← The Think Media Podcast
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- [00:00]
A
Hey, before we jump into the show, I just wanted to take a second and say thank you for listening. I know that life is busy and you have a lot of options when it comes to the content you consume. So whether you're new here or you've been listening to the Think Media podcast for years, I just want to say thank you and I appreciate you. Okay, let's jump into the show. Do you think it's possible to start a YouTube channel faceless?
- [00:23]
B
Yes, I do, but you have to rely on editing. And there's another thing that I think is really important and it's Alex Parker.
- [00:30]
A
Monetized a faceless YouTube channel in just about 90 days and has since scaled to over 2 million views channel wide. If you were to think about packaging rules, what are two or three rules that you maybe live by? As a fellow creator, lately I've really.
- [00:45]
B
Been thinking about emotions. How can I make somebody feel something from looking at this, this thumbnail or this title? And there's a couple, you know, staples I think of YouTube that are always going to work. People are not explaining things, they're telling you things, but they're telling you why.
- [00:59]
A
What got you to the 1000 subscriber and 4000 hours of watch time threshold this quick? Welcome back to the Think Media podcast, the number one show bringing you unfiltered tips for building a profitable YouTube channel. Today, our guest monetized a faceless YouTube channel in just about 90 days and has since scaled to over 2 million views channel wide. Alex Parker is the creator Behind Afterlife, a YouTube channel that offers in depth analysis on both classic and modern gaming franchises. And Alex's signature video style is undeniable at this point, becoming known for its polished commentary, highly produced flavor, and it's just standing out in his niche and is currently averaging around 80,000 views a video. And to top it all off, Alex is actually a fellow coach here at Think Media. So I'm stoked because we get to unpack not just his story and lessons that he's learned, but but also pull from his experience as a fellow coach doing this each and every week for creators that are serious about growing on YouTube. So, Alex, what's going on, man? How are you?
- [02:06]
B
I'm doing good, Nathan. It's really good to be here. It feels weird hearing all that stuff because I don't really like, think about it in that way. I just try to make good videos and get, you know, depressed about the 10 out of tens like everybody else. So it's, it's hard when you but when you put it in that context, you're like, oh, yeah, that's. That's not bad. So, no, I appreciate that introduction. I'm happy to be here. Hopefully I can help somebody with their YouTube journey in this conversation. And that's really all I got right now.
- [02:33]
A
Hey, let's go. Well, I'm pumped. I really actually don't know what Think Media was thinking by letting us two coaches running here on the front line.
- [02:39]
B
That's their fault. We don't take responsibility for anything that happens here.
- [02:43]
A
That's right. Whatever happens with this conversation, man. Okay, well, let's dive in, because I truly think this would be an incredibly helpful episode for folks. So. Okay, let's just jump right in. You mentioned you were monetized, you know, at about 90 days. That's crazy. And I did a little bit of, like, nerdy research. It looks like, on average, at least, the data that I could find was about one to two years for a channel to get monetized, even if it gets monetized. So what would you say? Like, what got you to the 1000 subscriber and 4000 hours of watch time threshold this quick?
- [03:17]
B
Yeah. So this is a bit of an interesting story. So this channel was actually my sec. My second channel. And it took me about four years or so, maybe. Maybe a little less three or four years to kind of figure out how to make a YouTube video. I was trying so many different things. Nothing was working. I would try news, and I would try a guide, and then I would try a review and try this and try that. And I never stuck with anything. I just thought, well, I'm doing the same thing as X creator over there. Why isn't it working for me? I'm doing the same thing as Y creator over there. Why isn't it working for me? I hit this, like, style of these retrospective, analytical pieces of content, and I put them on my first channel, and they. They did pretty well. But then I started working at Think Media, and this is where I'll. I'll answer the question. And I got a lot of questions from students saying, you know, does YouTube hate channels with zero subscribers? Like, how come I can't get monetized? How come this isn't working? So I just took a couple of those videos and I put them on the other channel, and I released them, like, one month at a time, like, every couple weeks to see if a successful video would work on another channel. And it didn't for. For a while, actually. I was getting no views on them for the first like, two and a half months. And then I posted this fifth video in the. On my upload. It's called the Real Problem with Voyage of Despair. And that video hit the algorithm and it took off. And then the whole channel got monetized, like, overnight, basically. So one video from the one video. And then people started pouring back into the back catalog and watched, you know, video number four, three, two, and one. And those are some of the most popular videos on the channel. But I just. I had kind of already started working on this series and I just. I just had a backlog of content. I started kind of putting it out there and it just. It just hit. And so it showed that, like, consistency is important. Sticking with series is important. Don't give up after, like, one video. And what's even funnier about this, if you go look at my sec. My first channel, and compare the videos to the second channel, I actually have more views on the second channel than I did on the first. So the videos are even more successful. After doing a re upload and repurposing of the content, which I just found to be fascinating. And I. And I did this as an experiment. I was like, you know what? I think I'm just gonna roll with this channel as like, what it's defined as now.
- [05:38]
A
Wow. Huge. Okay, that's. That's really cool. I didn't know this was an experiment for you to do this on a second channel. That makes this whole conversation that much cooler. Okay, so literally from scratch. I mean, sure, you had a previous experience the other channel, but this channel was monetized from scratch in 90 days.
- [05:53]
B
That's really, really cool. Yeah, I wanted to prove to the community that it could be done. Wow.
- [05:58]
A
Okay. Point proven, huh? That's really cool. Well done. Well, hey, I wanted to ask really quick before we go further, it's probably good, good idea to identify, like, what's your working definition of a faceless YouTube channel?
- [06:09]
B
Yeah, that's a. That's an interesting question. I. I actually never really thought about it, to be honest. I. I just, I. In the gaming space, the way that people tend to do reviews and stuff, they just have a lot of gameplay and footage of like, interviews or whatever. So I just kind of followed that model. I'm really influenced by a channel called Skill Up. He makes such amazing content. But my, My definition of a faceless channel, I guess, is just being able to express yourself, like, visually, have some sort of visual representation at every kind of word or every paragraph or every, like, section of your video to keep attention And I think that face channels with personalities in them as the forefront. I don't think they're bad or anything. I try to do it every now and then, but I. It's low key. I just think that that gives you a little bit of a. This is going to sound like a negative word. I don't mean it that. This way. A little bit of a crutch. And so you can, you can space out other visual representations in your video by putting your face in there, in between to maybe add some emotional conveyance or zoom in, crop in, whatever. You get a little bit of wiggle room in order to make editing a little bit easier. It's not that it's. It's an easier job overall, but just in the context of. I always have to come up with something to show on screen and if it doesn't visually represent it, I won't use it. So that's not the most clean definition, but that's how I perceive it.
- [07:35]
A
No, I love that. That's actually really insightful, even for me. Just like fellow coach thinking about. Because just keep it real. Like there is, there is a stigma around faceless channels. And what I love about this conversation already is what you're sharing is this could actually be a method of going about this whole YouTube thing in a way that actually might be number one better for the audience you're trying to serve, but. But also for you as a creator, because let's keep it real. A lot of people getting on camera's tough. That's probably one of the biggest bottlenecks is I turn on the camera and I just, I turn off. I don't even know what to do. I don't like how I look. I don't like the whole process. And that friction, I think stops so many creators from even publishing a video. So what for you, I'm curious, what had you go faceless? You mind if I ask, like, was that something you intended from the beginning or what had you decide to upload videos in that way?
- [08:29]
B
That's the. I'll. The straight answer is I, I suck at improv, like on the camera. So when I'm. I'm better at it now, actually having worked at Think Media, that actually I got so many skills from having to. To send videos to clients and I'll touch on that in a second. But the main thing was I would turn on the camera and I would start trying to like, share my thoughts in some sort of coherent manner. And I just couldn't do it. And I found that when I scripted it out. I was able to write better, use language that was more descriptive, extrapolate or condense ideas in a, in a much more streamlined fashion. And so for me, I was just like, well, it makes more sense to, to just have a faceless, to make faceless content because that's kind of what the audience enjoys and I'm just better at it. But like I was saying, when I started working here, a light bulb clicked off in my brain. When I would send videos to clients and I would be giving them tips or whatever, I was like, oh my gosh, this is a YouTube video. This is the same flipping thing. And, and that really was a huge mental unlock for me. So I'm much better at talking to the camera now. But in the early days I, if I didn't have a script, I was, as the kids say, I was cooked. You know, I couldn't do it. So. Wow.
- [09:42]
A
Okay. This is actually great because I think what we've already done, it's not even been like, you know, whatever, seven minutes into this podcast. And I just think you've freed at least a few people listening.
