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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. So we're gonna be talking about why starting a YouTube channel is a brilliant idea even if nobody watches, and why really everyone should start a YouTube channel. Because there's so many other benefits than just getting views. Of course, someday you might be able to make some money, you might be able to get some connections. And so I'm here with Nate. He's a filmmaker and YouTuber. He's been part of the Think Media team since 2022. You've now been a content creator for basically 10 years.
- [01:42]
B
Pretty crazy.
- [01:43]
A
And you've learned so many lessons along the way on your YouTube journey. And so you've discovered there's so many benefits that really nobody talks about. So let's take us. When did you first start a YouTube channel for yourself?
- [01:58]
B
Yeah, so I got my start. Basically I didn't have any skills. We talk about like having proficiency, profit and having all these things. Planning your channel. I didn't have that. I just kind of started uploading. Really added interest in learning video and learning photo and I've heard a few YouTubers like, hey, you should like try uploading once a week, right? So that was kind of my goal and I didn't even do that. But I was just got my start uploading videos and really I didn't have a camera. I got started using my little ipod or an iPad. And yeah, my first video is like the front facing camera of my iPad screen. I didn't even have a set. It was just like me literally back up against the wall, poor lighting. But I just started making videos about filmmaking, content, little camera rigs. And that was purely practice, Sean. It was just like me figuring out how to work behind camera, which is, I think people, that's the first block they have is they don't. They feel that overwhelm of not understanding everything and they have all these expectations of trying to earn money. When I think my, my journey has been 10 years and really my channel's only seen success or my career in this YouTube world, I feel like I'm just now kind of reaping what I've been sowing for the past 10 years.
- [03:10]
A
So what year was that?
- [03:11]
B
That was 2014. Yeah, I did not answer your question at the beginning, but yeah, 2014 of May, I uploaded my first video. And yeah, it was just, I think I started my channel before then. But my first like legit kind of entryway into my niche of filmmaking was in 2014.
- [03:28]
A
And how old were you?
- [03:29]
B
I would have been 15.
- [03:31]
A
Okay, so 15 years old, you start a YouTube channel and it's. So you're basically saying too that you invested eight years into learning YouTube and in the last two years you've really seen things like, oh man, I'm reaping big rewards. Bigger rewards. So. And the powerful insight though is so many people feel this pressure, like start a YouTube channel, they see other people doing it, they see that the money making opportunities are real, but like you gotta just press record and start making some bad, weird, awkward videos without things being perfect. That's what you did?
- [04:05]
B
Yeah, honestly, it was just making videos and I didn't really have an expectation at first. You know, obviously I want to make money. But the idea of uploading to YouTube was cool and I wanted to get my start with that. And over time you start learning, you know, by looking up YouTube. And how do you get better at this? My personality. I try to be as best as I can do at something, so really try to be excellent at the craft. So I started learning and you know, I saw some guy on YouTube, his name was Sean Cannell, did some lighting tutorials and from there even learning YouTube strategy. I remember the idea of understanding ranking videos, right? How to properly put out your title so people can actually seeing it. So it's not just camera accessory about some random product, but it's best budget camera, you know, so kind of framing in a way that people are actually searching for a product. And that started like little bits of glimpses. To be honest, I just got started because I had an interest in the gear I was messing with. So reviewing the gear I've already owned, making videos about those, you know, I didn't really have a monetary incentive to do that. I just wanted to do that. So from that there's little greens further along the line of kind of what we do now is like, you know, we talk about tech and gear and editing. So it's. It's cool to see that kind of come full circle.
- [05:26]
A
And how many subscribers does your channel have today?
- [05:28]
B
Currently my subscribers is around 44,000. So, yeah, it's over 10 years. They may not seem like a lot, but it's something, you know.
- [05:35]
A
Yeah, that's amazing. And you. When did you first see Think Media then?
