Figuring Out YouTube

[Andy Black]

Nice. This what I was thinking, but maybe speeding it up by running ads earlier to everything.

I noticed on TikTok that most of my views are UK and Ireland. I've heard I wouldn't be able to just run ads in the US, which seems dumb and surely something TikTok will fix.

Gary Vay-Ner-Chuk on Instagram: "Execution matters - im giving you a real insight … please use it ❤️♥️"

45K likes, 804 comments - garyveeSeptember 9, 2022 on : "Execution matters - im giving you a real insight … please use it ❤️♥️"

www.instagram.com

 

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[Andy Black]

I'm still posting a video a day. I don't batch them up... it's a case of script, record, edit, publish. I'm getting fast enough now that I've time to get back to client work afterwards!

Having a bank of content helps so much. I just browse through Google Keep, grab something relevant, edit it so it's tighter and with a bit of a hook.

I started talking more generally about sales and marketing. I'm starting to weave in a bit more stories.

I've not posted the videos in this thread as I want to see how they do just on the platforms.

I'm paying less heed about when I post. As soon as I've done a video I publish to TikTok, YouTube, LinkedIn, and my Facebook page.

I seem to be stuck in the 200-300 views range on TikTok. Apparently that's a thing. I'm not concerned, just curious. My process is getting quicker and I'm now starting to think about how to improve retention and get in front of more people.

I've still not figured out Instagram reels, and I've heard Pinterest (pins?) are useful too. Oh, and Snapchat is a head-wreck trying to figure out so I didn't bother.

I can see me using something like repurpose.io at some point.

I'll look into some sort of content calendar later one, but for now I'm still following my nose.


For TikTok I noticed the three 30s videos have more Likes than the 10-15s videos. I pinned them to my profile.

You can't see them pinned on desktop, so I've highlighted them in red below.

I've changed my thumbnail to have white writing instead of yellow. I wanted to not highlight the text so much when the video is actually playing as I think it's more likely to let people know they're looping.

I've tried a video or two designed for the loop. I'm not sure it made any difference.

 

[Andy Black]

I did a video in the car and then edited and published just before putting the kids to bed at about 8pm. It's had the most views for me on TikTok so far. Me and the kids watched it getting views again this morning before people went into work (most of my viewers are in Ireland because that's how TikTok works).

• It's a story that even starts with "once" in it (like "Once upon a time").
• It includes some details including a monetary amount I earned.
• It finishes with the lesson/takeaway for people to apply.
• All in 15s.
• The dynamic captions are NOT at different angles, colours, and swishing in and out. I kept then clean and simple.
• I cut between three different angles to keep it slightly more interesting and engaging. This was super simple to do ... just record it three times at different angles and then switch between them in editing.

As of 09:40am GMT (the previous post in this thread was at about 10:40pm GMT where it had 281 views):





The script, laid out how I read it in chunks:

I was on site once as an IT guy

I noticed the business
showed a home insurance ad
when I searched for car insurance

I took a screenshot
and sent it to their marketing manager

I ended up having a chat with them
and getting a €3k a month contract
to manage their Google ads campaigns

Sales isn't scary

Just be helpful and chat to people


The video:

TikTok - Make Your Day

 

[Cameraman]

I've had something odd happen with my most recent video. Here's the analytics graph


The video wasn't performing well after a few days. I wasn't surprised because it was targeted for a specific search term which I'm hoping will be picked up by Google after a couple of months. After 3 days it had received only 1K of views which was at number 9 out of my last 10 videos, but then the views shot up as you can see in the graph.

The source of the traffic was YouTube advertising but it wasn't me doing the advertising. I assume that it was the software company whose product I demonstrated in the video, but that still seems odd. If anyone has any ideas on how to find out let me know.

But the real gift from this wasn't the increased views and traffic, it was how it made me realise the power of paid ads. I've never used paid ads to sell my books or courses (other than on Amazon) and had been wondering if it's something I should try in the future. Then this happened and it made me realise how much interest there is in my subject niche. I'm seeing a trickle of new visitors with each YouTube video where ads can unleash a tsunami of traffic. I just need to make the numbers work.

 

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[Andy Black]

I've had something odd happen with my most recent video. Here's the analytics graph

View attachment 45128
The video wasn't performing well after a few days. I wasn't surprised because it was targeted for a specific search term which I'm hoping will be picked up by Google after a couple of months. After 3 days it had received only 1K of views which was at number 9 out of my last 10 videos, but then the views shot up as you can see in the graph.

