010: Social media series – YouTube with Gulce Onganer
Social media series: YouTube.
With guest Gulce Onganer
So… are you the next big YouTube sensation? Or does the thought of video scare the sh*t out of you?
We all know that visibility plays a huge part in creating a brand and getting it out there. But with all the social media channels out there, how do you know which to focus on? Being on every single channel is a surefire way to spread yourself too thin, and that’s why I’ve invited a series of guest experts to let you in on allllll the secrets – so you can make an educated decision about where to show up for your audience!
In this episode, we dive into the world of YouTube, and Gulce Onganer is here to tell you about the pros and cons of this powerful platform and what it can do for your brand!
One hot summer day in 2019, hands shaking, Gulce pressed record on a borrowed camera and shot her first ever YouTube video for Making it in Holland, a channel about life & entrepreneurship in the Netherlands. Two years later, her side hobby turned into a growing club of 10,000+ fans and over 650K+ views, creating endless speaking & visibility opportunities, weekly sponsor inquiry e-mails and clients who want to work with her, along with an e-mail list growing on autopilot faster than you can say wonder woman (with a bank account to match).
I can’t think of anyone better to talk to about leveraging YouTube for your brand, so let’s dive in!
Every time you upload a video, it’s like you’re having a mini webinar and people are tuning into what you have to say.
— Gulce Onganer
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Disclaimer: The following transcript has been auto-generated and then cleaned up by my wonderful VA – and while the general flow of the conversation is there, it’s probably not 100% accurate.
P: Welcome, Gulce! Thank you so much for joining me on my podcast today to talk about YouTube.
G: Thank you so much for having me. I’m very happy to be here today.
P: I find YouTube to be a little bit of a scary platform. So I have high hopes for today’s episode that maybe you’re going to be the person who changes my mind and makes me have a second go at it.
G: I really hope so.
P: No pressure there then. So just to start off with for the people who tune into today’s episode, what are they going to be able to take away from today?
G: Well, today it’s going to be all about seeing if YouTube is a platform that would fit you and your business. Like you said, it’s a platform. It’s social media. Should you be on it or not, that very much depends on what your business is, where you are in your, you know, personal branding journey and whether video is something that fits in with that or not.
So today we’re very much going to be looking at that to see if it’s the right place for you. Because, yeah, everybody says you have to be on all the social media platforms all at once, but that’s not truly the case. So if you’re ever wondering if YouTube is one of those platforms where you should be on, this is going to really help you get clarity around that topic and hopefully by the end of this episode you can actually make a decision whether you want to get started with video and YouTube or not.
And at the end, I’m also going to be sharing a few tips that’s really going to just help people who are listening to kick start their YouTube channels, and you’re gonna walk away with some very tangible things that you can start implementing today.
P: That sounds amazing. I love tangible tips, something actionable that people can actually take away and start implementing right away. So that should be really useful for people who are tuning in So I’m just going to pass the stage onto you and allow you to share your YouTube genius with us.
G: Well, before getting into the like, nitty gritty. I think it’s kind of a good idea to, you know, introduce myself a little bit and kind of give a bit of a background on how I got into YouTube – because if you’re like me, and if you’re actually a fan of YouTube and, you consume a lot of content on YouTube… you probably know that there’s some big creators, some not so big creators. But they all seem to have one thing in common where they seem to just make speaking to the camera look like such a walk in the park.
And when I first started with the idea of getting, you know, getting up and running on YouTube, one of the biggest things that I was worrying about was OMG, If the average YouTube viewer is used to seeing these kind of pro creators, I need to up my game right from the start. If I’m serious about growing on the platform because this is not, you know, YouTube from 2006 anymore. This is YouTube 2020 and people are used to the better audio… people are used to the better, you know, video quality.
And people very much want to listen to somebody who speaks in a very fluent way and a very flowy way. So I was so overwhelmed with all of these things and I was getting into what I call paralysis, analysis or analysis paralysis. I’m sure many of you can relate to that. And yeah, what I did is I just kind of pulled the bandaid off and said, “you know what? Today I’m just gonna shoot a video, and I really don’t care what it’s going to turn out like.”
So this was Just over a year ago, it was the summer of 2019. I shot my first ever video on my channel, Making it in Holland, and I hit publish and I did my best… putting the thumbnail, added some stuff in the description, and I was working on the script a bit to make sure the video was somehow manageable for people to watch. So that’s how I got started. It was not so much that I planned it a lot, and I kind of had this whole thing, like, leading up to it.