- [05:39]
B
It must have been around 2017. I. That's probably the earliest thing I could remember. I probably had saw like a few like lighting where you take the can lights and put them in place and bought some Home Depot can lights from that. But I want to say it's probably early days, 2017 for Think Media. Of course you did videos before then. But I want to say around, there's kind of where I started understanding the YouTube and how to rank videos.
- [06:04]
A
Okay. So I mean, kind of the big idea here is like one of the reasons to be starting a YouTube channel, and it's a brilliant idea, even if nobody watches, is because it changes you. You learn new skills, you. It expands your world. You start in 2014. In 2017, you had posted 50 videos or over 50 videos, and you secured your first brand deal.
- [06:25]
B
Yeah.
- [06:26]
A
Three years later. Tell us about it.
- [06:27]
B
Yeah. So got my first brand deal, which was super exciting for me. Um, it was a microphone by Comica really, like, I didn't know really about it too much, but it was like, I want to say like a 30 or $40 product. Right. But it was like, oh, I got my first brand deal kind of, or, you know, product getting it for free, you know, as a teenager. That was pretty cool. So I got the product, started reviewing it and I admittedly like, I look back on the video and I probably could have done a lot better job now, but even that, that video still has multiple thousands of views over that time and people were interested in it and bought it. So I think that was pretty cool to see a little bit of glimpse of starting to see a little bit of like a income or revenue stream. Even though if it was a free product, treating that in a way of providing my honest opinion, you know, all these things that you learn connecting to a brand, those are all skills that you need in order to build up. So you have to take small steps at a time.
- [07:28]
A
So you didn't get paid, but you got a free product.
- [07:30]
B
Yeah, free product.
- [07:30]
A
And then you also could link to it as an affiliate.
- [07:32]
B
Yep.
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A
And so I don't know at the.
- [07:34]
B
Time if I had like the Amazon associates, if I was part of that. I think around 2017, probably later that year, I was officially in the Amazon program. And yeah, I think my first check was around like $20, which is pretty, pretty cool for passive income.
- [07:49]
A
So. So maybe in 2017. Yeah, $20 comes in from Amazon. You wrote down $749.32 was your first year of doing Amazon affiliates.
- [08:01]
B
Yeah, that is pretty cool.
- [08:02]
A
But that's your third year of doing YouTube and you're over 50 videos and free products start coming your way. I think this is really encouraging to our community because it just speaks to, of course, people's journeys and pace is different.
- [08:15]
B
Right.
- [08:16]
A
But just building up one video at a time and the fact that like this is not overnight riches. And so how did it feel when you had kind of reached that milestone of getting free product at the end of a year, years into it, but like your first year making $749.32 as an Amazon affiliate and realizing that the hustle still outweighed the amount of money you made.
- [08:39]
B
Right.
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A
But it's also a huge milestone because it's such. It's the creator economy and it's the beginning glimmers of what the future could hold. How did that all feel?
- [08:48]
B
Yeah, I think to me, the mindset of how I earned the money was really important. You know, it was a form of passive income. Even though you still put a lot of work into at first and you know, people who are starting a channel today, you know, if you had my success, like, okay, you may not see even returns years to come. Right. So it hasn't been like the most successful channel. But I think the way I've earned that, I started seeing how I could, yeah. Make a video and it pays me in three years and still does. And to where we fast forward, it's like my channel still earning me money, even though I'm right here right now talking to you. So I love that idea.
- [09:26]
A
Yeah, that's a dream of video. Ranking Academy to our program is like we throw these videos out there and they can just keep bringing in even if it's small passive income. Okay, so then in 2019, you landed a cinematographer editor role at a small production company. And you attribute that to your YouTube portfolio and the acquired skills. So, okay, that's five years after starting a YouTube channel. Tell us about that role and how you connected your YouTube channel to like getting this really cool job.