- [09:51]
B
I hope so.
- [09:52]
A
You know what I mean? Like, because what you've just said is, oh, there's another way to do YouTube videos that doesn't involve you showing your face. That's just really cool. Thanks for sharing that. What's. Okay, I have a follow up question though, is what is a face this faceless approach? Like, who is this best for? Is this really best for someone? Like, how do you view this? Is this best for someone who's like, okay, camera kind of intimidates me. It's just like, I don't really get it yet. I need more reps there. But maybe you could start in a faceless way or, you know, just thinking about the level of other skills that are required potentially in terms of editing. How do you make the stuff on screen interesting if you're just starting? So like, do you think it's possible to start a YouTube channel faceless? And if so, what are maybe just some, just brief, you know, prescriptions you'd give to folks?
- [10:41]
B
That's a really, really, really good question. So I'm gonna, I would kind of give like a couple different answers. The first answer is you have to rely on editing. Like that's. It has to be engaging in some way, shape or form. Especially if you're trying to make an evergreen topic that is going to last years for the audience. You have to hone in your editing. Editing skills, I would probably say, in terms of putting in the reps, maybe don't worry about that right away and try to do something that's a little easier. So just to use gaming as an example since that's what my ch about a lot of commentary channels who like to keep up with the news and the like the hot items inside of the community, they just put up a game of them just playing and there's like little to no editing other than maybe a tweet on screen or news, a news article headline. So if you are in the context of maybe covering some sort of news news information in your niche, maybe find just news clips or footage that you can talk over and just, just to get the bearings of like what it is that you're doing. But there are. I don't think this particular faceless content should be. It is. How do I want to say this? I don't think it, it's void of being like. I don't think it has to be just gaming. I think it can be in anything because there's, there's so many channels out there that do faceless content and they have such clever editing style and I'm like, oh, I would have never thought to do that. But they are trying to figure out ways to keep you engaged. And some of them just have photos. Like they'll just have photos but they're moving and they're highlighting text in certain ways and I'm like, oh, that's so brilliant. And it's keeping me engaged the whole time. So I don't think this is just gate, gate kept by gaming or anything. I think it can span into anything. But you do have to learn how to edit. And so I, I don't know. It's not that I would not recommend it to a lot of people, but I would say if that's an area you're struggling with, maybe just try keeping it simple or maybe going on camera is a skill that you'll have to learn as well. Like you got to kind of pick your poison. Yeah, it's going to be hard either path.
- [12:37]
A
That's good. Reps will be required either way, man. Well, I know that we're going to, I'm stoked because we're going to pop the hood on your editing workflows and scripting and all that stuff in just a little bit. But I want to loop back first to this video and that initial success, the 90 day period monetized, I'm assuming hundreds of thousands of views on that video over pretty short time span.
- [13:00]
B
Yeah, it has like 98 the one that got me monetized has, like, 98,000 views. But the backlog is what really, really set things on fire. Yeah. Incredible.
- [13:09]
A
Okay, so let's, like, all of us parachute in really quick to your world in that moment, you know, where I just keep them curious because all of us creators have, you know, we keep at this. We try to get a little bit better each time. You reach that moment where an upload did something that most of your other videos didn't. More views, all the stuff. What did you do? Like, how did this happen? Did you wake up and you saw that, oh, this video is doing something different? Or was it a slow burn? Like, how did that happen?
- [13:39]
B
No, this video, I uploaded it, and within, like, four, three or four hours, it started taking off. And people were like, this channel has 15 subscribers. How is the quality so good? Or whatever? And then they just started, like I said, rolling into the backlog, and they were like, this series on. It was a game called Black Ops 4. They're like, this Black Ops 4 zombie series is incredible. Like, how have I never seen this? And it just started snowballing, and then eventually it kind of peaked with the seventh video in the series, like, hitting almost 400,000 views. Like, it just. It just kept growing and growing. But like I said, it was. It was calculated. I had a series. I had honed in my editing skills over years. So it's funny that you're like, what did you do in this moment? It's like, well, I spent the last four years waiting for it, kind of like. And working towards it, not really anticipating it, just trying something to. To feed my own curiosity in terms of the community. Like, why does YouTube hate small channels? And it doesn't. You just have to. You just have to hone your skills, put in the reps and. And work towards flushing some something out that audiences are gonna enjoy. Wow.
- [14:50]
A
Okay, so there's something that, you know, Sean says a lot around here, right? Which is a rising tide lifts all ships. And I just can't help but think that this is what happened. I mean, yeah, this is why no video is wasted, because what you just said is mission critical. You had several videos up to the one that popped off, but because it did, it brought so many people into your world. Like, we always say, you're one video away, and it sounds like that's what you experienced. And because you had other videos that were a part of your process to get there, guess what? Those videos got views as well. And I'm sure as. As those videos grew they're reaching a new audience. And now your whole, just about your whole back catalog up to that point, I'm sure is starting to work for you in a sense where they're bringing people in to your world. I'd love to hear about you and I as coaches both know. Well, I like to think we know, have learned maybe that's the better way to phrase it, that there's just some parts of the video creation process that deserve a little bit more effort or a lot more effort, especially now where we're at with YouTube. So I'm curious what that initial success, did it teach you anything about. I'm just thinking about, you know, titles, thumbnails, structure to your content. Did you, what, what was so special about that video as you look back at it now?
- [16:05]
B
Well, I think the mo. The kind of overarching thing I learned, and this is something I talk about in content planning all the time, is I, I tried to make sure that every review or retrospective that I was creating had some sort of. Was posing some sort of introspective question. So just for example, like the video was the real problem with Voyage of Despair, why Blood of the Dead was doomed to fail. Did this fail the community? How this crushed hope. Like, I tried to take a feeling that was occurring in the, in our community, the niche on them in and distill it into this video. But what I do inside of my videos is I not only I review all these things and break it down, I, I try to set up and subvert expectations in the video based on, based off of my own opinions. So just because I pose this title doesn't necessarily mean that's it's true. So we're posing questions, we're ex. We're seeing is, did this actually happen? Was it overblown? So I try to like take people on this, on this journey. And that was like such a big unlock for me was having a, having a conversation with the audience and to kind of loop back in making videos for clients all the time. That was such a huge unlock for me to, to see. Like that's. I need to be talking to people, not I'm not talking to myself. And like I said, so posing these questions, simplistic thumbnails that I think are, are beautiful. I mean this is a preference that's not going to work for every niche. But I like simplistic thumbnails that really represent something from, from the game that makes it iconic. So those are the types of things that I focus on. And if you look at my Channel. I don't know if people are going to see it on screen or whatever, but you'll see that I try to keep things clean and concise to represent an idea.
- [17:52]
A
Man, I'd love to park here for a second, if you don't mind, Alex, because again, just as coaches learning, working with people, I think one of the biggest areas, one of the highest return areas for most folks who are trying to do this YouTube thing, seriously, and just get more views and they're getting, is to reallocate how much effort you're putting into the video to, like, the content itself, which matters. But trying to, like, shorten that a little bit and put that effort into the front end of the video. Because there's this hierarchy, right? There's like this hierarchy of viewer decisions almost. And I love how you said, oh, I'm not talking to myself, I'm talking to somebody. But every long form video has to go through this process and it's the somebody, a person, right, has to click. I mean, period, full stop. Like, that's it. Like, someone has to click before we even enter into your content. And then they have to stay. So they click, they stay. We hope that they keep staying in that video, and then we hope that they watch more, they go from our video to another video, another video, hopefully it's ours. But even if they just go to another video, that's what the algorithm is seeing, right? And so the key point I want to, you know, say for everyone, I'd love to hear how you work through this with people every week is I'm just thinking, man, if we don't win, those first two decisions of someone to click and to stay, right? The first beginning of the video, no one ever sees the rest. So no matter how awesome the rest of the content is, right? So I think the strategy is our planning should mirror that decision hierarchy. If we know that it starts and stop with someone clicking and deciding to stay and deciding to stay longer, you would think, oh, the way we think about our content, I actually want to put a lot of effort up front. I really want to think about the title. I really want to think about the thumbnail. And then what I'm doing in those first few seconds really matter. So you already walked us through a couple gems of strategies. Right. But before we get into that, I'm curious, when you think about that whole conversation, what have you learned so far from your own content? And then just working with people every week, like, how do you approach this subject of really, title, thumbnail, first 30 seconds, like how do you approach that?
