The Beginning Of my youtube journey
My Welcome to YouTube
I’ve only been doing YouTube in a professional setting for three months… And WOW have I learned a lot!
But, I want one thing to be clear about my blog space: my observations about this platform come from a place of experience, not expertise. It is important to distinguish my POV as someone who is actively producing and engaging with this space. I don’t know the secrets, and I haven’t reached any level of mastery. However, that is not to take away from the information I share here.
I am in the pursuit of mastery. And this blog is for documenting that very pursuit.
How to Find Success on YouTube
The #1 thing that I have learned about YouTube is from Colin and Samir, a content-creation duo that specializes in creating content for other creators.
“YouTube is a Click-and-Watch platform”
What does that mean? It means the name of this game is titles and thumbnails. At its core, YouTube isn’t about making the best content or building an audience. It is about getting people to click on your video. None of what you do matters if people to not click on your video. The lesson from this perspective is that the ideation process and how creators ultimately package their content are more important than the content itself. The immediate context and information that the title and thumbnail provide users is what makes them click the video, and if executed at a high level, the combination will make them engage with the video long enough to be hooked by a new element of the production.
Perhaps calling ideation, title, and thumbnail more important than the content itself is a stretch. But not to Colin and Samir. They claim creators “have to live 75% towards distributor” when considering the balance between artistry and distribution as a creator.
Play the Game Not the Sport
Coming to my own understanding of this topic, I see the immense value in honing the ideation process. Without a succinct and immediately accessible framing of the topic being covered, we limit our potential for success.
In the sport of lacrosse, one of the most valuable lesson I ever learned was to “play the game, not the sport.” A lot of times in life, we get caught up in the big picture, and our decision-making ignores what is directly in front of us. It’s not enough to say let’s make stunning and impactful video content, you have to be willing to play the game that YouTube has set before you.
With the current landscape of YouTube, ideation, title, and thumbnail has to be the game you commit yourself to playing to find broader success in the sport of YouTube.