I literally one day was like, “You know what? You’re thinking about it too much. Instead of, you know, thinking about it – why don’t you spend that time just recording something and then see if you like it or not, if you absolutely hate it. And if you really don’t enjoy the process, well, then you know you’re not really going to be doing this thing, but at least you tried.”
So I think this is kind of the first thing that I really want to share with all of you who are listening and maybe really want to get started. But then you start to over analyse like, “Oh, what? Tech is scary. Oh, but how do I make sure I make a video where people will actually be watching?” The tip is just to start sincerely in all of its rawness and in all of its, you know, imperfectness. Because the other day, I went back to that first video and I was kind of just smiling because in a year I see how far I’ve come and once you start, your progress is just going to be inevitable.
So I think that’s the first thing that I really, really want to put out there.
P: I totally love that and I can recognise myself in a lot of what you’re saying, and so… I don’t know what you’re going to be talking about for the next half an hour, 40 minutes or so, but I think I can already say quite confidently that what you’ve just said might just be one of the key takeaways that people will get from this episode. The just do it, just get started. It’s something that I’ve struggled with myself as well.
With this podcast, for instance, I waited two years to actually do it, and I’m pretty sure that when I look back at this episode and the episodes that came before it in a year’s time, I’m gonna be kind of like “what on earth was I doing?” And then that’s the beauty of it because you evolve and you develop and get better at things and you find a format that suits you… and I’m guessing that’s the same with YouTube as well? Just with the video bit added.
G: Exactly. And I really think that nowadays, you know there’s this pressure also, you know, for entrepreneurs tuning into this podcast especially (which I know many of you probably are), that perfectionism is a blessing and a curse. And sometimes to get things perfect, it’s actually costing you more money and time to be perfect than to just execute and put something out there. And then with time, trust the process of getting better. I mean, I do know a few people who really want to get started, but they’re waiting for that, like, perfect day when they’re going to have that perfect hair, they’re going to buy that perfect camera, and they’re gonna have that perfect life, and they’re gonna learn how to edit.
Well, the good news is, all of these are things that you actually learn along the way. And that’s the beauty of it. You don’t have to know all of this from, you know, right from the start. If you actually do look back at some of these big, big youtubers that you’re probably a fan of and check out their first ever videos or first couple of videos. Please do watch them and then also go back and watch their latest upload. There is such a big difference and you know they didn’t get there overnight.
There has been months, if not years, of work being put into it. So it’s definitely a process that you’re going to have to trust and you’re going to have to enjoy. But to even, you know, embark on this journey… you have to take that first step of just taking messy action forward. In that case, just filme that video. You can, do it!
P: Brilliant! I know that you’ve come a long way since you started your YouTube channel and know that you’ve recently just hit a big milestone. Tell us about that!
G: Exactly. I actually recently became an official Google AdSense YouTube partner, and that means that my videos are officially open for YouTube advertisements, which means I’m actually earning passive income from all of my previous videos that I’ve been uploading and I am so, so excited! And actually it’s interesting that it happened to me, and I find that fascinating because I always defined myself as what I like to call kind of an anti influencer. I don’t really have, like, the common traits of the typical influencers we might see out there that, you know, look a certain way, you know, like to take care of their hair… and there’s a lot of makeup and posing and… you know, taking over Instagram or anything like that. I started YouTube, literally, with absolutely zero knowledge of how to even apply makeup, for example. So for me, that was even, like, a very, very big milestone. So, if I can get monetised on YouTube in a just over one year – anybody literally can, and I actually afterwards started to see the potential of the platform.
And, you know, it’s almost as if every single day you’re not on the platform you’re losing out on something big. I know I’m like, inserting some fear of missing out here right now, but it is just so true, because now I’m actually opening the screen up and I can tell you some of my statistics: that in less than a week I already made my first $10 in passive income. And I’m seeing from my analytics, that when I’m literally sleeping, people are watching my videos. I’m literally making cents in my sleep.
And, yeah, it’s not a lot of money yet. It’s been only a couple of days, but surely I know the snowball effect of YouTube. The longer you’re on the platform, the more you produce content, the more you’re actually keeping on going… it’s like investing in the stock market or, you know, saving your money in a bank account where you have a high interest rate, right. It’s compounding, and I find that so, so fascinating, and I sincerely believe that it’s not solely for the sake of earning that money, but it’s thinking about what that money can do for your business.
