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- [00:00]
A
The economy is shifting fast. If you're an entrepreneur or creator serious about scaling with YouTube, this is your moment. October 2nd and 3rd in Las Vegas, we're hosting the Think Media Mastermind. It's exclusive, it's application only, and spots are almost gone. Apply now atthink media mastermind.com if you're.
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An older creator and you're trying to find your tribe, you really have to target who you were 10, 15, 20 years ago, because that's going to everything you talk about is going to be authentic.
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Michael Zuber. He's a financially free real estate estate investor. His YouTube channel has over 70,000 subscribers, over 22 million views.
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B
I think a lot of creators get stuck on the tech and the editing. So my suggestion to most people is remove that and just go live. You have to answer the question up front. Am I chasing money or am I chasing impact?
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A
Why do you think midlife creators have an advantage on YouTube? So if you're 40 or 50 plus and you're wondering, is it too late to start a YouTube channel? This episode might change your mind. But you might be thinking, isn't YouTube just for the young tech savvy crowd? Or do I really have what it takes to grow online at this stage of Life? Or is YouTube too crowded? Or am I too late? Or is it too complicated? Here's the truth. YouTube isn't just a platform for dancing teens and flashy influencers. It's one of the most powerful platforms to share your story, build trust and create impact. Especially if you have life experience and wisdom that people desperately need need. And our guest today on the Think Media podcast is Michael Zuber. He's a financially free real estate investor and creator of one rental at a time. Today his YouTube channel has over 70,000 subscribers, over 22 million views. But he didn't start there. He started with simple videos that were super cringy and super embarrassing. And he's going to be breaking down the entire thing because he started his YouTube channel at 45 years old. And today he's teaching others how to turn their life experience into income without needing to go viral and talking about the financial news and things on his channel. So in this episode, we're going to be talking about why creators in their 40s and 50s and beyond actually have a strategic advantage on YouTube. The biggest mindset traps that hold us back and why your story, your scars and your skills are your superpower. Michael Zuber, welcome back to the Think Media podcast.
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B
Thank you, man, I appreciate it. Look forward to this opportunity all the time.
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A
So why do you think midlife creators have an advantage on YouTube?
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B
Well, I think there's a lot of reasons. The first one is we're generally speaking comfortable in our own skin, right? We've been through a lot, right? We're 40 or 50 years old, which means we have decades of being adults and we're not 20 anymore. We've got the scars and we got tougher skin and we've been through it. So, I mean, that's the first thing, because I hear a lot of people when they're thinking about starting, they just create all the excuses. But all the creators I know at 40 or 50 are like just, hey, ho, let's go. And I think that's really a superpower because again, you're just gonna talk about what you know. You're not gonna fake it. It's not gonna be, it's gonna be authentic. And when you're talking about something you care about, which you probably have cared about for decades, it's fun. And, you know, I've been doing the daily financial news routine for 30 plus years. The only thing I did different eight years ago is I turned on a camera. There's nothing in my work routine that's different today than it was 25 years ago or 20 years ago or 15. I just now turn on a camera.
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A
So I want to hear some more examples of why creators have an advantage. But you're saying you've been doing the daily financial News routine for 30 years. Explain your YouTube routine that other people could copy for themselves in their own way.
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B
So I'll tell you exactly what I did 25 years ago, and I'll tell you what I did this morning. So 25 years ago, I'm a morning person. So I get up early, usually 5:30. I would go downstairs, pour some coffee and I'd read the financial news, figure out what's going on in the world. And you know, what did I do today? I did the same exact thing, except I took some notes about the, you know, the 10 or 11 most important things. And then I turn on a camera and I tell people what I think the 10 or 11 most important things are. It's a fact based, you know, discussion. It's, it comes from reading 60 to 90 minutes of material. But I've been doing that for 25 years. So when I talk about something today, like, you know, a Fed decision or the unemployment rate or things I can pull from history because I've been doing it every single day for, for nearly three decades. And that's what I think makes it unique. And that's why, you know, people tun million each day.
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A
So the PowerPoint is, if someone wants to start a YouTube channel, they could tap into what is it they're already doing? Studying, reading. What is already their hobby. Exactly. What is already the thing that they're putting a few hours in. And I think that's a big secret. You were already putting 60 to 90 minutes into it and then you compress that down into nine minutes for the daily financial news. So if you were, you know, super obsessed with Lord of the Rings or Harry Potter and you put hours into the lore and the side stories and everything else, when you then jump online, start talking about that, it really makes for good content because you're already immersed in it. And perhaps you've already stacked years of fandom or years of expertise in a particular area.
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B
That's, that's the key. And that's why I think starting 40 or 50 is such a gift. Because you now have 20 years or 15 years of stories that you can pull from. Right. And I mean, it could be anything. It could be classic cars, it could be wine, it could be Cabbage Patch Dolls, it could be, you know, Lord of the Rings, it really Star Wars. I mean, anything that you've loved since you were a kid, you probably still love now. And there's an audience, a tribe out there that also loves it. And the beauty of it when you're our age is you can bring the next generation along with you. Right. There is a 25 year old version of you out there.