- [09:55]
B
So when we're making videos, what are we doing? We're getting confident in front of the camera, behind the camera, all these skills are important. And from there I started doing, you know, free gigs here and there and helping out with little nonprofit videos. And so I had a very, very small portfolio work. Really, I couldn't do much with it, but I was trying to earn money in video. You know, I. YouTube wasn't exactly cutting out for me to make legitimate money at that time. So I'm like, okay, I need a job, but I want to be in video. Fortunately, around the time, you know, I've had that body of work is still evident that I'm committed to learning and growing and I've done that work. So I, I'm very thankful that I had that from the get go of just that body of work, even though it wasn't perfect. And that's what I admit is like, I probably cringe if I try to show some of those videos today. But all that being said, starting off with that simple idea and doing a video with excellence, I then when the opportunity came, right when the opportunity knocked where there was a position, you know, I kind of went more creative route by submitting a video application to this job and used my skills as presenting. I knew if I just sent them a resume, I was gonna be lost in the dark. They were not gonna understand my personality. So let me shoot a video, be in front of the camera again, it wasn't perfect. Showed some little clips of things I've done and that landed me my first real job in video. And being a cinematographer editor, all those skills, I was really getting a lot of experience. And even though that job at the start, you know, it was entry level, like $10 an hour, it wasn't great, but I'd rather be doing that and learning than just, you know, working at Chick Fil a somewhere, you know.
- [11:41]
A
Yeah, that's actually, it's fascinating because when we went through the hardest season of our life in 2009 and my wife almost died in the church, I was part time out, fell apart and the housing recession. We started a YouTube channel called Think International, Jeff Moores and I, which was kind of like a faith based interview Leadership Show. On YouTube. Didn't really know what we were doing, but it was some pretty cool stuff. Grew to 10,000 subscribers as we found ourselves in a hard season. And that project wasn't bringing in very much money at all. I had done a little bit of YouTube stuff, think media. That was kind of when it started. But to your point, like some free product in a few dollars was the initial income I needed to support my family. I eventually got hired at a church in Las Vegas as the director of communications with a salary with healthcare. And the reason I got the job was my YouTube portfolio and the skills I had acquired from interning at a church in terms of social media and some leadership stuff and whatnot, but really from YouTube itself. Because when you start creating YouTube content, it forces you into like a crucible of personal growth.
- [12:46]
B
Oh, absolutely. A hundred percent agree.
- [12:47]
A
And then you just. You encounter things that could be overwhelming, like analytics. These don't make sense. Like, how do you write a good title?
- [12:53]
B
Now you're a data analyst. Yeah.
- [12:55]
A
You're a data analyst, a graphic designer, a pro copywriter to write titles, a cinematographer. And the talent.
- [13:02]
B
Yeah. And. And all those are lifelong skills too, which is really cool. So even if you started a channel, even if that, like. Yeah, if my channel didn't succeed, I still learned the things that provide me skills to this day where I do feel comfortable talking in front of a camera and not feel deathly afraid of it. And as much so all those things, I think that's our other point is just like kind of the skill building. I mean, it's, it's being in front of the camera. As far as communication, what do you want to say in a concise manner? Be more confident speaking in general. I had a few opportunities where I was talking on stage and I'm like, this is weirdly comfortable in me. I'm sure I would have been much more terrified had I not, you know, just saw myself talking in front of the camera. Meanwhile, if you're editing your own videos, I think people starting a channel should at least learn editing to some degree so you know what's possible and how you can better craft your message. These are all skills that you can take with you in endless jobs if you are trying to present for your boss. And I can imagine editing is just as equally as important if you want to show a video presentation, it's much more effective communication. Yeah.
