Tim Schmoyer Youtube Video Creator On Building LOYAL Audience, Monetisation & Influence || IMOTWS

I am a guy who just wanted to introduce his girlfriend to his family across the country, discovered this Little site in 2006 called YouTube and started posting videos there with his girlfriend so his family could watch them at home. And today it turned into a multi million dollar business. I don't think so. Maybe they have by now, but I didn't. I was getting freaked out because back then it was like MySpace days and you don't use your real name on the Internet. If you do, people hunt you down and kill you for some reason. So I was just sending the links to my family, thinking that they're the only ones who are going to watch. There is no correlation between your audience size and how much money you make. So we worked with channels that have 3,000 YouTube subscribers, starting the YouTube channel and expecting to see growth immediately. And I know like from the creator side, like we're putting a lot of heart and soul and energy and time and money and resources into making this content. So when you put it up there, you kind of want other people to appreciate it for you. You know, it's like, I work hard. Why is no one watching? Soundstrap. Soundstrip.

My name is ABHI Arya, Father of two girls, six dogs, husband to a superwoman, a streetcar racer turned hotelier, now social media marketer and founder of the Internet moguls of the world. So Tim, if somebody was to ask you your hero introduction, how would you give that up?

I was making this up off top of my head. I'd say I am a guy who just wanted to introduce his girlfriend to his family across the country, discovered this Little site in 2006 called YouTube and started posting videos there with his girlfriend so his family could watch them at home. And today it turned into a multimillion dollar business. We've done YouTube strategy for Disney, Warner Brothers, eBay, Budweiser, HBO, MTV, Twitch, all the way down to creators who are just getting started and helping them get literally 17 billion views on YouTube. So it's been quite a journey since then. And we have seven kids live in Cincinnati, Ohio.

That is fantastic.

Not rehearsed, but there we go. How's that for.

That was fantastic. Story was amazing. So did the girlfriends, parents see the videos?

I don't think so. Maybe they have by now, but I didn't. I was getting freaked out because back then it was like MySpace days and you don't use your real name on the Internet. If you do, people hunt you down and kill you for some reason. So I was just sending the links to my family thinking that they're the only ones who are gonna watch. And instead other people started watching and started freaking me out. And that's what prompted me to be like, where are they coming from? How are they finding me? Why do they keep coming back? Who is Catlicar72 and why do they keep commenting on my videos? You know, like, should I be concerned? And that's what sent me down the rabbit trail, trying to figure out how YouTube works.

Was it the same time as Vine Library TV or earlier though, in Vine? What, when Wine Library TV, when Gary.

Oh yeah, Wine. That was on Biddler. Right. And so Biddler was around prior to YouTube and then Wine TV moved over to YouTube a few years later. But yeah, this was prior to WineTV starting on. On YouTube. So my first video is March 2, 2006. Way, way back in the early days.

Awesome. Raya.

Okay, so my first question is, like, dad said I want to become a YouTuber, but I'm starting on Instagram, kind of trying to build a community there first. How do you get people to keep watching the video? Like a lot of people say there should be a hook at 55 seconds. Some say the first 10 seconds are key. What do you do?

Well, there's a couple questions there. Number one is it's been our experience that it's pretty difficult to get people to switch platforms. So we've worked with several Instagram stars who are like, I'm trying to get people over my YouTube channel, but it's not working. And likewise we use like YouTube stars. You're like, I can't get people to my Instagram or my Facebook page or my email list or whatever the case is. So. So we found that it's a lot easier to grow organically and reach the people who are already on those platforms rather than just trying to get the same people to switch a bunch. So you can't, you will get your die hard people, they will go follow you in multiple platforms. But for the most part, when we're talking about how do we get explosive growth going on the channel, that's like worth maybe a little bit of growth in the very beginning, but it has diminishing returns. You just can't keep telling your Instagram people to follow you on YouTube and before long no one's doing it anymore. So we, we focus on like we're gonna grow a YouTube channel. Let's just grow it on YouTube until we're getting. There's 2 billion monthly active logged on, logged in users on YouTube every month. So until we have 2 billion people on our channel. Like, there's still plenty of growth right there, rather than trying to get people to switch. So I don't know if that answers part of the question you weren't even asking, but there's part of it. The other part of it is like, was like, how do we, what do we actually do to like grow the channel on YouTube? Like in terms of that hook. 55 seconds.

