Dusty Porter (3:55)

So you've been doing this thing almost a decade. I mean, you were a literal kid in, in some, in, in these videos back in back, you know, eight, nine, 10 years ago. So can you talk about how the channel has evolved over time and what people would expect if they went to the channel right now in the current, you know, version that it is in?

Ben Zaino (4:15)

Yes, great question. So, yeah, you're right. I mean, I was a kid when I started the channel. I was 15. I didn't have a driver's license yet. So I think my content then was very limited to literally what I could find in my backyard because, like, I had no other way to find animals. And so for the first, like, few months to year of my channel, it was really focused on what am I finding that I can walk to or bike to from my house, what is special about this thing and what's interesting about its life or its conservation status that a viewer or someone who lives around me might be able to engage with and might find, like something they can. Yeah, some of the common ground they have with, with this ecosystem that we live right beside. So that was the first, first few months of the channel was whatever I could find. I just tried to bring species in particular to people's attention. And I think as I got older a license was nice because I could then drive to places to find animals. So then I had a little more control of, okay, now I can start to plan ahead. Like what is a species that already has an interesting conservation story that I can then plan to go and find and, and make a content piece about. And I decided to study wildlife biology as an undergraduate student and I just finished my master's degree in May. So as I became a wildlife biologist or conservation biologist technically, I began to, I think, get a better understanding of the complex nature of the conservation issues, how many passionate people there really are in this field who are doing amazing work already, but the stories aren't being told. And so as I continue producing content, my goal is to continue highlighting more of these kind of untold stories of species, but also of the people who are working to conserve these species or research them. And I think that my viewers connect with those people easily, which I love.

Dusty Porter (6:12)

I love that you've niched down to, you know, you're not just someone talking about a specific animal or animals. You're actually talking about species that could be in danger or that people don't know very much about and the people who are trying to protect those said species. That's really cool that YouTube is giving you that platform. Now I want to ask kind of a follow up question to your response there. You mentioned early on you couldn't drive. You had to kind of go to the backyard or to buddy's houses to find animals that you could find there. Are you now planning out trips and are able to go to these cool locations and, and have you been reached out to by some of these people to actually feature the animals that they're protecting?

Ben Zaino (6:54)

Yeah. Yes to both. Now I do get to, it's not often because I still work full time job, but I do get to go on trips to go see animals that I've just always wanted to see and now I get to go see them. But also, not only do I get to see them, I get to, to film them and teach people about them. So I think for, for me it's cool to be in a position where, where YouTube has given me a platform that I can do something I already love to do, but I can just share that with people and I can be the creative force behind it. So I get to Decide what the interesting parts of the story are that get to be told and brought out. So that is really fun. But yeah, also, as I've begun making videos featuring more research and kind of getting into the stories of the people who are doing conservation work, I've been able. And just being in school with these people, right. I mean, a lot of times it's fellow students who I'm, I'm just filming what they're doing or. So yeah, I've been able to build a community of people who are interested in hearing those stories. And now I can maybe I'll get messaged on Instagram or someone will email me and say, hey, you know, I'm studying water snakes in Florida. Do you think you can make a video to show what I'm doing? You know, even if it doesn't end up on my YouTube channel, I always, if I can say, yeah, I would love to help you make a video that communicates the importance of your work.

Dusty Porter (8:12)

So I have to ask, now that you've been doing this for so long, what has changed about the platform, about YouTube? Can you talk about maybe the top one, two or three things that over the past decade have changed and how have you maybe adapted or evolved to make sure that you're not being left behind as a creator?

Ben Zaino (8:32)

Yeah, that's a good question. It's a little. It's harder for me to answer because I've changed a lot too. So sometimes it's unclear to me what's changing, what's YouTube changing? But I think at the beginning, 10 years ago, ish, YouTube as a platform just had, at least in the wildlife space there was, there was not very many, they were not very many content creators, period. It was like completely unsaturated. There were a few people making videos in. And none of us were very, were making very professional videos. So it was kind of this like untapped platform for wildlife generally at the beginning. From a, from like an educational standpoint, they've always been videos of Animals on YouTube. That was the first video on YouTube was a video of a giraffe. But this kind of like conservation centric content didn't really exist as a niche on YouTube when I started. And it was cool because maybe for the first six months to a year I was doing this. I didn't know anyone else who was doing this. But then over time I would start to see other content creators pop up or come across my feed that we're also doing the kind of wildlife conservation content I've been doing. And they've become some of my best friends over the years because there's not very many of us. And all of us are just secretly nerds about wildlife and about conservation. And so we have like a group chat that we're always putting what animals we found in. We'll go on trips together sometimes, and I think so that community has grown a lot. But YouTube as a platform is way more competitive. Like, you can't put out. You can't put out videos now that are not polished and expect YouTube as a platform to give them to viewers. And I think viewers expect a higher quality of content on YouTube. And part of that also is that a lot of broadcast media like National Geographic, like BBC, they've realized the importance of digital first content and they've entered that space. And so now when I publish a video, a viewer is choosing in my good Watch the Wild Reports episode on timber rattlesnakes, or am I watching this BBC clip on timber rattlesnakes? That was never a choice before.