The source of the traffic was YouTube advertising but it wasn't me doing the advertising. I assume that it was the software company whose product I demonstrated in the video, but that still seems odd. If anyone has any ideas on how to find out let me know.

But the real gift from this wasn't the increased views and traffic, it was how it made me realise the power of paid ads. I've never used paid ads to sell my books or courses (other than on Amazon) and had been wondering if it's something I should try in the future. Then this happened and it made me realise how much interest there is in my subject niche. I'm seeing a trickle of new visitors with each YouTube video where ads can unleash a tsunami of traffic. I just need to make the numbers work.

I ran ads to one of my videos a few years ago and it got a load of views (7k is a load for my channel). Try it, even for $2/day.

It's fun and opens up a whole new world. You can target people who've watched more than X% of one of your videos, or people who follow certain channels or watched other people's videos.

 

[Cameraman]

I ran ads to one of my videos a few years ago and it got a load of views (7k is a load for my channel). Try it, even for $2/day.

It's fun and opens up a whole new world. You can target people who've watched more than X% of one of your videos, or people who follow certain channels or watched other people's videos.

I will do. I hadn't realised it might be so flexible.

 

[mikecarlooch]

I did a video in the car and then edited and published just before putting the kids to bed at about 8pm. It's had the most views for me on TikTok so far. Me and the kids watched it getting views again this morning before people went into work (most of my viewers are in Ireland because that's how TikTok works).

• It's a story that even starts with "once" in it (like "Once upon a time").
• It includes some details including a monetary amount I earned.
• It finishes with the lesson/takeaway for people to apply.
• All in 15s.
• The dynamic captions are NOT at different angles, colours, and swishing in and out. I kept then clean and simple.
• I cut between three different angles to keep it slightly more interesting and engaging. This was super simple to do ... just record it three times at different angles and then switch between them in editing.

As of 09:40am GMT (the previous post in this thread was at about 10:40pm GMT where it had 281 views):

View attachment 45126



The script, laid out how I read it in chunks:

I was on site once as an IT guy

I noticed the business
showed a home insurance ad
when I searched for car insurance

I took a screenshot
and sent it to their marketing manager

I ended up having a chat with them
and getting a €3k a month contract
to manage their Google ads campaigns

Sales isn't scary

Just be helpful and chat to people


The video:

TikTok - Make Your Day

Loving your process Andy!

You've got me motivated posting daily too..

#30Days30Videos Challenge..?

Let's get it going!

 

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[Andy Black]

Loving your process Andy!

You've got me motivated posting daily too..

#30Days30Videos Challenge..?

Let's get it going!

I've an eye infection so missed yesterday and will likely miss a few more. I'm ok with that as I'd like this to be a daily habit for years to come. I'm not beating myself up about missing a day or two when I'm not on form.

I don't want to batch anything up at the moment. Maybe I'll have a few teed up to cover times like this.


2) Some more tips/learnings:

• I assume the video will show square even though it's recorded in portrait.
• I add a square overlay and make sure the captions show in it, then remove the overlay before exporting.
• I also try to have the camera further from my face so the top of my head doesn't get cut off. I'm not so fussed about this but I think it helps.
• Have wide enough margins for the captions so they don't get covered over by platform buttons and text.

3) My latest TikTok is my 1st to get over 1,000 views. It's had 1,116 views right now and is still increasing slowly. I've heard it can take a week for a video to really pick up steam on TikTok. The same video has 515 views on YouTube which is pretty good too.


4) Had this on LinkedIn this morning, which is cool:




5) My new favourite TikTok channel. The videos are short, really well done, and his loops are great. It just shows the power of short video.

Examples:

TikTok - Make Your Day

TikTok - Make Your Day

 

[Andy Black]

I've not posted for a bit as I've an eye infection. That's fine... I'll start up again when I'm better.

Here's my account on desktop. 3 videos are pinned but you can't see that on desktop.

 

[eliquid]

@Andy Black

I've been doing youtube the last year too.

I stopped as of this month, but only because I needed to focus on a new SaaS.

I remember our call 3 years ago and I cringe at the quality of my setup then. A lot has changed then with my recording setup ( audio and video ). See here -

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_9E6lLrrBoU&t=12s


I took a look at your newest videos. The car ones ( the shorts ) are awesome. Keep up the quality work man.

 

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[Andy Black]

@Andy Black

I've been doing youtube the last year too.

I stopped as of this month, but only because I needed to focus on a new SaaS.

I remember our call 3 years ago and I cringe at the quality of my setup then. A lot has changed then with my recording setup ( audio and video ). See here -

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_9E6lLrrBoU&t=12s


I took a look at your newest videos. The car ones ( the shorts ) are awesome. Keep up the quality work man.