Yes, yes.

So we actually think that. And I shouldn't say think I should say no because this is really how it works. Is it like the performance of a video doesn't start at 55 seconds in. It starts with the title and the thumbnail. Like, did you actually get someone to click? And they will click if there's some sort of tension that's created in the brain, some sort of unresolved, like, what happens there? Or is that for real? Or what happens next? Or oh, yes, this is gonna solve my problem or whatever the case may be. There's gotta be some sort of tension. And when. And the title and thumbnail work together to create an expectation that the viewer now has. So when they click on that video, that can't be the first time you start thinking about how we're gonna get someone to watch this video. You're gonna, you actually need to figure out the title and thumbnail is first, then press record and click and shoot the video. And then that's really the best ways you can then craft the opening seconds of the content to affirm for the viewer that, yes, what you clicked expecting to get is coming in this video. Otherwise you don't know what the expectation is. And just like the expectation maybe doesn't. That was set in the title. Thumbnail doesn't get delivered to like minute eight. And at that point, everyone who is a non subscribed viewer has already left your content. They've already abandoned it. So we think we start with the title and thumbnail. Not really. And then the opening seconds. All three of those need to like work together really well.

Awesome.

In this video, find out how we got Tinch Moyer to say yes to us for this interview. Is that a good thumbnail?

I don't think too many people would care about that, but you can love that. Yeah. So, yeah, so the way we do it is I'll have an idea or my producer, my team will have an idea and we'll just kind of. We have a meeting once a month, we'll sit down a meeting. We're like, here's the concept. So yeah, let's talk about this, that and this thing and that video and this and the video. And then we'll be like, all right, what's the title going to be? And what image do people need to click in order to want to get to this? And usually that's when we bring on the rest of my team. We have every week we will brainstorm as part of our weekly team meeting. Here's the upcoming content. What's the title? What's the thumbnail? What does that need to do? And then we'll go ahead and craft that content together. But it takes multiple people giving input to kind of figure out something that will work as opposed to what most creators do, which is they think they have a really good piece of content. They'll start uploading it to YouTube. And while it's uploading, then they start thinking, oh, what's my title and thumbnail going to be? And it just kind of ends up being something that might be really enticing but isn't delivered until like minute three. Or it might be something that's like just kind of like generic. Sometimes it's something that makes sense after you watch the video, but you need to make sense before they watch the video. So yeah, following that process of title, thumbnail, then hitting record will help you craft that opening seconds of your content to be a stronger hook.

So my first question is, what is your biggest struggle? That and mistake that you made by when you're growing your business that you would suggest avoiding to new entrepreneurs that just started.

This is an easy one for me. I learned this one the hard way, really hard for a long time, which is people assume, including myself, that when you have an audience you will somehow make money. And people think that if I get to 100,000 subscribers or I get to a million subscribers, then I will, I, I'll be able to turn this into full time income or it'll grow my business or whatever. But I, after we've worked with literally thousands of YouTube creators personally, there is no correlation between your audience size and how much money you make. So we worked with channels that have 3,000 YouTube subscribers who are generating over $2 million a year in revenue. Likewise, we've worked with other creators who have millions of subscribers and are making $600 a month. We, I just two weeks ago worked with a creator who has about a hundred thousand subscribers and he's making about $100,000 a month. So this idea that big audience equals more money is not true. So the mistake I made was making that assumption, thinking that I just need to grow this, grow this audience. And actually when I. So I made that mistake on a blog, actually prior to YouTube, I remember WordPress, you know, WordPress, whole thing. But I started a blog and this is 2004 and 5. And I made that mistake there, thinking as I grow this thing, I'll just make money. But when I came to YouTube, I knew that wasn't true anymore. And so I launched my YouTube channel with a business model knowing like. So here's, here's a mistake is not just knowing. Most creators are really good at the first two parts of a business model, which is the rationale for how one creates and delivers value. But most creators are really bad at how they capture value, right? So a business model is the rationale for how you create, deliver and capture. Creating value, delivering value, but in how to capture it. And so the mistake I made was not knowing how to do that. So what I really encourage entrepreneurs now is don't just think that because you're going to grow a social media platform automatically means money will come to you. You still need that third part. You've got the create and deliver down, but you need the capture to, you need to have a plan for how you're going to do that. So I don't think it needs to be totally polished and fine tuned before you launch the channel because you'll learn a lot as you go and you'll want to pivot a few times, likely. But learning how to sell is like that thing that I missed at the very beginning. And because it doesn't matter how valuable the thing is you have, if no one buys for it, it's not valuable. So it's really like, how do I learn how to sell and capture value and in a way that delivers even more value to the people who are customers and working with us.

