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The Think Media Podcast
378: How to START a YouTube Channel in 2025: Beginners Guide to Growing From ZERO Subscribers!
00:59:24
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- [00:00]
A
Hey, before we jump into today's episode, I've got a question for you. Is your YouTube channel failing to bring in consistent leads and sales? If you'd say yes, then we are hosting an event that's probably perfect for you. I want to personally invite you to join me and the Think Media team this February in Las Vegas for an exclusive in person YouTube growth mastermind. Seats are limited, so make sure to secure your ticket today@thinkmedia media mastermind.com and over an intensive day and a half, I'll show you my proven strategies for creating videos that attract the right audience, generate real revenue and drive more sales. You'll craft your next winning video, learn the latest strategies for leveraging AI and attracting high quality leads, all without the complex funnels or expensive ads. That can be so frustrating. Since we keep this Mastermind small and intimate spots are extremely limited and and filling up fast. So secure your spot for February 21st through the 22nd, 2025, and you can apply for this event at thinkmediamastermind.com before the seats are gone. Now, as of recording this, we're looking for about 10 more people, so grab your seat now. All right, let's jump into the podcast. People say, is it too late to start? Not if you're doing this. And here's the good news. 99% of creators are not doing doing this. Like, grab your smartphone and post your first video in the next 24 hours. That's what courage looks like. 99% of creators might not even have the attention span to listen through this entire framework. And that's why they'll probably lose. Not just skip around and look for a YouTube short to give me a dopamine hit. But are you really playing all in? Are you really sharing your boldest voice? Are you really living all out courageously? Or are you playing it safe? I think that 100% of people listening to this could really ask themselves the question, what does that next level of courage look like for me?
- [01:54]
B
Sean, you have a whole system that you have personally curated and used for your YouTube channels to reach silver play buttons, gold play buttons, and also help other content creators reach their goals with their YouTube channels. And that's the 7C framework. I don't think you've really sat down in a setting like this to share more about it, which we will get into in just a little bit. But my first question for you is, is it too late to start on YouTube in 2025?
- [02:21]
A
Yeah, it's a great question and I think people ask that question every year. And the short answer is no, it's not too late. The nuanced answer is it is challenging to start on YouTube right now with rising competition, with a lot of people wanting to do this, and competition is highest for those that are starting YouTube without a strategy for those that are making low quality content. But I would say that if you have the right mindset, the right strategy, and we'll go through all steps in our system in this video, in this podcast. But also, I do think there's a lot of good news in 2025. One is YouTube's really promoting small and new channels. We've seen this over and over again, that on people's homepages and their suggested feeds. From our surveys, from our own experience, that maybe one out of every four videos recommended. You might see a big YouTuber, an established creator, they have a million subscribers, this person's getting a million views. But then you'll see a video recommended to you that has under a thousand subscribers, that has videos that have 56 views and they're showing up on your homepage or in your suggested feed. The YouTube algorithm and YouTube employees confirm this is they want the YouTube ecosystem to succeed, and that's not really a selfless ambition from them. They make money by running ads on people's videos. They need the creators in the creator economy to flourish so that their business model flourishes as well. So it's in their interest for creators to start new channels and succeed in 2025. That's good news because they want to find ways to help creators win, help creators get discovered. And we're seeing that's how the algorithm works. So especially with some of the changes that are happening on YouTube and with this framework, I think that it's still a great time to start a channel. And these are the way I would approach a brand new channel right now.
- [04:18]
B
That's awesome. That's very encouraging too. Even compared to 2024 and 2023 starting out, it seems like they're almost at a better foothold in 2025. So I would love to dive into your 7C framework and what that looks like for a content creator jumping into YouTube. What is the first c see of your framework? And I guess I should ask you first, what is your framework? Why did you create it? What has it done for you?
- [04:45]
A
Yeah, so wrote a book called YouTube Secrets with My friend Benji Travis. And actually if people want the physical book of this, we're doing something cool this year which we're giving away free if you will, mail it to you if you cover shipping. And so we'll link to that in the show notes or yt secrets.com and it's actually updated, the second edition is out now. And we wanted to write a book to encapsulate a proven system and a proven process that Benji had done in kind of vlogging and entertainment with his wife on his cooking channel, on a real estate channel he started. I had been a freelancer for many different experts, pastors, personal brands running their YouTube channels for them. And then I've started multiple YouTube channels myself. And so these seven steps have actually stood the test of time for starting a channel. But then they also, there's some nuances to them that are different now in 2025. And so the first C is courage. You know, we're, we'll get tactical in a second. But there's a big part of YouTube that's mindset. If someone's watching this or listening to this, they might be thinking like, man, you know, is it too late still? You know, is it just going to be, how hard is this going to be? Is it going to be worth the effort? What are people going to think of me? Am I going to get negative comments? You know, there's a lot of resistance, a lot of overthinking, a lot of self doubt and imposter syndrome. And if you feel those things, welcome to the club. Everybody does actually. Of course some people like, you know, are just a little bit more natural. But like the self doubt, you know, the definition of courage is not the absence of fear. It's taking practical steps forward despite the fear you feel. So if you're wondering, oh, is it weird that I'm feeling fear? This other person that started, they must not have felt that. Maybe the difference is they felt it, but they did it anyways. So for this C, it's really just making that decision that you're going to press record, you're going to start poop your pants, scared your armpits might be sweaty, you might be running all these scenarios. Like I, I wasn't in high school, I was kind of an outcast. I wasn't, you know, one of the popular kids. Especially freshman year Arlington High School. I was really sucked at sports and it seemed like the football team, like they were the, you know, really popular kids, whatever. And so I just also remember thinking that like I had a lot of insecurity, like I never quite fed it fit in. And I remember thinking, even though this is like a made up scenario, that years later when I was starting a channel I was like, man, are people gonna judge me? Like, what about those people from high school? Oh, look at him. Who does he think he is? He's starting a channel and all this stuff. They don't even know what, you know, like, they're not even watching.
