If you think I put out a lot of content now, just wait,
because it is about to get crazy. Hey guys,
welcome back to the Dr. Cliff AUD Vlog. This is Vlog number 140.
And today I wanna talk about the future of the Dr. Cliff
AuD YouTube channel. But before I get into this video,
if you could do me a big favor, click that light button.
And if you are not yet subscribed to the channel, go ahead and do that as well,
and make sure that you click that bell for notifications.
So you get notified every single time. I post a new video, uh,
with that outta the way. I really appreciate it.
Now I wanna get into this topic of what's really gonna be happening with my
channel moving forward,
but let me kind of bring you up to speed basically with where it is right now.
So I started creating videos approximately five years ago,
a little over five years ago from this point right now.
And my goal was to create two videos per week for an entire year
to give me roughly a hundred videos in my YouTube library for people to start
learning more about hearing loss in treatment options. Um, honestly, if,
if nobody decided to watch it at that point,
I was going to just completely kill the channel and stop making the videos
because it takes a significant amount of my time on the weekends and sacrifice
family and friends and all that stuff.
And I've been doing that basically for the past five years. Um,
but as time went on, as you probably noticed,
I started adding more content to the channel more than just two videos
per week. And, you know, I started with doing this vlog, um,
basically because I started my new clinic location and I wanted to kind of
go through the process of the build out of that new clinic. And then that kind
of morphed into kind of more this style vlog,
where I'm not really talking about the clinic as much,
at least not from a build out perspective because the build out's been done for
a couple of years now. So, uh, but you know, I, once I hit Vlog number 100,
I kind of tossed it out there. Should I continue the vlog?
Should I not continue the vlog?
And ultimately decided that enough people were interested in it for me to keep
doing it. So that's why I'm still doing the vlog. But on top of that,
I really wanted to start get into making some like reaction videos to different
videos that were up online that I could react to because there's a lot of like
really bad and deceptive videos out there that I wanted to have a reaction video
to kind of go along with it to kind of point out the flaws of whatever that
video is. Um, if you guys wanna see some of those just type in Dr. Cliff Reacts,
and you can see some of my reaction videos,
I also wanna react to some videos that are actually really good videos.
There was a really good video, uh,
interview with Barbara Kelley on PBS that I wanted to point out some of the good
things and then point out some things that maybe I don't necessarily agree with,
not to say that my opinion is the end all be all,
but I just felt like that video needed some more exposure.
So I went ahead and made a reaction video to it. Um,
but the future of what the channel has in store.
So about a couple months ago, I hired Brad Stewart,
Dr. Brad Stewart, who's an Audiologist.
He ended up selling his clinic to help me, me out, uh,
with my YouTube channel. And then he does some consulting on the side as well,
or probably is more of his full-time thing. And then he, uh,
works with me on the side, uh, as my content manager.
And so you've probably noticed that there's been a lot more content coming out
on my channel, not just on my main channel,
but on a variety of different platforms like Instagram, TikTok,
Facebook, uh, and all those other platforms that are out there.
And he's basically been taking videos that I've already produced and chopping
up, uh, chopping them up and pulling out some really interesting, you know,
parts of them and putting them out as like YouTube shorts and,
and shorter versions of these videos on all of these different platforms.
And so when I look at the amount of content that's going out on a weekly
basis,
it is like triple the amount of what I was traditionally doing by just myself.
On top of that,
we've been able to amplify things a little bit more starting as of like a month
ago or so when I hired an editor and I know that you guys have heard me talking
about my editor, um,
essentially what's happening here is that I'm able to spend a lot more time
focusing on creativity and,
and creating the videos and not having to worry so much about all of the busy
work to get them edited. And on top of that, get them edited in a very, uh,
nice way and more up to date way,
cuz I have a very basic style of editing and it kind of spices things up with
this new editor. Who's actually good at editing. So, um,
I won't go into that too much more because I did talk about this a couple of
weeks ago. Um, but that has allowed me to kind of open up, uh,
what my capabilities are and I'm actually starting to
train. And in fact,
I've been training a couple of my employees over the course of the past couple
of months. So you may have noticed Dr. Rachael Cook.