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A
Yes.
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B
That would love to hear from you because you've got some, you know, you've seen a lot. And that's why I think a lot of folks should be starting at 40 or 50. It is such a gift. Also, you know, typically you're not chasing money, right. You don't have to have to make big adsense immediately. You're doing it because you love it. And that's what I did, right. I didn't get monetized for over a year in a thousand videos. I didn't even know you could get monetized. It was like, oh, they sent me an email like, oh, congratulations, you're monetized. I'm like, I know what monetized means, Right. It's just amazing when you don't, when you don't need the money, right? And it adsenses, you know, it was 100 grand one year and now it's 30 grand. So it's way down. But if you don't need the money, you just go after your craft, and you just keep showing up because it's fun for you. I have fun every day.
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A
So you're not chasing clout. You're building legacy. And I would challenge listeners to even really consider if there's a fire in your heart, you might even. I think we have an ethical responsibility as humans, even before God, to pass along wisdom, love to help others. And as you age, Carl Jung says, life doesn't start until you're 40. Up until that time, you've just been doing research.
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B
I love that. That's a good one.
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A
So what do people that are, you know, 15 to 20 people in their 20s and their 30s need? They need your wisdom and the research you've been doing because you can help them avoid pain, reach their goals faster, feel seen, feel connected with. And you already kind of touched on this. Not only do you have decades, but you've also lived through multiple cycles. Recessions, downturns, wins, ups and downs, transitions. It is. You know, I turned 42 this year, and, you know, I heard one. I think it was like my therapist was saying, like, you know, when you're 18, you're certain you know more than your parents. And then in your 20s, you start to. You still think you know everything, but you. You start to have some reality. In your 30s, you start to settle in. And then at 40, you're like, actually, I think my parents were smarter than me.
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B
Actually.
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A
Life has, like, kicked your butt enough that you've, like, gone in the full circle of humility. And so all of that to say is midlife. Creators actually have a massive advantage for starting. I think it's needed. And, you know, another thing you said here, and you already touched on it, but let's go a little bit deeper. Kind of the avatar advantage. This then asks the question of who should your channel be for what is Avatar? The avatar is your target audience. That. That kind of, in a way, one person you want to help. It might end up being males and females and all kinds of diverse individuals. But in marketing, they tell you you should have an audience avatar. And it's sometimes it's like, John, he lives in san Diego. He's 28. He's got a current job. And that's usually what an audience avatar looks like. And even though women might watch your channel, you kind of know you're talking to this person. What you're saying is you 10 or 20 years ago. Expand on that.
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B
Yeah, I think that's the key. Again, if you're an older creator and you're Trying to find your tribe, you really have to target who you were 10, 15, 20 years ago because that's gonna. Everything you talk about is gonna be authentic. You're not guessing, you're not reaching. You're not, you're not going, oh, I think this, I think that, no, you know this. You were them.
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A
Yeah.
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B
And if you go into this with that confidence, it may not feel like the YouTube algorithm is serving you up right. But it will. You will be found. Right. And you know, it does start slowly. You gotta take your shots. I love doing. You know, I tell people to go get the first 50 videos done as soon as possible. I suggest going live just to get the repetitions in. But once you get clear on who you're trying to help, it's amazing when they find you and then you start hearing from them and they ask questions and it's like, yeah, this is what I want to talk about.
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A
Yeah. And I actually grabbed ChatGPT here and pulled up a couple prompts that listeners could think about even if they wanted to make a couple YouTube videos. Like here's a title for you and you could record this and upload it online and this could really help people. Hey, we're about to get back into the podcast in just a second, but I have a question for you. Do you want to grow your personal brand this year? Do you need more leads and sales in your business? If the answer is yes, then right now is the best time to go all in on YouTube. Today's podcast is brought to you by thinkmasterclass.com where you can get on demand access to a one hour deep dive training revealing how to start a and grow a profitable YouTube channel this year. For a limited time, you can get access to this on demand class entirely for free, where you will learn the three biggest mistakes that people make when starting a YouTube channel. The new rules and changes that have been happening on YouTube and how you can use them to create an unfair advantage. And the exact strategy we use at Think Media to generate over 350,000 organic views every single day. The data is clear. 70% of viewers claim that YouTube makes them more aware of new brands. So don't wait any longer to start growing your brand and business with YouTube. Just go to thinkmasterclass.com to get access to this. No fluff, highly tactical, free on demand training. That's think masterclass.com I'm 42. Here are 20 things I wish I knew at 22. Starting over in your 40s. Here's what no one tells you now. You could do something around pain, regret or redemption. I lost everything in my 30s. Here's how I rebuilt in my 40s. If you could talk to your younger self. If I could talk to my younger self, I'd say this. Think about these as YouTube titles. I thought I knew who I was then. My 40s humbled me. Marriage, divorce and relationships. I've been married for 19 years. Here's what I got wrong and right. How I rebuilt trust after it's been broken. Burnout and career. I left my safe career at 40. Here's what happened next. Some of these are more present day cause you're speaking about speaking to the past. But I think these are some great prompts. Fatherhood. Being a dad in my 40s changed me forever. So if you're listening to this, think about the avatar advantage. You've have life experience, wisdom that can help and change people's lives. You could get started creating content and how long until do you feel like you kind of had momentum? Like how long would you encourage people to maybe like start posting? Don't overthink it. Maybe you have kind of a North Star, but like how many reps to sort of just get the hang of things. So you're not trying to think that your second video is going to be successful.
