Growing a Youtube Channel as Part of My Personal Brand

[Andy Black]

Yes, it’s interesting the different mindsets. I didn’t realise/think about my own until you noticed how ours were different @Runum.

From my perspective, if I really want to convince my audience that a point is important I have to engage them not only intellectually but emotionally.

That’s likely from being a school teacher. Your job was to keep everyone’s attention and leave no-one behind.

My mindset is that I’m not there to convince anyone of anything. They’re adults and if they want to learn something then it’s on them. Sure, I’ll meet them halfway and try to not ramble and creat a video with some helpful points.

 

[Photool]

This week I tried to focus on keeping my throat relaxed to get a better vocal tone... I've never been happy with my voice (it's pretty high), but I'm working on trying to improve it.
View: https://youtu.be/jan-L1u76vE

First off - keep it up - the practice and rehearsal will continue to help and you're delivering some valuable information - I can also see you have well thought out your branding colors

Couple nuances I noticed for maximizing and improving upon:

• Solution Expectation @ Intro ( what your addressing in this video to the viewer at the beginning) is a tad bit long-winded. Possibly shorten the pain points (hit top ones), make it more punchy, & concise
• The Subscribe and Like CTA I would suggest after the main content is delivered to allow people to consume content to make that decision after you have provided value not before
• This one is just a presentation itch - the orange lightning bolt doesn't flow with your branding which I notice is more of a blue/black lightning bolt. Subtle but keeps your image in coherence and keeps people focused on you with ambiance as a complimentary.

 

[Sethamus]

To me the first part of your videos the flow is off. You have your description of what is going on in this video, cut to subscribe and like, then immediately start talking about the subject in the next cut. If you would highlight the videos topic in the intro and then go into the actual discussion right off the bat on your first bullet I think it will engage people more to listen and not want to fast forward or skip to a different video. If you could "script" the videos into 2, 3, or 4 main parts you could then decide the perfect time to input the subscribe cut. Say you just dropped some high level analysis info and want them to think about it. Maybe you had a very long bullet compared to the other ones you are about to discuss, use it to break them up.
I have been seeing these part way through people's videos as well as asking again in the end.

 

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[Prodox]

To me the first part of your videos the flow is off. You have your description of what is going on in this video, cut to subscribe and like, then immediately start talking about the subject in the next cut. If you would highlight the videos topic in the intro and then go into the actual discussion right off the bat on your first bullet I think it will engage people more to listen and not want to fast forward or skip to a different video. If you could "script" the videos into 2, 3, or 4 main parts you could then decide the perfect time to input the subscribe cut. Say you just dropped some high level analysis info and want them to think about it. Maybe you had a very long bullet compared to the other ones you are about to discuss, use it to break them up.
I have been seeing these part way through people's videos as well as asking again in the end.

Yeah at the moment I highlight the topic of the video, do the talking intro (I used to have a graphic intro) and then go straight into the content.

Maybe the talking intro isn't needed yet, I should focus on engagement, I'll try cutting it out next video

This video was scripted like this:
Hook, channel intro, video intro, prereq 1, prereq 2, step 1, step 2, step 3, summary.

I'll see what I can do to improve it, I might cut the channel info out for now and focus on engaging content without distractions. At least until I gain some traction maybe?

 

[Prodox]

Wow as per usual thanks for the amazing advice.

By the way I haven't forgotten about the exercise that you set me last week. I'm planning on doing it next week when my girlfriend isn't at home, she works one week at home and one week in the office at the moment, and we live in a two-room apartment, haha.

Here's Roger Love. He's the guy Tony uses, I've done his trainings myself. You can easily change your voice by tightening/loosening, speaking more nasally or deeper.

Oh I've seen a TED talk by this person, it was about varying pitch. I'll see if I can find more of his stuff

But here's one thing I *can* share with you. In the martial arts we always practice yelling (and even talking) from the diaphragm -- not the throat.

Ah kiai

I breathe from my diaphragm normally, sing from my diaphragm, but when I speak, unless I concentrate, I tend to start breathing more shallowly.

It's something I've been actively working on as part of trying to improve my voice, as well as moving my voice down from the throat to my chest etc., and trying to speak more... breathily? Not sure how to describe it, haha.

This time around it seemed a little bit too distracting.

Keep in mind, you're not only lapping the people on the couch -- you're crushing them. You're putting out high quality videos and are light years ahead of most personal development folks. Give yourself a little credit but I love the hunger to grow!

