WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:10.080 If your YouTube channel feels all over the place right now, you're not alone. We actually asked our audience why they're stuck. And one of the biggest patterns wasn't just slow views, it was confusion. 00:00:10.080 --> 00:00:23.005 I've been working with someone in our one on one coaching program. His editing's ridiculous. His thumbnails are sharp. His setup is dialed in. His Achilles heel is identity confusion. This this young guy, he he doesn't know 00:00:23.485 --> 00:00:27.245 where his lane is yet. I wanna update my 2026 00:00:27.245 --> 00:00:34.840 advice. When people say, should I start a new channel or keep posting on my same one if I'm gonna pivot? My advice now is 00:00:36.040 --> 00:00:56.605 Navec h d said, I've been transitioning from a random post anything channel to something with an actual niche. It's a lot harder than trying to figure out a video. Todd the big dog said, I pivoted from an AI channel to a real content channel a couple weeks ago, waiting for the algorithm to catch up. Alamil Zono said, I make pranks, challenges, and vlogs. The biggest challenge? People unsubscribing 00:00:56.820 --> 00:01:14.945 and not growing. And Sham Is Home said, the direction is really confusing me this year. So if that's you, whether you're starting a channel or you're stuck and you want some clarity to go forward, we're gonna break down what's actually happening here in five steps so that you can get fierce clarity on your channel's direction. 00:01:15.265 --> 00:01:15.985 Sean, 00:01:16.065 --> 00:01:35.960 this is a serious topic. What's your initial take here? Yeah. I love that we are doing these community tab posts on the Think Media channel. So if you listen on audio, you know, stay engaged with us over there because we do wanna answer your specific questions. We're doing polls over there. And so to get feedback that people are really struggling with this and there's a couple things that are happening. You're 00:01:36.385 --> 00:01:38.625 ultimately sending mixed signals 00:01:39.025 --> 00:01:41.025 to both YouTube 00:01:41.265 --> 00:01:52.530 and you're sending mixed signals to the audience. Like if YouTube doesn't know what you're doing, the audience definitely doesn't know what you're doing. And so the problem is if you got different topics, you're attracting different audiences or different expectations. 00:01:52.850 --> 00:02:03.250 And when your channel is confusing, YouTube doesn't know how to who to show it to. So before we get into the five steps to fix this and anybody listening can either improve their improve their existing strategy 00:02:03.250 --> 00:02:03.650 or 00:02:04.085 --> 00:02:15.925 start with fierce clarity. If you're just starting from scratch, this will be powerful and if you feel stuck right now or confused, this will help you give clarity. But before we get to the steps, let's talk about problems. And the first one is no defined viewer. 00:02:16.005 --> 00:02:17.925 This is the biggest one. This one's hard 00:02:18.450 --> 00:02:29.490 and it's you know, one of the famous phrases is is okay, you're gonna start a YouTube channel, who is your target audience? Yep. And what is your value proposition? 00:02:29.490 --> 00:02:39.825 Yes. So who is your channel for and what is your value proposition? I think when people want you know, generally though people don't know where to start with this. Like, I don't is it Tom? Is it Karen? Like, what do you mean? Who's my 00:02:40.465 --> 00:03:09.635 you know, and is it in business, it's called an avatar. Like, do you have a customer avatar or target audience? But if you're making content and you don't really know who it's for, if you try and reach everybody, you end up reaching nobody. But break this down because you deal with this in coaching all the time with our clients. 100%. I gotta be honest, this is actually the thing that most people don't start with or wanna skip over because it's boring. Mhmm. It can be. Some people get pumped up about this and jacked up. I'm a little nerdy. I enjoy this kind of stuff, but a lot of people just wanna jump to creating videos. 00:03:09.795 --> 00:03:11.635 And here's what might be helpful to know. 00:03:12.515 --> 00:03:14.915 You could replace the word algorithm 00:03:14.915 --> 00:03:22.990 with audience. You really can't, because the algorithm is deciding if it's gonna serve up your content to people based 00:03:23.150 --> 00:03:24.670 on the viewing patterns 00:03:24.750 --> 00:03:35.705 of those people. So this is why it's actually the ultimate hack to figure out your audience, because you're actually aligning yourself with YouTube. Because YouTube, you know, takes into account these things called viewer signals. 00:03:35.785 --> 00:03:39.065 These are literate literally things like watch history, 00:03:39.225 --> 00:03:39.865 search 00:03:40.025 --> 00:03:49.430 queries, the time they spent on platform with a specific video from a specific creator. There's a ridiculous amount of things that YouTube's measuring, and so to the degree that you actually understand 00:03:49.510 --> 00:03:56.950 your viewer, you've defined who you're trying to reach, you're aware of their interests around your niche and why you would be special to them to watch, 00:03:57.190 --> 00:04:02.675 now you actually make YouTube's job easier because that's what YouTube is trying to figure out. So actually, you're much better, 00:04:02.835 --> 00:04:05.395 uh, you're better off to define it for yourself 00:04:05.875 --> 00:04:15.420 in your videos so that you make YouTube's job easier in a sense. You know what? I also think the mistake that can happen here, when we say who is your channel for, I think if people were honest, 00:04:16.060 --> 00:04:19.100 they could say it's for me. And 00:04:19.100 --> 00:04:24.940 that's the problem. Oh, man. Because you're posting whatever you want and you're posting random videos and you're posting 00:04:25.180 --> 00:04:27.260 it's actually not for the audience. 