We had Sean Cannell, author of the best-seller YouTube Secrets and CEO of ThinkMedia, as our guest speaker in our last webinar. 

He shared with us many things, such as:

• Why it is important to invest in the media
• What the current landscape of media is 
• How to leverage the media and ultimately reach more people, recruit better talent, position yourself, recession-proof your income 
• How to become anti-fragile by also diversifying into media  
• Why is YouTube the place to be for entrepreneurs?

He also gave three YouTube video ideas you can use to start growing your influence and your channel immediately.

One question that most entrepreneurs ask is, “How large should my following be in order to succeed in social media?” Sean’s answer really brings us back to the heart of the matter, and it was “to begin with the end in mind.”

In the media, there is no magic number on how big your following has to be to be "successful."  The first question you need to get crystal clear on is, “What is your goal and what are you trying to do?” Are you trying to reach a wide audience and get your message out there to as many people as possible? Or are you trying to get in front of the right audience and go niche?

“We do not need a big audience to start driving massive results for our businesses,” Sean tells us. Instead, as long as we get in front of the right people and deliver high-quality content to them, we will see results in our business.

On that note, let’s dive right into it.

Why invest in the media?

Stepping outside the realm of social media for a bit, it is an important question to raise. Why should you invest in the media?

Well, the world we live in now is interesting. There’s now what they call the creator economy, where individuals who make content online are now making a living off of it. And it is kind of a blurry industry. A lot of creators can wear other hats, such as being authors, speakers, experts in some other industry, coaches, consulting experts, and some are even students.

According to Forbes, the creator economy is currently valued at $20 billion and is projected to grow to over $104.2 billion at the end of the year–that is 5x growth!

The creator economy is growing at a fast pace with the current state of our economy, as tech stocks are going down. And we see that in the news a lot. Big names like Joe Rogan, Ryan Pineda, the Founder of Future Flipper, Patrick Bet-David, Alex and Layla Hormozi, and Gary V. have all been investing heavily in media.

Why? Because there are real results there.

In fact, SignalFire revealed that the creator economy and those that are actually considering themselves content creators are actually the fastest growing type of small business right now. Two million global creators right now are making six figures just from their fans and audiences. And this isn’t data that specifically tracks businesses that are also embracing content creation.

Why YouTube, specifically?

Well, according to Forbes, in 2022, video is where we all need to be. Because out of all the content formats available online, video is the most powerful and it is what consumers want the most.

There are several video-hosting social media platforms out there, but YouTube has 2.6 billion monthly active users. That's 300 million over just the last three or four months that it's increased, and this is accounts logged in with a Gmail address.

For entrepreneurs, “Is my target audience there?” is a question to really consider. Is there a market there? What is the total addressable market? Are the people I want to reach there? Is the B2B I want to reach there? Maybe, maybe not. But they most probably are. Is the B2C there? For sure. Other consumers are definitely there.

One of the biggest blocks most entrepreneurs face is “I feel like I am late to the party.” The good news is that the demand for good content is skyrocketing. Yes, the competition is high, but the consumption is even higher. It is a good idea to capitalize on the growing demand for good content.

Another reason why YouTube is the place to be is that you can go global. It doesn’t matter where you are in the world. YouTube is localized in more than 100 countries and is available in over 80 languages.

Here's the fact: YouTube is healthy and growing, and it's the most profitable platform to establish your brand.

But is it worth my time? Yes, it is.

What sets YouTube apart from other prominent social media platforms is that it is a discovery machine. Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, TikTok, and even LinkedIn are also good platforms for your brand to be visible, but these platforms are content feeds. Which means that a year from now, people won’t be watching that viral TikTok video you posted today, because it got buried in the feed.

But YouTube acts as a content library. It is also a search engine, and it is the only place where your content lives forever and is searchable months, even years from now.

Entrepreneurs, more than anybody, understand the power of leverage.

In real estate, properties appreciate in value over time. That’s why it is a worthwhile investment, even if it is a large purchase. Think of YouTube as a video estate. Again, it is the only platform where your content lives forever, AND your videos work for you even when you’re not working.

Videos you posted four years ago can still get views today, and they can still increase your influence. Plus, it still generates money if you are monetizing your content.

Whatever you want to have happen in your business, you can have a video that continues to bring qualified prospects' traffic into your world.

Three Video Ideas

So, what videos should I make? Here are three ideas that are guaranteed to get you views really quickly and allow you to grow your influence and your business steadily over time.

1. ASSSQ

The first one is simple, and it allows you to grow at a steady pace. Answer simple questions. More specifically, Answer Stupid, Simple, Specific Questions.