Ooo. Great audio. Loved you reminding viewers what it's like having a studio with kids, and telling those who don't that they will know soon enough.

I enjoyed our chat. I don't cringe when my sound or lighting isn't YouTuber standard. I prefer it a bit rawer and more like a recording of two guys shooting the breeze.

Appreciate the feedback about the shorts too Jason. When folks like yourself and Cameraman give good feedback then I figure I'm on the right track.

 

[Andy Black]

Qualitative beats Quantitative at this stage.

Ed Lawrence from FilmBooth plans the comments he wants from a video *before* he creates it. Smart.

I've been trying to be super tight. Funny someone even said that:





What's amazing about LinkedIn is you can see people's professional profiles.

Someone with Graham's experience liking the videos means a lot, the same as when eliquid and cameraman said similar.

I'd like to also help and appeal to those starting out too.





Looking forward to getting back in the swing of things when my eye gets better.

In the meantime I'll publish the small bank of videos I have to Instagram Reels and Facebook Reels (I'd not heard of Facebook Reels till I read something from @mikecarlooch today HERE ... thanks Mike!).

Now to go figure those two out...

 

[Cameraman]

Looking forward to getting back in the swing of things when my eye gets better.

I hope you make a swift recovery.
Are you able to do any planning and scripting whilst waiting? You could then batch record when you are better.

 

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[Andy Black]

I hope you make a swift recovery.

Thanks. I'm recovered, it just doesn't look great! Haha.

Are you able to do any planning and scripting whilst waiting? You could then batch record when you are better.

I'm catching up on client work while I wait (which is what pays the bills after all).

I decided not to batch record at the moment. I prefer to figure out then streamline the daily process, and be agile so I can look at what might be working and do something related.

It's good to take a little breather tbh, and have a think about next steps.

• I agree I should do more planning and research what people are searching for and/or trending shorts. Create to get in front of that instead of thoughts as they pop into my head.
• Add b-roll? Do some vertical screenshares for how-to tutorials? I think Descript struggles when we add more files to it. I might have to import into Descript to edit the a-roll and audio, export/import into Camtasia, add b-roll etc, then export/import back into Descript for captions. That might be time consuming, but the results might be worth it.
• Talk a bit more about Google Ads stuff, mixed in with the general marketing/sales/business tips, and freelancing/consulting tips?
• Figure out who I'm speaking to. I'm getting good feedback from business owners and marketers. I also know a 13 year old nephew is following. Can I help mature and experience viewers as well as youngsters?

 

[Cameraman]

I'm recovered, it just doesn't look great! Haha.

Thinking ahead, how about recording a Halloween short whilst you can?

I've also been spurred on by your efforts and decided to experiment with releasing a Short myself. After 2 hours it's amassed some 32 views

I usually have a few hundred views by that point when I release a full-length video so I'm wondering if this format is going to work for me. That said, I uploaded it from my desktop but YouTube didn't seem to recognise it as a short even though I followed the instructions for doing this.

Thanks for providing the motivation.

 

[Andy Black]

Thinking ahead, how about recording a Halloween short whilst you can?

I've also been spurred on by your efforts and decided to experiment with releasing a Short myself. After 2 hours it's amassed some 32 views

I usually have a few hundred views by that point when I release a full-length video so I'm wondering if this format is going to work for me. That said, I uploaded it from my desktop but YouTube didn't seem to recognise it as a short even though I followed the instructions for doing this.

Thanks for providing the motivation.

Did you put #shorts in the title?

Happy to motivate! I did a short about that... how people follow prople in motion rather than experts.

I think shorts show to new people mostly. Not sure.


In other news, I amended a tiktok I posted last week that had about 250 views. I reposted at 2pm GMT and as of 7:30pm GMT it's had over 3k views and 60 likes so far.

I removed the CTA at the end, allowed more text to show onscreen in the captions so they didn't flash past so fast, and I just had white captions instead of a mixture of white and yellow.

I published on YouTube at the same time and it has 40 views.

 

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[Cameraman]

Did you put #shorts in the title?

Happy to motivate! I did a short about that... how people follow prople in motion rather than experts.

I think shorts show to new people mostly. Not sure.


In other news, I amended a tiktok I posted last week that had about 259 views. I reposted at 2pm GMT and as of 7:30pm GMT it's had over 3k views and 60 likes so far.

I removed the CTA at the end, allowed more text to show onscreen in the captions so they didn't flash past so fast, and I just had white captions instead of a mixture of white and yellow.

I published on YouTube at the same time and it has 40 views.


