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- [00:00]
A
Hey, before we jump into the show, I wanted to give you a heads up that my free YouTube strategy class is available right now on demand@thinkmasterclass.com on the class, I reveal the one YouTube strategy we use at Think Media to generate over 330,000 views every single day. So if you're new to YouTube, this will help you start right and avoid mistakes. And if you're a YouTube pro, this training will help you multiply your, your growth. This class is 100% free and you can watch it now on demand@think masterclass.com now let's jump into today's show.
- [00:38]
B
He is living proof that you actually do not need to start a new channel to win on YouTube. Because for over a decade, Matt's channel actually just sat there. But just a year ago, he woke his channel up, adding about 45,000 subscribers. One and a half million views. After he started taking things seriously and his approach the way he did. This is exactly what we're going to dive into today. Matt, thank you so much for being here. How are you doing today, man?
- [01:02]
A
Absolutely. Great to be here, man. Thanks.
- [01:04]
B
Hey, let's do it. So just so everyone's up to speed, really quick, if you could explain your channel just like, you know who you're who you're for, what you're about, how you're making your videos.
- [01:12]
A
Yeah, I'm an artist, been an artist for 30 years and love to create content that encourages faith based artists, primarily Christian artists who are doing things like painting and sculpture and wood and all the, all the visual art.
- [01:23]
B
So, man, I love it. Hey, well, if you're listening podcasts, come on. This is a great person to learn from here today. Hey, so let's just jump in. This channel that you had is over a decade old. Okay. What changed a year ago to where things started to move? Like, how did you view your YouTube channel before? Like, why'd you start it actually in the first place?
- [01:42]
A
Well, let me say what changed was desperation. And I'll tell you why in a minute. But when I started back in 2009, I. I don't even know when YouTube started. I mean, when did it start?
- [01:51]
B
Yeah, he was like six or seven to six or seven.
- [01:53]
A
Okay. So I knew something about it. And around that time, I was going through a big transition in my life. I felt like God had called me to raise up an army of artists. That was the kind of the mandate I had. And I was like, well, I need to get on this YouTube thing and talk about it. And so I did And I look back at those videos and I'm like, who in the world gave me a camera? You know, we, we can all look back at that kind of thing back then. And I, so I, you know, I did my best. I didn't know what I was doing and I started putting content out there. But over the, as we started, you know, I built a coaching program and started writing books and that sort of thing. Other things that seemed more, they were able to get more clients quickly really took priority. And so YouTube for me seemed very slow. And I could never figure out how to monetize it because I was, I was in the launch world. So I was, you know, trained by a lot of great guys. So I got into memberships and launches. We were doing five day challenges before anybody was doing that. And so did that for years. And when Covid came along, things were awesome and we were really positioned. But then after Covid, it kind of felt like it went off the cliff and the things that were working great no longer worked. And we went through a really, I don't want to say devastating, but it was emotionally. You know, you go from doing things that are really working.
- [03:11]
B
Yes.
- [03:11]
A
To things that aren't. I was just looking around and I was trying to think, what is the next thing? And I kept hearing Everybody talk about YouTube's the second largest search engine. YouTube's the second largest search engine, and videos where it's at. And again, just in prayer and looking around and trying to see what was going on, I found you guys and just began to, you know, think, what could I do? I got this channel sitting there. Why not start creating some content on purpose and see if I can start to master this. Like, we had mastered launching and all the other stuff we'd done for so many years. So.
- [03:43]
B
Wow, okay. What were those first few videos like on your YouTube channel from the moment you started to take it seriously? Right. Because this could be interesting. You got a lot of experience coming into YouTube. Right. But nonetheless, YouTube's still a new thing. Right. So what were those first few videos like? What was your approach to creating content? Would love to hear you as you reflect on that.
