13 Years of YouTube Knowledge in 46 Minutes

Summary

This video transcript offers a comprehensive guide for aspiring YouTube creators, sharing a seven-step framework based on 13 years of experience. It covers everything from the initial mindset, market analysis, content ideation, to filming and editing strategies. The transcript emphasizes the importance of understanding audience behavior, leveraging data analytics for optimization, and the significance of packaging in attracting viewers. Additionally, it provides insights on monetization and networking, advocating for creators to focus on producing great content to naturally build their network and opportunities.

Takeaways

• 🎮 The 'Super Mario Effect' suggests gamifying challenges and learning from failures to achieve success on YouTube.
• 💼 Ensure financial stability before starting a YouTube channel to allow for experimentation without the pressure of making it a primary source of income.
• 🎯 Identify what you're optimizing for in your YouTube channel, whether it's money, time, experiences, or aligning with life goals.
• 🔍 Conduct a thorough niche analysis to understand the vertical you're entering, including the visual language, audience preferences, and content gaps.
• 📝 Develop a substantial idea bank with at least 100 potential video titles to keep your content creation consistent and varied.
• 📈 Track key performance metrics such as click-through rate, first 30-second viewership, and average view duration to gauge the success of your videos.
• 📱 Consider the best filming style for your content, starting with a lean production process that can evolve as you grow more comfortable with your channel's direction.
• 🔄 Embrace the '85% rule' for video production, aiming for good enough rather than perfect to maintain a sustainable upload schedule.
• 📊 Monitor your channel's growth holistically by tracking new versus returning viewers and average views per video to understand your audience's engagement.
• 📈 Focus on creating great content first; a strong network will naturally form as a result of your channel's success and uniqueness.
• 🏆 Networking is less important than creating outstanding work which will attract the right collaborations and opportunities.

Q & A

What is the 'Super Mario effect' mentioned in the video and how does it apply to starting a YouTube channel?

The 'Super Mario effect' is a concept where one learns from failure and is eager to try again, similar to how a video game player doesn't give up after falling into a pit in a game. It applies to starting a YouTube channel by gamifying the challenges faced, allowing creators to learn from their mistakes and keep trying without the fear of failure.

Why is it important for a new YouTube creator to have a financial runway?

A financial runway is important for new YouTube creators to ensure they can experiment and grow their channel without the immediate pressure of making it a primary source of income. It allows creators to invest time and resources into their content without worrying about short-term financial stability.

What does the video suggest as the first step in starting a new YouTube channel?

The first step suggested in the video is to implement the 'Super Mario effect', which involves gamifying the challenges of creating content and learning from failures without fear.

How does understanding one's relationship with failure and video creation play a role in becoming a successful YouTube creator?

Understanding one's relationship with failure and video creation is crucial because it influences the creator's ability to persist through the inevitable ups and downs of building an audience. It's about having the resilience to continue creating content even when faced with challenges.

What is the significance of identifying what you're optimizing for when starting a YouTube channel?

Identifying what you're optimizing for helps clarify your goals and measures of success for your YouTube channel. It could be financial gain, more free time, or experiences. This clarity guides your content creation and strategic decisions.

Why is it recommended to perform a niche analysis when starting a YouTube channel?

Performing a niche analysis is recommended to understand the existing content, audience preferences, and potential gaps in the market within your chosen vertical. This helps in crafting a unique value proposition and standing out in the community.

What is the importance of creating a year's worth of content titles and log lines before launching a YouTube channel?

Creating a year's worth of content titles and log lines is important because it ensures you have a substantial content pipeline, reducing the risk of running out of ideas and maintaining a consistent upload schedule, which is key to growing and retaining an audience.

How does the video suggest testing the resonance of video ideas before making them into full videos?

The video suggests finding a low-lift testing ground, such as sharing ideas with friends, posting on social media, or engaging in relevant online communities to gauge interest and gather feedback on the ideas.

What does the '85% rule' refer to in the context of video creation for YouTube?

The '85% rule' refers to the idea of completing a video when it reaches a satisfactory level of 85% done, allowing for publication rather than striving for perfection. This rule helps in avoiding endless refinement and maintains productivity and consistency in content release.

What key performance indicators (KPIs) should a new YouTube creator track to measure the success of their channel?

New YouTube creators should track click-through rate, first 30-second viewership, average view duration, and overall channel metrics like average views per video, new versus returning viewers, browse versus suggested traffic, and device average view duration.

How does the video emphasize the importance of packaging (title and thumbnail) in the success of a YouTube video?

The video emphasizes that packaging is crucial because it's the primary factor influencing whether viewers click on a video. A high click-through rate indicates that the title and thumbnail are resonating with the audience and effectively conveying the video's content.

What advice does the video give regarding networking in the context of growing a YouTube channel?

The video advises that networking is overrated and suggests focusing on creating great content. As you produce exceptional work, your network will naturally form as people and opportunities are drawn to your content.

Outlines

00:00

🎥 Starting a YouTube Channel: A Comprehensive Guide

The paragraph introduces a detailed guide on launching a YouTube channel, based on 13 years of experience. It emphasizes the importance of capturing viewer interest through titles and thumbnails, as these are critical for a video's success. The speaker shares anecdotes about their journey and the evolution of YouTube, highlighting the platform's shift from simple content to a serious entertainment source. The paragraph concludes with a mention of a giveaway to engage viewers, offering a MacBook Air and a unique Press Publish hat to subscribers of their newsletter.

05:03

🛠️ Framework for YouTube Success: Identifying Optimization Goals

This section delves into the framework for starting a YouTube channel, beginning with the 'Super Mario effect,' which encourages viewing challenges as opportunities to learn rather than failures. The paragraph discusses the importance of financial stability and a healthy relationship with failure. It stresses the need to identify clear goals for the channel, aligning them with personal life objectives, and making them tangible. The speaker also talks about the importance of understanding the YouTube landscape and the potential for burnout without clear frameworks.

