EXECUTION Figuring out YouTube

[Andy Black]

Nice work andy. What software are you using to produce that?

Camtasia. It’s great fun. Quite simple and intuitive enough. I’m not some bona-fide video editor or something. Video editing is almost like a hobby for me. I spend hours on it in the evening and don’t even realise it’s 1am.

 

[Andy Black]

Yay! First video uploaded to the new channel.

I also created simple channel art and an avatar in Canva. I've put CTAs into both. I've not checked how it looks on a mobile yet.

My thinking is that:

• The only people who will see the cover art are those that go to the actual channel. They've expressed an interest in the channel.
• The avatar will show up in the end-cards, so I wanted it to have a CTA in it. Ideally it should say "Click to Subscribe", but then it won't make sense in the other places it shows.

Note how I've added a play button to the video thumbnail too. I've also put my text above and below it so they can be read if the video is embedded anywhere and the real play button shows in the center. I've not seen anyone else doing that.

Anyway... no subscribers, no views. Looking forward to sending an email on Sunday and seeing if that has an effect.

 

[Runum]

Great ideas for embedding your video. Very creative!

 

[Andy Black]

My head is melted.

Each of our three sons are now recording Minecraft gameplay and posting to their brand new YouTube channels. Dad is doing a lot of Camtasia coaching at the moment. I feel like when I was in IT Support.

The funny thing is how they’re all different personalities. Two of them record intros and outros in one go. The other is a perfectionist and keeps redoing the voice overs. That perfectionism helps him play sports though as he practices and practices to try and master new skills.

Our 12 year old is self sufficient. He’s watching YouTube videos about Camtasia and teaching me things now.

Our 8 year old asked “How do we get views?”. Good question son. That’s the next piece of the puzzle.

 

[Andy Black]

Damn... this podcast is amazing. I love coming across stuff that makes me realise how little I know.

• ‎Path To Purchase Podcast: Episode 33 Video Scripting: Simple Thoughts and Framework. on Apple Podcasts

 

[Andy Black]

Oh, and I’m listening to the podcast above sat next to our 12 year old who’s playing Minecraft while asking tricky questions such as “what does ironic mean?”.

I tried to explain irony in terms of a Minecraft gamer creating a YouTube video. It didn’t go well. I still don’t know what irony means, and neither does he.

Anyway, I thought you’d appreciate the wisdom of a 12 year old in 2020:

“There’s three things people love on the internet: pets, gaming, and stupidity.” (Daniel Black, age 12)

 

[Andy Black]

Tom Breeze is a legend btw. I’ve got his book and it’s super.

This was clever. He mentions doing one video and editing out sections depending on where people are in the path the purchase:

View: https://youtu.be/jIm6ojTPoGc

 

[Andy Black]

This was excellent. Lots of stuff I didn't know about in it.

View: https://youtu.be/0G-ZleOSrfU

 

[Andy Black]

I'm back in the saddle and seem to easily be able to create a video a day (not necessarily for YouTube).

Two days ago I recorded Lessons 1-3 of a new course and uploaded to my courses platform.

Yesterday I uploaded Lesson 4 to my courses platform, AND to YouTube. It's this one here:

View: https://youtu.be/dxxxAnG4tHM




This morning I recorded a couple of videos to send to a new client.

It's so easy to use Loom, and if I do it without talking about confidential information then I can edit/blur out parts and upload to my courses platform and to YouTube (where appropriate).

So I created yet another course in my platform, and uploaded the videos to it.

I uploaded this one to YouTube:

View: https://youtu.be/P-S6T3aRCpQ



I'm not going to bother with thumbnails etc for now. I'm more focused on getting back into a rhythm. I can always get someone else to go back and put thumbnails etc on all the videos on my channel later.

I'm not even using my nice mic for this because it doesn't play with Loom. So what? If people want the content then the audio is good enough. My headset is good enough for me talking to prospects and clients.

They're on my personal channel at the moment. I may add them to my other channel and email my list to let them know they're there. Hmmm... I'll do that this weekend.

 

[Andy Black]

I'm doing weekly Q&As in a private Facebook group. Some I've posted to YouTube:

View: https://youtu.be/UVQW0wL9IVk

View: https://youtu.be/oLxF_oWau9M

View: https://youtu.be/A4tJD6WJIz4

View: https://youtu.be/gU3yGSR011c

 

[Alfie321]

Nice to see another person in the Youtube game. If I can leave some feedback I think the main thing for growth in my experience has been:

* YouTube SEO for educational channels
* Thumbnails
* Working hard on your personality/video skills, scripting and transitioning

Youtube SEO can be done with vidIQ or for free by doing research on existing channels. The main point is just making videos your audience wants to watch and have a potential to rank. Don't do personal videos or videos you like if you don't have a huge audience, as Youtube will not promote those videos. I have learned my lesson there.

Thumbnails I know are a pain but they really help, you feel like a dumbass making weird expressions but later on it is funny once you acclimate. Making weird facial expressions really work and getting inspired from the pros help as well.

Working on your personality is also very hard but it gets better the more you do it. You can check how well you are doing with each skill by just focusing on one for a few videos, then check how your audience reacts, make hypothesis and tweak in the next video, once you got it right you implement the next skill. I have done this with transitioning from topic to topic, hand movement and voice tonality and got some cool improvements

 

[Ernman]

as Youtube will not promote those videos. I have learned my lesson there.

It's not that YouTube will not promote them. YouTube will promote any video that the audience likes to watch and meets the guidelines. YT only cares if the videos are being watched. If they are, then the algo puts it in front of more people. You're correct that the big creators can get away with the occasional indulgence to make the videos they want to make because many of their viewers are into the creator, regardless the content. But the vast majority of us creators must create videos that our audience wants to see. And that audience can be fickle.

 

[Andy Black]

Maybe I should release these one a day rather than all in one go?

View: https://youtu.be/fnH8W1-HqpE

View: https://youtu.be/-GmAWNAAM2Q

View: https://youtu.be/pP6ncZmf09A

View: https://youtu.be/FbRazalKf0Y

 

[MotionDesign]

Excellent thread Andy! Especially love your videos on growing an email list with google ads. Super informative!

I was checking out your channel/video view. Have you thought about maybe playing with colors and graphic a bit more in the thumbnails?

Brian Dean is a good example of someone who has very eye-catching thumbnails. The colors really stand out.
https://www.youtube.com/c/BrianDean/videos

 

[Andy Black]

Excellent thread Andy! Especially love your videos on growing an email list with google ads. Super informative!

I was checking out your channel/video view. Have you thought about maybe playing with colors and graphic a bit more in the thumbnails?

Brian Dean is a good example of someone who has very eye-catching thumbnails. The colors really stand out.
https://www.youtube.com/c/BrianDean/videos

Thanks!

I’ll get round to “doing YouTube” properly one day. I treat it as free hosting for videos I can embed in forum threads. Same as how I use Soundcloud for audio hosting. I should definitely put a bit more effort into it though.

 

[Andy Black]

I’ll get round to “doing YouTube” properly one day. I treat it as free hosting for videos I can embed in forum threads. Same as how I use Soundcloud for audio hosting. I should definitely put a bit more effort into it though.

I really should put more effort into YouTube. It has discoverability, and content exists there for years (while content on Twitter disappears below the waves almost instantly).

I had an email from The University of Phoenix yesterday out of the blue. They asked for permission to link to videos on my channel, in particular this video:

View: https://youtu.be/svxkKfn0Z5k