- [20:09]
B
Yeah, I mean, like I was kind of saying before, like, I really try to get them to think about what, what core concepts or topics they want to expand upon. Like, like really deeply. Sean always says something that cracks me up. And I know he's saying it like half jokingly, but it's really true. He's always saying when you're thinking about your niche, he's like, he's like, I want to ask you, like, what's, what is the purpose of your life? And thinking, like really deep existential questions. And it's, it's. I know he's being a little bit facetious, but it's accurate. Like, what, what do you really have to offer about this stuff? Like, I just don't like making videos for the sake of making videos. I really like to explore certain ideas. And so I get, I try to get people to think about that when they're coming up with topics because otherwise they're just making a video for no reason. And it's not going to get views, it's going to demotivate them and, and it just kind of sends a spiral in the opposite direction. And so I don't really like that. So for me, I try to think, okay, like, what are these core pillars that I can, I can make content about. About? Okay, I have a back catalog of games that I can look at and review and do retrospectives on. There's current stuff I can do reviews about, there's news. But when I go into these, into these topics, I'm like, what, what do I, what do I want to say? What do I have a voice here? Because if I don't, then I'm probably not going to make the video. And I guess as far as, like, hooks go, I was pretty. I struggled with that for quite a while. So I just. A pro tip for people, I started going to other creators that I was really, really influenced by and I just took their transcripts and I copied and pasted them into Google Docs. And then I just wrote my own based off of that. And that's what I did for the video that popped off. And I mean, it worked. Not saying it's going to get a. It's like perfect, but it just helped me understand, like, this is how you condense ideas. This is how you visually represent things. I have a, I have something to say here. Yeah, I don't know if that really answered the question. I'm trying, but it's a very nuanced and layered thing and it depends on the Niche and stuff. And some topics are a little bit more surface level than others, and that's okay. Not everything needs to be a deep dive like I do, but I just want to, like, kind of hammer into people's brains. Like, what. What do you have to say? Like, what is coming from your heart in order to help these people, in order to have the conversation with them? And if you're really struggling with that, then maybe it's like, this topic isn't ready or maybe it's not a good topic to begin with. And it's okay to, like, say no to ideas. It's okay to.
- [22:38]
A
To.
- [22:38]
B
To put them in the trash or rework or recycle them or rework them. You don't have to do every little thing that comes to your mind.
- [22:45]
A
Oh, wow, that's huge. And I'd love a couple things there. You just gave. You dropped so many gems. When you think about. I'm thinking about. So your process is you're already editing before you even open up your. Oh, yeah, you know, Google Doc or wherever. You start outlining and brainstorming. It's like you're revising from the get, like, from the beginning, just asking yourself, is this even a video I should make? Like, I love that we should challenge our ideas more often, because I also see that. Right. Like, being in the coaching trenches with you, it does seem like people. Yeah, we'll just make anything and everything. And there's something to be said for, like, we say, just punching fear in the face. You know, pressing record and just taking action matters so much. But there comes a point where we need to move from intensity, right. Of just, let's do it. Let's get after it, to intentionality. And I think that what you're talking about is circulating, like, right there. So I'd love, you know, we're gonna move into your process, if that's cool, because I just. You're a wizard at this. Your views are. You know, your videos are averaging, like 80,000 views a video. Clearly, you've mastered the ability to get your audience to your videos and get a lot of your audience to your videos. But before we shift gears there, if you were to think about packaging rules, if you were to give out just to the listener. All right, hey, look, your views, your videos aren't doing what you want them to do. What are two or three rules that you maybe live by as a fellow creator, but also that you find yourself saying consistently as you coach?
- [24:16]
B
So the. A few things that I think about whenever it comes to packaging And I'll speak for titles, thumbnail, kind of all of it at once. I think about. Lately I've really been thinking about emotions. How can I make somebody feel something from looking at this, this, this thumbnail or this title? And like, for example, there's a video on the Think Media podcast where we were interviewing Kayla, and it's talking about, like, how she turned this business into something magnificent or something. I think it's something like, maybe it's stay at home mom or maybe that's another one. I. I might be getting things confused, but there's. There's a video up there. And I'm like, man, I bet you there are so many stay at home moms now. Just like, so jazzed up from reading that title. And it jazzed me up because I'm thinking about them, right? And so I, I try to think about that, like, what is this? What is what? How am I wording and structuring things to make somebody feel something? Because there's so much gobbledygook. I don't really know what word to use out there on the Internet. Garbage. Content. Not trying to be mean to anybody, but there's so much out there. There's billions of seconds of content being uploaded, like every minute or something. It's cra. It's crazy. So you got to make people feel something. I really try to. I really try to think about that. Also, recognizability. Understand that your audience isn't you. And so you may be more hardcore into something than somebody else. Like, for example, maybe you're like a cooking channel or whatever. And you throw all this niche, all these niche references in your title and your thumbnail and stuff. Nobody, first of all, nobody cares. And secondly, nobody's going to understand and they're just going to see, like, this video, this, like, essay of text in your thumbnail and a title that has all these SEO stuff in it. And they're going to be like, I don't even. What is this video meant for? So you got to strike that balance between emotionality, SEO, and kind of figuring out the best way. And this is the last point is to, like, visually represent your ideas because your thumbnail and your title, this is a little cliche, but they pair together in my mind, like wine and cheese. They're not the same dish. They're. But they pair together. So, you know, we have a video that's, you know, how to make blueberry muffins. We don't want to put how to make blueberry muffins in the thumbnail. We want to put like grandma's secret recipe or something like that so it just, it just works together. It might not be the best example, but I think people will understand what I mean. So visually represent. Visually represent. Is it clear? Not super hardcore in the. With the insider language and then emotionality. Those are the things that I really have been thinking about a lot lately.
- [26:56]
A
Oh, my goodness. You just cut to the heart of, I think what's really working on YouTube right now to just keep it, keep it real. Like, no matter the niche, if you're applying emotion, the recognizability or, you know, and the visual representation for the kind of audience you're trying to go for, it's huge. Right? Man. Well, hey, let's jump into your content creation process and we'll kind of dive right in. I would love to hear about how you come up with ideas for these videos that are getting just tens of thousands of views. Like that's a normal thing for you. And I don't know if you're, you know, if you're listening and you're like, wow, okay, maybe I have a business, maybe you're not faceless or whatever. It's just like there's a lot to learn about at the front gate, so to speak. Just a few minutes ago, how do you figure out what ideas to make? What idea will be successful? What's that process look like for you currently? And by the way, a really helpful tool when it comes to validating your ideas so that you know, you're actually gonna be spending your time making a video that's worth creating is Vidiq. We love Vidiq. We've used Vidiq so often, especially as coaches around here. We love their Outliers tool, which is a tool that surfaces videos in your niche that are kind of punching above their weight class, so to speak, that are over performing so that you can spot repeatable ideas fast. So if that sounds helpful, we set up a 30 day trial for just $1. You can head to vidiq.com think to get started.
- [28:21]
B
I'll, I'll say on the front end, there's a couple, you know, staples I think of YouTube that are always going to work, which is why I heavily lean into the ASQ method and thinking about a lot of stuff that Sean's taught inside of VRA of, you know, a review is always going to work, you know, but I try to make it my own. Reviews are going to work, news coverage is going to work, topics kind of breaking stuff down in the community is always going to work. But like I said, I really try to lean into posing what it, what is my perspective, what can I say about it? And I try to think about the community side too. So like when I'm going through a script and I won't get too granular here, sometimes I get a little riled up in my scripts and I want to be a little bit maybe meaner or aggressive if I'm angry at something. But I try to think, is this going to be like off putting? So I'm trying to think about how I phrase things and all this sorts of stuff just at the front end.
- [29:17]
A
I think this ideation piece though is critical, right, because what you pull up in your timeline to edit the thumbnails you're going to create the title, brainstorming, it seems like this, this is the linchpin, you know, if you get the idea wrong, good luck with your thumbnail title and editing. Right. Like, but if you get your idea right, this is something that, you know, a lot of people are interested in that. Well, I should say that, you know, a lot of your people are interested in your audience. This is just what they're asking for. This is what they need. This is really gonna help them. And if you can verify that, well, now, yeah, let's go for it. Let's burn the brain calories to think about all these other parts of the process. But I would just to keep it real. This is probably the biggest tip so far among the number of gems in this conversation already. Whether you're faceless or whether you're not, whether you're considering it, whether you're a business owner is when it comes to YouTube and doing this YouTube thing, it starts and stops with ideas. I've heard it said before, we're in a war of ideas right now because, man, you can sure mess up, you know, a good idea. Sure. But I, I'm still a firm believer you could have a great idea for a video. And even if your packaging the way you did the title and the thumbnail wasn't the best, and your content could sure could have been punchier or sharper, your hook could have been tighter. Like we see this all the time, the video can still do well. And it may not be the sure best objective piece of content out there, but because you just had such a good idea and you did your best with it, man, people found you right? People watched your video. But man, I sure know it's a lot harder to try to make a good idea work, you know, and Try to take a bad idea, something that no one's even really interested in, and then trying to think about how you're going to title that thing and, you know, and put the thumbnail on it and then outline content on something that no one even is really going to benefit from. I just think we could save a lot of energy as creators if we spent more time really sifting through the best idea. I'd love to hear about. Okay, so you talked about you kind of are learning from, you know, call them competitors, you know, other channels you look up to. And I think a lot of us have those. We. It's just part of why we're interested in this YouTube thing. Oh, there's someone else doing it. Oh, man.