10:04

🔍 Niche Analysis and Value Proposition in YouTube Content Creation

The paragraph focuses on the importance of market or niche analysis when starting a YouTube channel. It suggests researching the target vertical extensively, understanding the community, and identifying gaps where the creator can provide unique value. The speaker shares a detailed process for this analysis, including studying the visual language, tone, and common practices of the community. The goal is to find a singular value proposition that sets the channel apart, using tools like Google Slides or Pinterest boards to organize research and ideas.

15:06

📝 Crafting Content with Conflict and Contrast for Storytelling

The speaker discusses the elements of storytelling in video content, highlighting conflict and contrast as key to engaging narratives. They suggest creating a slide deck with images and formats from the niche to understand common patterns and how to stand out. The paragraph also touches on the importance of thumbnails and the use of identity, emotions, and actions to define the channel's value proposition. It encourages creators to think about the emotions they want to evoke and the actions they want to prompt from their audience.

20:06

🤔 Idea Generation and Testing for YouTube Channel Growth

This section provides insight into generating ideas for video content, advocating for the creation of an 'idea bank' with at least 100 titles. It discusses the use of AI tools to aid in this process and emphasizes the importance of developing a daily practice of idea generation. The paragraph also suggests finding a testing ground for these ideas, such as social media or community forums, to gauge their resonance with the target audience before investing in full video production.

25:07

🎬 Pre-Production, Filming, and the Power of Short Form Content

The paragraph outlines the pre-production process for creating YouTube videos, including scriptwriting with a focus on hooks, and the importance of the first 7 to 30 seconds of a video. It encourages a lean filming style and the use of simple equipment like iPhones. The speaker also discusses the strategy of starting with short-form content to test ideas and build an audience before moving on to longer videos, noting that a mix of short and long-form content can be beneficial for channel growth.

30:07

📊 Tracking Data to Refine YouTube Channel Strategy

This section emphasizes the importance of data tracking for understanding the performance of a YouTube channel. It identifies key metrics such as click-through rate, first 30-second viewership, and average view duration. The paragraph suggests tracking these metrics over time to identify trends and areas for improvement. It also touches on the broader metrics like average views per video, new versus returning viewers, and device-specific viewing habits to inform content strategy and growth.

35:07

🔄 The Iterative Process of Content Creation and Learning

The final paragraph discusses the iterative nature of content creation, encouraging creators to learn from their first videos and look for formats that can be repeated or expanded upon. It also mentions the '85% rule' for completing videos, suggesting that creators aim for a high level of quality but avoid the trap of endless refinement. The speaker highlights the importance of patience and consistent effort in growing a YouTube channel, concluding with a reminder to focus on creating great content rather than networking.

Keywords

💡Creator

A 'Creator' in the context of this video refers to an individual who produces content for platforms like YouTube. The term is integral to the video's theme as it discusses the process of starting and growing a YouTube channel. The script mentions that 54% of adults would quit their job to become a Creator, highlighting the appeal and potential of content creation as a career.

💡YouTube Channel

A 'YouTube Channel' is a platform's feature that allows users to create, upload, and manage their video content. The video's theme revolves around providing a framework for launching a successful YouTube Channel. The script outlines a seven-step process tailored for new and aspiring YouTubers, emphasizing the importance of content creation and audience engagement.

💡Super Mario Effect

The 'Super Mario Effect' is a concept borrowed from gaming where players learn from their failures and improve, akin to how one would learn from falling into pits in the Super Mario game. In the video, it's used as a metaphor for the YouTube journey, encouraging creators to view failures as opportunities to learn and improve their content strategy.

💡Niche Analysis

A 'Niche Analysis' involves studying a specific market or segment to understand its dynamics, audience preferences, and content trends. The script discusses the importance of niche analysis in the context of YouTube, where understanding the community and its preferences is crucial for creating content that resonates with the audience.

💡Value Proposition

A 'Value Proposition' defines the unique value or benefit that a content creator offers to their audience. The video emphasizes the need for YouTubers to identify their value proposition to stand out in their niche. It suggests that creators should study their niche to understand how they can provide a unique perspective or content that is not already available.

💡Marketplace

In the context of this video, a 'Marketplace' refers to the platform or environment where content is exchanged, specifically YouTube. The term is used to describe the competitive landscape where creators must understand the existing content, audience preferences, and opportunities to create a successful YouTube channel.

💡Content Ideation

The term 'Content Ideation' refers to the process of generating and developing ideas for new content. The script mentions the importance of having a surplus of ideas, suggesting that creators should maintain an 'idea bank' to ensure consistent content production on their YouTube channels.

💡Testing Ground

A 'Testing Ground' is a platform or environment where creators can test their ideas to gauge audience interest before fully committing to producing content. The video suggests using social media platforms or community forums as testing grounds to validate content ideas and understand their potential for success on YouTube.

💡Viewer Retention

Viewer Retention refers to the ability of a video to keep viewers watching for a significant portion of its duration. The script discusses the importance of viewer retention as a metric for understanding audience satisfaction and engagement with the content on a YouTube channel.

💡Data Analytics

Data Analytics in the context of this video pertains to the analysis of various metrics such as click-through rate, first 30-second viewership, and average view duration to assess the performance of YouTube videos. The video emphasizes the importance of tracking these metrics to understand audience behavior and optimize content strategy.

Highlights

54% of adults would quit their job to become a content creator on YouTube, indicating the appeal of the creator economy.

A seven-step framework for launching a successful YouTube channel is presented, covering everything from filming style to data tracking.

The importance of the 'Super Mario effect' in gamifying challenges and learning from failures on the YouTube journey.

Ensuring financial stability before starting a YouTube channel to allow for experimentation without the pressure of making it a primary source of income.

The necessity of understanding one's relationship with failure and the ability to learn from it when starting a YouTube channel.

Identifying what success means for your channel, aligning it with life goals, and making it tangible to avoid burnout and confusion.

Performing a niche analysis to understand the community and stand out by providing unique value in your chosen vertical.

Creating a year's worth of content titles and log lines to ensure a solid foundation before launching a channel.

