This week’s article is by our Video Ninja, Nick Kelly
Now I’m going to quickly clarify the title of this article. I don’t mean rich in dollar terms. There is absolutely a way to make a living with a YouTube channel, but unless you are Natalie Tran, I’m afraid to say that it is a tough market to crack into (Natalie, if you are reading this, love your work!) Now that’s out of the way, let me explain what I mean.
I’m going to take a swing here and state that if you currently have a video on the web, whether it is publicly available or only privately so, that it is hosted on YouTube. I know what you are thinking… ‘how the hell did I know that?!’ I can tell you that it is not magic, but logic my friends. It is the most popular video hosting site in the world with over 100 hours of content uploaded every minute.
I recently attended a seminar at the Brisbane International Film Festival on the subject of YouTube as a platform, presented by YouTube. It focused on the most viewed type of content, the inner-workings of YouTube’s ranking system and monetization, and I thought it may be useful to share some of these insights with you today.
I’ll cut to the chase with a formula that is guaranteed to deliver Return On Investment for you:
Engaged Views = Repeat Views = Monetization.
Let me explain.
Engaged Views
There are currently 40 million Australian based views on YouTube each month (yes, you read that correctly). Over 40% of views in Australia come from a mobile/smartphone. Whether it is the pros & cons of investing in salmon farming or a more personal chat about your thoughts on the state of the NBN, there IS a market for what you have to say.
Whatever it is that you make a video about, be yourself, and create a video that you would share if you watched it. Only 30 percent of a video’s viewers will make it to the end. And that’s on a 5-minute video. So how do you increase watch time? Manage your video titles, tags, and descriptions, build playlists (a group of videos which play one after another) and in your videos, encourage people to subscribe to your channel.
If you are wondering what the most watched content is on YouTube, tutorial videos and ‘how-to videos’ win hands down. Is there a ‘how-to’ you can produce right now?! As a simple example, what about how to sign up for an ABN? I don’t know how to do that, and I would love to know! I can tell you that I’m not the only one who would search for that…
Repeat Views
To get repeat views, you are going to need subscribers. These are people who get a notification of when you release new videos. They are also the people most likely to SHARE your video with another person if they like it. As mentioned above, encourage subscriptions in your videos.
Give your audience a reason to come back. Give them something more than they can get from any other mediums, especially TV. Make ‘web-only’ exclusive content, videos that can only be seen on YouTube. That may sound silly to a professional, not in the media business, but if it’s information that you have never shared publicly before, then it is exclusive, and that word carries a huge weight of influence with it.
Above all else, however, produce and upload content regularly! Like a blog post, your audience will only return if there is something new they have not yet seen. If you upload five videos to YouTube over five months and then do nothing for another six months, then you have wasted your time with the first five videos.
Monetization
So you’ve successfully established a YouTube channel with ongoing content and a regular audience. Now what? Well, as I mentioned, this is not about converting those views into advertising revenue. It is about the value that those viewers represent.
You see, you can use YouTube much like you can use an e-mail subscriber base. You can get more and more people ‘buying in’ to what it is you have to say. What if they then think about the knowledge and helpful hints you are giving them through your videos, the connection that they feel with you and want YOU to be the professional they engage. Then around the dinner table, when they mention that they have a new Adviser, Planner, Solicitor, Accountant etc, think how powerful the following statement to their friends would be:
“Actually, I don’t have to tell you, let me show you who they are”
Getting engaged viewers will get you repeat views. And that my friends, is how you can get rich from YouTube.