- When I first started out on YouTube
I definitely did not know what I was doing.
The channel's growth was slow
and I got really close to giving up,
but it didn't have to be that hard.
Looking back, there are some key things
that I wish that I'd done differently
that would've helped us grow on YouTube
much more quickly and easily.
So here it is.
If I was starting again on YouTube
a brand new channel today,
this is what I would do differently.
Now, for those of you who aren't aware,
when I say we, talking about our channel,
there's actually two of us that set up Primal Video,
myself and my brother Mike,
who runs a lot of the behind the scenes
and the business stuff.
So, there's a little bit of context there for you,
but kicking this off
what we would do differently if starting again today
the first thing is to do some research
before we go ahead and start diving in and making content.
You wanna be researching your topics,
your audience, the keywords, the key phrases,
the things that people are actually looking for
and the people actually want
because this is something
that we did not start doing immediately with this channel.
So for us starting out,
I would just come up with a random idea for a video.
I'd go ahead and shoot it, we'd release it
and those videos got next to no traction
either because no one actually wanted those videos
that I was spending all this time making
or no one could actually find them
because YouTube couldn't understand
what the content was about
and who the ideal audience would be for those videos
so it couldn't push those videos out to them.
So by researching up front,
you're able to create stuff
that you know people actually want
and you're able to help YouTube find that audience
for those videos 'cause YouTube can understand
what's going on in those videos too.
So starting out, you wanna have a bit of an understanding
of what other people are making in your niche.
So spend some time looking at different channels,
also running some searches on YouTube to see what shows up.
That's gonna show you what videos
are actually getting traction
and what your viewers actually want
but it's also gonna give you insights
as to what they don't want or don't need as well.
So, the next one is building on
from what you've learned in that research step.
Once you're clear on the sorts of videos
that are in your wheelhouse
and what's gonna get you traction in your niche
is to build out an initial profile
of who your exact audience is.
So based on those topics
and the videos that have performed well on other channels
and the topics and things that people are searching for
you can actually get some insights into
what are the things that people actually want.
What are their likes?
What are their dislikes?
What are their interests?
And what level of technical understanding
are they actually at?
Are they someone who's an absolute beginner
or are they someone that's more advanced and further along
so that you know who and at what level you are speaking to
when you're creating your videos.
You can then look at what would that audience
or what would that avatar
actually like to see in your videos?
What do they need to see?
What's gonna keep them engaged and watching longer?
And you can also then use it as a filter
for the content that you are creating
so that you're actually creating stuff
that is going to be of interest to your audience
and that's hitting the right points
and adding value to them,
not just creating random content
hoping that it's something that they're going to like
and something that they're going to have value in.
So where we started out with this again
with no research or no audience insights
was I started making
a ton of really specific video editing hack or tips videos,
videos that I thought people would want
like some more advanced tips on specific keyboard shortcuts
that would help them edit faster.
We're diving into some advanced color correction tutorials.
But the audience that we wanted to target
were actually entrepreneurs and business owners
who knew that they needed to make video content
to grow their income and grow their brand,
but they weren't video editors,
so they were needing help.
And then me as the video editing expert,
I got caught up way too deep in the weeds
and ended up creating stuff that I thought would be useful
for me in that situation
but it's not the stuff that they actually wanted.
And we got that message loud and clear
when our target audience never showed up.
So you want to get clear
on what your audience actually wants,
create content to match that
then maximize the value that you provide
by also giving them what you, as the expert,
what you know they'll need
as well as to help them take their results even further.
Next, I would be prioritizing thumbnail images.
These are just as important as the video itself.
If no one actually clicks on your video,
on your thumbnail image,
no one is going to see your video masterpiece.
So you need to make sure that your thumbnail image
is good at grabbing people's attention
and actually gets them clicking on your video.
Now, if you're someone who is freaking out
a little bit right now
about the need to create an amazing thumbnail image
or no one's gonna see your video,
I do have some resources linked down in the description box
that will help you create better thumbnail images
on your smartphone and desktop.
So definitely check those out.
But the other thing you can do
is actually just go to YouTube
and look for some inspiration for your own thumbnail images.
So what are the images that stand out to you
that just grab your attention
and make you want to click that video?
What's going on in those thumbnail images?
And this is where as well you can look at
what are the videos that have actually performed well.
So videos that are successful,
do have a ton of views on them,
what have they done with their thumbnail images?
