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- [00:00]
A
Hey, before we get into today's episode, let me ask you a question. Do you want a step by step plan to start and grow on YouTube fast? Well, we're doing something brand new and it's called YouTube Jumpstart. It's a free three day online event, live and online. You're going to get the exact blueprint we use at Think Media to grow, get views and even earn money before hitting 1,000 subscribers. Now, no fancy equipment needed. We're also going to be sharing some of the latest AI tools and YouTube strategies that we've never taught publicly before. So don't miss it. You can go to tubejumpstart.com to register for free and save your spot. And that is tubejumpstart.com to get access to this three day free online event. All right, let's jump into Today's episode.
- [00:52]
B
She's 68, got monetized in nine months and does it all on her phone. Sally, just. Thanks for being here. How's it going?
- [00:59]
C
It's going great. And I thank you for this, this little interview here. I love vra. It's a fantastic group. The staff and the members have been terrific, super supportive and, and I'm just delighted to be here. And Sean, Sean's a great guy too.
- [01:18]
B
He's all right, huh? Yeah, man. Well, hey, we're about to break down exactly how you' in YouTube with just your phone, but I gotta ask you up front, what prompted you to get on YouTube in your 60s?
- [01:30]
C
Well, I knew that I was going to be retiring, and about a year and a half ago, I started watching YouTube videos. Well, I kind of noticed that there was a little bit of a miss on some of the people who were more my age and somebody who has been gardening for decades. I don't know everything, but I do know some stuff. And I thought that I would throw my gardening hat into the ring and what the heck, what have I got to lose? And I thought it would be great to inspire people and grow, hopefully a community and just share my gardening experience.
- [02:13]
B
I love that. I mean, you're, you're living proof, Sally. And it's just never too late to start YouTube. I just am so excited to keep talking. Okay, so quick welcome. By the way, if you're new, this is the Think Media podcast. I'm Nathan Es y. I'm one of the coaches here. And this is the number one show that's bringing you unfiltered YouTube tips for building a profitable channel. And I gotta, I'd love to talk tech Real quick. First, Sally, before we get into your step by step kind of workflow, but what phone are you using?
- [02:39]
C
I'm using my iPhone. I have, I have a iPhone 16 and it's a pro max. Now, I did go ahead and splurge for the 1 TB because I was getting a little frustrated with storage issues. Now, I'm not tech savvy, but I do everything on my phone right down to the editing.
- [03:05]
B
Wow. Okay. In what order are you using to edit? Do you use a specific app?
- [03:10]
C
I'm using Cap Cut and I, I like their features. I know that there was, you know, a few questions about how they ran, were running their things, but I'm pretty satisfied with it and I. I'm sticking with them.
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B
Let's go. Okay. And are you creating long form content and short form content?
- [03:33]
C
Yes, I just started doing shorts, so I'm, I'm dabbling a little bit and it' learning process for sure.
- [03:44]
B
Yes. I would say. What has been the biggest challenge about, you know, editing on your phone or using the software Cap Cut? Had you always used Cap Cut? Yeah. Okay, so by this point you're probably pretty used to it.
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C
I am. And you know, when I, when I open up my laptop to try to use the desktop version, I'm so overwhelmed. I've looked at DaVinci and some other ones and it's just too overwhelming for me. And so this is what I use because it's, it's what I learned on.
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B
I love it.
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C
That's about it. Yeah.
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B
How about the microphone? Are you using the microphone on the phone or did you buy.
- [04:26]
C
No, I'm using the dji. It's got two microphones there and the transmitter there. And it's been a, it's been a great microphone. I'm, I'm pretty happy with it.
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B
Let's go. And how often are you uploading right now, Sally? Like, what would you say you're like. Once a week? A couple times a week? Once every.
- [04:49]
C
Once. Once a week? Yeah. I upload on usually Thursday night or early Friday morning.
- [04:56]
B
Okay, right on. And has that been the schedule since you started?
- [04:59]
C
Pretty much. I think I may have changed the days. So I go, I go to the thumbnail class every Thursday with Sam and. And he. Sam is wonderful. He's been so patient with me. And, and he, he's terrific. And so I go to my thumbnail class and then after my thumbnail class, I go ahead and upload, I do the description and I try to figure out what my title is before I Record so I can, you know, try to stay focused. And I, I do try to do the reverse engineer with the researching beforehand. I'm not always on track with that because sometimes I think, well, this might be a good one. And that's what happened with my cottage video. I just took a chance that if I loved it, there's got to be some other people out there that loved it. And I filmed in February of 2025. I think it was my 17th video. And it got over 40,000 views and I couldn't believe it. And it was a pretty simple thing. But I think part of the thing besides the cottage being super cozy and incredible was that all the, all the items in this lady's home, her name is Janet, she uses recycled, reused and repurposed items. Now this gal is no ordinary gal. She's incredible because her cottage looks like it came out of a home and gardens magazine and everything is recycled in her house. She's unbelievable.
