“Is it too late to start a YouTube channel?”
What does it take to create a YouTube account that doesn’t suck?
Find out from TubeBuddy Partnership Growth Manager Rob Balasabas
2:14 Rob’s backstory with Tubebuddy
5:31 video trends due to the pandemic
42:05 tips for keyword competitiveness
44:43 how to get your first 1,000 subscribers
52:52 when do people need to look at TubeBuddy
Transcript:
Hey guys, Megan here and I am bringing you a wonderful baller interview with Robosaurus. Rob is the partnership manager at TubeBuddy.com. He speaks at various conferences, summits, podcasts and livestream interviews. He’s also the host of TubeBuddy Creators Corner Live Show. And he’s going to help us create a better YouTube account that just brings us Googoosh dollars. So, Rob, thank you so much for joining us. Rob, I am, as we’ve told you, ahead of time, Natoli excited that you are here.
And I know the video is you know, they’ve been saying for like ten years now, like video is king. Video is going to be like everything. And so many people have just been. Scared to start or like. Intimidated or whatever. I am super glad you’re here to tell us how to not suck at video. So but how did you get started with TubeBuddy? What’s your background? Sure, yeah. Yeah, Megan thanks for having me.
First of all, is awesome. Super excited to be here with you and hanging out and just I am happy to nerd out about YouTube and all things video. So this is great. It’s not even work for me at all. So this is great. Yeah. I joined TubeBuddy January of twenty twenty before TubeBuddy. I was with a company called EFIC for almost five years. So, you know, software and the online course space. So I worked there for about five years and had the opportunity to to work at TubeBuddy.
I had known the a couple of the founders and a couple of the team members just because we would bump into each other at conferences. And so we got to know them and awesome people and always just a very generous, very like friendly company to work with. Never like, you know, there’s a lot of different companies that we would come into. And we were like, you know, kind of looking for opportunities, you know, like, hey, looks like, you know, you guys have similar audiences.
Can we do a webinar, you know, like like, you know, so but they were just like they were just they were just all like always hanging out there, just always like, hey, you want swag or like, hey, you should like you you guys are going to go to a conference, like we’ve got a couple of Airbnb.
You just want to stay at our Airbnb and stuff like that. They were just like super cool. So how did the opportunity we did a virtual summit together think EFIC and TubeBuddy and I was the point person from the thinketh side. And then I work with a couple of TubeBuddy team members at the time and we went really well. We then have like a sort of a debrief call like what went well, what went not so well and like what can we do later on and how can we continue to work together?
And so we have that conversation. And then part of that conversation was like, hey, you know, we’re looking for somebody basically like what you do. I think EPIK, you know? And I was like, oh, cool, cool, cool, cool. You know? And then, like, in my mind, I’d love thinking, like, I’d love working there. I would still be there. And there’s only like maybe two or three companies that I would say, you know, I’m going to I would consider working at these other companies if the opportunity came up and TubeBuddy was one of them just because of how cool they were.
So so, yeah, it came up. And two months later, because I wanted to make sure I was like closing off on a good note, would think, yeah, I was in the TubeBuddy team. So I started in January as a brand evangelist was the title. And so just, you know, doing the community outreach and doing collaborations with partners and things like that. And so that’s what I’ve been doing since then. And then also started to manage our affiliate program since probably last fall.
So fall twenty twenty. And then that’s that’s been in just kind of heads down and it’s been a crazy ride. Everybody’s flocking to YouTube and videos, just like you said, you know, it’s like video is king and YouTube is the king of videos in many ways. Yeah exactly. So so yeah that’s that’s what we’re doing here now.
So it’s exciting. What have you noticed are big trends that are happening now because of the pandemic? Like you said, people are moving more to you to like what do you noticing with that?
Yeah. Trends when it comes to related to pandemics. So I think one of the biggest trends is just people flocking to You Tube. So not just not just individual creators, huge, like huge numbers of individual creators.
Like if you just look at like even just the niche of gaming, like there’s so many new gaming creators and not only like they’re not just like messing around, like these guys have, like there’s so many gaming creators that have reached their silver buttons, like hundred thousand subscribers making tons of money. But also there’s a huge amount of number of people consuming YouTube content, you know, both for entertainment. They’re just at home. More also to learn how to do things.
A lot of people, just because of the pandemic and covid like they were displaced from work. Right. Like they’ve been working on certain jobs for a long time. And now all of a sudden they’re their hours are reduced or maybe they lost their jobs completely. And so now they’re like, OK, kind of like, what do I do next? So they’re looking at YouTube for like educational content, like what are some other opportunities to work from home and to create income and sort of like a bit of a wake up call that like, hey, maybe my job that used to be around is no longer there and it might not be there after this bad thing.
It’s past. So, you know, they’re creating channels, they’re consuming content. But also the other trend is brands are also looking at creators. So I think there’s a huge rise in the creator economy brands. When they’re looking to get their products or service in front of their potential customers, the options for them to advertise and to spend money is kind of like being limited, right? They can’t advertising commercials because people are not watching TV anymore. I mean, they’re watching TV, but they’re not they don’t have cable.
Less and less cable, like like the traditional cable subscription is going down. More people are consuming YouTube. More people are consuming Netflix and Amazon where there are no commercials. So people like brands are looking to creators because they now have the attention. I think it was like in twenty twenty. I think most of the content consumed on YouTube came from I think eighty to eighty five percent of them came from individual creators, not brands like IBM or Doritos or Ford, like none of their channels.