- [04:03]
A
So back in the day, it was just me and a hope and a prayer and a, and a video camera. You know, like, I'm just getting on their stream of consciousness sharing. I think, you know, by the time I came to it last summer, I really knew that. All right, if I'm going to talk and I'm going to speak, I need to really understand who my audience is, need to clarify what I'm trying to, you know, encourage them, we do art faith in business. That's kind of my unique, you know, what I do in the marketplace. Helping artists take what they feel like is a calling from God, but may just maybe a hobby into a part time or full time income that has both income and impact for them. When I looked over the trajectory of what I'd done on YouTube, most of it was this sort of waking up stuff like, you can do it. God's got a calling on your life as an artist. It's not too late. That's kind of what I started with. I just was looking at, well, these things have worked before. Let's kind of see if we can, we can kind of start there and, and using tools like Vidiq and others and just trying to, to watch comments, I just began to create content in a lane, if you will, that I thought would resonate.
- [05:08]
B
So that's huge. I'd love to hear talk about this one video that I love how you phrase this broke every rule. So I mean, we gotta just talk about it right now. It's actually. It's become your most popular video of all time on your channel. It's currently sitting at over 270,000 views. The title of this video is 5 Powerful Ways to honor God with your art Thumbnail also looks really good, man. But hearing you recount how this video was created, you're like, this really shouldn't have worked like it did. It's an 18 minute video. As you look at this video now, this was from seven months ago. What was that whole process like? Did you have any hunches? I don't know. When you were filming it or was it just in the, in the week, in the moment? It was like, here's another video. We're just trying to get another video out in the pipeline. What does this video mean to you?
- [05:53]
A
Yeah, one of the. So one of the things I was learning when I was first starting out is hey, survey the neighborhood and see what kind of topics, things might be working in your neighborhood, in other adjacent neighborhoods and that sort of thing. And so this kind of idea I was seeing in other things in, in business and art and that sort of thing. And so I thought I could take this, this sort of, now I know the word listicle, this sort of, you know, list centered idea and come up with five ways. But I really, I mean obviously I wanted to make a mind that were unique to, you know, my kind of the theology of what I believe about how to grow A business and how to be an artist and that sort of thing. So I literally just sat down and kind of sketched out five things and. But I didn't. I didn't understand a hook. I didn't understand, you know, put the call to action up in the first third. I didn't understand of don't do a long roll in Matt and, you know, for 30 seconds and all this. And I'm so great. Like, don't do all that. And so. And I didn't have a script. I was. I was, like, working off a sticky note, you know?
- [06:55]
B
Man, come on. So.
- [06:57]
A
But. And so when it's. When it, like, it started and I was like, wow, okay, this is really going. And it kept going, and it kept going. One thing that I'm putting back in my more scripted, if you will, you know, videos is leaving plenty of space for what my coach, Molly, and I now call it, let Matt be Matt. And because part of what I. I said broke all the rules in that big video was I'm just. I'm just sharing now. I've been. I've been. I've been speaking for 30 years. I can generally, you know, you know, yeah, I can. I can land the plane.
- [07:34]
B
Yeah.
- [07:34]
A
But, you know, you. You want to say things as quickly and as. As appropriately and as powerfully as possible. So I think I swung to the other side for a little while, and I look back at last fall, and I think don't ever pull out and work out and script out. The spontaneity that people love about what you do as. As a coach and as somebody that hopefully is. Is making a big influence on people.
- [07:58]
B
So I'd love to hang here for a second if that's cool, because this is actually, I think, a pretty big ins. Age of AI in the age of pushing buttons and scripts are generated, especially in the age of how quickly can we get through the art is an interesting thing I'd probably hear your take on. But, like, when you look at that video and the things that you. One of the things you're clearly saying that, oh, I did that right. Or that went well. This contributed to the success of the video was letting Matt be Matt. And so I would love to hear from your standpoint, like, when you go about a scripting now, when you go about your process now, do you mind if we jump right to, like, how heavy do you script? How heavy is AI a part of that process? Because I'm noticing this whole scripting thing, man, since AI is slowing creators down.