00:04:27.775 --> 00:04:34.015 By the way, that's your choice. It's your tube. You can do whatever you want. But at the end of the day, 00:04:34.495 --> 00:04:53.270 are you obsessed with the viewer by defining a viewer and knowing problems and ambitions? There's the that's the that's the goal to know. First of all, you've identified the person. This is this channel's for kids. It's cartoons, it's entertainment, it's animation, it's Blippi, whatever you wanna do. This channel is for entrepreneurs. This channel is for and then you might get more specific. 00:04:53.670 --> 00:04:55.510 So is it for, uh, you know, 00:04:56.495 --> 00:04:57.695 women, men, 00:04:58.175 --> 00:04:59.775 demographic, psychographics? 00:04:59.855 --> 00:05:03.215 But what do they struggle with and what do they want? What are their problems? What are their ambitions? 00:05:03.615 --> 00:05:16.920 And recently, Rory Vaden was interesting. He was talking about personal branding, but he actually said you shouldn't start with what and you shouldn't even start with why even though there's a famous book on like start with why, start with your mission. He 00:05:17.320 --> 00:05:23.875 actually said when building a personal brand, who should be the first question? Wow. Start with who. And so I 00:05:23.875 --> 00:05:36.195 actually think if we dig into, you know, thanks so much for people commenting on these posts and what a Navek HD said is he said a transition from a post anything channel to something with an actual niche. 00:05:36.770 --> 00:05:45.570 And he said it's a lot harder trying to figure out a video. I'm just wondering if he's saying it's harder to figure out a video now that he's defined his niche, 00:05:45.970 --> 00:05:48.370 I actually wanna say he did it wrong. I 00:05:48.610 --> 00:05:51.010 when you define your niche correctly, 00:05:51.455 --> 00:06:04.255 planning videos actually gets easier. It should be easier. It should be easier. Yeah. Because when you know your who, you then just ask what are their problems and ambitions? Who's gonna be watching this? What do they wanna click in? What are they into? If it was an entertainment channel, 00:06:04.890 --> 00:06:13.770 what artists are they listening to? What trends are they following? What are they watching online? You know the right thing to talk about at the right time. If you know demographics and psychographics, 00:06:14.010 --> 00:06:18.330 then you know that, you know, Kanye recently dropped an album and if you include 00:06:19.275 --> 00:06:20.155 Kanye 00:06:20.315 --> 00:06:28.395 in your thumbnail or you mention that, it's gonna resonate with your audience. If you also know your audience, they still might have no clue what that is. They wouldn't understand any references. 00:06:28.555 --> 00:06:32.075 That's starting with who. So there's a lot here 00:06:32.315 --> 00:06:34.475 that takes you very far down the road. 00:06:35.140 --> 00:06:38.020 And if you've defined, well my channel is my own 00:06:38.580 --> 00:06:48.500 hobby channel where I just want to post whatever I want my own video essay and maybe people will benefit from it and enjoy it and maybe it'll blow up. Maybe people love to just hear me talk about whatever. Yeah. Maybe. 00:06:49.105 --> 00:06:59.105 I'd say probably not. So starting with who defining your viewer. If you're an entrepreneur or a creator that wants to scale their online business, that's why we created the Think Media Mastermind. 00:06:59.105 --> 00:07:09.780 I have so much more clarity as to my ideal target audience now, which means my content is about to be so much better and more targeted towards the exact person I'm trying to reach. Super intimate, 00:07:09.940 --> 00:07:14.740 high level strategy. I had the skills that I already knew sharpened. 00:07:14.900 --> 00:07:19.045 I feel like I went to my next level. For entrepreneurs 00:07:19.045 --> 00:07:31.045 and creators that wanna scale with YouTube. This was the first time that I was able to get in a room with a lot of other serious YouTubers and talk with other people who love creating content and love YouTube. 00:07:31.600 --> 00:07:37.760 Usually, I don't get to do that, so this is really special. You can check it out at thinkmediamastermind.com. 00:07:37.760 --> 00:07:53.665 Number two, pivot shock. And pivot shock is coming out of the fact that somebody recently said they pivoted Yeah. From AI to real. That's actually quite a big pivot. That's actually massive. And then some channels pivot, they were in one niche and in another niche, so maybe they feel directionless, the algorithm's confused. 00:07:53.825 --> 00:07:56.705 Break this down. You're you're very experienced. You've coached so many people. 