- [06:50]
B
That's amazing. Okay, can you explain, break down your, your niche for us before we get into this video that got the 40,000 views? Like, what's, what's the niche that you're in? What are you trying to help people do?
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C
Well, the name of my channel is Sally's Garden Solutions and I focus primarily on gardening. However, I, I did this cottage video and I kind of, I kind of was a little confused because I'm like, I'm not really sure where I want to go with this, do I want to pivot or whatever. And I'm standing firm in my gardening niche because cottages and cottage gardens are loved the world over. Absolutely love the world over. So I'm incorporating, trying to incorporate cottage garden style and cottage themed things, you know, maybe once a month or so. And I'm still experimenting. As a matter of fact, next week will be the one year anniversary of Sally's Garden Solutions. And so I started posting consistently and that's another tip that I'd like to tell anybody about is posting consistently is incredibly, you know, you got, that's just the way you got to go.
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B
100%. I could, I couldn't agree more.
- [08:13]
C
It's incredibly important is what I was going to say.
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B
So kind of the first thing that like as a coach we'll, we'll look at, you know, is like, because no matter whatever strategy we could give or give you the latest hack or the latest tip, you know, if there's no videos going out to apply them to, it's kind of like, well, we got to start there, right? Let's make sure we're uploading consistently. So you talked about a couple of things there, Sally. I want to go back to niche. I think this is important how, you know, you said you'd thought about pivoting. I think a lot of people think about pivoting their niche, and a lot of people think about pivoting their niche, especially when things aren't really working. So how did you make the decision to almost, like, double down, to kind of stay like, I love how you. I love how you said that. You said, I'm going to, you know, stand firm on my niche. What had you decide that?
- [08:57]
C
Well, I mean, it's all I know. As a matter of fact, I'm looking at a photo here, and this was taken in 1965. And this is my lifetime friend and I gardening in her father's garden. Now, apparently, I'm supervising, but. But I have. This is all I have done my entire life. There's been ebbs and flows between my, you know, when I could garden or. Or, you know, depending on what my location was, and a variety of. And so then in the 90s, I took the master gardening course, and that was through the Oregon State University Extension. And that was another way for me to get a better idea about what gardening was and joining a group and stuff, because joining groups can really be beneficial.
- [10:00]
B
Tell me more about that. When you joined this group, was this like a class or was this workshop?
- [10:04]
C
Yes, it was a class that lasted for about five or six weeks. And I've been a master gardener for over 30 years. And then after you graduate from the master gardening course, then you have an opportunity to do volunteer work. And they. Here in Oregon, we have the tri counties, which is Washington, Multnomah and Clackamas County. And we all get together and we have this huge event. It's called the Spring Garden Fair. And I look forward to volunteering with that every year. And it's just. It's a fantastic group. So if you're new to gardening or even if you're an advanced gardener, you can always join a group. They have plant swaps, they have seed swaps. They have a variety of different things. Plus, it's a great way to. To have a garden community right around you and everything. I don't know, I just love it.
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B
No, this is huge, actually. You just, you actually, you shared a lot there. That's incredibly helpful. So, podcast, you know, I want to ask you, what do you know? You know, like, that's just a. What do you. That's the first starting Point, you know, with your niche, people wonder, what do I do with my channel? How do I start YouTube? These are some really good questions you're at. You're inviting us to consider what do you know and what's cool about you, Sally? And I think anyone who's starting YouTube, like, later on is you have decades of experience in something. You just said you're a master gardener. Right? Like, that's actually. I would call that an asset. I would call that an almost an unfair advantage to starting a YouTube channel later in life because you've worked through a whole lot of stuff and you've built up experience in a specific area that you can share with other people. I think that's really cool. But the second question you said there podcast, what would you volunteer for? I'm going to steal this question. When I'm working with students, Sally, like, we trying to figure out, hey, what do I do on YouTube? Or I'm torn between this niche or this niche. What would you volunteer for if there was some big event that was going on in your area? Right. Just like this spring event that you were talking about, but for your niche, what. Which one would you volunteer for? You know, what groups could you join that are in your niche? What groups would you join? Like, what excites you? I think that's a really helpful way to just start narrowing down. Oh, this is actually kind of where my heart and head are. Is that this area? Because I just, I'm about it so much.
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C
Right.
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B
Volunteer it for. You know what I mean? I join groups to get better at it.
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C
Yeah.
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B
So helpful.