- [14:12]
A
And if you're 15 or 45 or 55 and listening to this, I heard Warren Buffett, probably the world's kind of most famous Investor say that communication skills are the greatest skills anybody could acquire. So if we're on this big idea of why starting a YouTube channel is a brilliant idea, even if nobody watches, it's because you're increasing your value and you're increasing your skills and you never know what doors of opportunity that might open. Now, I want to go to 2020 in a second, but if we stick on 2019, you worked. Your work involves some promotional videos and commercials and mini documentaries. You know, you're one of the content creators at Think Media right now. You've been putting out some videos. You've found that, you know, we have a whole process and you were studying that process even before, you know, as early as 2017. But like, we try to hold ourselves to a standard of excellence. So somebody that comes on our team kind of in that content creation capacity, they need a lot of skills and they almost seem like hard skills and soft skills. It's like it's not just how to video edit or it's not even just how to communicate, but all the way down to man. What are some of the most powerful things you could say at the beginning of the video to keep people watching? And it's also maybe the arc and storytelling and just a lot of nuances. And it's the kind of stuff that really nobody learns in a year or two, but they learn over years. I am curious if you think about a lot of people listening to this probably are like, well, I don't want to go, like get a job like that. But in doing so, especially in relation to like getting views on YouTube, ranking videos, how to craft a YouTube video, did you learn lessons from commercials, many documentaries?
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B
Absolutely.
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A
Promotion videos, like what? Some of the.
- [15:52]
B
One of my favorite examples, and I think it's the clearest way to demonstrate this, is having edited promotional videos or interviews. I was thrown into a world I didn't really understand. I had edited videos, edited YouTube videos. But when you're asked to edit down a 30 minute interview to two minutes and then to make a 30 second commercial of that, to make a 15 second version of that, telling a story in six seconds. Yeah, you know, there's not a lot to say about that. But that was one of the skills I think even applied to when I started working at Think Media. One example is you did a video about what'd you do if you started a YouTube channel in 2023, 2024, and you wanted it to be concise, you know, let's shorten this down. And I probably just went way overboard. And made it super concise. Cut it down to six minutes from.
- [16:44]
A
Over 30, I think.
- [16:44]
B
Yeah, yeah. So taking a message was still great but it was, you know, fluffy and it could be cut down to be more effective. So I already had that skill of knowing what is absolutely crucial to this, what things are just extra points or not necessary. Cutting those out and delivering on a video and you know, YouTube is a different strategy but I think those are remnants of things that you just look at a video differently. So that's a very like specific example. But I think that's kind of overall like not only that, I think communication like we were talking about before. One thing that a coworker told me is like always try to learn to over communicate. And I honestly looking at even myself, it's like people suck at communication. Even though when we think we do communicate things still fall through or you assume someone else knows something. So to learn to over communicate, you know more than it's. What's necessary is even though it's theme seems obvious, I'll tell you again, like hey, I'm working on this thing, doing this and this, all that is super. Like those are professional skills you are learning for your business. And yeah, that goes throughout your whole career.
- [17:55]
A
Hey, we're about to get back into the podcast in just a second but I have a question for you. Do you want to grow your personal brand this year? Do you need more leads and sales in your business? If the answer is yes, then right now is the best time to go all in on YouTube. Today's podcast is brought to you by thinkmasterclass.com where you can get on demand access to a one hour deep dive training revealing how to start and grow a profitable YouTube channel this year. For a limited time you can get access to this on demand class entirely for free. Where you will learn the three biggest mistakes that people make when starting a YouTube channel. The new rules and changes that have been happening on YouTube and how you can use them to create an unfair advantage. And the exact strategy we use at Think Media to generate over 350,000 organic views every single day. The data is clear. 70% of viewers claim that YouTube makes them more aware of new brands. So don't wait any longer to start growing your brand and business with YouTube. Just go to think masterclass.com to get access to this. No fluff, highly tactical, free on demand training. That's think masterclass.com and I want people to lean in like one. You are a video editing assassin and there's levels to the game because sometimes people are maybe looking for a video editor. They're. They're thinking about, oh cool, I can get a video editor in the US or on onlinejobs. Ph. And they look at like, oh, they're a video editor. You're like, okay, well we could score that at a lot of different levels. And your point, and this is one huge takeaway. There are probably videos or video podcasts that listeners to this have that are more long winded and they might think it's crazy that if their 24 minute piece of content could turn into 12, I could cut half of that out. It's like, yeah, you could.