- [31:27]
B
I know.
- [31:27]
A
For me, it was in the music niche.
- [31:29]
B
Oh, wow.
- [31:29]
A
There's other people teaching music production. That means I could do it too. Right? But how do you. And how do you help your students right now in coaching? How do you recreate successful videos? Like, what's the process for. How do you look at a video that, you know, you could take on your own voice, of course, but you want to take a shot at it? And I think a lot of us are too scared to, but maybe if you could help break down some barriers, just let us into your world. How do you go about recreating successful videos?
- [31:59]
B
Yeah, I. I'm going to answer that. I want to quickly add something to what you were saying about the idea part. There's another thing that I think is really important, and it's understanding what you don't want to make. I think a lot of people don't. They get these ideas, oh, I could do X or Y series, or I could try X or Y video. And they've never even made it. They don't even know if they like making it. And I just want to kind of give people the permission. Like if, for example, in my niche, there's a lot of people that are covering Call of Duty news every single day. I think that's. I think that's stupid, to be quite honest. I don't want to do that. I don't hate my fellow creators that do that. If they want to go for it and they want to cover the little news updates every. I have no interest in doing that whatsoever. So I automatically know that daily uploads are not for me. I already know that going in. So just allow yourself to say, like, I don't want to upload every day. I don't have a fricking team. That's okay. It's okay to do that now I have another issue with how slow I am. We can talk about that failure later in this video, but I'm just saying, give yourself a little bit of permission to say, I don't really want to do that. That doesn't sound like something that would work with what I'm trying to build. But as far as, like coming up with a perfect video recipe, you know, shameless plug, I just, I really, like I said, I'll take script ideas. I look at thumbnails from competitors. For example, I've been working with a lot of clients content planning lately and I've been having them just send me their scripts straight up. And I'm reading and I've been noticing a common theme, that people are not explaining things, they're telling you things, but they're not telling you why. So they'll just, they'll, they'll give you a very surface level answer or dialogue, but they won't go into it with, with, with, with depth and with nuance. And there's a video on the, I think it's on the podcast. It's like, if I was going to start a channel in 2025, here's what I would do. And inside that video, Sean's very formulaic, but in such a good way that you can't even tell unless you're like a nerd like us. But he starts with his hook and then he talks about the first R and then he gives you examples on how to solve for it. He doesn't just say, this is the, he's like, he doesn't say, oh, this is research by. No, he's telling you how to research. This is what you need to do. And so I, I, people out there like, tell, tell people, tell. Give them the actual resources, give them the actual information. Platitude, empty platitudes are not really going to serve your audience. They might feel good and they might make people feel warm and fuzzy for a moment, but if they don't have any tangible goods that they're leaving with from the video or resources that they can extrapolate from, you're kind of hurting them. Now in the entertainment, hurting is a little bit of a strong word, but you know what I'm saying? In the entertainment space, like where I kind of live, I'm in a, I'm giving a review of stuff to, to, to let people know if we're, if it's worth their time or money. But I'm also trying to make it a little bit more palatable going down. I don't, I, I don't make things super black and white. I try to make them nuanced and explain both sides or explain why things are not living up to the way they are. So I really think explanations is just a very simple way of saying you probably got to dive a little deeper than you think.
- [35:19]
A
I love this power up, if I call it that. This is a total power up as a content creator. Not just telling, but explaining, dare I say, even demonstrating, you know, like actually trying to really help the person, depending on your niche of course, but burning the brain calories to go a little bit deeper. This kind of ties back. I know Sean had told both of us, Alex, that, you know, we had Gary Vee at one of our events the other year and he was saying that we're kind of in this landscape of rigor. Like rigor is required for the content creator of today because we are no longer in the zone of. You just kind of post something, not a lot of thought and it just, it does over, right? That's over. We are no longer there. And so now where are we at? Well, like we just said before, it's about battling ideas. It's about having something to actually bring to the table, having experience to draw on, you know, so that when you put a video out there, it's just a really good point to bring more value. How could you, when you're out, when you're outlining the video, like right there, think about, okay, now how can I explain this? It's a good question for people to filter through, okay, what am I telling? Which isn't bad, but then how can I explain what I'm talking about? And then how could I demonstrate even. Is there some way I could do that? So off of that, let's jump into your scripting process, your outlining process. Because your videos are longer obviously in nature. But I'm curious about how you plan them out. You know, do you plan that out? I would. Assuming you plan that out before you record because the nature of your content. But do you write a detailed script? Do you have like. Yes, okay already. So we're like, yes, it's detailed. Do you speak off the cuff at all or is it something that's word for word?
- [36:59]
B
It's a pre planned off the cuff. So I will, I will inject it in the script. Like you can go ad lib here or whatever and I'll put some bullet points. But I, I don't really do that very often. But basically when I'm writing My script, which is 2D. I try to remember that the video is not. And that took me. That took me actually a long time to wrap my head around. So a lot of people will forget about transitions. A lot of people will forget about layering inside of your video. So for example, if there's like a. Something I'm talking about, like let's say that for example, there's like an epic boss fight, like I will start. I will make sure that the music for that boss fight is underneath what I'm talking about. I want people to feel the feeling of what they were doing when they were playing it. While I'm talking about it, I'll use sound effects from it. And so I try to. This is a little high level. I'm not trying to make people feel like they. You do not have to do this. I'm just saying that I really care about the emotional aspect of it. So I'm trying to remember that video is a multi. I don't know what the right term is, but it's like a multi vector communication device. I get to show you visual stuff. I get to show you from video to photo to sounds. The only thing I really can't do is make you smell stuff, which is probably good. I. So I'm constantly right while I'm writing, I put comments like, do I want to put a meme here? Do I want to put sound effects here? And I have it all layered out to like the deep to the. To the period of exactly what I want to say, how I want to say it. I put YouTube links in there of what I want to use when I'm going to do clips, how I'm going to yell. I really keep. Because I want. I want to turn off my brain when I'm. When I'm recording the audio and just read and focus on the performance. I don't want to think like, oh, what did I mean by this? So I just get all that, all that junk out of the way, focus on the performance so that when people are listening to it because they're not seeing my face and my expressions, I really have to be dialed in on the like, you know, radio man and really be dialed in so people can heal fear, feel and hear my expression. And then I also do that with the layering of visuals and audio cues.
- [39:13]
A
Wow. Okay. So that 2D verse, 3D, I mean, just. I want to write that over my next outline. It's just like a guiding principle. That's so good. So you're saying that you. I'm Assuming you're not using a teleprompter or are you. Are you just reading off your script.
- [39:29]
B
That you write When I'm doing a faceless video, I don't use a teleprompter. I made a video not too long ago where I used a teleprompter and I do a similar thing, but it's just, it's. It's not something I do commonly. No.
- [39:46]
A
Okay, so it sounds like the preparation that's almost like this script is your anchor for your doing so. Because you're not just outlining what you're going to say and what you're going to explain even. Right. You're actually putting in almost. It sounds like editing cues.
- [40:01]
B
You're like, yeah, 100%.
- [40:02]
A
This video inspired me for this section Voice, you know, voiceover or cut or B roll or something. Like you're actually jotting all that down. It's all in the same document. Yeah. Wow. Okay. What's been. Has bat always been your approach?