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C
You know, you interact with people and you learn so much because there's people 20, 20 or maybe 25 years older than me that are in these groups and they, they come at it at a different angle. Sometimes it's more scientific, botanical, all these other different things. And it's just amazing because they want to share their knowledge with you. And that's what I want to do with. You know, like I said, I don't know everything, but I do know some stuff.
- [13:08]
B
I love that. And I think that you're, you're, you're humble, Sally, because you have a lot of experience in your niche. But I think what you said is something a lot of people can say is, you know, you know, we don't know everything, but come on, we know something. There's something we can share, right, with this YouTube channel and this camera we're put in front of us. Hey, let's talk about consistency real quick before we go on to I'd love to break down this, your most popular video. And we can break it down kind of talking about like step one, step two, step three. We'll just go through that for people because I know you're using your phone, but how do, how have you stayed consistent? Because there's no way you would have been monetized in nine months if you hadn't been. And so what's, what's been a secret to help you stay consistent with your videos?
- [13:48]
C
Well, I have a pretty good worth work ethic, so it starts from there. So I put myself on a schedule and you know, I know they have all these different things that you can use, but it got a little confusing to me. And all I did was just write it down in a tablet. Old school. And I said, okay, well, I'm gonna. Yes, yeah, or, or, or a pencil, because sometimes I need to erase stuff. I mean, you know, just trying to keep it real. So, so what I decided was that I would try to do my research at the beginning of the week, say a Sunday or a Monday, and then I would, I would work on that with the scripting. And that, that sort or bullet points is really what I, you know, is the best thing for me. It's. It's hard for me to remember all the words. That's, that's why I use a teleprompter. Thank goodness I figured that out. And then on, like I said, on Thursdays, you know, the following week I. I do my thumbnail class and I do some other classes with, with VRA too. The tech calls with Alex and then the coaching calls. And so I try to stay as active as I can. And then so Fridays after my, my video posts on Thursday or Friday morning, then I start in again because month. The Monday before, I will have tried to figure out what the thumbnail concept is, what the big idea is or the topic and then that. What the title is. And, and then I work on my videos on usually Friday, Saturday and Sunday. And then it's just. I re. You know, it's just a recycle.
- [15:53]
B
This is powerful. I would just want to pause here for a second because. Well, I love that you're just keeping it simple. Pen and paper or pencil, you know, depending. But I love that you just laid out. You just laid out your week. Thank you so much for that, Sally. I think it's actually so helpful. Yeah. Even for me, someone who's doing this each and every day, you know, like helping a lot of different students out to just keep it simple. What are you doing today? You know, that's going to help inch you towards the finish line for, you know, for a YouTube video. What do I do today and what do I do tomorrow?
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C
Today I am doing a video on Halloween Town. Now, this is a movie that Disney did over 20 years ago.
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B
Yeah.
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C
And I'm going to the city where they actually filmed it, and they have a parade. They have all these different things. And it's a. It's a pretty big deal out there. So I'm taking the opportunity for the upcoming holiday to go ahead and try to do a. Like to put it out before, you know, obviously, Halloween. So maybe I could put it out by Wednesday and then people would enjoy that video before the Halloween holiday next week.
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B
I just want to say, like, here on the record, if I could switch. If I could switch lives with someone for just a day, I think I'm going to choose you.
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C
I love it.
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B
It's just your life. It just sounds so fun. This is so great. Okay, so we're talking about scheduling, we're talking about where you start. And you're starting with a video by researching before you're pressing record, which is definitely something. Right. That Sean teaches and think Media teaches. Let's go through the rest of this process for how you're using your phone to create YouTube videos. So obviously it starts off the phone, it sounds like with planning and preparing. How do you come up with an idea for a video? Like, what's that process like for you right now?
- [17:54]
C
Well, you know, it can be a little challenging from time to time. And I try to, you know, I do use AI for. For some of my ideas. And then I will go in. I. I also use Vidiq. And some of these things can get a little confusing to me. So I got to keep it simple. There's no doubt about it. So a lot of times I will go into YouTube and then I will do the. What is it called? Auto prompt when you start typing in a word.
- [18:27]
B
Yeah, yeah. Auto. Fill in the search bar.
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C
Yes, yeah, yes. And see what comes up and see what resonates with me and how I could, you know, make a different spin on the thing.
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B
Powerful. That's such a simple tool that we all have access to. It's just that YouTube search bar. Type in your niche, type in an idea and just see what auto populates. You know, you mentioned you've got a couple AI tools. So you mentioned Vidiq. What is your. I'm so curious, what's your AI of choice? You know, a chat GPT it depends on the day.
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C
Sometimes it's a mood thing. I use CHAT GPT and I also use Claude. Now Sam is the one who kind of mentioned the Claude thing. And so I, I go in and I, I try a few different, few different things that I, that I think would be good prompting. And that's one of the things about AI that I've found, even though I'm new to all this, is that you've gotta prompt the thing. You can't just throw it a couple of sentences and take the first thing that comes back. You gotta prompt. I mean, sometimes my prompts are like way long.
