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DAY 1: THE 4 THINGS YOU NEED TO SET YOUR CHANNEL UP FOR MONEY-MAKING SUCCESS
Day One and The Challenge is on!!!
Ok…let’s go over some quick stats:
According to YouTube, there are over 2.5 billion users on the site - this is more than Instagram and almost as many as Facebook!
Potential is HUGE and we are going to use this POWERFUL Platform to get you seen as a leader in your industry, positioned as an expert and PAID!
For now, I want you to think about the YouTubers that you consider to be "successful” Doesn’t matter what industry…just think of some of the more successful ones.
If you dig a little deeper you will see that many of them have these 3 things in common: niche, brand identity, and consistency. Yes, there is a fourth, but I will get to that later. Let's cover the first 3 on the list for now.
NICHE
AKA your ZONE OF GENIUS. We will cover this in more detail in tomorrow's lesson - I will actually give you a formula for finding your perfect niche. Right now I want you to just start thinking about it cuz when you niche down your channel you become well-known for that "one special thing." I get it, this may be hard for you to grasp at the moment, and it might even be harder for you to do. You might wanna make videos about hair, and then computers, and then college life, and then fashion, and then weight loss. And you totally can!!!! But NOT if you want to make $$$. There is a saying:
"If you appeal to everyone, you appeal to no one."
This is so true in the online world!
Lululemon didn't start out making athleisure and then plant pots and then salad forks, right? IKEA isn't known for furniture and stilettos! Lululemon deals with athletics, IKEA handles houseware. That, my friend, is Marketing 101!
It’s all about what you want to be known for.
Start letting the wheels turn a bit...narrow this down as much as possible.
What types of videos do you want to make? Why?
Who are these videos for?
How are you helping them?
This is hard, especially because you see so many people making so many different videos! But the ones with the thousands upon thousands of subbies - they started out with ONE type!
I am not saying you can never branch out, I am saying if you desire to use YouTube as a part of a profitable stream of income, focusing on ONE THING for the time being is just wisdom.
As you grow your audience, your content will naturally expand. But for now - ONE THING, and ONE THING ONLY! That is your zone of genius...
More on this tomorrow!
BRAND IDENTITY
In my opinion, this goes part and parcel with niching (and that why tomorrow's lesson will combine the two). If your niche is the WHAT, then brand identity is the WHO. This is how you want people to see you! How you plan on standing out in the online space. So it includes all the physical elements of your brand (logos, pictures, colors, fonts, slogans, etc) AND personal branding, ie who YOU are because guess what? As a YouTuber, YOU ARE THE BRAND!
Your brand identity should convey an experience! What do people hear, feel, and see when they land on your channel? Is what they are feeling, seeing, and hearing what you want?
If not, then your brand identity is a bit off - and we will cover how to up your game tomorrow.
CONSISTENCY
"You can't achieve million-dollar dreams with a minimum wage work ethic."
Not sure who said that, but they are 100% right! This is a HUGE key to your channel growth. You can't throw up one video every now and then and expect to grow an audience. That just doesn't happen. You need to consistently create kick-butt content that will have people coming back for more, and more, and more!
Consistency will do a few things that will help you make $$$:
1. You will grow a tribe of people who trust you, this is SUPER important because where we are going, you will need that! I will explain more in the MONETIZATION section.
2. Consistency will help you to establish authority and expertise in your niche. Remember? Your ZONE OF GENIUS! You want to become the best of the best in your niche. You want to be the "go-to" guru for all things in your industry. In order to do that, you gotta stay visible and you have to keep showing people how awesome you are. Visibility is key to money-making!
3. Consistency helps you form new habits, behaviors, and beliefs. For example, if you struggle with a fear of being on camera, guess what? The more you do it, the easier it becomes and you no longer feel that fear! Make your YouTube channel a part of your everyday! You shouldn't only be in there when you are posting a new video. Be consistent with engagement too! Answer comments, comment on other people's videos, etc. When you make it a part of your everyday life, you will reap the rewards exponentially!
