How to be a ‘YouTuber’

There are so many success stories for people who have started out posting quirky videos and now make a small fortune as professional ‘YouTubers’.  Some of them have got so famous that they’ve become mainstream celebrities.  

That’s what you want for your business - not necessarily to become a famous ‘YouTuber’, but to attract that level of interest for your business.  So how did these people do it?

For many of them it was an accident.  They started posting their videos and hit a demographic that really liked what they posted and started following and telling their friends - and the channel went viral.

But that doesn’t mean you need a happy accident.  You do need to know your audience though.  

• What will reach them?  
• What are the problems they want to solve?  
• What do they want to learn?

That will give you the content focus.  

The next step is to make videos that will not only deliver the content, but will also entertain and has a personal spin that will make your take on things unique.

What equipment do you need?

You don’t need a posh recording studio and state-of-the-art equipment.  You do need to be able to record video footage that is appealing and interesting though.  Shaky, faded footage won’t work - you’ll need to be able to create clear video, even if you’re using your smartphone.

These days most smartphones will outperform the old video cameras that were considered top end 20 years ago, so they will do the job.  When you’ve gained a following and started monetising your channel you can invest in more sophisticated equipment.

You’ll benefit from learning how to do basic video editing or find someone who can do this for you on Fiverr.com or one of the other freelance platforms.

You can use programs like Vidnami.com or InVideo.io to make informer videos.  These platforms allow you to use images and video clips, which can be your own original material you upload or material from their libraries.

I’d advise that you use your own voice if possible, even if you prefer not to appear in the video yourself.  It will help people to feel that you’re a real person talking to them directly, rather than a corporate producer.

Style AND Substance

You may have heard people referring to something as ‘Style over substance’, which usually means it looks good, but there’s nothing worth having when you take a closer look.  

In other words, your presentations must have great value - but style is still important.  It’s what will make you stand out from your competitors and give you a better chance of going viral.

If you want to make videos that are worth watching you’ll need your own style - and that will need to be consistent.  If you’re not a natural video presenter it’s worth spending some time planning both the content and how you can put your own spin on it.

What creates style?

I know people who always wear the same colour shirt, dress head to toe in purple or wear statement jewellery.  

The way you talk about your subject can also create a unique style.  Think of radio and TV presenters - whether it’s the acerbic outspoken approach of Piers Morgan or the ditzy approach of Zoe Ball.  They’re memorable and that’s what you want.

Invest time in thinking ahead and planning and you’ll create videos that get watched to the end.

Your email marketing checklist

Email marketing is far from dead.  You may keep hearing that email is going ‘out of fashion’ in favour of apps like WhatsApp and Messenger, but most people still use email, especially in business.  A good email campaign can bring in significant improvements in sales volume.

These are the main elements of successful email marketing:

Focus

• What is the end goal?
• What is the time frame or end date for the campaign?
• Who are the recipients?  
• What are their current pain points?
• How does your offer solve their problems?

Campaign structure

• Work backwards from the end date, typically the frequency increases towards the end of the campaign.

For example:  The last 5 days for a special offer you would send emails on day 5, 4, 2 and 1.

A longer term campaign can have emails spaced out as far as 2 weeks apart at the beginning.

• Plan the email content before you start writing.

Email structure

• The subject line must make people want to open it to find out more

Names in the subject line don’t work like they used to - don’t do it!

• The opening paragraph should address a ‘pain’ for the reader.
• Short bullet point lists draw the reader’s eye - 3-5 is enough.  A long list has the opposite effect. 
• If you’re smart you can pick out essential sentences in bold and the reader will get the essence of the message by just reading the bold text.
• Ask for action at the end - then stop.
• Buttons are great to encourage people to do something.
• Postscripts (P.S.) are good to either give an additional push or to offer a lower cost offer as a fallback.  However, the fewer calls to action the better, don’t confuse and distract with asking people to do too many different things.

Check your open and click rates and test different subject lines to improve these.

The gentle art of persuasion

In most networking groups ‘sales’ is almost a dirty word.  However, sales is the lifeblood of every business - no sales = no money!  The problem is nobody likes being sold to, but that doesn’t stop us wanting to buy stuff!

If you look at the traditional sales funnel, it starts with something free, then gradually educates the people who have identified they’re interested in that free material. The process upgrades them to become paying customers, first of a small item, then for the higher priced products or services.

This is persuasion and is based on the premise that they’ve already said they have an interest so more of the same kind of material may also be useful and interesting.

People buy from people they like

This is why email nurturing works well.  If your emails are conversational, interesting (dare I say, fun?) and offer useful tips as well as any promotions, people will get to know and like you.

This is why networking works too - people buy from the people they’ve got to know over many meetings.  They’re also happy to refer them as they feel they know them and trust them.

People buy from people like them

This doesn’t mean we all need to be clones of each other; it does mean that you need to be on the same wave-length.  You don’t have to be someone you’re not, authenticity and transparency are very important in the process of building trust, but you do have to have empathy for the people you want to do business with.

I’ve done a lot of training over the course of my career and I always adjust my language to the audience.  So, if I’m talking to people working on a production line I would use more casual language and phrases than the more formal approach I use in the boardroom.

This is all part of the first stage of a sales process - building rapport.

Credibility rules

In most sales situations people will not buy from anyone they don’t have confidence in.  It’s not hard to generate that - without boasting about your achievements.  Talking about the work you’ve done with other clients, the results they’ve achieved, the money they’ve saved, the companies you’ve worked with all contribute to this.

It’s why networking works so well - a referral comes with credibility already well past first base.  If you’re starting from scratch then you need to lay this foundation before moving forwards.

Credibility is why your website should feature testimonials.  Third party validation is always more powerful than anything you may say yourself.  It’s the reason some companies feature their client list too.

There is more than one reason to ask questions

Part of any sales process is asking questions - which works really well when you’re face-to-face, because it helps you to understand your potential client’s situation.  However, it also works when you’re operating in digital mode.  

If you really know your target market well, you already know what their issues and challenges are.  Asking questions relating to these, even in an email, reminds them of the pain they’re suffering and gives them a push in the right direction.

Using this foundation makes the actual sale much easier as it ends up changing the process around so that the potential customer is deciding to buy, rather than being sold to.