- [19:43]
B
There we go, right?
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C
Yes. And so sometimes it takes several prompts to cut to kind of scale it down as, you know, if you've, if you've used AI, I'm sure. And so I, I start with that. And then sometimes I look at other people's videos that I think, you know, might be interesting. Or the outliers from vidiq. Yeah, that's all. That's also really a great resource and, you know, I just try to figure it out as I go along.
- [20:18]
B
I love it. Aren't we all those some great, helpful, really, really good starting points. I. Do you mind if I ask, are you paying for an AI tool like Cloud or ChatGPT? Are you finding a lot of use out of the free versions?
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C
No, I'm not paying for either one of those.
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B
Nice.
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C
I've got a few subscriptions for a few different things. So, you know, sometimes you just gotta know when to say no.
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B
You gotta pick and choose. And I mean, to your point, there's a lot of different options. So it's kind of like when you run out of data or whatever. With Claude, you could go to ChatGPT here. Okay. This, I mean, it's inspiring that you are using these tools. You are staying ahead of the curve. And I just want to shout out. You know, you had mentioned just a little bit ago about, for gardening, how you joined groups, right. And you've, you've dropped a couple names here. A Sam and Alex, a tech, A tech call. These are all things that are inside of our coaching programs at Think Media. And so if you're listening and you're at all interested, I would really encourage you to go toviral video coach.com. you can just fill out some information about you, your channel, where you're at, and you can get on, get on the calendar with someone from our team. It's totally free, there's no strings attached here. But if you're thinking about taking YouTube seriously or you want to get to the next level here, like New Year's around the corner? I really encourage you to do that. It's a free call. Talk to one of our team members, get eyes on your channel, and we can help you strategize next steps. And that's what Sally's been referring to through here. So I just want to encourage, you know, if you're listening. And thank you, Sally, for that reminder of get in a group. You know, you've done this. I'm seeing the thread line in your life here. You found gardening, you got into a group, you're trying to learn and get better at it. You're doing the same thing here. You know, you found this YouTube thing, you got into a group, right? Got into some coaching, and you've got a routine that you're going through to get better at it. So if you're listening, don't do this alone. Check out viral videocoach.com. okay, so I'd love to move into the recording part now. So, you know, we might, we could get a little techy here. I just would love to hear when it's time to record. Now you found your video idea and you've, you know, got your outline together. What do you do next? Like, or do you have a tripod for your phone and you.
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C
I do, I have, I have two. One with a broken leg.
- [22:31]
B
I don't do it.
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C
And then, and then I have this one here and it's got a little bit of a different kind of a clamp situation. Nice. I, I do prefer this one, but, you know, I haven't, I haven't purchased a new one. And then, you know, I've got an external hard drive and some other different things. And, you know, I just try to film in really good lighting. That can be an issue when I'm filming. And without fail, I have to move my tripod around numerous times because apparently I don't have any level ground on my property. And so, you know, I have to deal with, with too much light, too much shade, dogs barking, birds squawking, cars, sirens. So I, I, you know, sometimes I have to do quite a few takes in order to get, to get it done.
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B
Because you're, most of the content you're filming is outdoors, correct? With. Yeah. Okay. Do you do anything indoors or is it really everything you filmed?
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C
I, I'm going to be filming some stuff indoors when it comes to starting my seedlings.
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B
Okay.
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C
Last year I ended up with 300 flower seedlings. So I have a full setup that I will be showing about that with, you know, the indoor lighting, the fans, the this and that, the trays, the seeds. Okay, we'll see how that goes.
- [24:07]
B
All right, I'm sure we'll hear about it. How do you. How do you go about. Because you got one camera, like, a lot of people listening, but it's also just your phone. So how do you. What have you learned, you know, and all these videos to getting monetized. What have you learned about when to film the talking head part? You know, where you're talking to the camera, explaining something, and what have you learned about when to film B roll? And, like, how do you balance both of those?
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C
Well, I make sure. Well, first of all, I want to say that when I. Before I film, I make sure that my battery level is up, and I, you know, I check the settings and I. And I do what I can. And then what I do. What I do is I just do a bunch of clips, and then I will put B roll in after I've put some of the clips together just to kind of test it out to. To see if it flows well enough for. For what I think that I'm, you know, gonna try to end up with. And then I take the B roll and, you know, because it's more of a visual thing, and I will usually use B roll with. Sometimes I'm doing something that's, you know, kind of close up that I want to highlight in the video or whatever, and sometimes it's just panning around to keep it visually interesting for the B roll. I'm. I'm guessing that's. That's. That's what you're asking me about.