Dusty Porter (10:35)

Yeah, I completely agree. It is more competitive and the things that YouTube presents to viewers is certainly different and being able to stand out, which is why I think niching down is so important. And you finding your space kind of in the conservation space is really good. What advice do you have for creators that go on location to shoot video? So a lot of, like myself, I do tech tutorials and I host podcasts and I do wedding videography. So I very rarely go on location. Now when I film weddings, it's completely different. But when you're out and about filming, you know, a joro spider or you're talking about the dangerous snakes, what are some advice and tips and things that you've learned along the way that have made things easier for you as a creator?

Ben Zaino (11:21)

I think for me, filming everything, like filming everything I can that I think could even potentially be useful for the story I'm trying to build. Because at the beginning when I would go on a trip, I'd be laser focused on, like, I need this specific shot, I need to talk about this, that should be fine. You know, I. I don't need any more B roll. No, you always need more B roll of the animal, of the location. If you can film other things that you weren't expecting to tell a story about, but you think you can tie them to the story, you've got to get those things on camera too. And I think wildlife is, it's unique also, because I don't know what I'm going to find. I could spend 10 hours researching and writing a Script the best story ever about some creature and spend 10 days looking for it, and I just might not find it. So I think being really adaptable and being able to pivot and find a good story to tell wherever you are, is really helpful for wildlife specifically, or I guess just on location shooting.

Dusty Porter (12:21)

Yeah. And I want to kind of put a pin on the storytelling because I think that after watching a handful of your videos, I do realize that that's one of the reasons why I think your videos stand out or towards the top of the list, because you are a good storyteller. You not only have a very evident passion for wildlife and taking care of wildlife itself, but you also are very good at taking that knowledge and then regurgitating it in a way that people is easily consumed. And so the story is very much evident and at the forefront. But I do want to talk about that in a minute. I want to ask you a question. How do you manage your time? You have a job. You don't do this thing full time. The majority of my audience, you know, they don't do it full time. So what are some maybe tricks of the trade that you've learned to help you manage your time so you can film these videos? You can succeed on YouTube and still have a life outside of it.

Ben Zaino (13:13)

Yeah, that is. It's challenging. It is a challenge to manage my time in a way that lets me still cultivate the channel while doing everything else that is required for normal life in 2026. I think. Let me think of something useful to tell someone. I think that if you don't love what you're doing, you're not going to make the time for it. I think that's what I would say, like, if I didn't really truly enjoy going to find animals and film them and then be willing to sit down and turn what I filmed into a compelling story. I wouldn't do it like the. The views or the. Whatever you. The money that you can, you can get from a YouTube channel. Truly, they aren't the reason I do it. And if they were, I think I would have quit years ago because it. It's something I love. I think that is how I'm able to prioritize it. But also making it, making it fun for yourself and inviting people into it has been something. I know this isn't very technical, but I've just really enjoyed being able to bring other people into the process, showed them my edits, and this is what I'm working on. Look at this shot I got. What do you think about this to kind of make it more like a blended part of my life instead of, okay, I have to isolate for six hours to edit, which happens sometimes.

Dusty Porter (14:28)

But yeah, absolutely, yeah. I read a book by a creator that I've watched. I don't watch him as much now, but I used to watch a lot of them. Ali Abdaal, he's a productivity creator on YouTube and he released a book called Feel Good Productivity. And he talks about making the thing that you're doing fun, you know, necessarily gamifying it, but making it to a point to where you're not dreading it. And the way he put it is in your. When you're having one of your worst days, but you have to get a video out, are you still going to be able to muster up the courage to put something that's worthwhile out there, whatever that output may be? And that's kind of the one to one from the book when it comes to storytelling. I want to circle back to that. How have you improved your storytelling ability and then making that work in tandem with your knowledge? Because I think of someone like the Crocodile Hunter and then looking at what his son's doing now talking about all of these kind of exotic animals. What people love about animals is the, are the extremes. They love to hear the story about the origin story and what, what is their habitat and things like that. You do such a great job of not just educating but, but also telling a story. So talk about your experience with getting better at telling a story.