- [07:37]
B
Yeah.
- [07:37]
A
Years later, I remember I was waiting tables and some girls that I went to high school with that were in the cool crowd, they were. Was waiting on them. Of course, they were very kind. But I remember, and I was working on my YouTube channel on the side, and I was like, oh, man. Like, I just. I'm just. All I can feel right now is I just remember feeling, like, conflicted inside, like, kind of insecure, kind of like, well, I'm trying to build something, but what do they think? And. And, you know, they drove up in a nice car. I think they had really nice jobs. And it's very respectable, of course, to be a server at a restaurant. But I just remember going through my feels of like, and what are people going to think? And am I going to be judged? And maybe you got spouses or family members. All this stuff is real. Here's the bottom line. It's going to take courage. And if you look at the landscape right now, maybe you feel. You look at the economy, you look at what's happening, you don't like what's happening in politics, you don't like what's happening in the world. There's just a lot of reasons to stay safe and not get out of your comfort zone. But it's the people who actually get uncomfortable and punch fear in the face and get courageous and actually start. And ready is a lie. Like, if you're waiting until you feel ready or you're waiting until you feel all the answers, this is a great episode to listen to. But, like, after you're done listening to these seven Cs, like, grab your smartphone and post your first video in the next 24 hours. That's what courage looks like, because you can get more strategic over the years, but you cannot steer a parked car. So there's something about punching fear in the face, punching perfectionism in the face, punch pressing record and starting, and that takes courage.
- [09:09]
B
Would you say that even to this day, after being online for over 20 years, that you still have to choose to have courage? I'm sure it might be easier, but what does that look like for you now?
- [09:19]
A
A hundred percent. It's. I'm more comfortable on camera now. Maybe before I shoot a video, but now I still have just as much insecurity. It's just different now. It's been crazy that Think Media has grown. It's a bigger business. We have a team. You're a part of that team. It's really cool what we've been blessed to be able to get to do. But I still am like, do I have what it takes to run Think Media at. At this level? Am I a good enough leader? Do I have what now I'm a father, so I'm even, you know, do I have what it takes to raise these kids? I don't know. I think people have different levels. It's just normal to feel again. Imposter syndrome. And. And then the truth is too with Courage is I think negative comments is one of our fears. I think that sometimes we fear failure. What if I start and I don't get any views? But you know what we also fear? Success. What if I get too many views? I've seen people go viral. You might have noticed that people get quote, unquote canceled on the Internet. A video goes viral. There's different fears that could come into your mind. How do I speak about, you know, the privacy of my kids? Or do I share my kids and a lot of, you know, do I share my life? Should I change my name? I know a lot of women will think about this a little more cautious, wisely. So maybe they use their first name but do a different last name because they don't want to be looked up. Or maybe a stalker in the past or all kinds of stuff for real. But anything worth having in life is uphill. The greatest rewards are outside of your comfort zone. Be safe, be wise, set things up in a smart way. But yes, I think that the courage. I need courage for every new battle I'm gonna fight. And you might have defeated other giants in your past or maybe you, you beat the lion, you beat the bear, but now you're facing the giant Goliath is in front of you and that's that starting the channel or getting back to a channel because, man, you might look, sometimes you have regret. Like, I tried YouTube a few years ago and I got busy and I got discouraged and I had a setback for a while. Maybe I got sick, a family member got sick or something. And sometimes you're like, man, I just feel like I lost momentum. And even, you know, at the start of a new year or mid year, I just feel like the uphill battle, like, how am I going to get that momentum back? It feels heavy, it feels hard. You don't have to see the full staircase. You Got to just take the first step. And that necessity of courage, by the way, this seven Seas is a circle. As soon as we get to the end, we're going to start right back at the beginning with courage again. You don't graduate courage at every single level. You've got new challenges that will come your way, but that's a blessing. It's that it's bigger giants, new levels, new devils. It's like just you keep going back through. So, yes, that's why really, in a lot of ways, this framework is for myself, not just for those that are starting YouTube channels. Even if you're more advanced, what's that next level of courage look like for you? That next bold idea, that next thing that you really feel like you should share, that's on your heart. But what if you got a little bit more vulnerable with your vision, with your values, with what you stand for? Maybe you see what's happening in the world and your channel's been a little bit PC, politically correct, but you feel like there's just a message burning in your bones, but you've been playing it safe. Maybe you're making some money, maybe you feel like, my content's going fine, my channel's going all right, but are you really playing all in? Are you really sharing your boldest voice? Are you, are you really living all out courageously, or are you playing it safe? I think that 100% of people listening to this could really ask themselves the question of what does that next level of courage look like for me? Every day you want to start your YouTube channel is another day of missed opportunities and untapped potential. Here's the truth. YouTube reaches more 18 to 49 year olds than all the cable networks combined. The opportunity is massive and the Think Media team and I want to help you seize it. I'm excited to announce our YouTube 1K Challenge, a free five day event that will give you the exact blueprint to start and grow your YouTube channel in 2025. Whether you're an entrepreneur, business owner, or somebody ready to grow their personal brand, this challenge is your roadmap to success. To register, just go to tube1k challenge. Com. We're going to be doing one training session a day for five days and you're going to learn how to get your first 1,000 subscribers and start earning real income. Insider strategies that make viewers want to click on your videos and keep watching multiple different ways to earn money from your YouTube channel, even if you have a small audience. And how to build an authentic personal brand that truly connects with people. But it gets even better. We are giving away prizes every single day of the challenge. You could win professional microphones, lighting kits, and premium content creation software. And during this challenge, you're getting access to the exact training that we offer in our $4,000 coaching program. But you're getting it completely for free. And you can start with just your smartphone. So if you're Ready to turn 2025 into your YouTube breakthrough year, go to tube1kchallenge.com to register. That's tube1kchallenge.com or click the link in the show notes or YouTube description to register for our upcoming challenge.