But again, for us, this is where thumbnails
were a massive afterthought,
where I started I was just taking a freeze framer
or a frame grab out of the finished video,
somewhere where I'm not speaking
kind of looks like I'm smiling,
I was trying to do it all as an afterthought.
And I mean, I can use Photoshop
but I am definitely not a designer.
So our original thumbnail images, they looked bad.
Now it wasn't until
we started taking our thumbnail seriously
that we really started getting more traction on our channel.
And for those thumbnail images,
Mike was just creating them using Keynote.
So you really don't need to go and learn Photoshop
and have to pay for all of that stuff,
you really can create some effective thumbnail images
using free or really cheap software too.
But we were also then being more strategic
with the images that we were using.
So we stopped trying to find that perfect freeze frame
and instead we were creating images more intentionally.
So at the end of recording a video
I would just leave the camera recording
and I would pose and point and pull silly faces
and those were what we were using to create our images.
It's something that's so simple
that makes the thumbnail creation process easier
and gives you a better end product.
So, why not?
Now, building on from that,
the next thing that I would be doing with a new channel
would be A/B split testing my thumbnail images.
So fair wanting this is a more advanced strategy
and it's not free.
You'll need to be using TubeBuddy to do this
and you need to be on their Legend plan currently
to unlock this feature.
So in a nutshell,
how this works is you create two different thumbnail images
for one video
and you actually upload both of them into TubeBuddy
and it will serve out one thumbnail image
to half of your audience
and the other will see the other thumbnail image
and this will actually gather some data
and tell you which one outperforms the other one,
which one gets more clicks over time.
Now the beauty of this is you don't have to guess
which is the nicer thumbnail image
or the better thumbnail image
or which one you think will get more clicks,
it's actually going to tell you
which one does get more clicks.
And when we run these tests for us,
I'm always surprised
as to which one actually gets clicked more.
It's not normally the one that I'm picking as,
oh that's the nicer one or this one I'm smiling in
so more people are gonna click that one, no,
it actually doesn't matter
what we think people are gonna click on,
it's which one are people going to click on.
So A/B split testing,
it is an amazing more advanced strategy
to again help your video get more clicks
which means more people are then going to see it.
But think about this,
even if you were only able to increase
the amount that your thumbnail image was clicked,
even if it was one to 2%, more, 5% more,
think about that for the lifetime of your video,
your video showing up every single day on YouTube
being able to be clicked more because it was more appealing
or because more people were actually clicking on it
giving you then more views, more impact,
more people seeing your stuff and getting it out there.
This A/B split testing for thumbnail images is huge.
Next I would be strategically optimizing the video content
what I'm saying and when I'm saying it
or what's happening inside the video
all designed to keep people engaged and watching longer
but also while you're adding in
a ton of value for the viewers.
So this is another area where I had no plan or structure
when I was creating those early videos on our channel,
I would just, again, come up with an idea,
I would maybe throw down a few bullet points
or a few dot points and speak to those
but I've got spiral brain bad.
I would be jumping from one point to another.
No one could follow what it was that I was saying
which made the video very hard
and frustrating for me to produce also then to edit
and it was frustrating or not structured in a way
where people could follow along and actually consume it
so no one was winning from that.
Instead, if you're creating videos
with an optimized video structure
designed for engagement and adding value,
it's gonna be easier for you to create your videos
and easier for people to consume your videos too.
So really quickly, this is the five step video structure
that we use for each one of our videos.
Now, we start off first with a hook,
we wanna let the viewers know first off
what the video is about
and that they're in the right place.
Second, you can move to the intro,
this is where you might want to introduce yourself,
your channel and more about the topic
that the video is about.
Next is the content,
this one's pretty self explanatory.
This is where you're gonna deliver
on the promise that you had in the hook and in the intro.
From there, we like to include a bonus
or essentially it's an over deliver
based on the topic of the video,
we know why people are watching that video,
what else can we give them as a bonus
to help them either with the next step
or the next problem that they're gonna have
after solving this main problem,
the one that they're watching the video for
or what else can we give them
we know is going to be a value for them?
So this will help them further in their journey
but it's also something
that they're likely gonna wanna stick around for
so they'll stick around longer in your video
to hear this bonus section.
And lastly, we have a call to action,
this is for those people that make it
to the end of your video,
what is the next best step for them?
Is it to subscribe?
To go and watch another video
to get over and join your email list,
whatever your next step is.
Now, I know I went through that quick
but there is a dedicated video on our video structure
which I will link down in the description
for those of you who wanna dive deeper into that.
The next thing I'll be doing with the new channel
will be outsourcing the video editing
much much sooner than we did with our current channel.