Ben Zaino (15:46)

Yes, it took me a long time to learn how to tell a good story because originally I just wanted to tell people, well, cool facts. It was just cool facts videos. And that worked on old YouTube but it does not work on, on new YouTube. But I actually, I had a chance. There's a, a professor at the college that I attended and he has YouTube channel Ant Lab. He's awesome. Adrian Smith. I had a class with him and it was a science storytelling class and it wasn't specifically about YouTube but since we were both YouTube guys, he just sat down with me and talked me through his creative process and what are the first things he identifies about a story. And he always starts with like a thesis statement at. And if he can't write a concise thesis statement for a video, he might not make it because it's probably not a good story if he can't tell me in one line what the story is going to be about.

Dusty Porter (16:36)

Hey guys, if you like what you're hearing in this episode, I'd like to tell you a few ways we can help you as a creator. We have a YouTube Creators Corner mastermind group where we do mastermind calls. I do exclusive podcast recordings over there. $5 a month get you in. I also offer one on one YouTube coaching as well as YouTube channel reviews and audits. All of that will be linked down below with other ways you can connect with me and help take your channel and your content to the next level. Now back to the show. Can you give me an example of that? I want to, I want to let you continue on with that answer, but give me an example of what a thesis statement might look like that would help you propel you to create a video and then build the story around that.

Ben Zaino (17:19)

Yeah. So how it works for me is I write the thesis statement as like a small story. Like it has a beginning. That might be like the copperhead snake is the most commonly encountered venomous snake in the southeastern U.S. and then there's a conflict and it bites the most people in the southeastern U.S. of any of our venomous snakes. And then there's a but resolution. But by using these three identification tips, you can stay safe around snakes while you're recreating outside. So I can tell someone that statement and it's complete beginning conflict resolution story. And so then I just build that statement into the video.

Dusty Porter (18:02)

And that can really be tailored to any space, not just the animal and conservation space. It can be someone doing family vlogs or someone talking about, you know, news, whatever. If you have a story and you have the main piece and then you have the conflict and then you have the resolution, it's very much like a book, you know, when we're telling these stories. Now as far as your presentation style, how has that evolved as far as you being on camera from when you were a 15 year old to now, what is it, nine years down the road? So what you're he's now. So how has that changed? Your confidence obviously has evolved. And, and how do you make sure that you present yourself well each and every time you hit record?

Ben Zaino (18:42)

Hmm, it's a good question. I think that when I was starting out on camera, I was mostly, I was really just focused on getting the correct information across, like communicating factually accurate information. And I still am, I still am focused on that. But I think what I what's helped me a lot actually on camera, probably the most of anything has been teaching actual classes, whether that's been teaching outdoor science classes as my job or taing classes at in the university I went to. There's Something there's some flip. I was switching as a in person teacher to be like more of a coach and more of an encourager than like a fact presenter. And I turn that switch on for myself when I record now. And so now my where my mind is when I go to record with an animal is no longer okay. There are these seven facts I must say it's instead let me really encourage this person who's on the other side of the screen to get outside and let me get them excited about it. I mean I need. Yeah. So I think being a teacher on screen instead of being a fact presenter on screen is the main difference between the Wild report now and the Wild Report when I started.

Dusty Porter (19:54)

As far as the tools that you use, we're in a world of artificial intelligence. You come across to me as a guy who loves the outdoors and you know, technology is a way to. The means to get me to where I need to go. But it's not something that you're just infatuated with. I'm a tech person. I, I love the latest and greatest. I love tinkering around with technology, I love building it, I love, I love everything about it. But for a guy like you, what does your workflow look like and what tools are you using?

Ben Zaino (20:20)

Yeah, I think one of the coolest things about what I get to do is to film wildlife. Does not it can, you can make it require a lot of technology. But in its simplest form, all I, I mean my camera is a mirrorless DSLR and I use my phone a ton. I have those two recording devices. I use my Zoom H1N audio recorder if I'm going to be farther away from the camera. And that's like my whole filming kit is to my phone, a camera and an external mic. And I think what that lets me do is because I'm not carrying around a bunch of gear, it's, it's physically helpful for me when I'm in the field to be able to like get my gear and myself into situations and places that I can tell visually unique stories with. So, so that's my whole recording kit in my tripod because I have to self film everything that's important. I hate it when I forget my tripod. But then from like a software I use Adobe, I use Premiere Pro for all my editing and I use like some free browser based tools to make my thumbnails. But yeah, you're right, I'm not very technically, technically literate I guess you could say. And when people start to talk shop with their camera gear and their recording equipment. I'm like, I'm sure this is really exciting for you, but can we please go look for animals now? So, so technology is not my strong suit.