- [14:36]
B
Had you not started your YouTube channel, you wouldn't be where you were. But you chose to have courage. And then it's something that builds. You're building that muscle of courage. The first C being courage. What is the second C of the framework?
- [14:48]
A
So then the second C is clarity. And so this is about answering the question of what is the focus of my YouTube channel. I think one of the biggest dangers of 2025 is, is distraction and overwhelm. There's so many different social media platforms you could try to build on. There's so many different online ways to make money. There's so many different things to watch and get distracted by. So many social media feeds to just get stuck scrolling in. There's so many different business opportunities or shiny objects. So if you're just distracted, not only that as think about the consumer, that the hopeful viewer someday that will watch your channel, think about how many options they have. So if your channel is not clear, if it doesn't, if you don't find a way to stand out in the sea of sameness. There's a quote from Zig Ziglar says that says you don't want to be a wandering generality. You want to be a meaningful specific. What is the focus of your YouTube channel? So this would mean like who is your channel for? What problem does it solve? How can your channel be different? What's unique about your channel? What's unique about your personality that can weave into the channel? Because you might. The argument might be, well, somebody's already doing what I'm doing. But yes, topic wise, but they can never do it the same of you. Why? They don't have the same stories, they don't have the same perspectives, they're in a different season of life. They don't have the same trauma like the way life has shaped you and your experiences. We all bring our unique perspective to even something that's similar. You Know how many successful personal finance channels there are? You know how many successful gardening channels there are? It's really actually endless. What's different is we're different. And so clarity is about identifying what are your strengths? Maybe what are your weaknesses? You know, in business, there's this thing called a SWOT analysis. S W O T. And you'll draw four columns. And a business will do this when they're thinking about making a competitive advance for their business in a coming year. It's a good thing to do for your YouTube channel. It's part of clarity. What are our strengths? What are our weaknesses? What are the opportunities? What are the threats? So it's like, what are my strengths? Okay, I've got this connection. Maybe I've got some money so I can buy some gear. I could set this up. Maybe I wanna start a video podcast. I already know a couple people. I have my first few guests. It's like a strength. What are some of your weaknesses? Well, when it comes to weaknesses, maybe I don't have a lot of time. Well, I got to be more efficient. But what are my weaknesses? And maybe finances are low. Well, I can't compete to the person who's going to build a $10,000 studio, but all I need is a smartphone. You just are assessing. Play to your strengths. Find a way to overcome your weaknesses. What are the opportunities? Well, maybe I'm located in a place where there's other people to collaborate with. Like, we're recording in Vegas right now. It's crazy how much momentum there was for me on YouTube in terms of, like, podcast guests and all this stuff from being in Vegas. But my wife and I made a decision for family and actually moved back to the Pacific Northwest. That's my value system. I'd rather do that. But it wasn't the best business decision. It actually now becomes more of a weakness. I can do things virtual, so I learned how to adapt to that. Use virtual interviews, fly to Vegas every once in a while. I'm. I'm in a rural town in the Pacific Northwest the majority of the year running a media company. That's the cool world we live in. But it still might be a weakness. It's not your biggest opportunity. And then what are the threats? Okay, that's also under clarity would be a little bit of a. A competitor analysis. And I'm not talking about comparison. So you need to get in the right mindset for this. I want you to sit down and look for really 10 to 20 of other channels that are doing something similar to what you want to do or like, related, like, maybe not directly. So it's interesting if you wanted to do something related to health and you maybe more specifically wanted to do something related to like, let's say biohacking, like bulletproof coffee and supplements and red light therapy. And there's that dude who's like, planning on, like, never dying. Like, he's, you know, supplements and doing all this different stuff. But maybe you're like, I kind of is in that space. So you began to study. Oh, there's some people doing video podcasts. There's this channel over here, this guy's kind of teaching. This guy over here kind of does an interview show. This guy over here. Andrew Humerven does it this way. And you start sort of assessing. This is the clarity C. And you don't want to get stuck here, but this is how you put together a plan. When people say, is it too late to start? Not if you're doing this. And here's the good news. 99% of creators are not doing this. 99% of creators, you know, might not even have the attention span to listen through this entire framework. And that's why they'll probably lose. It's those who like, go like, okay, I'm really going to get tactical on this. Not just skip around and look for a YouTube short to give me a dopamine hit. I'm going to go deep. And so a competitor analysis, not to compare, because they're further along, of course, like they're crushing it. It's like, oh, look how good they're doing. No, it's like looking. Okay, what can I learn from them? Strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, threats. And that'll help you identify who is my target audience. What is the main theme of my channel? What problem does my channel solve? How can my channel be a little bit different? What can I try to contribute to and put together a simple napkin plan, basically, for your channel. I'm going to start a video podcast once a week on marriage and relationships to interview marriage and relationship experts and authors. I'll do it virtually. I can do that from anywhere. And like, there's your plan. And like, it's a way to start. You know, you could do a video podcast like this without this fancy gear. I'm saying you could do it at a computer with like a webcam. Or I'm going to do talking head video. I'm going to film in my kitchen once a week, one recipe and make it simple and then start with that clear plan going forward.
- [21:01]
B
Okay, so we've got courage, clarity. Let's move into the third C. Okay.
- [21:07]
A
So now you're going to set up your channel. Now you might have already started your YouTube channel, but it's the fact that you actually need to start a YouTube channel to have a YouTube channel. And, and if you're watching this, you probably have a YouTube channel. But if you don't have your avatar yet and this is the channel you're uploading on, like get your avatar right, get your name of your channel dialed in, write your about page link, get your email on there so that brands could reach out to you. Well I'm not, I'm just starting. Why would brands reach out to me? I think the mindset you want to have. I've noticed that those that are successful, they think big in small places. They don't let their small YouTube channel make them small minded. There's something about taking like turning pro and treating your YouTube channel like, like especially with AI and design tools like Canva or whatever, there's templates out there. There's just no excuse to have an ugly YouTube channel.