It was like individual solo creators. That’s where most of the content is coming from. And and people are just flocking to that because people are getting really connected to their favorite creators. Right. I had this conversation Megan last couple of weeks ago where it’s like, well, how about Hollywood and how about movies and stuff like that versus like the next generation. They don’t really know Hollywood like stars so much, but they do know their favorite YouTube creators because like a Marvel movie might come out every three or four months, but every single day they’re consuming their favorite creator on YouTube.
And so that like that connection with that, like YouTube, there is so much more closer than somebody from Hollywood that comes up with the movie every three or four months, if that. Right. So that’s where the tension shifting. And so brands are looking to these creators and doing sponsorship deals like Integration’s and like, you know, they’re using them in their ads and things like that. And so they’re the power shift is kind of coming to creators in many sense.
So that’s a trend that I’m seeing. And I think that’s a trend that’s going to just continue. And it’s not just on YouTube, it’s Tik Tok. It’s Instagram. That’s like that’s that’s like Internet now. Like the Internet is social media, right?
Brame. That’s what makes me so excited to hear just the idea of people knowing a person and not a celebrity. And just like so like leveling the playing field, you know, that is so cool. But how do you like what do you even start with, something like that? How do you become a creator and how do you get over the fear that you’ve already missed the boat on it?
Mm hmm. Yeah, I think I think you just need to be it’s hard to tell somebody because we get that question a lot like, is it too late to start on YouTube? And we can tell people like as much as we want, like as much as we can and say like, no, no, you’re not like, trust us.
Like, there’s there’s literally like creators that started like six months ago that are just killing it now.
It’s not everyone. And YouTube success is still a very long term thing. If you want to have a YouTube channel that’s doing very well and making money and doing things full time like you, you can’t a you can’t you think that it’s just a fun thing. Like you see creators and they’re like, oh, they’re just like you having fun, doing pranks, doing whatever. And that’s just what you see. But there’s so much work behind the scenes.
There’s editing, there’s things that you don’t see where they’re like editing in the middle of the night and they’re like sweating over a thumbnail or like they’re talking to an editor or like a marketing person, like, you know, about their merchandise and stuff like that. Like it’s a business.
You have to treat it like a business and you have to be there for the long run. And so, yeah, it’s I mean, there’s so many creators out there, Megan, but people that are starting their channels. YouTube is all for new creators as well. Like, you know, YouTube has things in place where they’re they kind of give a little bit of an extra push for new videos, things like that, you know. So and the the mint is like you don’t need to have like hundreds and thousands of subscribers to have a really good success on YouTube.
Like, you can have a very small subscriber base, you know, a few thousand, five thousand, ten thousand, which is like still a lot, but it’s relatively small when you start looking at like channels that have millions of subscribers, like you can have a really viable business.
You just have to be really intentional with what kind of business channel like business streams and revenue streams you’re building. You can’t just wait on ad sense, for example. So like ad sense for anyone listening is like basically when you watch a YouTube video and there’s an ad before, during or after that video, that’s what’s ad sense.
So that’s Google basically getting paid or YouTube getting paid by a brand to put ads in your videos. And then that YouTube channel creator gets a little commission from that. You can’t wait for that. That takes. So long, and even when you do, it’s a very little amount in the beginning, so you have to look at other revenue channels starting a membership or consulting and services, Patreon and these kinds of platforms where you can monetize your business, sponsorships, sponsorships and brand deals, especially if you have very engaged, targeted audience that you can tell a brand like, hey, my audience are, you know, thirty to forty five year old males.
And they have they’re professionals, you know, they make this much money, like I think your brand would be great here. Right. So start thinking about that, like kind of like really sit down with yourself and like what are the business streams that I can provide that you create out of my content and then from there then create the content. I don’t just like make random stuff, make it so that it is something that you can package for viewers so you can get views, but also down the road for sponsorships, for brand deals, because that’s a very lucrative revenue stream as well.
Well, going to the point, how do you start figuring out what content to create? Like what? Say I’m I’m a blogger and I feel like I need to start adding YouTube to my platform. I don’t know what to talk about. How do I start figuring that out?
Yeah, that’s a good one. That’s a really good question. I would if you’re a blogger, so if you you’re if you were to have a blog, then you already have a topic. You kind of have a core topic already. If you don’t have a blog, you do want to be a blogger. First of all, it’s a very it’s a very difficult, I think, blogging. Anything where you’re selling your personality versus answering a question is a very difficult sort of sell on YouTube.
That’s just like being super real. So if I was just like, hey, guys, I’m Rob and I’m a blogger, like, come and hang out with me every single day thing. I’m going to take you around Vancouver or whatever. Like that would be really cool, like a really select few. But if I was saying like if I was a resource where I was instead of something on my personality, I was selling on like answering a question or providing some type of value by either educational or some type of information.
So I would be like, Hey, guys, I’m Rob and this is Vancouver. Let me take you around, know I’m going to show you guys the best schools. I’m going to show you guys the best restaurants. And so when if you’re ever coming to Vancouver, like my channel is where you want to go, like, you know. So, you know, that’s more informational.
There’s a bit of a there’s just a little bit of a shift of like you’re going to still get to know me. So, like, my personality would be secondary initially. Initially, I’m trying to capture people that are saying, like, what are the best restaurants in Vancouver? What’s the best coffee shop in Vancouver? Where can I find gluten free muffins in? And then it’s like, then then that is what I’m going to be known for. And then along the way, then people will get to know Rob and I’ll be on camera and they’ll see my face and all my things and things like that.
