[TITLE: HOW TO EARN A FULL-TIME INCOME FROM YOUTUBE AND THREE OTHER BENEFITS]
Hi there smart drivers. Rick with Smart Drive Test talking to you today about
YouTube. Yes we're not talking anything about driving today. We're talking about
YouTube and the success that we've had - 30,000 subscribers. We just hit 30,000 smart drivers
and that is really awesome. And that is all because of you! Because
without you our YouTube channel - the Smart Drive Test channel would not exist. [RICK AUGUST, PHD DOING HAPPY DANCE]
Now just before we get started here talking about YouTube today, be sure to
hit that subscribe button for those of you working towards a license or
starting your career is the truck or bus driver. As well be sure to hit that bell,
that way you'll get instant access to all of the videos as I get them up for
you. Now today we're talking about YouTube, and I'm going to talk about
three things that I have learned from YouTube in the last, almost, two years of
doing YouTube and being successful on YouTube. Because success is not only
measured by the number of subscribers that I have, but also by the fact that a
couple of weeks ago, YouTube allowed me to go full-time, as of this juncture,
self-employed. We're working towards being an entrepreneur. So I would like to,
first of all thank YouTube for the opportunity of moving forward in my life.
Now the Smart Drive Test story didn't start with YouTube; the Smart Drive Test
idea started with practice driving test questions. I was working about five years
ago for a driving-school company and with my good friend Tim Davis, who you've
heard me talk about before. He has a YouTube channel and a business called
Joomla Basic Tutorials and I'll put that down in description there, if any of you
looking for websites. We were... he had a computer group that he was running in
the church, and we came up with the idea for this YouTube channel. And I was going to sell
practice driving test questions. Little did I know that all of this other stuff
would come out of YouTube: selling courses, being a post-crash investigation
expert, and generating revenue from advertising on YouTube, and whatnot. So we
came up with the idea about five years ago. When we came up with the title for
the company for the the name for the company, Smart had to be in the title.
That was the only thing that I came up with, that I had to contributed... Smart
Drive Test was something else that we came up with in the computer group.
So what happened was it kind of sat on the back burner. Life went on. I had a
couple of kids and bought a house. I worked on house those types of things. And it
sat there for quite a while. And then two years ago, at the end of 2014 my
job started going downhill. In 2015, I lost my job, which you know... sometimes the
universe gives us a kick and says, "hey you need to go and do this." I got so
desperate I went back driving truck long-haul. And what happened when I
went back driving truck long-haul was I listen to audiobooks. And one of the
books that I listened to was this book here: Robert Kiyosaki's "Increasing
Financial Intelligence. And he talked about the difference between
assets and liabilities. And that you need to build an asset. An asset is
something that makes money regardless of whether there you are there or not. Now
obviously with YouTube, it's front-loaded. You have to do a lot of work upfront to
get it rolling and get it working for you. But it is an asset and it does make
me money. And I could probably walk away from it tomorrow and it would still
continue to make money. It wouldn't do as well, but it would still make money.
Because as we know, the grass grows where we water it, not on the other side of the
fence. So know that about YouTube. So anyway, I was listening to that. I got
back on the website, I got motivated to do that again. And then I was struggling
with social media. And I was trying to figure out how to do that. I came
across James Wedmore, and he said, "build a YouTube channel." And I
started building a YouTube channel. And let me tell you, I didn't know anything about
graphic design when I started, I didn't know anything about video production, or
all of the rest of it that goes along with standing in front of a camera and
talking to an audience on the other side of a digital barrier. And you know a few
things that I learned in the beginning is that people embellish. There's a
couple of channels here that say, "oh I went from zero to fifty thousand in a
year." And then you learn later that no they didn't go from zero to fifty
thousand, they went from 5,000 to 50,000. And let me tell you from the experience
that I've had with YouTube, going from 5,000 to 50,000 is easier than going
from 0 to 5000 because 0 to 5000 is really the hardest part of YouTube. If
you can get to 5000, after that it's simply wash, rinse, repeat. So people tend
to embellish a little bit. And the other thing about people
embellishing is that if they come to YouTube, oftentimes they have other
skills. They're already a graphic designer, they already worked on another
YouTube channel, they've been doing video for a long time, they've worked for
another company. So they don't just get dropped in cold into YouTube like I
did. I mean I did know a little bit of graphic design to do my thumbnails and
those types of things and doing SEO (search engine optimization), but for the
most part if you're starting from scratch and you have to learn all that
stuff it's a bigger learning curve than for some of these people who are
already graphic designers, already videographers and those types of things.
