- 2,641
- 25
- Subscriber Goal
- 250000
I think this is one of the most overlooked and underappreciated aspects of good content creation. Having a long-term plan is so essential. There is a common sentiment that Content Creators 'blow up overnight' or that all it takes is 'one video' to make it, and this mindset completely ignores the highly-powerful tool that is the long-term plan.
Let's look at this in detail. Imagine that you have a channel with ten videos. You are new, you are still learning how to interact with your audience and get comfortable on camera. You are still figuring out how to create a genuine, captivating reason for viewers to subscriber to your channel and you are just now beginning to grasp all the amazing things that your editing software is capable of doing for you.
And then you get a hit video. That tenth video pops and suddenly tens of thousands of people are watching it. And nobody is subscribing because you haven't mastered a genuine way to convince them they should. You get 1,000,000 views on that one video and tens of thousands on the other nine videos as people come flooding in to see your other work. And all that they have to see are those first ten videos. They don't get to see the amazing things you just learned how to do with your new software or camera because it hasn't been made yet.
Now don't get me wrong; this is the foundation for a solid channel and with a little sweat labor you can pump out some content and and improve quickly and keep people entertained, although there will be some loss of audience as not everybody will be willing to hang around and wait for that next video nor is ten videos going to keep their interest for very long. And you will not have capitalized on that viral video in the way that you could have!
Now let's look at a better scenario, the long-term plan thaty ou should be aiming for right now.
You have spent two or three years watching and learning about SEO, perfecting your watchtime and CTR metrics. Not only have you learned how to perfect your watchtime based on analytics that tell you exactly what to do and what not to do in your videos but you have practiced and perfected the ability to slip in a genuine reason why the viewer should subscribe to your channel. You have worked tediously for years perfecting your craft, your videos and your channel in general and now you sit on top of a library of 400 videos and you wake up to find out that one of them has gone viral. Guess what?
It's not just that one video that gets 1,000,000 views. You have dozens of playlists on your channel and viewers are suddenly binge-watching everything you've got. That 1,000,000 view video is bringing in tens of millions of views. Strong CTA's are pulling in subscribers across your entire library. The backlog of four or five videos that you batch filmed two weeks ago and have ready to publish buys you the few days that you need to film a few more just like the one that went viral so you can ride that wave as long as possible.
The common misconception is that 'going viral' is the goal. That once this happens it will be the big windfall needed in order to pivot away from the nine-to-five and focus solely on the things you enjoy doing for a living. But many times this is not the case. There are plenty of creators out there who struggle even into the 100,000 subscriber range and beyond. The best thing you can do for yourself is to set yourself up for success early on. Focus on making great content. Focus on mastering best practices. Honor your audience. Enjoy what you do. And quit thinking that it is this next video that is going to be the one to make or break your channel. If you aren't already looking forward to the video that you are going to make one-hundred videos from now then why should anyone else look forward to the video that you publish tomorrow?
Let's look at this in detail. Imagine that you have a channel with ten videos. You are new, you are still learning how to interact with your audience and get comfortable on camera. You are still figuring out how to create a genuine, captivating reason for viewers to subscriber to your channel and you are just now beginning to grasp all the amazing things that your editing software is capable of doing for you.
And then you get a hit video. That tenth video pops and suddenly tens of thousands of people are watching it. And nobody is subscribing because you haven't mastered a genuine way to convince them they should. You get 1,000,000 views on that one video and tens of thousands on the other nine videos as people come flooding in to see your other work. And all that they have to see are those first ten videos. They don't get to see the amazing things you just learned how to do with your new software or camera because it hasn't been made yet.
Now don't get me wrong; this is the foundation for a solid channel and with a little sweat labor you can pump out some content and and improve quickly and keep people entertained, although there will be some loss of audience as not everybody will be willing to hang around and wait for that next video nor is ten videos going to keep their interest for very long. And you will not have capitalized on that viral video in the way that you could have!
Now let's look at a better scenario, the long-term plan thaty ou should be aiming for right now.
You have spent two or three years watching and learning about SEO, perfecting your watchtime and CTR metrics. Not only have you learned how to perfect your watchtime based on analytics that tell you exactly what to do and what not to do in your videos but you have practiced and perfected the ability to slip in a genuine reason why the viewer should subscribe to your channel. You have worked tediously for years perfecting your craft, your videos and your channel in general and now you sit on top of a library of 400 videos and you wake up to find out that one of them has gone viral. Guess what?
It's not just that one video that gets 1,000,000 views. You have dozens of playlists on your channel and viewers are suddenly binge-watching everything you've got. That 1,000,000 view video is bringing in tens of millions of views. Strong CTA's are pulling in subscribers across your entire library. The backlog of four or five videos that you batch filmed two weeks ago and have ready to publish buys you the few days that you need to film a few more just like the one that went viral so you can ride that wave as long as possible.
The common misconception is that 'going viral' is the goal. That once this happens it will be the big windfall needed in order to pivot away from the nine-to-five and focus solely on the things you enjoy doing for a living. But many times this is not the case. There are plenty of creators out there who struggle even into the 100,000 subscriber range and beyond. The best thing you can do for yourself is to set yourself up for success early on. Focus on making great content. Focus on mastering best practices. Honor your audience. Enjoy what you do. And quit thinking that it is this next video that is going to be the one to make or break your channel. If you aren't already looking forward to the video that you are going to make one-hundred videos from now then why should anyone else look forward to the video that you publish tomorrow?