So and then I can shift like you got to make you’ve got to build on a specific topic and ride that topic first. Like people are not looking for you initially. They’re looking just for pain points. And like, I have a question, answer my question.
And then along the way they’ll get to know you and then know you can be like, hey, by the way, you like Vancouver, by the way. Hey, you know, like, I worked with this company, you know, like I’m going to do a review of this, let’s say, like one of the resorts in Whistler, which is like one of our mountains here. So like, hey, guys, I’m going to take you around.
I’m going to do a full review of this resort, this hotel. If you’re ever staying in Whistler, the place to go. Right, good or bad. And so now that’s a brand deal with that hotel. That’s like people no need for that. And so that now I’m shifting. So they’re coming for the Muffin’s in Vancouver, but now they’re going to be like, OK, cool, OK. Yeah, I do want to go to Whistler, like I’ve been to Vancouver before.
Next time I go, I want to go to Whistler, like, you know. And so people are also probably searching that hotel right before they book something. OK, what is this hotel look like? And some of my videos will come up, you know, because I’m leading with what they’re looking for. Personality comes later. So so with that, that’s kind of like that’s one way to go. And then that’s like more brand deals, things like that.
You can also do memberships if you’re doing some type of blog. If you’re a blogger, you’re also you can talk to you can have affiliates as well. So affiliates through like, you know, if people are like, hey, what what camera are you using? So things that you’re using. So now I can have affiliate links like, hey, guys, by the way, I’ve had some questions about my camera, but I’m using I’m using a cannon and fifty.
If you want to check it out, there’s a link down below. I actually do a. We’ll review and then you can have affiliate links to Amazon where people can buy it and things like that, right. So you just have to like think about it that way. We’re like, OK, people are tuning in. What do they want? Like, they’re going to buy the camera. They’re going to go to the hotel, they’re going to go eat at this place.
They might as well go through your links. So start thinking about affiliate links as well. So, yeah, I’m horrible Megan for like long answers to short questions.
Lots of answer. No, totally. So what are you kind of hear you saying is that you should think about YouTube or video in general if you want as a funnel, as like a way to get people into a funnel about looking at you, would you say so? Like, what’s the best bran muffin in Vancouver? Well, Rob has this video, but he was kind of funny on this one. And he has a link to this other videos.
I’m going to go check that out, too. So is that kind of what you’re putting it as like. Yeah, exactly. Exactly.
And and think about like maybe typically I would say like I would suggest I think of one other platform outside of YouTube that you want to grow. So that way you’re not just putting all your eggs in one basket on YouTube like, hey, I mean, in all reality, your YouTube channel, for whatever reason, could get taken down.
Maybe you just said something or, you know, you’re walking around or something. Yeah, yeah. You might have said something against the terms or honestly, Megan like I’ve heard people like if they’re blogging and then like, they just didn’t realize that somebody was playing a song in the background. And that’s that’s against copyright because it’s like a Led Zeppelin song or something. And like, all of a sudden that video gets taken down also and you got to strike in your channel.
So I would say build another social platform. Maybe it’s Instagram, maybe it’s a Facebook group where you’re also directing people and so they can engage with you on YouTube but also follow you on Instagram or Tik Tok or somewhere else. That way you’re you’re like you’re kind of spreading yourself a little bit in case, you know, channels get taken down. So let’s talk about the anatomy of a good video. So what kind of things should I be thinking about when I want to publish a video on YouTube?
And let’s say, like, I’m doing a really hot topic, like I don’t know how to do Instagram stories. Yeah, yeah. And so, like, what is the what are the things that I need to make sure that that video is going to start getting views. Yeah.
Yeah. So first, do keyword research always suggest that use TubeBuddy for that and you’re using TubeBuddy, so do keyword research first because it might be the term how to create Instagram stories that might be a really competitive keyword, but then through the keyword research, again, you’ll you’ll understand how competitive keywords are, how many searches is happening each month for that keyword that you might find that it’s like how to create Instagram stories as a blogger, something a little longer.
And so now your video is like, yeah, how you still create Instagram stories, but like specifically for bloggers. So now because there’s tons of bloggers, that’s still a really good audience. So you create that video. Now in the video, typically for me, if it’s a tutorial video, I try to get into the content, into the value as quickly as possible, because I I’ve I’ve come to realize that the attention span is very, very short on YouTube.
So my introduction would be something like, you know, they click on the video, they be like, hey, guys, it’s Rob here today. I’m going to be teaching you how to create Instagram stories that are going to get views and reach for bloggers. Let’s get started. Right. And so that’s it. And then I’m going to get to like, all right, tip number one, do this great tip number to do this. By the way, Will, a quick pause.
Do you have any questions? Make sure you comment. So somewhere in the middle, two or three.
And then and then let’s go next. And this is a tip that I got from, I think Nick Nimon or Justin Brown, one of our partners. And if they’re doing a video like it’s five tips, they’ll say tip number one, tip number two. And then the rest will be like next, next, next. So people lose count. They’re like, oh, what tip number four? Oh, you’re almost done. OK, I’m going to back out now like I’m good.