So people embellish - that's the first thing that I learned about YouTube. The
second thing I learned was to smile and be a happier person. And I've had a few
smart drivers over the course of the last couple years tell me that I needed
to smile. Ladonna Steel, for example, was one of those people that told me I
needed to smile. I did talk about my friend Tim at one point, and he said,
"you need to smile until you feel goofy." And now I do that at the beginning
of every video before I get started: this big goofy grin on my face and then I
start and launch into the video. And I try and have a lot more fun with it now
than I used to when I was building my youtube channel seriously. When I started
working on the YouTube channel, I was going through one of the most difficult and challenging times of my
life. I was going through a divorce, and smiling and being on camera and
consciously smiling, I was happier and I felt better about myself. And the other
thing is, when you're walking down the road and a stranger goes past you and
you smile at them, you're almost always guaranteed to get a smile in return. And
it makes everybody's day better. So learning to smile is the second thing
that I learned from YouTube. And finally, the third thing that I learned from
YouTube was to set goals and that you can be successful and you can achieve
those goals. When you set a goal and you're standing at the bottom of the mountain
looking up at the top, the top looks really far away. So last year at
Christmas 2016, it Christmas 2016 I set the goal that I was going to ten times my
channel. [CLIP FROM DECEMBER 2016] Some of you know who were on my Facebook page, we've had a very
successful YouTube channel that we've grown to three thousand plus subscribers.
And 2017 is going to be an awesome year. The goal for 2017 is to grow that
YouTube channel by 10 times that. [BACK TO ORIGINAL VIDEO] I was at 3,000 subscribers at that juncture
and I've achieved that goal six weeks early. So we're at the 17th of November. I
achieved the goal six weeks early. I did in fact say that I was gonna ten times
my channel this year, and I'm gonna set the new goal for next year: I am
going to have the very lofty goal of achieving 10 times that number for next year, which is
going to be 300,000 subscribers for next year at this time. And the reason
I'm doing that is because goals... it's not that we set our goals too high, often we
set our goals too low. So next year 300,000 smart drivers on the Smart Drive
Test YouTube channel. And I am confident that I can do that.
And I'll be back next year, and I'll replay this video and we'll see where
we're at for next year on the Smart Drive Test YouTube channel. So for those
of you who are thinking about working towards starting a YouTube channel and
getting started and those types of things, I encourage you to do it, to set your
goals, live your dreams and pursue life to the fullest. Because I would really
recommend this because it is a great opportunity for a lots of people. And as
Frank Kern said, another one of the people that I watched and has fostered
my development is that: "information is the new currency." Everybody is looking
for information, and if you can produce information that other people are
looking for, then you are going to be of service. And that is going to make you of
value on a YouTube channel. Question for my smart drivers: are you thinking about
starting a YouTube channel or do you have a YouTube channel? Leave a comment
down in the comment section there - all of that helps us out. If you like what you
see you here share, subscribe, leave a comment down in the comment section. As
well, hit that thumbs up button. Check out all the videos here on the channel if
you're working towards a license or starting a career as a truck or bus
driver. Lots of great information here and more great information over at the
Smart Drive Test website. As well, courses that you can purchase... online driving
courses: PDIC (Professional Development Improvement Course), logbook courses, and Pass Your Road Test First Time. All the
courses are guaranteed: pass road test first time or 60-day money-back
guarantee. So again, I would like to thank all of the smart drivers. I would like to
take a special note of some of the smart drivers that have been instrumental in
helping and develop the channel: Ladonna Steel in the United States there.
Kyle Crasto out of Toronto and Anna Smith, she's in Hawaii. I would also like
to thank Rosas. She was instrumental in getting the night
driving video up. Corey out of Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada.
Bricks for Wheels is his username. I'd also like to thank Sam from Ruki
Auto driving school there in the Bronx in New York. His user name is Jericho Arroyo.
I always have trouble with Sam's last name, but I work on it. So those are just
some of them - that is not by any means a comprehensive list of some of the
smart drivers who have made this channel successful. Last I'd like to thank my
kids, Scout and Bhyrn. Bhyrn is six years old. He's my son, and I'd like to thank my
daughter Scout, who tomorrow actually it's her birthday on the 18th of
November, who's going to be eight. I would like to thank them for all their help in
doing the videos, being quiet, sitting in the back of the car as we've been
driving around and those types of things. It's been really great working with them
and having them help me to be successful on this youtube channel. And again,
congratulations to all of us for 30,000 subscribers and thank you for making
this possible. I'm Rick with Smart Drive Test. Thanks
very much for watching. Good luck on your road test. And remember, pick the best
answer not necessarily the right answer. Have a great day. Bye now.
[OUTRO & MUSIC AND BLOOPER]
And last I'd like to thank my son and my daughter my sun Bhryn....[STUTTERING AND LAUGHING] And last I'd like to
thank my...[STUMBLING & SMILING] [LOOKING AT MOM OFF-CAMERA] You're not helping! Last I'd like to thank my kids Scout and
Bhyrn. Bhyrn is six years old. He's my son...
[MUSIC]