Why Most Online Business Owners FAIL On YouTube…

If you have more than a thousand subscribers here on YouTube, you are in the top 10% of all YouTube channels. That's right. 90% of people who start a YouTube channel will never even make it to 1,000 subscribers. I'm going to tell you a huge part of that. 90% of channels that never make it to a thousand subscribers are course creators, coaches and service providers because they aren't doing YouTube right. I've been a YouTube strategist for multi six and seven figure business owners who want to use YouTube to generate more leads, to generate more sales and to book more clients. And I'm going to share in this video five things that most course creators and coaches do wrong here on YouTube that leads to feeling burnt out, failure and quitting YouTube altogether without seeing the true power that YouTube can have in your business. If you're brand new to my channel, my name is Trina and I'm a YouTube strategist for course creators, coaches and service providers. I focus on teaching business owners how to generate revenue from their YouTube channel and not focus on vanity metrics like subscribers and views because that's not what's going to bring you cash to your bank. I'm going to get started first with this big reason why most businesses fail on YouTube and it might feel a little personal because it is. Most course creators and coaches end up failing on YouTube because they get discouraged way too quickly. They never actually find that process or that system to be consistent on YouTube. That's going to result in leads in sales, basically compounding on each other. Hear me out on this one. In a world full of instant gratification, like I could go on Amazon right now and have something to my house by the end of the day. In addition to constantly hearing the importance of needing to go viral, viral is the answer. I see businesses get started on YouTube all the time, buy all the fancy crap, set up all the nice backgrounds and film some videos. Then they post like three to four videos onto their channel and for some weird fact, none of them go viral and none of them have hundreds of thousands of views on them. Then those business owners just assume, well, YouTube isn't going to work for me. I didn't get any views. Not worth my effort, friend. This is not how YouTube works. YouTube is a long term game. YouTube is not a sprint, it is a marathon. And your videos need to be there when your audience needs you most, when they're trying to solve that problem that you can solve for them, you solve that problem for when they need you most. Boom. Cash in the bank, because you booked that client, you sold that course to them, they're going to be ready to buy from you. But this isn't going to happen instantaneously on YouTube. This also kind of ties into a part B of this big reason why most businesses fail on YouTube. And it's because they don't stay consistent on YouTube to see the results. Here's the thing. Being an online business owner isn't easy. You can't just phone it in. If you want to see success, you have to take it seriously. I have made it a priority to show up here on YouTube mostly every single week for the last seven years. And that's even getting through a pandemic with a 3 and 5 year old. I still showed up here every Single Week on YouTube and it shows in my business. I've made over half a million dollars for multiple years in a row with YouTube being my number one source of lead generation. It's really the same theory for any kind of content you're going to create. If you're going to have a podcast, if you want to grow on Instagram, if you want to grow on TikTok, you need to learn it, you need to create a strategy, you need to commit to it and show up consistently if you want to reap the benefits of that platform. All right, getting a little bit fired up on this one. So let's move on to the second reason why so many businesses fail on YouTube. This one may actually be a surprise for you, but. But it's because they aren't watching other YouTube videos. They think they know what their video needs to be and they just slap videos up. But they aren't actually taking the time to watch YouTube videos, to see how people are editing YouTube videos, to see what the formula of a YouTube video looks like. You aren't looking at other people in your niche to see how they are creating content and what videos and styles their audience is enjoying. I mean, if you think about it, you can't just pop a Pinterest pin like formatted for Pinterest over on an Instagram feed because it's just not gonna fit. Pinterest pins are generally long and skinny and Instagram is pretty much a square. And YouTube is the same way. You can't just throw up whatever content that you want over on YouTube and expect to see results doing it. This is definitely a big one for when I see people posting podcasts on YouTube. I think absolutely, you can have a podcast on YouTube and see it grow, but you have to be producing that Podcast with the idea in advance that it is going to be on YouTube. You just can't, you know, record yourself doing a podcast interview, slap it up on YouTube and expect people to watch it. That's not how people interact and consume YouTube content. So what I encourage all of my clients that I work with and any business owner wanting to get started on YouTube or see real results from their YouTube channel is take some time to watch some YouTube videos, look at creators in your niche, look at some of their most popular videos. And