Also try to front load the really best tips that you have in the beginning. I know that’s kind of counterintuitive. You kind of want to you know, it’s like it’s like dinner. Like you want to leave the best at the end, but put the best stuff in the beginning, because then, like, right away, if you can keep people on for like two or three minutes, then they’re more likely to stay on because now they’re invested.
So really blow them away with your best tips in the beginning. If they can be quicker, like the best, also quickest. That’s awesome. Put them in the beginning. Tip No. One this. Oh yeah. That’s awesome. OK, I’m going to keep listening. Right, so yeah. So then five. And then at the end, try not to do the sort of like very natural like. All right, well, that’s it, guys.
That’s the end of my video. And then people are like, oh, that’s the I’m going to stop watching. So then try to naturally make your videos connect to each other. I know that’s a little bit easy, but for tutorial videos, it’s you can it’s totally possible. So instead of saying like, all right, guys, that’s my five tips. So this video is done. Make sure you subscribe and all that stuff. Make sure you just like you just push to the next video like as if, like, this is part one.
All right, guys, now you’re going to go part two. All right. So, like. All right. So those are the five tips for us, a blogger. Now, let me tell you a few things that you can do to use YouTube as a blogger in the next video and then sort of then set your set that video. Hopefully you have that video and set that video as the next video in the card. And so then that way they’re going to keep watching because there is a metric on YouTube called session time.
And that’s basically how long a session is that somebody spent. So I came in and watched your video Megan that my sessions time it started. So not to be confused with watch time. So watch time is how much of one video somebody watches session time is collectively, how much are they watching? So it’s like basically the the metric for binge watching. Right. So you’re binge watching. Like, you know, if I started in your video Megan and then I ended up watching, like, twenty videos, that’s really good for you because people are like, OK, cool.
Like Megan people came in through Megan and they’re sticking around like people that Megan brings in from Facebook or LinkedIn posts. They’re sticking around YouTube. So YouTube is like, all right, awesome. Like, let’s let’s push this video even more, because when people watch this particular video for Megan, they watch it, but then they also stay on YouTube and watch more videos. So that’s a really good metric. It’s a really good signal for YouTube about your channel.
And so you want to make sure that you’re thinking about binge watching and making sure that your videos are episodic, not just individual videos.
So when you’re talking about sessions, do you mean like sessions of my entire video library or YouTube’s entire video library?
YouTube’s entire video library? Yeah, yeah.
So so that’s why some people will actually like in there and cards they’ll push to a video that’s not even on their channel because maybe they don’t have a video that is a good next video for them. So. So yeah.
So let’s say it’s like how to create Instagram stories for bloggers. All right, cool. Well, no, go watch so and so’s video because he’s got some amazing tips as well. You’re going to want to tune into this. And so you may want to push to like even a bigger channel video, because what happens now is that YouTube is going to get the signal that, like people that watch your videos, also watch this other person’s videos. And so now YouTube is putting the OK, there’s an there’s a there’s a term called audience overlap.
So it’s like, OK, so how many more people are like this that watch this channel?
Because if this channel runs out of videos around Instagram stories, YouTube will then start thinking possibly to start suggesting your videos to their audience because YouTube is run out of supply. So. So where else are their videos like this and. Oh, yeah, Megan channel has these kind of videos. Let’s start suggesting those Megan videos to these viewers, this group of people. So it’s totally fine if you you don’t necessarily need to push to your own diddles after bankcards so you can push to other channels videos as well.
So the for people who don’t know, there’s a there’s a setting that YouTube has that says best for viewer at the end of the session or at the end of each video that you can have. So is that.
What you would recommend or using their specific videos that you should be going for, like if I’m creating my Instagram story video before I this before I’m recording it, I’m looking for someone else who has a good video that I can kind of link to and create that daisy chain that helps sessions.
Yeah, yeah.
I mean, you don’t you can. But what you can do as an alternative is actually if you find I always tell people if you find a really good keyword, try to create all sorts of videos around that topic because it’s not just one video for that.
So let’s just say it is you know, you find that maybe how going live on Insta on Facebook or Facebook Live is maybe a good term for you. So then create a video like think about somebody that wants to learn about Facebook live like, OK, how what cameras to use for Facebook live, what software tools to use for Facebook live, how to set up my studio for Facebook lives, how to bring in a guest for Facebook lives. You know, there’s all these, like videos that you can create.
And so then in the video, you can just basically say, like, it’s going to be a series, like it’s going to be a whole playlist. So in the in the introduction, you tweak it a little bit. Hey, guys, in this video, we’re going to be talking about how to pick the best software for you to go live on Facebook. By the way, this is a whole entire playlist on my channel. So make sure you click down below to look at the playlist to make sure that we answer every single thing around Facebook.
Live stream for your business as a blogger. Right. And so now it’s like, oh, yeah, perfect. Well, I’m going to binge watch this. This is going to teach me everything. It’s basically like a master class on Facebook lives. Right?
So that’s what you want to do, because now you’re going to build authority in your in that topic. And it’s OK to be like this one, like this expert in this one thing for now. Like, it’s OK. Like doesn’t mean you’re going to be an expert in this one thing forever. You can shift like you can build this thing. OK, cool. People know you as the Facebook live expert. Great. What else do Facebook life people want to know.
OK, cool. Now let’s talk about, you know, live streaming platforms. OK, cool. Now because they’re they’re. Hey, guys, Megan here, how are your conversions doing? Are they maybe a little won’t won’t. I am here to help you with this exclusive free training, but two phrases you can use that just boost your conversions like Papau, but there’s a catch totally, really free. But you have to get it in my Facebook group.