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B
Yeah. What I would tell people on this because again I think for a lot of folks you, they have to have a. It can't be too large a number and it also has to be actionable. So what I tell people to do is actually just go live. I actually think a lot of creators that are getting started get stuck on the tech and the editing. So my suggestion to most people is remove that and just go live.
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A
Okay.
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Right. Have a topic, one of those prompts, talk about why you love Ford Mustangs or whatever it is and just be willing to go for eight to 15 minutes and talk about that and just go live. So what I would tell people to do is do 50 of those. And if you can, I would do one a day for 50 days in a row. Just have 50 topics again about something, you know, love and respect that you have years with. It shouldn't be hard.
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Yeah.
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And you just want to get the reps and you're not really trying to get tons of views or even lots of subscribers. You're just trying to get over the tech, over the recording, not let the camera bother you. So that's why I really think more people should just go live. It's so freeing.
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A
And that could be, I mean probably everybody listening to this has been on Zoom before and they have Zoom, same thing. And so the idea of if you knew you were going to jump on and have three people jump on Zoom with you and you had a 15 minute block on your calendar and you're going to jump on Zoom with a legal pad and a few notes.
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B
Exactly.
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And then just talk for 15 minutes around 10 things I wish I knew about rebuilding classic cars when I got started. And then just turn it on, talk for a while, turn it off. And this is also more about the reps than it is even about.
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B
It's only the reps. The only other thing I would do if you're going to follow my advice is do it at the same time that way because what will happen is the audience will start to find you by the time. Right. I go 7:30am Five days a week. I used to do it seven days a week. Yeah, right. So people come. Now I get up to 250 people watching live 7:30am Because I'm always there.
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A
Gotcha.
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B
Right. So that's what I would do.
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A
Now when I look back though, on your channel, isn't there videos of you, I want to say, with like some white apple AirPods in.
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B
Oh, for sure.
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You were filming while you were on like a walk.
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Yes, for sure.
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So is that like another way you could do it? It'd be like you've got. And you were uploading five minutes long, seven minutes long. And that wasn't Daily Financial News.
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No, that was. I was trying to find myself like the first thousand, like the Daily Financial News, which is where I hit my stride. Didn't really start till year two. Year one was just me throwing stuff against the wall, seeing what I liked, what resonated with the audience. I tried walking around even in the beginning. I would walk through different projects I was doing right show and tell, you know, kind of flip this house kind of stuff. But it wasn't until I landed on the Daily Financial News, just that repetition that people really enjoyed because it's the same thing. It's 24 hour news cycle, it changes every day and people really liked it. So that just became a daily thing. But that was until year two.
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A
So I want listeners to not overthink this. I'm sure that just like everyone's been on Zoom, they've probably been on FaceTime for sure. And if you FaceTime with your family, with your wife, with your kids, just imagine turning on FaceTime and talking while you're walking for five minutes, eight minutes riffing on a topic and I love that you spoke like it took a year to find yourself.
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B
Yep.
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And so this whole idea. I mean, we want this episode to be a kick. Kick in the pants. Of course, if you subscribe to the Think Media podcast, we have all kinds of tactics, and YouTube has so many. You've been to our event in Vegas. We get really tactical, and it can feel overwhelming with, like, what. Learning everything about YouTube at a mastery level. That's a whole nother thing, though. We're saying, punch fear in the face and press record.
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This is all I'm saying. Yeah.
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Go live.
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And it's go live. Not even record or film a video.
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On your phone and upload it.
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Yeah.
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And just talk straight through.
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I really. I mean, I want to push back against that because I've been doing. I've been trying to help people get started. I think too many people get lost in the. If I record it, then I can edit it, or they record it and they get the ums and the odds.
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A
So they restart A hundred.
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They restart. Yeah. It just doesn't happen. Go live. Just go live.
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A
Because once you're out there, it is. It is like you're on zoom, and it's like, hey, Michael, it's your turn to talk. Yeah. You have 15 minutes for this, and if you mess up, you just keep going.
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B
Exactly. DOG barks, car honks, you know, mower goes on. It doesn't matter. I mean, my first thousand videos were done on my phone with AirPods.
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A
Okay, so let's talk a little bit about the mindset and even some of the emotional challenges. A lot of people are going to just overthink the tech, the gear. You've already touched on some of those things, but break down the gear you started with and the tech you use now.
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B
Yeah. So in the beginning, it was very simple. It was literally my iPhone in some. In the beginning, it was wired. Wired earphones and a mic. And then I went wireless, and that was it for a thousand videos one year. That's all I used. And it wasn't until I started communicating with you, it's like, oh, there's this whole setup thing, because, again, I wasn't. I wasn't thinking about being a YouTuber. I was somebody that was on a mission to help people. And I felt I was doing that with the phone and walking around or showing projects. And it was until I talked to you that it was like, hey, you could go to the next level. So then we got a camera, and then we got a microphone and we got some lights and all of that. But that all came later. That came after monetization. I didn't, I didn't spend any money other than the wired mic for a year on the channel.