I'm not necessarily looking at the topics, but look at the style of the video. Is it a topic head? Is it a story time? Is it a vlog where you're walking with them? Because sometimes we completely over complicate what our videos need to be on YouTube when all it really needs to be is what I'm doing right here, a talking head video, which takes me about 30 minutes to do per video that I create. I would also take note of styles of videos that you like, editing styles that you like, maybe backgrounds that you like as well so that you have an idea, when you're ready to commit to your YouTube channel, of what you envision it to see. Almost like a vision board for your YouTube channel. But basing the vision board off of what's actually working on YouTube. I will throw in here that I do think it's important to stay up to date with YouTube. Finding a few channels in different niches that you like to watch, spending time each week just watching a few YouTube videos. I still watch some of the mommy vloggers that I used to watch back in my 2015 days. I also watch some coaching. I also watch some health and fitness channels. I like to see what are styles that they are doing, how are they changing things up, how are they staying fresh? Because a lot of these channels are dedicated content creators and they're always trying to find ways to make their content better. So if I see them make a shift or a change, I'm going to be interested in to see what is that shift and change that they're making and how can I take that idea and implement it into my channel for what I like to do. Another side benefit of doing this, watching YouTube videos is if you and when you decide to work with a video editor, if you can provide, provide that video editor samples, examples of what you want your video to look like, the editing style that you want to look like, your relationship with that video editor is going to be so much better. And the video you get after they are done editing it is going to be so much closer to what you envisioned if you can understand the type of editing that goes on in YouTube and communicate that to your video editor. The third reason why so many online course creators and coaches fail on YouTube is because they focus so much on beginner content or tutorial content, for example, like how to get started video editing for beginners, copywriting for beginners, sales funnels for beginners. That style of content. The most saturated content here on YouTube is beginner content because pretty much anybody can talk about beginner content and that's where most people focus their time on. So if you are trying to start a channel or you have a channel and you're not seeing traction and you're in that beginner area, it is going to be so difficult for you to break out amongst all the other beginner content that's been up there, that's gained views and followers and that's really built its authority over on YouTube. You're just not going to crack that. If you want to see results from YouTube leads, sales clients, you've got to stop focusing on beginner content. The other reason, other than it being saturated, is people who are watching beginner content do not value you. They're going to come to your beginner content, your how to content, they're going to watch it, they're going to find the area that they need help with and they piece out. They're not looking for additional help, they're not looking for a coach, they're not looking for a course. They're getting what they need in that video and they are gone. So what happens is the viewers that you gain from these tutorial videos, these beginner videos are very low value because they do not convert into sales. I'm going to tell you, this has happened on multiple videos of mine from one way back, multiple years ago till I came to this realization and I tested it and I saw it on multiple clients and I have since deleted two very beginner videos that were gaining me tens of thousands of views and deleted them because what that was doing was telling the algorithm this is the best type of person to come to my channel. And they were beginner viewers. And that's not what I'm here focused on. I'm here focused on serious course creators, coaches and one on one service providers who are ready to use YouTube to scale their business, to commit to YouTube and see actual sales and clients coming from YouTube, not somebody just learning how to get started on YouTube for the heck of it. They have more specific questions that they need to have answered here on this channel. So that means you as a content creator here on YouTube that wants to get leads to your business needs to be focused on more, I would say advanced content. And I talk more about this idea of the advanced viewer that you should be targeting in this video. Video right here. I would definitely save that video to watch after this because it goes into detail on why beginner Betty is not the person you should be targeting. Because one, they haven't committed to really learning the specialty that you are teaching and they may not have the money yet to invest in that either because they're just dipping their toe in your specialty. Whereas if you look at expert Esther, that is somebody that knows what they want, they know what their end game is and they know that they need to invest time and money into somebody to help them get there. And again, that video goes into way more detail about that. I would encourage you to watch that because this is a huge mistake that so many businesses