00:07:58.380 --> 00:08:09.740 What is pivot shock? Yeah. Pivot shock is this one actually for me, you know, it hits the the audience for sure, but it also has a lot to do with the creator themselves because a lot of creators don't even know how to handle a pivot. And 00:08:10.060 --> 00:08:24.555 it's because maybe we just don't quite understand YouTube or we're getting started and we're still trying figure out what we're trying to do. And so I understand the the shock from the creator perspective as well. Because if you go from something like an AI based channel to it's you now, and you're you're the main creator, 00:08:24.875 --> 00:08:47.605 you have to understand a couple of things. Like, when you go through a pivot like this by the way, something we can touch on is I think that people are making multiple pivots way too soon in their journey, and they're wondering why we can't keep anybody around. But assuming you do go through a serious pivot, you can run to this problem where old subscribers don't click you. Totally. New viewers actually don't recognize you because you changed up your content so much that even sometimes, 00:08:47.765 --> 00:09:14.755 you know, in the title and thumbnail, the the entire topics that you're talking about are different than the topics that brought people to you in the first place. And so this can result in lower click through rates. You can actually have, like, slower growth. You're like, all of a sudden, people aren't tuning in as much. And if you did go through a pivot like this, maybe you didn't even realize it. You're just going through and creating videos, and you're changing and you're adapting and you're growing. And the audience that you had, even if it's just a couple 100 subscribers, 00:09:14.835 --> 00:09:28.010 right, if you're all of a sudden not making the same content that they subscribed for, you're essentially starting at zero. Right? Because those people who have already subscribed aren't there for the same reason that you are creating for now. I wanna update my 2026 00:09:28.010 --> 00:09:35.210 advice. Yeah. Let's hear it. When people say, should I start a new channel or keep posting on my same one if I'm gonna pivot? 00:09:35.690 --> 00:09:41.095 Mhmm. My my advice now is you I think you should start a new channel. I agree wholeheartedly. Um, because 00:09:41.255 --> 00:09:46.135 I sometimes would say, well, if you aren't super established or you only have maybe a few 100 subscribers 00:09:46.295 --> 00:09:51.255 because the problem is if you have, like, 10,000 subs or 50,000 subs and you were talking all about 00:09:52.450 --> 00:10:08.365 BTS, the band and you were talking all about like let's say pop culture and then you decided, well I've aged up and I'm gonna talk about something different. So you built a fan base, know, and subscribers that wanted to hear stories and fan lore about BTS. Yeah. Then you're like, you know what? Now I'm gonna do 00:10:08.685 --> 00:10:10.125 minimalism 00:10:10.125 --> 00:10:12.045 for women in their forties. 00:10:12.285 --> 00:10:13.565 Obviously, 00:10:13.725 --> 00:10:17.965 that would be insane. The pivot shock Yes. Of a subscriber base that wants 00:10:18.380 --> 00:10:29.340 you know, k pop or whatever BTS is. Did I just say Is that true? Yeah. I think it's k pop. Yeah. Okay. Yeah. And so I just know I know they're like all over charts. They're gigantic. You 00:10:30.140 --> 00:10:39.775 know, that is so massive. Now sometimes the pivots are more subtle, but let me just define why my 2026 advice is start a second channel is because that's a whole separate strategy that a lot of people are doing. 00:10:40.175 --> 00:10:41.295 A lot of 00:10:41.695 --> 00:10:52.040 creators you could look at are starting channels from scratch because they want a fresh algorithm. Mhmm. And because YouTube is actually doing a good job. If you start a new channel 00:10:52.280 --> 00:11:05.775 with the right There we go. Videos, I'm even gonna hit metadata. I know people, you know, we already proved it in a previous episode, but like SEO is still alive. Yes. The content matters most, but like the metadata that hits it. If you like drop those bombs on YouTube, new channel, 00:11:05.935 --> 00:11:09.455 fierce clarity on your audience, fierce clarity on your media that metadata, 00:11:09.455 --> 00:11:14.975 fierce clarity on the SEO, and then great engagement and you know what you're doing right out of the gate, a brand new channel 00:11:15.470 --> 00:11:30.750 can build so much momentum because you have a fresh algorithm. Yes. Every pivot resets your channel whether you realize it or not. So if you make a drastic pivot, you're causing confusion to your audience, you're causing confusion to the algorithm, you might be confusing yourself and that's why some people are saying they feel directionless. 00:11:31.235 --> 00:11:31.875 So, 00:11:32.435 --> 00:11:34.035 um, and if you are gonna 00:11:34.435 --> 00:11:35.875 pivot gently 00:11:36.035 --> 00:11:45.635 Mhmm. You gotta be ready for the dip That's right. And commit to a channel long enough. I think micro pivots not from k pop to minimalist 00:11:44.770 --> 00:11:48.610 women's advice in forties, that's too extreme. Mhmm. But if like, 00:11:49.090 --> 00:11:53.970 you know, you you if you zoomed out like a lot of people have built loyalty with me, 00:11:54.290 --> 00:11:57.490 obviously here on the Thick Media Podcast, they're getting to know you. If we made a pivot, 00:11:57.995 --> 00:12:00.475 there's some level, you know, whatever and 00:12:01.515 --> 00:12:09.035 and we went from YouTube advice to social media, that would be a pivot. Yeah. Like really just social, like zooming out. 00:12:09.595 --> 00:12:11.515 If we then zoomed out a little bit more, 00:12:12.360 --> 00:12:18.520 