For example, if you had an extra 60 bucks that come in every month, how could that change your life… seriously? You could maybe hire a VA for a couple hours a month, right? You could maybe buy Facebook ads for those 60 bucks, right? You could even go to that spot you really wanted and, you know, have a massage for half a hour, for example. So it’s all about the kind of possibility and the doors YouTube opens up for you.
P: I love this. Yeah, I love how you’re keeping it real. And I love how you’re not talking about seven figures or anything. We’re keeping it to something I think a lot of people can relate to. It’s like “Yeah, I can do this!”
G: Definitely. And I think it’s just all about putting things in these kind of incremental perspectives, because when we think about YouTube, we think like “Oh, I’m never gonna make so much money on YouTube. I need like, a million subscribers.” Well, obviously having a million subscribers is great, but think about what would that extra $50… $60… $100 do for you right now to actually help you scale to the 5/6/7 figures that you’re after as an entrepreneur. And I think that’s what gets overlooked most of the time, when people think about YouTube. We will get more into the details of that in a minute.
But this is just one income source from YouTube that you could earn purely from the ads that YouTube gives you. Right? There are multiple different ways you can actually monetise and build your business around YouTube. Which is why it’s such a powerful platform to be on.
P: Yeah, I love it. I think I’m just gonna let you just dive straight into it because I’m pretty sure that most of the people tuning in today are tuning in because they want to know. How can I monetise this? How can I use YouTube to make money in my business – whether that’s a direct cash injection like making money from your videos being shown or whether that’s an indirect, I guess, a way of making money because you’re being more visible and reaching more people.
G: Exactly. Well, let’s let’s dive into that. So let’s first take a look at and see if YouTube is actually a platform where you should be on or not. I think this is the first thing: that it’s very important for entrepreneurs who are building their personal brand to, you know, take into consideration because, like I said, it might not be for you.
So I think that YouTube is definitely for you if you really wanna put your own personality more out there in the form of video, and form a closer connection with your viewers – then video is just fantastic because it really helps you build that know, like and trust factor. So every time you upload a video, it’s like you’re having a mini webinar and people are tuning into what you have to say. Of course. It’s not like a traditional webinar, where there is a dialogue going on, it’s more like you’re talking to them.
But over time, the more they come in contact with you and your videos, they’re really getting to know you. And when that repeats several times, they’re going to start to like you. And then eventually, when you are promoting your paid products or services, they’re really going to start to build that trust and consider possibly purchasing your products from you. And I think that’s very, very important to keep in mind. It’s the long game of building that know, like and trust factor. And you might think yeah, but it’s different from a webinar. So you know, why should I even bother? Well, you still have some sort of interaction on YouTube. You have the comments section where people can ask you questions. You can reply to them. And after you’ve gotten over 1000 subscribers, the YouTube community tab opens up where you can actually have more one on ones with your let’s say, true fans. They can ask you questions. You can share some of your significant updates with them… so that really creates a stronger sense of connection for anybody who really wants to eventually purchase from you.
And it’s a lot more powerful than you know. I think it’s at least much more powerful than the written word because it’s there. It’s accessible. It’s on demand. It’s in video format. People can watch it, or they can listen to it if they’re on the train or they’re at work or if they’re somewhere busy. So it’s a bit like you have the best of both worlds, and you can still… in the description you know, if you’re a fan of the written word, include some things in there as well, and drive more traffic to your own website where people can potentially be become a part of your marketing funnel. And I think that’s so, so strong.
P: I’m already learning a lot of new stuff here. I didn’t even know about the community thing that comes up when you’ve got 1000 subscribers. That’s new to me, and yeah, full of good takeaways here already.
G: Yeah, I think that’s something people don’t really know, that as you grow, YouTube is also there to help support you. So you have the community tab, and then when you have more subscribers, you can actually sell your own merchandise on the platform.
So these can be like hoodie sweaters, other kinds of goodies, like mugs, pens, stationary. And then, as you grow more and more, you really feel like the platform is there to support you to create – because it’s like… without you creating for them they don’t exist. So they do try to make it a win-win situation as much as possible. So, for example, with the ad revenue, you actually keep 55% of the ad revenue and they keep 45. So it’s really this kind of almost 50/50 partnership you have with the platform. And that really is, for me, very motivating to keep going because, you know, unlike Instagram or Facebook, where I have to always spend on advertisements to get visible… YouTube is like my evergreen best friend that’s cheering me on and wants me to succeed, because when I succeed, they also succeed.
