238: 4 YouTube Success Secrets to Gain an Unfair Advantage

Hey, before we jump into the show, I just wanted to take a second and say thank you for listening. I know that life is busy and you have a lot of options when it comes to the content you consume. So whether you're new here or you've been listening to the Think Media podcast for years, I just want to say thank you and I appreciate you. Okay, let's jump into the show. Not answer general questions on YouTube. Answer specific questions. My view count looks good, my channel looks good, my photos on Instagram look good. That's just appearance. What's the substance underneath the surface? We're going to be looking at four YouTube success secrets that will help you get an unfair advantage on YouTube right now. There's a lot of people on YouTube that are saying and preaching things that they're not living. There's a lot of people who are teaching things that maybe they got lucky on one time or they haven't fully tested or verified. The truth is competition is rising on YouTube. So it's important that we find ways to create an unfair advantage so that we can get discovered and get ahead. We've been going through a series on the Think Media podcast called the Battleground for Views where we have been discovering some classic military strategies that can be applied to modern challenges on YouTube. Today on the classic book on war covering military strategies from general Carl von Klausowitz, we're going to be looking at four YouTube success secrets that will help you gain an unfair advantage on YouTube right now. Number one, strike fast when you see the opportunity. Here's the quote, the backbone of surprise is fusing speed with secrecy. The truth is on YouTube speed matters, especially if you're just starting. Let me tell you a story. Back in 2015, when I was working full time at a church at a full-time nine to five job, I was even working on weekends as I had Sunday service duties, and really I had about a day and a half off each week. I had to be incredibly strategic with my time as I was trying to grow my YouTube channels. I actually was working on a channel called Video Influencers at the time, and this channel maybe had a few hundred subscribers, perhaps around a thousand when I saw an opportunity. The promise of the channel was interviews with entrepreneurs, business owners, and content creators that were building their influence with video, and it was also tips and tricks around how to get more views, and it was covering not just YouTube, but video platforms overall. And I remember my work week was really Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, and then I had Friday off. I had most of Saturday off, and then Saturday night we would oftentimes need to set up the sanctuary at church and get ready for Sunday morning. So number one, I either had to create content after hours, or I had to create content on my day off. But I'll never forget, I was studying Twitter and Google News and looking for different things that were happening in the online video space on Friday morning, the beginning of my day off. I was sipping some coffee when I saw an opportunity. At this time, there was a brand new live streaming app that was gaining popularity. It was called MirCat, and everyone was blown away that you could just live stream from your phone. You could bring on a guest, people like Gary Vaynerchuk were talking about it, but what happened on this Friday was that was the day that Periscope was announced, a major competitor that was expected to disrupt MirCat. So I'm sitting at our apartment in Irvine, California, sipping my coffee, reading the news when I get an idea. I think about, man, this is going to be a video that people want to see that people are searching for, essentially MirCat versus Periscope. Now I had already been testing out the app MirCat. I knew some things about it. So for the following hours of that day, though, I began to test out Periscope compared the two apps study online, research everything I could about them, and prepare a video outline for a video that I ultimately created the next morning. So it's a Saturday in 2015, and I wake up on Saturday morning, and all of the testing and the preparation I had done on Friday was now ready to be consolidated into a video, essentially titled MirCat versus Periscope. And I remember, and sure enough, because I looked ahead and thought about not just the strategy, but the speed of the strategy. I shot the video, edited the video, and then released it on that same Saturday. Now, at this time, I want to say our videos were maybe getting a few hundred views, and if we got a thousand views, that was absolutely incredible. And this video quickly rose to 10,000, I think, maybe 15 or 20,000 views, which is what we would call VFM, viral for me. It led to thousands of new subscribers. It was actually one of our first breakout videos on that channel video influencers. What's the lesson? Speed matters. The backbone of surprise is fusing speed with secrecy. Number two, choose winnable battles. Here's the quote, where absolute superiority is not attainable. You must produce a relative one at the decisive point by making skillful use of what you have. So what is he saying here? The general is saying that you got to be self-aware of whether you can win the battle or not. Is that particular video topic too crowded? Is that angle on the topic too crowded? Do you not have an opportunity to attain absolute superiority and that particular YouTube initiative? If not, focus all of your forces on one decisive point and make skillful use of what you do have. Friend, I know it can be discouraging when you think about the competition, but you want to analyze is what advantages do you have? Could it be that you can move faster than others? Could it be that you have time that other people don't have? That you could focus on a very small niche, but you could have absolute superiority in that