I changed up my bio a bit too.

View attachment 45223

Yes, I included #short in the title.
Just after I posted my comment the views shot up but then they stopped again.

I have no idea what's happening, but it also seems to have killed the views on my previous video. It's probably something I need to watch out for, although I will try some more shorts once I have more time.

That's great news on the TikTok post. I don't use the platform but 2k views seems like a great performance. I wonder if it was the changes you made or could the posting time be having an effect.

 

[Andy Black]

Yes, I included #short in the title.

I wonder if it makes a difference whether it's #shorts or #short ....

Just after I posted my comment the views shot up but then they stopped again.
View attachment 45224
I have no idea what's happening, but it also seems to have killed the views on my previous video. It's probably something I need to watch out for, although I will try some more shorts once I have more time.

I think the shorts and long videos are treated quite differently. I'd be surprised if it killed the views on your long video, but who knows.

That's great news on the TikTok post. I don't use the platform but 2k views seems like a great performance. I wonder if it was the changes you made or could the posting time be having an effect.

I think it's the changes I made to the video that shortened it and had people looping before they realised. When you finish with a CTA viewers know the video is nearly over. This video finished quite abruptly.

I suspect my last video having over 1,300 views helped too. Maybe my account has broken out of some sandpit and Tiktok would test my next videos to see how larger audiences respond? Or maybe they're dialing in who to show my videos in front of.

I had a gap of 6 days between these two videos so that tells me posting daily isn't necessary, although maybe this video would have performed even better if it was the day after the 1,300 views one? This is why I'm not so hung up on missing a few days or doing things "wrong" occasionally ... I'd not learn the impact if I didn't.


EDIT: 1.3k views on the YouTube video now.



Here's the original (now unlisted on YouTube):

View: https://youtube.com/shorts/yIIGOay7yWA



Here's the new version:

View: https://youtube.com/shorts/xYEEhRyF1qA

 

[Cameraman]

I wonder if it makes a difference whether it's #shorts or #short ....


I think the shorts and long videos are treated quite differently. I'd be surprised if it killed the views on your long video, but who knows.


I think it's the changes I made to the video that shortened it and had people looping before they realised. When you finish with a CTA viewers know the video is nearly over. This video finished quite abruptly.

I suspect my last video having over 1,300 views helped too. Maybe my account has broken out of some sandpit and Tiktok would test my next videos to see how larger audiences respond? Or maybe they're dialing in who to show my videos in front of.

I had a gap of 6 days between these two videos so that tells me posting daily isn't necessary, although maybe this video would have performed even better if it was the day after the 1,300 views one? This is why I'm not so hung up on missing a few days or doing things "wrong" occasionally ... I'd not learn the impact if I didn't.


EDIT: 1.3k views on the YouTube video now.



Here's the original (now unlisted on YouTube):

View: https://youtube.com/shorts/yIIGOay7yWA



Here's the new version:

View: https://youtube.com/shorts/xYEEhRyF1qA

I checked the title and YT and I had used #shorts. It also shows up on my timeline with the shorts icon so it looks like it was correctly posted. My earlier long video has also picked up again so it looks like it was a co-incidence that the views died away.

I have to say I prefer your reworked short without the CTA at the end. It's snapier and will keep people watching the loop.

I checked my Social Blade YouTube forecast last night. It projects I will hit 300k subscribers in 5 YEARS TIME. It's made me realise that I need to change what I'm doing if I want to change the projection. The things that I've tried to over the past 12 months haven't shift the projection very much. I'm wondering if publishing shorts betwseen longer videos could be a strategy to drive new viewers to discover my channel.

 

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[Andy Black]

I'm wondering if publishing shorts betwseen longer videos could be a strategy to drive new viewers to discover my channel.

I think short videos get us in front of new people, and some will check out our channel, and some of those will subscribe.

Obviously our shorts have to be on topic so they get in front of the right people. Then there's a whole distinct strategy for creating shorts that get watched, shared, bookmarked, etc. It's a whole different thing.

It also looks like there will be ads soon amongst the shorts, and that creators of shorts will get a revenue share.

As mentioned before, I think creating shorts that get in front of the right people, hook them, and keep them watching till the end is a great exercise. It will improve our story-telling, presentation, scripting, planning, research, and video creation skills no end, and this will feed back into our long videos (and lots more).

If you've already created the shorts then consider also posting to TikTok, Instagram Reels, Facebook Reels, etc?

 

[Selfmadeujjwal]

Do you guys think it's mandatory to upload daily or weekly?

