EXECUTION Figuring out YouTube

[Andy Black]

EDIT 1:

• Thread title changed from "Growing a new YouTube channel" to "Figuring out YouTube".

EDIT 2:

• I decide to run YouTube ads at post 43 here.

EDIT 3:

• I start getting email sign ups from a paid search campaign in post 63 here

I've got me a YouTube coach, and I'm in a small group learning to grow our YouTube channels.

I'll not link to the new channel for the moment because I want to see if I can grow it from scratch.

Anyway... I just created a quick video where I'm practicing doing talking head videos by, err, giving tips on creating talking head videos. It's on my normal channel, not the new one I'll create.

View: https://youtu.be/ixkvYao2zuk


Here’s the tripod selfie stick I used. It’s super cheap, portable, and simple.

 

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[Timmy C]

Anyway... I just created a quick video where I'm practicing doing talking head videos by, err, giving tips on creating talking head videos. It's on my normal channel, not the new one I'll create.

Lol nice!

This is particularly funny to me right now, as im shooting videos on how to make a sourdough starter, while simultaneously learning how to make a sourdough starter, never done it before.

 

[Charnell]

Excellent Andy! I'm also growing a new channel that's completely on it's own.

It's really fun going deep into a single topic and basically answering 1 question per video and uploading. No crazy jump cuts, not formal editing. Just spending 15 minutes at night to record myself doing a screencast and sending it out into the world.

You can see the growth below after consistently uploading every day for a week before slowing down last weekend for a wedding.

 

[Andy Black]

Excellent Andy! I'm also growing a new channel that's completely on it's own.

It's really fun going deep into a single topic and basically answering 1 question per video and uploading. No crazy jump cuts, not formal editing. Just spending 15 minutes at night to record myself doing a screencast and sending it out into the world.

You can see the growth below after consistently uploading every day for a week before slowing down last weekend for a wedding.

View attachment 27170View attachment 27171

I want to do a daily video, but not to my new channel. The daily part is to get better doing the videos, and to test and learn new things purely about doing video.

For my new channel I’m to post once a week, and make it a well thought out video that would rank for specific keywords or as a suggested video. I’d also spend more time on the editing, title, description, tags, thumbnail, etc.

 

[Andy Black]

Lol nice!

This is particularly funny to me right now, as im shooting videos on how to make a sourdough starter, while simultaneously learning how to make a sourdough starter, never done it before.

Yeah... document the learning as you go along!

I might as well document my learnings creating talking head videos by ... creating talking head videos.

 

[Roz]

Lol nice!

This is particularly funny to me right now, as im shooting videos on how to make a sourdough starter, while simultaneously learning how to make a sourdough starter, never done it before.

Now, what's the saying by Andy?

"Launch and Learn"

Perfect.

 

[Charnell]

I want to do a daily video, but not to my new channel. The daily part is to get better doing the videos, and to test and learn new things purely about doing video.

For my new channel I’m to post once a week, and make it a well thought out video that would rank for specific keywords or as a suggested video. I’d also spend more time on the editing, title, description, tags, thumbnail, etc.

We should do a compare and contrast in a few months to see what our results are. The precision sniper shot versus the scattered shotgun blast.

 

[Bertram]

I want to do a daily video, but not to my new channel. The daily part is to get better doing the videos, and to test and learn new things purely about doing video.

For my new channel I’m to post once a week, and make it a well thought out video that would rank for specific keywords or as a suggested video. I’d also spend more time on the editing, title, description, tags, thumbnail, etc.

Nice lesson about spatial aspects and positioning.
Here's an experiment. Have a listen to video messages compared to radio or podcast. Do both sound the same or not?
They don't.
Radio/audio has a rule to live by: no broadcast silence, ever. The reason is that traditionally listeners could assume silence meant that the broadcast signal was dropped so they'd flip channels.
Nonstop discussion is not necessary with video. A bit of silence actually intensifies the message. Sometimes it's for humor or to make the engagement more real. Sometimes it's for rhetorical effect.
I hope you play with this ingredient.
Nonstop talking in a video has the effect of building a wall, a facade. Tai seems to use this effect.