She is my co-host on the Dr. Cliff show.
She is actually starting to create YouTube videos for the YouTube channel.
So we're going through this process of teaching her, how to research,
how to script, how to record and all of that.
And she's actually done a couple of videos now,
and these videos are going to be really, really good.
And it's just gonna keep getting better as time goes on,
as she gets more familiar with how to do this. Um,
we actually built out on top of the podcast space, uh,
in this new office location that I leased. We also have a YouTube space.
So that's where she is recording her YouTube videos. And on top of that, um,
we have, uh, Kelsey Beck,
who is my Extern. And so if you don't know how this works in audiology,
when you go through grad school,
your last year of grad school is an externship where you go to a clinic,
you work at that clinic for a year is kind of like what you would think of is
like a resident, uh, in the physician world. You're kind of just working a lot,
uh, to hone your skills and she's taken an interest in creating videos.
So I've been teaching her how to research script and film,
video content as well. And so here within the next,
probably two to four weeks,
you guys are gonna start seeing videos come out each week from both of them as
well. So not only will be will the Dr. Cliff,
AuD YouTube channel have Dr. Cliff creating video content.
I'm also gonna have another doctor creating content and another Extern in
creating content on top of that, when I get another Extern next year,
hopefully the goal would be to bring in someone who also wants to,
or who is interested at least in creating content and have them creating content
as well. And Dr. Leslie Balderas, she is actually good at writing.
So she is taking on more of the blog writing.
You'll probably see her on the podcast as a co-host when I can't make it. Um,
but she's, uh, really taken the lead on creating a blog content.
So if you guys are interested in reading the content that she's creating,
make sure that you go check it out on hearing up.com and
AppliedHearingAZ.com, which is my clinic website.
And you'll be able to see her content on top of that.
We have Bre who used to be my, um,
audiology assistant as of like two years ago.
And then she ended up going to ASU for the audiology program there.
And so she's gonna become an audiologist and she is really good at writing too.
So she's been creating Blogs as a like second year audiology student.
Um, and she's, she's a fantastic writer as well, just like Dr. Balderas. So,
um, there's a lot of individuals creating content.
I have a feeling that Bree might also dabble in the video creation,
but being a grad student as she's going through her, uh, uh,
program to get her doctorate in audiology, it's a extremely busy.
So it's hard to find a lot of time to do, uh, research scripting and editing or,
uh, research scripting and filming through that. But the nice thing is,
is that we have this editor, so I'm able to take all of their videos,
shoot them off to the editor, to have the editor do their videos.
So I'm not bogged down by editing their content or having them edit their own
content. Um, so basically the Dr. Cliff,
AuD YouTube channel is not going to be only Dr. Cliff on it anymore. I
really feel like it's good to get different perspectives and, uh,
different points of view, uh, different opinions, uh, different professional,
uh, you know,
I guess professional opinions on different types of hearing loss and treatment
options and all of that, you know,
cuz everybody brings something different to the table and to kind of give a
little bit more variety and to speak to different groups of people more
effectively. I think bringing in other individuals to do that is a good idea.
It does make me ponder the question of whether or not I should change
the name of the channel. Um,
I've built up a pretty substantial brand in the past five years. Uh,
something I'm extremely proud of.
And I don't think that I'll ever stop being Dr. Cliff, you know,
and Dr. Cliff AuD whatever, whatever you wanna call me, um,
that brand I think will continue on,
but I don't know how much it makes sense to have the channel named Dr. Cliff
AuD. Um, you know,
even in all of my videos for the past five years, I never said, you know,
welcome to the Dr. Cliff AuD channel. I mean, I never did it.
