. Congrats! Do you mind if I do a feature on you on LinkedIn (i.e. carousels)? I want to share your story

 

[Phikey]

@Phikey, this is awesome man. Congrats! Do you mind if I do a feature on you on LinkedIn (i.e. carousels)? I want to share your story

Yeah go ahead! Shoot me a link too, would love to see it.

Quick update:
I spent 18 months making music, travelling the world creating my DJ sets in beautiful places.
Last month our profit in the business had a drop by 50% so I dove into the business to see what the hell was going on. Turns out there were quite a few problems and the profit was just a symptom of what was going on. The team structure, the project management, and our main lead source (Youtube) was not being maintained. If we didn't make changes soon, we would head into a nose-dive over the coming 6 months. The CEO had maintained the profit for 18 months but it seemed a lot of it was treading water.. and the unavoidable drowning was coming within the next 6 months.

It was time for me to leave my care-free life as a musician and give my team a helping hand.

But first... Who's to blame for this?

Me. I am. 100%.

Why?

• I was eager to hand over the reigns of my business and get out. I didn't do the proper training and oversight that I should in the early months of the company. It was my first time handing over to a new CEO and I was hoping I could leave it and walk away. I had read about Andrew Wilkinson (founder of Tiny) and how he installs CEOs in his businesses. I tried the same but the difference with me was that I didn't choose a CEO with past experience scaling the same business model. I put someone in charge that was further behind than me in growing businesses.. so in reality, the business actually shrank in many ways (operations, systems, team structure became chaotic, etc). Many of the mistakes I had made years ago were suddenly showing up again. When I made that mistake in 2019 I learned, installed systems in place, and never made it again. But because he was learning how to grow the company, he didn't know why that system was in place so some things were removed and suddenly we're repeating past mistakes. E.g. chasing multiple services/income streams for different buyer personas rather than focusing on helping 1 buyer persona with their problem.
  • Solution: Don't hire a CEO until we find the right person. Also create operating manual, systems, and ways to monitor using them.
• As part of this I hadn't put the systems in place to make sure the systems were followed. I hadn't set the business up like a clockwork machine that maintained consistency. It was at 80% there but without management maintaining the systems, they fell into disuse.
  • Solution: Create clear systems and checklists for each role, along with an operating manual, and regular checks to make sure we're following our processes.
• I didn't put the expectations in place or a team in place to make sure we continue making Youtube videos (I had told the new CEO to build this team but he didn't have the experience so he tried doing everything himself.. his perfectionist tendencies meant that we never published videos). The team had been testing other lead sources but hadn't been able to crack them and had spent a lot of money on software and staff.. while our main lead source was neglected.
  • Solution: Focus our capital on the most profitable lead sources first (like YT) and once that's maxed out, test others.
• I didn't create a lasting offer. The market changed and I see now that competitors have all read $100m Offers and are offering wild guarantees. No longer is our high level of expertise a compelling USP when put up against someone with a crazy money back guarantee (we're going to offer something similar soon).
  • Solution: Create a new offer that stands the test of time (it will always need to be reworked).
• I didn't push the CEO to move faster. I was so happy to have the business running by itself without me at all (and it maintained the same profitability for 18 months while I was living my best life.. so I'm not too upset). He's more of a technical operator than an entrepreneur. He wanted things to be perfect before implementing. He took a long time to make decisions (when we need to make decisions quickly once we have 80% of the data). This meant that things just didn't get done and it impacted the culture of the entire business. I feel like I'm coming back to a totally different business that I left. The culture has changed a lot. But already within a few weeks the changes are happening. I know things will be good soon, but it requires a bit of elbow grease for now.
  • Solution: Get everyone on the same page, aligned on our goals and how their role achieves our objectives.

How I feel?
Honestly, kinda happy and excited, and relieved that I know what to do. It was an amazing 18 months away. I had incredible experiences, freedom, and I made massive steps ahead in my personal development. It sucks that the CEO didn't grow it the way I wanted, but it still maintained profitability and now I'm going to scale it successfully.

What's next?
I've got a big list of stuff I've gotta do. I'm pulling 10 hour days to get things on track. I'm working closely with the team to understand how we can move forward. I'm not thinking about a new CEO yet, I want to get the business in the right place and growing first. Once the business is running smoothly, I'll go back to music, but still manage the business in a lighter capacity. I'm delegating everything, getting our systems set up and making sure they're always followed from now on (rereading The E-myth Revisited again.. very helpful).

The journey continues, thanks for all the support from day 1 (3 and a half years ago). I'm excited for what's to come.