- [40:17]
B
It wasn't as rigorous as it is now. It's actually gotten like less rigorous and more rigorous in certain scenarios. Like, like now I think I know my voice a little bit, so I'm not. I used to write like five drafts per video and my videos are long, so that would take a lot of time. So I've stopped doing that and I'm just like, I think the first cut is probably good enough. I. I reread it. You know, don't get me wrong, I don't just. I make sure it makes sense. But usually at the first, second draft is where I stop now. But the, the details that I put in the video I like. I'm looking at a script right now. It says like montage and then I have comments surrounding that. Like, do I want this section to really be here? I'm going to use a South park meme at this section. Like I have all that stuff pre planned because like I said, I want to get into the audio booth. Audio booth, you know what I mean? And lay it all out. And then when I get into the editing space, I don't want to waste my time editing. Like, I want to get that over with. So I like editing. But editing a 60 minute video every like couple weeks, it's. It's a grueling process when you're working full time and you know, doing so much content stuff a lot. I want to get that over with as quickly as possible. So I figure if I just plan it all out, I can have the skeleton of the Timeline in premiere, and then I can just fill in the gaps and I don't have to really spend a lot of of creative energy figuring out what I want to do.
- [41:39]
A
Wow. So you are essentially giving your future self a successful handoff. Yeah, you know, like from the very beginning, like in your scripting process and outlining, you're giving the editing version of Alex right when he clocks in and it's his time to work on the YouTube video, it's like, oh, cool. This is what previous Alex told me. This would be a good idea. And so you're saving and conserving energy all along through the video process. Sounds like through this, just with this master document that's like housing all direction, not just what you're going to talk about, but actually how the video is going to exist when it's uploaded. That's just crazy. If you are getting any value out of this so far, please hit, like, hit subscribe, let us know because we're just about to, you know, keep going in this masterclass of content Preparation and Creation, 2D versus 3D master documents, setting yourself up for success. All right, you ready for this? I would love to ask you about AI and not to, like, be crazy controversial, but I just, just knowing you and working with you, I believe you can correct me if I'm wrong right here in front of everybody. I believe you had not been using AI in your process for quite a bit. So I'm just curious if at this point, are you using AI as a part of your process or not yet?
- [43:01]
B
This is a little bit of a complicated issue. So. All right, I want to tell a quick story. Hopefully people will find this funny. So, no, I was not for a long time, and I still really don't. But I. I'm trying a little bit more just for expediting the process. But funnily enough, like, like you are hearing, I spend so much time with these scripts. I put like, you know, my metaphorical blood, sweat and tears in them. And I posted a video in early February, and for some reason, the comment section had it out for me. And they all thought that I wrote the script with AI.
- [43:34]
A
No.
- [43:34]
B
And because I like to use a lot of big words, I. I don't like to repeat myself with the same words over and over. So I will use a thesaurus to like, let's go make myself say other things because I don't want to. I. I've noticed I. I repeat myself a lot. So anyway, they all thought I used AI. People made a Reddit post about me Started saying, you know, we thought Afterlife was cool. His scripts have gone downhill. He's using AI he's unoriginal, all this stuff. And I don't normally get mad at comments, but I. It got me. It got me. And so I kind of, like, made a vow to, you know, at that point to, like, never, you know, do it or whatever. And especially when I'm coming up with, like, the authentic thoughts of how I. Of what I believe and feel. That being said, like, because we use it at work so frequently and whatnot, I try to. I've. I've tried it a couple times, but it just. It doesn't really work for what I'm doing. Like, I can't. I can't come up with. Or maybe I just don't understand it. Maybe. Maybe Sean's like, noob. Like, I don't know. But from my perspective, like, I'm trying to come up with these, like, nuanced opinions about a very niche thing, and the AI can't play the game, and so it doesn't understand the context of where it. Where we started and how we've ended up here and why things are good or bad in community feeling and how I feel. And so I can get AI to. To. I can put my scripts and be like, hey, can you give me a summation of kind of what I thought? And my voice? And it does. And I can take it and unpack it and rewrite it, but then I feel like I'm just wasting time unpacking it and rewriting it. So I'm like, I might as well just re. I might as well just write it myself. If I'm coming up with some sort of, like, tutorial or guide or, you know, listicle of something, I. I can see it being beneficial, but it just. I don't know. I just haven't figured out a way to integrate it properly in order to. To help me make it work. Sean's probably, like, oh, my gosh, kicking himself right now.
- [45:34]
A
But I'm gonna comment down below.
- [45:36]
B
I know, I know. He's gonna unsubscribe from my channel. No, I'm just kidding.
- [45:39]
A
Oh, man. But this is actually really good conversation. And now kind of, we're just, for a second, couple coaches talking shop. But I've actually been thinking about, okay, AI is incredibly useful. You're right. And think media. I mean, shout out to Sean, who really is leading from the front. Like, we are adopting AI. We're just about. All of us at the company are using it each and every day. For our roles in some capacity. But I've been experiencing a similar thing to you, Alex. And like, as coaches, there's things that we do right inside of our coaching where it's not just meeting with people. We lead workshops and trainings and stuff like that. And so that's content that we all have that we are creating, right, for our students, for the people that we're coaching. And I've been realizing AI doesn't really. Well, number one, obviously can't replace you, but it can't replace your experience and your expertise. Right? And so shout out to the coaches here. I mean, I just think we're avengers, you know, and we've all had our own channels and been through a lot to give us the experience that we have now. So when we're thinking about planning a workshop, I've been experiencing experimenting a lot more with not using AI to really get me off the ground. Like, let's get myself off the ground. You know what I'm saying? Like, if you are a content creator, ideally you're following the think Media principles. We say, hey, make it easy on yourself. YouTube's hard enough. You should probably be creating videos in a field, in a niche where you have some sort of skin in the game, where you can really talk about something. Like Alex was just saying, you could really explain something, you know. And so I've been finding that AI has been a much more helpful tool to refine things. Sure, help me catch a blind spot. But it has been proven unfruitful. If I am going to AI without kind of going to myself first and just looking at that blank piece of paper and being what content creators have been for decades, right? Where it's like, okay, what are my ideas? Where do I want to go with this thing? And kind of sketching stuff out. That's just something that I don't think I can really do for you. You need to create your content and it can be a helpful tool in aiding to refine things, maybe catch some blind spots. To your point. Just like you, thesaurus is a tool that you used, right, to help your process. I view it about the same way. I don't know if you have any.
- [47:47]
B
Follow up there, but I mean, so for example, I don't know if it was the last video I did or what I can't quite remember, but I, I took the hook and I put it into AI and this is just to kind of piggyback off what you're saying. And I said, I said shorten it or what I, you know, I asked it to do something to tighten it up and make it more punchy. And I was like, maybe add some more SEO or something. And it cut out all these little nuances that helped lead into the. Into other ideas to explain things. And it didn't understand the context of, like, why my phrasing of that was important. And I don't. I just don't know how to navigate that.
- [48:22]
A
Yeah.
- [48:23]
B
So if there's a way to. And somebody in the comment section can tell me, come on, please let me know. But I, as a. As an individual, in this current context of how AI works, I almost use it as more of a. Like, when we're doing content planning, we're like, you know, what are the best golf ideas based off of SEO and trends? And da, da, da, da. We do all that stuff that we do. I get flooded with ways of how to present the information and how to talk about it. But as soon as I start asking, you know, AI to give me the hook or the. The whole idea in a way that matches my expression, I just feel this disconnect. And so I don't know how to navigate that quite yet. And I feel like I'm learning it as a creator. And so I will show it to clients and explain it to them like, hey, this is a really, really, really good foundation. But remember, we need your voice on this. We need the coat of paint that is Bob or Stu or Mary or whoever, you know, 100.
- [49:18]
A
That's a really good point. And I'm sure that, man, we have some AI wizards even at Think Media who might hear this and be like, oh, well, you might get a dm, Alex, I don't know who's like, hey, just try this.
- [49:27]
B
A DM with it says, hey, please sign your letter of resignation.
- [49:31]
A
You were too outspoken about your. Nah, nah, wait. But it is a good conversation because this obviously, AI stuff is changing the game. But I do think at this point, it is the responsibility of the creator to find the balance between how you're using it and then also how you're trusting yourself. Because if you want to create content, you have dreams of a different lifestyle, dreams of a business, dreams of getting into the YouTube Partner Program or just whatever it is that's like, in here, that's a heart thing. And, man, AI is, you know, artificial intelligence. We've been talking about, like, the emotional capacity is just really low. It doesn't have your vision built into it and stuff. And so I think it's. It's a good conversation. And a man, hey, I'm glad that we're here together because we just get to keep figuring things out and try to navigate it. But I'd love to keep moving on into a pretty potent section. I'm pumped about this because you really are, man. Just like a. I would say a wizard at. You can tell. You can tell. Phrase it that way. Like when you watch one of your videos that there's a lot of thought that has gone into it and you. You can really hear that. You can see it on screen. Just the. Almost like the overall pacing. There's like the cinematic feel almost even from the thumbnail and stuff that I was just picking up on and. So let's talk about editing. Let's talk about editing. Under understanding. We have listeners who are probably at varying levels, right? Beginners scared of editing, people who love it, people who outsource it. I would love to hear about your journey with editing your YouTube videos. Maybe start there. Yeah. Have you always edited your stuff? Are you still editing your stuff, or is this something you outsource?