- [25:42]
B
That's exactly what I was asking about. Thanks so much. So it sounds like you. You go for. Yeah. You'll film your A roll, so to speak. Right. The talking head stuff, and you'll go ahead and put that in your editor. It sounds like.
- [25:54]
C
Not. Not necessarily. It kind of depends on. On the video. And sometimes I put all the clips in, and then I'm like, oh, probably not. And then. And then I, you know, I just. I just try to figure it out as I go along.
- [26:11]
B
Yeah, right on. Do you have any. I'm so I'm curious, like, when you first started making YouTube videos, you know, knowing you're. You started on your phone and you're still on your phone. How. How long did it take you to edit a video when you first started? And then maybe now, how long does it take you.
- [26:27]
C
You aren't gonna believe this. Nathan hit me with it. But I do everything the hard way. So what I did was I had a big project that I had done at my home and also one at a friend's place. And all I had was pictures. I had zero video. Guess what I did. I put all those pictures together and did a voiceover and. And it was super challenging. I first I had to find the pictures because I didn't have them in albums and blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. So I really put myself through the ringer when I first did it. So I would say that in the very beginning, it probably. I probably spent at least 40 hours a week, maybe more, trying to edit these things because I was trying to figure out the editing software. I was trying to figure out YouTube and I was trying to figure out, you know, just how this all works.
- [27:38]
B
So could you share real quick? Because that's such a real thing. No matter how old you are when you start YouTube, I think we underestimate it. Yes, there's a lot. It's not just making a video, right? There's a lot that goes into it. There's things you have to learn. You never thought you would have had to learn to do a YouTube video. How did you, Sally, kind of chunk through that? How did you try to avoid the fire hose, so to speak, and just take it kind of a step at a time? Anything that was helpful for you there?
- [28:10]
C
Well, I definitely wasn't going out and having fun with my friends. I was focused, laser focused, and I honed in and I told myself, no matter how long it takes, I'm gonna do it. I mean, I would look up from my phone and I'm like, it's been eight hours. What am I doing? But I knew that I had to. I told myself I was going to do it and I was going to get it done no matter what. I just had to persevere and push through.
- [28:49]
B
I love this simplicity of the answer. It's so good, Sally. I'm becoming more and more convinced that there's. Obviously, there's the saying, it's like, work harder, not smarter. And I get what that means all about efficiency and, yeah, not trying to do more work than you need to get that. But there's also just the reality of when you start something new. There's no way around the hard work. There's no way around the eight hours deep into something. Questioning things like, I really think that there's something to that. That's part of the process for anything. But especially with YouTube and I try to remind students that I work with, and even myself, too, that nothing is wasted. You know, like when it's hard, when it's tough, when you thought you pressed record and you didn't, when you didn't get any audio, when you're outside and dogs are barking and you have to reshoot all the things that are going to happen to try to knock you off course as a creator, right? And nothing is wasted. You're learning from every single thing. And the thing that you learned through the last video, guess what? It's going to help you in the next one because you're going to make. You're going to make sure that you press record, right? You're going to try to film at a different time to avoid the noise. So I think I appreciate you just saying it's just hard work, man. Like, you know, like, that's just part of it.
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C
Absolutely. Avoid that, man.
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B
Well, I'd love to move into this video. Let's talk about this video that, you know, your most popular one, and it's titled what's Inside this Enchanting Cottage Home Tour Reveal. Let's just start with title and thumbnail. This is your most popular video. Knowing what you know now, when you look at that, what do you think made it do so well? Like, why do you think the title was so good in the thumbnail Worked.
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C
Well, I thought enchanting. It was. It was kind of intriguing. And the cottage is so. Just so darn cute. And it's just, you know, who doesn't want a great reveal, right? And I'm like, reveal has got to be in there. And I knew from the very beginning that I wanted to, you know, showcase this. This little cottage. And. And I just thought to myself, well, if I love it, there's got to be other people that are going to love it. And it's just so enchanting that I just couldn't. I just couldn't. I couldn't resist. I absolutely could not resist. Even though I'm like, well, I'm a gardening, you know, blah, blah, blah, and. But I'm just like, what have I got to lose? You know what I mean?
- [31:21]
B
This is great. You've already mentioned a lot of good things there. I totally agree. I think you've already opened the loop, so to speak, for someone who could look at that title. You've already made it intriguing. It's like, what's Inside this Enchanting Cottage Home Tour Reveal. You've got those trigger words in there, right, of enchanting, almost even what's inside and then reveal. Are there words like that that you've noticed work well for your niche? Like, have you reused any of these words and other content?
- [31:52]
C
Yeah, I probably have and I maybe should have done a little better homework. Nothing comes right off the top of my head. Sorry.