- [08:41]
A
Yeah.
- [08:41]
B
And it's also silently. There's like this phantom drain that's on, man. And it's like we're losing personality.
- [08:48]
A
Right.
- [08:48]
B
What would let Matt be Matt or whoever be whoever. Do you mind if we ask, what's your approach now? Like, what are you currently doing?
- [08:55]
A
One of the things that I really committed to doing when I started this channel, and this has been like this inner transformation, metamorphosis of me coming out of the launch world and trying to let go of expectations. I really have tried not to go after, like, I'm going to make a video about this because I know it'll rank and I know it'll, you know, all of that. I really. I felt a real calling when I started recount restarted the channel. I felt like the call to me was, Matt, just remind them who they are. Just remind them who they are. And so I try to let that lead. Everything that I do. When you've had a measure of success and whatever it is that you do, when people see you, they automatically think, oh, it's always been this way. And then you forget to tell the backstory because you're so busy telling the what can be for them. And I think one of the things that I've just. I've realized and I've appreciated and it's connected my heart to the audience and the audience to me, again, is telling the backstory of struggle and the potholes that you step in, the things you did wrong, the things you wish you hadn't done, the things that, you know, if somebody told me this 10 years ago, I wouldn't have done it, you know, But I love, you know, I feel like my calling is as a father to artists, if you will. I want to be Uncle Matt. I want to be that guy that comes alongside and says, hey, no matter what you've been through, no matter how hard it's been, God's got a creative calling on your life. You can do it. And I screwed up. Maybe so have you. But there's a plan.
- [10:23]
B
There's a.
- [10:23]
A
There's a path forward.
- [10:24]
B
It's huge. I think you're hitting something very powerful. And this is the whole thing that at least you know, for me, as I'm hearing you say that, I'm like, oh, that's almost like a sticky note, you know, that you might have something that's like, Uncle Matt or whatever. And it's just like that thing that helps you reorient for a second. You're flipping on the camera. Maybe AI or whatever was a part of your process. But it's like it can't outsource you. You can't outsource yourself and your voice.
- [10:46]
A
Yeah.
- [10:46]
B
And so.
- [10:47]
A
So to answer that, not to interrupt, but just to answer the whole AI piece, what I try to do, I've got. I don't know if I have it right here. I have my. I'm a big journaler, so everything I'm. I'm always writing in my journal and. And I really try to take ideas from things that I feel like God's speaking to me or things that are on my heart or even from. From comments or questions that I'll see. And I love AI as a tool. Like, I use it as, you know, the YouTube studio. I. I love for it to help me analyze comments, what on the channel, what are things they're struggling with. And really, till I started, you know, working with you guys and coming, you know, to mastermind and that sort of thing, I never really even thought about using AI as a verbal tool. But now I just sit here and talk to it, and my wife's like, you and your friend are in there talking again. But I just. I love to kind of talk through, just off the cuff, what I'm doing and say, now help me put this together in a way that's the tightest, the best, the most transformative possible.
- [11:50]
B
I love that. Yeah. If podcast you're listening, if you're not aware of that. Yeah. The whole dictation feature and there's plugins you can get depending on what tool you're using, although most of them natively let you do us now being able to just like speak it out, talk it out, and not trying to have it perfect as you're just downloading everything. Sometimes I'll call it like a heart dump. You know, it's like this idea of like, I don't know what, what video I would make. Just talk it out, you know, just kind of like get some stuff down there, have a tool, help make sense of things. But then at the end of the day, what's your process for? It's helping you organize. And then what does your script look like, Matt, is. Are you a word for word person? Are you a bullet point person? How do you. What does it look like when you're filming a video?
- [12:29]
A
I'm a word for word person.
- [12:31]
B
No, and.