 

[Andy Black]

Nice lesson about spatial aspects and positioning.
Here's an experiment. Have a listen to video messages compared to radio or podcast. Do both sound the same or not?
They don't.
Radio/audio has a rule to live by: no broadcast silence, ever. The reason is that traditionally listeners could assume silence meant that the broadcast signal was dropped so they'd flip channels.
Nonstop discussion is not necessary with video. A bit of silence actually intensifies the message. Sometimes it's for humor or to make the engagement more real. Sometimes it's for rhetorical effect.
I hope you play with this ingredient.
Nonstop talking in a video has the effect of building a wall, a facade. Tai seems to use this effect.

Blimey. I never even thought of that. Interesting. Thanks.

In the video above I’m tempted to chop out a couple of bits where I lose my train of thought, but I’ve learned from feedback for some of my other videos and audio s that people seem to learn from the parts where they see/hear us thinking on our feet.

If I’m to edit my videos it would be to add annotations, captions (when I figure that bit out), and maybe intro and outro bits (not sure what they’re called).

 

[Andy Black]

We should do a compare and contrast in a few months to see what our results are. The precision sniper shot versus the scattered shotgun blast.

I want to do both! A daily video to my current “Andy Black Jnr” channel, and then precision ones to the new channel.

I’d love to be able to do a precision one daily too. Now that I’ve discovered Loom I’ve seen how much quicker I can be with just small tweaks in the process. I’m keen to find other small changes to keep increasing the speed and improve the quality - and that will come by doing them regularly.

 

[Bertram]

I want to do both! A daily video to my current “Andy Black Jnr” channel, and then precision ones to the new channel.

I’d love to be able to do a precision one daily too. Now that I’ve discovered Loom I’ve seen how much quicker I can be with just small tweaks in the process. I’m keen to find other small changes to keep increasing the speed and improve the quality - and that will come by doing them regularly.

Thanks by the way, you're making it look really easy and natural to jump on YouTube. I like that your video doesn't call attenton to production - even when that's your subject matter.

 

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[Fox]

Nice! Welcome to the game.

YouTube is a tough nut to crack but when you do I think it’s the best social platform there is right now.

Best of luck Andy.

 

[luniac]

took me 4 years to finally go viral 1 time, so curious to see how fast you do it. lol

 

[Fox]

took me 4 years to finally go viral 1 time, so curious to see how fast you do it. lol

Depending on the channel going viral can be a bad thing imo. If you have a channel based around best serving a set niche then having a massive “everyone” video can bring in a ton of folk who will just leave again. Now your views:subs ration are way out. In a way you get punished for having one video that way over performed.

I’ve seen good channels get thrashed by then having a few viral videos that didn’t add any real long term value. They spiked and then went into a massive dip.

I think slow and steady growth is the best approach for a normal channel. Build it up so that when it “pops” you are able to keep that momentum.

 

[luniac]

Depending on the channel going viral can be a bad thing imo. If you have a channel based around best serving a set niche then having a massive “everyone” video can bring in a ton of folk who will just leave again. Now your views:subs ration are way out. In a way you get punished for having one video that way over performed.

I’ve seen good channels get thrashed by then having a few viral videos that didn’t add any real long term value. They spiked and then went into a massive dip.

I think slow and steady growth is the best approach for a normal channel. Build it up so that when it “pops” you are able to keep that momentum.

naw man viral is god. just go viral again lol
i got a gaming channel and a gameplay video went viral so luckely for me it happened to match up.

 

[Andy Black]

Nice! Welcome to the game.

YouTube is a tough nut to crack but when you do I think it’s the best social platform there is right now.

Best of luck Andy.

Thanks Rob. I know you have a big YouTube thread in here somewhere. I'll dig it out later and go through it again.

Yeah, I've a love/hate relationship with Facebook, but YouTube I find fascinating. My coach described it as what would happen if a search engine and social platform had a baby.

 

[Andy Black]

Thought I’d save some of the good videos I’ve watched in the past couple of weeks. I can’t believe how cool YouTube is and how well done some of the videos and channels are out there.

Here I am lying in bed learning on my smartphone, for free.

View: https://youtu.be/dT7A5RzbDQ4

View: https://youtu.be/nQ2QF5Oa0bk

View: https://youtu.be/KTSysOFYDZM

View: https://youtu.be/am7kaAerVCQ

View: https://youtu.be/Z-yiVnHuZyI

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[Andy Black]

I’d like to tell my founding story in a talking head video.