This is something that I held onto for far too long.
I mean, I am one of those weird people
who actually does enjoy video editing
so me handing over the reins to this to someone else
was a very difficult thing for me.
I came up with every excuse as to why it wouldn't work,
but instead what it's actually done
is freed me up massively
and it's allowed someone else to get creative
with our videos
so it's not all reliant on me.
So now I don't have to edit our videos
and our videos probably are better for it
because we're all our own worst critic.
So me editing our videos was much harder
than me editing someone else's videos
because I'm so much more picky
on what I'm saying and what I'm doing
and so much more judgemental when it's me
than when it's someone else.
So whatever excuse you have
or whatever you're holding onto
as to why you are the best person to edit your videos
and you can't outsource,
then check out another video
I've got linked in the description
where we address some of those things
and teach you how you can outsource your video editing
for as little as four to $7 US an hour
and get some of your time back
so that you can work on the business, on the brand
instead of being stuck on that content hamster wheel,
shoot video, edit video, release video,
and then back onto the same thing again.
I would also not be asking people to subscribe
to our YouTube channel early on in a video.
We've all seen people do it,
you're about 30 seconds into the video
and you get a reminder from the content creator,
I mean, I'm guilty of it too, where it's like
and if you haven't hit that subscribe button,
ring the notification bell
so we can tell you every new video we do.
No I would not be doing that,
that is not how you actually get subscribers.
You've gotta think of the viewer journey.
Someone new has just appeared on your video,
they're about 20, 30 seconds in,
you haven't even delivered the content,
you're still in the hook in the intro phase of your content
so they haven't seen that value yet,
why would they wanna subscribe
and especially hit the bell notification
and be told every time you upload a video
if they don't even know that your video actually
help them or entertain them.
So instead, what I would be doing
is asking for a smaller ask,
a lower commitment ask or request
and that is to give the video a thumbs up.
So you could say something like,
and if you're seeing value in this video,
make sure you're giving it a thumbs up,
it really makes a big difference,
I mean, hey, it really does make a big difference.
You don't need someone to subscribe to your channel.
If they give the video thumbs up,
it's something that has no repercussions from them,
it's not gonna be notified
but also it shows YouTube that they liked the content,
it shows you as the creator that they liked the content
but YouTube sees that as a positive indicator
and something that they have interacted with your content
meaning that next time they're searching for something
or next time they're looking for related or relevant content
that you have on your channel,
they're much more likely to see your videos in the mix
because they've interacted with your content previously.
So I wouldn't be asking for a subscribe,
I might from time to time do it at the end of the video
for those people that actually make it to the end
but everyone knows what the subscribe button is,
what it does,
you don't need to explain it or to ask them to do it.
If they find value in your videos,
if they like your content,
they'll subscribe without you needing to remind them.
And lastly, and this one's a big one,
know that you're going to suck for a while.
Go back and check out the early videos on our channel,
I can link to a few of them in description as well,
they look terrible and they took me so much longer
than our current videos do to create.
So knowing that your first videos
aren't gonna be your worst videos,
you just gotta start.
You've probably already got more than enough right now
to create videos using your webcam,
or using a smartphone, whatever you have,
focus on improving 1% on every video.
So let's say you've just shot a video,
you're starting to edit it down,
but you're not happy with the lighting.
No problem, release it anyway,
tweak your setup on the next video
so that you're fixing things as you go,
but still release that video.
You're gonna learn so much more, so much faster
by actually putting content out there,
receiving feedback but growing and evolving as you do it.
Or if you're getting frustrated
by how long it takes you to present in front of the camera,
then start pulling together more notes
or more of a detailed structure
before you shoot your next video.
You wanna work towards a process that maximizes quality
and minimizes the amount of time required.
Anything that goes wrong, any mistake
or any lesson is just a lesson.
How do you improve by that 1% each time
and build out processes and systems to help you streamline
and optimize every area in the process.
Now, as you do this and you're improving on every video,
you can go and check your analytics,
check your comments, check the feedback,
and see what your audience is liking,
what's resonating with them
and then you can do more of that stuff
but you've gotta have that mindset
or that approach that when you start,
you're going to suck
and that you can improve
and grow over time with each and every video.
So that would be my approach
if I was starting a brand new channel today.
Now, if you wanna learn more
about how to grow a new channel faster
then check out the video linked on screen
where I share nine tips for growing a YouTube channel fast
from zero to 1,000 subscribers.
I'll see you in there.