Advice for building a successful YouTube channel - TGIM #1

Hey guys, so in my private mastermind group this morning I got a couple questions asked about video and I thought the best way to do it was to make a video response and I wanted to also prove a point. I'm posting this video unedited, it's morning, I haven't shaved, I just threw on a shirt, I'm not using any lighting, I'm just filming off my iPad, I'm using a terrible angle, but I'm still posting it onto my YouTube channel. Because not every video has to be the same and not every video has to be super polished and professional. And way more important is the message and you being great and you being able to get the words out of your face and onto the camera. That's way more important than how polished a video looks. And so there's two people who wrote in with questions. I'm gonna answer them both here quickly today. First was Maria, who wrote in to say, "Should I be very relaxed in my introduction video or highly professional with a different look?" Honestly, Maria, the best advice I can give you there is to be you. You could spend tons of time trying to figure out how to be a great editor, a great producer, how to do lighting, how to do effects, or you can spend your time focused on being Maria and being awesome and getting your message out. If that editing and lighting and all that is something that you want to learn and you're interested in, then by all means go for it, but if it's not, then stop focusing on things that you're weak at and focus on your strengths and figure out how can Maria be better on camera. Because regardless if it's professional or not, you could have the most professional video in the world, but if you're not great, it's not going to get any results. Where you could have a really crappy quality video, but if you're amazing on it, you're going to get some good responses, you're going to get subscribers, you're going to start achieving your goals. So I'd say figure out what you want to be Figure out where your interest lies and focus on that. And from knowing you and from watching some of your videos, I would say the more relaxed look would be more natural for you, would be more personal for you. And just think about that one video that you already posted, already got attention from big companies and people who are on the Twitter chat that we're involved in. And so I would say do more of that, be more that. But again, you know, at the end of the day, Be you, do what feels right. Next one was, do I pick a weekly topic or just announce my weekly topic? I like having a series. I like having different videos coming out on different days and having a regular series because people may come for one video that you post, and if you never post again about that kind of topic, they're going to bounce. But I'd also say don't always be restricted to making videos on a certain day. I try to figure out how you can be more in the moment. And post videos that get you excited and get you passionate. If something happens that you want to make a video about, don't wait until Saturday because that's video recording day. Make a quick video right now. Get out your phone, get out your iPad, get out your laptop and start recording. Just like this, you know, I have my regular series that I put out on regular days, but this is a quick response. I saw your questions, but I'm going to make a video right now and I'm going to post it up. So it's great to have a weekly topic, but don't get so locked into it that you forget to be in the moment and you forget to experiment and try and take on new things, especially in the startup phase of a channel because you don't know what you're doing yet, right? You're trying to figure it out. And so experimentation is really important. And so having different weekly topics is great, but also, you know, staying vibrant and energetic and doing something right in the moment as it happens is also really important to try. and then would it be best to put several videos weekly out there and promote them? The number of videos that you put up, I would say, really depends on how consistent you can put out great content. So on my channel, I have 2 videos that come out every day. I guess today, Monday, now is going to be 3 videos. But the videos are good, right? I'm proud of the videos that we make. Not a lot of people can keep up with that schedule to make 2 videos every day and post them up. So you want to be just conscious of not posting crap. And so how frequently can you create great content? That's how frequently you want to be posting it up. And there were videos that I posted that may have taken like multiple takes, right? I remember when I was working on my foundation story with my agent, why I started this business, getting onto video, I did 30-something takes of that. I made a whole video on it. It would be like an 8 to 10 minute video. Sent it to him. He's like, "No, do it again because we got to fix." 30 times, right? Tons of these videos that were posted as unlisted before I got to the one that was my, you know, true story that got out there that went live and published. And so as frequently as you can post great content, that's when you want to be putting it up. And if that means once a week, then that's once a week. But again, you know, the more you post great content, the more subscribers you're going to get. But just don't post crap because you need to keep to an every day of the week schedule. Okay, next up was Rich, who had a bunch of questions about his website. And Rich, I'll, I'll respond to that privately and send you another unlisted video. But about the videos, he was talking about should all videos have the same format? And I'd say no. And especially, you know, back, back to the point with Maria, you're, you're starting up your channel, you don't have a huge base yet. And so you, again, you don't want to lock lock yourself into only doing things one way because you got to still experiment. And I look at the videos on my channel still, and I have 50,000 subscribers, I have 6 million views, I'm still experimenting, right? Like, not all my videos have the same format. I try to keep to a, a structure, right? I try to keep to a schedule where, you know, I have my top 10 videos, I