It may start like this:

“Hi, my name is Andy Black.

In 2009 the economy had fallen off a cliff.

One of my friends was an electrician and all his work dried up.

He had a wife, two kids, and a baby on the way - and he had to hand his van back.

<Tells the story of how I helped my friend keep a roof over his head and put food on the table.>.”

 

[MTF]

With your work ethic and friendly disposition I'm pretty sure that your new channel will be a success. Good luck!

 

[Jmad97]

I absolutely love YouTube. I’ve noticed the videos I have worked on the hardest and thought out extensively had the least response via views. But my videos that I did somewhat spontaneously have roughly 20k views. I’m always on YouTube and I love videos that do not seem scripted and or pre planned because on camera I notice they seem awkward like everything has to go to according to planned other wise the “um um um um um” comes in. I Would be interested to see what channel grows faster based on your results of the shotgun vs precision videos.

 

[Andy Black]

With your work ethic and friendly disposition I'm pretty sure that your new channel will be a success. Good luck!

Thanks @MTF. I’m inspired watching you, @ChickenHawk, @Fox, and @Lex DeVille grind out books, videos, and courses.

I’m a firm believer of “Keep doing the right thing and the results follow.”

 

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[Andy Black]

I absolutely love YouTube. I’ve noticed the videos I have worked on the hardest and thought out extensively had the least response via views. But my videos that I did somewhat spontaneously have roughly 20k views. I’m always on YouTube and I love videos that do not seem scripted and or pre planned because on camera I notice they seem awkward like everything has to go to according to planned other wise the “um um um um um” comes in. I Would be interested to see what channel grows faster based on your results of the shotgun vs precision videos.

That’s an interesting insight. I do better when not overly scripted (as most people do probably), but have a habit of straying off-topic and rambling. Some people like that so I suspect it’s a case of rambling while staying on topic?

I’m wondering if I can use both channels in conjunction? I’ve engaged the market with the current unfocused channel, and already have learnings via morningfa.me that one of my best performing videos is a “Google Ads account audit”.

 

[Andy Black]

This is a great podcast btw:

• 603 – Everything You Need To Know About High Performing YouTube Ad Campaigns With Tom Breeze From Viewability

I bought the book “Viewability” too and am re-reading it.

They have a clever strategy of creating different intros to ads that are tailored to the keyword they bid on, and then lead into the same main part of the video.

That’s similar to what we do with ads on Google ... where the landing page headline matches what was searched for and the rest of the page is the same.

 

[Jmad97]

That’s an interesting insight. I do better when not overly scripted (as most people do probably), but have a habit of straying off-topic and rambling. Some people like that so I suspect it’s a case of rambling while staying on topic?

I’m wondering if I can use both channels in conjunction? I’ve engaged the market with the current unfocused channel, and already have learnings via morningfa.me that one of my best performing videos is a “Google Ads account audit”.

Try to focus on your rambling. When you watch a video on a specific question you want answered. Are you going to want to filter through 20 minutes of rambling or the 3 minute video that has over 100k views due to the fact that they answer your question within 3 mins?

I noticed on my highest viewed video I answered simple questions that I had as a consumer, learner, hobbyist, that I had and I did extensive research on and delivered to others for 15 mins of their time.

I think using two channels, you could 100% use them to cater to both parties. The people who want the down and dirty 3 min simple answer to XYZ because they have done the research in A-W. But there are others who you could redirect to your other channel who need a A-Z walkthrough because they are new to the topic (this is where you ramble). The key for rambling is to stay on topic which I think you already have figured out based on your viewing history/pattern.

If you can manage to get both channels flowing quality content that you don’t over produce thinking your CNN or the next Michael Bay you will have an awesome channel. If you have the viewers who need XYZ answered you have a short sweet channel “1” for them. Then you have a viewer that wants A-Z rambling ON TOPIC will produce the views because they are already interested in your initial topic. The more you ramble ON TOPIC they enjoy because they a currently a sponge of the valuable info you are giving to them on channel “2”.

