The YouTube hamster wheel has gotten the best of many of us (myself included.) We want to grow, get more views, get more subs, make more money, etc. But, it all comes at a price. And many people never get there because they focus on the wrong things. A couple weeks ago, I was able to sit down with Justin Brown from ​Primal Video ​and talk about just this.

During our interview, Justin broke it all down into 3 things to focus on in order to help you grow a massive YouTube audience for your business, without sacrificing everything you love in the process.

Justin has spent 8 years on YouTube. His background is actually behind the camera. He originally had a career making documentaries for Netflix, but the moment he stepped in front of the camera, like many YouTubers, it all went out the window. Now, he helps entrepreneurs, business owners, and content creators grow their audiences and revenue online using video.

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Quality over Quantity

YouTube is not only physically draining but emotionally draining. Most people go into the YouTube grind and just do whatever they feel like you have to do. They keep hustling, grinding and sacrificing themselves and their families to make it to the finish line. But, you have to figure out what works for your channel and what works for you. His goal is to help others grow massive YouTube audiences without sacrificing their time and energy. This is possible! But, it all comes down to strategy. There’s no one size fits all. It is possible to just post once a week if you are intentional and posting the right video that adds value first and keeps the viewer in mind. We are in the quality game, not quantity anymore. And you can do that by focusing on these three things.

1) Get Viewed

First of all, you must have a strategy for having your video show up on YouTube. Be strategic with your content. What do they people want to see? Not everyone will have a video go viral. So don’t expect this. There is so much content out there, so you need to be strategic of what you’re putting out.

To assist with this, try searching! Start typing on search and see what the autofill fills in. And think past just the topic. Think about the audience. If people are looking for this specific phrase, what does that tell you about the viewer. Are they a novice or an expert in this field? What do they want from this video? Don’t just speak from where you are at. Speak to where they are at. This “keyword research” is not geared towards cramming words into our title or metadata. Instead, think of it more as “ideation research.” The point is to understand your audience better. This all comes back to adding value for the viewer.

You can also use this to look for patterns. Say, you are doing a video reviewing a mattress. You notice that all the top videos have a thumbnail the face of the creator looking tired and a mattress without any sheets or blankets. Maybe you can take this thumbnail that is working for people and tweak it to make it even better. Also, see how they begin. Do they all have similar hooks? Maybe you can take that and make it your own. The point is just to do some recon to see what’s successful and use it as a jumping off point.

2) Get Clicked

Check out similar videos and see what videos are getting clicked. What does their thumbnails look like? A/B testing is super helpful for this. Test different types of fonts. Try text boxes behind your text and see if it stands out more and get more clicks. What is grabbing the most attention? If everyone else is going dark, try to go bright so you stand out. Try to only use big bold 2-4 words of text max. Put your face on your thumbnails. Create intrigue and see how you can let your viewer know that this is exactly what your viewer is looking for without even reading the title. Experiment with different things and push yourself out of your comfort zone.

We also recommend using the glance test. Can people get what your video is about from just a glance? This would encourage high contrast, big bold letters, clear visuals, etc. Make the thumbnail small. Look away and then glance at it and look away again. Where did your eye go? Was it too busy to have anything catch your eye? Did you have to squint to read it? This is going to show you what you need to change.

3) Keep Them Watching

Most people will give you 5-10 seconds to see if this video is for them. So you have to hook them right away. Play off the title and thumbnail and create even more intrigue. NEVER start with “Hi guys… I’m Tim… I made this video three times…Blah, Blah, Blah.”

Instead, you need to immediately let them know that they are in the right place. You can do this verbally (“In this video I will show you…”, but we would recommend you show them. If you just repeat what you said in the title, you will loose people. Your audience already knows this information. That’s why they clicked in! Instead, tease something later in the video so that they know the tension will be relieved, but they have to keep watching to get it.

Maybe you are talking about editing software. You open your video and say, I narrowed this down to my top 2 recommendations. They are x & y. I’m going to tell you why these two are the best and not all the other ones I used to recommend. It seems like people would leave after they have gotten the answer. But, people want to know why! They stick around to see the justification of your decision and find out why you don’t recommend other ones.

If you are a talking head video, make sure you use editing to keep it interesting. Play the game, “hide your face.” Try to put in visuals to show what you are talking about as much as possible. Use text to add more visual intrigue. All of this will help keep them watching.

Also, do not ask for them to subscribe! Seriously, when was the last time you subscribed just because someone asked you to? High subscriber count does not equal more money in your pocket. Your business model is way more important than how many subscribers you have. I know a creator who has 3k subscribers but makes $2 million a year because he had a good business model. Yet, on the other hand, I also know a creator who has millions of subs but only makes $600-$800 a month. The point is: If you are trying to make money, don’t focus on subscribers, focus on your business model and your connection with your audience.

Power Tip

Mobile analytics are now even easier to use! YouTube has updated the way that users can select dates when assessing their analytics at a channel level. The date picker went from a dropdown date range to a choice of buttons such as last 7 days, last 28 days, etc. This allows for easy one-tap switching to see your analytics at a glance and compare your channel by week and months.

Keep Changing Lives!

​Tim Schmoyer

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