niche. And I don't mean like your whole channel topic. I mean that you could be the first to talk about Miracab versus Periscope because maybe no one else is moving that fast or not too many people care, but enough care when you're starting a new channel and trying to break out around one topic. But here's another quote from General Klausowitz, surprise becomes effective when we suddenly face the enemy at one point with far more troops than he expected. This type of numerical superiority is quite distinct from the numerical superiority in general. It is the most powerful medium in the art of war. And I love this quote from the general because he actually hits this theme over and over that you should take all of your troops and concentrate them at one singular point. Again, this is one of the reasons why we teach ASQ answer specific questions, not answer general questions on YouTube, answer specific questions. Can you make a video about something very specific, something that hits one specific point? And you want to overwhelm the algorithm, overwhelm the competition with maybe far more troops than expected. What would that mean? Maybe it's far more research, far more energy into the video, far more editing into the video. One of the things we teach inside of our program video ranking academy is the skyscraper method for video. It actually was an old blogging technique that can be applied to video where you just make a better video like you think about what are the videos that exist around a particular topic? Maybe they're outdated. Maybe they're a few years old. Can you concentrate your efforts, your energy, your research, your time into one particular point to break through? Remember, how do we stand out amongst competition? We can't divide our forces, dilute our energy, be distracted. We're trying to think about can we concentrate our energy to break through at one point? And just like I broke out with the Miracat versus Periscope video, eventually you do get noticed. You have subscribers. Some people are paying attention, so you can afford to be a little less strategic. But when you're just starting trying to get your first 1,000 or 10,000 or even 100,000 subscribers, you got to choose winnable battles. And I think this powerful point from the general will be helpful. An example of this is the power of niching down. Like let's say you had an entertainment channel and it would be the difference of having an entertainment channel trying to cover every single show on every single streaming platform. For anyone individual, that's too much content to do a great job at. But alternatively, what if you went really deep with one show? A show that I've personally enjoyed is called Succession. It just ended. It was four seasons. It's on Max, so it's a little bit sketchy, but one of the reasons why I love it is because it is about succession. And literally Logan Roy built a media company. He's got four kids. And now that I have two kids, I'm trying to learn from the show, like what not to do. Like this is definitely not the culture of the company and or the family that I would want to create. And so at least those parallels are interesting to me. But what's been fascinating is I've probably watched two, three, four hours of YouTube content about the show. Not just show recaps or ending explain, but literally psychologists breaking down the characters. Different like psychoanalysts talking about narcissism and how that shows up in the characters and the different types. Here's the point. There are individuals that are going incredibly deep with this one show. They're taking it to places that might surprise you. They are concentrating their troops, their energy at that one decisive point. Another example of this would be like a tech channel that focuses on tools for creators versus all consumer tech. If you catch the hint, that's actually think media strategy. As I started to think about, okay, what's a decisive point that we could maybe create a little bit of an edge in? It would be okay. If we cover all of tech, I would go to CES in Las Vegas and realize that is a big nut to crack. Lots of TVs, smartphones, smart robot vacuum cleaners. Tech is pretty massive. So how could we niche that down? Could we talk about even just all kinds of PCs and graphic cards and all that kind of stuff? Well, even that is so massive and a little bit not my deepest expertise. Let's niche down more. What about tools for creators? This channel, the guardrails here, and this is actually our other channel, Think Media, is like, is it a tool creator would use to create content? So sure, maybe how to build a video at NPC or something about a laptop. Maybe headphones, but how many headphone videos do you need? Early on on Think Media, I got a little bit distracted, started getting into audio file headphones, kind of not relevant for tools for creators. Mostly cameras, microphones, lighting, the punch line is taking whatever energy, whatever troops you have, and when you're facing the enemy, you want to go at one point with far more troops than expected. What is that? Compounding and stacking up those videos. How many uploads can I do around a particular show, a particular niche, a particular brand, a particular subject matter? Can I begin to build my brand and my authority around one thing? Number two, choose winnable battles. This video was brought to you by StreamYard. StreamYard is our go-to platform for streaming to YouTube and Facebook with an incredibly easy to use interface for built-in branding, transitions, text, lower thirds, and seamlessly bringing on guests. It really is one of the best options when it comes to live streaming, and what's so cool is they've implemented a brand new feature called local recording. Take control of your audio and video with local recordings by separating out your audio and video from your guests. This feature gives you the control over your content for later use, making it