- [32:01]
B
Sure. I see. Like your. Your second most popular video, for instance, says what's inside this Magical Cottage home tour Reveal. Really just riffing off of that title. That worked really well from your most right video.
- [32:15]
C
Well, like I said before I knew. I knew in my head, or maybe I didn't say it before I knew in my head I wanted to say what. What is inside? And so I went through YouTube and I looked up some cottage videos and the first title that I saw that. That had the. Had the words what's inside? I just added to it with some words of my own and it. And it worked. I mean, it totally resonated with. With people. And you know, I use Epidemic Sound for my music because, you know, as. As we have challenges with doing these videos and that, you know, there were some mistakes I made with using the wrong kind of music and using copyrighted music and I didn't discover until I uploaded and you know how challenging that can be.
- [33:14]
B
Yes.
- [33:15]
C
Epidemic Sound has been. Has been a real lifesaver for me and I can all, you know, I can always count on it. I'm not trying to plug their thing, but they're. I think they're great. They've got a fan. You know, we've got a fantastic library of different genres, moods, tempos, you know, this, that, and the other. I mean, you know, they even have hip hop. Come on.
- [33:41]
B
I think that's. That's all. That's the only advertisement anyone will ever need for Epidemic Sounds. That's great.
- [33:45]
C
Yeah.
- [33:46]
B
No, but that's actually really good editing. Power up, of course, is music. And Epidemic Sound is great. You know, I have a good relationship with them. So if you're interested in that, you can, you know, check the show notes or check the description for a link to go check them out. But yeah, it's kind of cool. They got. Especially now they've got like this AI search ability where you can kind of. You can type out a mood or you can literally prompt like you would in the chat. GPT or a cloud. Yeah, I'm looking for a song that would match this kind of scene and it'll pull up options for you. It's like, it's. Yeah, you should check that out, Sally. It's.
- [34:20]
C
Thanks for the tip.
- [34:21]
B
Hey, Here we go. You're giving us so many. I got to try to get something in there, right?
- [34:25]
C
Do what we can.
- [34:27]
B
It's great. No, it's so good. So when you, okay, let's talk about that thumbnail too. You're designing, you're doing the thumbnail on your phone as well, right? How do you, how do you make the thumbnail on your phone?
- [34:38]
C
Well, I, you know, I'd like to say that I'm super creative.
- [34:44]
B
Yeah.
- [34:45]
C
But, but sometimes Sam looks at my things and he goes, what are you doing here? And I go, I don't know, Experimenting, just trying that stuff out. So he, you know, he has a tendency to get me, you know, a little more focused. And, and so, you know, I look around, I see things, I see, I see what other people are doing. And some, sometimes, you know, following the pack isn't always the greatest idea. You gotta, I gotta be authentic. I gotta be me. And if I feel like making a goofy looking thumbnail, that's, that's just what I'm gonna do, I guess. And, and other times, you know, I tried, I try to hit all the, all the marks, you know, with a thumbnail. And, you know, I know that there's the principles of the thumbnail where you have three specific things and, and where I should be placed or, or not, because not all the thumbnails have my, my photo on there. And, but I'm trying to get a branding thing going on to where people recognize me on YouTube. Not, you know, not necessarily anywhere else, but, but you know, I, I, I have had a couple of people say, hey, aren't you Sally? And I'm like, I sure am. And they're like, wow, I recognize you because the clothes you have on. And I go, great, that's, that's what I wear every day. It's not, it's not for show.
- [36:18]
B
That's right. You're just being you. Oh, this is great. Okay, so obviously now, right? Yeah, you got some, some coaching and some resources to help you with your thumbnails. But like that most popular video, you know, how did you do that on your phone? Like, what did you like software? Did you use an app?
- [36:35]
C
Yes, yes, I use Canva.
- [36:37]
B
Canva. Okay. Just on your phone?
- [36:39]
C
Yes. No, yeah, Canva. Well, I, I use my desktop sometimes for Canva too. It's a little, it's pretty easy to navigate for me on the desktop or my laptop, I should say. And I love Canva. Now. Every, everything, everything has its limitations, including editing software and all these other different things. And, but no, I love Canva. And so I've been pretty happy with, with, with their product or whatever software. I. I don't know.
- [37:17]
B
Yeah, it's another tool in the tool belt, huh?
- [37:19]
C
Yeah.
- [37:19]
B
Another tool.
- [37:20]
C
Thank you.
- [37:22]
B
That's great. Okay, so we've worked through how you set up, you know, for thinking about reverse engineering, thinking about what the video is going to be, how you come up with ideas. Then we talked about recording. We've talked about, you know, looking at the title and thumbnail of your most popular video. Go to that last little part here that might just be technically helpful for people is. Okay, so you film your video. Let's say that's done, it's edited, and let's say you've got your thumbnail that's ready to go. How are you publishing the video? I mean, I'm assuming you're using the YouTube app to get in there and upload the video and then do you work on the Description?
