YouTube Creators Hub Podcast: "Stop Chasing Views: The Real Secret to Building a YouTube Business"

Host: Dusty Porter
Guest: Jackson Wilkie, Co-Founder of Channel Junkies
Date: September 5, 2025

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This episode dives deep into the secret sauce of building a sustainable, lead-generating YouTube business by sharply niching down, focusing on strategic long-form content over viral views, and building authentic relationships. Dusty Porter interviews Jackson Wilkie—leading real estate agent and creator of multiple successful YouTube channels aimed at local real estate markets—about his journey, strategies, and actionable insights for creators seeking real business results from YouTube.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Jackson Wilkie’s Origin Story

[02:07–06:21]

• Background: Jackson started as a blue-collar worker, transitioned into escrow sales, and began experimenting with video for realtors.
• Early YouTube Experience: Initial attempts focused on Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn, with YouTube as an afterthought. He didn’t see early success on YouTube but noticed its potential with keyword-focused videos (e.g., "pros and cons of living in Portland").
• Discovery: Inspired by creators like Brian G. Johnson and Nick Nimmin, Jackson learned to leverage keyword research tools (Switching from Google-based research to YouTube keyword-focused data for far greater search volume).
• Turning Point: Realized local real estate search terms had huge audiences on YouTube; started vlogging local neighborhoods, which unlocked growth.

"There was literally zero real estate agents doing it with keywords. It was just listing videos and random, like, day in the life of a realtor video... and I discovered there’s a lot of search volume coming about what it’s like to live in Portland."
—Jackson Wilkie [05:00]

2. Evolution & Strategy Behind Channel Junkies

[06:42–08:36]

• Documenting the Journey: Created Channel Junkies not only to teach real estate YouTube strategies but to document his own learning.
• Naming for Discoverability: Pivoted from personal branding to highly searchable, keyword-focused channel names like “Living in Portland, Oregon,” which resulted in more organic reach and higher rankings.
• Template for Success: His “Living in [City, State]” model has been widely replicated and is now commonplace across real estate YouTube.

3. What Works in 2025: Trends & Tactics

[09:15–11:09]

• Hyper-Niche Focus: Only produce content tailored to your target audience— for Jackson, that’s people relocating or considering a move (not general interest, like local food spots or market updates).
  • Don’t dilute channel with unrelated updates or "chasing views" videos.
• Video Length is Key:
  • Jackson advocates for extremely long-form content—hour-long or longer vlogs focused on relocation, and tailoring release schedules to maximize attention.
  • Over 80% of his channel’s traffic now comes from television viewing, reflecting how audiences are consuming long-form real estate content in a “TV” way.

"I’m anti YouTube Shorts, I’m anti sharing my YouTube channel, I’m anti ads. I only want organic reach and it’s very niche... My videos now are typically anywhere from an hour to an hour and a half long."
—Jackson Wilkie [09:15]

4. Why Long-Form Works & How to Improve Retention

[11:09–16:33]

• Competitive Edge: The landscape is saturated—basic 10-12 minute videos no longer stand out. Long-form allows him to provide real value for big life decisions (relocation/home buying).
• Changing Approach: Removing old, low-performing videos and extending new content length improved channel health and rankings.
• YouTube Algorithm: Longer average view durations shift traffic sources from “search” to “browse” and “suggested,” unlocking exponential organic reach.

"When I can get those average view durations up, that's when suggested and browse flips my YouTube search on traffic and that’s when I start getting all that explosive growth."
—Jackson Wilkie [13:57]

5. Crafting Killer Hooks & Sustaining Retention

[14:52–17:21]

• Hooks First: Develops story and hooks on-location, shooting intros after gathering footage for authentic, compelling openers. Hooks (and re-hooks) are used throughout to maintain curiosity and promise valuable reveals.
• Editing Out Dropoffs: Careful retention graph analysis; removing call-to-actions/trailers from intros because they cause immediate drop-off (spikes in fast forwarding).
• Structured Teases: For vlogs with multiple houses, he teases interesting features at the start to keep viewers wanting the reveal.

"Really good hooks. That is like my baby... I’m always looking for that one thing. What's that one thing that is different about this one."
—Jackson Wilkie [14:52]

6. Example of Great Hooks

[17:34–20:00]

• Evolution: Gone from quick (“Hey, you’re moving to Portland?”) to longer, story-driven hooks—about 1:30–2:00 minutes, tightly tied to the unique value in the video.
• Avoiding Boring Branding: Eliminated branded intros because retention data showed they were actively skipped.