Remember this: Consistency compounds - doing a little bit each day helps!!! If you really and truly want to create a profitable YouTube Channel - gotta show up for it!
Sidenote: if you are struggling with time management, here is one of my favorite things: CLUSTERING!!! I am a fan of clustering your creativity. When I first started out, I build my business while still working a 9-5, so I know that struggle! Clustering really helped me with creating consistent content. I made a video on how I do that, you can watch it here.
MONETIZATION
OK, so now we are on to the fourth thing. The fourth thing every YouTube Channel must have is the ability to monetize the content. And this is where the controversy begins (dun, dun dun…)
I talked about this in your "Welcome" email - most people monetize their channels using one or a combination of the following 3 things: Google Adsense, Affiliate Links, Brand Sponsorships.
I remember looking at my Google Adsense account and being utterly frustrated! How is it I have made all these videos and have all these views, and all these subscribers and yet so little money! GRRRRRR!!!!
I do suggest you get a Google Adsense account and start using affiliate links - it will bring in about a little bit of money each month. But don't expect thousands...don't even expect hundreds right away.
All of those are absolutely viable ways to monetize, BUT you won't be making very much money, not for a LONG LONG LONG time. All of the 1 million, 2 million, 3 million subbie channels you see took several YEARS to build up to that - when I say several, I mean like 7, 8, 9! Do you really wanna wait a decade to start making money with your channel? I hope you're answer was "HECK NO!"
Not only that, but building that kind of followership on YouTube is really really difficult now because there are just soooooo many people starting new channels everyday. It's tough to stand out in a sea of successfuls!
So, I am going to propose that you create your own monetization method. And this is where being an entrepreneur kicks into high gear!
Remember you are a business! Remember you are a brand! What do brands do? Brands have products/services/offers!
Bear with me - like I said, we are gonna have some real honest conversations, and I am going to be absolutely 100% honest with you.
Ready, for the truth bomb?
Google Adsense pays you pennies on the dollar per view. Affiliate links give you a small percentage of $ for selling someone else's products. Brands generally won't sponsor (aka pay you) to make a video unless you already have a large following. (Sure, they may send you products for free, but….free ain't payin' the bills homie!)
So what are you left with? All of those hours filming, editing, content creating, and engaging, just to make $60 a month.
I don't know about you, but that's just unacceptable! I mean, you can make more money working minimum wage at your local fast-food restaurant. (Can you say, "would you like fries with that?)
You are capable of earning of more than that!
So, what did I do? I hacked the system, and now I am showing you how to do it too. We use the first 3 things I talked about in this video to become your very best self on YouTube. We niche down and put you in front of a very specific target market, we turn you into an online brand who creates amazing content. You are the expert in what you do and everyone can see it, and then….you create something to monetize!
I don't care what that is! You can create a $5 e-book of your recipes (if you are a food vlogger). You do $25 one-on-one hair consultations if you are a curly hair connoisseur. If you're a life coach or a health coach then you can make BANK with your $10,000 coaching services.
When you do this, you have officially become #CEO and #BOSS and you no longer have to rely on the Google Adsense Gods to give you a $45 paycheck every month. I am not discounting $45 - that's hard-earned cash! But it's barely enough for gas money to get you to that 9-5 job you are trying to get out of!
PS, if you don't already have an idea on what product or service you want to sell yet - that's fine. I just want you to start thinking about it - you will narrow it down later, once you have solidified your niche and your brand!
CHALLENGE ASSIGNMENT
If you haven't already, go ahead and create your YouTube Channel. Remember the elements we talked about today (niche, brand) when you are thinking of a YouTube channel name. When in doubt, I always suggest going with your name - because...yup! Your guessed it! YOU ARE A BRAND!
You can watch this quick tutorial to get you started CLICK HERE.
If you already have a channel - consider changing the name to reflect your new brand that we will be building. So that means if your channel is BeautyGuru115270878237294 - you might wanna go with something a bit more...YOU, LOL.
Make your name something memorable, and something you will wanna be known for 10 years from now.
After you have done that, Show up as the BOSS you are: go into the Facebook Group and tell us what you want to be known for - what is your ONE thing!
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