Hey, Hey, there, what's up and welcome back to another episode
of the freelance Friday podcast.
Today's episode is going to be a really chill casual one,
and hopefully pretty sure.
I just kind of wanted to have a little production meeting with you
really, and just kind of share that.
State of my content, I suppose I wanted to share the updates that I'm
making in 2022 for my content marketing plan, because the thing is content
marketing, social media marketing.
It is not just like a set it and forget it thing.
You definitely need to reevaluate your strategy every single year,
really month by month, if I'm being honest, but definitely.
Every year.
And I definitely am making some changes to the YouTube channel
and the podcast this year.
So I wanted to share, you know, how I arrived at those decisions.
One, because if you also have a content marketing strategy,
you also run a business.
You may be able to learn something about how I came to some of these conclusions.
And secondly, because I consider you all like my, my producers, you
know, you're the reasons why I create the show and the YouTube channel.
If you are not interested in this content, um, I'm not going to make it right.
So I actually do have some questions.
Please comment below if you're watching on YouTube or send me
a DM, if you're listening on the podcast to some of these questions.
Cause I actually do want your opinions on a few things too.
So the biggest change that I'm making in 2022 to my content marketing strikes.
Is reducing the number of YouTube uploads.
If you watched last year, you know, that I was uploading Monday, Wednesday,
Friday, Friday would be the video podcast Monday would usually be like a tutorial
or a tip, some type of educational video.
And then usually Wednesdays, I would do a blog or like a more
chill, casual style video this year.
I decided to move to two videos a week instead of three.
Friday.
And this is a big question.
I hear a lot from people who are looking to start YouTube
is how often should I upload?
And honestly, my answer is always be consistent.
You know, I think you can do one video a week.
I think you can do two videos a week, I think.
Sure.
Did I see a lot of growth for three videos a week?
Yeah, I think it did really help me grow.
I think it helped me, um, get traffic to my website, but
that does come with a caveat.
And the caveat is that you have to be pretty.
Quality content.
Right.
And I'm going to be honest.
I'm really proud of everything.
Maybe not everything, most things that I've put out on my YouTube channel.
I really am.
I put my heart into every video.
I mean, even sponsored videos, even chill, blogs, like I really think very
deeply about what I put out there and I want you all to enjoy it and I want to
be proud of it, but I do feel like maybe the quality was slipping a little bit.
And even if the quality wasn't slipping a ton, like even if
it wasn't noticeable to you.
I was feeling it.
I was getting really burnt out and YouTube has never been something I wanted.
Treat like a job.
I mean, I do treat it like a job, but I don't want to treat it so much, like a
job that I resent it or that I hate it.
I truly have connected with so many of you all from YouTube and whatever.
So I still want it to be something I enjoy.
Now when it comes to deciding what types of content I went to, my
analytics, the cool thing about.
The analytics are pretty detailed.
And I like to look at what people are searching for to get to my channel.
You know, a lot of people were looking for social media kinds
of videos and specifically social media videos that like, honestly,
aren't even that hard to produce.
I mean, my top performing videos so far of 2022 was created on my Mac book.
And you know, I'm going to be honest.
This is also something that's kind of a.
A mental block for me, because I have this problem where it's like,
I don't want things to be too easy.
I almost feel like that's like cheating.
Like I'm just making a Mac book video.
Like I'm just doing a zoom call basically, you know, but why is that
cheating or why is that not good?
I don't know.
I think for a long time I felt like everything had to be like
this certain artsy, you know, cinematic style or something.
But like, if your audience wants that content and it's easy for you to create,
create more of that content, I mean, I don't know what to say, but I'm trying
to just let it be a little easier and respond to what you need within reason.
Of course.
So if you have any requests for like, I don't know, people always
ask me, like, show your processes.
And I'm like, what processes has, like, what do you want to see?
So if you have something specific you want to see definitely.
On YouTube or send me a DM.
No, with that said, I don't want to just become a screen-share channel either.
So of course, I'm still going to keep the podcast on Fridays on YouTube.
I think that it's really helped to grow the show.
You know, growing a podcast is hard, is something that I think a lot of people.
Talk about very much is it's quite easy to like start up a podcast, but the SEO for
podcasting platforms is not the same as YouTube or Google or, you know, blogging.
I really don't understand how it works and it definitely takes a while to
actually start ranking on those platforms.
And it's an easy way to repurpose content.
Right.
I'm already recording the.
So why not just pop a camera in front of me and record for YouTube as well,
but I also want to play around a little bit more with some entertaining content.
You know, when I think about why I go onto YouTube, unless it's something really
specific, like how to connect flow desk to Thinkific or whatever the videos I click
on are like, I mean, honestly, you guys, the videos I click on are embarrassing,
you know, at the end of the day, people come to these platforms to be entertained.
So I also.
I want to create entertaining content.
You know, I did my Emily and Paris video, which was also a top
performer for me so far this year.
And it was out of my comfort zone.