Dusty Porter (21:39)

And I think that's what makes your show so good, is that you are passionate about the things that matter for you. Is that, you know, as your answer about 15 minutes ago about what works on YouTube. Now, I don't want people to misunderstand what you were saying is it's, it's extremely hard to stand out. But as I've been preaching here on this show for the past six to 12 months, we're seeing a shift of authenticity and transparency. That's what YouTube is wanting to present people because that's what people are consuming. It doesn't necessarily mean your show, his, you know, binge, his show doesn't have to look like, you know, the National Geographic. What he means is that it has to be quality content. The people who would watch has to be the promise that it makes. It has to commit to that promise and then deliver upon that. And that's what he's doing, without a shadow of a doubt. Now you're obviously making some money through this venture. This isn't your full time gig. But let's talk about monetization buckets, as I call them. How are you making money and on average, what might you make on a month from your creative endeavors?

Ben Zaino (22:43)

Yeah, good question. So wildlife, at least my brand of wildlife content is also maybe interesting from a monetization standpoint because it's really seasonal because the search traffic for a lot of the animals I film is really seasonal when it's, and I don't know if this sounds crazy, but when it's snake season, like when there's snakes out, I'm making three or four times as much per month on YouTube as I am when it's not snake season. For instance, maybe it's just because I like snakes and all my videos are about snakes. But in any case, the seasonality of the income is one of the reasons that I have chosen for now to not pursue YouTube full time. Because like, for instance, this month I think I'll end up with like $250 for the month of February 2026. You're not living on $250 in a month. But in the summertime Maybe that's like $1200. Right? So then that's borderline. Maybe I could live off of that. So, so it's very seasonal. But the thing that is, I think kind of fun about that part of it, while it's not my full time job, is since I'm not tied to making money from ad revenue from my content, I, I get to make anything that I want to make. Whereas if I was dependent on it for my, for my primary income, I'd be more restricted. Like I would only be able to make videos that I knew would be at least somewhat successful from a, from a like viewership standpoint. So that's kind of been a decision I've made intentionally so far. And that would, that could change, right? If my February baseline was twelve hundred dollars, maybe now I do have the flexibility to, to do this full time and still make what I want. But until I get to that threshold, I would rather give myself the creative space to, to not have to depend on the money part of it.

Dusty Porter (24:32)

The freedom that gives you is important. And if I were, was, were coaching you as your YouTube coach, there are a number of levers that you could pull to make more money, right? You could do, you know, digital downloads for all the animals that you cover and you could sell, you know, one page shots about them. And there's, there's a lot of little things that you could do. You could create a premium community where you do exclusive content behind the scenes look of different, I mean there are so many things you could do to pull levers if you wanted to. But I think that's the beauty of YouTube is that folks like you really is the backbone of this podcast of. This podcast has been going on almost, good grief, almost 14, 15 years now. I've been, I've interviewed almost 500 creators over the years, a decade plus now of interviews. And it really started with creators like you, where you're basically doing your own wildlife show, you know, on YouTube. And you have the platform to do that. You get to go out, you know, if you could tell a little boy who's, you know, like you were, you know, 15 years old or you know, 12 years old that hey, listen, get your mom or dad's phone, go outside, film some animals, do some fun dialogue over on top of it and you might could create an audience with that going forward. That's the coolest thing. And so that's, it's really interesting and it really intrigues me to keep doing what I'm doing. If you were sitting down with someone what in and they were thinking about starting a YouTube channel or they're trying to grow their current channel, what is something that you wish you would have learned sooner?

Ben Zaino (25:56)

Something I wish I would have learned sooner Is, is that storytelling? I think I didn't realize the importance of being able to tell a good story and practicing doing that as often as you can. Like get as many storytelling reps in as you can. Because I think sometimes the beginning of a channel and it wasn't the case for me because I knew exactly what I wanted my content to do. I knew my, my purpose first. But I think if you're, if you have like an interest in something and you want to make content about it, people will get themselves stuck in a, a decision making freeze where they, they're like, I have this idea, I don't know if it's good enough. I think I'll wait and I'll flesh this out more. A few months go by and they still haven't posted anything that I'm like, hey, you know, I thought you were gonna start this channel? And they're like, well, yeah, but I just wanted to make sure I have like the right plan or the right strategy and those things are important. I know people who have incredible planning and strategy and have used to take their channel to new heights. So, so don't hear me wrong on that, but I think just starting to create stories and upload them as, as often, as soon as you can is what I would tell myself. And it's kind of what I was doing on accident anyways for starting my channel.