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A
So if someone's watching this and you say go live and they have a laptop with a webcam and just the. Done, let's just use that.
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B
Just use it doesn't matter.
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A
Just connect that up and just do it. It was just already. If you think you're going to. You're going to sign up for a YouTube channel, if you're watching this, you probably already have one. You fill out some information on the back end, like to prove you're you. It's like two factor authentication. You prove it's your identity and these unlock the features to go live. I'm not sure if you actually need a little bit of momentum to go live.
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B
I don't know, you might. You may need a hundred, some kind of number.
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A
But yeah, so. And then today, though, you're still using like streamyard.
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B
I do use Streamyard because of you, because it's, you know, I use Zoom forever and you're like, hey, Zuber, come on.
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A
So it's higher quality, easy to use.
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It is, yep. I switched very easily. I was just lazy. It takes advice from friends to, to make the tech swing change I did to stream.
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A
So don't ever overthink the tech in gear. And you can always. We also have another channel, it's called Think Media, and there's really great videos over there of budget accessories. Again, you just need your phone, you just need a laptop. But if you spend like up to $100, you know, you can get a $50 light kit on Amazon, cheap microphones, and we can help you with all of that. So definitely in the show notes, you can check out our main channel, Think Media. What about feeling al. Thinking that YouTube is only for the young, not only your own mindsets, but yeah, a lot of people follow you and they're like, Michael, I want to do what you're doing. What are the mindsets that are coming up in the people you're talking to and what are your counters to some of these excuses we have?
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B
Well, again, I just want people to realize if you're very clear on what your motivation is, I think you do YouTube or really social media. YouTube is where everything sort of starts and finishes for me. But wherever that is. Right. If you're on Instagram or TikTok, no judgment, but as long as you know why you're doing it. And I only think there's Two reasons. I think you're either chasing money or chasing impact. I think those are the only two options and those don't, do not go hand in hand. You're either one or the other and there's no judgment. I've clearly been the guy chasing impact. And if you're going to be chasing impact, it's slow, it's a slog, you won't go viral. I mean, I don't think I had a video go over 5,000 views for four years, but it was a slow grind. And you know, you're adding 15, 20 people a day or whatever it is and you just gotta know that's okay. Right. You talked about at your event, right. Life changing event for me. Right. What's viral for you or viral for me? And just those mindset shifts are important, but if you chase, you have to answer the question up front. Am I chasing money or am I chasing impact? And if you're honest about that, because some of you are going to chase money and that is okay. I just think the rules of the road are different if you're chasing money, but if you're chasing impact, it's I know this stuff. I love this stuff. Let me share my story. Let me share you why I made mistakes. Let me go find other people that like this because that was another unlock for me. After the daily financial news is I started finding other people out there that would like to do a YouTube channel but just didn't have the cycles or didn't have the whatever. So they just became weekly guests like Anna Kelly, she goes by the moniker REI Mom. She was working at the time and she's like, hey, I would love to talk real estate with you for one hour, one hour a week. And we just talk. We talk 8am Tuesday morning and we've been doing that for over five years. And you know, we probably 80% of the time we make it. Otherwise there's, you know, family stuff and whatnot. But I can count on Ana and I talking Tuesday at 8am so there's so many things you could do, you.
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A
Know, for discussion sake. There's a couple thoughts that I have there. I actually push back a little bit and say I don't think it has to so binarily be either impact or money. I think that you need money for the mission and so I think you can chase money. It's just a matter of priorities because you're chasing money to fund the impact.
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B
You just got to know up front. Because I will tell you this inside the YouTube game, if money is the thing. You need more views. And there is one way to get more views, and that's the way that I tried for six weeks and won't do again.
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A
And you're saying. Yeah, so you're saying if money. Well, so to me, it's a matter of priorities. Because actually I think, yeah, like money's gotta be on the list or else the impact dies. Cause if you're homeless and you no longer have an Internet connection, I believe.
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B
A lot of people that are in the 40s and 50s have money solved.
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A
Got it.
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B
Money's good. Like me.
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A
Yeah.
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B
Didn't need a penny. So they're good. They're not 25 and struggling to pay rent.
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A
Understood. So if you're. So that's a good place to be. But you're asking yourself. And I was talking to Caleb Raulston recently and he said when he launched out on his business, he thinks people should not launch out on their own if they're desperate. Because if you're desperate, it'll cause you to make poor decisions.
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B
Exactly where I'm trying to go. Exactly.
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A
Got it.
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B
If you're coming at this and you need 800 bucks a month to make the rent, you're going to go one direction.