The significance of attention as the currency on YouTube and the importance of understanding audience behavior for discovery.

Developing a lean filming style to reduce friction in the video creation process and maintain consistency.

The strategy of starting with short-form content to test ideas and build an audience before committing to longer videos.

The importance of tracking click-through rate, first 30-second viewership, and average view duration for channel growth.

Creating a testing ground for video ideas through low-lift methods like social media or community forums to gauge resonance.

Writing 100 video titles to ensure a surplus of ideas and to keep content consistent and engaging.

The 85% rule for video completion, emphasizing the importance of releasing videos that are 'good enough' to maintain productivity.

Utilizing data analytics to understand channel performance, including new versus returning viewer ratios and device-specific viewing habits.

The long-term perspective required for YouTube success, focusing on gradual growth and continuous improvement over years.

The quote by Naval about the overrated nature of networking, emphasizing the importance of creating something great to naturally build a network.

Transcripts

[Music]

54% of adults said that they would quit

their job to become a Creator so if we

were starting a YouTube channel today

how would we do it we've been building

YouTube channels together for over 13

years and we've interviewed hundreds of

top creators at the end of the day if

they don't click they don't watch

actually I don't think I've ever told

the story we had an actual playbook for

how to launch a YouTube channel we're

going to get really into the weeds in

this episode everything from filming

style which data you should track short

form video versus long form video

everything we know about YouTube put

into a seven-step framework you can

follow so 13 years ago when we first

started on our YouTube Journey we filmed

everything with a Macbook like literally

the webcam from our MacBook and we

edited the videos and uploaded them all

using one device it is the ultimate

Creator tool so we decided we want to

give one of you a brand new Macbook Air

this is a 13-in MacBook Air with the

Apple M3 chip it has 16 gigs of memory

and 512 gigs of storage call I feel like

I should bid like it's the price

come on down all you have to do to win

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[Music]

it I will say Samir in our over 13 years

of experience there are so many years

that we did not study YouTube and had we

studied YouTube had we watched a video

like this we would have been so much

further along than we are now I think

literally we would have cut our time in

half this is a moment where I absolutely

don't want to make videos anymore

absolutely don't want to make absolutely

don't want to make videos anymore

anymore yeah truly sorry I was like

living in the past there were some hard

times 13 years is a long time and it and

it and it took us a while to get

everything off the ground I also think

the the landscape of YouTube is very

different today there's this interesting

stat from neelen that 10% of watch time

on connected TVs is occupied by YouTube

and compare that to Netflix which is 8.