have my espresso series, but even those Totally changed. Like, Enespresso is my morning video series that comes out at 7 AM Monday to Friday. That is brand new. That's like a month old or something. And so I totally changed around my schedule, rejigged the whole thing after still having a channel for, what's it, 6 years now? And just changed it all around to try out this new Enespresso thing. And if it didn't work and I didn't like it, I would stop it and go do something else. And so don't get so worried about having a consistent format. Instead, focus on producing content that you're proud of and you want to explore and try out. And I know you're all about inspiration and inspire is your word. And so you need to be inspired, right? And if you're always locked into doing the same thing each time, I think you'll lose that inspiration pretty quickly. Next one was intros on each. Should you have introductions on each video? I would say no, and here's what I've done with it. In the introduction, I think of two things. One of me saying, "Hi, I'm Evan Carmichael and here's what I do." And the other is having a logo. And at the start, I did do a lot of, "Hi, I'm Evan Carmichael and here's what I do." And then I started watching some channels. The big one was Casey Neistat, and he never says what he does. He never says really who he is in the intro. Like, it comes out in the video, and, and he's got tons of subscribers and tons of views. You know, a lot of his videos get to 100,000 views overnight and then get to millions. And I found it interesting, like, when I'm the guy who has a million subscribers, am I gonna say, "Hi, I'm Evan Carmichael," on each video? And I was thinking, probably not. And if you want to be that guy who has a million subscribers, then you gotta start acting like the guy who has a million subscribers. And so that's what I started to do. I just started having the confidence, and with each video, I'm looking at it and making it feeling like I already have a million subscribers and taking on that mindset. Uh, and so I found that that really helps me in my videos, and so I've taken out— I don't say who I am at all on any of my videos, I don't think. Pretty sure I don't. Uh, and then the logos, I like using different logos with different types of videos, and this is something that is pretty brand new and something I'm experimenting with, but every video will have my logo— almost every video, this one doesn't because it's not edited, but we'll have the airplane coming out and Has Believe and all that. Um, and then I'm trying to make a branded logo intro for each series that I have. So the Enespresso series in the morning has its own logo as well, where there's this coffee cup that comes up and smoke is coming out and you hear the rooster calling because it's supposed to be morning. And so I'm looking at making a new logo intro for each of the videos that I have. Last up was, uh, how do you post? YouTube or blog? What's the sharing process? Uh, so my process would be to post to YouTube and then embed that link on your other sources. So if you want to put it on your blog, then don't just upload the video to your blog, put it to YouTube and then embed it on your site. With Facebook, what I do is a little bit different where you have two options. You can either link it to your YouTube channel, right? You could post a link to your Facebook page or your personal Facebook with a link to your YouTube video. Or you can upload the video natively to Facebook. And what I've been doing more now is uploading the video natively to Facebook. What you have to figure out is what is your goal? If your goal is to get as many YouTube numbers as possible, then you want to upload the video to YouTube and just link it in your Facebook page. But if your goal is to reach more people, have a bigger impact, then it shouldn't matter if it's on YouTube, if it's on Facebook, somewhere else. You're just trying to have the reach. Then upload natively to Facebook. The reason is if you upload the video to Facebook, then you're gonna get more views than if you just share a link to a YouTube video, because the Facebook guys, they don't want you leaving, they don't want you going to YouTube. They want you to put the videos on their own site so they rank that higher. So that's what I would do. Post to YouTube, and if you really want some big impact, then post it to Facebook as well natively. And on your blog embed the video from your YouTube channel. And his last question was, "What are inspiring— sorry, what are interesting video topics for us to watch?" What I'm curious about, so on your channel, you know, you have the motivational videos, you've done the interview series. I'd love to see more of you, and I know you're all about inspire. I'd love to know what inspires you, and, you know, maybe it's little things like you go to the park with your son and he does something that inspires you. Or maybe you read a blog post or watch a video that inspires you. Or maybe you're sharing some lessons from a famous entrepreneur or famous photographer or videographer, and that inspires you. I'd love to know a little bit more about the man behind the camera. And I would continue with the other series, right? I continue doing the motivational videos, I continue doing the interview series, and I try to make that consistent. I try to have a schedule that people could get used to. So, you know, every Saturday morning a new interview comes out. 'Cause if I sign up for an interview, you know, if I subscribe to your channel for one kind of video and then you stop doing that or it's inconsistent, I'm probably going to unsubscribe. So I try to keep those videos consistent as long as you enjoy doing them, as long as that's still part of your flow and what you love doing. But then I'd also add in a new series talking about you, things you're going through, your thought process, a message that you have to inspire people, because I think that adds so much more personal element to it, and you're much more likely to get clients and subscribers when they can see the guy behind the camera. So those are my quick thoughts. I'm going to post this in the Mastermind Group page. Continue to believe. Have a great day. I'll see you guys soon.