Perfect. Love that. So, Tim, you know, like I said, we're making this venture for families, Internet moguls of the world, a family digital marketing school. So hopefully when this is being aired live, you know, thousands of people are going to be watching this. Mothers, fathers, grandparents, kids, everybody together. And they're thinking to themselves, can I start a YouTube channel based on my life experiences? I'm only 11, I'm only 42, I'm only 75. Raya, my elder daughter, she wanted to start a channel on digital marketing. And when we started probing on what she really wants to talk about, it came out to be bullying because she went through bullying in school, you know, so she said, that's what I want to talk about. So how does one decide what channel to start on YouTube?

That's a hard, that's a hard journey. I mean, there's a couple of different ways to approach it. One is like, well, what do I think? What do I think could be popular on YouTube? Could work really well. Oh, there's not a lot of people talking about bullying. Let me talk about that. That's certainly one way to do it. Another way to do it could be like, I've experienced bullying, bullying in like a really bad way and I don't want other people to experience that. And I just need to talk about that. Even though there might be tons of other channels that do. And I tend to encourage people, like maybe take both of them into consideration, but put a lot more weight on the ladder. Like, where do you get the most energy, the most passion, the most excitement? Because there's going to be a lot of hard days on YouTube where you're not getting traction and it's not working and the sales aren't coming in. You, like, if you're not like a hundred percent dedicated and passionate about the thing that you're talking about and you don't get your core belief that this will change and impact someone's life, you're probably just going to quit and give up. So in order to push through those moments, I think it's really got to come from like, I can't stop. Like, the world needs this. I have a message that people need to hear and that compels you to like keep pushing and keep going when most other people would just quit. So I would encourage you to focus on like, what's the thing that really matters the most to me and go with that and then figure out who wants it and how are they going to consume it from me and then how can I deliver 10x that value in a format someone's willing to pay for. So those are the like, the big things to kind of figure out as you get started with. Yeah, the channel.

So when you touched upon the paid for. So are you saying that if I'm talking about a particular product on YouTube, you pay for my. I promote an affiliate related product. That's how I get paid.

Could be. I fine with affiliates, I'm fine with adsense and all that. The way I think about it is like, I am and there's nothing wrong with this. But let me just say that front. There's nothing wrong, but I think of it as like, I'm doing a lot of work to grow someone else's business and I'm taking a small percentage of their marketing campaign in order to, to do that. And again, there's nothing wrong with that because a lot of advantages to that. Like I don't have the carry inventory, I don't have the fit. But I am kind of like now my business is relying on other people's businesses and I don't like that as much. I prefer be like, this is who I'm trying to reach. This is the difference I'm trying to make in your life. And here's the product that's going to do it. So if a brand's going to say like, pay me $5,000 to do a brand deal to promote them, I, that might be great. But now I need like another brand deal next month and then I need like, I need to kind of keep chasing that thing. If a brand deal doesn't come in, I'm like, ah, I need bills, I got people to pay. And so you're chasing the brand deal and then taking 5k when really the only reason my brands keep doing that is because your audience is gonna pay them like 25k, 25,000. So I think if my audience is worth 25k, I would rather just make something that, that delivers exactly the value that they want, something I'm really passionate about, and then capture 25,000 instead of 5,000. Yes, there'll be more overhead and other things, but now I'm not chasing brand deals. I'm not going from one campaign to the next. And I'm not just kind of like always trying to keep people engaged because now my business relies on views and engagement. And if my views start to dip based on algorithm, which I also don't control, then like my business starts to decline. I just progress. Prefer to like let me control. Maybe I'm control freak. Maybe that's what we're going to get out of this. But I want to control the revenue, the product, the service, that I want to own the customer and be able to do a really good job delivering it. So that's my personality, I think. I'm not saying any other way is wrong to do it, but that's kind of how I think and approach it.