- [51:13]
B
I just hired my first editor for the last video I just posted. It was like a gameplay thing. So it was like a good test for us to kind of figure out how to work together for my. Re. My reviews and retrospectives. I do that all. All on my own. I. I would love to hand it off one day, but it's not that I fear that nobody can do it. I'm sure somebody can. I just know it's going to take a lot of time to kind of dial it in. But yes, I do. I do edit my own videos still primarily. And I guess the, you know, I'm looking at the doc here. It says, like, what's your approach? And my approach is simplicity. Have you. Have you ever seen one of those images on like, Google or whatever, when you type in like editing timeline or whatever? And it's just this crazy timeline with like 4,000 layers and little clips and boxes and like, yeah, it's. It's madness. My timeline does not look like that at all. I. I don't want that because that is. That is just a cause for a brain aneurysm. I try to keep things so simple. And I, like you were saying, for the cinematic stuff, that is true. I do try to do that. But I really, really care about making sure what I'm talking about matches what I'm saying on the screen. That's it. That's my whole motto is what I'm saying matching what I'm talking about. And I go through that through the entire video. And I have it down a lot better now. It took, you know, it took as, you know, takes time to figure out what works. But I just want to make sure that I'm representing what I'm talking about. And so I will go on YouTube and I will download videos and using the 4K downloader tool, or I'll record them with obs or a screen recorder and I will put them on if I need them. I clip things to try to make sure I'm saving time. And like, I don't know, I just really try to keep it as simple as possible. My timeline has max, like five or six layers at the most. And, and that is just counting. I'm counting text too. So, like, it's probably only three. Like, I keep it really, really tight.
- [53:20]
A
Wow. I actually, I wasn't expecting that, to be honest, just because of the way your content comes across. But simplicity is your, is your key and I love that. That's a great test of what I showing. Right.
- [53:34]
B
Is that map?
- [53:34]
A
Is that what you said? What I'm showing? Mapping to what I'm saying, like, are those connected? Yeah. So that brings up a couple of questions here as we start to land the plane. What are some best practices for the showing part of that? And just thinking about B roll. I think B roll is a conversation. It's an editing tool. I think a powerful tool for a lot of listeners, a lot of different niches, to incorporate more of that, to help people, you know, help show the viewer what someone's talking about. And so what are some best practices for B roll especially? I'm really curious to hear from you just because, you know, making mostly faceless content, I mean, that's essentially. I'm sure, I'm sure that's just about what's showing up over the whole thing is like being really diligent about what you're choosing. So what would you. What's some advice you'd give to people about choosing B roll?
- [54:16]
B
Yeah, it's, it's tricky for, for, for channels with who are showing their face. I will say, like, I still think this is just as important. It's just you have some leeway. So, like, for example, if I'm giving a review of this controller and I'm talking about it, I'm talking to you like, and I'm talking about the buttons. Like, I'm not just going to go, oh, the buttons, or whatever. Like, I'm going to sit down after I make this video, look at what I talked about and go and record the buttons, like I'm going to do that. So I, that that's be just as literal as you can with showing what it is you're talking about. You don't have to like hide things or wait till the end to show it off or whatever. Like just tell the audience what you want to tell them. As far as like finding the B roll myself, you guys are going to think I'm nuts. But like when I'm talking one of the hardest parts in my videos, when I'm talking about the art design of any particular game, so I'm trying to give a little bit of, of an example here. I will actually go into the game and like film it cinematically. So I, I, there's certain like glitches you can do where you can like break the camera out of the character and, and go through and record it. So like I'll record that stuff and because I want to show what the, the world looks like and I want it to look beautiful. So I just, I go through slowly and pan around like I'm you know, holding a camera in a, and a gimbal and I can't be as specific as I would like to in that section but it generally representing what I'm talking about. So there's like levels to it. Like it doesn't have to be word for word. Like I went to the store and it's like me in, in the house and then me in the car and then me at the store. It doesn't have to be like that literal. Like you could just show yourself driving to the store. Right. It's, it's so there's layers to it but I try to be as, as diligent about it as possible.
- [56:06]
A
You think it's more off that real quick, do you think it's more beneficial to create your own B roll as a content creator or borrow from these libraries?
- [56:15]
B
It depends. It depends. I mean there's a channel named Mark Manson, he wrote that self help book the Subtle Art. I won't complete the rest of that. And so he, he actually uses a lot of that B roll from you know, Storyblocks or whatever and they are using AI B roll. But the content is so good I don't think people care. So there, there's, there's nuance and layers to this. Like if your value is so good and I tell this to people all the time, like hey, you're faceless. You're not faceless. Whatever. It's like if your content is so good, it doesn't matter if you have B roll like you're sitting pretty. But if you need that, have that balance like I do, it's like, well, you got to figure it out. So for me, it's almost like a brand thing at this point. And I probably will never stop doing it because I want every section to feel distinct inside of my video. When we're talking about atmosphere, I want you to feel the atmosphere. When we're talking about doing puzzles, I want you to feel the chaotic nature of going through that and so on and so forth. So I keep. I know it sounds cliche, but, like, I keep. Every path I take, it goes back to, what are we feeling? I just, I always go back to that. I don't. Maybe it's not going to work for everybody if you're more of a pragmatic channel, but I still think that there's a resolution even for those people. Like how to hang up. I know Sean brings up like the how to hang up a picture frame. Well, if you're frustrated on hand to hang up the picture frame and somebody's going to tell you, you're going to relieve that stress. So I still think there's an emotional component, even though we're logically like feeding through these systems that we create.
- [57:46]
A
Oh, man, that's huge. I'm curious, do you have any. If you ever had any copyright issues just with using a lot, you know, footage from other things? You said downloading videos. I'm just sure that's a question. That's. Yeah.
- [58:00]
B
How do you handle that? Music is where you're going to get a lot of those issues. Not so much with video, but it depends on. It depends how it's implemented. So I rec. There's a great video by. Oh my gosh, I can't remember his name. It's like Tom something. He's a huge YouTuber from the UK. If you just type in like, Tom Copyright on YouTube. Copyright law. He's a famous YouTuber. He's like millions and millions of subs. Great video explaining how this all works. So you have to basically just make sure you're transforming the content. If you're just taking a video and ripping it from, you know, Dr. Phil or think Media or whatever, like you're gonna get a copyright strike and you deserve it, by the way. But if you're taking it and utilizing it to justify your own positions or to critique and you're trimming it and you're moving bits around and there's stops and starts and that, then that's a different video. Entirely. So music though is the hardest thing because the, the major record labels don't like to release, share that type of stuff. So you got to be careful. But you can use it. Like I have an Avenge Sevenfold song in one of my videos and it's, it's playing, but I had to make sure that I manipulated it well enough to, to not get noticed. So there are workarounds, but it's just got to take, you got to take a little bit of time.
- [59:17]
A
Gotcha. So there's not been anything major so far that you've had to deal with or claims or anything on your.
- [59:23]
B
No more so more so the like monetization stuff where they're like, there was, there was a blood in your video. I'm like, yeah, it's a zombie game.
- [59:33]
A
This is a good conversation. Really quick though, because I think I know that. Goodness. We get this question a lot around copyright issues. It's something that I find a lot of creators are concerned about. And if I may lovingly call some folks out, it's like concerned about something where there's no videos even been. Nothing's been created yet. So it's like, and I understand it's like I would be the same way, wanting to try to get the path figured out and overcome all obstacles and clear the road before I go down it. But this is one thing that I, I hear, especially if people are like, well, can I use other people's content? Isn't YouTube just going to shut me down? And so it's just encouraging to hear, you know, from a channel that is dominantly faceless, where you are, I mean, you're literally using footage and music and you're, you're, you're putting together this whole video, right? That's long and has a lot of stuff that, you know, you don't own yourself, but that you're putting together in an original way. I mean, it's just encouraging to hear. Have you. How do you coach that too, by the way, if someone's talking about copyright issues, like, what's your thoughts?