Your content doesn’t need to be profound, and you don’t need to impress your peers by discovering the secrets of the world. You just need to answer common problems that are relevant to your industry.

How do I find a home to buy? Where do I find a good real estate agent? What makes a good real estate agent? What are the steps in selling a home?

These are simple questions that you can answer right away. Why not get your camera and shoot a video answering these questions?

There are videos out there getting 1.3 million views, and they are about “How to drill into your wall?” It may sound stupid and easy to you, but the 1.3 million people who watched it wouldn’t agree. It was helpful to them.

Most people go to YouTube to get entertained, but some of them search for the most mundane stuff. 

How to cook ramen? How to bake cookies without an oven? How to get ink stains off of white clothes?

Which works better for pain relief, ice or heat compress?

How to stop procrastinating? What app to use for language learning? How to take notes effectively?

70% of viewers are using YouTube to help them solve a problem. If there is a problem, be the one giving them the solution. It is a plus if you can deliver educational content in an entertaining manner.

But the key is to be specific. Don’t try to pack a lot of information into one video. Make one video for one specific topic. “The riches are in the niches,” Sean says.

Here’s your napkin plan #1: What is a specific question (about your industry, or whatever your goal is for your channel) that you can answer on your YouTube channel?

Some might be wondering, is it too late to do this?

Meet Larry: a chartered financial analyst who posted his first video not so long ago. He has no special lighting, he just used his smartphone’s camera and filmed in his office. There's nothing fancy about what’s happening here.

He’s just answering specific questions. In six months, he grew to 53,000 subscribers and got almost 900,000 views, and he only did 13 videos.

Why? Well, because he was making the right video.

See, the mistake people make is that they don’t know what to talk about. You just want to make sure that you’re in your zone of genius, you understand who you’re talking to, you answer their questions, and you share what you know. If you help them get that result, then they’ll be pumped about it, and you’ll see the growth on the other side.

Attract the right people. Answer stupid, simple, specific questions.

2. Trend Surfing

This is where you get rapid growth if done right.

In the webinar, Sean talks about his friend. This is the non-verbatim gist of what he said:

My friend surfs. I do not. But he invited me to go surfing, and while I was watching him, I noticed that he would look behind and wait for the right wave, then he would start paddling, trying to get the timing right and catch that perfect wave. He figured out that timing and the ability to discern waves coming. He didn’t just go on any wave. He’d go after the right wave. That in itself is a skill set.

You can apply the same skill set on YouTube. It’s not about doing the dance that is currently trending on TikTok. Trend surfing is about riding your industry’s trends. It is about knowing what trends are coming, what’s on top of people’s minds, what people are talking about, and having the agility to ride those trends, and say now is the time to go live and shoot that video. It’s time to respond to that thing.

You see the perfect wave coming, you start paddling and get the timing right, you catch that wave and ride it out, and then you experience massive growth in the views in the process.

It is about looking at what’s trending in our culture, finding the intersection of your expertise and your industry, and talking about the relevant topics. In real estate, it is about whether to rent or buy. Is there going to be a crash?

Good marketing is about tapping into people’s fear of loss and desire for gain, and thinking about what the worries and anxieties are that are keeping people up at night, then creating content in response. It answers questions brought on by trends. It is giving your slice of opinion on the latest and hottest topics.

There are certain times when certain topics are top of mind for people.

Napkin plan #2: What are the relevant trends, news headlines, or top-of-mind topics related to your business or industry that you could just create content commenting on or reacting to?

Keep in mind that to see the rapid growth, you need to get five things right:

• Talk about the Right Topic
• At the Right Time
• With the Right Thumbnail
• Right Title,
• And the Right Content

That’s the intersection. You can even present an opposing view in a manner that has tact and wisdom. But you need to make sure the video comes out at the right time.

You also need to have a strong title that gets attention and a great thumbnail that evokes emotion. Thumbnails nowadays are dramatic and attention-grabbing. And people are clicking on them. When you’ve got their attention, the content you deliver should be valuable and related to your title and thumbnail.

When webcams were sold out during the pandemic, ThinkMedia made a video on how to use your phone as a webcam. It went viral. Because it wasn’t just good content, it was also on people’s minds when they released it. It was the right content for that moment.

When iOS 14 came out and was messing people up by doing digital advertising, 99% of agencies and digital advertising did not comment on this. But the smart 1% did. They were like “I need to talk about this trending thing.” And this isn’t about a trending celebrity. This is about a relevant headline, something in the news related ultimately to your industry.