In my point of view we should focus on the production level of the video. I know some of you might say that don't go for perfection follow consistency but here's what I learned from some top creators:

Give yourself some time and space for your video ideas and ask yourself "why would someone watch this video till end?"

Because one creative idea can bring as much views as 10 of normal videos or maybe it can go viral!

What's your thoughts?

 

[Andy Black]

Do you guys think it's mandatory to upload daily or weekly?

In my point of view we should focus on the production level of the video. I know some of you might say that don't go for perfection follow consistency but here's what I learned from some top creators:

Give yourself some time and space for your video ideas and ask yourself "why would someone watch this video till end?"

Because one creative idea can bring as much views as 10 of normal videos or maybe it can go viral!

What's your thoughts?

I don't think it's mandatory to upload daily or weekly.

For shorts, I'm aiming to upload daily because it increases my cadence and polishes my processes. I can improve faster when I do more reps, and I can learn faster when there's more for the market to feedback on.

Saying that, if I've an eye infection or other stuff comes up then I'm not going to beat myself up if I don't upload daily - because I don't believe the platforms reward daily uploads per se. They reward increased watchtime, which comes from creating better videos.

 

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[Selfmadeujjwal]

I think shorts are the best way to get attention to people. @Andy Black you're doing really good on your channel.

I've seen some creators making kind of shorts that make viewers watch them again
When they watch a video more than two times, it tricks algorithm that there's something interesting in the video that's why people are watching it multiple times and it promotes the video to more number of people.

How you can make this kind of shorts?

Genrally it's the game of editing. You just need to trick people with your editing techniques and make people think "what just happened!"

Or

If it's a entertainment or funny video people tend to share what they have seen with their nearby people and talk about it.

Here's a funny video for reference:

View: https://youtu.be/ub1BAokgj9s

 

[Andy Black]

@Andy Black you're doing really good on your channel.

Thanks!

You just need to trick people with your editing techniques and make people think "what just happened!"

Loops help, but we're better not to think of "tricking" people into watching.


Why would someone watch a video twice?

Maybe we show how-to instructions for a couple of seconds and tell people to screenshot it?
I've watched short videos a second time because I want to screenshot something I missed.

I've also rewatched shorts just because I like how they did the loop and I'm trying to figure it out or just marvel at it.

And I've rewatched shorts multiple times because they're damn funny or I want to keep watching or learn that piece of skill etc.


This guy has clever loops in ALL his videos:

TikTok - Make Your Day

 

[Cameraman]

Thanks!




Loops help, but we're better not to think of "tricking" people into watching.


Why would someone watch a video twice?

Maybe we show how-to instructions for a couple of seconds and tell people to screenshot it?
I've watched short videos a second time because I want to screenshot something I missed.

I've also rewatched shorts just because I like how they did the loop and I'm trying to figure it out or just marvel at it.

And I've rewatched shorts multiple times because they're damn funny or I want to keep watching or learn that piece of skill etc.


This guy has clever loops in ALL his videos:

TikTok - Make Your Day

I've just posted YouTube Short No2.
It only took 22 minutes from start to finish. Hopefully I can bring that down with some practice but I don't mind taking 2o minutes to make a 45 second video.

20 minutes after upload it's had 1 view (mine). Fingers crossed it picks up.

 

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[Andy Black]

I've just posted YouTube Short No2.
It only took 22 minutes from start to finish. Hopefully I can bring that down with some practice but I don't mind taking 2o minutes to make a 45 second video.

20 minutes after upload it's had 1 view (mine). Fingers crossed it picks up.

Good stuff.

Post toTikTok too?

 

[Selfmadeujjwal]

Good stuff.

Post toTikTok too?

What are some other platforms to post if tiktok is banned in my country?

 

[Andy Black]

IWhat are some other platforms to post if tiktok is banned in my country?

Check out the Short Videos chat thread. @mikecarlooch mentioned YouTube, Instagram Reels, and Facebook Reels.

Currently I post to TikTok, YouTube (Shorts), LinkedIn, and a Facebook Page.

Snapchat may work too. I've also heard of Pinterest (Pins?).

I think Twitter would be a waste of time.

 

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[mikecarlooch]

What are some other platforms to post if tiktok is banned in my country?

Don't get stuck thinking you need tiktok, you certainly don't.

As a matter of fact, it's not even the best platform to be using currently.

As @Andy Black said Youtube facebook instagram and linkedin are available!

 

[Andy Black]

Don't get stuck thinking you need tiktok, you certainly don't.

As a matter of fact, it's not even the best platform to be using currently.

As @Andy Black said Youtube facebook instagram and linkedin are available!

Can you upload Instagram Reels from desktop Mike?