We recently wrapped up our last session of Video Labs for 2021 and each session, we like to grab a few creators from the class and ask them what stood out to them the most in Video Labs.

We want to know the lessons they learned, what they’re experimenting with, and what has proven to have made the largest impact on their channel.

We actually got together LIVE on the Video Creator’s YouTube Channel and chatted about some of the things our Video Labs students noticed moving the needle in their channel the most.

If you’ve been reading these emails for a while, this won’t be new information to you.

But I’d encourage you to read this or listen to the podcast episode above with fresh eyes/ears. Here’s what our students had to say.

  1. Optimize your content for REAL people, not for robots. After completing Video Labs, the first video ____ posted not only outperformed any of his former videos, but he had viewers coming up to him in real life telling him that they were crying while watching his video because they were so emotionally connected to his video and it only took off from there. THIS is what you gets you growth on YouTube… not stuffing as many keywords as possible into your metadata. 😉
  2. Title, thumbnail, and hook is KING. Most creators are not giving these things the “respect” they deserve. These HAVE to be thought out before the video and they have to make sense together. They have to tell a story together and entice the viewer to want to click on their video. You can’t do this when you’re putting together a title or thumbnail seconds before hitting ‘publish’. Don’t be afraid to experiment. This is a skill that takes time because when it comes down to it, they’re all elements of storytelling. They’re the first things a viewer sees and they quickly decide if it’s worth it or not for them to stick around. If your videos aren’t performing the way you want them to, it’s just time to try something new.
  3. Telling a story IS the way that you grow your channel. As an education channel, ________, one of our Video Lab’s students, asked his wife if she remembered the name of a fellow education channel that helped them learn how to fix their car. While the video was crazy helpful, she just couldn’t remember and this struck a chord with ________. He realized there was NO connection there and it made him think about how he creates on his own channel. Think about the best teacher you’ve ever had. They still taught you whatever the course material was, but they packaged it in a way that was fun and engaging. That’s what we need to do as creators (yes, even you educational channels) in order to create that connection that leaves your viewers wanting to come back.

Do any of these resonate with you? Remember, we’re talking about developing skills here, not flipping on a “hack” or a secret switch.

It’s going to take time. Not every video needs to be your best performing video ever.

Give yourself grace and patience to develop these skills.

And let us know what you’re learning!

Thanks for reading. :)

Keep changing lives,

Tim