- [19:48]
B
Yeah.
- [19:48]
A
And beyond that, you're actually. You have been now for years. I think media, the surgeon that is able to also. I mean, I kind of have a reputation too for being long winded. You know, landing the plane. You're the, you land the plane. Like you, you force emergency crash land. You crash land the plane for me. But yet it also is. Is crazy because it works. But that is seeing the possibility in YouTube video lengths. And I think that just so that it's very tangible. If you're listening to this sometimes I think people even in a video podcast format or something like this, like very. It's very possible that this conversation that may end up being 40 minutes will hit YouTube and it'll.
- [20:33]
B
There'll be a 15 minute.
- [20:34]
A
Yeah, 15 minute version and like both will have benefits to them. But listening to this, imagine trimming down your content, trimming the fluff. There's actually a line from one of the members of the hip hop group the Wu Tang Clan that says, too many rappers, their rhymes are too long. Make it brief, son. Half short and twice strong.
- [20:53]
B
I love that.
- [20:54]
A
Yeah, half short, twice strong. And you do that all the time. It's like we had that Benjamin conversation about vlogging closer to two hours. The 44 minute version is now crushing.
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B
Yeah.
- [21:06]
A
And so just to just think about how that might apply to your library if you're listening to this and also think, well, man, that seems hard. One other takeaway.
- [21:15]
B
It's learnable.
- [21:15]
A
It's learnable. And one other takeaway. And we go really deep in our video ranking academy program about this in VRA Masters with this idea of different video formats, that all of us will get smarter if we challenge ourselves to do different formats. Talking head is one type of format. Video podcasting and conversing is actually. It's another skill that's challenging. Live streaming is a different format. Video essays is a. You make video essays on Your channel, these really rich storytelling, voiceover clips, fair use. That's a different format and I'll say.
- [21:45]
B
Too like short form. As much hate and all that brings, I think there's actually probably a healthy level where you're telling a story in 60 seconds. That's a skill you're still learning. And I think for those people who maybe start off with shorts and them learning to go into long form, I think that's probably surprising upside from them knowing how time sensitive people's attention spans are.
- [22:10]
A
Yeah, it's a great point. And so the action item is challenge yourself to try a format you haven't tried before. Yeah, and like a mini video essay, let's say. And you made many documentaries, so it might sound like overwhelming, but those are Those Crush on YouTube if you do them right. And it might be instead of your typical talking head videos, it takes you a week to sit down and pull in photography and clips and some other things and write a script and write a voiceover. Even if you don't stick with that format, you're better for it. We're talking about growth, we're talking about development. It might improve what your main thing is. So let's hit 2020. You then secure a brand deal with Syn Match, which is a color grading plug in at 13,000 subscribers. What was the terms of the deal?
- [22:50]
B
Yeah, so that was a color grading platform that they were like, hey, like, can you show this off? And it's kind of like a plugin that you can use in Premiere or DaVinci Resolve. So at the time I was using Premiere Pro and showcasing that. And to me, first and foremost, anything that I wanted to especially change money for, it's like, do I believe in this tool? I think that was really important to my authenticity on the channel is does this thing work and do I believe in it? Is it worth the price point? So that at the time, I believe was just an exchange for they provide me a free license. So cool. I get a tool now in my kit that I can use and then monetary incentive. So it was like, I think it's $500 at the time, right? $500 in my pocket, which is cool. Especially if you come from just making videos and making gear reviews. You don't see the money until much later. So if you can get money right off the bat, obviously that can help you hire an editor, help you move forward in making content. So for that one, I was on top of the world getting $500, you know, starting off and getting a free thing. And yeah, Just going in depth with that. So I was learning also that balance of how do you be genuine with a product? But also you're taking money for it not to over pander to its good points. Like where does it need criticism? So again, like we're talking about growth. There's. Throughout the whole process. There is that.