- [22:08]
B
Like yes, truth. There just isn't hard truth.
- [22:13]
A
Like you can, there's so many tools that are just kind of like, you know, at least get a template. You know like these days with AI, like filters you could take the nastiest photo on your phone. I mean like bad lighting, like I don't even know much about photography. And then you like put it into AI and like click a button like clean this up and make the lighting right and it's like whoa, now that looks like a professional photographer. That's literally the world we're living in. And so I just mean like you can have a crispy looking avatar now. You don't have to be on camera. There's that option. You don't have to have your face on the channel. It could be a logo, you could do screen share videos, faceless videos. We don't have to get into all of that. But the bottom line with channel is like get your channel right. And it's kind of like a channel. Like in the book we have a channel checklist and it's essentially the way YouTube channels work. Name, avatar, picture, get the links. There's also some things on the back end. Eventually there's going to be like four things that you want to make sure are in compliance with your channel. Like you've uploaded at least a couple of videos, you've attached a phone number and done like two factor authentication or they verified your identity. You've got like, and those compliance things become the bedrock for getting monetized eventually and unlocking all of the features if you want to be able to upload longer videos or go live and all of this stuff so we don't have to get in all those details. But it's like get your channel right, clean your channel up. It's like getting dressed also for a job interview. If someone's going around YouTube possibly finding one of your videos, discovering your channel and then being like, hey, let's like hang out in the future and they want to hit that subscribe button. How do you want to present yourself to make a good first impression, you know, and meet people. And unfortunately people again, I think they, they miss this. This doesn't have to take that long few hours on like a Saturday morning, you know, you got a full time job, you can spend just maybe a few hours getting kind of the branding of your channel cleaned up and dialed in. And that's what the third C is.
- [24:12]
B
I love that I am always so surprised when I hear you talk about how simple your branding can be as well. Thumbnails, your cover photo, your avatar. I think sometimes it's hard to get out of your own skill set, maybe when you don't have one right off the bat. So I also love that that ties back in to clarity and doing some competitor analysis, even if you're comparing your thumbnail to somebody else's. Not to degrade yourself, but just to pick out points that you might be able to apply as well. I know that that really resonates with me. We are rounding the bin. We're about halfway through the 7C framework. What is number four?
- [24:49]
A
So number four now is the biggest one because if you set up a channel that's good, but if you don't upload any content, that's still not going to get you anywhere. So the fourth C is content. And by content we're talking videos. Now what is interesting in 2025, this might sound overwhelming, but just so we're exhaustive is if you go on someone's channel and they're doing all of the things, it's kind of wild that you could get on their homepage. That's like the main part of their channel. But then there's tabs, you go over one and it's videos, long form videos on YouTube, that's one thing you get upload. Then it's shorts. Okay, those are up to 3 minute long vertical videos that people could upload as well. Then you could go over another one and it's live streams. Okay. I could live stream on YouTube if I want. Then you go over another one and if you do a podcast like us, and that means you upload these videos, check a box, call it a video podcast, optimize it, then there's a whole podcast tab and there's still. We don't even need to get into it. But that would mean the this audio also gets distributed to YouTube Music. This video lives on the channel. And then also we have to separately upload the audio to Spotify and, and Apple and all the other places. But we use a software to do it. So it's pretty chill now. You keep going over and there's it's changes. It's called posts. I think it's going to be community and that's like a community tab. And YouTube's investing a lot in this. In 2025 it's kind of going to be more like trying to be like a Facebook wall, trying to kind of be like an Instagram feed but be more interactive. Meaning other people can post on your wall, fans can kind of collab and engage and it's a place where you could post photos, text, link to your videos, animated gifs. And I think then they kind of moved because that's already so many things and then you know where about pages, here's the bottom line. Those are all different types of forms of content. So I would encourage a couple things I think. One, you know, again if you want to pick up the book ytsecrets.com and you could grab the book for free, we'll ship it to you. If you cover shipping and handling, we'll link that in the show notes. I think too if you subscribe to the podcast because content is a multi year conversation, we could talk, you know, for multiple episodes about shorts or, or long form videos or doing video podcasts. So it's kind of choose your own adventure. And I and I a couple tips here. Complexity is the enemy of execution. So if you are on the Think Media Podcast YouTube channel, you'll see that we have all of those. We're uploading shorts, we're uploading videos, we upload clips from the podcast, you know, but remember that this has grown from me and my wife just having a vision to start a YouTube channel. She was running the checkbook and helping manage our day to day life and I was shooting all the videos, shooting, editing, set a light up, try to not be stressed out, you know, make the thumbnails. I learned all the skills basically as a solo independent creator and I learned that keeping it as simple at the start and not trying to do a bunch of social media platforms or try to be like, yeah, I'm going to start a YouTube channel. I'm going to go live every week. I'm going to do two podcast episodes, 10 shorts, three video. Like, what are you talking like again? And so fast forward to today. We are kind of at that pace, but we have, I've been hiring people. It's crazy what Think Media has turned into. And it's been this year will be our 10 year anniversary at the end of the year, which is kind of crazy. And then I even started YouTube before that. Like 10 years of the company in this iteration that just speaks to, I think pace yourself. And so practical advice. Pick one content format max two, like maybe do two shorts a week and one proper video a week. Even more than that, Maybe just my 2025 recipe for YouTube success would be one high quality strategic long form video per week. There it is. If possible, I'm trying to upload a video. What does high quality mean? I don't mean like fancy lighting. I mean that you thought about it. You weren't like, you weren't lazy or rushed. What's the title? Good thumbnail. You thought about the content. Even if you didn't edit it, you still, you planned it out. It's something that is valuable to the viewer. You, you, you really invested in it and it's like, I'd rather you do like one high quality strategic long form video. It's not a YouTube short. What does long form mean? 812 minutes. It might be 22 minutes, it might be longer and it might be 6. There's not a magic