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A
It'll pull you to it. It'll pull you into things that are maybe not even who you want to be, that are off brand and if you want to. So, but my wrapping around it, we always say you need money for the mission. And most people that watch Think Media too are. They are led by purpose first, but they're trying to figure out how to fund and monetize that purpose so they can, you know, keep the lights on. Okay, so that's. That's thing one. I would then add. I think there's more than just money or mission. I think there's other things such as community. And I think it's another thing you've done, I think you've created. And I don't mean just the community that, like comes to your event, that happens in Vegas. You. I want you to go a little bit deeper. You've built a network. What do you call them? Avengers.
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B
So I call them the Millionaires. So I have 12 millionaires that show up each and every week.
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A
So you've. And it's. This is almost giving you away of people maybe you were friends with previously, maybe you didn't have deep relationships.
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B
Only one of them I knew before.
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A
And now they're all like your homies.
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B
Oh, yeah, they're my best friends.
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A
That's. That's profound. So I know there's probably a lot of people listening to this. They feel isolated. They might live in a. They might have a good family life, but it's hard to connect with people that maybe think the same way, have ambitions, dream about the same things. And life can feel lonely. You're trying to find where you fit in. You're trying to find your network and you're trying to find people who are just as geeky as you, your millionaire friends, because they're all these experts on your channel. But anybody listening, if you're creating a YouTube channel where you bring on guests, you're allowed. You're planting a flag around your passion. And now you can like rally this community around it. And that's what you've done. And every year it gets like stronger and bigger and there's more people on the list. It's not like everybody has to be millionaires. But here's the other thing. One of the ways you have leveraged being able to create so much content is the interview strategy.
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B
No question.
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A
Explain it.
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B
The Millionaires was an unlock for me because again, when you're thinking about creating a YouTube channel, at least the way I did it before I got coaching from you, I was talking head. And there's even in real estate, in money, there's only so many talking head videos you could do. But once I found millionaires that were willing to share what they were doing in life right now or what they thought of something. And the beauty of the millionaires is, yeah, we're homies, but we don't always agree. Some of the greatest videos we've done, we violently disagree, right? Respectfully disagree. And that's the beauty of this because everybody has their own experience, their own baggage, and some of those are the funnest conversations. So, yeah, the thing that I've done well is I have vetted people and invited in quality people, people that I would become best friends with because I interview everybody can get interviewed on my channel once, very few people come back twice. Right. And then very few people are asked to be returning guests. And that was, that was unlock. And again, in the beginning, one of the reasons I have 16,000 videos is I thought the right answer was 8 to 10 minute videos. So they were giving me an hour. We would do three 12 minute videos.
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A
Yeah.
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B
Now, you know, in the last 18 months or so, long form is better. So now we just do one 42 minute video. Yeah, right. So I've evolved, right. There was a time I was posting six videos a day, one Every two hours.
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A
Yeah.
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B
Right. From eight to eight.
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A
It's like, you know, but for the audience. Like you're putting in a ton of work and conversations. But also there's no editing.
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B
None, zero, never have been.
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A
You would hit record, the conversation would start, you turn it off, and you could just upload that file.
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B
Done.
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A
Yep. So I want to come back to the no editing strategy in a second, but I think a few takeaways for our think media community and that is, man, the interviews are so underrated.
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B
Correct.
- [25:23]
A
Because I think not just for the fact they can get views, but the way you could build your network, connect with people. You were already successful. You could talk finances. But I, you know, there's a show called the Eventual Millionaire and someone might be like, well, easy for Michael. He was able to already have the financial influence. I wouldn't say easy for Michael. This woman, Jamie Tardy, that started the Eventual Millionaire, she was not one. She wanted to reach out. And what you'll actually find that very successful people, people say, oh, they're greedy. They don't want to share what they know. They're exclusive. The opposite is usually true.
- [25:58]
B
Opposite.
- [25:58]
A
They're usually generous, they want to help. And anybody that's willing to listen and ask questions, they want to serve. So your world can get so much bigger if you tap into the interview method. And then even more so, though, just the chance to collab, you can do this from anywhere. You could do it on Zoom, you can do it with Streamyard, you could bring on guests. And it's highly leveraged because you don't have to always be coming up with original content for yourself. So impact can be part of, you know, your goal. Money can be a benefit and a goal and community of the people that build around and subscribe to your channel. But even friends and your network and partners, like, you don't know what that's gonna look like. And it could lead to so many other things. So going a little bit deeper into the timeline of you started at 45, now 53, eight years. How long until you'd say you were making a full time income through YouTube?
- [26:56]
B
I would say by the end. So just YouTube or all things that.
- [26:59]
A
YouTube helped with any, any online income.
- [27:02]
B
I would say it was probably for most people it would have been year four would have been a full time income. I don't remember the numbers, but the first year I made, I think I made a total of 100 bucks or something.
- [27:12]
A
Were you able to retire or were you still working at 45?
- [27:14]
B
No, I was retired. I was already out of work.
- [27:16]
A
So you.
- [27:18]
B
I was retired and didn't know what to do.
- [27:19]
A
So you were retired at 45, didn't know what to do. Started YouTube?
- [27:22]
B
Yep. Because I saw Graham, Stephan and Meet Kevin.