- [24:20]
A
And then in 2022, you started working for Think Media.
- [24:23]
B
Yeah.
- [24:24]
A
And your YouTube experience and connections were instrumental in securing the position. So this was on part of your journey. You've got your filmmaking channel. You start working at thinking tell listeners how even like that door opens and how those connections are made and how all the way back to starting a YouTube channel in 2024 led to where we are now.
- [24:47]
B
Yeah. There's a total side of this, of your YouTube journey that we forgot to mention, and that is the networking. The connections you meet along the way. When you start putting out videos, you're going to find people with similar interests that are going to come to your channel, that you're going to go to their channel. You start building friendships. And. And so one friendship that I made along the way was Nolan Mo, you.
- [25:06]
A
Know, and where'd you guys meet?
- [25:08]
B
Just on YouTube. I saw one of his YouTube gear reviews. I think he was like using an iPhone to get better audio. I thought, this kid's funny. So I want to also like connect with him, you know, and I knew also too, like his faith and I related to that. So that was another deeper connection. So from that we already had that previous relationship there. When the time came when you guys were looking for a video editor, I didn't know that, you know, I only knew because he had posted something, he reshared it. And that's kind of how those things start off, is one connection at a time just branches off to a whole new thing. I think when I met him, I don't think he was working, I think media. And again, it was an online friendship. So that has its own merits to that and just the constant encouragement of Growing on YouTube.
- [25:59]
A
Let me ask you practically. Yeah, someone's listening to this, but like, how did you meet DMs? Instagram.
- [26:04]
B
Yeah. I think it was first and foremost a YouTube comment. So if you, if you appreciate, you watch someone. I think an underrated thing is to go and leave comments. Build a connection. Right. I think a lot of people, like have hopes to work with another channel. I want to work with mkbhd. Right. Of course, you know, what benefit does he have to connect with me? But there's 50 other channels of my size in my niche that I can reach out to and have those friendships, and you can all grow together. So a simple YouTube comment, I think, is your entryway for me. I like to be. I like to inject humor, so probably is a little witty comment and then back and forth. And I think from then it led to Instagram DMs and further conversations about growing on YouTube. And then from that point, yeah, I was like, I was. Already had that connection job opened up, and at that point, I was kind of maxed out my previous position. I wanted to learn and grow more. And so the opportunity, I think God's timing, all of that, allowed for the opportunity for me to work here.
- [27:08]
A
You know, there's some interesting insights there. I think one is like, get your brand right and clean up your channel. Like, if you're listening to this, you. At that point, though, you had a channel, you have an avatar, you have a cover image, you had done videos, you had some history, you had some momentum, even if the channel's not big. Right. It was your personal brand. It was cleaned up. And so I'll pause you real quick.
- [27:34]
B
Because I want to also want to mention, you always say, start messy. My channel was very messy. It doesn't look like that now, but over that 10 years, we learned a lot to where it does look polished now. But it was. That was never always the case.
- [27:48]
A
But when you commented on, yeah. Nolan's thing, did you have an avatar?
- [27:53]
B
Yeah. A personal profile picture, like, holding a camera probably.
- [27:57]
A
And so I know that's kind of what I'm trying to say because there's so many people who might be, like, on there. Yeah. They've got, like, a letter.
- [28:03]
B
Yeah.
- [28:03]
A
And they've got some weird vertical videos of some, like, sketchy vacation they took.
- [28:08]
B
And they're like, where's the evidence that you know what you're talking about?
- [28:10]
A
Yeah. Like. And so that's kind of what I mean is it does.
- [28:13]
B
Yeah.