perfect for podcasts and video creators. Just go to streamwiththink.com to get started now. Number three, lead by example. This quote is actually coming from a different general and that's general George Patton. He says this, do everything you ask of those you command. General George Patton was known to lead his soldiers by example. Why he's best known for commanding troops during World War II and perfecting the art of tank warfare. His troops knew he was more than willing to personally get into the fight. During World War I, for example, he was shot in the leg while directing tanks after he repeatedly exposed himself to enemy fire. Question for you, are you telling your audience and viewers to do things you don't really do? Are you asking your team to do things you don't really do? You know, people want to follow bold, courageous action-taking leaders who have sacrifice and have earned respect. The quote is do everything you ask of those you command. And here's why I think this is such a powerful strategy is because it's hard. There's a lot of people on YouTube that are saying and preaching things that they're not living. There's a lot of people who are teaching things that maybe they got lucky on one time or they haven't fully tested or verified. And a lot of creators who are all words, but not a lot of action. And so if we do the hard work of being courageous, of going out into the field, into the line of fire, of getting dirt under our fingernails, one of the things that I was passionate about when it came to video is I wanted real video experience. I didn't want to just start a channel about video because it was a chance to make money. I saw the financial opportunity. I understood affiliate marketing, but I wanted to over credentialize myself by jumping on planes, filming weddings, using cameras at different events, filming interviews, testing gear, having experience, making mistakes, getting scars, going through the pain, going through the different editing, having to transcode many different video formats early on because my computer couldn't handle them. AVCHD using this codec. So it would edit smooth and premiere, color grading, exporting lenses, mistakes, all this different stuff. And it's that time. It's the blood sweat and tears behind the content that has been helpful, I think, to think media's success. I don't want to ask you as a listener of the think media podcast to do something that I am not willing nor have not done myself. I don't want to ask somebody on think media to try a strategy that hasn't been tested. Do everything. You ask of those that you command, lead by example. And I know that this point is heavy and you might be earlier on in your career saying, Sean, I actually don't have a ton of experience yet. I actually haven't really put in a ton of time yet, or maybe you're shifting into a new domain, a new discipline, a new area of learning. But I want to encourage you to be honest about where you are now, and lead by example, where you are now, but also commit to the continuous process of becoming a leader worth following. It's shocking how many mistakes I have made even in the last six to seven years as a leader at think media. Now as the CEO of our company with about 20 W2 employees and 10 contractors over the last six years, there's been times when I don't feel like I have been a leader worth following. However, my goal, my prayer, my time, the investment I've made, the investment in mentorship has been to try to address those character gaps, those character issues to be on the path to growth. I think one thing that will be helpful to the audience that is watching or following you, one thing that'll be helpful to the family that's coming along with you, one thing that'll be helpful to the team that eventually you enroll and enlist on this journey is that they just see that you're humble and willing to keep growing, that you're honest about your weaknesses, but you're willing to keep growing. None of us are already there. We all have flaws and scars and issues, but we need to be committed to the process of becoming leader's worth following. And if you'll commit to growth and development today, I'm convinced that that will lead to becoming the person you need to be tomorrow, that will be the person that will reach the goals you've set on YouTube. Number four, don't just look good, be good. General Klausowitz said a couple hundred years ago that vanity is content with appearance alone. And man, this quote, could it be more relevant to us in a modern YouTube world? I think that too many creators are content with vanity. What could that be? It could be appearance alone. Appearance could be views. Some people buy views. And I want to encourage you, if you've done it, there's nothing really you can do to undo it, but stop doing it. It's not going to help. It can just kind of mess up the algorithm. They're not real people, bots are not helpful. But who cares about appearance? We don't want to just look good. We want to be good. But maybe you're not buying views. The other thing we need to know is that not all views are the same. Sometimes, content creators get distracted thinking views are the only metric for success. But I don't really want to see your views account. I want to see your bank account. If you're trying to build a real business, what are the economics? What's the business model behind the channel? A lot of viral sensations are here today, but they're gone tomorrow. Vanity is content, which is looking good. My view count looks good. My channel looks good. My photos on Instagram look good. But that's just appearance. What's the substance underneath the surface? An interesting thing I learned from our episode with Renee Richie on a YouTube employee was actually that a lot of short views are less like views and more like impressions. Now, I hope this doesn't discourage you. But if you've noticed that new channels and smaller channels can get a thousand