number. That's a question people have. But if I was like really wanted to build a solid foundation, I would love to do that now. Saying that YouTube shorts are an easier way to get in the game. All you need is your smartphone. They can be very short and whatever's gonna get you creating content. But I think keep it simple at the start. Don't let it get too complex. Find a rhythm that you can stay consistent at and content is that next C. And again, subscribe to the podcast and stick with us because the art of creating great content and content that resonates and catching new trends that come with content, it's ever evolving. And YouTube, the future is bright. I think the, you know, Goldman Sachs research said the next three years are going to be the best three years in the crater economy. That it's actually going to the total addressable market and like the amount of money, it's going to be a half a trillion dollar industry in the next three years. We're actually in a major wave right now. That's a big growth wave. It's a good thing to be a part of, but there's also, you know, challenges, and that is the skill. There's this quote from Eric Rees that says the only way to win is to learn faster than anybody else. So I think as we land the plane on this sea, it's sort of like, start making content and posting videos as soon as possible, but then commit to continuous improvement that will never stop. It's lifelong continuous improvement. And we've said it a lot, but it's like, get 1% better with every upload. It's just like, so always working on my craft, getting a little bit better, always tweaking something get a little bit better. Can my delivery on camera be a little bit better? Can my planning process, the way I outline, the way I research be a little bit better? I have more experience, my depth of knowledge on my subject matter, my editing. Even if you eventually delegate something, or maybe a spouse or partner is helping you working together, how can we make the videos better, more interesting, and can we make the opening better? How can make the thumbnails better? I've learned that small tweaks lead to giant peaks. Something about committing to consistent, strategic content, but then also committing to improving that content as you go. So that's the fourth C. Got to post videos on YouTube if you want to have success on YouTube.
- [31:59]
B
I love how this is compounding one after the other and it really goes back to courage. The first one, as you were saying, this might seem a little overwhelming. You have to have courage, which is the first C. So I love hearing this framework in real time and how that has looked like for you as well. So we've gone through courage, clarity, channel content. What's the fifth C?
- [32:19]
A
Okay, so the fifth C is now community. This is the sea of. As you start posting, things are going well, you start getting some subscribers, you start getting some comments. And I think the big key here is care. And what do I mean? Deeply care about your community and try to think about ways of going the extra mile. Now at the start, you're just hoping you get a comment and there's something about getting that first comment ever. And hopefully, by the way, I hope you reply and engage like, man, someone's here. And they actually said something. You know, who are these people? People are starting to like the video. People are starting to comment on the video. But I think it's, it's an obsession with, with wanting to care for your community. In the book, my co author Benji Travis was telling a story of his wife who together now they've became, they have a big vlogging channel of a family vlog. But originally she was a beauty youtuber and he would tell stories that she would be up answering comments until 1, 2, 3 and 4am in the morning, answering as many comments as she could. Now if you're just starting, you're like, I wish I had that problem. That'd be a nice problem to have. But you know what's fascinating is there is a lot of established creators or even mid sized creators that they start to, it's not that they don't care but they get busy and they focus on all the tasks, things. Forgetting that like this is all about people, like there's no way for you to have success as a content creator if there's not somebody that watches your videos. So I think having an obsession and a genuine love for the end viewer, thinking about, you know, how can I show my appreciation? And that actually is going to start more than answering a comment. It's going to start by what you put into your videos. The effort and excellence and detail and service minded. By the way, if you're making great content, you're actually asking more what's in it for the viewer? Not just what videos do I want to make, it's maybe attention but it's like what's really in this for the viewer? Do I am I am I obsessed with helping the viewer win, Entertaining the viewer, adding massive value, giving them a great experience, the kind of content they would say thank you after. Thank you. I needed this. I've been stressed out. Thank you. That helped and solved my problem. Thank you. A lot of these other YouTube videos were full of fluff. That one was really great. Thank you for the energy and effort you put into this video. That's one way to show care. But as we go the extra mile, you know, now we have a bunch of YouTube channels, we post a lot of content across our whole brand at Think Media and we every Wednesday, one of the things we do as a team is called Love Bombs. And so we have a short team meeting and then we turn on some music and we're still all on zoom but we either like mute or turn the camera off and actually together all at the same time. And for us we are on different platforms but like our entire team for 10 or 15 minutes, which is even a 10 of time. But we set aside time every single week and love bombs just simply means go to the comments and reply to as many people as possible. Connect with as many people as possible and not just with the goal of like heart, like AI responses. Because there's all like tools I oftentimes will say I'll like. And if you spend all 15 minutes responding to one person and helping them, acknowledging them or overcoming their, you know, question or something, that's a win. Maybe it's trying to do volume. How many comments can I respond to in the next 30 minutes? Or maybe it's trying to go deep. Can I give a 30 minute answer to someone who's really hurting and someone who's in pain? I think this ties into a mindset. Like I think there's a great book by Ritz Carlton founder, one of the CEOs that's called like the gold standard because Ritz Carlton's known for what customer service. There's a great book called Unreasonable Hospitality. Disneyland is known for, you know, the experience and how people treat you there. That's kind of the mindset I think about in care is like if you view your YouTube channel as a service organization and a hospitality organization or, you know, brand. It's like there's been different times when Taylor Swift early on developed a reputation for doing ridiculous things for her fans, like showing up to a wedding and like playing for like people like, what are you talking about? And so that kind of stuff again. Also, not only is it like word of mouth that could spread and you're not doing it as a tactic, I hope, but it's also the kind of thing that people feel and what might someday happen is you can't even get to all the comments. But if you do for one what you wish you could do for all, if you have the right spirit of like genuine care and genuine interest in people wanting their welfare and caring about