- [28:13]
A
It doesn't have to be fancy or super polished, but just those. Those basics of, like, that is like the social media currency. It's kind of like if you were gonna make eye contact, look somebody in the eye, talking to them at a, you know, networking party, you might go to the party, you might actually take a shower that day and, like, put on your nice shirt and, like, then look them in the eye, as opposed to, you're not gonna hide, you're not gonna turn your zoom camera off and be like, hey, like, that's. You can walk right up to em, shake their hand. Hey, and on the digital currency of that is like, wherever you reach out. And then not only that is then if you also link your social media accounts, I don't think you need to get distracted as a YouTube content creator with like consistently posting on Instagram. But there's something about getting your personal brand right in these different places. The reason to have a Twitter X account in Instagram, it can lead to brand deals, networking, but like, no profile picture. It. I don't. I can't tell anything about you in your bio. It's unclear. You haven't made a statement. No links nowhere. And it's hard to, like, follow around. I go to your YouTube channel, I click links in your bio, three of the links are dead. You haven't uploaded. You updated your website in two years. Just a tip for listeners. This networking part is real, but action items is like, clean up your brand, clean up your links. It doesn't have to be super fancy.
- [29:27]
B
There's a Bible verse talks about do. What's that in the least? You know, God's going, if. If God's giving you opportunity, then you got to deal with what already you have. And those little things, like having your professional photo doesn't have to be great, but if you take care of those small things, then can you handle the bigger things?
- [29:45]
A
Yeah, he was faithful with little. Will be entrusted with more. Yeah, it's really good. And so I love that. And I think then the other thing is we don't get what we want in life. We get who we are. So there's something about, I think, you know, maybe you want to work at a place like Think Media or for mkbhd or you want open doors, so you want more followers. Well, who doesn't? The question is, who are you becoming? And so it's a big takeaway to think about, like, why it's brilliant to start a YouTube channel even if nobody watches, is because it'll change you. It'll force you to level up. Doing all of these activities forces you to level up, and you end up attracting who you are, not what you want. Like, I want, you know, to be connected with other ambitious, creative, innovative. Iron sharpens iron type of people in the creator economy. Well, you don't get what you want. You get who you are. And so I think it's cool that you, you know, you put in the work you. And it led to ultimately working at thick media. So here's a question is then sense me into Think Media. As we land the plane. What are maybe some of the takeaways from being at a place like Think Media for coming on three years, two years, last two years and going into year three. That may be some lessons you've learned that have helped you again advance in your career and grow.
- [31:04]
B
Every job always going to have a new. It's like a new level up in a video game. Okay, there's a new challenge I didn't foresee. So how do you navigate this? And I think for me, what I've learned so far at this job is a sense of ownership over things. When I was working for clients, they have a say of what they want and you're always trying to guess what they want and they may not be clear. So you're trying to interpret that. But you guys, I would admit, like coming on as an editor, you're like, all right, we trust Nathan to make this video as good as we can. And so having that, taking more risk with some things, building it out, I think that is very important in any creative thing you do or just as a business is having that level of ownership over things. And so having that skill. I think also just with the community at Think Media, I think I've become more myself and maybe to a detriment. I may be going hinge with some humor, but I think I have become a little bit more comfortable in my own skin. And I think that's just evident, you know, with the culture you've kind of instilled in the company for those who want to be around like minded individuals. And I think largely too, it's like the shared faith aspect is a, you know, another element. Not that always that needs to be the case, but I think it is important. So I think between those are skills that I've learned and still always learning. I think getting better at live interactions, conversations, you know, getting better at here's a great point, because I do filmmaking content, I start speaking at a high level and I learned all these cool jargon words and you guys are constantly saying, hey, explain this for a beginner. You know, distill it down so you can understand fundamentals so a beginner doesn't have to know these jargon words. That's just going to further confuse them. So I'm like, okay, I need to take a step back. I need to really understand, be in the shoes of that viewer. Take myself back to when I started editing and what would I tell myself starting now and that kind of completely full circles. Learning all through my career, learning from you as a mentor through all along the way until now, I'm teaching you Guys, it's kind of weird, but it's cool.