yeah. Like, it's you would make a strategic decision maybe expecting a dip. There's been a change, 00:12:19.400 --> 00:12:42.260 but, you know, just side quest side point. There's something about starting a fresh algorithm in 2026 that you can lean into, which brings us to number three, content without positioning. What's that mean? So content without positioning is is this idea that posting videos is not the same as building a channel. So when you're posting content without positioning, that means like without the through line, without consistency, 00:12:42.340 --> 00:12:50.740 even and not just in uploads, but, like, consistency in your presence, in your brand, and the value that you're giving. And if you're posting a video without any reason to subscribe, 00:12:50.980 --> 00:12:56.180 this is the reason that you can feel all over the place and that you can't be hitting the mark, because a video might work, 00:12:56.905 --> 00:12:59.465 but a channel needs direction. 00:12:59.465 --> 00:13:01.465 So you can ask yourself these couple questions 00:13:01.785 --> 00:13:06.345 for every, you know, every video and on your channel. Why should someone subscribe? 00:13:06.745 --> 00:13:20.890 What will they get consistence consistently? And we often say here at Think Media, Sean. Sean, Right? Like, we don't wanna ever upload a video that someone didn't subscribe for back to the whole idea of starting a second channel. Why? So that under the umbrella of this channel, it's uniform. 00:13:20.970 --> 00:13:51.950 Right? There's there's these buckets of content or pillars of content that you can expect here, and you so you have to be able to answer this, and some people may not even have stopped to think about this. Why would someone subscribe to my channel? And what are they getting consistent consistently right now? And for most of us, if you're feeling these symptoms of being all over the place, you probably haven't defined these. Yeah. And let's go back to Todd the big dog. Now, I know I'm lacking some information, but I'm just gonna use what information we have from his comment. He said I pivoted from AI to real content a couple weeks ago. I'm waiting for the algorithm algorithm to catch up. 00:13:52.805 --> 00:13:55.205 Here's what I would say from the information we do know. 00:13:56.005 --> 00:13:57.605 AI or real, 00:13:57.845 --> 00:14:11.740 the interesting question is what is actually your channel about? That's yeah. That's where I was gonna say. So what is the through line because that's really what we're talking about here with content without positioning. What's the through line? What's the reason to subscribe to the entire channel not just watch an individual video? 00:14:12.060 --> 00:14:21.660 Because while I would actually agree with him that AI to real is a massive pivot in expectation. Yeah. However, if your channel makes a promise, 00:14:22.025 --> 00:14:29.145 let me put it this way. If I uploaded a video podcast on this channel using 11 labs to clone my voice 00:14:29.865 --> 00:14:36.985 and the script was good and it didn't really feel like AI, maybe it even did feel like AI, but you're like, yeah, that's Sean talking and people do know me here. 00:14:37.630 --> 00:14:42.030 And if the entire video was kinda like b roll, like, 00:14:42.190 --> 00:14:43.710 so you just didn't see me, 00:14:44.110 --> 00:14:46.110 and then it went out on video, 00:14:46.750 --> 00:14:47.310 um, 00:14:47.790 --> 00:14:50.590 and then it was uploaded on audio, there'd be nothing to see. 00:14:51.365 --> 00:15:09.690 I guess my point would be, but yet we stayed on mission Yes. On task We stayed on brand. And Yeah. The promise of the title was really great and then the content of my AI voice reading it was, you know, really great. Yeah. And the viewers were like, woah. And the listeners were like, there's some epiphanies in here. There's some great stories. Okay. 00:15:10.170 --> 00:15:15.450 Whether you knew it was AI or not, did it deliver on the promise of the channel? Yes. So formats 00:15:15.530 --> 00:15:30.985 is important. But what's interesting about formats is, again, maybe somebody like might say, only wanna listen to Sean, but what we're doing at Think Media is also like, no. We wanna we wanna build a brand where people realize the people on our platform, whether that's Nathan, you, whether that's Nathan on 00:15:31.705 --> 00:15:35.200 the Think Media channel, whether that's Craig, whether that's our coaches. 00:15:35.520 --> 00:15:54.935 It's like you're just getting a consistent value and a consistent promise when you experienced our brand. So what do I mean by that? Is I mean that we sometimes are focusing on the wrong things. Yeah. You know, if you pivot from an AI and you're real, but you deliver the same value, what's the value of the channel? What's the promise of the channel? What's the through line of the channel? What's the consistent 00:15:55.255 --> 00:15:58.535 you've defined a who, but also it it is what. What 00:15:59.170 --> 00:16:22.035 would they keep coming back on and watching? And I mean, think last thing to ask would be, and what can they expect? Like why would they subscribe and keep what if you haven't defined that? You know who it's for and what problem it solves and what that clear focus is. And let's let's talk about niche or not. Do I niche down or not? Do I focus my topic or not? Yeah. I I think the focus is the keyword. 