P: Yeah, so there’s a synergy there. And I think when I think of YouTube and compare it to some of the other social media channels… YouTube is a little bit different I feel – in terms of you don’t really have the same kind of fast moving feed that you get for instance, on Instagram. So maybe you don’t have to worry so much about getting your stuff out there as regularly, because whatever you put out is gonna be there for later as well, and for people to search and find, I guess.
G: Exactly. And you know Instagram, like the name implies, is very instant you know. Whatever pops on the feed, it’s there one second. It’s not there the next second because there have been many other things that have been shared. And it’s almost like this constant battle of attention. Whereas on YouTube, people who end up there, especially if they’re entrepreneurs or they’re looking for some serious solutions for serious problems, they’re already invested in finding the answer. So they’re not just mindlessly scrolling, but they’re actually there to get a specific problem solved. Which means they’re already invested in watching most of your video because they want answers. And if you’re that kind of person who can provide those answers and do that consistently, then they are also going to look for ways to work with you and actually pay you for your services or for your products.
I think that’s very, very important, and I think that really ties in so well with if you’re an entrepreneur in need of a new strategy to do some heavy lifting for you when it comes to organically generation, YouTube is your go to platform. Because lead generation can be very terrifying, you know. “Am I gonna be part of a bunch of Facebook groups? Try to get people to sign it onto my freebie so I can build my email list? Or am I gonna run ads on Instagram or Facebook? If so, how much budget should I have for it? Are the leads going to be qualified? Is it gonna be a hit or miss?” That could be very, very terrifying for some entrepreneurs. For me right now, in my other business, I’m actually exhausted building my list. That is getting me to think for that business as well I probably should get on YouTube – because once I do that and once people actually engage with me and I direct them to my email list, that’s just a much more targeted and profitable way of building your business. Because those people who are watching you there are already invested and they’re more likely to be much more qualified leads for when it comes to your marketing funnel.
P: So you already know how to do it with this one… with your YouTube channel, you can transfer that knowledge over to your second business!
G: Exactly, and that that is also so wonderful. And I think this just goes to show that it’s possible for people who have multiple businesses as well. If you’re really enjoying this process of recording and sharing your message out there for, you know, several businesses, you can just schedule your time to record your content and then distribute it accordingly. And that way, when you’re looking for leads, it’s not going to be so scary for you anymore, because then you’re tapping into this evergreen system.
So one of my favourite YouTubers is Sunny Lenarduzzi, and she’s a multiple seven figure entrepreneur, and she also has her own YouTube courses. She started about five years ago, and I am always inspired by watching her videos on her journey – it’s just all about being authentically yourself and showing up as yourself and you are your brand. And when you’re able to attract at least 1000 true fans, that’s basically all you need to be able to make a living. So don’t let that terrify you. Once you do start to grow you’re also going to see that through your videos your email list is also going to grow. In some cases, it’s going to actually grow a lot bigger and faster than you think. But it’s the perfect place to be if you’re looking specifically for those 1000 true fans.
P: So 1000… to some of my listeners that’s probably going to sound like a really high number. Um, how long did it take you to reach that milestone on YouTube?
G: Indeed, Yeah, when you sort of look at it purely from the numbers perspective, it might sound like it’s terrifying. It took me exactly 12 months from the time I started YouTube to reach 1000 subscribers and I think by then I had 31 or 32 videos uploaded, so that’s almost one video every two weeks. Yeah, obviously, in the beginning, it was taking me a lot of time to make the videos and edit as well. But then with time, I got better. But to, you know, put into perspective… Let’s say, um, if it took me about 1 to 2 hours to produce those videos, that’s about 60 plus hours of work at least being put into those 31 videos. It might sound like it’s maybe a lot, but it’s really not. I know youtubers that are a lot more consistent, that post at least once or twice a week, and they are able to achieve 1000 subscribers in half the time. So it’s actually not so uncommon for people to get that number in anywhere between 4 to 6 months with a little bit more consistency. I had a full time job back then, and there was like long, long periods where I went without posting because I just simply didn’t have the time.
And, you know, I was still in this process of also doubting myself and not really sure whether it’s going to pay off or not. But here’s the good news for anyone who’s already at this part of the podcast: it then took me only three months to get another 1000 subscribers.