I see, maybe too frequently... Back to the drawing board, haha.

Thanks for the kind words

This is a video with some B-Roll.

That video flows together very nicely, I like it I'll see if I can pull some inspiration from it.

I record in a small room and don't have other rooms to record in for variety, I also record by myself so have to simulate panning and such in post. It limits me a bit, but I'm sure I can find something that works.

YES. I'm glad you caught it. Video and audio is tricky to portray energy. You almost have to go overboard. Try swinging that pendulum again and speaking way too loud -- over the top and see how THAT looks on camera.

It's so difficult, I'm speaking pretty loudly, standing up (as it makes me more energetic I feel), but still it doesn't come through.

I'll have to consciously overexaggerate to try and get around this I suppose.

Also -- tonality is huge. So far the videos (this one more-so) have been very monotone. Don't forget you're talking to people, not a camera! How would you raise and lower your voice? When it comes to an important point -- change tones. Go up. Go down.

Yes I do tend to speak fairly monotone to the camera (and when I'm tired), but usually, when speaking to people I'm more expressive. I'm not sure what it is... Maybe because I don't have the energy of other people to ride off?

I'd steer away from it right now.

I think you have some raw talent here and if you hone that talent you won't need music. But if you start using crutches now... you'll never develop the strength to stand on your own.

Understood. I'll hold off on it for now, I definitely want to strengthen my ability to do make things engaging without the bells and whistles.

Again, thanks for all of your input, very much appreciated!

 

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[CountMonteCristo]

Here’s the latest video of mine that took me about a week to create. I’ve yet to run ads to it (actually, it’s been upversioned a little bit):

View: https://youtu.be/BUVSIyVryA8

Andy, this is really well made!!

 

[Andy Black]

If I may butt in -- I definitely wouldn't run traffic to this.

Not because it's not valuable or high quality -- because it IS... but simply because if you think about it... the person who would be attracted to this video would never buy your stuff anyways.

"How do I create a google ads account without a credit card"

Someone who would look for this is a seriously bottom-of-the-barrel type person.

Yes, yes. We are all valuable and I love everybody... but holy shit man -- you're going to struggle to get $5 out of this type of person.

I've seen you've got some skills. Why not attract people who have money who would actually spend money on ads?

A series of ads "Have a $1,000 ad budget? Here's what you should do with it to get the best results."

Then a $5,000... and a $10,000...

And your entire pitch is "Do you want help with that?"

I'm re-launching my business course and not just privately to fastlaners but all over.

I'm going to do a $97 masterclass and the entire class will be "let's build your plan to double your revenue this year" and at the end I'll say "if you want me to help you implement this plan for the next few weeks, sign up here."

Even if you told them EXACTLY what to do with $1,000 or $5,000 or whatever -- you know they aren't going to do it... AND anyone with that budget is going to want to hire it out anyways because they're freaking busy (me too!)

Anyways... advice you didn't ask for but there it is!

Thanks Steve.

I’ll run traffic to it because I’m testing a few things, one being how to create a value-exchange with info-seekers on Google and YouTube.

Also, a lot of people want to know how to use the Google Keyword Planner without having to add billing details or create campaigns. This video addresses that. They’re not necessarily people who don’t have a credit card or don’t want to pay. I figure anyone interested in Google Ads either wants to buy visitors to their website, or get paid to do it for others. Maybe some want to do keyword research for SEO and maybe some of those don’t value their time. I think I can still help them and create a value exchange.

 

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[Andy Black]

I actually ran ads to one of my videos... It didn't work out so well, I think my targeting is off. I got a lot of views and no likes, comments, or subs.

How much of the video did people view?

What was the primary goal of your video? To get people to watch to the end and then do what? If they don’t do it via an ad then will they do it if they find the video organically (I ask because I don’t know but suspect they might be similar).

My first test with the video I shared earlier will be to see if it gets people to watch the next video in the sequence (which I’ve not created yet).

I also have a small graphic at the start that tells people “For more tips visit domain.com” so I’ll see if anyone visits the site and signs up from the video.

Bear in mind I’m still figuring this out.

 

[Andy Black]

The video itself was not set up to specifically be an ad.

I wonder if all videos should be setup as if they're an ad? i.e. they grab people's attention and/or filter out people who aren't interested, state the problem and what will be solved, give a quick framework to solve it, and have a call to action at the end?