4% of watch time on connected TVs so

basically YouTube is leading in

watchtime hours on TVs YouTube is not

cat videos which is what it kind of

started as it is not Vlogs which is an

era it went into it is becoming the

thing that uh generations of people are

watching on TV choosing to watch with

other people it is like prime time so

when you're thinking about starting a

channel it's actually a pretty serious

thing to do and and you do need to take

it seriously step one of our framework

for starting a new YouTube channel

implement the Super Mario effect now

what is the Super Mario effect this is

something we learned when we sat down

for the first time with Mark Rober the

Super Mario effect is basically like no

one ever plays Super Mario Brothers or

some video game for the first time falls

into a pit and just like oh my gosh I

fell into a pit I failed how

embarrassing I never want to play this

game again you're like no okay crap

there's a pit right there okay next time

I'm going to come a little bit faster

I'm going jump a little earlier you

immediately learn from the failure and

you're like stoked to try again and so

that's very much my philosophy if you

can gamify your challenges and think of

them like a video game you can learn so

much more you can have more success and

have fun while doing it so what Mark is

saying there is that you want to be

going throughout your YouTube Journey

similar to a video game which means that

if you fail you don't actually die you

get to start again how do I interpret

that get a job that is literally the

first thing I would is like get a job or

make sure that my finances are taken

care of yeah truly like if I was to

start from scratch I would go all right

let me get my finances taken care of so

that I can experiment on YouTube without

the pressure of making it the job yeah

and and experimentation or not I think

anyone who comes to me and asks me about

starting a YouTube

channel I think the the three things

that I ask them about is number one how

much time do you have which means like

how much Financial Runway do you have

can you commit the next three years to

this and be okay that it takes three

years or five years for it to take off

two your relationship with failure and

your ability to learn from it because

it's going to happen a lot and three

your relationship with making videos

because all of that goes

into becoming a Creator it's going to

take a very long time for it to get off

the ground you're going to fail a lot

you're going to have ups and downs and

you're going to just have to keep making

videos like you're just and so if you

don't like making videos that's already

a problem but this concept of like

gamifying it and looking at it as like

playing a video game where you can die

and you have more lives actually think

is a really cool way to think about it

like how do you ensure that if you die

you just restart the game okay step two

of our framework identify what you're

optimizing for so make sure you

understand going into your new YouTube

channel what what does success mean are

you looking for money are you looking

for more time are you looking for

experiences for me if I was to start

from scratch I would want my new YouTube

channel to align with one of my life

goals right now which is like to get

outside more often to have new

experiences that would be one of the

first things I would look at I think for

me this this can get a little intangible

for people I think listening to this and

one of the most important things to do

is to make it extremely tangible and so

so what that looks like for me is

writing

out start to finish what a dream day in

your life looks like then doing that for

a week and a year and saying what does

this look like if it works like what

does success mean tangibly in terms of

what am I doing with my time what are

some of the doors that this is unlocked

is there a certain amount of money that

I need I want this to unlock I think one

of the mistakes that people make when

starting a YouTube channel is YouTube

channels and the internet are this ever

expanding space where anything is

possible and if you don't put Frameworks

around what you want out of it it's one

of the fastest paths to like burnout

confusion um and a really weird

relationship with making YouTube videos

yeah you've said this before but like

success is just the opportunity to do

more of what you're already doing so if

your YouTube channel does become

successful make sure that you like what

it is what it's about what the journey

is because you will be spending a lot of

time in that community and in that work

all right number three this one starts

to get way more into the weeds and it's

actually from a conversation that we had

with Matt Pat and Stephany we have like

the most uptight process for launching a

new YouTube channel that I've ever heard

of we research every vertical that we go

into we watch everything in that

vertical we understand how the hosts

talk talk to the audiences we understand

the colors they use how long they

episodes are how often they post what

their opening lines are whether they

have a theme song or not what their

titles include do their titles include

punctuation do their thumbnails involve

a white stroke on the outside of

everyone's head whatever it is we know

everything about the vertical before we

even decide to go into it and then from

there we decide okay can we play in this

space where um where aren't people

saying the things that we would like to

say are there enough collaborators in

this space that we think we could be

part of a community in this ecosystem

and then from there it's like okay what

would we actually say and we come up

with literally a Year's worth of content

titles and log lines if you don't have

if you don't have and I mean maybe more

than that it was

like 100 titles and log lines and if you

don't have 100 titles and log lines you

don't have enough content to like think

about launching this channel thumbnails

to those or like a couple thumbnail

mocks or like how do you do totally like

you do okay you you I mean you have to

think about the audience that you want

and what they're already watching so

step three is what you would do really

going into any business it's essentially

you're performing a market analysis um

or a niche analysis whatever you are

whatever Community you are entering into

on YouTube I think one of the most

important things is that as you go into

making a YouTube

channel your product first product is

attention attention is the currency in

which the audience will pay you and that

is something that is not created in a

vacuum something that Stephanie said

there is the audience that you want and

what are they already watching the

reason for that is because of how

YouTube Works in terms of Discovery

there's there's a few ways audiences

discover videos but the most common ways

are browse and suggested browse means

when someone goes on to YouTube they log

on to youtube.com they open their mobile

app they open their TV app and there's

seven or nine videos that are sitting

there that's browse they're browsing

YouTube and they find a video that they

want suggested is the second way

suggested means they just watched one of

our videos and now on the right side

there's a ton of other videos that are

similar so when you think about how to

start a YouTube channel this piece is by

far the most important studying your

community you will not gain audience in

a vacuum you will gain audience within a

pre-existing community so understanding

the visual language of that Community

understanding the

timestamps understanding the uh tone of

that Community everything all of it most

likely your first videos will be viewed

through suggested content yes so number

three perform a niche analysis it

doesn't mean you should copy what's

there it's actually the inverse which is

number four choose your value prop it's

about studying your Niche to understand

how you can be slightly different how

you can stand out and the value that you

provide to that Community is singular is

a little bit different so the way that I

would approach this and and what I wrote

out was I think you should essentially

create the equivalent of like a

Pinterest board right so take to Google

Slides I love making Pinterest boards

yeah but but it's really it's a really

important thing like I what do you make

Pinterest boards about just a quick

fashion tattoos I may get vintage cars I

want to own okay so another part of

working with you for 13 years is you

have not stopped talking about getting a

tattoo and you do not have one yeah but

I do have a Pinterest

board so it's the first step okay fine

whatever the the concept that I'm saying

here is like the tangible action that I

would suggest you

take is you make a Google slide deck or

you know whatever keynote slide deck and