- [33:20]
A
I love it. And I have a couple final tips that you wrote in our notes ahead of time that I want to share. Maybe you have some thoughts on those. But before I hit those, if you, if somebody was listening, that would be like, hey, I would actually love to be like a Think Media content creator. I've seen that you have had people on the channel over the years and of course it's been the cameras and lenses and incredible people like Nolan and Omar and Heather. Different people. But even too, future is bright and we can see like this creator economy thing is pretty broad. So we look at, okay, social media, YouTube gear, live streaming, all this different stuff. If somebody was like, man, I would love to work ethic media or a place like that, you know, most our place, like, what advice would you give to them? Just off the top of your head, if you thought like, if that's your ambition, here's what I'd recommend you do today.
- [34:07]
B
Yeah, I think you kind of said it's like you have to put in the work to where you want to be. So if you have a vision of wanting to be working at Think Media, for example, what are the practices you need to learn along the way? I would say you should have a YouTube channel if you want to work here. To understand that world is a huge, huge thing. If you have videos and they are of some quality, I think more consistency, if anything. Consistency and regularly uploading. I still admit I had not my set up my goal to be one a week. I don't think I ever really did that. You know, of course I was doing other things, learning and growing, taking jobs. So I would say have a YouTube channel, start learning those things. And then when the time is right, I think if an opportunity opens up and then also taking just impressive action. I think again, why I got my job working at that production company was because I sent a video. You know, I would have not probably been seen if it was a piece of paper because I had zero experience in terms of other jobs or other things. But if I showcase led with my strengths. So if you, if you wanted like, let's say you want to be an editor at Think Media, take one of our podcasts, re edit it, send it to us.
- [35:21]
A
Mm.
- [35:21]
B
You know, yeah. Where's the evidence we can actually see? Because we have a lot of people who love to work with us, but I have no idea what their skills are capable of. I don't know. Their integrity? I don't know. Heck, if they're even the same time zone or similar. Of course we're very remote and have different things. But I also would distill it back to your attitude. I think one thing I'm very thankful of is having that excellence. And also, even if you're not proficient at anything, if you're fun to be around, I think that leads to other opportunities. If you can be fun but also serious when you need to be. I think just having a good attitude and being a team player trumps skills.
- [36:05]
A
It's powerful. Well, I've got eight tips for why starting a YouTube channel it's a brilliant idea even if nobody watches. As kind of a summary that I want to make sure that listeners get and kind of a rapid fire and then you could give me any of your final thoughts on these. So these are kind of takeaways. So starting a YouTube channel is a brilliant idea even if you don't get views. Number one, because of practice and learning. If you began with no expectations, prioritizing skill development and experimentation, you'll learn and grow. Number two, around a thousand subscribers. You invested in a cheap microphone and there's something about investing in your channel and so you don't have to do it right at the start. You started with a smartphone. Yeah, but investing as you go, even small investments can up your production quality. Number three, leverage your YouTube channel for job opportunities. Who knows what starting a YouTube channel could do to leading to other jobs. Number four, eventually you got monetized on your channel. You can make money through ad revenue. So now people do start to watch you start making money. Number five, you started doing affiliate marketing, earning commissions even your first year doing that over $700. Number six, it starts attracting free gear. So even if brands don't pay you yet, you can start making getting free gear or free products related to your channel. Number seven, you started to get paid for brand deals and sponsorships. And then number eight, expand your network. It led to meeting other people, other industry professionals, meeting YouTube friends and online friends. And ultimately you're now at Think Media as one of our content creators and future is bright and it's been a crazy journey all because you decided to punch fear in the face, punch perfectionism in the face and press record and start a YouTube YouTube channel. Any final takeaways on that recap of the whole journey?
- [37:48]
B
I have so many friends that come to me is like I want to start a YouTube channel. They still haven't posted a video. Don't overthink it. Start messy. That's the only way to grow.