make here on YouTube and why so many of them fail because their beginner videos don't lead to core sales or coaching clients for them. The next reason why so many course creators and coaches fail here on YouTube is they don't have a strategic content plan for YouTube. Most of the time they're looking at their list of ideas and they're just basically picking one from a hat. They're like, I like that one, I like that one. Next week I'm going to do that one. Next week I'm going to do this one. And there's no strategic thought out plan for the content that they're putting on YouTube. There are two reasons why you've got to have a strategic content plan on YouTube. The first reason is you want to be creating content that is bingeable series, meaning somebody is going to watch the first video, second video, third video, fourth video, right? They are watching multiple videos of you. The reason why, number one is YouTube is going to promote content and promote channels that keep people on the YouTube platform. How does YouTube make money? By showing ads. How can they show more ads and make more money? If you can get a person to watch more content, if you can get a person to stay on YouTube longer. So if you are able to do that with videos that get people to watch one after another after another, YouTube is going to do all the hard work for you and promote your videos. You don't even need to pay YouTube like over on Facebook when you got to cut Zuckerberg a check. If you create bingeable content, YouTube values that YouTube appreciates that, and they're going to put your videos in front of more people. But you've got to be able to create this string of videos that people want to binge watch. Which leads to the second reason why you need to be creating these bingeable videos as well. It's because you need to warm up your viewer. The more content a viewer watches of you, the warmer that lead becomes. So when you create a series and you anticipate this viewer's journey through your YouTube content, and they watch, say, video one, and at the end of video one, you recommend they watch video two, and they were like, how did she know I need that video? And they watch video two. At the end of video two, you recommend they watch the third video and they're like, oh, my gosh, this person is in my head. How did she know I needed that Next? So you are showing that viewer, you clearly understand their pain points and where they're at right now while you're also making YouTube happy. And so what happens is this very cold viewer who maybe has never seen any content from you, find you on a YouTube video 30, 40 minutes later, they've watched three or four videos of yours and they are hot. They are a hot lead, and they are ready to work with you, sign up with you, or even get a free lead magnet from you. This is the power of really thinking through your YouTube content and, and ensuring there is a clear series, there is a clear flow, a viewer journey with your series. I'm going to tell you, in real life, this happens all the time. I cannot tell you how many emails I get of people who have bought my course or signed up for my coaching program and said, trina, I just finished watching multiple videos of you. I seriously just binge your content. I knew I needed to work with you. In fact, one example, I literally had the flu. My kids and I had the flu. And one of my eventual clients ended up watching a video for me. The first time she ever saw me watch, I think she said seven or eight more videos reached out to me, asked me how she can get into the agency, told me she will do whatever I need to get signed up while I was sick with the flu. By the end of that weekend, she had already paid her first month's invoice and was signed up for her strategy session that week. I ended up working with that client for over a year. And that one particular client that binge watched my content, that signed up to work with me without even talking to me one on one, ended up generating over $40,000 of revenue for me in my production agency. This is why you need to have a solid content plan on YouTube. Now if you are interested in learning more about figuring your audience out and developing who your audience is into a solid content on YouTube, I deep dive into this topic specifically in my workshop Profit Purview. If you go to trina little.com forward/ppv you can sign up for that live workshop and you can learn exactly how I create this content plan after I clearly understand what my viewers journey is going to be by defining who my ready to buy audience is. I'm telling you, if you want to have a solid content plan on YouTube that creates binge worthy videos to make the algorithm happy in your bank account happy, go get into this workshop@trinalittle.com ppd Reason number 5 Most business owners fail is one that gets me a little wound up. So I'm going to try to keep it real in here. But it's business owners not taking the time to audit and review their YouTube analytics. YouTube wants you to be successful. Like I said earlier, the more people watch your videos, the more money YouTube makes. So they are going to give you all the information that you need to know to make your videos better so that you can reach more people and they're watching more of your content. But you have to be dedicated to take your time to read your analytics. And I listen. My to do list is a mile long as well. I've got clients, I've got kids, I've got soccer practice. All of the things go on in my life as well. But if I