 

[Andy Black]

I do aim to do that with each of my videos hooks - the first 20 seconds or so, although it doesn't have a call to action (except maybe I'm going to tell you X at the end of the video so stick around).

I usually do:
- Ask a question
- Pose a pain point
- Tell them what to expect in video (fixing this pain point)
- Sometimes ask them to stick around to the end for some benefit.

Did you listen to this? I wonder how much is applicable for videos that aren't ads?

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

 

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[Prodox]

@Kung Fu Steve holy moly, thanks for the detailed breakdown!

Immediately first 20 seconds 10x better than the previous videos. @ :25 seconds in -- that energy was fantastic. Maybe you felt overboard when recording it but it comes off great on video!

I'm so glad to hear that!

It did feel a little bit overboard at the time, it's amazing how much video sucks energy from you, haha.

Here's an example of certainty and uncertainty:

@ :45 you have a lot of certainty in your words, your tone, and your posture.

@ :52~ you drop certainty.

Can you tell the difference? It's so subtle. It's so slight. Here's what it is: you dropped your sternum 2mm

That is very subtle - I actually am struggling to see it, but I can maybe feel it a little bit. I'm going to spend some time trying to figure this out.

Do you have any recommended videos or reading on these kinds of micro posture adjustments?

@ 2:52 I couldn't tell if you just stitched the audio together or actually said hoping twice

This was me actually making a mistake while speaking that I decided to leave in there - maybe I should have edited it out...

@11:20 I love the pitch. The only thing is your voice got caught in your throat when you said "go sign up"

Yeah, to be honest, it still feels weird to me telling people to do things like sign up etc. Maybe that popped up or something... I'll have to practice saying it more.

Dude I hope you see your progress because you've improved a lot in such a short time.

Keep going!

I'm really happy that you think so

I do notice that I've improved - before I went onto youtube I practiced speaking to the camera a bit on Instagram stories and the difference is... Painfully clear My old videos are incredibly hard to watch haha.

I'll definitely keep on going, lots to improve on, but tweaking small things each time builds up a lot over time

My display picture actually says "kaizen" which is a Japanese word which often gets translated to "continuous improvement" in English.

Again thank you for this detailed breakdown, I've gone through to all of those times to try and spot what you are talking about, and I'm going to do it a few more times on top of that.

It's really helpful, I appreciate you!

 

[Prodox]

Another week another video!

This week I tried to focus on energy again, this time trying to pay more attention to my posture and keeping my sternum up, although I can't tell if I did it or not

I actually quite like a lot of my performance in this video, but again at the end when asking the audience to do things, I "swallowed" my words a little and I can tell I felt a bit uncomfortable watching it back.

I also tried a new kind of hook, where I did a voice-over over B roll. Not sure what I think of it yet, but I need to fix a few things about it before I make a real decision.

My voice needs more energy, I messed up the audio a little, some of the clips are on screen for too long, some ambient music and sound effects would go a long way I think (just for the hook).

I tried releasing it without posting it anywhere for a bit to see how many viewers I can get straight away... I got 2.

BUT these 2 are from notifications, so I think they are subscribers that every week just go and check out my video when it's released and that makes me happy, haha.

I do think that I need to find new ways to promote my videos, preferably organically.

View: https://youtu.be/_4f753BS8s8

 

[Prodox]

I have begun growing on instagram and some of that is rolling into my YT channel. IG is all about the visual and the hashtags. I post a 10 sec visual clip on IG with a brief hook comment and link to my YT channel. I use the filters to enhance the images. I am new at it but it seems to work for me, not viral, but it brings a few views with each YT vid.

Yes I've been putting a fair amount of effort into Instagram as well, although not much of it rolls into my YT channel I don't think. Although at the moment my link in bio is not set to youtube, so that could be why.

I also post clips of my videos over there - I expect this will become more effective as I grow

 

[Prodox]

You're definitely getting more comfortable!

Out of curiosity what if you taught less per video?

I've noticed the brain works in 1-2-3-many. People tend to get overwhelmed after 3 things and it's TOUGH to keep them engaged as it is, let alone keeping them engaged when they are overloaded.

Does that make sense?

Less per video... I hadn't really thought about that.

I sort of just plan what I want to say in the video and it ends up being around the 10 min mark.

OK, as an experiment this week's video will have 3 points rather than 5, this will probably put it below the 8-minute mark...

Yes, your reasoning makes perfect sense- there are actually a few studies I've read that conclude that groups of 3 work well for people for whatever reason - let's give it a go

Will report back on engagement and watch duration.