That’s the only place it’s available. So to join Jim, if he’s joining my Facebook group is totally free. It’s that Facebook dot com slash groups slash Megan Brame. Once you join, you’ll be able to get access to the training that shows you two stupidly simple phrases you can use to add on to your conversions in your marketing. It’s going to blow your mind. And I am so excited for you to check it out again. Facebook dot com slash group slash Megan Brame.
I’ll see you in there. They’re the same. They’re like they’re complementary topics, right? And so now you can kind of look cool like but like you can go from Facebook live expert, then talking about livestream platforms and then all of them talk about coffee.
But it was also weird, like such a wrench into everything. So just make sure they’re complimentary. And then you basically build the library of, like, these things that people can just continue to binge watch. So what it is, is rather than like thinking about I’m going to be an expert in this thing. I want to be a LinkedIn expert. I am the LinkedIn person. Like, that’s good. But think about your audience, which is, I think, more important because your audience is not just one dimensional.
We are not just one dimensional. You know, you may be interested in Facebook lives, but you also are thinking about Instagram Real’s and all these things.
So think about the audience and what they’re going what what they want to learn and and then what’s where are they?
Like, if they’re marketers, if they’re bloggers, are they newer bloggers? So create things that are also people create content that people can grow into. So, you know, this is really important. Like when I was in the online course world, we think EFIC, the people that the the course creators they saw have a lot of success were the ones that created for the super, super, super beginner, super, super beginners.
They didn’t they didn’t know any better yet.
They’re not attached to a specific influencer or a coach. So they you can they need to be taught the entire thing from, like, very beginner and then they can grow it. And then now you can build basically the beginner course, the next level cause the next level content until like the very super like one on one coaching.
So look at it on YouTube as well. Like if you’re going to create something super advanced, then that’s going to be you’re going to have to fight for that person’s attention that needs that super advanced content with another like somebody that’s really also super advanced.
Right, because they’re already like they didn’t get like somebody not asking really advanced questions just because they started today, like they’ve been following other people. And so now you’re like you’re jumping into a very competitive space, whereas if you started in the very beginner, then you’re going to be attracting people that are just starting out, but that they can grow with you as you create more advanced content. Hopefully that makes sense.
Yeah, that’s so fascinating and stupidly smart.
Let me set this for this relisting of my channel pulled up and he I told him he is free to just burn it to hell. But I’m thinking about the channel, the videos that I’ve had, like, shit, I should have started with just basic 101 stuff and moved it into like a I don’t know, had a flow for it. So that makes so much sense.
When you were talking about that’s what kept coming into my head, is how the hell do I optimize these videos then? Like how do I make sure that I’m utilizing every possible thing available to me to get. Not even to get my ranking higher, but just to get these right or die fans to come to me. Mm hmm.
Yeah. So you’re looking at your channel right now, Megan. Awesome channel, like the banner and everything. Yeah. So this the thumbnails are great. The the keywords. I’m just trying to go through them here how to become a successful blogger. Let me just look into that one real quick. Yeah, totally.
And well, he’s looking at we’ll tell you the I found these tags and keywords from TubeBuddy. I’ve been using TubeBuddy for years and years and years.
So this is awesome. Yeah. Nice intro.
I know you guys can look at it right now in the podcast, but the main thing so like things that I have to see, I’m just going to grab what it was always put a comment, even though like as soon as you upload a video, put the first comment and make that comment something that encourages engagement. So it might be like, what is your take away? Or like how long have you been blogging something that just gets people to comment in there?
If you have a specific call to action, too, you can use that as well. So like maybe in your video you’re directing people to join your Facebook group. Like, that’s like I always think like what do I want people to do after this video? It’s like, hey, maybe you want them to join your Facebook group or connect, you know, T with you on Instagram. Something very easy don’t mean you could you could go and like subscribe to my newsletter.
But that’s like a big ask, right? That’s a big take over the Hartsdale. Yeah. Don’t go for the hard stuff.
So just something really simple, you know. And so put that in the first comment. Pinart And the idea behind that is like most people don’t want to be the first comment. Right. Like it’s like going to the mall. And then there’s like this empty mall, empty store. And you’re like, I don’t want to go in that store. I want to be the only person like. So start the conversation and be the first comment there for sure.
That’s like that’s really simple. Like the video as well. That’s really easy. I like I like adding chapters. So there’s a feature inside of YouTube. It’s not a TubeBuddy thing. It’s a YouTube thing where you can add chapters. So add chapters into your videos where it makes sense because usually like especially if it’s a tip kind of video, like here’s five tips, tip number one, whatever that tip is, tip number two, whatever that tip is.
The cool thing about chapters is that it’s also something that Google indexes. So sometimes when people are searching, they’ll actually get a video on YouTube in the search results, but like only for a specific chapter. So that tells us that, like, Google is indexing and reading through these chapters. So.
So you think that it’s better to say, like tip one close to Instagram consistently, or is it like tip one this tip like a teaser like should I should I give away the lead in the chapters or do I tease it. Yeah, yeah.
Just use it for make it for the human. So like rather than the algorithm, select tip number one, how to use Instagram to be a better blogger blogger. So it’s like it’s like for the viewer but also good for the algorithms for the robots and and yeah.
