Hey guys, my name is Tim Schmoyer and it's Wednesday, time for some YouTube tips and
advice and ideas for you guys and today I want to talk about something that is really,
really important for anyone who is trying to build an audience on YouTube, who has a
message they're trying to communicate to the people who need to hear it.
Unfortunately, I see very few people who are actually thinking this way.
I look at most YouTube video creators right now and its, it's like they're, they think
that the merits of their own content will propel them into stardom or help them find
their audience just because their, their content is so awesome or something.
And there used to be a time when that was true, but now with so much content being uploaded
all the time and this just being a very saturated place, there's nothing that says that your
content is going to break through the noise because there is so much other awesome content
out there as well.
I know a lot of us tend to be creative, expressive-like people and so we probably don't like to think
about the stuff I'm about to tell you, but I think we really have to do that and that
is this: you really have to treat your YouTube channel like a business model and the reason
for that is because it will force you to have some clarity and to think through some things
that will really help people engage with you and your content and your videos better and
also help you know exactly where you're going and why you're going there and what you hope
to accomplish when you get there.
Let me give you an example.
For a lot of YouTube creators they probably haven't really thought about, "Who's my target
audience?"
Maybe you've thought roughly about, "Hey, this is the type of person I want to, like,
meet, like anyone who just enjoys humor."
Well that's a little broad.
Right now, you really got to go down a couple notches.
Maybe people who enjoy humor who also are gamers and who like to play Minecraft.
I don't know, I'm just making this up as I go.
You got to really make it specific.
Or, for example, say you're a mommy vlogger, you just can't really expect that just because
someone's a mom that somehow they would want to subscribe to your channel.
You have to answer that "Why?"
question, like why should I subscribe and is your content, like if I'm the one subscribing,
is your content going to meet a need of mine, are you going to be addressing things that
are important to me or what.
So for example, maybe you're a mommy vlogger, but you've got to drop it down another notch
or two and say your target audience is mothers who have children who are 5 years of age and
under and who are trying to feed their family healthy food, like, that would be a more appropriate
niche.
So you also have to think through other aspects of a business model.
For example, what is your value proposition?
What value are you claiming or trying to provide to your subscribers and is that something
that's valuable to your target audience that's compelling enough that they would want to
subscribe for your content?
Another part of the business model that you need to think through is key activities.
What key activities do I need to do and continue to do that will really help me reach that
target and communicate this value proposition that I just need to keep doing over and over
again.
Customer relationships is another part.
Like, how do I form a relationship with these customers so that they trust me so that they
want to engage with my videos and my content?
Guys, I'm not going to go through a business model, but you get the point.
The stuff that is in a business model is the same type of stuff that we really need to
think through as video creators if we really want to reach some people and grow a YouTube
channel and get viewers to our content.
Let me give you a tool.
This is called a business model canvas.
It's free, I'll put a link to it in the description below, where you can download it and scribble
on it.
I put it on my iPad and I just use a stylus to just write notes all over it or you can
print it out or do whatever works best for you.
If you can just fill in all the blocks on this business model canvas and answer the
questions and at least if you think through this, I think this really will put you really
far ahead of the rest of the competition that's out there.
If you want to take it a step further, it's based on this book called Business Model Generation
and it's really for me because it's got tons of pictures in it and it's, like, super, like
totally developed for, like, a really creative mind.
It's like lots of illustrations and models and I, I mean, if you want to learn anything
about, like, running and operating a business, this is like the best way for a creative type
of person to do it.
So I can recommend it.
The link again is to Amazon is in the description below so you can go right there and check
out this book.
If you want really want to take it to the next level, I've gone through this and I highly
recommend it.
Like I said, I haven't really heard anyone talk about a person or YouTube channel like
a business model specifically before, so I'd to hear what your thoughts are about this.
Comment below, leave a video response, let me know.
Also, if this is your first time hanging out with us, we'd love to have you subscribe.
Every Wednesday we talk about YouTube tips, ideas and best practices for you guys to implement
to make your channel awesome.
On Thursdays we do some Q and A, just answering questions that you guys have submitted.
Tomorrow we're going to answer one of your questions about how to get past creator's
block where you just can't think of anything creative anymore to do videos on.
And then on Tuesdays we take a look at news in the online video world and what it means
for those of us who are video creators and how we modify our content and engage our audiences
and everything based on those changes, so all that's coming up.
Make sure you subscribe and I will see you guys tomorrow for a Q and A video.
See you then, bye.