 

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[Raoul Duke]

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1GXv2C7vwX0


The WHOLE channel is littered with gold.

 

[Prodox]

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1GXv2C7vwX0


The WHOLE channel is littered with gold.

This video was very interesting, I think I'm guilting of having too many and thens maybe! I'll make sure to pay attention to this next time.

 

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[Jiersk]

Hey @Prodox

Cool to see you lay out your Youtube journey. I can certainly tell that you are working on your channel with much dedication.

I'm very interested in seeing how you'll start marketing your channel and getting it to grow.

Have you looked at Facebook groups by any chance? I am uncertain about their effectiveness for gathering YouTube views, but perhaps it is worth a try.

 

[Jiersk]

I'm glad you're enjoying the thread

Marketing isn't my forte, so I'm interested in seeing how I'll start marketing too, haha.

I have a new video coming out today and so far I plan on posting it to my Instagram, Twitter, Facebook page, some Facebook groups, and maybe Reddit. I feel if I post it to Reddit I'm going to get berated though.

Thanks for the Facebook groups suggestion!

Suggestions are EXTREMELY welcome right now, haha.

Ha yea marketing isn't my strong suit either, I think. I'm currently trying to figure out how to promote discount (not free) Udemy coupons, it appears to be a bit harder than free ones lol.

With regards to getting berated on Reddit, I do understand the concern. But perhaps there are subreddits that are dedicated to the specific topic you are teaching. I think it may be viable to contribute to that community and then carefully suggest your youtube channel. That way it's not real shameless self promoting, but you are also giving rather than just taking. Just a thought

 

[Ethan S]

Hey Prodox, I shared some advice with Vic inside of his thread about how I built my YouTube channel from Zero. It's more labour intensive and doesn't give you the hockey stick style growth others have had on the forum. But it's a pretty simple marketing tip using Facebook to generate your first couple thousand subs.

I'll just post the link here and if you have questions or want to copy my process just ask here.

HOT! - Do I Have a Chance? YouTube Niche struggle

As Roberto Blake says (YT growth and knowledge professional) "The Race is saturated, but The Marathon never is." Stay consistent, throw in some marketing and any niche can grow or even explode, even in the erotica/adult world fetishes are created from one person then grow to become a whole...

www.thefastlaneforum.com

 

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[Prodox]

Much better. Lots of visual changes. Great progress. Better presentation.

One nuance I noticed, I turned the volume down and put the speed up to 2x, sometimes while you are talking it appears that you are shaking your head no. Very subtle but something to look at.

Woo - Thank you

Shaking my head?

Huh, I hadn't realised that. I do move my head while talking though, is that a problem do you think?

 

[Prodox]

Another week another video!

To be honest, I'm not as happy with this one as my last one, but I know if I break the habit now it will give me "permission" to break it again in the future and I want to avoid that, so I put it out anyway.

I don't think it's bad, and I fixed the white balance issue I had last time, but something just... doesn't make me as happy about it.

What do you think, as per usual constructive criticism is really appreciated?

I'm trying to get better here, so this week feels like a bit of a loss to me, but I will keep on going.

View: https://youtu.be/m2EHiVABEdQ

 

[Prodox]

This week I tried to focus on keeping my throat relaxed to get a better vocal tone... I've never been happy with my voice (it's pretty high), but I'm working on trying to improve it.

I also tried to put jump cuts in more deliberate places, rather than just using them as a thing to cover up mistakes (although I still cover mistakes with them, haha).

I still need to level up my broll game - I'm finding it hard to think of good broll ideas to film myself in my one room... but maybe using more stock footage would be a way around this.

I feel like sometimes my energy is low in the video, although it didn't feel like it when recording, maybe I need to overemphasise things a little?

I've also started to think that maybe some quiet background music would make the video more engaging...

View: https://youtu.be/jan-L1u76vE

 

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[Prodox]

First off - keep it up - the practice and rehearsal will continue to help and your delivering some valuable information - I can also see you have well thought out your branding colors

Couple nuances I noticed for maximizing and improving upon:
- Solution Expectation Intro ( what your addressing in this video to the viewer at the begining) is a tad bit longwinded -Possibly shorten the pain points (hit top ones), make it more punchy, & concise
-The Subscribe and Like CTA I would suggest after the main content is delivered to allow people to consume content to make that decision after you have provided value not before
-This one is just a presentation itch - the orange lightning bolt doesn't flow with your branding which I notice is more of a blue/black lightning bolt. Subtle but keeps your image in coherence and keeps people focused on you with ambiance as a complimentary.