don't take the time to look at my audience retention graphs, my click through rates, dive into my analytics at least an hour a month, I may keep doing something that's not working. And why would I want to keep doing the same thing over and over and over if it's not working? In fact, I kind of hit that area a few weeks ago. So we took the last two weeks off on my channel for me to reset, for me to take the time to dig into my analytics and really develop a new content strategy based on what my analytics were telling me. Because if I'm not happy with my results, it's because I'm not taking the time to look at my analytics and figure out how can I do better. Because I want to reach more people. I want to help more course creators and coaches utilize the power that YouTube can have in their business to scale their business. I can't do that. If I keep doing Things that aren't working here on YouTube. And I know another reason why most business owners don't jump into YouTube analytics is because there is a lot of data in there and it can be overwhelming at first to jump in and figure out what even should I be looking at. So I'm going to tell you two of the most important metrics that you can look at and just kind of make some decisions and make some changes based on two metrics would be your click through rate and your audience retention graph. So your click through rate is going to tell you how well when YouTube shows that video to people, are they clicking on it? Listen, if people aren't clicking on your video, your video is going to get buried by YouTube. It doesn't matter how professionally edited, how professionally filmed, how amazing your content is. If your title and your thumbnail does not get people to click, nobody's ever going to see it because YouTube says I'm not wasting our valuable real estate on the homepage, on the search, on the suggested on a video, people aren't clicking. So that's the one metric you should be looking at for every single video and figure out how to do better. Now YouTube says a good click through rate for a thumbnail is between 2 to 10%. I just tell my clients to try to do better every single video. What can you do to improve that click through rate? Because that's going to be key to seeing more growth, to seeing more people come to your channel, to seeing YouTube promote your content to more people if you can get people to actually click on it. Now the other thing I mentioned was your audience retention graph. Now you may think your content is great, but your audience retention graph is going to be facts. You've got to look at this graph and be totally unbiased. Because if you see 80% of people are leaving your video within the first minute, something isn't hitting. Now it could be a lot of different things. It could be that your title and your thumbnail, maybe it was clickbaity promise, something that you didn't deliver on in the first minute and people weren't willing to wait to hear about it. Maybe you didn't hook them enough to make them intrigued to want to keep watching your video. Or maybe you just open your video really terribly. And what I see a lot of business owners do is they open their video with these trailers or like this music in their logo and people don't want to watch that. The other thing I see business owners do as well is they try to be youtuber ish and they open their video saying, hey, how's it going? You know, business here is great. And they have this chatty type intro. When you're building your YouTube strategy as a business owner, we don't do that. We want to provide value. We want to give our viewer a quick win to show them our authority and our expertise. So you need to be also looking at your audience retention graphs to figure out how can you create better content. In fact, I did this for this particular video. I went back to my audience retention graphs in my analytics and I looked at the top videos that I had for audience retention in the first minute and I started to figure out, okay, what did I say? How did I enter this? What is the best way to really hook people that I can see for my analytics? And that's why I opened this video by giving you a really big statistic about how many people actually make it to a thousand subscribers here on YouTube. So I'm telling you, if you don't want to fail on YouTube, take 45 minutes, maybe an hour to just each month look at your data in YouTube. Listen, I've been on YouTube for over seven years and in the YouTube world I only have 52,000 subscribers because that's considered a small channel. But like I said earlier, with this little channel I've been able to grow my business from literally.07 years ago to hitting multi six figure revenue numbers. In fact over half a million dollars for the past two years using YouTube with my tiny channel. YouTube can be a game changer in your business if you do it right. But there are a few habits that I really had to learn and figure out on how to show up here consistently on YouTube. I'm going to be sharing the best habits that I have incorporated into my life to remain consistent here on YouTube to see that kind of results in the video that's on your screen right now. So if you're wondering what habits I've done, click on that video right now to watch. And like I said earlier, if you are looking to learn more about all the pieces in creating a revenue generating YouTube channel, make sure you check out my Profit per view workshop. Thank you so much for watching and subscribe. So I'll see you in that next video.