you go thumbnails and you scream shot a

ton of thumbnails and you put those on a

page then I think you go into comments

and you read comments from the community

you screenshot a ton of comments

positive comments negative comments what

do people like about the videos what do

they not like about the videos most

commented on comments like which

comments are at the top that are

developing the most conversation that's

super important I would then go and look

at first 30 second scripts so meaning

look at in your Niche whether so let's

let's call it cooking how do people open

videos in the cooking Niche what is the

common way and maybe different ways that

people are opening the first 7 seconds

and then the first 30 seconds what do

those feel like and I wouldn't be afraid

to start this process extremely Niche

I'll give you an example I I put myself

through this process of starting a new

YouTube channel and you know with number

two right like understand your goals

what success means for me it was getting

outside and doing activities and I

thought okay in my actual life I would

love to take more weekend car trips from

LA and do activities I started right

there I was like that's what I want more

in my life like going to interesting

beaches interesting homes airbnbs uh and

doing activities I thought could I make

a Channel all about day trips or weekend

trips from LA and I started

searching I found out that's extremely

Niche yeah and there is not that much

viewership um there's actually not even

that much of a

community so I started watching those

videos and it led me to Ryan Tran's

Airbnb videos yeah which have like 20

million views right of him experiencing

an interesting or unique

Airbnb and then I thought what if I made

a

channel just for airbnbs that will give

you an outdoor experience like

interesting airbnbs that have cool

things about them like maybe they're

next to a national park or maybe they

have a pickle ball court that's

incredible like what if I just

highlighted in every episode an

incredible

Airbnb that has an activity with it

right so you get a tour of the house and

then you get to see me go through the

activity that's where I landed so

interesting though it's good comp

because going back to early stages right

the early stages are all lifestyle

considerations stage one and two that we

talk about and I think it is really

important everything I know about doing

YouTube for 13 years it is a thing that

consumes your life so the format you

select the topic you select is going to

have a lot to do with how you spend your

time and how you spend your life M and

so in that one like the interesting

thing to think about is like again back

to step two what are you optimizing for

I'm optimizing to get outside yep that's

okay that's a completely reasonable way

to start a YouTube channel but if if

you're optimizing for money I would say

the other slide that I would put in this

deck is take a screenshot of every brand

partner every brand deal in these videos

so if it's outdoor stuff like that who's

sponsoring those videos are there common

sponsors if it is um cooking who's

sponsoring it right and I started

watching a ton of cooking videos because

I was interested in this subject matter

I noticed made in it's a uh brand that

makes like uh cookware never heard of

them but they sponsor a ton of cooking

videos on YouTube so if I'm to enter the

niche if I'm to enter this industry

that's going to be a probably a common

partner that comes up so I I like the

tangible advice here is

to build a slide deck that has images

across your Niche or your

market and I would also look at

similarities are there formats that come

up a ton you know are there like this

versus that is it cooking challenges

what what is coming up a lot in this

Niche that is a extremely common format

and I would do this across devices so I

would do this for mobile phone I would

do this for connected TV and I would do

this for desktop I like that a lot I

will add that as you're doing this Niche

analysis the one thing you should

understand about storytelling in general

is that it all involves conflict and

contrast up all the way to the biggest

Mr Beast videos to a cooking tutorial

it's all about conflict and contrast and

that should exist in your thumbnail as

well so as you're looking at titles as

you're looking at thumbnails start to

think about like you were even saying

like the cheapest version versus the

most expensive or whatever it is it's

conflict and contrast so when it comes

to step four and choosing your value

prop and and how you stick out I think

one thing that we take all of our

students through in our um cohort

Creator startup is an exercise called

identities emotions and actions and

split up a page so take out a sheet of

paper split it up into identities

emotions and actions and write down the

different identity groups of people who

are in your audience so again again back

to to cooking uh the Casual Chef uh the

person who's like trying to to figure

out how to cook stuff at home the

college student the person who's trying

to do it on a budget you know like

basically write down all these different

identities and then write down the

emotions you want them to feel and it's

totally fine if you want them to feel um

entertained or less alone like they can

flip something on the TV and feel like

you're you're you're part of their

living room um educated uh there there's

all these different emotions and then

think about the action you want them to

take do you want them to what would

prompt them to comment what would prompt

them to go out and cook a meal

themselves is it a cook along with me

type thing so if you split that up and

you start writing that you will start to

find where you sit from a value

proposition perspective who are these

people and why do they watch is a

question that I think a lot of people

forget to ask so as an example if you

wanted to make a casual cook feel safe

and confident in the kitchen right a

potential idea would be like 10 cooking

mistakes to avoid or

AE Avid I don't know you know what I

mean there are ways that you can think

about ideas and titles based off of the

identity and the emotion speaking of

titles yeah step five in our framework

is write 100 titles this is actually

something I believe we both learned from

Ryan Trahan spending time with him

Stephanie just mentioned it Ryan Tran

does this Ryan as far as I know when

when we were hanging out with him he

makes 10 ideas he writes 10 new ideas

video titles every single day and I did

that for 10 days and they're not all the

ideas aren't great but at the end I have

a hundred new ideas right and ideas are

the engine for a YouTube channel if you

don't have ideas and you don't have a

huge surplus of them it's going to be a

lot harder to make a video and keep it

consistent so develop something called

an idea Bank this is this can be Google

Sheets it can be in a notebook um some

people do this in a notion and I I

actually interestingly enough as I was

doing this uh I I really struggled to

come up with like net new

ideas um I could come up with like five

I could come up with six some days but

10 was actually really hard for me so I

turned to uh uh AI to support me uh

spotter has a tool called title Exploder

that really helped you know kind of like

put in a title and then see a bunch of

different variations and I would get

tipped off with some word and I'd be

like oh that's interesting I know some

creators use chat GPT for this where

essentially you're you can say like

write me 10 YouTube titles based on uh

cooking and you can at least start to

get into practice of what a title looks

like I write all of mine in a notebook

and I actually intentionally don't use

AI because I want to put ideas down even

if they're bad I think it's okay to put

ideas down that are bad uh because they

will often reveal to you what's good and

that's also what AI does like AI if you

ask for 10 titles you're actually

looking for what's not good to reveal

what is good I and I think like of

course you want to start this on 10 days

but if it's if it's cleaner for you to

do five ideas a day and you can do that

for 30 days like my suggestion here is

actually that to start a YouTube channel

from scratch first you definitely need a

100 ideas to pick from like I I

definitely think you need a 100 ideas to

pick from um but as you continue going

if you're committed to becoming a

professional Creator this is going to be

a huge piece of what you do so getting

comfortable with something that you can

commit to every single day like brushing

your teeth I think is really important

and I think you can also at the top of

the page write out formats that you

really like um titling conventions and

formats so again versus is a is a common

one um $100 Thing versus thousand thing

right like that is that is extremely