- [12:33]
A
And I think. I think you. When I look at me, I can't tell that I'm. When I'm doing. When I. Yeah, yeah. When I'm talking on a teleprompter, I've got it paced in a way. And I. I sit there like, whatever AI gives me, I just take that. I'm like, all right, now I got to go work on it. And I'm. I'm putting it all in my language and I know the little things that I say or the way I'll pay something or I'll give. I know how to give myself space.
- [13:01]
B
Yeah.
- [13:02]
A
For things to really land. And so there really is a big art to learning how to do teleprompter in a way that is convincing and natural. I'm trying to do a live stream every Thursday as well. Most thirsties. And those are completely off the cuff, and I'm fine to do that. And I'm finding that I don't see any one more popular than the other. It's usually the topic, you know, so I feel comfortable either way. But I feel like when I do one of my content videos, I want to say it in the tightest, most effective way possible, especially when it comes to hooks and points that I'm trying to make and calls to action and things like that.
- [13:38]
B
Any tips you'd pass on to someone who is thinking about using a teleprompter? Maybe they just got one. Any tips for it to not come across like you're reading from a teleprompter? I don't know what to ask that, but it's like a real thing because.
- [13:53]
A
No, totally tell.
- [13:54]
B
It's like. It's like you're totally reading something. So.
- [13:57]
A
Well, I think if you're. I know how I speak normally. Yeah. And because I speak all the time, I've got these little verbal quips or the way I'll phrase something or pace it. Yeah. So I really make sure to, like, if I say, you know, friend or listen, man, or hey, this, I will put those things in it. I put every little thing and I'll really space it out. So if I'm really wanting something to land three spaces. There we go. I'll make, you know, I'll make that happen so that. So that it's flowing in a way. The other thing I think you got to know is your speed. And for me, 110 is the speed that I speak at. And that gives me energy, it keeps me moving. But at the same time, I just build in the space if I need it.
- [14:44]
B
How is that one video that went viral for you, as we'd say here at Think Media? Like, how has that impacted the videos that you've done since then? Because it's not a surprise to me that your second most popular video of all time is a video that came out just a month later. Five signs. God wants you to create art. That's almost at 100,000 views. So what was that like to have a video do what this one did? And then what was your approach to the uploads after that? Were you stressed out? Were you like, okay, what do we do next? You know, I mean, because something's working.
- [15:16]
A
Yeah.
- [15:16]
B
What is your approach to the videos after that, Ben?
- [15:18]
A
You know, it's kind of like I tell my art students, like, when you do an art show, it's great to sell stuff, but you're really there for data and relationships. Right.
- [15:26]
B
Wow.
- [15:27]
A
And I see these videos as that as well, because I'm. I'm putting out what I feel like is the best video that I can do at that moment. So I kind of. I really do try to be like, lord, whatever you gonna do with this, like, just, you know, take it where it's gonna go. I want to learn from it. But at the same time. And again, this is where AI comes in. I want to scour that thing for the comments. What are people saying? What's it evoking in them? What are the questions? What are the pain points? What are the. The things that they want to learn about next? And so I think that that has been the most valuable and continues to be the most valuable, because when we talk about niches, you know, niches are great. You can go to Vidiq, too, but whoever you're going to. And try to find the keywords or whatever, but what's resonating with your people? And I think for me, the comments has helped me to do this. Really drill down. And so, like, we figured out one the of God providing for artists and artists struggling with money. The whole starving artist thing, that wasn't. That was something I knew people struggled with, but it was really being validated by a lot of these videos. And so that's one of my. You know, again, kind of an outlier for me. Is one of these about God's promise to provide for artists. And. But it came right out of. And so many of these come right out of the comments and trying to. To meet people where they are.
- [16:46]
B
So I love this. I absolutely love that this is what you did after you had a video take off like this did. Because here's what's cool on that most popular video. You have over 3,000 comments.
- [16:54]
A
Yeah.