 

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[Levon]

Yeah go ahead! Shoot me a link too, would love to see it.

Quick update:
I spent 18 months making music, travelling the world creating my DJ sets in beautiful places.
Last month our profit in the business had a drop by 50% so I dove into the business to see what the hell was going on. Turns out there were quite a few problems and the profit was just a symptom of what was going on. The team structure, the project management, and our main lead source (Youtube) was not being maintained. If we didn't make changes soon, we would head into a nose-dive over the coming 6 months. The CEO had maintained the profit for 18 months but it seemed a lot of it was treading water.. and the unavoidable drowning was coming within the next 6 months.

It was time for me to leave my care-free life as a musician and give my team a helping hand.

But first... Who's to blame for this?

Me. I am. 100%.

Why?

• I was eager to hand over the reigns of my business and get out. I didn't do the proper training and oversight that I should in the early months of the company. It was my first time handing over to a new CEO and I was hoping I could leave it and walk away. I had read about Andrew Wilkinson (founder of Tiny) and how he installs CEOs in his businesses. I tried the same but the difference with me was that I didn't choose a CEO with past experience scaling the same business model. I put someone in charge that was further behind than me in growing businesses.. so in reality, the business actually shrank in many ways (operations, systems, team structure became chaotic, etc). Many of the mistakes I had made years ago were suddenly showing up again. When I made that mistake in 2019 I learned, installed systems in place, and never made it again. But because he was learning how to grow the company, he didn't know why that system was in place so some things were removed and suddenly we're repeating past mistakes. E.g. chasing multiple services/income streams for different buyer personas rather than focusing on helping 1 buyer persona with their problem.
  • Solution: Don't hire a CEO until we find the right person. Also create operating manual, systems, and ways to monitor using them.
• As part of this I hadn't put the systems in place to make sure the systems were followed. I hadn't set the business up like a clockwork machine that maintained consistency. It was at 80% there but without management maintaining the systems, they fell into disuse.
  • Solution: Create clear systems and checklists for each role, along with an operating manual, and regular checks to make sure we're following our processes.
• I didn't put the expectations in place or a team in place to make sure we continue making Youtube videos (I had told the new CEO to build this team but he didn't have the experience so he tried doing everything himself.. his perfectionist tendencies meant that we never published videos). The team had been testing other lead sources but hadn't been able to crack them and had spent a lot of money on software and staff.. while our main lead source was neglected.
  • Solution: Focus our capital on the most profitable lead sources first (like YT) and once that's maxed out, test others.
• I didn't create a lasting offer. The market changed and I see now that competitors have all read $100m Offers and are offering wild guarantees. No longer is our high level of expertise a compelling USP when put up against someone with a crazy money back guarantee (we're going to offer something similar soon).
  • Solution: Create a new offer that stands the test of time (it will always need to be reworked).
• I didn't push the CEO to move faster. I was so happy to have the business running by itself without me at all (and it maintained the same profitability for 18 months while I was living my best life.. so I'm not too upset). He's more of a technical operator than an entrepreneur. He wanted things to be perfect before implementing. He took a long time to make decisions (when we need to make decisions quickly once we have 80% of the data). This meant that things just didn't get done and it impacted the culture of the entire business. I feel like I'm coming back to a totally different business that I left. The culture has changed a lot. But already within a few weeks the changes are happening. I know things will be good soon, but it requires a bit of elbow grease for now.
  • Solution: Get everyone on the same page, aligned on our goals and how their role achieves our objectives.

How I feel?
Honestly, kinda happy and excited, and relieved that I know what to do. It was an amazing 18 months away. I had incredible experiences, freedom, and I made massive steps ahead in my personal development. It sucks that the CEO didn't grow it the way I wanted, but it still maintained profitability and now I'm going to scale it successfully.

What's next?
I've got a big list of stuff I've gotta do. I'm pulling 10 hour days to get things on track. I'm working closely with the team to understand how we can move forward. I'm not thinking about a new CEO yet, I want to get the business in the right place and growing first. Once the business is running smoothly, I'll go back to music, but still manage the business in a lighter capacity. I'm delegating everything, getting our systems set up and making sure they're always followed from now on (rereading The E-myth Revisited again.. very helpful).

The journey continues, thanks for all the support from day 1 (3 and a half years ago). I'm excited for what's to come.

Awesome, would love to connect on LinkedIn. I'm a little swamped with my FT job, co-hosting a podcast, and juggling freelancing but I'll be back to posting in December. Thanks for the update, too—all the best with your company.