I basically said, hi, I'm Cliff Olson,
Dr. of Audiology and founder of Applied Hearing Solutions in Phoenix, Arizona,
you know, just to kind of, you know, establish the credibility. I mean, um,
I don't know if I were to change the name of the YouTube channel,
if it would even make that big of a difference and then maybe I don't change it.
Maybe, you know, we continue to have other providers be on the Dr. Cliff,
AuD YouTube channel and just keep it running with the same name, uh,
at the end of the day. I think that if we're creating good quality content,
the name of the channel probably is not gonna matter a whole lot,
but I just, you know, I really kind of like I'm doing in the clinic. Um,
I'm actually going down to three days in the clinic per week down
from four days in the clinic per week,
because there's a lot of other projects that I'm getting involved with now.
And what that's requiring of me is to train my staff to practice
in a similar fashion that I practice, which is following best practices to a T,
uh,
doing and saying things to patients to make sure that they understand the value
of what's going on from a treatment perspective.
And that allows me to take a step back inside of the clinic,
but still knowing that every single patient who comes into the clinic is gonna
have an outstanding experience and is gonna hear their absolute best,
cuz those are the two things that matter the most to me inside of my clinic.
And once those two things stop happening, then we would have issues. But, um,
you know, both of our audiologists,
Dr. Cook and Dr. Balderas have really done an excellent job of taking the things
that I have taught them and the processes that we have in place and have, uh,
taken them and run with them. And you know, we're starting to get a lot of,
you know, 5-star reviews on our Google, uh,
page for applied hearing solutions that are, were,
these patients were never seen by me.
They may have come in because of me because of video content,
because we don't really do any marketing.
All I do is these videos and people find the videos, they learn something.
They know that they can trust us.
They know that we're gonna follow comprehensive best practices.
So they want to come into our clinic. And I've been very open about saying that,
you know, every provider, if you're gonna be a provider in my clinic,
you are gonna do things exactly the same way that I'm gonna do them inside of
the clinic. And so,
because we've kind of been successful with taking that model and having other
providers mimic that model and, and function within that model,
I figured why not do the same exact thing for the YouTube channel?
We have providers who have an extreme amount of, of, um,
talent for creating content.
And they know so much already that like,
we gotta get that knowledge out of their head out to you guys.
So you guys can make better informed decisions about your hearing loss and
treatment options.
And I think that I have a way that I can teach
the way that I do things to them, but not in the way to where it's just,
you feel like they're another me that they're still them.
They're still an individual that is creating valuable information and just
communicating in a different way. You know, not everybody likes me,
not everybody resonates with how I communicate information and I,
and I totally understand that and appreciate that because we're all individuals.
And so I think that it's important to bring in other voices and other people.
And this is why I've always been a fan of as long as they're reputable
individuals.
I've always been a fan of other influencers out there in the hearing space to
help share information because there's so much bad information out there.
We need more people who know what they're talking about to come on and share
this information with you guys. Um,
so I'm more than happy to have the other individuals who are on YouTube
and other platforms sharing information because at the end of the day,
if it's accurate information,
you guys need to hear about it and you need to see it.
And so I think that me trying to expand who the people are on my
channel is a very, is a very powerful thing.
And it will be a beneficial thing for the channel moving forward. Um,
so you know, a lot of new projects, right? We've got the,
the podcast that's on there, obviously Dr. Rachel Cook is on there, um,
trying to use that platform to spread awareness about best practices and about
the hearing up network that we have, uh,
which is a network of hearing care professionals across the country.
And hopefully internationally here soon. Uh, other than just Canada,
we do have a couple Canadian, uh, providers in the hearing up network, but, um,
there's potential.
We could be spreading to some degree to South Africa and possibly even Australia
and the UK. So I'm, I'm kind of throwing that out there.
If you're a provider who is in one of those countries,
make sure that you let me know because I really wanna start.
And people are seeing my content all over the world.