00:16:22.435 --> 00:16:43.195 Let's I'm happy to throw the word niche out. What's the focus of your channel though? And if it's about too many things or it's not clear, if it takes too long to describe, if it could be in one sentence as opposed to four paragraphs Mhmm. The moment you're like, well, listen, do you have thirty minutes? I can really explain to you the vision. No. I don't have thirty minutes. I have 30 characters. 00:16:43.435 --> 00:16:52.315 What is your channel in 30 characters? Send me it in text. Don't send me a thirty minute audio recording. Yes. The most offensive thing anyone can send even though I send a lot of them, you know. 00:16:53.390 --> 00:17:18.645 Especially too. That was the Thirty minutes of my drive this morning. Sean, could you type that out? That'd actually be a lot more kind and thoughtful so we'd have to listen. Yeah. Like, consolidate the message down. If you haven't taken it taken the time to write it down. Okay. We're gonna get to these five steps in a second, but there's one more. Last thing is identity confusion. Identity confusion. Yeah. And this is this is the deeper issue. This is where you haven't decided what kind of creator you are, and hang with me. 00:17:18.965 --> 00:17:21.925 This matters everything. This is the invisible glue 00:17:22.280 --> 00:17:33.960 underneath all the stuff. I'm gonna share a quick story. I've been working with someone in our one on one coaching program, VRA Accelerator. He's a young guy. He has all the chops it takes to do this YouTube thing. Every single one. 00:17:35.685 --> 00:17:45.125 Ridiculous. His thumbnails are sharp. His setup is dialed in. It's like I'm I've actually been working with him, and I've been waiting for the day that he pops off because it's gonna come. 00:17:45.445 --> 00:17:53.500 But here's the thing. The big his achille his Achilles heel is identity confusion. This this young guy, he he doesn't know 00:17:53.900 --> 00:18:23.260 where his lane is yet. And when you know where your lane is, and it's at the intersection of what you're passionate about, what you can speak to, and and what you can see yourself doing years from now, we haven't found that yet. And so you can have. He's just living proof. And if he were sitting right here, he'd be totally okay with me sharing this because the big unlock has been, no. No. No. Actually, set aside the camera. Don't go film another. Don't do what you already are crushing. He's crushing with all that stuff. It's not the issue. You need to figure out who you are, man. So are we entertainment? 00:18:23.580 --> 00:18:24.620 Are we education? 00:18:25.020 --> 00:18:28.940 Do you have a business idea that you wanna connect things to, or is this more like lifestyle content? 00:18:29.020 --> 00:18:32.380 And up until this point, he's had fire videos, 00:18:32.805 --> 00:18:34.005 banger videos. 00:18:34.245 --> 00:18:38.485 And here's the thing we've done too, Sean, we even started a new channel. Because 00:18:38.805 --> 00:18:53.190 I was, like, you know, just trying to diagnose everything, and I'm like, that's our last solution, but it just wasn't working. I was like, let's try the fresh the fresh algorithm play. I just don't get it. Don't get it. Same results. And it's because up until this point, he can have the flashiest, best content, but because this piece is missing, 00:18:54.070 --> 00:19:08.205 people are clicking in. And my hunch is we don't believe who we're interacting with, that even the views we are getting Yep. For some reason, there's something missing there. So The word that's coming to mind is alignment. Yes. That's very super deep. But when you get in alignment 00:19:08.525 --> 00:19:10.605 and if somebody's disaligned, 00:19:10.845 --> 00:19:26.320 that's not even what we're fully diagnosing here, but we are at least we are diagnosing the problem. I don't know that we have a solution to fully get into alignment other than the fact that it's can be an ongoing process of coaching and feedback and practice and then time. 100%. Time to test 00:19:26.560 --> 00:19:30.275 a version. You know, like things that really helped me, Nathan, 00:19:30.595 --> 00:19:32.515 is I daily vlogged 00:19:33.075 --> 00:19:40.355 well, actually I had some friends send me a camera, Benjie and Judy Travis, and they sent me this Canon Elf, a huge blessing, but this like little point shoot camera. 00:19:41.110 --> 00:20:03.565 And as soon as I got it, I pressed record that day and uploaded my first daily vlog because I'd watched them do it. And I actually committed to daily vlogging for thirty days, which was insane because I had nowhere near the time. Had a full time job like I wasn't daily vlogging Yeah. And I went zero to daily vlogging thirty days immediately. It's amazing. And just and like brute force. Yeah. Film whatever I could during the day and then edit at night or the next morning to do it daily. 00:20:04.045 --> 00:20:08.845 And now I had the blessing of having a video background and an editing background, so I edited fast. 00:20:09.645 --> 00:20:18.630 But here's actually what's interesting, is that you could you could call those some of the thirty day best days of my life. Mhmm. And it did not lead to a successful vlogging career. Yep. It did not lead 00:20:19.190 --> 00:20:19.750 and 00:20:20.230 --> 00:20:23.030 to your point, do I have the chops for that? Maybe. 00:20:23.190 --> 00:20:30.735 Maybe not. Do I even I don't know. I also personally whether I do or I don't, it's not something I wanna do, not in that format if it was whatever. 