- [60:32]
B
I mean, I think it's a non issue personally. I. The whole idea of copyright just comes down to are you stealing it or not? So if you're not stealing it and you're. And you have taken the content like trans is a little law. Like, I don't know if you guys know who H3H3 is. Ethan Klein and Hila Klein, they're two huge YouTube creators from the OG days and they actually set the precedent for this law in YouTube. Like their case is the one that set everything in motion. So you are allowed to take other people's content, break it down, manipulate it, turn it into something else as, and as long as you're doing that, there's no issue. If you are just taking it and uploading it and playing it for minutes and minutes and minutes on end without changing a thing. That's just stealing. So that's where the line that it's, it's I. Now there is a little bit of nuance and like certain people don't even want you to use their stuff, but you have a legal right to do it. So if somebody might go after you, that's a different conversation. But that doesn't mean you broke the, broke the rules. So I, I do think it's a little bit of a non issue. It just depends on how you're implementing it. If you're implementing it in a negative fashion, you're just going to get in trouble. So I, and I also just, I try to give examples. I'm like, how do you think these big podcast channels are so successful? Like they would be in copyright jail if, if they, if, if the mentality that these young creators have was actually the reality. You know, they're reacting to videos, they're bringing TikTok clips, Instagram clips, YouTube clips, reacting other podcast channels, bringing up stuff from people that don't even have anything to do with anything. And it's like they have three hour long episodes and clips of those clips reacting to those clips. And it's so meta. It's, it's actually its own eco system. So I, I, I actually think it's a, like I said, it's a non issue and it's, you're actually kind of missing out if you're not implementing in entering into your community. You know, I look at it as you're stepping into this space and sharing ideas, talking about what that guy talked about. It's like the digital town square. You see Billy Bob standing on a, a box of, you know, apple crates or whatever they're called, yelling about something. And you go over to Susie and you tell her, well, did you just steal his idea by telling her? It's like, no, you're just explaining and showing stuff. So that's how I look at it and I try to explain it to people in that way, but it does take a little bit of priming and practicing to get over the, over the hump. And I'll be the first to say I, I, I leaked gameplay from a video game before it Came out and I got copyright struck and I couldn't do anything for like three. It was 90 days, I think it was. I couldn't really do anything, so. But I did it. Guilty as charged. Like, it was my fault. I was a new creator. I didn't understand and. But if you manipulate it properly, you.
- [63:18]
A
Should be good, man. It's really helpful conversation. So I. The. The theme is obviously educate yourself on how to go about this. And that was just a great mini masterclass on how to maneuver that. But also just take it. I just do it. It's. I have something that Shauna said that always resonates with me is just create chaos. Almost like all these. All these what ifs? Well, what if copyright happens? What if nobody watches? Well, what if my, you know, YouTube channel gets taken? It's like, go create the chaos that actually earns you the right to have those concerns because you've actually built something that could be. You know what I'm saying? Like, let's just do the thing and then let's talk about that. But the longer we sit here and talk about stuff. I love how you said it. That are non issues. The longer we're just sitting at the same stage. No videos published, no momentum happening, man. Alex, I just appreciate this conversation. I'm going to. I have a. I have a hunch because I'm. I'm the same way a lot of us creatives are. Do you struggle with perfectionism? Just wondering if.
- [64:21]
B
Yes. Yeah.
- [64:25]
A
Actually you just let that play like that. Just the silence. I was expecting you to say, nope, actually, I'm good. No, but perfectionism, the reason I bring that up is not just because you're a creator, but also because of the kind of content you make. Like, it's almost like I get it. It's harder for me to sympathize or empathize with people who are like, man, I just. I don't know if it's good enough yet. And there's no work being done. It's just like it's an excuse to just wait. I don't. Maybe you could argue differently, but I would sense that, man, if you're actually debating something in your timeline for the video for an idea in your master doc with your script, it's for good reason because you put out high quality stuff. So how do you. How do you manage that? When do you. When do you know when to call it a quit or when to call it quits? Like, how do you balance making a video that's good enough, you know, to Press, publish, and then move on.
- [65:14]
B
You know, I, I don't really know how to call it quits. I struggle with this really heavily. But I will say, like, like, just to explain how heavily I struggle with this. And I'm, and I'm. But I'm gonna get, I'm gonna give an example of why it's, it's so ridiculous. So when I. But I was. I made a video one time and it was nearly perfect in my mind. But you know, sometimes when you're watching stuff on the timeline, it, it gets, it makes your computer work hard so you might not see everything properly. I watched the video back on YouTube and I noticed that at one point in my gameplay, I had paused for a second so you could see the menu for like a millisecond. And I literally deleted it and re edited it and fixed it. Like, like two frames. I just paused it and it. But I hated it because I was like, I want to look back at this and realize that it's perfect. Like, that's what I kept telling myself. However, when I go back and like look at my previous content, I start to realize, like, I don't even remember how I did that. Like, I don't really remember what I did. What was I thinking at that part? Like, did I do that? And I'm like, why did I waste so much energy and time being frustrated? And I don't even recall the event. So I think there's. You just kind of got to let go. I'm not saying being a perfectionist is bad. I'm saying that. I'm saying that being this like hyper vigilant, detailed oriented person that can't ever just let it go, that's just gonna get in your way. So the more, and the more videos you make, the more detached from this you will become. And that's why I started bringing on an editor to do other stuff. Because I know that if I keep working this way, it's. It's just going to hurt the channel. And I think the hardest thing for me as a perfectionist, because I have a pretty good vision of what I want the video to be. So I just try to hit that goal. Maybe the goal is really absurd and maybe I could lower it a little bit, but I actually have a problem with the getting started part of perfectionism. I just keep thinking, man, I have to write a 7,000 page script. I have to do all the editing stuff preemptively. I have to go get the footage. I have to call my friend to help me. I have to blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. And that's where I get bogged down. So I don't know if that's like inverse perfectionism or procrastination. I don't really know what you want to call it, but knowing that I feel like I have to be perfect is where I. My wheels start to spin or stagnate or whatever word you want to use.
- [67:42]
A
Wow. I actually think that's the startup is most difficult just to get moving. What do you. Is there anything you might. I don't know, I might want to share what seems to work book most times for you to just start.
- [67:54]
B
I lie to myself and I say, just write one paragraph. I literally do that. I just like write one paragraph and then if you do, if you really don't want to do it, then don't. And I, I used to kind of be like, oh, you're gonna write one paragraph. That's gonna trick you into writing more. And I kind of like psyched myself out, but I was like, no, just if you only want to write, write one, then just stop. So I really started doing that and giving myself the ability to say no to my own startup. If whatever word we're using it, it makes me just okay to keep going. Yeah. But yeah, that's. That's really the hardest thing for me. It's like, just, just do the hook. All right, you did the hook. Go watch. You know, I've been re. Watching NCIS lately, so go watch four hours of crime television after this or whatever.
- [68:41]
A
That's a fair trade. Yeah, that's a fair trade.
- [68:43]
B
Fix 15 minutes of work for a 4 hour break. I think that's fair.
- [68:46]
A
You heard it here first. This is the prescription for overcoming perfectionism. But actually, you know, all jokes aside, I really like that. Like, lower the bar. Lower the bar. Yeah. Just do this one thing and then sure enough. Yeah, that is like a mental trick. But I also love how you were like, no, actually, just literally, I'm going to give myself permission. Let's just do the hook or just write the thing. Research a video, write a paragraph. And if I want to keep going, if a minute, cool. And if I'm not, I'll come back to it. Like, that's actually a very freeing mindset I think, to have along those lines. I'm just curious, you know, a lot of listeners are doing this YouTube stuff in spare time, not full time. And I'm curious how you specifically navigate. Have navigated building channels, number one, around something that you enjoy. Right. Which I think a Lot of us are trying to do. We want to build a channel around something we enjoy that we're good at. We find value in that we want to share with other people. So that's one half of it. But the second half, I just want to call out specifically for you. For me, Represent any other, I don't know, coaches or strategists. It's like, it's one thing to try to do that with a day job, which is very real, but when your day job has you in the same world as what you're needing to go home and create after work or before work, it's a different kind of mental tax. You know, where I've just felt this before. Well, I've looked at, you know, 17 thumbnails today. Like, I just don't really want to work on mine. You know, it's just like, you know, you're in that same headspace, and so it can be hard to disconnect. So in some ways, I've actually been thankful for in the past, when I've had a day job, I've learned to be grateful. Hindsight's 20 20, where the day job is actually a whole different part of my brain because there's a little bit more active rest going on, it seems to be. But I would just.
- [70:32]
B
Yeah, I just.
- [70:32]
A
I'm curious. You do have a day job. Yes. It's here at Think Media. Yes. You're coaching, and you're in this YouTube thing, and I just want to, like, firm listeners could be like, oh, that's a dream. You kidding me? If I got to just do YouTube all day, how much more could I do for my channel? I just want to, like, man, put up a stop sign real quick. It ain't that easy because you're in the same headspace all day.