No, I like that because, you know, most of the time we've seen people say adsense affiliate, but you're saying maybe your own product, maybe your own consulting service, maybe guide them through a funnel down your website, which will book your phone calls and have your salespeople have booked, booked on calls. And so use that to funnel and channel your own business leads, business development all of that.

Yeah. So I. So this is my real math right here. So if for every thousand views on YouTube on AdSense, I'll get like, it averages on average, let's say $2.50 per thousand views on YouTube on that same video at the end, I might teach people like, here's what you need to do in your channel to grow, blah, blah, blah, get to the end. If you want to take this to the next level, you can download my guide. It's called 30 Days to a Better YouTube Channel. Go through this course. Every day it's going to, this is the literal pitch. Every day it's going to give you a teaching something you need to know something going to give you action steps, assignments you need to do right then on your channel, and then links to further resources. If you're interested, link down below. Go check it out. So was that like a 10 second pitch? Like really? I'm not like hard selling. It's just really brief. And every time I do that it, I'll convert about 1% of the audience into a sale. So do the math. For a thousand views, that 1% converts. That's 10 sales at $97 a sale compared to the, the $2 and 50 cents that YouTube is gonna give me for the same 1,000 views. Okay, so like do I want 2,000 or 200? Let me do the math right. Yeah. Do I want like $970 or do I want $2.50? So I think there's, there's nothing wrong with the 250. A lot of people do very well at that. They don't want to make product. Usually where people get hung up is more the entertainment channels. You're like, well, I'm not teaching anything. I'm not like selling any like what? And those people, like, often they just need to think differently about the value that they're, that they're creating. If you're like a family vlogging channel or a gaming channel or something, the value often revolves more around perceived relationship and community. And you can make a lot of money selling community online. So it's like, all right, well here's what our community is about. And so you have like, like a good solid brand that says this is what we believe, this is why this matters. If that's you, you join this community and together we're going to like make this difference in the world or we're going to overcome this thing or whatever it is. And you sell community. That way you can make a lot of good money serving your audience. Really well, doing that, too.

I love that. I've almost never heard Anybody say, use YouTube for your direct business. And I mean, I like, love that. Raya. Overdue.

Okay, so my next question is, what is one? Or what strategy or hack did you use to keep people coming back to your YouTube channel and to watch more of you? Like, I saw you were certified by YouTube for audience growth, which is amazing. So what. What is one hack that you use?

All right, I'll give you the hack, but it's not easy. Okay, but if you practice, you can pull it off. Some people do it really well, naturally, but it's. Those people are usually the ones we look to, but they're the exceptions, not the rule. So the hack to get people coming back to your channel over and over and over again, subscribing, telling all their friends, becoming one of your most passionate, loyal viewers and subscribers, is you have to make them feel something. They have to come away with some sort of human emotion, some sort of connection with the brand or the creator. If you just give them really good information and then they leave. Like. Like, for example, I. We have a couple acres here. We have a, you know, zero turn. Lawnmower is like the lap bars. You got to push, you spin around. It's a lot of fun. My. I had to change the alternator in it, and I had no idea how to do it. So I found a YouTube video. It was like, unscrew this bolt, then this one released. Attention here. And I, like, followed it step by step. It was perfect. And then I watched them reverse to put it all back again three hours later. I can't tell you anything about who that person was. I wouldn't even be able to find that video again if I went and tried, except for looking at my history, maybe. So they're very forgettable because all they did is they helped me solve a problem, but they didn't create any sort of connection. There was no, like, story in there. His toy. And, like, you guys are already obviously doing very well in terms of, like, you know, your story. I'm over in India, they're in Vancouver. We were trying to grow this thing together. Here's how it got started. So when people start to feel something, that's when they're. That's when they're going to be way more likely to get engaged. Now, how do you make someone feel something? Right. That's the next question. So the practical way to do this is like, I don't know if we have enough time to get into all that, but I'LL give you a really high level. And then if you want to dig out, you can. Is. There's. There's typically seven signals that people need in order to create meaning and quickly attach themselves to a brand or to a creator or to a series or a show or anything like that. And so I'll go through them really quickly. Number one, the first one is we need to know. Drawing a blank here. Oh, creation story. Like, what is this person's story? Where did they come from? So if we know the person's story immediately, our level of trust in them goes up because now we. We feel like we understand this person a little bit. Number two, we need to understand, what do they believe? What's their creed? Like what? Because online and offline, the strongest communities don't revolve around shared interests. They are common or they revolve around shared beliefs. So if two people believe the same thing, they are way more likely to be like, oh, it's like one thing if we both like fishing, but if we both say, like, oh, fishing is like. Like how I spent time with my grandfather, and it has, like, this deeper meaning to both of you, and you both have that same belief about why fishing matters, you're going to be way more likely to connect and have a lot more conversations. Number three, there needs to be strong rituals. So maybe think about some of your favorite YouTube creators as I'm going through this, and you'll start being able to pick up, like, oh, yeah, I know this person's backstory. Oh, yeah, I know what they represent, what they stand for, their creed, like, what they're. What they believe. Number three, the rituals. These are just the repeated interactions that people grow to love and expect with your brand. Happens in every video. So who are some of your favorite creators? Maybe I'll know some of them I can use as an example. Gary V. Gary V. Oh, he's got tons of rituals. Yeah. What was one of those things that anytime you watch Gary, you can expect him to do that thing.

