Stop Trying to Go Viral on YouTube. Do This Instead.

In less than 18 months, I posted over 100 videos that generated. 8 million views on YouTube and grew to over 200,000 subscribers. When I first started, I went through the exact same experience that you're probably going through right. now, spending hours in the video following, hitting that publish button. and then waiting and then seeing it get something like 60 views. But there are five lessons that I learned along the way. that I wish I knew from day one lessons that no one talks about. because I think most people are worried about the wrong things on YouTube.

I want to save you years, a waste of time and effort, and to help you finally start. running a successful, but most importantly enjoyable YouTube channel. Let's dive in. And lesson one is that ideas is your best unfair advantage. So after making over 100 videos and I know that I got many more to go. because I just love the process of making them, is that while the quality of your video gears, they do make a difference in making. that first impression for your audiences of how your video looks.

But what really matters is the quality of your idea. And I learned this from Patti Galloway, who help creators such as Mr. Beast as a YouTube consultant, and he reminded me in one of his podcast. episodes that the idea is more important than everything else, including your title, your thumbnail, and editing, because it sets the ceiling of what the videos can become. So the thumbnail and titles there are still very important, but only after you have a really strong idea.

And if you can't package an idea into a clickable title and thumbnail. and then deliver on it so your audience doesn't get disappointed. to actually leave, then it's probably not worth pursuing. So this sometimes can decide if a video is a five Kvue idea. or a 5 million video idea. And I think there's no point obsessing over how good the mic is. or whether I should get more expensive lights and camera. The videos can look better, but are my ideas better? And this is why I realized that the key questions are.

Can I explain this idea in one sentence? And why would someone care about this? I remember I made videos on this channel where I had minimal experience. in any video production, and you can probably barely make out my face. It's probably a little embarrassing to watch those now, and that video generated over 2.5 million views. I literally edited this video while I was waiting for my flight. at the airport, and I've had videos where I created it with cinematic shots. and fancy transitions that just got over a thousand views.

The key thing here is that. I learned to nail the idea first, and everything else is secondary. Lesson number two is that you need to find your 10% leverage. So in anything in life there is this beautiful Pareto principle, which is that roughly 80% of results come from 20% of your efforts. But actually, my personal experience on YouTube. is that 90% of results came from 10% of my efforts, because YouTube is just one of those examples.

I'll find the key levers that you can pull, and only you can do that, which gives you that 90% of your return on your efforts. And this limitation, it really actually set me free. from any creative burnout, because I believe in shipping my work. versus benchmarking my work against my last one or the best one. I realize that the game isn't to make every video perform, but is that to make enough videos that you will hit your 10%. and you're shipping your videos without having the pressure.

either to track my top videos over a three month period, and I recommend that you do the same. Look at how much of your total views it's actually driving, and I bet you most of the times it's somewhere. between 40 to 60% of your views from just that one video. But I also think the average performing videos on your channel. is definitely not a waste of time, because these are the key reasons. why and how they actually became my best assets on my YouTube channel. The first thing is that I see every failure as lessons and experiments, and it's not failure when it's giving you feedback.

and you're learning how to tell your story. And the second thing is that there are community. building videos and they're the growth generation videos. So community videos are going to help me connect my audiences. on more of a personal level. And whereas growth generating videos, they're helping to reach more people. I like making both of them, but the ones that are personal to me, I like the most. And the last thing is. that when someone finds you through a viral video, they want more. So if you only have three videos on your channel, they probably leave.

But if you have ten videos, they're more likely to check out those other ones. I know that my new audiences on YouTube are enjoying the content. when they're saying things like, I can't believe I just stumbled across. your channel and I just binge ten of your videos. So I feel that when I let go of that pressure to perform, I realize my only focus should be on to make enough videos that I can find. my 10% and build a really nice backlog of videos worth binging on. Lesson number three is that information is now worthless.

So if you're starting YouTube now, one of the biggest problems. is that every single video topic has really been covered. Pretty much. So productivity tips done, morning routines. There's so many of them. How to use ChatGPT. Well, that's been done pretty much hundreds if not thousands of times. So why would anyone watch your video? And that's a question that I ask myself every single time, because people don't want just information anymore. They can get that from AI in 10s.

Information's becoming more and more worthless. on its own, but people now want perspective. They want to know what do you think about it? What's your unique take? Imagine you're at a dinner party. Do you think people would like those people who recite facts from Wikipedia? Or do you think they'd be more interested in sharing your perspective on something? So on my channel, I do a lot of book reviews, and in those videos, I genuinely want to share the lessons that I actually wrote down in my books. There are now really dog eared and highlighted with all of my audiences.

Now these are my takeaways and my own unique perspectives. Others who are reading the same books, they probably have a different take on the whole content. And that's absolutely okay. So the key takeaway here is that you want to make videos. that only you can make, because it's your version. of what your prospect lives are, and give people a reason why. Being to watch your version. when you make it yours, with your personal experiences and takeaways, it makes it that much more valuable. because people just can't get it from anywhere else.

Lesson number four is. that views are just for vanity, but your systems are everything. I don't think it's a secret that YouTube views do not pay the bills. Alice Narula but for the long term, because anything. can happen to your reach and how many audiences in your video. And that's after. you actually do get monetized through the YouTube partnership program. So just ad revenue alone, it won't build a sustainable business. And for me, that is a slightly different situation. because I've always approach YouTube as a creative outlet.

while running my main business of delivering digital skills. and AI training for businesses and professionals. Since I left my full time job at Google. And for most beginner creators that I spoke to, they're hoping that. if they get enough views that everything will work out. The thing is that it just doesn't, because the truth is, your YouTube channel shouldn't be the business. It's only the front door to your business. So think of YouTube like a storefront. And this is also the key lesson that I teach my corporate clients.