them and acknowledging too, like, again, you just don't make it anywhere in this career if people aren't watching the videos or liking or sharing or clicking your brand deal links eventually. So that is the community C is thinking about all that and it's then also thinking about actual community development. And how can you do that? We go into like more in the book. You eventually might create a community off of the platform. People build email lists, newsletters, discord groups, Facebook groups. How do you build a community that's going to be more of a community of your super fans? Probably too. You might have subscribers who are more casual, some Viewers that are more casual, but there's going to be a group of people. And YouTube also added some new features for this as well. It changed two communities in the app. If you're listening to this and you're new, make sure to download the YouTube Studio app. It's different than YouTube where you watch content. And the new tab is called Communities. And it'll tell you eventually as your channel has some momentum. Who's commenting on your posts? Like John on the Think Media podcast. It says he's commented on the last a hundred videos. Bro, thank you. Like, I see him every time he says informative content. He actually says the same thing every. But, like, it's like, I'm like, bro, like, ride or die. There's different people that show up and what they're gonna be adding is ways to, like, acknowledge or, like, reward or just, you know, like, you know, shout people out. I think try to do those. We try to answer questions and have the people's questions pop up on screen. We do real Q&As on our community tab and really turn the Q and A's into videos. You, sir, you and Mel surveyed, you know, listen to all the data we could get and we combine them into a couple episodes. Bottom line, big idea is like, build a community. Nurture a community. Think about your community. How can you serve your community? How can you out love your community more than anyone else, care deeply about them not as a tactic, but as an authentic place? But also realizing it is also the only thing that leads to longevity in this as well. It's going to be those people who roll with you. You're going to get a lot of casual viewers, and everyone's trying to go viral. But we all know how many viral videos have you seen? You never followed the person. You're like, that was so funny. You didn't go deep with the person and how many. They're like, wow, I got a video that got 20 million views. Did you build a community? Oh, wow. I had a breakout YouTube short. Do you have a community? And in a world I know we're going deep on this, we can, you know, hit the next one. But this actually is a major 2025 trend. I think that part of the big thing that has changed is in some cases, some creators might even feel like, man, my views are down a little, a little bit. Or maybe like, there's. I wouldn't even call it, say, there's less viral. I think it's easier to go viral now than it once was, but maybe it's more distributed and, and it's just because there's just simply more. I mean that's the big idea, right? There's just more channels and more competition and whatnot. So the edge to success on YouTube in 2025 is community. And how well can you build that ride or die community? Because, and, and if you're listening to this, you can look it up later. Look up Kevin Kelly's article on a thousand true fans. You could Google it. And it's a famous blog post that just explains that you don't need a huge audience, you just need a thousand true fans. It's maybe more than a thousand subscribers, but it's. That's your, that's your ride or dies, your community to last through anything to actually build a six figure income. Like if you have a thousand like true supporters, true fans and you can read the article for the details. So that's the point. It's like whether you go viral or not, in a way, who cares? Like, we'll help you go viral, but whether you break out or not, whether you have this huge channel or not, you don't need any of that. Like a lot of people listen to this. Like, I would love to go full time on YouTube, master this community, see and like really cultivate and get obsessed. The creator who understands the viewer best wins. I think the creator who loves the viewer best wins because authentic love is not just a verb, it's a noun. Did I say that right? It's an action, which is a verb. Or did I reverse that? It's not a noun, it's an action. If I reversed it, what's a noun of love mean?
- [41:10]
B
Person, place, thing.
- [41:11]
A
Okay, love is a verb, it's an action, whatever. So it's like, that's funny. And so yeah, it. Love in action. Not just in responding to comments, but the love you inject in your videos. So anyways, that's the community.
- [41:25]
B
C. Yeah, you are really great at authentically doing this, even behind the scenes. Two things I think we hear from you most are do for one, which you would do for one that you wish you could do for all. And also through all of your various courses is how are you serving your community? You are so big about that, but also behind the scenes. And when people are getting comments from the Think Media channel, I think it's really special that it's you. And you're so right. Moving into 2025 that is so critical to the YouTube landscape. We've got two more Cs to cover. Sean, what is the 6C.
- [41:59]
A
All right, so the 6C is cash. Now this is the point of if you want to, you know, do YouTube full time, if you want extra streams of revenue for your business, how are you going to monetize? How you going to make money? Now, in the book, we hit 10 different ways and on the channel we've covered this. So actually, you know, what I would say is in the show notes of this episode, we will link to a couple episodes that we just recorded brand new on. If you're a new channel, best ways to make money. So add those to watch later or check those out after you're done listening to this episode. But when it comes to cash, I think the big idea is you want to create a money plan. What do I mean? It's like a money path. And imagine like if you were going to start a business and you went to a small bank to get a small business loan, what would they ask you for a business plan? And it's because if you're like, hey, I'm thinking about starting a business. Can I have some money? They're like, so what's the plan? Like what, like what are you gonna do? And, and so what's funny though is we might go into YouTube and we just think, oh, I just want to get approved for the YouTube Partner Program. It's a good ambition, but there's so many other ways to go about it. And so, you know, when we think about these seven Cs, this also, it kind, this one kind of ties to clarity. Another question you could ask during clarity is how is the channel gonna make money? And then also realizing though, that sequentially if you've set up your channel and started posting some good content that adds value to a real community, that then the money will follow and that cash kind of becomes. But it's usually it's going to be a result of planning ahead. And it could be saying, okay, if my channel is more entertainment based, then I'm hoping to get ad revenue, maybe brand deals someday when my channel's big enough and maybe I do build up like a fan funding Patreon. That's like one path. If my channel is like a review channel, like, that's really the main thing that I started doing. I think media that broke out was like camera reviews and tech reviews and all this kind of stuff. I've been doing video for 21 years. At this point. It's pretty, pretty crazy. So