Thanks!

That's the plan, just keep on going, practising and delivering value!

Yeah, I keep to a specific blue, dark grey, and white in all of my content. The light in the background is an rgb one so that light is that specific blue too.

1.) I see, so a more snappy introduction - hit the top pain points, tell them what to expect, and keep it short. I'll aim for this next video@

2.) This makes sense.

3.) It's not aligned with my brand colours, but I'm using it as practical lighting (a type of lighting in film making) to create a more interesting scene - I'm not sure how it would be with just blue. I can experiment next time.

Thanks for your advice! I'll try and implement some of this in my next video!

 

[Andy Black]

Andy, this is really well made!!

Thanks. There’ll be a card for the next video to watch at the end. I’ve not created that video yet so nothing is there.

 

[Prodox]

I don’t want to distract you from your path. I’m going more down the ads route, but some of what I’m learning might help.

This is a great podcast about creating scripts for video ads:

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

This is someone’s Facebook Live video where her energy, knowledge, content, and desire to help overrides everything else:

View: https://youtu.be/WkFzYct_bFE



Here’s the latest video of mine that took me about a week to create. I’ve yet to run ads to it (actually, it’s been upversioned a little bit):

View: https://youtu.be/BUVSIyVryA8

I actually ran ads to one of my videos... It didn't work out so well, I think my targeting is off. I got a lot of views and no likes, comments, or subs.

I didn't get many options for customising my audience, at least when compared to facebook, although looking more into it, I think I was using a simplified interface?

Nice video!

If I could offer a little bit of feedback, one thing that I kept noticing was how when you start speaking the compressor (I assume it's a compressor at work here) seems to be pulling off too slowly so when you start speaking you voice starts off quiet and then comes up to the right volume.

 

[Prodox]

How much of the video did people view?

What was the primary goal of your video? To get people to watch to the end and then do what? If they don’t do it via an ad then will they do it if they find the video organically (I ask because I don’t know but suspect they might be similar).

My first test with the video I shared earlier will be to see if it gets people to watch the next video in the sequence (which I’ve not created yet).

I also have a small graphic at the start that tells people “For more tips visit domain.com” so I’ll see if anyone visits the site and signs up from the video.

Bear in mind I’m still figuring this out.

I see, maybe I approached this in the wrong way.

I used a sidebar thumbnail ad to send it to one of my weekly videos to pump traffic to it.

The video itself was not set up to specifically be an ad.

 

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[Prodox]

I wonder if all videos should be setup as if they're an ad? i.e. they grab people's attention and/or filter out people who aren't interested, state the problem and what will be solved, give a quick framework to solve it, and have a call to action at the end?

I do aim to do that with each of my videos hooks - the first 20 seconds or so, although it doesn't have a call to action (except maybe I'm going to tell you X at the end of the video so stick around).

I usually do:
- Ask a question
- Pose a pain point
- Tell them what to expect in video (fixing this pain point)
- Sometimes ask them to stick around to the end for some benefit.

 

[Prodox]

Did you listen to this? I wonder how much is applicable for videos that aren't ads?

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

No I must have missed this - listening to it now!

 

[Prodox]

A new video - "5 Productivity Mistakes That are Killing Your Side Hustle" (I'm trying to focus in on my niche a bit more) - What do you think?

There's still some unnatural tones in my voice, but I think I'm getting a lot better... I feel comfortable talking to the camera now, it's now a just "turn it on and talk" sort of feeling.

I might try spending a bit of time reading out a script, recording it, watching it, picking out the strange parts and then rerecording it while fixing them.

I tried to show more energy in this video, and I think I did but maybe not enough yet, and maybe it's not the right kind of energy for me... I definitely need to play with this some more.

I also put in more stock broll this time.

I attempted to film some broll in my room, but with the focal length I use and the size of my room, it was pretty difficult to get nice angles and framing, and they all looked the same so it was quite boring. I ended up binning it all.

View: https://youtu.be/MyU1KesUB84

 

[Prodox]

I was wondering if the videos could be shorter. I don’t know if I’m the target market (likely not?). I do know I’d pick the shortest video to explain something. (Bear in mind I’ve not watched any video start to finish @Prodox.)

Yeah that actually makes sense - I would often choose the shortest video too. Let's give this ago!