"If I now do a hook that's two minutes, two and a half, I've actually seen a little bit bigger of a drop off. So I try to do them like a minute and a half to two..."
—Jackson Wilkie [17:39]

• Quick Teases: "I always try and throw, 'You're going to hate these. You will not believe this stuff.' And those are ways that I can hook people quickly." [19:23]

7. Monetization: Beyond Ads

[21:00–24:04]

• Sales, Not Views: Main revenue comes from real estate commissions, not AdSense (though the latter adds about $2,000/month for his Houston channel). Emphasized that his model is designed for selling homes, not racking up views.
• Branching Out: Now leverages audience attention for affiliate partnerships (e.g., hard money lenders for his house flipping series).

"We make our money on selling the homes... Over 800 home sales from these free YouTube channels and our program in total channel junkies with these living in channels. It's like well over 2 billion in sales from these."
—Jackson Wilkie [21:57]

8. Lead Generation & Conversion Rates

[24:04–26:06]

• Volume: His Houston channel generates 98 leads/month, with conversion rates at an industry-leading 17–20% (compared to 4% for typical Facebook/Zillow).
• Slow Burn: Teaches realtors to view YouTube leads as long-term relationship building vs. quick sales—quality > quantity.
• Long-Term Value: One inquiry can lead to multiple future transactions.

9. Lessons Learned: Authenticity Over Mimicry

[27:09–28:48]

• Biggest Challenge: Early struggle was trying to be a “top local realtor” rather than himself. Once he leaned into his own story (“I’m not a local here, but I understand your move”), connection and results improved.
• Authenticity and Scripting: Warns against heavy scripting and imitation; success comes from genuine voice and opinions.

"For me, it was a long struggle of not being myself, not knowing who I am, not talking my niche..."
—Jackson Wilkie [27:55]

10. Overcoming On-Camera Nerves

[28:48–32:01]

• Customized Coaching: Identifies each creator’s comfort zone (on location, screen share/map videos, or studio), then builds to their strengths.
• Map Videos as a Gateway: Suggests map videos as an approachable format with high view durations and less on-camera pressure.

11. Community Question: The Biggest Mistake Creators Make

[32:48–35:30]

• Chasing Views: Most creators ruin their channel by sacrificing niche focus for virality, attracting the wrong audience, and tanking channel metrics.
• Niche Discipline: Hyper-niching and resisting the temptation to chase trends or massive sub counts is key, especially if you want business results.

"In my world, the biggest mistake a creator can make is trying to chase views, go outside of their niche, and do different videos just because they're trying to chase views and grow that channel. ... But if that view count is coming from a niche and an audience that has nothing to do with what you personally want to sell or do, it's hurting you way more than it's helping you."
—Jackson Wilkie [32:48]

Notable Quotes

• "The discovery of, like, your ideal niche audience through search first and then browse suggested later is the most important thing.” —Jackson Wilkie [33:23]
• "Out of that we've literally helped tens of thousands of real estate agents. We've sold thousands and thousands of courses. And every time I try to branch out and do something different... everything just shrinks." —Jackson Wilkie [34:46]
• "Know your audience. And that really is the way to reverse engineer everything." —Dusty Porter [35:35]

Timestamps for Key Segments

• Jackson’s Background & Early Struggles: 02:07–06:21
• The “Living In” Model & Channel Naming: 06:42–08:36
• Current (2025) YouTube Strategies: 09:15–11:09
• Why Long-Form Content Wins: 11:09–14:20
• Retention, Hooks, and Structure: 14:52–20:00
• Monetization & Multiple Revenue Streams: 21:00–24:04
• Lead Generation & Conversion: 24:04–26:06
• Authenticity & On-Camera Coaching: 27:09–32:01
• Biggest Mistake Creators Make (Community Q): 32:48–35:30

Memorable Moments

• The realization that YouTube search volume for “Beaverton, Oregon” was ten times higher than on Google, triggering his deep-dive into YouTube SEO. [05:37]
• Jackson’s strategic pivot after analyzing audience retention graphs, removing branding/trailer intros for stronger performance. [17:34]
• Emphasis on building a 7-figure business with “only” hundreds of views/leads per month, challenging the myth of viral numbers. [26:06]

Episode Takeaways

• Niche Specificity > Viral Views:
  Sustainable YouTube business comes from targeted, niche-specific content that solves a real problem, not by chasing trend spikes.

• Long-Form & Retention:
  In-depth, story-driven content that answers the big questions of your audience (especially in high-involvement niches like real estate) delivers more valuable leads—and YouTube rewards it.

• Authenticity Wins:
  Audiences want genuine personalities, not cookie-cutter scripts or generic experts.

• Monetization is More Than AdSense:
  Build your channel to drive leads or sales for your real business—focus on outcomes beyond YouTube paychecks.

Jackson’s Channels:

• Living in Houston, Texas
• Channel Junkies

Connect with Jackson and learn more in the show notes. If your goal is business growth—not just vanity metrics—this episode offers a blueprint for real YouTube success.