that was my niche that I finally locked in on. So it made a lot of sense to do affiliate Marketing because there was products related to my channel and I think anybody listening to this could benefit from affiliate marketing. But some channels that are maybe more reviews, tech, there's a lot of different channel topics that would apply to this, but it can be like huge. And that became a six and now seven figure income stream for you know, what we do. So it's first, it's almost like figure out the menu, what are even the possibilities and then pick the 1, 2, 3 money strategies that becomes your plan and your path. Like, and they don't have to all start because I think the last thing I'd say there is the mindset around money. In a way, I would want you to have a mindset of delayed gratification. One, because you're probably not going to make money very quick anyways. So like you just have to, you have no choice. Two, though is like delayed gratification is probably one of the greatest indicators of maturity. I have a two year old and a four year old and probably one of the biggest evidences of their age is impatience and the inability for not having very short delayed gratification. I will tell my son, Sean Bradley a lot. I'll say, can you say patience? Can you say patience? We'll go get cheeseburger. Go cheeseburger. I'll go like, we're on the way. We're on the way, bro. Cheeseburger. Can you say patience? We're going right now to get the cheeseburger. Like, bro, you need to relax. But he's four. But that's, that's what I mean. Sometimes I think as adults though, we struggle with delayed gratification. And so your ability to know that there is cash in your future, your commitment to excellence, to go through the whole 7C system and keep doing it with a level of rigor, discipline and resilience and quality and excellence out of love for your community. But I think it's just patience on twofold patience that it takes time to eventually get your channel monetized. But also like, I've heard this from many mentors, like not trying to cash in on your audience too soon. And it sounds funny, your attitude should never be to if you will cash in on your audience, you know, ever, like, if that's your only intent. But I remember talking to Lewis Howes from the school of greatness early on and he actually his thing was like, I didn't even want to have brand deals or promotions or ads for like a couple years. Don't get this wrong. I think your very first, like, if you're a business owner listening to this. Your very first episode could be like, yeah. And if you want to work together, like hit us up. It's not as much that it's more like maybe the feeling people don't want to be sold to. People don't want to be like, wow, I could just feel right off the bat like this whole thing is just a cash grab. Like right off the bat, this thing is just so. I think that's like delayed gratification. And here's what it is under cash. Make a commitment on your YouTube channel, especially in the education side. If you're going to teach people to do something, who do you serve? What problem do you solve to commit to RIA results in advance that people start to watch your free content, get real results. Like, wow, that was really good. That was really helpful. And actually get results and get results so good that they're like, man, I. I actually would have paid for that and I probably should have paid for that. Wow, I got to watch your free videos. And if that stuff is that good, then they also know they're like, man, I can't imagine what's in the paid stuff. So if you're getting them results in advance and then even the patience to realize like there's another mindset and then we can hit the final c. Is there's a difference between farming and hunting. People have different styles, but nobody wants to be hunted. But farming is awesome. Farmville Think about the spirit of farming. You know what I mean? The spirit of farming is like plant seeds, water, nurture hard days, work, sit on the porch after work, iced tea and because farming is like, let's let this thing grow and you have to have a level of patience with letting it grow. And if I commit to planting seeds of great videos, watering, community, love, all of that over time, season after season. Some maybe farmers know, forgive me if this is your expertise but you know, it's like maybe the soil gets richer as each season, you know, and, and you do things to make every crop a little bit better and the way you fertilize or whatever and, and you're farming but that's patient if you're hunting. What are you trying to. You trying to kill me? That's. It's just a more aggressive tactic. And I know that online or insert business there's like hardcore sales or hardcore closers and you know, this different. It's a different attitude. It's a different spirit. I think there's just something about. You could choose your approach, you could choose if you want, maybe, maybe you're a mix of both. And again, I know you might have like the creator, artists listening to this or more like the business owner. I don't even want to say one way is right or not. But I think that under Cash, when it comes to cultivating a brand, it's never going to hurt you to build massive goodwill, to build up trust, to not feel like you're in a rush. Because if you can, don't be in a rush. In fact, you know, this, this speaks to the place of like, I think it's, it's fine if you want to start a YouTube channel and try to monetize it as quick as possible because you're in a desperate situation. But I think that's one of the worst energies to start a YouTube channel in. If you're in a desperate situation, go get a job. You're going to make more money driving Uber and Uber eats than you are like today. Because you could sign up today, start driving tomorrow and get paid in a week or whatever it is. Maybe like in 24 hours. So it's like. And your YouTube channel is going to take time. So I think that's the other energy people feel like, man, is this. And listen, I got empathy. I think that people wrongly say YouTubers sold out every deal as a, every video is a brand deal. Now I actually think that that's actually kind of understood. You know, it says like sponsored in the top corner. Like actually I think people realize that that's kind of the economics of the platform. But we're just, I'm just talking about the energy around it, I'm talking about the way it feels. And so don't be your anxiety. If you're in a place of desperation trying to make work YouTube work for you, I just think is the wrong way to start. But if you start like a farmer, why this is your this. You're a part time YouTuber, you're going to do a side hustle, you're going to work the seven Cs, you're going to stick with it and then, and have a mindset that like, I might not love my job, but it's a blessing and I'm gonna find how, how to organize my life to me some of those things around cash. Maybe you're not a hunter, you're more of a farmer. Maybe you're thinking about how to get people results in advance. Advance. You're adding massive love to your community and putting out great content. What I want people to know is the cash will Come plan for it. Don't be afraid to let people know. If you're already an author listening to this, be like, I don't want to talk about my book until the hundredth video because I'm selling too soon or something. It's like, no. I mean, you could either get the book or not, like let people know it exists. But I do think there's something about that farmer mindset and that delayed gratification where I'm just not in a rush. I think that sets you up for maximum success.
