The Think Media Podcast – Episode 442 Summary

Title: How He Made $65,000 from ONE Simple YouTube Video
Date: September 4, 2025
Host: Sean Cannell (A)
Guest: John Acampora (B), Creator of Excel Campus

Episode Overview

This episode delivers a powerful masterclass on YouTube monetization and niche channel growth. Sean Cannell interviews John Acampora of Excel Campus—now with over 661k subscribers—about his viral Excel video that earned $65,000 in AdSense alone and the business systems it unlocked. John’s journey is a blueprint for creators of “boring” or niche topics, showing how storytelling, transformation, and intentional marketing can yield massive results on YouTube and beyond.

Key Themes:

• The anatomy of a $65,000 YouTube video
• Leveraging transformation and storytelling, even with “boring” content
• Niche isn’t bad: why “small” topics can work big
• Building a business backend from a single video
• Systematic audience and skill growth across multiple seasons as a creator

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The $65,000 “Pivot Table” YouTube Video

[02:15]

• John’s video (“How to Use Pivot Tables in Excel”) has earned $65,000+ in AdSense since posting ten years ago; it now boasts 15 million+ views.
• The video is part of a three-part series (Parts 2 and 3 also have 1M+ views each).
• Simple setup: "PowerPoint deck and then talking over it" (B, 08:13), screen recording with Camtasia, basic webcam, Excel itself.

Quote:
“It’s still...today getting, I looked this morning, over 1,500 views a day on weekdays. That 10-year-old video is still producing today.” (B, 02:22)

2. Visual Transformation & Storytelling

[04:30]

• Thumbnail showcases a “messy” spreadsheet and polished dashboard—a clear “before and after.”
• Video revolves around fictional character “Andy,” a relatable everyperson asked by a boss to build a dashboard—demonstrating usefulness through narrative.

Quote:
“The thumbnail...shows the before of a messy spreadsheet...and the after picture is a nice looking dashboard. That’s the transformation the video promises.” (B, 04:35)

Quote:
“There is a story behind it...the audience relates to this character because...the story...goes through how you can really do this easily with a feature of Excel called pivot tables.” (B, 05:58)

Insight:

People watch for “transformation”—from confusion to clarity, messy to organized, beginner to expert.

3. Building Beyond AdSense: The Bigger Business Model

[09:22]

• The video’s initial purpose: Launch an Excel plugin (add-in), using Jeff Walker’s Product Launch Formula (PLF) as a framework.
• The promotion morphed to drive leads (via YouTube and blog traffic) into an email list and, subsequently, online course/webinar funnels.
• Today: Online courses and membership are the core business.

Quote:
“YouTube is our number one source of leads. ...We have what I’d consider probably like a standard digital marketing company with selling online courses, where we’re using the email list to invite people to a masterclass or webinar and then sell our training programs and products from that.” (B, 13:49)

4. Platform Evolution: From Blogs to YouTube to Shorts

[15:08]

• Blog used to provide the most opt-ins—AI and web changes hurt blog traffic, but YouTube's strength remains.
• Lead strategy: Build an email list from YouTube as top-of-funnel.

5. The “Start with the End in Mind” Approach

[15:28]

• Reverse engineering each video: Not just what it teaches, but what action/viewer journey it should lead to.
• Titles, thumbnails, story, and CTA—all deliberate.

Quote:
"...the videos that have performed the best are ones where we’ve started with the end in mind, understanding is this a video that’s going to recommend another video...or is it going to be something where we want to have a call to action...and kind of working backwards from there." (B, 15:28)

6. John’s Three Pillars of YouTube Success

Shared around [17:00] and later discussed:

1. Listen/Engage with Audience:
   Read comments and feedback. Rework or split videos based on what viewers struggle with. “The very hard skill of...make complex things simple.” (A, 19:14)
2. Post Consistently:
   Consistent uploads maintain audience attention and train the algorithm—even if that means monthly, not weekly.
3. Experiment with Packaging (Titles & Thumbnails):
   Search-based content has longevity; "curiosity-based" (browse/suggested) titles bring short-term spikes. Modern videos blend both.

7. Long-form vs. Shorts & Cross-platform Content

[25:45–32:00]

• John crafts most Shorts specifically for vertical format but also repurposes clips.
• Shorts showing transformations (problem-to-solution) in under 60 seconds perform best.
• John and Sean agree: Shorts can inflate subscribers but don’t harm algorithmic reach—YouTube is improving crossover between Shorts and Longs.
• Lead everything back to email list—multiple channels = more touch points.