00:20:31.055 --> 00:20:35.775 Identity confusion. So so if, yeah, you're if you're disaligned, if you're in the wrong niche, 00:20:36.410 --> 00:20:48.890 you don't wanna get into a box someone else made for you by by figuring that out because if your identity is unclear, your content will be too. 100%. And that and this is all about clarity and alignment versus confusion 00:20:48.890 --> 00:20:54.845 and chaos. Yes. And the algorithm not really knowing. And so yeah, I think you could pick an identity. 00:20:54.845 --> 00:21:15.760 Are you there on YouTube to teach? And then step into it because sometimes we haven't like embraced that. Yes. Taking the day to say, oh, I'm a teacher on YouTube. Yeah. I don't have a PhD. I don't even have a degree, but I'm one or two steps ahead of the person I wanna help. I'm one or two steps ahead of the person I was yesterday. That's your who by the way. You're most powerfully positioned Oh my goodness. To help the person you were yesterday. 00:21:16.625 --> 00:21:22.145 So you've identified your who. I'm gonna teach them this or am I gonna entertain? Am I gonna inspire? 00:21:22.225 --> 00:21:28.545 Am I gonna create a place for conversations and debates? But picking that, picking a lane or at least embracing 00:21:28.545 --> 00:21:34.430 the journey to not feel the pressure but to be like, listen, the low views are practice and experimentation. 00:21:34.430 --> 00:21:39.550 Yes. Because I am figuring out my identity. I'm practicing my voice. I've heard a lot of podcasters 00:21:39.870 --> 00:21:47.915 and and while they say on the stats, it takes about two years to even start making money from your podcast get get going. Mhmm. But I've had my friends like Carrie Nuehof say, 00:21:48.235 --> 00:21:51.515 he's got a big faith based podcast, huge now in church leadership. 00:21:51.595 --> 00:21:56.395 He's like, bro, this thing like he's like ten years in. He's like, I don't think I figured out my voice until year four. 00:21:58.250 --> 00:22:12.170 I didn't even thought Okay. That's like saying I didn't like get an alignment with my identity until four years in of doing it consistently. Yeah. Of actually like showing up, doing it. Some things just come over time where layers of clarity while you stay in learning, stay in practicing. 00:22:12.835 --> 00:22:24.195 And so, um, we're gonna talk about how to fix this, but do you have any final parts for that part? We would've been diagnosing the problems. We give you the five steps to fix this, but transition us. Yeah. Know. A 100%. And I think that the key point there is 00:22:24.835 --> 00:22:27.555 the only way to find that clarity is to persist. 00:22:28.070 --> 00:23:07.180 Right, is to, like, continue moving through. And so to the degree that you can stay in momentum and keep posting just like this young guy we're working with. We haven't stopped uploading until just recently where it's like, okay. Now let's really pause and do that. He's been uploading all through this, and he's even said, yeah. I mean, this has been completely worth it because of the clarity I'm getting. Like, we're accelerating how fast I'm moving through this alignment process. It's good. Feedback loops, all of that. Okay. We got five steps. What are they? Are you a business owner or serious content creator that is struggling to crack the YouTube code? Are you feeling stuck, overwhelmed, or just plain frustrated with slow growth? If so, then our new one on one coaching program at viralvideocoach.com 00:23:07.260 --> 00:23:11.180 is your premier ticket to YouTube success. 00:23:11.180 --> 00:23:17.625 Becoming the authority in your niche, attracting engaged leads and loyal customers. 00:23:17.785 --> 00:23:23.305 We offer one to one coaching with our YouTube experts that'll help you get results fast 00:23:23.465 --> 00:23:34.690 and a supportive community that's cheering you on. So if you're ready to stop wasting time with trial and error and to stop leaving money on the table, then head to viralvideocoach.com 00:23:34.690 --> 00:23:48.935 to apply to see if you qualify for our coaching program. Heads up, this offer is not for everybody. It's only for serious content creators and entrepreneurs that are ready to take action. So if that's you, head to viralvideocoach.com 00:23:48.935 --> 00:24:00.360 to apply or click the link in the show notes. Alright. Let's jump back into the episode. Step one to fix this is define your channel in one sentence. You could do this right here. I help who 00:24:00.760 --> 00:24:02.440 get what result 00:24:02.760 --> 00:24:03.400 through 00:24:03.640 --> 00:24:10.545 fill in the blank type of content. Here's an example. I help new creators grow on YouTube with simple tutorials. 00:24:10.625 --> 00:24:27.390 If you do this and you find that clarity, you just defined your channel, I actually think a lot of this this this feeling of being all over the place goes away. Yeah. I agree. And that would be like that's what we do at Think Media. We help creators grow on YouTube with simple tutorials. So you could fill in the blank for you. What I would take it about a little bit deeper is 00:24:27.710 --> 00:24:33.470 that's the teaching side and so some individuals still might be like, okay, but I'm more entertainment. 