He'll always say, be positive.

Positive. Yeah. Yep. Yes. He's got. You expect an F word or two. Right. So there's always. There's, like, these rituals that. And he's got. He's loaded with beliefs. Right. You know his backstory. Wine tv. Right. You already know that. And. And so he's got These rituals like PewDiePie, if you've heard of him, he's always like, pewdiepie or Bro Fist or do Perfect. You know, they're. They're always like, they're Celebrating like these rituals, you expect them to do the pound it noggin, see ya at the end of every video. If they don't do that, you're like, you missed a pound. It. They're not like, right.

You feel.

So these aren't things that people get bored of. These are things that create emotion. Like, oh, I love that thing. Number four are icons. These are just the visual representations that people grow to connect with your brand. So whenever they see that thing, they think, oh, that they, they think of that brand. Going through these pretty quickly here. Number five, sacred words. Like, what's the inside language that you use that only people in your community know? And I'm not talking industry. Like, I don't know if you've heard of like, Dave Ramsey maybe, like, he's a big finance guy and finance world has tons of lingo that goes way over my head. But he has very. He still has brand specific lingo. Like you guys say, hey, Tim, how you doing? And I say, doing better than I deserve. And anyone who's a Dave Ramsey fan immediately, Dave Ramsey, that's one of his rituals. It's one of his creeds. But it's also sacred words. So like, I go into Starbucks, I tried drinking coffee 20 years ago. It tasted like burnt water. And I'm like, that sounds. Tastes gross. And people like, yeah, you gotta acquire the taste. And I'm like, I don't want to spend the amount of money I have to spend to acquire that taste. Like, I'm out. So when I go into Starbucks, now they speak a different language. They could have called it a small, medium and large, but instead they call it a benti. I don't even know what's the language, right? They could have, but they changed the language on purpose. So you go in there, you feel like you belong here. I know how to order, right? So you need, you need some. That inside language for your. For your brand. You need non believers. Number six, the haters. Who are the people who are standing against. Who are we not? So the Republicans and Democrats, the political parties here in the US they both feed off of each other because it makes each of them link arms even more because they're standing against opposition saying, or Apple PC, right? Or you've got like game y' all different gamers on YouTube. You've got like a lot of different channels who are saying, we are standing against this thing. And if you don't take a stand for something, no one in your audience will stand with you. So you take this stand, they link arms that solidifies that community even further. Because now you're standing against something. I'm not saying go out and make haters. I'm saying just by the. Just by standing for something. You there, like, for me, at my video creators, you say almost hopefully you hear it a lot, which is we are all about helping people grow their YouTube channel so they can reach people and change more lives. Most people don't believe that with us, most people are like, Master YouTube, feel more popular, Master YouTube, make more money. No one else is. Very few people. I want to master YouTube and change the world. And the people who do believe that with us, though, are the clients that we tend to attract. It's the courage we tend to work with. The people who have. Have some sort of bigger mission behind what they're doing, which is great because we really love working with those creators and getting results for them. So you tend to track the audience base that you want based on those two. The last thing is a leader. I think, in your case is very clear as you guys. But who is the leader? Disney has Mickey Mouse. Apple had Steve Jobs. Who is the person that's, like, leading the charge for this community, for these. Who's teaching people the lingo, the language, who's got this creation story that we really love? And that person is. So I would highly recommend you read a book called Primal Branding. It goes into all of those things in a lot more detail. By the author's name is Patrick Hanlon. So I didn't make any of that up. I just learned from people who are smarter than me. But when you look at other channels and other TV shows or celebrities or anyone who's gotten people to care, those seven things are there. So to come full circle, back to your question, the hack is you got to get people to care, and those seven things will help you get there.