P: Wow, so that’s that’s pretty cool. There you go, and so really it’s a snowball.
G: Exactly. It just goes to show you the snowball effect.
P: Yeah, I love that. You know, you’re keeping this real, and I think just breaking it down like that is going to make it seem a little bit less intimidating just to get started. Knowing that, you know, it’s achievable. I know the time frame is not gonna be the same for each and every person who’s listening, but just to have that kind of ballpark figure and know that this is a real person who’s actually done this before, and they’re speaking from experience – I think it can give them that feeling of “I can do this, too!” so thank you for, sharing your journey and being so real about it!
G: Exactly. And yes, like you said, if I can do it, so can everybody. And it’s not, you know, it’s not a method of getting rich and successful overnight. It does take time, but it’s a time that’s very much worthwhile spending on creating video.
Um, so another reason why you might want to get started on YouTube is if you actually want to get paid while promoting your own business. This is something we touched upon a little bit before. But like I said: on other platforms, organic reach is dropping almost every single day, it feels like because they want you to spend more money on advertising. And while maybe spending money on ads is not such a big burden for some of you, I know for the rest of us, it might not be the best way to go about right now. Maybe because you’re still a small business and you don’t have the budget for it. So why not make videos, promote yourself, share your knowledge and get paid while you’re also filing people to your back end offers. So in that sense, you’re getting paid to promote your own business, and I think that is so fascinating and something that doesn’t get talked about a lot when it comes to YouTube.
P: That’s definitely food for thought, and I guess also, when you’re creating content to go on YouTube, you can… you’ve already then created that content and you can repurpose it for the other platforms that you happen to be on.
G: You actually made a very, very great point here. I always like to look at it in a kind of ah, upside down pyramid where at the top you have video, because that’s kind of when you’re capturing both the visual and audio – and then as you sort of funnel down, you have different ways you can distribute that content, right? So you can share the long form content on YouTube. You can share it on your Facebook page, you can embed it on your website.
But then you can take that a step further and create micro content from the video. You can chop it up into pieces and then you can chop it up further. Just leave the audio and just have, like, a mean podcast from it even. And then if you wanna go further down, you can take quotes. You know, small pieces of wisdom from and turn them into quote posts on Instagram. You can share those also on your website. You can share it as adverts on Facebook and instagram.
So in a way it takes just as much time to sit down and create content for Facebook and Instagram as it takes to just press record on video. So I find for myself that that time it’s better used when you’re optimising your effort. So with video, you’re killing so to say, you know, five birds with one stone! (But don’t actually kill any real birds!) At the moment you might not be able to do all of that. But when you do have the team, and once you are scaling, you have the archival videos you could literally hand them over to your VA and be like “Hey, okay, now I want this repurposed for that, this repurposed for that.” And that way you’re able to actually have this presence on multiple platforms where, as if you just sit down and sort of create content for each of these platforms is going to be so, so exhausting. So in a way; don’t create, but document using video – and then repurpose.
P: That’s pretty awesome. I’m thinking I might have to at some point rethink my decision to just shut down my YouTube channel after the first two videos.
G: Yeah, give yourself time and also, you know, accept the fact that your first 8 to 10 videos, are not really going to be what you wanted them to be like. They’re not going to be the best videos. For me personally, looking at my YouTube channel, my favourite videos are my last four videos – and to get to that point where I could look at my videos and be like “Oh, wow, this is kind of a cool video, if I didn’t know me, I would watch this video” it took me 30 plus videos to get there. So that really takes time.
P: Does that correlate to the most popular video with your viewers?
G: So my last couple of videos are actually among the more popular ones, but I also have a couple of videos from 5-6 months ago that are picking up because they’re about evergreen topics that are highly searchable.
So at the moment, more than 50% of my YouTube traffic actually comes from the search bar, which means people are physically searching for, you know, for example, “how to move to the Netherlands” or “English speaking jobs for expats in the Netherlands.” And my videos are among the top three or five most of the time that gets suggested. Not just my recent videos, but my older videos are also doing well because they have been designed on purpose to be evergreen. But when I look at my editing style and my delivery, they’re not the best, and you can see that in the audience retention, which is for how many minutes people are actually tuning into your YouTube video.
