How I'm getting into YouTube (changing it up!)

It’s official - I’ve started working on YouTube content!

My reasons:

• Niche sites are basically dead-ified, but YouTube is the land of limitless opportunity. It’s the second-biggest search engine on the planet, an incredible sophisticated discovery engine, and when it comes to monetisation potential…well, let’s just consider the fact YouTube made $33.5 BILLION last year in ad revenue!

• You can create a video on just about anything, and you can find an audience. Of course, it has to be actually good, but this is completely doable whether you do it yourself or hire someone!

• You can create videos that will generate views and new audiences not just now- but months, years and decades from now. Video content resonates and has longevity. And I’m sure you’ll agree, video is where it’s at now. How many people read 5,000 word blog posts any more (if they ever find them at all!). But people will spend 30, 60 or 300 minutes watching or listening to a video - and it can be anything from a tutorial to a facts video to a meditation to lull you into a blissful sleep…

What’s my plan?

I’ve settled on a niche that I believe has HUGE potential. I won’t reveal the niche (or at least not for now), but I can see how it’s audience appreciates well-produced content in this niche so much and they are passionate!

I believe I can bring something both similar (in terms of the styles I see people already love), AND a little different by bringing my own take and style.

My plan to get to the stage where I have published my first 2-3 videos looks like this:

Step 1

Hire a highly-talented videographer. I am prepared to invest a little here, simply because I need to set the bar high starting out. The higher quality content I put out there, the higher the chances of engagement with my first few videos, and the greater the chances I’ll get to monetise my channel. Engagement is everything.

If your videos don’t fly, your channel won’t fly! Of course, if you want do this as a hobby or because you just want to make videos and see what happens, go for it yourself or hire cheaply!

I plan to hire on Upwork and have posted a job there. I also considered Fiverr as I’ve found some great folks on there in the recent past and you likely will too. You may also be more likely to find people who are less expensive on Fiverr, but who are top-rated and can produce top-notch content.

You just have to do your research, of course. The way I use the platform is to go in and immediately set my filter to 4+ or 5+ stars.

Pro Fiverr tip: 

Step 2

Deliver a brief for an initial test video. This is a great tip my buddy Keith at Minted Empire shared with me. Instead of going with someone off the bat, why not give them a short test project to see how it goes, before investing further? Would you rather spend $50 or $500 to see if your freelancer is a match? So I will have 1-2 freelancers create a 30-90 second video as a test with my brief, and go from there.

As for how I create my brief, I am using a combination of AI and online resources (websites in the niche), channels in the niche, and my own input and edits.

Step 3

Collaborate, produce and publish. Right now, I’m waiting for a couple of replies back from my freelancers (one is in west coast USA, so he won’t have seen my reply yet!), and I’m hoping to get the two test videos back by end of week or early next week, depending on the guys’ schedules.

Ok, I’ll leave it there for now! Let me know if you are exploring YouTube too or if this email has inspired you to take a look…

Coming up next…

An update on my rank and rent / local lead gen site and my foray into selling advertising on my main lead gen site….interesting times!

Keep on truckin’ out there.

Best,
Anton

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