I didn't know if people were going to like it, but I think there are
opportunities where I can expand this digital marketing world a little bit too.
Not be so technical.
I got a couple of comments there.
Actually.
I think it was on that Emily and Paris video.
It said like, I really liked this video.
A lot of your content is really too dense for me.
Like it's too technical for me.
And I always feel like, again, this was probably imposter syndrome, but a lot of
times I'm like, I'm not teaching enough.
Like I'm not, you know, I'm just like, anybody can Google this, right.
This isn't helpful.
And really, it's what I told my students.
It's what I tell my clients.
Yeah, you, you only have to know a little bit more than the person who's watching.
Right?
You don't have to know everything.
And actually simple is usually better.
Otherwise it gets really overwhelming.
So I'm trying to take that advice myself to, I think be more
tutorials and things like that.
Boom, we can do heavy hitting dense content, really techie stuff, but
it can also balance that out with some more entertaining content.
That's maybe a little bit softer or maybe a little easier to digest and
maybe, I don't know, a little bit fun.
Shout out.
Should I dare.
I also want to say from the data side of things, you know, I also
made this decision after looking at Google analytics and seeing how
this would impact my core sales.
And what I found was the more intentional content it was putting
out was seeing those GA spikes.
It wasn't me putting up a video because.
I felt like I had to put up a video.
So I'm going to continue to watch revenue.
I'm going to continue to watch traffic to the course website and make sure that
I'm not making a mistake and that I'm not seeing them all drop, but I don't
think that's going to happen because I think I'm enabling myself to put a
higher level of quality into each video.
Versus kind of spreading that out, but we'll see for sure.
Now there is a content type that I'm leaving out here.
Right.
And that is blogs.
That's the more like personal loggy style content.
I actually want to circle back to that after I talk about the
podcast, just because they don't want it to become this long rant.
I tend to do that whenever I talk about this topic.
So we'll come back to blogs and like my plan for that after
I get into podcast content.
Okay.
So for the podcast, I'm going to be honest.
I miss talking to people.
I did a short form audio series called online business launch lab.
And I interviewed like five or four, I think people just for kind of like
a short run series, just for funsies, just to kind of celebrate the launch
of my new program and my new website, which is hosting all of my courses.
And honestly, That was so much fun for me.
I'm very introverted, but that doesn't mean I don't like people.
I actually love people and fascinated by people.
You know, it does take up energy.
So I'm trying to figure out a way to balance the interviews.
I asked a little bit on Twitter.
I asked a little bit on Instagram, but I'm curious what you all think
as well of, you know, if we should.
I think back in the day I used to do like every other episode was an interview
that I would do like one a month.
Should I do a bonus episode?
That's an interview.
You know, I don't want to take away from what you all.
Already like, so if that means I do same schedule as always, and maybe just like
on the third, Monday of the month, we do a bonus with an interview or something.
I don't know.
Let me know if you have strong feelings either way, because I
definitely do not only really enjoy it.
Like I really had fun also.
I just know a lot of people and can meet a lot of people who can bring
you things that I can't, you know, I definitely do not know everything.
I'm definitely still forever a student.
So if there are particular topics and things that you want to hear
about, definitely let me know now.
And this is one, some people might not want to hear.
Um, some people really might not want to hear this.
Let me take a sip of coffee, but honestly, I think I'm ready to get paid for my show.
Uh, so let me explain to you how podcast payments work or podcast revenue works.
There is none.
That's, that's the gag, right?
I think sometimes, you know, all this talk about like Joe Rogan and
all this stuff you hear about this $100 million deal that he has.
I think sometimes people think that every podcaster has a podcasting
deal and that's just not true.
Just like every author doesn't have any book deals and people
are self publishing, a book.
That's basically what I'm doing for the podcast and just the
disclaimer like that I always have to put on is I'm never complaining.
I'm so grateful.
I'm so lucky, blah, blah, blah.
I really am.
I truly have like one of the best jobs in the world, so I'm not complaining, but I
do make $0 and 0 cents from the podcast.
In fact, I actually have to pay, you know, for hosting and editing
that stuff is all out of pocket.
So I'm technically like in the negative.
Now, one of the big decisions I made.
Last year was to put the podcast on YouTube.
And I'll be honest.
Part of that was all the reasons that I mentioned earlier, but part
of it was financial as well, because I do get paid for YouTube videos.
So, you know, some people have asked me to like, you know, do you have
a Patrion and all this stuff, first of all, don't give me your money.
If you do want to support the show.
Easiest thing to do is to watch the show on YouTube.
I think I've only done like one.
Sponsorship for the podcast specifically.
And I think we're at the point, like I'm not a baby podcast anymore.
I mean, I'm definitely not like Joe Rogan or anything over here, but my,
you know, listens are well beyond the average listens for a podcast and
you know, we're growing every day.
So that's something that I want to explore in my dream world.
I would be able to get one spot on.
To sign for a year contract.
So I'm going to manifest that if you're interested in sponsoring the show.
I know I do have some brands who listen.