So there are individuals with hearing loss who live in these countries who are
trying to find a provider who is following best practices and they're having
difficulty finding them. So, uh,
if you're a provider who follows Best Practices in one of those countries,
please reach out to me and will get you on board with the Network. But, um, um,
I feel like I'm digressing here a little bit. The point is,
is that things are changing and, you know,
I have always been traditionally okay with change. I,
I understand that nothing stays the same way forever.
And I feel like up until this point had a really good run with the clinic and a
good run with the YouTube channel.
And I'm not saying that either one of them are going anywhere anytime soon,
but I can just see where the trajectory of my career is taking me,
which is to kind of spread more and more awareness and be more of an
advocate for individuals with hearing loss. And, um,
if that means me taking a step back inside of the clinic,
if that means me sharing the spotlight on my channel,
I'm more than happy to do so. And I think that if I'm,
if I'm being honest about it, I think that financially things will be, uh,
good by me doing so. Um, I really want to get, you know,
some sponsored deals for the other providers inside of my clinic.
I think that that helps incentivize creating content very
consistently because it is a, it is a crap ton of work. I mean,
it is just so much work because you can't,
you can't function full time inside of a clinic and have time to create content
at the same time, you have to take your free time to do it.
And people will be willing to take their free time, you know,
to create content for a period of time.
But once it starts cutting into family time into free time and
all of that,
there has to be something there of benefit to justify doing it. And,
you know, and this world that we live in that is typically financial benefit.
And so I want to share that financial benefit as well,
because I've benefited from it and, you know,
would I do what I do without that financial benefit? Maybe? Um,
I probably wouldn't do it to the same capacity that I'm doing right now,
but I would, I would still probably be creating content to some degree,
but I just know that I would be a little bit more, um,
not lackadaisical,
but I would take more time off and spend it with family and friends.
And I know it makes it sound like I'm choosing monetary gain over friends and
family and, and perhaps that's true at least for this time being. But,
um,
right now is a time period where I think that we need a lot more information
out there and, uh, having the,
the financial gain now will allow me to take a step back later on to spend more
time with friends and family, uh,
that I've sacrificed for the past five and now five plus years going forward. So
obviously you can tell it's this stuff that I've, uh,
been putting a lot of thought into. And, um, yeah,
so basically what I'm saying here is,
is that there's gonna be a lot of changes on the channel coming up here,
honestly, pretty soon,
I think that you're gonna still see the same or more amount of content outta me,
but you're also gonna see a lot of content coming from different creators that,
and audiologists that I'm working with right now. Uh,
and I think that it's all for your benefit. I mean,
it wouldn't do it if I didn't think it was gonna be beneficial to you. So, uh,
stay tuned. I mean, like I said,
if you are not subscribed to the channel and you wanna see these other providers
coming out, get ready because, um, here within the next couple weeks,
like I said, we're gonna be pumping out some more content for you guys, uh,
from them. And I'm super excited because I've seen the content that they've been
creating, the videos they've been creating.
And I think that you guys are gonna love it. Uh, if,
if you like anything about the stuff that I talk about and the way that I
present information, I think that,
that you're gonna gravitate well towards them,
even though they do have their own voices. I think that the,
the clear and concise nature of the information that they're gonna communicate
is going to resonate really, really well.
So that is really all that I want to say for today.
There is a lot more stuff coming up, um,
that I'm gonna share with you in the next couple of weeks. So again, if, if you,
uh,
if you like these logs stay tuned because the next couple of weeks I think are
gonna be really good vlogs coming out there. I have a conference that I'm going
to, we have a big, um,
video shoot weekend that we're gonna be doing with the different project that
I've been kind of working on for the past year plus.
And then there's some discussion of me being a keynote speaker for a conference
overseas, uh, in 2023.
So I'm not gonna spill all of the beans right now,
but a lot of exciting stuff coming up.
And I'm excited to share it with you guys here in the next couple of weeks,
but that is it for today's log guys. Again, if you liked it,
make sure that you hit that thumbs up button and subscribe, and as always,
I'll see you next week,