- [37:57]
C
Well, through CapCut, I export it to directly. No, no, I don't do that. I do everything the hard way.
- [38:08]
B
Okay, all right, well, fill us in.
- [38:10]
C
Yeah. So. So I export it from, from my phone to my MacBook. Okay. And then. And then, and then I uploaded in the. In the YouTube Studio app.
- [38:26]
B
Okay, right on. And then you're doing your description and stuff on the computer.
- [38:31]
C
Yes.
- [38:31]
B
Okay.
- [38:32]
C
Yes, right on.
- [38:33]
B
Do you try to schedule videos in advanced or. I Do you do.
- [38:37]
C
I. I unlist at first and then, you know, after I watch the video a million times and see, you know, all the things that I need to change. I. Yeah. Uploaded. No, export it. Uploaded. And then what was the question?
- [39:00]
B
Oh, yeah, after, you know, do you do your description? You've got all that set. Do you schedule all that in advance?
- [39:05]
C
Right. Yeah, I just, I feel more comfortable doing it that way. I don't know why. I feel like it's a little bit of a buffer for me to kind of go, okay, can breathe easy, let's bring it down.
- [39:19]
B
Do you have a. I guess. Do you have a specific day and time that you post? I know you mentioned something earlier, but will that change? Like you just. You do you care more about getting the video out as opposed to like a specific time?
- [39:30]
C
I don't know. I think I'm stuck on this thing at Thursday night around 6 o'. Clock. I think it could change in the future. And I don't think posting times really matter, but. But I think there are a lot of people who are on regular schedules.
- [39:46]
B
Yeah.
- [39:47]
C
And then they like to see the consistency thing. Yeah, you know, that's part of being consistent, I guess. And, and people are counting on you, even if it's only a few hundred people that, that may watch the video or whatever the case may be. I just, I just think being consistent with that as well is, is. It just works for me.
- [40:07]
B
Yeah, I agree. And I think that's the, that's the take home point, is what works for you. And that's usually my stance too, on upload times. I think that days and times that sometimes we put the cart before the horse.
- [40:18]
C
Yes.
- [40:18]
B
And we get stressed out about what's the best day, what's the best time to post, for sure. You know, and I think that those are actually good questions. But if you're starting YouTube, if it's new to you, I just think those kinds of questions are a little more applicable to the bigger channels where we have like the data to see. Oh, this actually does make sense to post here because a lot of your audience is on the platform. But at the same time, I love what you said. You do what works for you. And I think, you know, Sean always says in the beginning of YouTube, you want to count uploads, not views. Right. Like, did I get a video out today, this week, whatever that looks like. And there's seasons to things. But I appreciate you sharing that. So let's talk about the future really quick, Sally. You know, so obviously now you are monetized on YouTube and that's an income stream that'll just, you know, continue to grow as you continue posting videos. Right. Do you have any plans to kind of diversify income streams? Like, I don't know, do you thinking about affiliates? Are you thinking about building a course? Do you have any ideas for maybe the next year that you want to try to build or offer for your audience?
- [41:25]
C
Yes, I do.
- [41:27]
B
Oh, fill us in.
- [41:28]
C
And, well, I, you know, I'm just doing the AdSense thing right now and the AdSense revenue is a little wonky as, as we know. And because they, they go strictly off views, I think. And so I signed up with the Amazon affiliates. My thing with Amazon, with, with Amazon affiliates. And it's, it's my bad, I would say, is that I forget to do the call to action.
- [41:57]
B
For the affiliates.
- [41:57]
C
What? Oh, man, you know what I'm saying? And you know, I'm only human, right? And I'm like, when am I going to get this in my head that I need to do a call to action? I do it in some of my videos, but I, you know, I'M still learning.
- [42:17]
B
Hey, you know what you should do? This has been helpful for, I mean, for me and for some other people is you just put that. I don't know if you have a outline template, if you have, like a document or notes or anything you used. Like, when it's time to come up with a new video, just put CTA in there at the top, you know, call to action. So it's, like, hard to avoid because I feel you, like, man, you have a video, especially when a video does well. Thankful for the views and subscribers, and that's great. But also you're like, oh, I could have been more specific about pointing people to something. And people will still find links, you know.
- [42:53]
C
Exactly.
- [42:53]
B
For them.
- [42:54]
C
Exactly.
- [42:55]
B
I'm curious, you know, have you. How do you engage with comments right now? Like, do you try to reply to everybody? Do you set aside time for that?
- [43:03]
C
I reply to everyone.
- [43:05]
B
Look at you. Okay.
- [43:06]
C
One time I had that, well, the cottage video. I think there was 250 or 300 comments.