- [27:25]
A
Are you ready to start your YouTube channel but you don't know where to begin? Or have you been posting videos but you're frustrated because you're just not getting the views and nobody is seeing them? For a limited time, you can get the number one bestselling YouTube strategy book, YouTube Secrets for Free at ytsecrets. Com. This book is the proven blueprint that has helped thousands of people go from zero subscribers to a thriving channel. All I ask is that you pay shipping and then I will mail you the brand new updated second edition of YouTube secrets. And when you place your order today, there's a couple other super cool things that I'll hook you up with. First, you're going to get instant access to a free Deep Dive masterclass where I will break down the exact strategy I'm currently using to generate over 120,000 views per day every single day on YouTube and generate over $100,000 per month on the platform, as well as the three biggest mistakes that most creators make when starting and trying to grow their channel. That class is free to watch instantly when you pick up this special offer. Now you're also going to get my video series called the Perfect Video Recipe. One of the updated chapters in the second edition is titled the Perfect Video Recipe. It's actually a formula for how to structure YouTube videos to get maximum views and how to break through in the YouTube algorithm. This is the exact formula that readers of the book and our students are using to generate millions of views. And again, that'll just be included when you jump on this limited offer. Third, you're going to get access to our 1000 Subs Club email newsletter which delivers actionable weekly tips to your email inbox that will help you get to 1,000 subscribers fast. And we also do really cool weekly giveaways that includes lighting and microphones and YouTube equipment, plus software that will help you on your creator journey. But here's the thing. Supplies are limited on this free book promotion. So if you want to grab this offer, go to ytsecrets.com right now and just place your order covering shipping and I'll get this book in the mail to you right away. And so you start YouTube and you are retired, so you are financially free.
- [29:33]
B
Correct.
- [29:34]
A
But number two, in terms of what a full time income would equal you still had to put in four years of Hustle.
- [29:40]
B
Correct.
- [29:40]
A
And then you reached that number.
- [29:41]
B
Correct. And I'm judging that at six figures.
- [29:44]
A
Okay, so a six figure income in four years.
- [29:46]
B
Correct.
- [29:47]
A
Now, you know, for listeners too, if we are completely transparent and brutally raw as we always are on the Think Media podcast, you're in a good niche, personal finance even. And because in part two, by the way, so make sure you're subscribed, we're going to record a whole nother talk about how you have at least 17 income streams today. And so you're going to not that's a no miss episode in terms of monetization side but you're in personal finance and if you were to start a Lord of the Rings channel, talk about the books, talk about the Amazon prime show, it's going to be a different situation. It's going to be, I would argue it's going to be harder to get to six figures now depending on the quality of the stuff you put out there. It's because the actual ads pay differently. You're probably going to need some brand deals and sponsors. It doesn't map as well to educating. You have a community where people get more education. A paid community.
- [30:39]
B
Correct.
- [30:39]
A
And so that's definitely why you should listen to the second episode if you're thinking about the financial aspect. But I have two big takeaways there. It's incredible to me that you can start an at home mini media company and build a six figure income in.
- [30:53]
B
Four years and I didn't even know I was doing that. That's something you unlocked for me years ago when I started getting coaching from you was Zuber. You're a media company, you should act like it. I didn't really know what I was doing. I was just.
- [31:08]
A
You could build an accidental six figure income from home and that's like a real thing.
- [31:13]
B
It happened. Yes.
- [31:14]
A
But then I think it's all. I think it's also four years is no joke. So I want listeners to also think it's like doing this for impact. Maybe I track all the way back to agree with you. I think you have to do this for the love of it.
- [31:26]
B
You have to. Or at least that's how I see it.
- [31:29]
A
That's what keeps the fire going. You do it because you would do it even if you didn't get paid. Of course you want the feedback loop. It's not just money. You do want to get comments. You want to.
- [31:38]
B
I reply to every comment still you.
- [31:40]
A
Want to get people commenting. I'm making A difference. I am getting a feedback loop of views. Absolutely. But man, to grind on something for four years.
- [31:48]
B
So you're saying this like four years along. It felt like a minute, Right. You reached out to me years ago and you're like, did you know you did 10,000 videos? I'm like, no, I don't even know how to look at that. How do you look that up? I don't. Where's that number?
- [31:59]
A
That's pretty wild.
- [32:00]
B
I didn't know.
- [32:01]
A
And again, how do you get to 10,000? Well, no editing.
- [32:04]
B
No, I.
- [32:04]
A
Going live every day and then at some point, interviewing just a bunch of cool people, and every single one of those coming out every.
- [32:11]
B
I mean, you and I did several interviews, right? We did three in an hour.
- [32:13]
A
Yeah, we did three in an hour. And at that time, you were shooting, you know, multiple. Which, by the way, I've kind of, you know, stolen that strategy in a way, because almost every time I sit down and record a podcast now, it's two parts.
- [32:25]
B
Yeah.