or two thousand or three thousand views on YouTube shorts, I'm not saying that they're not views. But what he was saying was the way shorts work is they need to get distributed a little bit in the shorts feed, essentially getting a view. But it's more like an impression if the video is not actually consumed. The cool thing is that YouTube is being generous to smaller channels. And it is like giving them bursts of reach to see how people react if people consume it. But this is the key. If you look at that and are like, oh, sweet, I got three thousand views. The question is to ask what was the real impact there? This is why we teach a lot of people, for example, to build an email list because if somebody would actually go from YouTube to trusting you to checking out a free gift you have for them or a free class or something, then there's a level of actual substance, a level of actual depth. And it's not just, wow, I'm getting so many views on my YouTube shorts. What does anybody want to go deeper into your email list, your Patreon, your channel memberships, the actual substance of a thing, and not just the vanity of a thing. The general said, vanity is content with appearance alone. And going a little bit harder on YouTube shorts, you know, it's ultimately kind of a trap. Now, I'm all for them. And we've got a lot of views coming out. But the behind the scenes of the channel is not just the public view count, but it's also the RPM. That's the actual revenue you generate from views. And the truth is, YouTube shorts are paying around two, four, six. The highest I've seen is nine cents per a thousand monetizable views. On the flip side, a lot of creators I'm talking to are getting anywhere from a dollar 50. I think media we're getting around eight dollar RPMs. And so that's not the vanity metric. That's the real substance, the real money behind the scenes. So think media our main channel is, I think, covers around 28,000 to up to 40,000 dollars a month in YouTube ad revenue. Oh, but you're not getting zillions of views like this other creator. Sure. But what's behind the scenes falling into vanity is a trap being content with appearance alone is a trap. But I think we can take this quote from the general even deeper and really think about what's behind the scenes of not just our YouTube channel, but our business, maybe our family, our marriage, our personal lives, even our mental health, our spiritual health, because we don't want to just be content with the appearance alone. We actually, we don't want to just look good. We want to actually be good. I don't want to just look happy. I actually want to be happy. Like behind all the YouTube videos we post and all the social media posts is the team that's running Think Media. Is it healthy? How is the team doing? And then behind the positive leadership talks and the stuff I'm saying to the team is the actual P&L. Like it might be, we might be talking a big game, but could we be about to go out of business if our profit is lower, you know, than our loss. And behind the business and the numbers of the business is my marriage. What's the strength of my marriage? Behind my public image is my private family life and my relationship with myself and my mental health and the conversation and my own head. And behind all of that is my relationship with my creator who knows my thoughts and knows my motives and knows everything about me. And I know we kind of took this to a crazy place, but I feel like it's so important. And I want to thank you for being a Think Media podcast listener because of course, we want to build our public influence. I want to help you build your platform. I want to help you be more influential, get more followers and look better. I want you to look good and look happy. But I'm way more concerned that you would actually be happy that you want to just look good. You would be good that you would be content with vanity, but that you would have peace in your soul. You'd have joy like a river. There would be an unbreakable inner confidence that isn't blown to and fro in the wind of your channels up, your channels down and that you would have smart wisdom behind the scenes of your YouTube channel so that you could survive in any economy, so that you could ride the waves of higher and lower CPMs and RPMs because the business you've built is set up intelligently. It's set up strategically. You have diversified income streams. So you don't just look good and have those public vanity metrics, but you actually are good and you have internal health. The four YouTube success secrets to help you gain an unfair advantage are strike when you see the opportunity, choose winnable battles, lead by example, and don't just look good, be good. Now, if you want more help with creating a winning strategy for crushing it on YouTube right now, I want to encourage you to check out our free class at thinkmasterclass.com. It's available on demand and imagine having the chance to sit with me looking over my shoulder at the exact play by play strategy I would do right now to get views and ultimately create passive income from YouTube, not just vanity metrics, not just looking good, but actually being good. You can stream that instantly just click the link in the show notes or go to thinkmasterclass.com And also, if you are finding this battlefield for views, you know, military strategy, lessons we can apply to YouTube series, valuable. We have a playlist, it's a multi part series, and we'll link that up in the show notes. And there's a couple other great episodes in the series. And then also like rate and review this podcast wherever you listen to it or watch it. And if you're on YouTube, leave me a comment with maybe your favorite aha moment or any feedback that you have. Let me leave you with an ending inspirational quote from general clouds of widths. There are times when the utmost daring is the height of wisdom. Dare to be great. We'll talk soon.