- [51:38]
B
That's a great analogy, the farmer and hunter. And I think it's really ironic too. You're talking about your 2 year old and your 4 year old. But as adults, there's some things that we, like you said, we still need to have that delayed gratification. Sometimes it hurts when we don't receive it right away. But I agree that it's kind of detrimental to your growth and your resiliency as well. Let's bring it home. Sean, what is the seventh C?
- [52:04]
A
Yes. Okay, so the seventh C is consistency. Let's remember I got some tips under this. But. And after you stay consistent, you're going to start right back at Courage. Right now I'm back going around again. How can I be courageous? How can I get clear on my next upload? How can I improve my channel, make better content, love my can keep loving my community, find ways to monetize and improve those opportunities and then stay consistent again? And I think Consistency starts thinking about questions of longevity. Okay, there's something about having a season of sprinting at this. It might be a really good way for people to kick start their year or kickstart their goals. You know, it depends on how much pain you want. But people do vlogmas around the holidays, which would be uploading every single day in December. People do 30 day YouTube challenge in January. It's February 1st. Maybe you want to do seven days in a row or something. I remember Benji early on when I was uploading some different types of videos and random stuff and my wife and I weren't doing great financially. Him and Judy mailed me a Canon Elf 1880 or whatever, 180 and it was about a $200 camera and it was like perfect for vlogging. It was like an old school point shoot. And as soon as I opened the box, I hit record and I was like, Benji. I was like, Benji sent me a camera. We're starting a vlog. And I vlogged for like 50 days in a row while I Was working full time at a church and I would, I was vlogging on my way to work and our weekends and then I was editing and my, like, it was. My wife was kind of having fun with me and she was. Those episodes are still out there. But it was also, it was such a grind and I exhausted myself because I was working full time. It was also very fun. Unsustainable to be like a full time seven day a week shooting and editing your vlogs. You know, no kids. That was one reason why it was possible. And, but you know, it, but it changed me. It, like, it, it helped me just develop a level of, you know, move fast and film and, and, and practice of being on camera. And it, I never ever. I'm, I'm, I would say I'm not a vlogger today. I'm not. Right. I don't daily vlog or weekly vlog. Who knows, maybe in the future or something somewhere. But it was so powerful. So when it comes to consistency, maybe a sprint could really help you get going. We do challenges at Think media from time to time. Yeah. Like a season of focused intensity. Great. But the other side of the coin is also how do you just create a sustainable pace around this? And I think a lot of people, I think they overestimate how, how much they can accomplish in like a year, but they underestimate how much they could, could accomplish in three to five years. And so you don't want to burn out. And if you're also having this delayed gratification thing and if I'm gonna trust the process, I'm gonna level up my skills, I'm gonna keep learning, I'm gonna keep working the 7Cs. I just want a sustainable pace. And you know, I mentioned, I think the strategy again, shorts are great, but in my opinion, I love long form videos. They pay more once you get monetized. They, they're just more lucrative across the board. They're more impactful, more transformative to viewers because shorts are cool. But it's like sh. It's like empty calories. It's like a little sample. But if you want the actual steak, I, I think it comes in long form. So if you commit to posting one high quality, strategic long form video per week, if you, if you miss two weeks, if you miss five weeks, who cares if you miss 10 weeks, that still 42 uploads over the next year. And that's a lot like my journey from the early years of like 2010 to 2015 before I went full time by the way, that's the long haul. I could have went full time a lot faster if I had the seven Cs and I had like. But nevertheless, I also. It's just, it will not happen overnight. YouTube is a marathon and not a sprint. Point is pace yourself. And so rather than having some perfect schedule and never missing a week, I think it's also, I've heard it say, you know, shoot for the stars and you'll still hit the moon. So yeah, you're like, I'm going to be consistent all, you know, all year. I think if again, you might get sick one week and you might, it's okay, you take a break. That's what I'm getting at. Like, what is the sustainable pace? How can you stay consistent under this is also. What are the systems? Routines? I don't know. We don't have time for this stuff. But just things to consider, like habits, routines, schedules, rhythms, calendar, blocking, different tools. That's another thing we can link to in the description because we have at least a couple very specific episodes if you want to research that more. But those are things that are going to allow you to be consistent. Getting rid of the disorganization and the disorder in your life, getting organized. That's why it's a C. That doesn't stop. You don't just like hit the scene. You're like, all right, cool. Every new season of life might require a new retooling of. How are you going to be consistent? Are the kids at school right now or the schedule a little bit different? Oh, we actually have a nanny. Okay. We don't. She's, she moved. Okay. We don't like, oh, okay, you're a single mom. It's a little bit different. What tools? Oh, now you're in a different season because this next two years, kids are still kind of young. Well, now they're actually in school all day and you're like, so really thinking about the long haul. All of those things come into consistency, calendar, time management. And definitely subscribe because that's, I think, one of our favorite topics about how to do YouTube with a full time job or how to do YouTube part time, as well as some of those productivity tips. And you know, if people want to really master the 7Cs, of course we go a lot deeper in the book YouTube secrets and I'm excited because we haven't been doing this for very long, but we set up a website@ytsecrets.com and we'll link to that in the description. And we are down to send the book free. So we set up a way that we could, we'll just mail you the book free, but all we ask is that you pay shipping and handling. And you can also if you like Audible or audiobooks and stuff like that, it's there in Amazon. But if you want us to hook you up with the book for free, go to ytsecrets.com and we'll link that up in the show notes and actually, and we didn't even have time to touch on this. The seven C's is the first half of the book and then the second half we talk about social media and how that can support your YouTube channel Discoverability, talking about SEO and keywords and topics and how to get collaborators and leveraging trends and tent poles eventually building your team and how to ultimately think different and find a way to win in 2025. So totally cool if you want to check that out. If not, no big deal. And hope that we can crush it all year with our community here on the Think Media podcast. Because we're all in 2025. We're going for it. Our mission, Logan, is to help 1 million purpose driven people create a full time living doing what they love while making a difference in the world with YouTube. And so that's what this podcast is all about. And let's roll.