Just, just do that. So definitely put chapters in there. That’s really good with the thumbnails. The thumbnails I would say is make less words and bigger text. So I would test that out. I do see it’s a very consistent thumbnail. The logo that you put in the the bottom like Megan Brame like I would probably take that out. I would because your face is already enough of a branding like it’s you know, it’s Megan. So I would I would use less words and then more like two or three words, try to try that like some practice, like just because the people are so short attention span, two or three words, you know how to become a full time blogger.
So it might be like full time blogger, you know, and then like maybe I like money sign or like calendar like a calendar icon or something.
So like or like a clock, you know, just something that’s like what do you think of when, you know, we’re like full time blogger are like, yeah. So full time blogger. That’s it. And like or maybe like full time blogger and then the word side hustle crossed out or something like that. Right. So just like, it’s just like okay cool. Because the my like most people on YouTube I just say most because everybody’s different.
There’s always going to be outliers. You know, I think I think for me, even like I think about I ask people all the time, like, what do you look at when you like what makes you click? And it’s always like I look at the thumbnail. Looks interesting. And then I verified by looking at the subject title and then and then like instant impulse decision, whether I click or not, so the thumbnail doesn’t have to have the title in it.
It just needs to make people kind of interested enough to look at the title to say, oh, yeah, OK. So like if you had full time blogger side hustle, no more because maybe because again, thinking about like the psychology behind it, I don’t want to be a side like I don’t want it to be a side house. I’ll be doing this for years. How do I become a full time blogger now? So you’re like full time blogger and then Side Hustle checked off and then I go and know in the title and it says, like how to become a successful blogger or how to become a full time blogger, not as a side hustle, that kind of thing.
It’s like, OK, perfect. Like you reinforce it like this is it like this is going to help me get to closer to becoming a full time and doing this full time with and that can kind of let go of everything else that I’m doing. Right. So yeah. So that’s that’s how I would look at these thumbnails for sure. Like some of the other ones here, like one, two, three, four, like the ninth video, they’re like, how do you use Instagram analytics.
Right. I see it. You’ve got Instagram analytics like on your phone but like the text too small. Right.
So I would even just put like Instagram analytics, like one on one in the in the thumbnail. And it would just be like really big. Right. Instagram analytics one, two, one. And then and then. Yeah, again, just I would just remove the logo, it would just it just more space.
Like people will know you can put your your headshot there sort of like side by side. But sometimes like we test this on our channel and my personal channel, I’ll test, you know, thumbnails without my headshot and with my child.
And sometimes people are like, I get more clicks without the headshot they are there.
Is that is that a thing like should your face be there the whole time? We’re stuck. But it’s cool too. Like, what is the preferred. Yeah, it really depends.
There’s channels without there’s faceless channels like they’re doing tutorials but like it’s always just a screen and you never see their face. You know, it just it’s just it just depends on the creator also depends on the the traffic source.
So, you know, if people are spy finding you on search, then they don’t really know you like you don’t really, you know, Rob or TubeBuddy or Andrew can or any of these people.
So they’re just there because they want the pinpoint answered. Like a really good example of this is one of our friends, Brian Johnson. So he’s a YouTube expert.
His channel rarely has his face in it. His videos are all about him, like he’s always there telling you how to grow your YouTube channel. But his thumbnails never has to space.
And, you know, it makes a lot of sense because sometimes your videos are going out to people that don’t know, you don’t really care, you know who you are and things like that. Maybe in the first like twenty four, forty eight, seventy two hours when your videos gets published, then it goes out to your subscriber base or a small percentage of your subscribers and they can recognize who you are. But for the most part, after that, when it starts getting shared out to people outside of your channel that don’t know you, then sometimes not having your face is actually really good because they’re just there.
And all that says is like Instagram one on one or everything you need to know about Instagram, you know, then like then like a quick click on that. Like, regardless of who it is, I want to learn that thing. That’s like I think I want to learn.
So, yeah, that makes that’s so interesting and would save me so much time if I could just stop this instead of looking at it. So I know we’re getting towards the end and I have like fifty six more questions to ask you. I want to talk to you about keyword competitiveness. Like you know, one of the cool things TubeBuddy does for people is it gives you the ranking of keyword relevance and how competitive keyword is. And is it best to do a mix of those if you’re a new YouTube or should you stick to just they rank them red, green and yellow.
So is it better to just do all green? What are your tips for that. Yeah.
Keywood relevance. Yeah I would yeah. Definitely like go out if you’re just starting your channel or you’re just up and coming like make sure you go after, you know, I would be more concerned about the competitiveness. So competition score and relevance rather than search volume when you’re doing keyword research. So the search volume you can kind of like I’d be OK with. Something not green, like an orange or yellow, as long as it’s not competitive, because that’s fine, like if you’re used to this kind of a game in the sense that, like, you know, it’s kind of like when I was trying to actually explain it to to to my son.
It’s like you have to it’s like playing a video game. Like you can’t be like a level 10 and then trying to be like kind of battle level 30. Boss, you know, you can’t.
So, you know, even though you have like less searches per month, the search volume is lower. It’s fine. You’re going to build you have to build your authority. And so you find a really good keyword. That’s maybe longtail like a little bit longer and then make three, four or five videos around that topic and then, like, really own that term. Once that is, then you will start sort of like understanding what other topics that are related that you can create videos on and then grow from that, but that you need to have like you need to build that foundation with smaller searches, small search terms that are longer.