Quote:
“These are all different opportunities to bring leads into our email list, to our ecosystem and build a relationship with us. So why not use shorts…?” (B, 30:46)

8. Navigating Seasons and Mindset of Entrepreneurship

[37:00–50:00]

• YouTube growth is “inconsistent”—steady from evergreen search videos, rapid from viral suggestions, but always fluctuating.
  Quote:
  “You can also then publish a video that you weren’t expecting to do well and it crushes...And you can get a lot of subscribers and growth from that very quickly. So it can happen fast...but it just makes it a little more consistent. And that’s one thing I love about YouTube.” (B, 37:23)
• Embrace feedback and failure—perfection is an illusion.
• "Winners have failed more times than losers have even tried." (A, 47:41)
• Comments pointing out errors and criticism are inevitable; use as learning opportunities and grow a thick skin.

Notable Quotes:

“I have to remind myself how grateful I am to have this life that we get to live...I get to spend a lot of time with [my kids]...do all this stuff because I don't have to be at a 9 to 5 job.” (B, 43:13)

“Entrepreneurship isn't about chasing money. It's about loving the game so much, you'd play it for free.” (A, 62:49)

9. Lessons from Growth Stages

a. Startup / Side Hustle

[56:52]

• Nights/weekends; slow grind. Don’t expect quick wins.
• Build email list early—5,000 subscribers enabled John to launch his first course successfully.

b. Solopreneur

[59:32]

• First hire was customer support, then slowly added more people.
• Identify biggest pain point and hire accordingly (for John, support emails from a growing list).

c. Scale

[63:57–66:30]

• Self-awareness is key: What do YOU want? Not everyone needs or wants a large team.
• Define your own metrics for success—family, freedom, creative work.
• Coaching/masterminds crucial for seeing new possibilities and getting peer support.

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• “Transformation is so often what people watch on YouTube...” (A, 05:08)

• “There’s never been a better time to make money on YouTube. But the game is changing and it takes more strategy, more nuance.” (A, 12:17)

• “Winners have failed more times than losers have even tried. You have more...because what’s a failure? Well, it’s reframe. It’s actually an experiment.” (A, 47:41)

• “Sometimes you win, sometimes you learn.” (A, 47:41)

• “You gotta have thick skin. It’s important to have a soft heart, but thick skin, you know, not to let it get to you.” (A, 49:38)

• “The only way to help people is to publish anyway.” (A, 47:41)

Timestamps for Key Segments

• 00:24 — Introduction to John and overview of Excel Campus
• 02:22 — Story of the $65K video (pivot tables)
• 04:30 — Thumbnail, transformation, and story strategy
• 05:58 — Use of storytelling and fictional character
• 09:22 — Turning video into business system; PLF strategy
• 13:49 — Modern business model: YouTube leads into email/courses
• 15:08 — Platform evolution—from blog SEO to YouTube supremacy
• 17:08 — John’s three pillars for YouTube success
• 24:15 — Consistency, workflow, and Shorts vs Longs
• 32:00 — Building email list via Shorts/multichannel strategy
• 33:59 — Titles, thumbnails, and packaging over the years
• 37:23 — What’s surprised John most about YouTube growth
• 40:19 — Navigating seasons, market conditions, and resilience
• 46:30 — Perfectionism and dealing with feedback/criticism
• 56:52 — Startup season: building while employed, launching first product
• 59:32 — Solopreneur season: first hires, identifying pain points
• 63:57 — Scale: self-awareness, defining success, masterminds

Final Takeaways

• “Boring” tutorials can create life-changing income if you focus on transformation, storytelling, and systematic business backends.
• Start with the end in mind: design for lead generation, not just views.
• Growth is a marathon with spikes—build for sustainability, not only viral hits.
• Invest in mastering communication, packaging, and adapting to platform changes.
• Stay connected to your “why”—freedom, family, or love of the game is what sustains you, not just revenue.
• Don’t fear imperfection. Publish, learn, and iterate. Let feedback make you better.
• Build your own business, your own way—define success on your terms.

Connect with John:
YouTube & socials: Excel Campus
Website: excelcampus.com

This summary was created to help you absorb the actionable wisdom and memorable moments from Think Media Podcast Episode 442, even if you missed the full episode.