- [16:56]
B
So can you walk us through? Like, maybe someone has, like 50. Hey, great. There's still so much data there from comments on videos. What, what's your process? What, what's the, what's the strategy there? When you say you like mine the comment section and you're using AI, what does that mean?
- [17:10]
A
Like, well, so in YouTube Studio, I can go up there and I guess I don't know if everybody has this tool in their YouTube studio, but I. To the top, to the AI and, and I'll say, hey, look at this video, analyze all the comments and give me the top 10, you know, most popular comments or what's the, the general thing that people are saying? And then I'll, after I get that, I'll ask it, like, give me three video ideas that could meet the needs or address the issues that they're talking about.
- [17:37]
B
So Matt just said something I think a lot of creators need to hear, and it's that AI is helpful when it helps you organize your own thoughts and, but not when it's stripping your voice out. And I think this is a perfect time to talk about the partner of today's episode, which is Riverside. Whether you're recording a podcast, a guest interview, or trying to turn a conversation like this into content, the last thing that you need is some sort of complicated workflow that kills your momentum. We use Riverside because it keeps the whole process simple, from planning to recording, capturing things in high quality, and even the editing and publishing of a final episode. Check this out. You can plan your recording, invite your guest recording up to 4K video with separate audio and video tracks for each each guest that Riverside records separately on each person's advice. This means WI fi isn't an issue. It can go out and something can happen during mid interview. And you can rest assured because everything's going to be safe. Then once the conversation is recorded, Riverside actually helps you move all of that raw recording into finished published content faster. You can actually edit using the transcript, which is my favorite thing to do. Just like clean up pauses, filter through words, generate captions, and even their magic clips feature can turn strong moments from the conversation that Matt and I are having right now into shorts, reels, or even TikToks. And the new piece that I'm really excited about for podcasters specifically is Riverside's new planning and publishing workflow. This just means Riverside can help you get everything ready to hit, publish things like your episode title, description, chapters, key takeaways, even episode details, and then hosts and publish your shows to all the cool places. Apple, podcasts, Spotify, even YouTube, all from one dashboard. So if your content plan at all involves anything like interviews, podcasts, guest driven videos. Riverside's just going to help you keep the whole system repeatable. Plan it, record it, edit it, publish it. Without stitching together a bunch of tools. You can use Code Think Media at checkout for one month free of Riverside's pro plan. Again, that's Code Think Media and we'll put that in the description and show notes below. All right, back to Matt. We've walked through a little bit of your research process, but I'd love to talk a bit about like, what are you doing? Because you have this volume, your baseline has risen. What's like the money plan that's in place. Do you mind if we just talk with that? Like, because you've got your videos, but then you've, you've mentioned call to action several times here. So what are your call to actions? Like what do you do in these videos to try to bring people off platform?
- [20:04]
A
I tried initially to do some just, you know, freebies, so, you know, download a PDF, whatever. And we've done that successfully bringing people over to the mailing list. But one of our lead, our not one of our lead, kind of low ticket offer is called our foundations course. And so it's a heart and mind oriented thing for artists, you know, help get the junk out of your head and, and really be the artist that God created you to be. It's a nine week course. It comes with a book, you know, so the digital version of that is 27 bucks.
- [20:35]
B
Okay.