So my latest videos have higher audience retention because I have improved the way I deliver, the way I edit… and I’ve actually studied my statistics to see at what point in the video do people drop off. So in those points I tend to do something a little bit different to keep people’s attention so they can actually watch the video for longer. And that way you’re also on the friendly side of the algorithm because YouTube is saying “Oh, people love this video and you know, this video keeps people on the platform, so let me push it out to a wider audience” – and that’s how you grow.
P: There’s so much gold here, so much stuff that I had no idea about. So I’m going to be listening to this episode once it’s once it’s finished recording because I don’t want to miss any of it.
G: I’m very happy to hear that. And, yeah, just to sort of go back to all the great reasons why you should be on YouTube. But YouTube might not be the best choice for you if you really want a get rich quick solution – because it is going to take some work. And I’m not here to tell you that it’s going to be this magical thing after 23 videos we’re going to blow up – although that might very much be the case, but it’s not very typical.
P: I’m glad you brought that up because I think I don’t think I ever get tired of that saying, You know, don’t compare your year one to somebody else’s year five. A lot of people I think… they’re just gonna take a look at the influencers and the really popular YouTubers and think that they’re going to get there instantly as long as they get on YouTube… and then they get disappointed when that doesn’t happen for them. So I’m really happy that we’re, you know, taking the time to really break this down and to kind of reset people’s expectations to being on the platform.
G: Definitely. It’s very important to be mindful, you know, on any journey you embark, you’re gonna have to put on some work. You’re gonna have to make some key decisions and, yeah, maybe there’s going to be a little bit of luck by your side as well. Maybe that journey that is going to be very full of sunshine. But that’s not always the case. So I think that’s a nice bonus if it does happen. And you know, there are some YouTubers who do automatically start out on the good side of the algorithm, and that kind of helps kick start their channel a lot quicker. And that very much has to do with your niche, your delivery, how you structure stuff. And at the end of the day, you can actually even get rich from YouTube. You know, that’s good to keep in mind… but it’s not, you know, so typical for saying maybe the rest of us. There is going to have to be hard work that goes into it. And I would say also, you know, if you really generally don’t like being in front of the camera, and if you really don’t see yourself, you know, ever getting fully comfortable with the idea… and you know, you’d rather spend that time on something else that’s already generating a high return on investment, then I would think twice about starting on YouTube. And video might not be for you simply because you already have other things that do the heavy lifting for you in your business and in your brand.
By all means, there is nothing wrong with not being on YouTube. And last but not least, if you have, ah, very specific product based business, potentially other platforms might be better for you. I always find that on YouTube, you tend to have more service based businesses who sell e-books, online courses and have kind of this serial entrepreneur brand building.
And you know, sometimes they do also sell physical products. For example, if you’re in the fitness and nutrition niche, you can have your own line of protein bars – or like cookbooks and things like that that are a little bit more physical. You can do it, but I would say if your business relies on you having a physical shop and a lot of your traffic needs to actually physically be present. It might not be the best platform for you, at least in the beginning.
P: That’s really useful. That’s what I want to achieve with this social media series: for people to have a listen into the different episodes, learn about the different platforms, and then they can make an educated decision as to whether this platform is for them or not, which is exactly what I wanted to do with this episode as well. So we’re gonna round things off in just a minute. But before we do that, if you could leave our listeners with your top three tips to get started on YouTube, something that they can implement today if they wanted to, what would those three things be?
G: I’m very glad you asked this question. So my first tip would be to niche down your niche even further. Now, what do I mean by that? For example, with my channel when I first started, I wanted it to be about expat life and entrepreneurship, where I would share my own expat journey and my own experiences of starting my own business here. And then with time, I saw that my audience is mostly interested in finding jobs, starting a business, but most specifically finding a job as an expat in the Netherlands.
So I further niched down to focus on creating videos around topics regarding the job hunt. And that’s very, very important when you start out because you don’t want to be drowning in a red ocean full of competition. But you need to create your own blue ocean by niching down even further. So, to give an example… if you’re a social media manager who’s focusing on Instagram, for example: You don’t want to talk about everything related to Instagram. You need to niche down further. So maybe your niche of your niche could be instagram stories.
And to be able to get seen and grow your audience, you need to research the questions these people are asking about Instagram stories and how they work, and how they can grow their business. In other words: kind of how to videos. So “how to use Instagram stories to get your first three clients”, “how to use Instagram as a beginner entrepreneur”, “How to use instagram stories to make sales”, for example. So that way you know that you’re niching down first of all – and second of all that you’re creating very searchable content for that kind of specific niche, which means you’re going to be popping up a lot more when people are typing these kinds of questions in the YouTube search box.