Lovely. So you said it's called Primal Branding?

Primal Branding, yeah, right here. Primal Branding by Patrick Hanlon.

Got it. Interesting cover.

Yeah, it's got a new cover now. This is an older copy, but yeah, very interesting.

I love the answer to that question about the rituals and everything. Like I said, we always start by saying, hey, my name is Avi Arya, father of two girls, six dogs, husband to a superwoman. That's my side of the branding in it. Many, many times when I go on stage, people are like, I need to hear that again. I'm like, what's the big deal about it? But, yeah, I see what you're saying.

And the next time you get up and you say Five dogs. People like what happened, you know, because they're gonna care about your story, you.

Know, and that exact same thing happened because we lost two. I still say six dogs, but we lost two dogs in the last one year. And everybody's like, what happened? And I'm like, you know, that's the wrong story, but. But that's exact same moment happened.

Yes. Yeah, exactly. That's exactly it. That's how it could get people to care.

Okay, so my next question is, what is one mistake you advise to others when starting a YouTube channel? Sorry.

Mistake to avoid. Okay, yeah, there's a couple. I'll just. Let me just do a couple real quick. I'll make them way shorter than the last one, I promise. Is like. Is like thinking that you need to have it all figured out before you get started. So you're going to learn a ton just by doing. We have seven kids. We homeschool our kids. And like you, I think, like, it seems like we have that in common. Like, I just want my kids to learn by doing it. They're going to, like, learn way more hands, like, by being hands on than just taking lots of courses and reading lots of. I think all that's valuable, but, like, let's learn and then let's not, like, keep learning for the sake of not doing so. You don't need to have all the fancy equipment. Just get started with mistake number one. Mistake number two, I think would be starting the YouTube channel and expecting to see growth immediately. And I know, like, from the creator side, like, we're putting a lot of heart and soul and energy and time and money and resources into making this content. And so when you put it up there, you kind of want other people to appreciate it for you. You know, it's like, I worked hard. Why is no one watching? Instead, I would encourage you to think about maybe this, maybe this. Like, as an entrepreneur or any. This works in any. As an athlete, you don't, like, go into the field for the first time and think, I'm going to be an Olympian, like, immediately, right? Musician. You don't sit down and play the piano for the very first time and be like, I'm a concert pianist, right? It takes time, it takes practice. And so I would. I encourage people, like, don't, like, set your expectations. Like, right now I'm getting started. This is my learning phase. This is when I'm going to make a lot of mistakes in front of no one, thankfully. You don't want to be making those mistakes in front of a large audience. And you will make mistakes. So get them out now and focus on right now. Like the beginning stages of like I'm just learning how to edit. I'm learning how to tell a good story story, like follow a three act structure. I am learning how to find my voice. I'm learning who my audience is, how I can best connect with them. I'm just learning a ton. And then at the point where you're like, okay, I think I've got this down. Which will be never. But after you've got like the growth and the learning is like started to slow, you're like, okay, now let's switch from the Quantity game on YouTube. The switch to the quality game. So let me. Instead of doing like a video a week, I'm going to back off. I'm going to do one mind blowing video a month. Or maybe you're doing like three videos a week. I'm going to back off and do one amazing video a week that I'm focusing on because there's no like the quantity game is over on YouTube. There is no lack of quantity right now. It's like can you surface to the top by beating everyone else on quality? And that quality is in production. Quality is story is feeling. How do you get someone to feel someone? And that and the more intense the feelings, the more likely those videos going to share. People are going to come back and watch more. I just watched the video from this week from Mark Rober, if you guys know who he is on YouTube. I forget the exact title of his video but he basically made a ninja warrior obstacle course for the squirrels in his backyard. You see that? Yeah. And so at the end of it though, like I did not expect someone I clicked on out of curiosity. But by the end of that 15 minutes I, I was actually rooting for the squirrels. I was feeling, I was like, what happened? Why am I cheering squirrels? Cheering for squirrels. And at the end like it, I won't spoil it, but there's like really good like the character transformation at the end of that story. It was not what I was expecting. I was. He just followed a perfect three act structure through the whole thing. And at the end I was like, I was waiting for the transformation and he took it to a whole new level and I felt something and I shared that video. So the mistake. Yeah. So anyway, I said I wasn't gonna make it long. Sorry. Maybe I'm like, you guys, I can't stop talking. That's what a good. So yeah, I get those things.