- [20:35]
A
And so much of the content that I produce on the channel is directly related to the issues that are in that. The cool thing was last fall we had almost 100 small groups all over the world of artists who had gotten the book, gotten the course and were starting small groups all over the world in their local area, kind of replicating what they're learning, which is totally my heart, you know, that's cool. And everybody that's coming into the Facebook group community and all that, my wife was starting to be like, oh my gosh, Everybody is from YouTube. Everybody's saying, I saw Matt's videos, I've been watching him for three weeks. I just saw him today. And for me, I have to say, as somebody that's been doing this for a long time and it felt like the launch ship had sailed. Like, is this thing over? Whatever. This has been such a refreshing breath of fresh air for me to realize that there are, and you know, for all of us, there are millions of people who need what we offer in all of our different niches. And who have no idea who we are and are waiting for us to create content. And so the $27 thing for me has been where we started and then we just went through a process where the, the artist coaching program that we've had for 10 years, still very effective, but it kind of become a behemoth of just, you know, by virtue of adding things to it for 10 years, y we made a really scary but strategic, prayerful pivot to take the guts of that and turn it into a 36 lesson program with a coaching community. And we just launched that last week for 497 one time purchase and $37 a month community and just had a great launch with that. And again, just affirming, okay, we're on the right track. This is working. We've got something that's been proved and we can replicate this and we can keep moving forward. So those are the two things that offering right now.
- [22:31]
B
Okay. I'd love to hear about. You mentioned this launch that you just had and it's like a, it's a YouTube launch. So maybe if you don't mind, just for anyone who's listening, if we might, if we might back up a couple steps before I want to hear about this launch that you all had. But what does that mean? What does that mean to, you know, to do a launch? Yeah. And then you do it with YouTube?
- [22:52]
A
Yeah. Well, when I say launch, I was a student of Jeff Walker for so many years. Who's, who is the launch king, you know. Okay. And learned so, so much from him. And so I just like stand on the shoulders of all the things I've learned over the years. But so much of that that I learned to do was email based. And then we went on Facebook and so when we would do a launch back in the day and I've spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on ad budget for launching over the years of this idea of we're going to run ads, get people into a free challenge and then do the five days and then five days of open cart. And it would, I mean, 30 to $50,000 a launch, easy on ad budget, just to get people in a bucket on Facebook, you know, in a group that you could talk to them.
- [23:39]
B
Yes.
- [23:39]
A
And so you better hope that you're a great converter.
- [23:43]
B
Yep. Press on.
- [23:44]
A
Yeah.
- [23:44]
B
Right.
- [23:45]
A
So thankfully that worked really well for us over the years and we had done it enough before COVID that when Covid hit, as crazy as it was in the world for us, it was incredible. We were, I was doing launches with 10 and 15,000 people. And we were converting 7 to 10% of those people into our membership. And it was just a huge, huge blessing and it like a big megaphone, you know, out there. But our launch, and my wife runs all this on the back with our team. At that point we had about 14 people on our team and we had about 1500 launch tasks that had to be done within a six week period. Plus all that budget in order to roll these things out.
- [24:27]
B
Okay.
- [24:28]
A
You're talking text campaigns, email campaigns. I mean, whoo. Just all the, that's a lot, you know, all the stuff. So we were in it to win it, but it was, it was a lot of work.
- [24:40]
B
Yes.
- [24:40]
A
So anytime somebody said launch in the last few years, we're like, I don't know if I can. I don't know if I got it in me anymore.
- [24:48]
B
Hey, real quick, if you're listening or watching and you'd like your channel to wake up the same way that Matt got his to wake up, it's important to know that this didn't happen by accident. You've heard Matt mention his coach Molly, and Molly is one of our one on one coaches here at Think Media inside of our accelerator program. So Matt has actually had someone by his side to help him navigate through building a YouTube channel. And not just the YouTube side of things, but also the business side of things. So if you would like that kind of help and you don't want to do this alone anymore, it's time for something to change. And we would love to invite you to apply@viralvideocoach.com if you think that one on one coaching benefit to you in your current season with your YouTube goals or your business goals. It's a free call. It's application only, so it may not be for everyone, but you're going to fill out some information about your channel, about where you're at, what you're trying to do, and if it's a good fit, you get to hop on a free call with our team, someone from Think Media to get eyes on your channel to help you strategize your next steps. So again, that's at viral video coach.
- [25:44]
A
Com.
- [25:45]
B
All right, back to Matt.
- [25:46]
A
And as you know, after Covid, the prices started going up and less people, less people converting. I think people got launched out, you know, it's just like, you know, everybody can see it coming.