- [70:50]
B
Yeah.
- [70:51]
A
So how do you. How do you handle that, man?
- [70:53]
B
That's a good question. You. You took the words right out of my mouth. That's what I was going to say. It's not that, like, we have. We're so blessed here. Like, we have so much freedom and opportunity to work with cool people. And, you know, there's a lot of flex, flexibility in our schedules and stuff like that. We really do have, like, the dream job. Like, I'm not even gonna deny that for a second. I'm so grateful. Like, every quarter, I try to, like, DM Sean to say thank you. Like, Like, I. Because I don't want to forget, you know, because it gets easy to make your new standard your standard. It's hard man, like, working in content planning with people and then looking at their scripts and rewriting them and coming up with their own idea, coming up with their ideas and not that they don't do anything, but it's like being a part of, like, another channel. Like, I feel like I'm part of like 15, 20 channels.
- [71:39]
A
Agreed.
- [71:40]
B
And so when I get to my channel, I'm like, I just kind of don't really want to do this right now. But, you know, you just, I just try to think, like, what else am I gonna do? Like, I, I have to. And I'm in a little bit of a different position than a lot of people on the team or like, I'm not married, I don't have kids. So it's like, what is really my excuse? Like, I don't really have an excuse other than like, like, oh, my brain hurts a little bit. It's like, okay, well, go take a nap, drink a Red Bull, and then. And get, get to it. And so I know it's a little like, pull yourself up by your bootstraps. And I know that's a little of a bit of a meme, but it's just, it, it's just really hard to be creative for like 8 to 10 hours a day with other people and then go right into being creative with yourself. And so I am navigating how to really balance that and tell, you know, be able to tell our team, like, hey, I. I can't take any more clients right now, or can we, like, work on something where I can try another project? Or like, I'm trying to figure out ways to navigate it. And everybody on our team is amazing, you know that, and they're always willing to help. So I try to take a little bit of a break after work, maybe watch four hours of NCIS and then, and then write for a little bit before bed and stuff like that. It also helps to, to get up early before work and, and try to write then. So I have like, like prime creativity for myself. But I don't want to be selfish either. So it's like, you know, I'm in a rock and a hard place, but these are good problems to have. So all I say to people that are trying to navigate through this stuff is just figure out when you're going to be at your prime. Like, I'm a night owl, but I'm also kind of creative in the morning, so I just kind of set those times aside to do this stuff. When it comes to editing, though, editing is like, I have tunnel vision. I just like, I can't stop. So I actually have to set it up to be like, okay, Friday at 5, you know, I'm deleting Brian from my phone and never talking to him again until Monday. Right. Like, I just have to like lock in and I, I stay up till five every night doing it. Like I'm just all in on those days. So it's a little bit unhealthy in some instances, but I think, you know, you know, Lord willing, if it ever goes full time or I don't even know if I'd ever want to leave Think Media, to be quite honest with you. It's just, I, I'm sure it would be a little bit more healthy. But the, the working the, the job and doing it, you just have to figure out how much free time do I have, how can I utilize that to eat, to do my laundry, to do all this stuff and be creative and make sure that you're setting the most prime time creative spots for you to get what you're, to get it done and do your best to not make excuses. I know we're all imperfect, but try, try to not like, try to really carve it out and try to take it seriously. Because I am so slow at making videos and it's because of the procrastination, it's because of kicking the can. It's because I'm like, well, maybe if I just play one more match, I'll have more footage. It's like, did I really need to do that? Probably not. And that's another three hours gone. And it adds up so quick. By the end of the week, that free 15 to 30 hours you could have had is gone after, you know, a couple NCIS in the game. So that's, that's just how I try to look at it for me personally and, and I just want to give people like the permission to not like hate yourself for it. It's yes, try to do your best for real.
- [75:01]
A
Oh, it's so good. Well man, I really appreciate you just be kind of being real there. And I can, I can affirm too, just actually witnessing what I really would still say is, is your work ethic like, sure, I love how honest you're being man, I really do. And that is just your style. Like you keep it real. And this is why so many of you in your coaching style too is you keep things real. And it's an incredible benefit to not just the people that you coach, but even to your team members. And so it's just fun as a coworker here to be able to hear you say what you just said and also just get to say here in front of whoever's listening. It's actually legit. I, I, I know meetings that we've got on where, you know, catching up, hey, how was the weekend? Or what'd you do? And you're like, I mean, you're working on your video. You're like, it was a late night and I've heard you say that. And yet still showing up just faithfully with, you know, all the duties here at Think Media. And so I just want to say, like for you, just hats off, man. For real. There's a lot that I admire about you and getting to work with you, but then also for the viewer just to say, own your season. That's what I love about what you're doing. You're just like, yeah, the reality is, okay, no wife, no kids, you know, like, I got time. And you're, and you're using that and you're building a schedule. Okay, sure, you could argue is an optimal and healthy, maybe long term, but it's like this is, this is what it is now and this is what the most of it. And you're taking time as you can, letting yourself procrastinate when you need to and then letting yourself just get after it, crack a Red Bull. And so anyway, I just thought that was really cool. Just wanted to point that out. And I know actually what you're saying is legit. I've seen it firsthand, so thanks, man.
- [76:32]
B
I appreciate you.
- [76:33]
A
Yeah, 100%. Well, hey, if you're still listening here, you know we are. I said we're going to land the plane a while ago, so already Sean is rubbing off on me. But I do want to say if you are struggling with any of this stuff, you're doing this, it' a part time thing and maybe or just we had, goodness, we had quite a conversation, man. Just gems on gems, content planning, editing, just all kinds of stuff. If you're at all interested in, you know, linking up with Alex or linking up with me and we got several other coaches here that would just love to hear about your situation and where you're at and what you're experiencing. You know, we put together this call that you can get on. It's completely free. If you go to viral video coach.com, you'll just get to link up with a team member and we'll look at your niche, look at your channel, look at your schedule and help strategize your next steps. It's a free call, right? There's, you know, no strings attached. You can hop on and be like, hey, here's where I'm at with my channel. Here's where I want to go. Would some sort of, you know, higher touch coaching be a good fit for me? I just want to invite you to do that because, man, we'd love to hang out because we really get this thing and we'd love to come alongside you. So. Alex, I'm all right. I need to put my money where my mouth is. We are landing the plane. Would love if you would just shout out if you. If you want to. Just. Where could people find your content if you wanted to share? And then we'll kind of just move into maybe. Hey, what's. Yeah. What's one thing you would offer if you were to coach listeners right now? Just people who not only feel like they're stuck in a faceless grind, you know, on YouTube, but even just people who are in the YouTube grind. Yeah. What's one thing that you'd encourage someone to try out in their next video?
- [78:11]
B
Yeah. Well, so my. My channel is Afterlife Analysis, and then I have a podcast. Afterlife Podcast. You can check that out. If you're interested in Call of Duty content or gaming or just want to see how the. The sausage is made, feel free. If not, that's okay, too. As far as advice, I just. I really just. I'm gonna zero in on that emotional aspect again. It's just. Don't be afraid to not make things if you don't like them, and really just try to be yourself on camera in the only. Or off off, you know, faceless or not. Whatever. It's. The only way you're going to do that, though, is by making videos, because you're going to be so in your head over time that eventually that that mask drops and you realize you can't keep track of every weird thing you've done, and you just. You have to let it go. You have to let it go. So you might as well let it go today and have conversations with your audience. Have conversations with your audience. Try to be descriptive. Try to visually represent what you're doing, and always try to go back to it, to that topic. What am I trying to tell these people? Do I have something to say here? And just don't be afraid to be yourself. I know a lot of people think like, oh, I don't want to get canceled or controverted, whatever crazy stuff's happening in our world. Think about all the people that are getting in trouble all the time and you forget about them a week later, you're going to be fine. It's okay. There are mean comments. You got this. I got it. It makes me mad sometimes, but I, you know, I move on and I just, I just really want to give you encouragement to, to just let go and just dive in and just do it. Stop worrying about having a ten thousand dollar production setup. Stop worrying about all these other things and just really dive in. Be yourself, be authentic. Have something to say. That's the first and foremost thing I would, I would try to tell people and you got this. You can do it. Anybody can do that. This is a learnable skill. It really is.
- [80:04]
A
Let's go, man. Spoken like a true coach. Even pumping me up. Alex, thank you for your time today. And hey, if you're fired up, you're listening and you got any kind of value from this conversation, would you let us know? Just like rate, share, review wherever you watch or listen. This is the Think Media podcast. I'm Nathan Eswine. I can't wait to connect with you in a future episode.