And then again, you’re going to your your channel will get more subscribers. And, you know, when you publish a new video, it will go out to more people because your subscriber base is growing. And so you can start being a little bit more aggressive into going after more competitive keywords because now you have content and data and YouTube understands what your channel is about a little bit better.
So so, yeah. So that’s that’s what I would do.
The smart but not but I am taking it all in.
And I’m sure the thing that you had mentioned before before we started talking that I specifically want to go to is the workflow for getting to the one thousand subscribers, getting your first thousand subscribers.
For people who don’t know if you want to monetize your YouTube channel, you need a thousand subscribers and then four thousand hours of watching. Yes, yes. And for monetization, that just means that you’ll get that Google ad sense tidally.
So how do I get this year to one thousand subscribers?
Like what is that workflow? Yeah, so the workflow is I would say there’s a few things I would say do keyword research. We talked about that already. The second thing is to upload consistently. So be consistent like once a week minimum, especially when you’re creating you’re not a thousand subscribers yet. You need to build content so that you can find it. If you don’t have content, nobody can find it. So build content. So I would say at least once a week, like like once a week, that’s just like that’s, you know, once a month, once every two weeks, like once a week, you know, whatever it is set it set a date.
So block time off in your calendar to create the video, to edit the video, to do the work, to make that video and then block a date on your calendar. Also to know that this, like my video gets published every single week at this time and this day. I mean, most people again, I always say most people, because there’s always going to be people are like, no, no, no, I don’t work. I don’t work that way.
But I would say, like most people, if it’s not on your calendar, if it’s not written down, then it’s not going to happen.
So make it part of your or like your life, like your week.
So publish every single day to try to put systems in place. So being consistent is not just like it’s just not words that you say, like how do you be consistent?
So I would say make sure that you’re using some type of project management tool, whether it’s a sauna or Monday dot com or Trello or click up something where you can see like you can dump your ideas in so you can have notebooks. I have notebooks here. I have ideas. But then I usually transferred into Trello, which is what I use, or click up. And so then you have a column or a list of ideas for videos and then you have a list, create lists.
I’m happy to provide the list that I use to give it to you guys, but I can send it to you Megan if you want to share it. But there’s like a list. Like a checklist like this is what I do for everything. Whenever I upload a video from idea to keyword research to create the thumbnails to all those things, even the editing.
What you want to do here is if you’re very serious about using YouTube and creating videos as part of your business is that you need to be systematic. And creating the list is the first step to creating that system. When you have as you as you grow in your business grows or maybe right out of the gate, maybe because you already have a team making that list of how you do.
Something like making a YouTube video, editing, all that stuff, you can then take portions of the list and say, OK, cool, I want to hire somebody for this section of the process. For the editing part, they’re going to ask me, how do you edit? Like, what do you do? Because the editor will have their own ideas. I’m like, well, this is how I edit my videos, have a look at it, start using it or give me some suggestions how to tweak this, this this process, because maybe they have a better process or they can make suggestions.
But at least you know what’s happening as a business owner, as an entrepreneur, you don’t need to know exactly how to do that thing, but you need to understand the process so so that you can kind of oversee your business. So I have a list and then so I have a list and then and then that list is just like it’s a living, breathing list because things change, strategies change, trends change. So you can always tweak that list, but at least you have a checklist because YouTube is like the success on YouTube is very much a series of little things like tags and captions and chapters and all these little things.
So having that list makes it super easy. The systemize like, oh yeah, I got to do this. I got to do this. I forgot to do this. Oh, by the way, I want to start using Tik Tok. OK, let me add that to the promotion tasks, that sort of thing.
And then the next thing I would say Megan is to get the watch time is start like streaming. It’s a whole nother undertaking for sure, but like start live streaming it. It’s really good for watch time, but it’s also really, really, really good for community building, which I think is really important on YouTube. There’s there’s a lot of value of having a lot of subscribers, but if those subscribers aren’t engaged, they don’t feel like they know you there, you’re their friend, that they know who you are, then they’re just consumers.
They’re just subscribers. But if you have a if they become a part of your community, then they become advocates of you. They recommend your videos, they share your videos. They they engage and participate in your videos and the comments and all those things. So when you eventually launch some type of paid product, service membership, whatever it is, they’re going to be there. They’re going to support you in your business. So doing live streams is really good for that.
So so, yeah, those are the things that I would probably suggest to get really started. And that’s just the sort of the foundation of working towards that monetization. You were talking about live streaming.
Do you see that value in. I think it’s called YouTube stories now. Is that what it is, the DC?
Yeah, yeah, yeah. There’s stories. There’s also shorts. One hundred percent. Hundred percent. Yeah. We’re messing around a little bit and testing out the shorts. Yeah. Yeah. I would definitely, I would definitely play around with YouTube shorts. It’s getting a lot of use and you know, YouTube is pushing them quite aggressively. So it’s a good way to get a lot of use really quickly.
Yeah. So. So yeah. Definitely, definitely. Have you noticed you said you’ve been testing and have you noticed any kind of success tips for those. Yeah.
So I would say like right now nobody really knows, like the time they’re recording this, no one really knows what works. We just know that it it works like YouTube. YouTube gives it preference. The reason behind that, I think and again, this is just Rob’s opinion, not TubeBuddy or anything. But I think the reason why YouTube shorts is because, like, they’re competing with Tik Tok, they’re competing with Instagram, really. I mean, I think Instagram Real’s is sort of like a distant third when it comes to like Tik Tok versus YouTube shorts versus Instagram real’s.