- [32:25]
A
Because it could be a lot of podcasts are an hour and a half or even three or four hours on some channels I'm just seeing like, okay, why not plant a flag and hit them on a couple different topics. Like, this will probably be 45 minutes, and then the other one will be 45 minutes. So different ways you can slice up content. Okay. As we land the plane, though, I do want some tactical tips. You might repeat some of the things you've said, but, like, if you are starting over today. So now we're thinking about the opportunity, we absolutely should start a YouTube channel if we want to make a difference, get our message out there, even an ethical responsibility to impact the next generation. I'm in my 40s, I'm in my 50s, I'm maybe in my 60s listening to this. If you had to start over to today, what are some practical things? You already said go live daily and at the same time, if you can, for a year now, could we reduce that? Could we say go. Go live five days a week or even three days a week again?
- [33:15]
B
I think so. So let's have this conversation again. If you're asking myself, Mike Zuber, what somebody should do, I think they've got to get to the first 50 videos as soon as possible. And the fastest way to do that is do it 50 days in a row. Now, if you don't like that, you want to take weekends off, you want to do five days a week, whatever. I live in a world again. I was a sales guy forever. A high Performing sales guy. And if somebody, coach was telling me that you had to get to 50, I would get to 50 as soon as I could. The one thing, the wrinkle I would do on that is I would schedule it at the same time so people would start to expect it. That's the one wrinkle I would add now with more maturity. So I would. You know, if I'm going to tell you it'll be 50 days in a row.
- [33:54]
A
You know what's fascinating about that is there's actually probably something that is you're tapping into psychology, because the general guidelines for what it takes to establish a habit is actually 66 repetitions is the average number of times a behavior must be repeated for it to become automatic.
- [34:12]
B
Correct.
- [34:12]
A
So actually 66 days if done daily. So you bring up a good point, because if you really want to build momentum in your fitness, which you've done, you've lost over £40 in how long?
- [34:23]
B
Six months.
- [34:24]
A
That's. That's crazy. That's fast. So. But you probably didn't do that by working out once a week.
- [34:30]
B
No, daily.
- [34:31]
A
So what, you know, you become what you do daily.
- [34:34]
B
Correct.
- [34:34]
A
I really believe there's somebody listening to this podcast that's going to take you up in this challenge, and I would. I would encourage. But if you can't, five days a week is better than zero.
- [34:44]
B
Is better than zero, but not much.
- [34:46]
A
So you're bullish. You're like, do this challenge.
- [34:49]
B
I'm talking again. Think about what I'm asking you to do. It's something you love, something you have 20 years of experience with. I want you to talk about some widget, some piece of that, for eight to 10 minutes. That's all I'm asking you to do. If you love something, you should be able to get a sheet of paper and write down 50 topics. Congratulations for. At 7:33pm you're gonna go live for 8 to 10 minutes and talk about one of those for 50 days in a row.
- [35:18]
A
And are you telling me that also if I turn this on and go live and when it says how many live viewers and the number is zero, doesn't matter.
- [35:25]
B
Sometimes it's zero for me.
- [35:26]
A
Still, it doesn't matter. I am doing this as a discipline. Just like I'm going into the gym and nobody can see.
- [35:31]
B
Exactly. You're building the reps in the first 50. So again. So you're asking me the steps. First, pick your avatar, who you're trying to help, then whatever it is, 50 list, go. I suggest 50 days. In a row. I'm not giving you weekends off. I'm asking for eight freaking minutes a day. What are you doing? Right? But then what I would do after the 50, this is what I didn't do. And what I would do different now is I would go get coaching, right? Because I wasted years not understanding thumbnail hook title, right? All of these things. Like for example, one of the things that I did wrong for three years, four years was in the very beginning of a title, right? The real estate's very valuable. I would put the freaking date right, you know, March 3, 2025. That's like 12 letters. What are you doing? Yeah, right? So again, once you do the 50 in a row, you're committed. It's a habit. You're comfortable in front of the camera. You're not freaking out. Then I would go find someone like Think Media and go deep with them because you could shortcut so many things. And what would really happen again, if I had a time machine, I would have came to you. Maybe I would be broken. I would go six months, right? I do 180 because I'm just wired that way. But then I come to you after doing six months, I bet you that full time income, which took me four years the hard way, you get me there in two and a half.
- [36:45]
A
Yep. Yeah. Cut, cut every. You cut your learning curve in half at least.
- [36:50]
B
I wish I found you sooner. You actually reached out to me. So I still am very appreciative to that. But I would tell somebody again, I don't because I want people to hear this. I'm not telling you go to Think Media just because you think YouTube is cool. I'm telling you to prove to yourself that you are committed to 50 days in a row. You can show the at bats to you or the team. See? Hello.
- [37:12]
A
Yeah.
- [37:13]
B
Then they can help you.
- [37:14]
A
Yeah.
- [37:15]
B
If you're just somebody that's living on a whiteboard and like, I'm cool, I'm gonna do this. Save your money.
- [37:20]
A
That's good. So, okay, so go live daily. Another one of your tips is build a peer group. Five people in the same lane.
- [37:26]
B
That's what I would do after the 50.
- [37:27]
A
Okay.
- [37:27]
B
Again, I would. Once you. Once you get through the 50 and the repetition and the camera doesn't scare you and all of that anymore. The unlock for me was what I now call the 12 millionaires. Go find at least one person for five days a week. Now you can only do it. You can do it five days a week. That also loves Lord of the Rings. Or Star wars or classic cars. And that's when it gets fun.