common format that works across a lot of

niches so you can start going that's

something I can come back to I'll write

three ideas like that in a in a day um

and so this this is more about

developing a practice but in the subject

matter of starting from scratch you need

100 to choose from I would suggest when

you when you look at those

100 you Whittle those down to

30 and ideally every day you elevate

like your favorite two right two to

three you're like oh these are actually

good seven of them can be bad but three

of them you should be like oh I could

probably develop that all right so now

put yourself in the shoes of someone who

has never done YouTube before but

they're sitting and they're looking at

30 ideas yeah they're continuing to

whittle them down how do you choose and

how do you stress test which ideas you

should actually try and make into a

video and that is Step six which is find

a testing ground now this means you

should find really low-lift ways to put

your idea out into the world to the

community you're trying to reach and see

if it actually resonates so a perfect

example of

this again I don't like when I have to

bring up your LinkedIn it hurts it kind

of pains me because of how much you

promote it and now it seems like I'm the

biggest promoter of your LinkedIn but

you did post on your LinkedIn about uh

what what eventually became our hot ones

episode yeah so you posted a take on

LinkedIn about the show hot ones could

it survive without Sean Evans could it

be the end of the show who should buy it

why isn't it selling that took off on

LinkedIn there was a lot of conversation

and that proved to us that this would be

a good topic to make a YouTube video

about now uh if you're building from

scratch I think the assumption is you

have let's just assume you have no

audience anywhere sure so you you might

not even get that feedback somewhere

right so finding a testing ground could

also mean in your Social Circle it could

also mean sharing the ideas with friends

and Mark Rober talked about this with us

which was really cool that he gets a lot

of his ideas in conversation where he's

talking to people and he's like what

about this and and seeing people's

reaction hust minhaj called it the power

of the PDF saying like the idea on paper

when you tell it to someone when they

read it does it Stack Up it does it

resonate does it drive conversation yeah

I think this also if it's not

conversation it could be starting with

short form video because we've done that

as well where it's like you know we

don't want to make a 35 minute YouTube

video but we can commit to a 60-second

short we did this about squid game about

the impact of squid game after it came

out on Netflix we made a 60-sec short uh

it absolutely exploded became one of our

most viewed shorts and then we turned it

into a long form video and that also did

well another way to look at this and

like explore it is go on off platform

Community hubs so that could be a

subreddit or a Discord community and

look at what people care about and if

they care about the subject matter so if

it's like cheap versus expensive um

cookware again maybe you're looking at a

a cooking subreddit and everyone's

confused about this really expensive pan

right so now you're like oh actually

maybe is it is it worth it I mean

specific example for us this week it was

shared around in our slack a post from

r/ cooking what happened to YouTube

cooking channels yeah saying that like

they're not doing as well as they used

to they're not as impactful and it was a

conversation we started to have and we

came up with a video idea around that

topic they call out certain cooking

channels and we thought oh could we

interview these cooking channels and ask

them about what's happened with the

cooking Niche do they feel like uh

something has happened uh and that's why

people maybe aren't watching or just

what's the health of that right yeah uh

and that's a place where it's like oh

people are already talking about it

because they're talking about on Reddit

it's proven people like this and they

want to talk about it yeah can we go

from there so these first six steps are

very much about like the the first phase

is like understanding yourself what do

you want out of this the second phase is

understanding the community and the

audience right and that those phases are

extremely important and those typically

get skipped over yeah and without them I

think you it will take way longer for

you to find success on YouTube so

starting from scratch first thing deeply

understand your own motivations why you

want to do this the lifestyle

consideration of doing this then deeply

understand the community how do they

discover your work how do they engage

with each other what do they care about

what ideas resonate in this space all of

that deeply matters okay so now in your

new YouTube channel Journey you at the

point where you have actually not even

upload loed a single video but you have

a ton of ideas you've identified some

that have already started some

conversation you choose one that you

want to turn in to a video and you're

ready for step seven which is film edit

upload repeat now this is very

all-encompassing and we're going to get

uh into the weeds of of what we mean by

this and certain decisions we would make

with videos and with a YouTube channel

if we were to start from from scratch so

the first thing is making the video in a

document before you film time and time

again every Creator we talk to if you do

the pre-production everything gets

easier so what does pre-production

mean it's literally opening a Google doc

putting the title in big bold letters uh

putting your thumbnail that you've

designed or similar thumbnails that you

want to emulate up top and then Ali

abdal said this to us he said most

YouTube videos are just title thumbnail

list mhm so thinking about a list format

of like it doesn't necessarily have to

be like three things about you know X it

could just be beginning middle end Hook

is extremely important uh the beginning

part of the video the middle part of the

video the end now in this the time that

we spend the absolute most time on is

the first 7 seconds and the first 30

seconds of the video so as you're

developing these script documents

I would identify from your list of 100

ideas let's Whittle it down to like 20

ideas that could be short form ideas 10

ideas that could be long form ideas now

in both of those

documents the hooks are going to be your

most important pieces so meaning what

are the first few words that are said in

each video and that'll come up later

when we talk about data that we tracking

yeah and what matters in that hook is

whether it's a short or a long does the

hook identify

and meet the expectations of the viewer

MH and does it then give something new

they actually weren't expecting because

that's what's going to keep them

watching yeah right so specifically when

it is like a title and a thumbnail for

one of our episodes like hot ones we try

and make sure that when you click yes we

are going to touch on is this the end of

hot ones but you're also going to get

something new can the show survive

without its host so a lot of

Storytelling and specifically on the

internet is about unanswered questions

constantly storytelling is always about

unanswered questions so basically in

your first few lines you want to make

sure that you validate the video like

you said and then you open up a new

unanswered question and throughout your

script document as you're writing out

always look at it in your beginning your

middle and your end is there an

unanswered question and then at the end

when that question is answered or the

final question is answered the video's

over yeah so write it out it doesn't

have to be word for word but you're

making your video first on paper then on

camera next if I were to start from

scratch I would make sure that I have a

really lean filming style I don't want

to over complicate and add friction to

the process and if you look at you know

whether it's Marquez with his autofocus

Channel again or you look at Ryan trean

with his videos they're primarily shot

with an iPhone right if if what you

wrote is good and the script is good you

should be able to execute that idea with

an iPhone yeah you can always go up from

there but I think you should always be

able to come back to the lowest common

denominator and keep the process as

frictionless as possible you also want

to think of everything on a 52- we

window not a onewe window so you look at

it in the context of if I'm to start

this YouTube channel today can I make a

video every week for the next 52 weeks

yeah right or 104 weeks um so you want

to have a lean production style if you

love making stuff with your DSLR and

you're like your Lifestyles you travel

everywhere with your DSLR and no matter

if you're on vacation or wherever you