Tim. Today a lot of people Are saying, you know, just get started with your smartphone and become a YouTube creator. Are you like, you know, you, you, you, you still look the same. I was going to say what do you do to take care of your health? But that could be a separate conversation. You look this pretty much the same since you've been creating videos, you know, last so many years, but you're still a veteran in your field. So would you frown down upon people who are using their cell phones to become YouTube creators?

No. I worked with a creator. Oh, shoot. A few months ago. I don't remember how long, but a few months ago. And he had 300,000 subscribers and no editing at all. All done on his phone. The videos all start as if you were like a ritual of the finger coming away from the camera. When he presses record, talks about his thing, you see the finger go up. At the end, it stops and he just uploads it straight to YouTube from his phone. 300,000 subs. So but. So it wasn't about the camera, the gear, the quality, but he was making people feel something, was giving them the information that they really needed when they needed it. So that's. And the quality of his brand really high. Like people knew exactly what they're going to get. They wanted to subscribe. The next one always delivered so that the target audience and that he was going after and the value proposition that he was delivering were both very clear. So it made it easy for people to quickly jump on board and want to watch more too.

Yeah, so. So maybe continuing a story, talking about something and saying, you know, leaving a cliffhanger and asking people to come back again.

You could do that. The likelihood of them actually coming back is low. We haven't seen much success on getting. It takes way more effort than you might think to get someone to click on to the next video in a part two series. I would say just put it all in one video and just hold their attention for an hour and a half or whatever. They end up like, don't split it up. If it's one self contained story, just do like a movie. Don't separate it. Unless you're like a trilogy. But who really likes it when Lord of the Rings is like, I gotta wait for the next one now I still remember that let down in the theaters back in where that was early 2000s or something. Yeah, put it all on one, I'd say.

So my second question is, you said that you had homeschooled your kids and.

That asked my dad to do the same. Sure.

Sorry.

And that I would think that you would spend a lot of time with them, but like, if you got a lot of interviews and how do you balance out your family time if you're a business time.