Dusty Porter (27:10)

How important is packaging now in 2026, going forward on YouTube, as far as your thumbnail, your title and what have you learned?

Ben Zaino (27:19)

Yeah, that's a great question. The packaging, I would say the importance of the packaging has skyrocketed in the past few years especially. And it's been actually challenging for me to be able to create the right packaging for video without feeling like I'm being untrue to what I want my content brand to be. Because I feel with especially wildlife content, the best packaging, like the flashiest packaging sometimes isn't actually the packaging that accurately reflects the story you're telling or presents a good picture of the animal itself. Especially because a lot of viewership for wildlife on YouTube right now is things that are dangerous or like potentially dangerous things. Venomous snakes, venomous spiders, things that are poisonous. People are interested in those things. I was interested in those things as a kid. But I don't want to create packaging that portrays those animals in a negative light because that's not the goal of my content. And so that can sometimes be an internal conflict for me is, does this, does this packaging say something positive about this animal that I'm Featuring or is this like a fear based packaging or a mistrust based packaging? But I've had some. Some of my friends in the space are way, way better at crafting thumbnails and compelling titles than me. And it's been great to work with them to kind of find a balance point where it's still interesting and engaging, but it's not. I don't feel like I'm being untrue to the. To the species.

Dusty Porter (28:45)

Yeah. One of your videos you did four months ago, you know, you titled Invasive Joro spiders have arrived. Are they in your backya? I think that's perfect. As far as a title, we have Joro spiders here in Georgia. And then your thumbnail is just a picture close up of you looking at one of these spiders that's really much in frame. And there, there's nothing FL overly flashy about that thumbnail and title. It just, it tells you what you're getting. And like you said, you're kind of capitalizing on, yes, I'm being truthful, but it also is capitalizing on like, oh, that's a spider. Yeah, I want to learn more about these things. They're in my backyard, whatever. So you're doing a really good job of that. Unfortunately, a lot of what takes off on YouTub is not just danger or people putting themselves in danger, but it's also negativity. And I think that something I try to promote here is the opposite of that. I'd love to see more positive and positivity out there, get more views. It's just, unfortunately, that's just not the nature of the human species, especially right now in the current state of affairs. All right, so last question for you here. Ben, you've been a great guest and I'm so excited that I was able to find you and have you on the show. What's your final parting words for all creators out there, whether they're starting growing, monetizing. What. What would your final parting words be to them?

Ben Zaino (29:58)

To all creators is quite a large audience. I think my parting words would be if you are creating something that you're excited about, if you're creating something that you love, do not anything stop you. You have a unique position, you have a unique story to tell. And even if the content ecosystem, like you're saying, can sometimes be negative, or the content platforms can sometimes be hard to manage, I think it's so critical that the creator community continues to be a place where there's this huge diversity of stories being told. Not to keep it like I mean, I'm an ecologist, so keep it a vibrant content ecosystem. Yeah, just keep going. Keep at it. Because I want to hear your story and I hope you want to hear mine.

Dusty Porter (30:44)

Yeah, perfect. I love that. Again, we've been joined today by Ben from The Wild Report YouTube channel. I'll have all of his links in the Show Notes, so if you're interested in following up or seeing what he's doing, what he's talking about, you can do. So don't forget to subscribe to the show and check out all of our offerings for creators down below. And Ben, we'll talk to you later.

Ben Zaino (31:05)

All right, sounds good. See you, Dusty.

Dusty Porter (31:06)

And that's a wrap on the YouTube Creators Hub podcast. I do this every Friday, sitting down with a wonderful content creator. If you've listened this far and you're still here, let me tell you, you must be a creator who really wants to invest in your craft. And if that's so, check the show notes of this episode because you're going to see four or five different ways we can help you as a creator. I love sitting down with content creators, working with them one on one in my coaching program. If you're looking for a little bit of a lower barrier to entry, try our Creators Corner mastermind group. Five to $10 gets you in that group. You can chat with other creators all throughout the week. You participate in our Mastermind calls, get exclusive podcast recordings. It's a great investment in your journey and we offer YouTube channel audits and reviews where we do Screencast Recordings for 50 bucks. Take a look at your channel and tell you where I think you should be spending your time. There's other ways you can connect with us, like our email newsletter, our running list of tools mentioned on the show. All of those things will be mentioned in the Show Notes below. Thank you as always for listening to this podcast and if we've helped you in any way, please go leave us a review wherever and however you listen to your podcasts.