are you could make that video sure but

go back to when everyone started from

scratch look at marquez's first video

again look at our first video we shot on

a MacBook like everyone starts with a

lean production style and that's because

you're going to have to make a 100

videos before you truly develop your

style you know you just are now to get

to 100 videos quicker YouTube has

changed in 20124 you can start with

short form

content yeah and I would say there's a

couple things here about starting with

shorts number one it is a good testing

ground to see if your ideas resonate

it's a great way if you add a call to

action within your script to subscribe

to the channel to drive audience and

subscribers before you commit to LA long

form and what we've seen is that when we

eventually upload a long form video if

we also upload a short that is about the

same topic the long form video does well

yeah does better actually than if we

don't so your shorts are obviously going

to be 60 seconds or less right now when

you're starting with shorts I I would

say you don't want to go too far without

making long form videos I think you

should

identify you know five shorts you want

to make and think about making two to

three shorts per every long form video

in the

beginning and when you look at your

shorts um you know again when you look

at that idea Bank you're going to

naturally start to see which ideas go

towards short form content which ones go

towards long form and the way to make

this decision is actually when you look

at video length right now on

YouTube longer watch times are extremely

common they're rewarded right the the

base premise of YouTube

is did the audience click did they watch

and were they satisfied yeah the first

two are very quantifiable by data that

Google gives you and YouTube gives you

the third is less you know explicit of

are they satisfied but all of that is

going to dictate how much your content

surfac is and how much it gets uh put up

in the algorithm I think one of the

biggest mistakes we made was making

videos where we were clearly afraid

people were going to leave yeah but if

you have a good title and thumbnail that

attracts the audience you want trust

that once they click on that title and

thumbnail you've already gotten them in

the door trust that they are open to 20

to 30 minutes worth of this topic and

this goes back to your Niche analysis

because if most of your content when

you're starting from scratch is going to

show up in suggested that means that

whatever the general viewing habits are

of that Community are probably going to

be consistent so for us what we notice

when we have a 2-hour long episode with

Emma Chamberlain

that's going to be a lot harder to drive

um audience in browse than it is

suggested because someone who is

regularly watching

podcasts is probably going to be

interested in that now are they going to

in one sitting go from a two-hour

podcast to a two-hour podcast probably

not but we are going to get fed into a

world of people who are like I regularly

watch toour YouTube videos yeah most

likely a 15minute Emma Chamberlain video

may not be the biggest driver to our

almost three-hour conversation right ex

you would think oh of course someone

watches an Emma video that's what they

like they're going to go watch a

three-hour podcast with her it's more so

someone watches a bunch of podcasts or

listens to a lot of podcasts and this

one gets fed to them so I would look at

your community and see what content is

living in the 20 plus range now I think

the 20 minute plus range is the ideal

range today on YouTube of course there's

people who make content that's shorter

but look at the top creators right now

look at Ryan Tran look at Mark Robert

look at Mr Beast look at lwig like and

remember that these videos are being

watched on televisions it is no longer

people just watching on phones it is

increasingly more televisions and when

you watch something on a TV you're

committed to watching something long

start at five minutes go to 10 minutes

but I think you should be looking in a

direction of can I make a 20 minute long

video okay now getting to that repeat

part of this step of the framework Matt

Pat said this to us he said that the

expectation of the videos they make is

that they will get to

85% of the way done that

85% is good enough to put out and I

resonate with that a lot because if you

don't have sort of a deadline or an end

point to the video that last 15% you can

spend weeks and weeks and weeks trying

to make it 15% better but I don't think

you're going to get the return on that

15% yeah again this is a very long game

you have to look at this on a 2year

5-year window I think a lot of creatives

think about everything on a onewe window

mhm but when you're in the YouTube

business when you're working on a

YouTube channel the channel is going to

take years and so you want to be

thinking about how do I keep things lean

how do I get to a point where I'm like

this video is good I'm gonna get it out

and most creatives are are really

intense about their own creative work so

I think the 85% rule is really help

helpful now the second thing as a part

of this what makes the 85% rule

easier is when you look at your first 10

videos that you've made which one of

those can be

repeated basically like is there a part

two part three part four part five to

these videos because if there is then

it's going to make it a lot easier for

you to again copy and paste that script

document and go what's the spin on this

one I already have a framework how could

I make it better what's the uh what's

the next chapter of this challenge

what's the next chapter of this video

tangible example two videos out of our

last 10 that have done really well one

of them is the YouTube video that broke

Hollywood could we make the YouTube

video that is there another YouTube

video where we could have a description

could we even go as far as the YouTube

video that broke and then find another

word for what the YouTube video Broke

you know tell the stories of prominent

YouTube videos YouTube video that broke

the algorithm right

that we have a model for that now and we

know that it will do well so you're

you're searching in your first 10 20

videos you're searching for formats and

actually that never ends yeah again most

recent video fast approaching death of

hot ones is there an opportunity with

another show or entity where it's the

fast approaching death of or the fast

approaching something of because that's

more likely to work yes all right data

which data should you track to

understand with your new YouTube channel

if you're doing well so again I I think

it's so important to uh just like really

put in bold letters how important

packaging is and because of

that you're going to live in a world of

tracking clickthrough rate packaging for

every Creator top Creator brand new

Creator uh no matter where you are the

title and thumbnail is the most

important part of YouTube it's just like

you cannot say it enough it's something

that we talked about with Jimmy in our

last interview do you get it I get it

and maybe some of the people watching

get it but like most don't understand

like how important I don't think I

actually got it until recently and I

know that sounds CRA the problem is you

never actually get it because it's

always more important than you realize

it's more important than you me it's I'm

constantly every other month going dang

I forgot like just how important the

title and thumbnail is and I like you

almost have to like every day like sit

in a corner and go the title and

thumbnail matters more than you think

and tell yourself that 10 times because

if not like it just it's you just I

don't know because it seems so

significant until you like really think

about and you're like at the end of the

day if they don't click they don't watch

and that like you can make the best

content ever but if they don't click

you're dead yeah and even sitting and

talking to him it's like yeah this is

the most watched person on the platform

and even he is just sitting there being

like it's all title and thumbnail it's

all title and thumbnail so with that in

mind the first thing you're tracking is

Click through it this is going to track

how well your ideas are resonating and

also answer the question are you putting

enough curiosity into the viewer for

them to click mhm so clickthrough rate

is going to be based on how many people

saw this thumbnail what percentage of

them clicked it the the the like a great

clickthrough rate it's 10% anytime we've

been over 10% it's like this video is

picking off it really resonated this

concept really resonated if we're in the

like 14 to 15% yeah as many YouTubers

say it's a it's a banger it's a

certified Banger who was it that said

that certified Banger was that Mark

Rober that's probably Mark Rober yeah