You guys are not asking quick, easy questions. These are good. I don't think of it in terms of balance. I think of it in terms of priority. And so for me, there's kind of like there's all these competing priorities. And I have to say, based on my beliefs and my values, what comes first, what comes second, what comes third, and, and eventually at the end of the day, time's going to run out and anything that's below that red line just doesn't happen. But I'll have gotten the most important things done as opposed to thinking everything has equal priority because and other people's emergencies must now become my emergencies. Like it, it just doesn't. So I think about more like priorities. And so we've kind of prioritized some of that stuff. And there are some seasons where you're just like, you know what family? Right now I've got this big launch, or we just brought on 30 new clients, or like right now I'm bringing out three new clients this week. So we're like, I just need a little extra time. They're understanding. I'm not saying it never fluctuates, but if that becomes a lifestyle or an ongoing rhythm, then I think that becomes unhealthy. So I read a really good book called the Pumpkin Plan by Mike Michalowicz. And in there he said something that was really helpful. Basically, the way that you grow a prize winning pumpkin is similar to how you grow a. A really successful business or YouTube channel, which is you need a prize winning seed slash idea and you need to plant it and you start watering it and nurturing it just like you guys are doing, right? And then as that vine continues to grow, in order to grow the big prize winning pumpkin, you got to cut off all the other pumpkins that are growing on the vine. So all the nutrients goes to just one pumpkin on the vine. He describes his other pumpkins as distractions that are disguised as opportunities. And I get those all the time in my business, so I can tell you the whole story. But I ended up letting go of a whole bunch of clients, cut my revenue down by 30%, which was not sustainable for us at the time. And I want to be like, what can I be the best in the world at? And let me just focus on doing that one thing really well and cutting off all the distractions. So very regularly, my team and I, and for our family, my wife and I, we sit down and we're just like, we're cutting this off, we're cutting that off. And even though like, I just had a potentially six figure deal that I just turned down like a few days ago because it sounds like a good opportunity, but I think ultimately it's a distraction. And so I said I don't have time for that. It's more important for me to take care of the clients we're onboarding right now and make sure that they have a good experience than it is for me to get another six figures over here.

So, yeah, that makes us feel so, so special. Thank you. Because you've taken out this time and you also sent us the video prior to the thing. So thank you so much for it makes us feel very special. Thank you so, so much for carving out that time for us.

Yeah. So my last question is, we use the term Internet moguls a lot. And for us, an Internet mogul means someone who spends quality time with their family, but also works hard on growing their business and improving on their business. So what would your definition of an Internet mogul be?

That's a good question. The first thing that comes to mind for me, I don't know if this is what I would stick to if I thought about it longer, but the first thing comes to mind for me is someone, let me go back to what I said before. Someone who has figured out, let's say this way, someone who has done a good job at systematizing how they create, deliver and capture value. And with this time, the emphasis is on the system. Because if it's just like you can become an Internet mogul and hate your life because you are doing all these things like, like, and you can't. Like, well, like in my case, how else? No one else knows how to grow YouTube channels like I do. No one else, like, how am I going to scale that system? Because, like, no one else has spent like eight or how many years, whatever, 14, whatever years it's been on the platform, like learning all the ins and outs of this stuff. And so I had a big system scalability issue I kept bumping into that meant I can only take on so many clients I could. I kept jacking up my prices, which helped, but I, what I really wanted to do is help more people not make more money. And so, like, how do I solve that problem? And I had to figure out systems of like, okay, here's the system. We follow that to grow a YouTube channel and it had. And we got it now or took a few years. But that's like 100% success rate for anyone who does the work in about eight weeks. Most people about double in eight weeks and then keep growing even. Like we have someone going through right now with a million and a half subs and he's great. So it's. So now I teach that system to other people who now can work with our clients, which gives me the freedom now to spend more time with family and not be as stressed and know that we are collectively have system downplays that are serving people really well. So E Myth was a really good book that helped me with that.

What's that again?

E. Myth.

Emyth.

Yeah, Emyth revisited why most small businesses fail or something like that. So the systems was really, really important.

It's just so much fun reading a book when it's recommended by somebody. I just want to read every, every page of it. Otherwise it's difficult to read books or even watch a movie.

Oh man. I think books are such. And I didn't always feel this way. Like I went through, was homeschooled, went through college, went through graduate school, got my master's degree and I was done with books for years. Like I was like, I read too many books I didn't care about. But here I am now a little like couple decade or two later, whatever it's been, and I'm like, books are an amazing source of like really like helpful, deep information in a very inexpensive format. So I listen to audiobooks now because I can do that while I mow the lawn or work in the garage or something like that. But yeah, super helpful. If you want one more recommendation, I would say A Million Miles in a Thousand Years by Donald Miller. That book really changed the way how I present content, how I run my business, how I live my life. It was like I did not expect it, but it was. It's basically how he took his life story that was turned into a major or turned into. It was a New York Times most bestseller and how they turned it, that story of his life into a major motion picture film. So it's perfect for any YouTube creator who's like, how do I tell my story on video in a way that engages an audience. And in true mana fashion, he tells the entire. He teaches you how to tell an engaging story by telling you one long engaging story.

Sam.