Example: I am a semi decent mechanic and I currently have a new vehicle and I am replacing struts on. I’ve done a similar job before but I need the answer for this specific vehicle (XYZ). Since I am a semi decent mechanic who has done a job like this before I know (A-W) but I NEED (XYZ) in a short sweet method.

Then you have Joe Blow who has never turned a wrench in his life and he wants to save some coin by replacing the struts himself, he will be clicking on the 20 min rambling video because he is currently learning (A-Z) so he does not mess up the job.

In this scenario you are essentially giving same info. It’s a matter how in depth you go but their are viewers for both videos you want to produce. The key is to see who your viewers are and what questions they will have as A=beginners and B=Intermediate transitioning to your level of expertise.

 

[André Casal]

That's funny! I've started a YouTube channel too around web development, a few weeks ago. I've only got 22 videos uploaded and I'm not uploading consistently yet, but I hope I'll be able to do it soon, after I'm finished with other setup tasks.

It's just me, a smartphone, a selfie stick much like yours, an Audio Technica AT2020USB microphone and my laptop.

 

[DianeLeanne]

I've got me a YouTube coach, and I'm in a small group learning to grow our YouTube channels.

I'll not link to the new channel for the moment because I want to see if I can grow it from scratch.

Anyway... I just created a quick video where I'm practicing doing talking head videos by, err, giving tips on creating talking head videos. It's on my normal channel, not the new one I'll create.

View: https://youtu.be/ixkvYao2zuk


Here’s the tripod selfie stick I used. It’s super cheap, portable, and simple.

This is amazing! Lots of tips.

 

[diegorueda]

Following this thread with great interest. I'm sure you'll find a lot of insights, Andy.

Youtube is like Google in the sense of putting you in its shoes when thinking what's best for SEO, so you have a lot of ground covered already.

If you want to analize the growing of some channels, take a look at socialblade.com. Although a lot of youtubers agree on that the frecuency and constancy of uploads is one of the keys to grow an audience.

 

[Andy Black]

Eugh... I’m so far behind on my YouTube coaching programme. I’ll have to do two videos tomorrow during the day to get caught up.

Anyway... short video progress update showing a talking head late at night with my two light boxes:

View: https://youtu.be/Cc_2eludK6A

 

[AgainstAllOdds]

For those of you with Youtube channels: WHY?

Whenever I click on someone's channel, there's typically a couple thousand views per video or less. Is that really worth your time?

Is the effort you put into maintaining your channel worth more than if you did other forms of marketing and sales?

And before everyone gets all defensive, answer this: How much money has your channel brought in for YOU to date, and what's that come out to per hour of effort that you spent (learning how to publish, editing, creating the content, etc.).

I'm sure it could be effective, but I believe for the vast majority of people it's a waste of time - time that could be better allocated into higher revenue producing activities.

Edit: Case and point:

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VjujNPG3YVY

 

[Charnell]

For those of you with Youtube channels: WHY?

Whenever I click on someone's channel, there's typically a couple thousand views per video or less. Is that really worth your time?

Is the effort you put into maintaining your channel worth more than if you did other forms of marketing and sales?

And before everyone gets all defensive, answer this: How much money has your channel brought in for YOU to date, and what's that come out to per hour of effort that you spent (learning how to publish, editing, creating the content, etc.).

I'm sure it could be effective, but I believe for the vast majority of people it's a waste of time - time that could be better allocated into higher revenue producing activities.

Edit: Case and point:

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VjujNPG3YVY

It's enjoyable.

In my case, I do it at the end of the night when I would be relaxing anyway. Spend 15 minutes doing a screen recording talking about what I know, throw it online and see what happens next. It's a extemporaneous brain dump in most cases. The same way Andy is known as the AdWords guy in his circle, I have friends calling me up after remembering some random video from 4 years ago asking me about building websites.

For my business-related videos, it's not to grow a YouTube channel. YouTube is just the hosting platform in that case and they're embedded on pages. As far as effort goes, they don't take more than an hour or two because they're a screen recorded powerpoint presentation and the script is the landing page.

Those videos do have a measurable impact on the bottom line via conversion rate comparisons before and after a video is added. Sure, that time could have been spent doing a predictable income type activity like prospecting or I can go "hmmm, I wonder if a video can get that page's conversion rate from .5% to 1%?"