We're all busy and there's a LOT of information out there about social media strategies. I mean, how many podcast episodes and YouTube videos do we have on this stuff? Too many, probably. So, how would someone like yourself just cut straight to what you actually need to know to grow on YouTube in 2022? Well, I want to share with you what those 5 things are. 0:00 | Podcast Intro 0:49 | Welcome to the podcast! 1:51 | Quick team catch up (there’s a good story in this one!) 8:21 | Creator Spotlight 15:04 | What we LOVE seeing in creators & what to do when you’re stuck 17:07 | The first strategy: titles & thumbnails 21:42 | The second strategy: let your thumbnail inform your title 26:27 | The third strategy: It’s ALL about the AI 34:32 | The fourth strategy: storytelling 41:42 | The fifth strategy: focus on keeping viewers on platform 49:45 | Power Tip CREATOR SPOTLIGHT - Julien Klepatch - EatTheBlock channel: https://youtube.com/c/EatTheBlocks Book a 1 hour call with us: videocreators.com/consulting YouTube's AI: https://cloud.google.com/video-intelligence POWER TIP - TIKTOK style LIVE rings on YouTube now:https://www.theverge.com/2022/2/21/22944111/youtube-live-rings-tiktok-instagram LEAVE A VOICE MESSAGE: Have comments, reactions, questions, a YouTube tip to share, or just want to say hi? Leave a voice message for us and we may use it in an upcoming podcast episode. https://www.speakpipe.com/videocreators

This episode highlights some of questions you all have sent us recently via voicemail. We discuss the ideal video length for YouTube videos. Do 10 minute videos perform better than 2 minute videos? And what kind of impact do video chapters have on how a video performs and is optimized for YouTube? We also discuss if it's still necessary to ask people to, "Like, Comment, and Subscribe," and much more. CHAPTERS 0:00: Podcast Intro 0:49: Welcome to the Podcast! 3:00: Team catch up 7:04: Creator spotlight 10:20: An exciting announcement  12:51: What length of videos does YouTube prefer? 20:16: Should you use Chapters in your video? 27:03: Should you ask people to subscribe — especially if you’re under 1K? 33:07: A kind message from one of our subscribers 38:21: Power Tip ⚡️ CREATOR SPOTLIGHT Caroline Beck of, "Mediterranean Minutes," https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCbem7mZCzat_gZmB532XoBQ VIDEO LABS: We'd love to coach you through our advanced YouTube growth training! It's like having a YouTube strategist in your pocket! Register for Video Labs here: https://videocreators.com/video-labs/ VOLLEY FOR CREATORS: Join me and several hundred other creators in the, "Volley for Creators," space here and let's talk! https://hi.volley.app/land?tk=9xhm23nEKPiMXMW3ZsSRks-tk Listen to the episode, "What we learned from launching and shutting down 5 paid membership programs" Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/what-we-learned-from-launching-and-shutting-down-5/id1073455415?i=1000548102114 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/episode/5cMjA4unYrxkFYVE4Hl162 YouTube: https://youtu.be/9YBFcny2KB4 LEAVE A VOICE MESSAGE: Have comments, reactions, questions, a YouTube tip to share, or just want to say hi? Leave a voice message for us and we may use it in an upcoming podcast episode. https://www.speakpipe.com/videocreators

If you've poked your head into your YouTube analytics, then you know that it can be an overwhelming place to spend your time. On top of that, you've got a bunch of YouTube experts telling you what matters the most to YouTube - maybe you've heard that all YouTube cares about is watch time, or maybe you've heard that you need to get more people like & subscribe from your video in order to grow faster, or maybe you've even heard that your title & thumbnail make or break your channel so all you need to pay attention to is your impressions click-through rate to grow more. So, I want to help you narrow down what metrics you can totally disregard (and what to pay attention to instead), despite what the rumors may say. 0:00: Welcome to the Podcast! 0:48: Intro — meet D’Laina 4:14: Creator Spotlight 19:16: Why speaking to one is more effective than to everyone 21:13: Metrics you shouldn’t glorify 23:29: Metric 1: Watch time 29:36: What to look at instead of JUST watch time 32:52: Metric 2: When your viewers are on YouTube 35:42: What to do instead 36:28: Metric 3: Your video’s overall performance 45:16: What we’ve seen & what we recommend focusing on instead 48:59: Power Tip ⚡️ Creator's Name: Jessica Freeman Creator's channel URL: https://www.youtube.com/c/JessicaFreeman818 Book a 1 hour video call with us: videocreators.com/consulting Video D'Laina mentioned about thumbnails & clickbait: https://youtu.be/S2xHZPH5Sng POWER TIP Using the Trim tool to improve your audience retention after posting the video. https://support.google.com/youtube/answer/9057455?hl=en&ref_topic=9257785  