yeah um I guess if you're new to you

that's also a term you'll hear a lot

yeah 10% or higher on launch means like

it's it's it's really resonating um and

I think as you look at it you want to

track day of release so the day you

release it and then seven days after and

30 days after and I would say a common

kind of trajectory there is going to go

10%

7% four to 5% 45% yeah and if you're if

we at least speaking for ourselves if

we're way below those uh we will at each

sort of marker we will start to

experiment with different packaging and

we never stop yeah we a video came out

years ago there's always the opportunity

most likely we've learned a lot about

titles and thumbnails since then uh in

my free time I will often just look back

at our catalog of videos identify a

video where I'm like oh we would have

never done that title in thumbnail today

let me update it yep again because of

suggested browse and how people find

your videos we sat with Chucky on Mr

Beast team um somewhat recently and he

was explaining to us you know the lift

in a in an entire catalog on YouTube of

a single thumbnail change can be really

dramatic yes right because we Chang one

of our thumbnails from a year ago that

increases click-through rate 3% which

means tons of new viewers are coming and

they're going to watch another video in

our catalog yeah and then they might

watch another one and then they'll watch

our new video so that little shift in

going from 4% to uh five or

6% can actually lift your entire catalog

of videos and that is something that we

uh very much track right is just like

how is the entire catalog doing the next

piece of data that we track a lot is

first 30 second viewership so this is

something that YouTube gives you in your

back end um we if we're above 90% in the

first 30 seconds that means that you

clicked on the thumbnail and it is the

thing you wanted to watch and we re

hooked you mhm right which is the goal

that is the goal and most likely you

know for us right this is a podcast some

people are just going to be listening at

this point but in those first 30 seconds

most likely we have their eyes so we try

and make it incredibly Visual and make

sure there are new questions that need

to be answered you know from a script

perspective but also from a visual

perspective yeah so it can get it's not

that we can't have successful videos

that are at 78% or 75% in the first 30

seconds but this data that we're telling

you that we track should also inform you

what matters in your scripting process

click through rate first 30 seconds

viewership and then the next thing is

going to be the average view duration so

average view percentage and average view

duration so how much of the video are

people watching if they're only watching

those first 30 seconds and then they

leave that's that's not interesting that

means you made a video first 30 seconds

were great but then it wasn't what

people expect it yeah and audience

satisfaction is a major thing that

you're optimizing for so you want to be

looking at this and going if it's a very

long video let's say it's in the

multiple hours like a lot of our shows

eventually it'll be in the like you know

50% 40% range but if you're making a

20-minute video I think you want people

watching more than 50% of that video

yeah that's your goal so th those three

I think are your first pieces of data to

track you can make a little Excel sheet

and go this video when I launched it

what was a click-through rate what was

the first 30 seconds and what was the

average view duration yeah how long were

people watching now that's video to

video taking a more macro zoom out

perspective of the channel some of the

things that we look at are average views

per video is it staying somewhat

consistent is it and is it continuing to

rise uh the more that time goes on I

think this is actually really important

in terms of growing a business right

which is sort of a whole other

conversation but making sure that you

are like a trustworthy space uh with a

consistent amount of audience that

continues to come back over time is

important how do you know if you're

growing we look at new versus returning

viewers yeah so if one of our videos

really pops most likely we will look at

new verse returning and we're going to

see that there are a lot of new viewers

in that video in that instance it's

super important to make sure that we

have a call to action to subscribe

because it does make a huge difference

if we have a video that pops and we

don't tell people to subscribe They

Don't Really subscribe yeah but if we do

it is drastic and then there are some

videos that we make that don't get as

much viral viewership but they hit more

of our average and you'll find that's a

lot of our returning viewers and I think

it's okay to have a mix of videos that

have different purposes yeah right it's

okay sometimes to have you know uh that

big swing that potentially viral pop

that could reach really big scale and

reach new audiences and then it's okay

to have ones that are for more of your

core community and to set the

expectation that there's going to be

more returning viewers here as you

continue and you have like a bigger

catalog of of content the the two other

things that I look at quite a bit are

browse versus suggested traffic um to

each video and then device average view

duration so like based on the devices

that people are watching on how long are

they watching for so for us like for

example art like TV makes up 46% of our

watch hours and the average view

duration is 33 minutes so starting to

deeply understand how your audience is

consuming they're turning it on on a TV

and leaving it on for 30 plus minutes so

that helps you inform like where your

content moves in the future right what's

your video length what type of subject

matter are you covering all of that is

going to inform where you're going in

the future look if you've made it to

this point in the episode you are in the

deep end you have made it very far

hopefully you have learned a lot about

either starting a YouTube channel or

your current YouTube Channel I imagine

there's a lot of people watching and

listening who are already deep into

YouTube but I hope that helped the part

at the end here data analytics there's

so much that we could go into here and a

lot of channels do that I think we gave

a pretty decent like high level of what

matters to us especially when you're

starting from scratch yes

um I do want to read this quote that I

thought was was interesting and relevant

here because I'm sure at this point you

might be thinking about monetization or

collaboration or how do I get into the

YouTuber community right the broader

economy the Creator economy all this um

Naval has this great quote where he says

networking is overrated go do something

great and your network will instantly

emerge I really like that quote because

I think in the beginning when you're

starting from scratch you just have to

put your head down and make great videos

yeah you got to get to the point where

you're doing something within a

community that is different that was

unexpected so that you are what people

are gravitating towards yeah and people

you want to reach are reaching out to

you exactly allow people to reach out to

you that that's how it happened with us

we had creators reach out to us we had

Brands reach out to us we had um we we

kept our head down and focused on making

videos for six years and that Network

value compounded greatly like you know

the impact of that network over time

yeah has been immense and a huge part of

us you know being established and

feeling safe in this career feeling like

we've had some

success so patience

patience is incredibly important when

you're starting from

scratch all right but but don't forget

Pinterest boards I think don't overlook

Pinterest boards everybody now if you've

gone through all these steps if you're

in the process of being a professional

Creator and you want a little bit more

on how to monetize your channel how to

turn your YouTube channel in business we

do have a 30-day cohort called Creator

startup and that's Linked In the

description if you want to find out more

about that and again we are giving away

this MacBook Air this is a 13in MacBook

Air with an apple M3 chip all you have

to do is subscribe to our newsletter the

published press and if we've already

given this away we probably give away

another one so make sure you

subscribe the MacBook Air potentially

the only tool you need to start a

YouTube channel that was our seven-step

framework if you guys have other notes

on how you would approach starting a

YouTube channel or if you have questions

that you want us to answer put them in

the comments here on YouTube make sure

to subscribe to the channel and we will

see you next week

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