✨There are 6 reasons why I started a YouTube Channel.
In this blog, I'll tell you all of them.
But before we dive in, I have to share a quick little secret with you.
I'm slightly embarrassed to admit this is my second attempt at creating content on YouTube.
My first attempt was back in the fall of 2018.
I published 5 cringeworthy videos and quit.
This time around, I made a public commitment to create 1 video per week for 100 weeks no matter what.
This is video #15.
Let me know what you think in the comments down below.
Alright, let's dive in.
🍾I'm No Longer The Bottleneck
This isn't going to be the case for everyone so let me elaborate.
The first time I started YouTube, I gave up because it was way too hard to edit and publish videos.
It took so much time and effort and the entire process was incredibly discouraging.
First of all, I'm not a technical person.
I know how to use my computer to browse the internet and watch Netflix, not much more than that.
Learning how to edit video was like learning a new language.
Secondly, I suffer from an insane amount of imposter syndrome.
Hitting the publish button on a YouTube video was harder for me than voluntarily waking up at 5 am every day to work out and quitting alcohol cold turkey.
Since I knew these were my weaknesses, I hired a virtual assistant to bypass them on this second attempt at creating content on YouTube.
My VA's name is Lara and she's an absolute star.
After I record my video, I upload the raw footage to our google drive and basically don't have to think about it ever again.
Lara edits the video, publishes it to YouTube, and also handles distribution across all my social media channels.
That frees me up to do the one thing I love to do, come up with content ideas and write scripts.
Once the video is uploaded to YouTube, we let the algorithm do the work.
The main goal of the YouTube algorithm is to put the right video in front of the right person in order to increase their time spent on the platform.
So far, we've gained a little more than 105 subscribers off just 15 videos. I can't wait to see where we land in the long run.
🎥Video Is Versatile
Years ago, when the internet was just getting started, writing was the primary way to build an audience online.
Then with the introduction of platforms like Facebook and Instagram, pictures were all the rage.
Then Snap, Vine, and YouTube paved the way for Video.
Writing and pictures are still important, but Video gets more miles.
For my video content, we implement the GaryVee Content Strategy.
If you're not familiar with that it's basically this:
With one piece of pillar content in the form of a 10 minute YouTube video, I can:
- Upload the transcript as a blog post to my website.
- Create 3-5 pieces of micro-content that I can share as a TikTok, YouTube Short, or Instagram Reel.
- Create a Twitter thread and LinkedIn post highlighting the key points of my video.
- And we also pull just the audio and publish it as a podcast.
👷Build a Personal Brand
I've been publishing content online for the better part of the past decade and I don't have much to show for it.
My first attempt at building an online presence was a niche website called WODUniversity.com.
I did that for a year or two before I got tired of writing articles about just CrossFit.
It was one of those things where I tried to turn a fun hobby into a business and I ended up hating the topic altogether.
After taking some time off, I started my personal website, SunShak.com.
The nice part was I could now write about whatever I wanted.
The bad part was I published content inconsistently and incoherently.
There was no central theme or topic that tied my content together.
It was sort of a hodgepodge of personal finance, fitness and nutrition, and real estate investing content.
I also wasn't consistent. I waited for inspiration to strike before sitting down to write. I was the quintessential amateur content creator. I lacked direction and focus.
Once I made a public commitment to publishing weekly, my creative output went through the roof.
Two people that really helped me get over that hump were Austin Kleon and GaryVee.
Austin Kleon wrote a book called Show Your Work. That book gave me the confidence to share what I'm learning about, even if I'm not an expert on the matter. He says, "The minute you learn something, turn around and teach it to others. Share your reading list. Point to helpful reference materials. Create some tutorials and post them online. Use pictures, words, and video. Take people step-by-step through part of your process."
If you've watched some of my videos, you can tell I love diving deep into the details. I share exact numbers down to the penny on all my real estate deals. If I'm sharing a profit and loss statement, I go line by line in the expense column. I want to be as thorough as possible because I know that's where the audience gets the most value.
GaryVee has this mantra that really resonates with me. He says, "Document, Don't Create".
Coming up with helpful content with a predetermined audience in mind is hard as hell.
Once I shifted my mindset to simply sharing the biggest story of my week, publishing content became so easy.
Sharing my personal experience was also more relatable than preaching "the best way to do X or How to avoid Y".