When you first start your YouTube channel and your business, you're all excited to jump in! You have a great vision of what the future is going to look like: freedom, independence, spreading your message, changing people's lives, doing something you're passionate about, etc! And then you start making money and achieve the thing you set out to accomplish. But soon you find that the excitement gives way to a grind. It's a hustle mentality that you can't sustain at the same pace going forward into the future. You want to slow down, but you can't. The business requires too much from you. You feel stuck and disillusioned because the the life you thought your YouTube channel and business would provide ends up providing the same experience you had when working a 9-5. In this episode we're going to talk with the guys who own the financial advisory firm Tim Schmoyer uses. It's not who you'd normally think of when it comes to solving this problem of grinding, burnout, building a business around your passion, and getting unstuck from it all, but it'll make sense as we get into this conversation. They know that there's actually 5 efforts that need to work together in order for our personal life, our money, our business, our family, and our work to all align together. In this episode they share what those 5 efforts are so we can ultimately thrive in life and in our business. Check out Mark and Steven's financial advisory firm here: https://www.outpostadvisors.net/ Listen to their podcast, Abraham's Wallet: Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/abrahams-wallet/id1462593706 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/6xbcf3IhayaoKB4sTegPRw?si=YOSA23r7SDmV3pR7IXMIZw&dl_branch=1 LEAVE A VOICE MESSAGE: Have comments, reactions, questions, a YouTube tip to share, or just want to say hi? Leave a voice message for us and we may use it in an upcoming podcast episode. https://www.speakpipe.com/videocreators

It honestly hurts our hearts to see creators get burnt out because they're spending so time, money, and brain power on tactics & strategies that aren't getting them any closer to where they want to be. So, we want to bring some relief to your YouTube journey by sharing with you the top 5 strategies that are a wasting your time. Number 5 is probably going to throw you through a loop. Life Church channel: https://www.youtube.com/c/lifechurchtv Video Labs: videocreators.com/videolabs How to Make Any Story Interesting: https://youtu.be/NjbmUhKpp7k Using samples from long form content for Shorts content: https://support.google.com/youtube/answer/10623810?hl=en&ref_topic=10343432

The YouTube and Business grind can get HARD... These two things that once felt so invigorating & passionate, can start to feel like more of a job. Why is that? We  discussed exactly that in a private conversation between, and we want to share that with you in hopes to enlighten and encourage your journey through business and YouTube. Enjoy! Every Good Endeavor by Timothy Keller: https://www.amazon.com/Every-Good-Endeavor-Connecting-Your/dp/1594632820/ref=sr_1_1?crid=32ZZMIIU97FCC&keywords=every+good+endeavor+tim+keller&qid=1643851884&sprefix=every+goo%2Caps%2C96&sr=8-1 Making Ideas Happen: https://www.amazon.com/Making-Ideas-Happen-Overcoming-Obstacles/dp/1591844118/ref=sr_1_1?crid=17LK34T5GWQC5&keywords=making+ideas+happen&qid=1643851943&sprefix=making+ideas+happen%2Caps%2C92&sr=8-1

If you feel burned out, stressed out, and overwhelmed with creating a sustainable business around your YouTube channel, that's unfortunately a very common feeling. Most creators think that if they just hire people to do some of their work for them that everything will be solved, but that's not true. The time your team frees up just ends up getting filled with other responsibilities, and that's assuming you even find someone in the first place who's can meet your expectations for quality work. It's hard! Grant Thompson started, The King of Random, and grew it to 6 million subscribers. He hit his max and then learned how to scale everything around his channel. When he passed away in 2019 his channel continued to grow even without him. Today his channel has new hosts and 13 million subscribers. Today I talked with his late wife about what life was like when he was stressed out on his channel, how he broke free from that stress, got back to 5 hour work weeks, and even left behind a channel that grows in his absence. Check out The King of Random on YouTube here: https://www.youtube.com/c/Thekingofrandom SCHEDULE A 1 HOUR YOUTUBE CONSULTATION WITH US: We'll look at your channel prior to our session, analyze it, and come prepared to discuss the next steps you need to implement in order to reach new growth. Book your session with us here: https://videocreators.com/consulting LEAVE A VOICE MESSAGE: Have comments, reactions, questions, a YouTube tip to share, or just want to say hi? Leave a voice message for us and we may use it in an upcoming podcast episode. https://www.speakpipe.com/videocreators