P: That’s brilliant! I guess by niching down you’re maybe potentially reaching fewer people overall. But more of the right kind of people. Is that what you’re saying? So you’re getting the people in that you really want to reach?
G: Exactly. In the beginning, of course you need to get the subscribers, but you know, counterintuitively, it’s not about quantity. It’s about quality. It’s so much more important to get those first 100, 200, 1000 subscribers that are going to be quality subscribers than to mindlessly create content for everybody and by default, creating content for nobody. So that actually counterintuitively grows your channel much faster.
And then once you have those 1000 fans, 1000 subscribers, you can start to apply the 80/20 rule. So 80% of the time, create that searchable content, how-to videos and give very specific tips to the people who are watching your content. And 20% of the time you can branch out a bit and create the more free videos you want to. For example, you could vlog, you can talk about other things, But keep in mind people who watch those videos are your true fans only. And most of the views will probably come from your how-to videos.
P: Cool, I’m taking notes here.
G: And the last tip that I would have before we wrap up is: with every video focus on improving one small element. Don’t think about “Oh no, with my next video I have to improve everything all at once.” Like the video, the audio, the editing… Once you think like that, it’s going to become overwhelming. So the question I ask myself is “okay in this video, I really like the way I did the editing. I think that’s great. I’m quite happy with that. Now, in my second video, I’m going to be improving my audio because I feel like I don’t really know anymore how to properly edit audio because I never really got into it.”
And then I would make the specific focus of that next video I’m shooting all around audio. For example, for one of my videos I had a lot of reflection of sound, so I actually brought all the pillows and a blanket so that most of the sound could be absorbed. I made sure that I actually youtubed my microphone setting, so I know that I’m already shooting with good settings without having to rely on editing software. And then I also youtubed how to edit audio after having your raw format.
So for that video, I knew that maybe the editing and the video quality is not gonna be like the best of the best, because I’m specifically focusing on improving the audio
P: I have to just jump in with a small little anecdote here… and the listeners, or you… you can’t see this, but when you were talking about the pillows that you’re bringing into to make the sound better… Well, my microphone has a desk lamp with a woolen blanket wrapped over it, draped very non-elegantly over it just to soften the sound. So, yeah, that’s how professional my podcast is.
G: There you go. You have to take the small steps and sometimes find DIY ways of improving things. And yet it’s all about taking it one step at a time and at some point further down the line, I know I’m going to have all elements improve at a level I love and that at that point also with my finances catching up, you know, with time as well, I’m going to be investing in better equipment, better video stuff, better audio stuff, better lighting.
And the fourth bonus I’m gonna throw in here: You don’t need fancy equipment. If you have a smartphone, you’re already more than ready to go. You just need a phone. You just need a stack of books, balance your phone on a stack of books, hit record and just record the episode. You don’t need any fancy editing software. There’s some free apps you can download to cut off like the um’s and ah’s. If you want. But most of the time I find that with editing, there’s a certain threshold with editing and whatever you edit beyond that, it’s not going to help your video get better. So it’s so much more important to just hit record with what you have, to start with what you have right now and upload that video.
P: I love that bonus! I want to say thank you so much for being here today and for sharing all of your YouTube knowledge with us. But before you go, I’m not going to let you go just yet… because I happen to know that you’ve got a YouTube jumpstart masterclass coming up in December. Please tell us about that before you go.
G: Yes. Yeah, that would definitely be my pleasure. So I’m having this jump start master class for anybody who wants to finally get into the world of YouTube but who is overwhelmed and not exactly sure where to look for the information. Maybe you’re Googling or youtubing about YouTube. But you don’t really want to piece all the information together yourself. This master class is three hours and it’s going to be a bit of theory, but also very, very practical where we’re going to sit down together and make sure that by the end of it you have a channel set up ready to go – and that you have a strategy that you can start implementing right away.
It’s happening on December 2nd 2020 at 5 pm CET time zone. There’s going to be a recording of it as well, so you can have access to it if you cannot make it live. But I would really love to see you there if you’re serious about starting on YouTube.
P: This sounds so good. I mean, for the people who are listening today, I’m sure you’ve heard how knowledgeable Gulce is about YouTube, so yeah, don’t miss this.
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