Uh, you can go to Latasha james.com/podcast, and there is a
form there we can inquire and reach out to my partnerships manager plug.
Okay.
I did a video.
Late last year, kind of talking about my social media wins.
Also some of my flops, and I mentioned that I was still testing out Tik TOK.
This isn't really like content marketing is social media, but let's talk about it.
I'm still testing Tik TOK, I guess not loving Tik TOK, something I've
noticed about Tech-Talk it's a very surface level connection for me.
Trashing Tik TOK.
Okay.
Just want to say this.
Everybody always accuses me of like being a hater.
I'm not trashing it.
It's just a very interesting thing.
Like I notice I can have a video blow up on there.
Blow up for me is like, you know, 300 likes or whatever.
A few people might follow from that, but they don't really like care
about me or like what I have to say.
And it's fine.
I'm not, I'm not mad about that.
I'm respecting the platform and what it is, but I just find like my YouTube video.
I build relationships, my podcast audience, I feel
like we build relationships.
You know, we get to know each other.
We talk to each other back and forth.
Tik TOK is just not that platform.
It is so fast moving.
It is so trendy.
It is.
So, you know, it's just like a very fleeting platform.
I find, I'm not saying it doesn't have value.
Have I seen quantifiable value for myself and my brand?
Not really personally.
But that's just me.
I am very much in a season of like, not wanting to be pigeonholed into things.
I am a multi-dimensional human being as are a lot of you all.
Like I not judging.
An entrepreneur or an online business owner or a social media manager, or
course creator or YouTube, or like, I am a person, I am a woman before
anything else now we're going off on a tangent here, but I don't want to be
pigeonholed into being like, you have to be the social media girl and tech talk.
Like, I don't want to be that.
I don't want to do that.
Somebody else can be that it ain't me.
Um, so without satin, I'm actually going longer form, which is probably
like the dumbest decision ever.
People are probably like Latasha is sinking her career right now, but.
I don't know.
We'll see.
Right.
I started a sub stack.
That's just kind of like a personal blog slash email list for myself as I'm
going through the process of writing a book, which is like the longest
worm content you can create rate.
I'm also investing a lot more into my email list for the.
So, you know, we're sending out weekly emails that are basically like blog posts
as well, and have the job board on there.
I'm considering starting an OBL L blog.
I don't know if that's going to happen because I can only write so much.
Right.
I'm writing about.
I'm writing a newsletter, I'm writing a second newsletter or at
least editing a second newsletter.
So yeah, I probably am not going to be writing blogs for OBL L but maybe
we open that up to contributors or to like a staff writer or something.
So, yeah, I think I'm just in search of deeper connections, you know,
even with the courses, we're moving towards a lot of the cohort-based
courses, which are just serious.
Life for me.
So fun.
I love being able to see your faces and get to know your
individual stories instead of just doing like evergreen courses.
So yeah, I'm going for deeper.
I'm going for deeper connections, which means that like Tech-Talk is not my emo.
I'm still testing it.
I'm still playing around with that, but it's mostly playing around.
So lastly, let's talk about the blogs.
I, uh, I still want to blog, let me just get.
In front of it and say, I definitely still will blog when I feel that it really makes
sense to, you know, when I travel, I love.
Dallas video is one of my favorite videos of 2021.
It was sponsored.
So I don't know if maybe that's why people tuned out, but I think that was one of
the best videos I created all last year.
It was a lot of fun that it was entertaining.
I love videos like that, you know, when I'm actually doing something.
So yes, when I do business travel or when I have cool things happening in
the business, I definitely still want to blog and capture that experience.
But I think I am.
Kind of over just doing the traditional format of a week in my business of just
sitting, I might ask and sharing so many personal moments, even though they're not
anything like, I think sometimes people think when I say personal moments, I'm
like sharing all these deep dark secrets.
I'm not, but things like sharing what I'm eating, things like sharing.
You know, stuff about my relationships.
I just am not, I'm just not feeling it right now in this season of my life.
I think there's a lot of reasons for that.
And I really, again, I don't want to, woe is me.
I'm so lucky, so grateful.
I love this community.
Um, but yeah, you know, it got to a point last year where I was blogging,
I was posting a week of my business video, like every week, which means
I was blogging every day of my life, except for the weekends, which even
some weekends I would walk a little bit.
So like, I just don't think that's healthy.
So that's the plan for 2022.
Let me know in the comments, what you think or, you know, if you are making any
similar changes to your content, I know I set the screen to me a short episodes.
Looking at the clock and it's about 30 minutes.
I'm going to try to cut this down a little bit, but I hope
it was interesting, helpful.
Again, I really appreciate those of you who tune in to the podcast and to
the YouTube channel every single week.
I totally consider you all my producers and like are a part of this journey.
So I really do want to know what you think and what you want to see more of.
If there are any topics, any ideas, any guests you want me to get
on the show, please let me now.
And I hope you all have a beautiful rest of your day.
And it will see you back here on Friday for a new podcast by.