- [25:57]
B
Yeah.
- [25:58]
A
So with this, with YouTube, I, you know, I think one of the masterminds, I heard people doing this again. I'm like, okay, I Can, I can do this. But I'm like, I'm not spending anything on it. I'm not doing any ad budget. Like, I'm going to test it organic before we were to spend anything on it. I'm just going to hit our email list and advertise it on, on the channel and we're just going to do it, me and my wife. Like, I'm not involving anybody else. I'm doing the graphics that, you know, I made the PDF, I'm doing the hold, I'm working my own switchers on Streamyard, the whole deal. So we put it out there and we got 2,100 people that signed up with no ad budget. Now I just have to say that was huge. Just, just. That was huge. And so I'm like, whoo. Thank you, Jesus. Okay, this. Take another step.
- [26:54]
B
And where are those coming from, Matt, by the way? So 2100 people from YouTube. Just YouTube videos.
- [26:59]
A
Primarily from YouTube. And the most of our, We've. We've gone through this other thing, these last few years of just peeling people off of our email list. I mean, we had a hundred thousand people on the list at one time.
- [27:10]
B
Wow.
- [27:10]
A
But we were just, you know, a lot of that was free launch people that just, I want something free and then I'm out of here.
- [27:15]
B
Yeah.
- [27:16]
A
So we have been really, you know, trying to, to pare that down just to, you know, we don't want to bother people. We want to talk to people that want to hear what we have to say.
- [27:23]
B
Yeah.
- [27:24]
A
So most of the people that came over for this, some were from our list, but most of them, the lion share were from. From YouTube, you know, coming from just a. Hey, we're doing. We called it Discovery Week. You know, find out how to be the artist that God created you to be. And so they came on get opt in for it. And, and instead of doing five days, I'm like, I can't even do it. Yeah, I can't even do it. And I've got lots trauma, you know. Yeah. And so I said I can do. I can do two days and a live Q A.
- [27:57]
B
Okay.
- [27:57]
A
And so I did a Tuesday, like 12 to 1:30, about 12 to 12. 12 to 1:15. So, you know, 75 minutes or whatever alive the first time. And then on, on Thursday I did another one. And that was half teaching and half presenting the offer in open cart for the thriving Christian artist pathway.
- [28:21]
B
And are these public on your YouTube
- [28:23]
A
channel or was this public on the YouTube channel? But, you know, everybody registered. We sent them out the link. So we're doing reminder stuff. So we had, I'm just looking at the numbers we had. Out of 2100, we had 529 people show up the first day and 457 show up the second day, man. Which I thought, hey, that's pretty strong, you know, and 25, you know, ish of people showing up. Tons of comments, you know, really, really energetic, no crazies. You know, we've kind of learned that's good in this stuff. You know, 5% of people are going to be crazy. You just. It just is. Yeah, but, but we didn't have crazy, which was like, again. And then on the zoom call, we had almost 250 people there. And it went on for almost three hours of me sitting there and just answering questions off the cuff from people that had. Had been on. The interesting thing was we, we ended up selling about 100. We sold 129 of the courses and we brought 151 people into the new community. It was phenomenal. Was it the biggest launch we've ever done? Absolutely not. But for no ad spin and for trying something and launching it, it was absolutely impactful, cash positive, profitable, and it proved that the product meets the market for where we are now. And that was the biggest thing for me. Man.
- [29:53]
B
I'd love to ask you the classic question, but I think it's so helpful for someone like you to hear from someone like you who just restarted their channel. What would you say to that person who, who probably feels a little bit like you did? Like, maybe They've been at YouTube for a little bit, they've been at content creation for a little bit. Maybe there's. They're losing the wind in their sails, starting to question if they should keep going. You know, what do you. What have you learned yourself? And then maybe if I could just ask you to coach us for a second as we close. Like, what do you often tell artists that you work with? Because undoubtedly this is part of the process, the resistance, the questioning, the doubt. Like, how do you overcome that?