Feeling like your channel is stuck? There's a solution! And it starts with some YouTube Analytics features that we know are the not-so-exciting ones. However, they are vitals parts of YouTube strategy that can answer so many questions you have about your channel. We've got 5 Analytics Features for you to that will help you craft a powerful, effective YouTube Strategy. For a deep dive into some the strategies we discussed in this episode, as well as guidance on how to actually implement a killer YouTube Growth Strategy, then you'll want to check out our next Video Labs session. It opens for enrollment on February 7th. Video Labs: videocreators.com/videolabs LEAVE A VOICE MESSAGE: Have comments, reactions, questions, a YouTube tip to share, or just want to say hi? Leave a voice message for us and we may use it in an upcoming podcast episode. https://www.speakpipe.com/videocreators

Paid membership programs are often promoted as really good, easy revenue for educators and entertainers alike on YouTube, but after launching 5 different paid memberships and doing everything we knew to do in order to grow it, eventually we ended up shutting every one of them down. Why? We just shut down our most recent paid membership effort, called The Growth Network, after a year and a half of giving it everything we had. But through that experience, I think we're getting closer to the thing that's actually going to work. In this episode I share what we tried, what happened, why I think it didn't work, and what we learned from it going forward for our business. Plus, I introduce you to a new platform we're using that's been incredible for our business. JOIN ME IN VOLLEY! And get free access to a mini-course that the co-founder and I put together to help set you up for success in using it to grow your business and your audience at the same time. Click here: https://hi.volley.app/land?tk=UmD8rkwMfnfPbyFunZ7auE-tk (I said I'd be here until the end of January, but we're having so much fun that I'll be hanging out in this Volley space with you until the end of February instead! Come say hi!) LINKS MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE: Check out our YouTube foundations course, "30 Days to a Better YouTube Channel," here: https://videocreators.com/30days Our new Video Creators Academy free 1 month trial: https://videocreators.com/vc-academy/ To register for the next session of our advanced YouTube group coaching program, Video Labs, go here: https://videocreators.com/video-labs/ To have us create a custom YouTube growth strategy for you that meets your goals, let's start by doing a one-hour consultation first. Sometimes people find they get everything they need from that one hour first and don't end up needing our full, hands-on custom Action Plan. https://videocreators.com/consulting EPISODE CHAPTERS 0:00 Introduction 1:08 I'm not anti-membership 2:29 My first failed membership program 5:21 I tried Patreon instead 7:55 A math exercise for my time and effort 8:44 My most recent membership attempt 14:37 Evaluating what I did wrong 20:59 What the data is leading me to try instead 28:42 The main lessons I learned through all this 30:40 Stumbling across something GREAT for us 33:29 Discovering Volley as a perfect solution 39:53 Trying Volley with our other programs 41:26 Volley directly solves our problems 42:05 Creators who could benefit from Volley 44:03 Get direct access to me in Volley 48:07 Conclusion

As podcasting continues to grow on YouTube, it's a format that many of us can now consider as part of our YouTube strategy. So I sat down with my friend (and neighbor!) to talk about how podcasting works and how we can use it to compliment our YouTube strategy. Cliff shares more about what podcasting is and isn't, how to use it as a video podcast, and ways to use a video podcast on YouTube. LISTEN TO EPISODE 291: https://videocreators.com/breaking-news-youtube-is-developing-a-podcasting-update-ep-291/ CHECK OUT CLIFF'S PODCAST: https://www.cliffravenscraft.com/podcasts/podcast-answer-man LEAVE A VOICE MESSAGE: Have comments, reactions, questions, a YouTube tip to share, or just want to say hi? Leave a voice message for us and we may use it in an upcoming podcast episode. https://www.speakpipe.com/videocreators