When I was at Google. When it comes to marketing online is that people walk by, they see something interesting. They come inside. But if there's nothing to buy, there's no way to go deeper, no next steps with you in your particular store. They just walk back out. And really, in my opinion, this applies to any social media platform, and every piece of content. and every video should have a purpose, and they should lead your audiences. somewhere off YouTube into a place that you actually own. Not every video needs a hard sell.

It could be even just your newsletter that's free that you're providing. amazing amount of value every single week in your audience's inboxes. But every video. should give people a way to stay connected just beyond subscribing on YouTube. And here's how it looks for me I have this free newsletter. When someone finds value in my videos, they can subscribe. and get deeper insights delivered straight to their inbox every single week. Now I'm not just a YouTube creator that they watch occasionally. I'm building a relationship.

My audiences. I'm in their world and I want to be there consistently. That newsletter builds my personal brand. It positions me as someone who thinks deeply about how I build productivity, AI, and how to build sustainable working life for myself. And over time, people don't just watch my content. I'm building trust, and you can check it out here. or the link in the description to get your own copy as well. From there, I have two paid programs. If someone wants to work with me. So first my productivity and my training business.

So I teach professionals and entrepreneurs how to work faster, think clearer, and build systems that reduce the overall, especially with the help of AI. I'm also a fractional AI consultant for companies. who needs my help to scale their operations and growth. And then the second part is that my YouTube strategy consulting program. are also there for people who want to grow their personal brand on YouTube. with more clarity and consistency. So the newsletter sends value to my viewers inboxes, and the two paid programs give them clear path to get more results with me.

And that's what turns a hobby channel into a real business. Now, here's something I wish I understood when I first started YouTube. Your channel isn't just a channel. It's really the foundation, the source, the opportunities for your next step. Even if you don't feel like you're building one just yet. And I wasn't. so clear about this in the beginning, but here's how it really happened for me. So I was so focused on making my content better, improving titles and thumbnails. and editing, getting more viewers that the business side kind of just snuck up on me.

So I feel like I fell into this rabbit hole of tools. I spent hours researching the best payment pages, spending more hours creating landing pages to share my products and services. It was a lot, and I feel that I could have saved so much time and money. if I found Stan earlier. So Stan is what I use now as my link in bio. Stormfront. So all of my courses, digital products, newsletter. and bookings are all in one place on Stan. And it's this simple link where I can share it. anywhere and people can immediately see how to work with me and learn with me.

And that's the part that I feel new creators underestimate, is that you don't need a huge audience to serve this business part. You just need to be intentional and have a place where. people can actually take that next step with you when they're ready. If you don't check out Stan, I'll leave a link in the description. to get one month for free and to make it even easier. I also put together a Creator Business Starter Guide that shows you. the three easy steps how to set up your Stan store just like I did, and start creating the ecosystem around your personal brand on YouTube.

Lesson five is that I think retention is the wrong goal, and most YouTube advice they really get it wrong. Getting people to just watch longer is not really the goal. If it makes you sound really robotic and constantly obsessed with metrics. like watch time retention graphs and average view duration. If those sounds like technical words. I'm just throwing out, you don't worry about it. So one thing I learned from. an online friend that I reached out to since I watch this video, is Kayla. Raulston, who works in the personal brands the likes of Alex Formosa.

And he said the most important thing he's optimizing for. is not views and retention, but is actually trust. And I think that in the modern world with so much I slot content around online. When you optimize for trust, rather than just getting each of you to stick around a little longer, that's going to build a long term brand and trust with your audiences. more than just a few quick dollars via AdSense. And the other two metrics that I love to measure myself on are two things. So one is.

what is the value per minute on my video that I'm offering to my audiences? People are really busy, insanely busy. So when someone clicks on your video, they're giving you their most. valuable resource, which is their time, and they're spending ten minutes. watching your video and walking away with nothing they can actually use. You just wasted ten minutes of their life, and most likely those viewers, they won't come back. It's not about making longer videos to boost watch time. It's not making every single minute really worth watching.

And the second metric is what I like to call what I actually watch this test. So think of like you can have the most valuable information in the world, but if it's boring or no one will watch it long enough to get the value. I make videos that I enjoy watching myself because that's really. the best benchmark that you can have because you are your first viewer. And here's what I learned from making 100 YouTube videos. So one is that ideas beat production every single time. And two, is that finding your leverage 90% of your growth.

comes from 10% of your videos. And three is that point of view over information. People want your take, not just facts. Number four is that building ecosystem because YouTube is the front door, not the business. And five it should stop optimizing for watch. time, optimize for trust and value per minute for your videos. If you take one thing from this video, let it be this commit to 100 videos. and not perfect videos were crazy. viral videos, but just first 100 videos on your channel.

Now these videos will help you build up all your work to find your voice. like it did for me. And that's your real payoff, is that you learn more from the process than what you get in the end result. And this series about finally taking action. and making your first video, or your next 10 or 100, I made a video here. that walk you through exactly how to stop overthinking and just start. So let's go make something and I'll see you in the next video.