00:24:33.630 --> 00:24:36.110 But you you still need a formula like 00:24:36.350 --> 00:24:46.825 I and even if you don't post this publicly, you need to get clear on this for yourself. Yes. So it's like, I'm seeking to entertain. What is the point of your vlog? I am seeking to entertain 00:24:46.825 --> 00:24:47.785 and help, 00:24:48.025 --> 00:24:49.945 uh, people relax 00:24:50.260 --> 00:25:01.060 in a world that's stressful. Our aim is to bring more light heartedness into the world. Love it. Oh my goodness. We wanna be a model family that values kids and faith and whatever 00:25:01.220 --> 00:25:04.075 and share the lessons we're learning 00:25:04.235 --> 00:25:10.795 in life and raising kids with the world. That might be a vlog thing. You know, I wanna enter like define 00:25:10.795 --> 00:25:15.730 your channel in one sentence. Define your channel in one sentence. 00:25:16.130 --> 00:25:19.170 Okay. Number two, choose two to three content pillars. 00:25:19.490 --> 00:25:21.410 Two to three content pillars. 00:25:21.810 --> 00:25:23.730 The feedback we got in the beginning, 00:25:24.130 --> 00:25:39.325 and lots of people in our community are again struggling with this, is like each week you're looking at a blank slate and what do I make this week? Yeah. Or I tried this concept. I've tried somebody said I tried pranks and I tried challenges and I tried this, but I'm struggling. And so if you're doing too many different things on your channel, 00:25:39.645 --> 00:25:49.280 what is a repeatable topic that could keep serving the same audience and helping them towards the same outcome? By the way, you could start with one content pillar. Maybe you want a little variety, 00:25:49.280 --> 00:25:57.200 but it's like, you know, one of our students actually has a really big channel that's helping people that have been through specifically, like, narcissistic relationships. 00:25:58.095 --> 00:26:04.335 And, uh, yeah, she's been a part of our Video Ranking Academy crushing it. She has what you'd call a video podcast, 00:26:04.975 --> 00:26:15.240 but she doesn't interview anybody. Uh, they're simple solo rounds. So they're essentially talking head videos. There's some editing in there. It's not where she started, but she's continued to upgrade her channel. She's over a 100,000 subs now. 00:26:15.960 --> 00:26:16.760 And so 00:26:17.080 --> 00:26:23.960 she's like dialed in though. So each video that is distributed on YouTube, but also video podcast and whatever. 00:26:24.440 --> 00:26:48.410 I I mean, from my perspective, I see she only has one content pillar. But it's these different topics, the problems people face when being these relationships or recovering or trauma bonding or you know, emotional abuse or the stuff they've through, how to deal with it. And by the way, it's endless. How do you deal with maybe a a a parent that was a, you know, a narcissist? What are the different types of So she can You you think about the people you're serving, you then also realize 00:26:48.570 --> 00:26:54.185 what's cool about the flag she planted on what her channel's all about. She might say, I help, 00:26:54.505 --> 00:26:55.865 uh, individuals 00:26:55.945 --> 00:27:00.505 who've suffered, uh, you know, narcissistic abuse or have dealt with those types of relationships 00:27:00.665 --> 00:27:09.690 heal and find ways to cope or deal with the relate I've made it really complex, but it it's clear what her channel's about. And it's like one pillar. So it's like kind of one format, 00:27:10.250 --> 00:27:19.450 clear for the audience, clear who the outcome is because this can expand over time. But the challenge for the listener would be like, yeah, what what are your content pillars? Here on this podcast, 00:27:20.365 --> 00:27:22.205 I guess we have solo rounds, 00:27:22.365 --> 00:27:39.560 we have I mean, in a way, we have like teaching and interviews. That'd be another way to put it. Yeah. It's me solo, it's you solo, it's us, but like we're going through an actual framework we're teaching here. Interviews are a little bit different. What are your pillars? What are your content pillars? Are they particular type of skit? Are they news? Are they live streams? 00:27:39.800 --> 00:27:44.680 Less is more. We're saying two to three, but I wanna I mean, pick one. Start simple 00:27:44.680 --> 00:27:46.120 so you have predictability, 00:27:46.120 --> 00:27:46.920 faster creation, 00:27:47.545 --> 00:27:49.545 stronger stronger signals, 00:27:49.625 --> 00:28:01.625 but it brings us to number three, commit to one direction. Break this down. 100%. And actually step three, commit to one direction, but step four is give it time to compound. I actually think these are siblings. They go right right with each other. So after you've done all of this stuff, 00:28:03.080 --> 00:28:05.320 commit to one direction. 00:28:05.320 --> 00:28:13.080 Yes. Oh my goodness. Most creators are failing and feeling all these symptoms because you're changing everything, every daggum two videos. 00:28:13.080 --> 00:28:22.065 And so the most important thing you could do is commit to one direction because one video is not an experiment in my opinion. Like, if I'm working with someone and we're like, hey, we're gonna try this new direction. 00:28:22.305 --> 00:28:35.740 We have clarity on our channel. We know our pillars. You can't, like, you can't do one video. I need, like, 10 to It's a big enough test. I need yes. I need way more videos to actually get information about this strategy in this direction. So step four, give it time to compound. 00:28:36.060 --> 00:28:46.335 10 to 20 videos minimum. Mhmm. And you might be like, Nathan, what the I'm dead serious. Totally. This is why okay. If I'm saying I want 10 to 20 videos from you, take it seriously. 