- [37:47]
A
Yeah.
- [37:48]
B
When you could talk to some other nerd about your geeky thing.
- [37:51]
A
Yes.
- [37:52]
B
Right. Then they can like, oh, you like Darth Vader, you like Luke Skywalker, you like this, you like that, right? Who the best characters are. That's when this gets really fun.
- [38:01]
A
You know, I actually want to cap it there because you have other tips that I captured from your notes. But I think the important thing here on this episode is listeners not collecting more information, but punching fear in the face and pressing record and doing what you just said. Like, for the one or five or ten people listening to this, that doesn't keep putting this off and doesn't overthink, but actually does this 50 day challenge. Well, what if I got a vacation and I go on a cruise for, you know, five days? Well, then skip those five days. No, you're not gonna.
- [38:32]
B
No.
- [38:33]
A
But what if you have no Internet?
- [38:35]
B
Congratulations. Every cruise ship I've ever been on has Internet. And you've seen me do videos.
- [38:41]
A
As soon as I asked the question, I knew you were gonna say that. That's true. Now, sometimes you go it. Sometimes it's taking you 30, 13 hours to upload the recording.
- [38:48]
B
But I recorded it. I can't help the upload speed, but I can record it.
- [38:52]
A
Okay, so, I mean, you have suffocated every excuse in this episode to not start a YouTube channel right now.
- [39:01]
B
I hope so.
- [39:02]
A
Okay, so I got one final question for you, but if people want to check out what you're doing, break it down. Want to get your stuff up in the show notes and all of that.
- [39:09]
B
One of the things I did correctly was everything I do is one rental at a time. I should be very easy to find. Books, YouTube, Instagram, Twitter.
- [39:16]
A
And what. And what are you doing to help people?
- [39:18]
B
What am I doing to help? Right now, I'm most proud of the community that we're building, and that's actually up on school.
- [39:23]
A
I mean, what is one rental?
- [39:25]
B
Oh, I'm sorry. What is one rental at a time? It is. I think it is really helping everyday wealth builders. Everybody wants to get wealthy. They just don't know how or the steps.
- [39:35]
A
Yeah.
- [39:35]
B
So every. Every day I'm thinking about is how do I help everyday wealth builders get a little bit better? It's kind of a twist on Millionaire next Door.
- [39:42]
A
Yeah.
- [39:42]
B
Right now it's everyday wealth builders. Just every mom and pop, Everybody wants to be wealthy, we can help them.
- [39:47]
A
And you really do back that. Like, anybody can get into the wealth building game. I've heard your steps, but even all the way down, like, I can never afford to buy a rental property. You're talking about 80 years. Everybody house hacking. Like anybody listening to this? Like, there's ways forward again.
- [40:04]
B
If you think about my millionaires, the reason I put the Rolodex together, I did, is they all have unique stories with unique experience. We have section eight moms, we have teenage mothers. We have somebody who started as a single parent with $300,000 in debt. Right. We have ninth grade dropout. Right? Every excuse you can have, got it. Check. They were in worse position than you. Let's go.
- [40:24]
A
You're the excuse overcomer. That's kind of like a theme of you.
- [40:27]
B
Absolutely. I don't tolerate good either, do we.
- [40:31]
A
At Think Media podcast. And so I do have one other question for you, but I also want to encourage listeners, make sure you're subscribed because in part two of my conversation with Michael, we're talking about how he built 17 income streams on YouTube without going viral. He's going to break down all the different distinct income streams. They didn't all happen at once, but every single one will have a lesson in it. Even if it's not exactly something you do, it's going to expand your thinking. So make sure you're subscribed. But Michael, when you think about the future of YouTube, some people are thinking, man, you started, you know, a few years ago, they look at me, Sean, you got in early, fair enough. But when you think about the future of YouTube and getting into the creator economy and getting online, what is it you see as it pertains to the opportunity?
- [41:16]
B
So I think the opportunity is only going to grow larger. And I'm saying that as somebody who's, who's stumbled across 17 different income streams by accident, right? Just totally by accident, they've come to me. I think there's a lot of ways to get involved with this, but I think where YouTube is going to is step one is I think AI is coming, but I think AI is going to really be a differentiator because I think a lot of people are going to lean on AI and all this whiz bang and, you know, all of this AI generated stuff. And I think what's really going to come out in the not too distant future is these kind of real conversations with real people with, you know, not a lot of editing are going to be the winners. I think the, I mean, I thought I saw a post from YouTube saying they're not even paying for AI generated videos. Right. So again, I think it's going to A lot of people think AI is going to be the easy button. There's nothing there. I believe we're in a trust recession. And trust is built over long form content, hours of viewing folks and hearing the stories and tying those together. So I would tell somebody 40 or 50 getting started is realize we're in a trust recession. Don't get enamored with the geeky technology stuff. Just turn on the camera and go.
- [42:21]
A
It's really good. And think media podcast if you've got value today, like rate, review or share wherever you watch or listen. My name is Sean Cannell. Your guide to building a profitable YouTube channel and we'll catch you in a future episode.