3. Video Podcast

On YouTube, probably one of the best uses of your time is to start a video podcast. It would take some time to build influence, but here’s how simple it could be.

You shoot the video podcast, edit the video, and post it on YouTube. Take the audio of that video and post it on podcast/audio hosting channels like Spotify, Apple, Stitcher, etc., and just use software that lets you post it everywhere.

Get some clips from within the podcast, like highlights, and make YouTube shorts and reels out of them. You can even further repurpose your content by making blogs, quotes, photos, and graphics. Then upload them on other social media platforms: Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, TikTok, etc.

Now you can be in the most places with your content by doing the least amount of actions.

Take it a step further. Do a show, invite guests over, or fly over to where they are and shoot the show. You can partner that with trend surfing and talk to people, ask them to commentate on trending issues and topics that are top-of-mind for people, and you get more views.

You might be thinking, “Oh God, I’m already too busy. I can’t do all this stuff.” Well, remember, Alex and Layla Hormozi are investing $40,000 a month in content.

If you’re in real estate and you’re flipping houses, you hire people all the time. If you want to be a content creator and leverage media for your business, you’re not going to do this by yourself either.

You're going to hire people, but you’re also going to be the person who’s architecting the tip of the pyramid. You actually need to be the mastermind who’s thinking: What are the trends I’m going to be surfing? What am I putting at the top of the pyramid and how am I delivering that great content so that if it goes into a system like this, it can ultimately impact people at a high level?

Napkin plan #3: 

• Top 5-10 best and easiest video ideas for you to create. There are probably five or more specific questions that you can literally answer right now.
• Commit to posting one video per week.

Start from there, stay consistent and start building from there. Once you gain traction, you can start building teams around it.

Final Point

Sean ends the keynote with a final word of encouragement:

I want to encourage you to invest in media and YouTube content and video podcasting. It’s not just your business revenue, customers, and leads that can go up. It’s a fact that you can make money in a lot of different ways.

YouTube Income Stacking

1. YouTube ads
2. Affiliate marketing
3. Crowdfunding
4. Merch/Products
5. Brand deals
6. SaaS
7. Network marketing
8. Book sales
9. Coaching/Consulting
10. Masterminds
11. E-commerce
12. Events
13. Membership sites
14. Digital products
15. Investment/Raising capital

This is actually just the tip of the iceberg. You can do a lot of revenue-making things on YouTube.

“Sean, this sounds like a whole thing. This needs a director of operations.” Yeah. It would be worth it for you to hire a six-figure position to help you build out your media empire like Sean. This sounds like it’s going to actually be at least a little bit worth considering hiring a media or social media assistant.

FAQs

How important is SEO?

According to Sean, “Old-school SEO is ‘dead’ in the YouTube algorithm” in a sense that the things you write in the description box aren’t as weighty as your title and content. Focus on getting the title right and getting the content right. YouTube is smarter with its algorithm now and is actually listening in to what you say in the actual video.

How important are captions?

Captions aren’t as important when you want to talk about the algorithm, but for Sean, making their content quality world-class is worth investing in, so he uses rev.com for captions. It is a bit pricey, especially with longer videos, but it was something he wanted to invest in. However, YouTube’s auto-caption is getting better, and for most, it might be more than enough.

Is it true that when you put some money behind a video on YouTube, it messes up the algorithm. Should you start by putting money behind YouTube videos, or should you just go for organic?

YouTube doesn’t penalize you for investing in ads or for buying views. But buying views doesn’t necessarily equate to increasing your viewership if you want to target the right audience. His advice is to get organic growth by improving or investing in your content: investing in tools and teams to help you get better quality videos. You can use YouTube ads that translate into your business, but when it comes to growth, content is king.

Do I use my name, my business name, or a team name in real estate for my YouTube channel?

For Sean, using your name as your personal brand is great. That’s the name you’ll have forever. But, it also depends on the goal of your YouTube channel. So the real answer is, it's up to you and your purpose.

How long should my video be?

Like the channel name, there are no right or wrong answers. It can be as short as a minute, 5 minutes, 12 minutes, 20-30 minutes, or 1-3 hours. Make your videos as long as they need to be but in the shortest amount of time possible. As long as it is not boring and it serves your content, you can make your videos anywhere from one minute to five hours.

If you want to know more about YouTube from Sean, check out the Brilliant Thoughts podcast we did together.

Or you can follow Sean on social media:

Youtube Channel:

• Think Media
• Think Media Podcast
• Video Influencers

Instagram: @seancannell

Twitter: @seancannell

Facebook: Sean Cannell

You could also visit his website: seancannell.com

Buy his book, YouTube Secrets, on Amazon!