Sometimes that story is about a new investment property and sometimes it's something extremely personal, like the time my wife almost died giving birth to our first child.
👨🎨️Creative Outlet
Neville Medhora, of Copywriting Course, has a framework he calls, "The 90-9-1 Rule of Public Online Groups".
He says 90% of people just lurk, 9% of people casually participate, and only 1% of people are responsible for creating most of the content.
I don't know how ACCURATE or PRECISE this rule is, but when I think about my own social media feeds, it feels true.
Even though I follow 500 people on Instagram, it seems like the same 5-10 people are constantly filling up my feed.
When I post, almost all of the people that like my stuff hardly ever post anything themselves.
If it's true, it's a funny phenomenon. But it also makes it really easy to stand out amongst the crowd.
All I have to do is create and publish more than 99% of people.
This brings me to creating more than I consume.
If I spend an hour of my day scrolling through Instagram, I feel pretty drained.
If I spent that same time planning a video or writing a script, I can't help but feel fulfilled.
Creating something is almost always time well spent.
Even if you end up throwing that thing away.
Just getting your creative juices flowing is a reward in and of itself.
Don't get me wrong, I still consume a lot of content on a daily basis.
My screentime is off the charts and most of it is spent on social media.
However, I'm trying to make a conscious effort to look at the content other people are publishing as a producer, rather than a consumer.
So while I still enjoy the dopamine hit from endlessly swiping through reels, I'm also trying to notice what I like about certain videos and trying to figure out how I can try to implement those things into my own content.
🧾Pay It Forward
When I first got interested in real estate investing, I read all the blogs, watched all the YouTube videos and listened to all the podcasts I could get my hands on.
There was one podcast in particular that really helped me. It was the Biggerpockets Podcast.
Anytime there was a guest from NJ, NY, or Pennsylvania, I reached out and found a way to meet them in person.
They were all so generous with their time and knowledge.
Back then, I wondered why these real estate professionals with millions of dollars in assets under management invested so much time in beginners.
But now I that I have a few deals under my belt, I know there's nothing better than sharing your wisdom with someone who is just starting out.
Making sure a new real estate investor doesn't make the same mistakes you made is a small toll you have to pay to enter a life of abundance.
🤑 More Streams of Income
Come on, you know damn well this is actually my first reason, but I had to stuff it at the end of the post to make sure you stuck around to hear it.
Creating content, specifically on YouTube, allows you to monetize an audience in multiple ways.
The first way is through YouTube adsense.
To qualify for adsense on YouTube, you need to pass 1,000 subscribers and 4,000 hours of watch-time in a calendar year. I'm not there yet, but as long as I consistently publish one video a week for two years, I'm almost certain I'll get there.
According to Jack Cao, the CPM for finance and investing channels is $12.25.
So for every 1,000 views, one of my videos will likely generate $12 in revenue.
Not great, but also nothing to stick my nose up at.
The next monetization method is sharing affiliate links.
Affiliate links allow you to recommend products to your viewers and ultimately keep a portion of the sale as a referral fee.
I make a little bit of affiliate income every month by recommending software products that charge a monthly subscription.
It's not much right now, but one of my affiliate partners pays me $30 per month for each person I refer to them.
I made one video about this service and 2 people signed up.
That's $60 per month in recurring revenue I don't have to do anything for.
It's pure passive income, my favorite type of money.
The next stage of monetization is offering personal products to your audience.
Here are 5 common examples of personal products a YouTuber can offer to their viewers.
💻 Online Courses
📚 Books or eBooks
👪 Patreon / Community Membership
👘 1-on-1 Consulting
👕 Merch
This is where things get really interesting because even a few viewers per video can go a long way.
I don't offer any personal products yet, but I can't wait to create one.
As someone who regularly buys online courses and self-published books from content creators, I know that people are willing to spend good money to solve a specific problem.
In 2020 alone, my wife and I spent close to $1,000 on online courses and books that helped us figure out how to get our baby to sleep well.
In 2021, I've spent more than $5,000 on learning how to get better at real estate investing and youtube.
In 2022, I'm planning on doubling that number and joining a $10,000 mastermind that's all about scaling a real estate investment business.
My biggest hurdle to creating a personal product is figuring out my unfair advantage and unique value proposition.
Once I figure out what type of transformation I can offer to an end-user, I'm off to the races.