- [30:31]
A
Well, I always say, you know, the pushback that you feel is not proof that you need to stop. It's proof you're on the right path. Right. I mean, it's that it's all of the stuff out there, that saying, we can't let this person out there because when they get out there, this thing's going to blow up. It's going to be incredible. And so if you can reframe that in your mind, that the struggle that I'm feeling is proof that I'm on the right track.
- [30:52]
B
Wow.
- [30:53]
A
The other thing I would say is that specificity of what you're called to do and who you're called to serve is just so, so important because, you know, we can all be, you know, masters of a lot of different things and do this shotgun approach. But I think the thing that worked for me on YouTube and other creators that I know and really in anything that we're doing in business is choose the thing that you are the most passionate about, that you are the most skilled at, the thing where you see the most opportunity at and give yourself to that, and where you put yourself out there and other people are going to find you. And where that opportunity comes together, that's where there's an opportunity potentially to have a business, have an income, an impact. And it's trusting the passion. Right. That's in our heart to be able to do that even when we feel like nobody's listening, even when we feel like that there's not an opportunity. Because for artists and I think for me, as a person of faith, I can't do something. I don't want to do something just because I could do it or just cause it's going to make money. That is the quickest way to lead to burnout. And so if we're going to be making a living at doing what we do and serving people, I want to do it in a way that I'm passionate about. And I know that I can do this for a long time. I hope that I'm here when there's hologram Uncle Matt and when there's, you know, you know, whatever. But I want to be doing it out of this place of life and of a burning passion, not just what's the next video that I think will get the most clicks, because that. That's a quick way to burn it all down.
- [32:25]
B
So I love it, man. Thank you. I'm thinking too, that counterintuitively, like, you talk about trying to put wind in other people's sales, but this approach, I would imagine, puts wind back in your sales.
- [32:37]
A
Right.
- [32:37]
B
Like, it's this fulfilling sort of cycle that happens, right?
- [32:41]
A
Yep, Absolutely. Yeah. I've said to all my coaches, they're like, what's your goal? What's your income goal? I'm like, I really don't have an income goal. I have an effectiveness goal, man. I want to know that when I speak and when I offer something to somebody that I know will help them, that we're doing it in a way that they can take advantage of it. It can be transformational for them. And, and that, and that's why those two little sales this week, you know, were so powerful for me because I'm like, it's working. Like this is, this is the machine is starting to work, you know, and that's what really, you know, jazzes me huge.
- [33:12]
B
Thanks to Matt for this one. What I love about the story is he didn't build a brand new channel. Matt actually just woke up a really old one, which is like to me proof that winning on YouTube consistently comes down to three things. Clarity, strategy, and then how consistently are you clear and strategic in your week to week, your day to day, your upload to upload. You know, Matt and I were talking before we recorded today actually, and he was tell something that really helped him was getting away from the one off tactics and plugging into formulas, plugging into sequences and strategy. And that's something he said he's really appreciated about Think Media. And from the way that we coach and actually want to pass that on to you, do you feel like you're just running off of YouTube hacks and overindulging at the YouTube tactics buffet and not really getting anywhere? I'd actually like to invite you to try it our way. Try it Matt's way, the way that he did it. And right now we've got a few slots that are open in our one on one coaching program VRA accelerator that Matt's a part of. And you can apply right now@viralvideocoach.com it is application only. It is one on one. It is all gas, no breaks. It is full on YouTube coaching to help you build a business around your YouTube channel. And so if you think this might be a good fit, if you think that this is something you'd like to take a shot at for the rest of this year to finish strong, I'd like to encourage you to apply@videocoach.com hey, like Matt said, the pushback you feel isn't proof that you need to stop. It's actually proof that you're on the right path. Don't stop like rate, share, review 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.