- [43:15]
B
Wow.
- [43:15]
C
Guess what? I was out of town visiting my brother in Arizona, watching this thing pop off, and I'm like, wowzer, I gotta answer all these comments. And. And you know what? I did it.
- [43:30]
B
You did it. I did it. Yep.
- [43:32]
C
Yeah.
- [43:33]
B
What was your. What was the. Your family's reaction or like. Yeah. People you were around? Did you tell anybody?
- [43:39]
C
My brother was stoked. He was absolutely stoked. He's like, oh, wow, this is so exciting. And we would be driving places. He lives in Arizona, and we were going to the Biltmore estate. And so he's. He kept looking back, how many now? How many views now? You know what I mean? And it was. It was kind of a, you know, kind of a fun thing between the two of us. He's super supportive and I'm super grateful.
- [44:08]
B
Man. I was gonna say, sounds like. Sounds like a good brother, you know, cheering with you. I have a quick question on that, too.
- [44:15]
C
Okay.
- [44:15]
B
Like, have you gotten any ideas from your audience? You know, like a question that you said. There's. I don't really know. You have maybe some ideas of what you could make, and maybe someone listening is in the same boat. You know, I have some ideas of what I could put together. But as you continue making content, I think, you know, your audience, assuming you're getting, you know, comments, will kind of let you know or let you know just based off your popular content. Oh, when I talk about this thing or do this thing.
- [44:40]
C
Right.
- [44:41]
B
People seem interested, and maybe that can give you ideas of what to build for, for your audience. Sure.
- [44:47]
C
And that, that's, that's a great resource to use. A lot of times people will just make a comment saying, thank you, that was beautiful, or that was great. I haven't really gotten too many negative comments, so. And if I did, depending on the comment, I would probably just still say thank you for watching. Yeah, but, but so when I try to engage with, with the viewers by saying, hey, what, what was your favor? Hey, what, you know, what did you think of this? And sometimes I'll respond and sometimes they won't. But, but it's worth a try and it shows the algorithm more engagement if there's a little bit more back and forth too, because I sincerely do want to grow a community that I am fully engaged with and that kind of thing. And for sure the comments is a great way to get ideas for, for videos and stuff. Nothing comes to mind right at this moment.
- [45:50]
B
Yeah, sure. Well, I just wonder because I'm sure you'll let us know. But as you, yeah, as you pay attention, maybe, you know, going into next year, I bet you'll, you'll start to connect the dots between content that's doing well, what people saying it may be. Several people have said kind of the same thing. I bet you'll get some good ideas, you know. Well, hey, Sally, this has just been. Oh my goodness. Thank you so much for just sharing everything you've been sharing with us. I'd love to know what's one thing you would encourage someone to try, maybe even in their next video. But just if you could talk to someone who's at the beginning, kind of like you were those nine, nine or so months ago, all the stuff that you have to figure out with YouTube. Right. Just as easy as just posting a video. Well, yeah. What's something you'd say to encourage that person who's in that season right now?
- [46:41]
C
I, I would say to believe in yourself. Believe in yourself and trust yourself and, and know that you're going to make some good decisions. You're going to make some mistakes. Of course that, that's how we learn. Not just with gardening, but, but with anything in life. Right. But believe in yourself. Trust that you're going to make great decisions. Get with a group if you're going to struggle, which you're going to from time to time anyway, do it with a friend. I have made friends all over. I can't even believe it. And they all check in with me and everything. And it's all because of the YouTube thing and most specifically with the video Ranking academy. And I'm not just saying that. It's because it's true. And I don't want to get emotional about it, but it's really been lovely.
- [47:40]
B
Thanks so much, Sally. That means so much, and thanks so much for sharing.
- [47:43]
C
It's true.
- [47:45]
B
Yeah. I just appreciate it. This is why I love what I do. This is why I think media loves what we do is moments like this. And I just thank you for allowing us to share this moment with everyone here.
- [47:56]
C
Yes, it's great to make these connections, and it's great to make connections with people who are other content creators because they're so supportive. They want you to succeed.
- [48:07]
B
That's right.
- [48:08]
C
You know, they're like, hang in there. I'm rooting for you. I'm there. You know, and it's. It's awesome. Totally awesome.
- [48:18]
B
I love what you said about, hey, you're going to struggle, so you might as well struggle with other people.
- [48:23]
C
Yes.
- [48:24]
B
You might as well not be alone. Well, thank you so much for your wisdom today, Sally. Not just sharing your experience on YouTube, but also just life experience and encouragement. Hey, if you've gotten value from this conversation today with Sally, would you just let her know? Let us know, like rate, share, review, comment, just wherever you watch or listen. This is the Think Media podcast. I'm Nathan Eswine and I can't wait to connect with you in a future episode.