I think they’re a little bit below, but I think right now it’s between Tik Tok and and YouTube shorts. So YouTube wants to compete for that attention for that short form vertical video that is so popular with Tik Tok. You know, behind the scenes, they’re also like with creators here, TubeBuddy like we’re very like we’re where we really want to see creators monetize their content, get get paid for their art and get paid for their craft.
And when it comes to that between Tik Tok and YouTube, YouTube has a better infrastructure for creators to get paid. There’s there’s the monetization, there’s a super chad and and things like that for live streaming.
So they’re a little bit better there. So they have that. But so all the other creators that are creating Tik Tok videos, they’re now. Sort of migrating or flocking to YouTube because of this reason, in my opinion, so so, yeah, YouTube definitely wants to give more visibility for sure. So a lot of creators are implementing them on their channel and some of them are even creating a separate channel just for YouTube shorts.
So we’re wrapping up here. So I want to ask you, when do you recommend people start looking at TubeBuddy and what kind of work do you want them to do ahead of time?
Yeah, I would say I would say just feel free to go through Megan. I’m sure you have a link that you can share to get them. But yeah.
So yeah, go check it out and install it. There’s a free version which is great, like we have over 80 different tools and over 30 of them are available on the free version. So there’s a lot of value in just even the free plan. Start consuming some of the content. A lot of people actually go to TubeBuddy and the great tool, all that stuff, which is awesome. But like it’s also a lot of people tell us that it’s a really good educational tool because a lot of every single tool that we have is backed by a best practice on YouTube.
So we don’t just create tools just because we think it’s fun, cool, like it actually is related to best practices and things that you should do. So a lot of people that start sort of like interacting with our app and our our tools and our browser plug ins and thinks it’s like, OK, that makes sense. Like that’s what I should do on YouTube.
And so, yeah, if you’re definitely just starting out or looking to go your channel, just install TubeBuddy for free. And then we have paid Vergence, we don’t have contracts or anything. If you want a free trial, you can just reach out to our team. We can hook you up for the free trial on any of the plans. And I will say I’m on their legend plan for Megan Brame and this Boler, it is so awesome. There’s like, can we talk about just the the new beta stuff that’s coming out or that’s being so cool.
That’s awesome. Yeah. No, we yeah. We’re super excited about it. Like there’s going to be more of this.
But like basically the new newest feature that we have is called Click Magnet and it’s using a lot of A.I. And basically we can take we can we look at all of the thumbnails and we give you the best opportunities to basically see which thumbnails should be improved, know which ones are not getting as much clicks.
The cool thing about it, like even from my channel, it tells me, OK, well, this video, once people watch it, it’s really good.
People are watching a lot of this video. But your thumbnail, it’s just not getting them into the video. So then it’s like, OK, well, let me look at the thumbnail then. That’s an opportunity right there. So if I can just improve the thumbnail to get more clicks, I know that the video performs. So those are the things that, you know, data that is available to you. Even without TubeBuddy, you can go into your analytics, but it would take you hours to try to figure out and do all the graphs and stuff like that to start figuring out all of this data.
The other really cool thing about Click Click Magnet is that it tells you, you know, all of these factors about your thumbnail, about the elements in your thumbnail. Should you have a headshot? No headshot. If you have your face there, should it be small, big, large? Should you be smiling, sad, confused, surprised, like it tells you even your expressions, you know, the text.
Should you have text? No text. Like all of these things you can you can kind of see in your thumbnail. So it’s very it’s very telling and it takes a lot of the guessing game out of YouTube for you.
It’s very cool and I definitely recommend going to check it out.
Rob, what else do you want people to know before we go today?
You know what? I just wanna encourage you guys. It is like I said in the very beginning, Megan like it’s a creator economy. It’s really starting to take over. And so I just wanna encourage businesses of their creators, solo partners, wherever you are, like, really, you know, make sure you’re creating and looking at YouTube or some type of video platform to engage with your target customers, target consumers, because that’s where they’re looking. And so if you’re not there, then it’s going to be very hard to be found.
So so, yeah, very excited and very happy to be here with you, Megan. Thanks for having me on the podcast.
Yeah, you’re awesome. So how can people, if they have questions or they want to see Rob’s amazing content, how can they find.
Yeah, yeah. You can just anywhere just copy and paste my name and tell everyone’s copy paste. I got a really long last name, a lot of a lot of letters. So copy paste my name on Instagram and LinkedIn. That’s going to be the best place for me. Send me a message. Let me know that you caught me here on Megan podcast and and yeah.
Any questions that I can help with. Just reach out and. Thanks, Rob. I appreciate it. You’re welcome.
He has Megan here, just a reminder, I have regular Q&A episodes coming out, so if you want your questions answered, head to Megan Brame Dotcom, ask a question, all one word and you’ll be able to get your questions posted. And if I feature it, you will get a copy, a free copy of my book, Day one and Practical Guide to Launching Your Business. So again, head to Megan Brame dot com. Ask a question and if your question gets featured, I’m sending you a free copy of my book as a thank you.
On the next episode, you might be dragging with you some sort of baggage that might be dragging with you, even if you feel like you haven’t gotten or that you have moved on. But maybe if you think about it for a little bit, you know, deep down it’s still kind of festering in there. And so here are the things that I have found to be really helpful for something like that.