00:28:46.335 --> 00:29:00.590 Slow down. Figure out these things so you can commit to that level of volume. Let the data build over time, and then you can interpret all that data to let you know how is our audience responding, how are we feeling this because the reality is I wish it could happen faster, 00:29:00.830 --> 00:29:02.350 but clarity takes 00:29:02.510 --> 00:29:05.310 time. Clarity takes time and confusion 00:29:05.310 --> 00:29:06.270 costs 00:29:06.350 --> 00:29:08.030 time. Yeah. 100%. 00:29:08.030 --> 00:29:11.230 And actually, I wanna recommend a resource that we have for individuals 00:29:11.805 --> 00:29:12.765 because 00:29:12.765 --> 00:29:19.645 I don't know what we promised earlier but those are the four steps of how to fix it. You definitely gotta commit to one direction, give it time to compound. 00:29:19.725 --> 00:29:22.925 But we actually have a free training over at thinkmasterclass.com 00:29:22.925 --> 00:29:24.685 and I also just updated this. 00:29:25.420 --> 00:29:29.420 So we have what's called our seven step YouTube growth system. 00:29:29.660 --> 00:29:38.060 And what's so powerful is that seven steps isn't just about like tactical things about how to get views, it'll help you on the whole strategic side 00:29:38.505 --> 00:29:47.625 and help you If you've already been getting clarity in this episode, it is gonna like lock it in for you to give you clarity on exactly what to do in what order 00:29:47.785 --> 00:29:58.280 so that you're also posting videos that get views and make money. And that's what the whole point of it as well. If you don't wanna do that, well then don't check out the class. But if you're interested of how do I actually grow a YouTube channel that is also gonna earn money, 00:29:58.680 --> 00:30:05.785 this class breaks it all down. It goes deeper than we've been talking here and you get to watch over my shoulder on demand at thinkmasterclass.com. 00:30:05.785 --> 00:30:14.665 We'll link that up in the show notes as well. But you gotta define your channel in one sentence. You gotta choose two to three pillars. You gotta commit to one direction, 00:30:14.825 --> 00:30:19.980 and then you gotta give it time to compound. You need to let the data build. You need to let your audience 00:30:20.220 --> 00:30:21.020 adjust, 00:30:21.100 --> 00:30:23.820 and switching is too expensive. 00:30:23.820 --> 00:30:26.220 I'll end with a story and then let you close. 00:30:26.940 --> 00:30:30.460 I think that too many people misunderstand 00:30:29.975 --> 00:30:40.295 how expensive switching is. What this would when I think of switching, it'd be like if you're in Texas. Now for our global audience, that's sort of center America, huge state. 00:30:40.855 --> 00:30:45.815 And I'm right now in Seattle and, uh, Nathan is normally living in Nashville. 00:30:45.895 --> 00:30:52.270 So basically think about like the center of America and then think about the Left Coast and then think about the East Coast on the right. 00:30:52.590 --> 00:30:59.710 And so what's interesting is like when you pick a direction, right, if we were gonna do a road trip and we're like, alright family, we're packing up kids, 00:31:01.175 --> 00:31:02.295 Goldfish, 00:31:02.455 --> 00:31:03.255 tablets, 00:31:03.735 --> 00:31:05.815 Nintendo Switch Yes. Games, 00:31:07.015 --> 00:31:08.535 eye mask, pillow, 00:31:08.615 --> 00:31:09.255 whatever. 00:31:09.495 --> 00:31:15.495 Um, you pick a direction and we start we wanna go to your house. Yeah. So we start driving from Middle America to Nashville. Yeah. 00:31:16.350 --> 00:31:17.710 Okay. So we leave, 00:31:17.950 --> 00:31:23.470 and but if we change our mind and we maybe get a couple states over, drive for a few days, break a couple times, 00:31:23.790 --> 00:31:34.885 you know, we're almost there. We're almost there. Yeah. You're like, I'm waiting. I got some food cooked. We're gonna hang out. But then you're like, you know what? I actually changed my mind. I wanna go to Sean's house in Seattle. 00:31:35.685 --> 00:31:56.520 What do you not only like you're turning around Mhmm. But now your your hours in a different direction. Yeah. You're you're starting from scratch and so for some individuals you might think, well, I already have some subscribers. I have some You do have the lessons but how the algorithm might be conditioned. Yeah. Shoot. You're turning around and you're in a way starting from a deficit but there's just a cost to change. There's a cost switch. 00:31:56.920 --> 00:32:07.845 So now you're making up time, you're driving the other direction. Pick a direction and stick with it long enough. Too many creators are switching things up too much time. Clarity takes time, but confusion 00:32:08.005 --> 00:32:09.925 costs you even more time. 00:32:10.245 --> 00:32:44.525 So get clear, choose a direction, lock into it. Podcast, we asked you where you're stuck. This whole episode exists because of your feedback. Would you please let us know? Continue the conversation. What stuck out to you from today's episode? Where did you feel challenged? Where do you're like, man. Yep. I really need to crack that. What have you already tried and it's not working? We'd love to hear about where you're at on your YouTube journey because that's what we're here for. We're here to support you. We're here to challenge you, and we're here to help you get closer to your goals on YouTube this year. This is the Think Media Podcast. I'm Nathan Eswein, and I can't wait to connect with you in a future episode.