Sean Cannell and Benji Travis’ online video book “Secrets of YouTube. A guide to growing subscribers and profits through video exposure. ” Among other things, the authors talk about the seven main components of the revenue channel, new strategies for gaining views and youtube subscribers, as well as ten ways to make money on YouTube. We publish an excerpt from the book.
Potential Partners: Search and Communication
Make a list of people you would like to work with. We keep a list of YouTubers that we want to interview (and which is constantly updated) in Google Docs. So it is all stored in one place, and it is easy for us to interview them regularly.
YouTubers are busy people. Their emails and social networks are crackling with messages. We advise you to remind them of your offer 2-4 times a year – clearly on the list.
ADVICE. The more YouTubers you write, the higher the chances of getting consent. Most likely to collaborate with YouTubers, who have about the same number of subscriptions.
Of course, everyone wants to work with bigger and more successful channels, but such channels also receive much more offers. And someone with about the same audience size as you will most likely agree. However, keep in mind that audience size is not as important as the common interests of viewers or similar content.
But how to work with a more popular YouTuber? For example, offer an interview. In the interview, you position yourself not as an equal in status, but as a person who will help the influencer to share information, knowledge and advice with a new segment of the audience. And she doesn’t have to work on the video itself. Try this via the Google Hangouts * tool, which you can use for free in your YouTube Studio. It allows you to create a conference with a person anywhere in the world and share a recording on your channel.
The interview chip worked just fine for us. We managed to talk not only with YouTubers who are about the same popularity as us, but also to attract authors with a much larger audience. When there were only 10,000 subscriptions to Video Influencers, we were able to persuade influential people to interview several million.
To get as much “yes” as possible, we offered youtubers maximum value. For example, if the author wrote a book, we promised to tell our audience about it. Our goal was to create an interesting interview, promote its project content, and do our best to get as many people as possible to watch the interview – that’s the only way we could thank the influencer for taking the time to interview us.
Another effective way to find potential collaboration partners is through sectoral activities. There are a lot of festivals, conventions, meetings for YouTubers now: VidCon, Playlist Live, CVX Live, VidSummit, Video Marketing World, ClamourCon, etc. And their popularity is only growing every year. Here you have a great opportunity to meet people you would like to work with. And if you think strategically, you can contact them in advance and shoot the content just during the event.
And at mass events you can establish contacts and lay the foundation for future cooperation. Take an active part in local events, even if they are not directly related to your niche: this way you will meet new people with whom you may want to work later.
We are always looking forward to local conferences on social media, video production or small business. We have made many valuable acquaintances here. Most of the collaborations are just filmed during these events.
The service is currently unavailable. Conferences are now implemented through the Google Meet service, but it is paid only for Google corporate accounts.
If a person is willing to spend time, money, and effort attending an industry event, it is likely that he or she will gladly agree to a collaboration or interview on the spot.
At the beginning of the book, we talked about the charms of wholesale content production, when several videos are shot in one day. Measures are perfect for this. At the ClamourCon conference in Palm Springs, we filmed twenty interviews in two days. There was so much work that at the end of the second day we felt like squeezed lemons. However, in one conference we received as much as twenty weeks of content. Activities can cost you a lot of time and money, but you will benefit much more than you spend.
There are several ways to contact a person about collaboration. The first is Twitter. We love Twitter, because it can attract anyone’s attention here. Just think of the influencers you can work with if you write them a quirky tweet.
Another great option is personal messages. For example, now often write on Instagram. But keep in mind: if you send a message to someone who has not subscribed to you, it can get into the “Spam” folder. But don’t let that scare you. Many people periodically look into spam and may well notice your message. If you describe hundreds of people, there is a chance that a few will agree. And it’s already worth the effort.
Many YouTubers prescribe email for business offers in the “About the channel” section – always check this tab. And you can search for groups on Facebook or some other communities where influencers from your niche gather. This is a great chance to meet the right people.
Whatever strategy you choose, never act aggressively. Think carefully about how you can approach a person creatively. How to make an impression is not intrusive, not eccentric, but not mediocre. Personally, we immediately close emails with suggestions if we see that the person is just copying the message and sending it to everyone in a row. We appreciate when people really watch our content, have some idea of what we do, and approach us personally. This significantly increases the chances of cooperation.
ADVICE. We often see the same mistake in people who write about collaboration: self-obsession. It doesn’t have to be that way. Explain to YouTuber what value you can offer him, not what collaboration benefits you. Read more about followers for Instagram and Youtube in our blogs.
YouTubers have been collaborating since time immemorial and have gathered a large audience. Never be afraid to turn to a popular YouTuber and ask: you never know who can agree.
One of my favorite collaborations started with another person giving up the collaboration. We flew to New York to interview a well-known influencer, but on the day of the meeting his schedule changed, so we had to cancel it. However, we have already flown across the country – can you imagine how upset we are?
However, the day before we sent a letter without hesitation, which saved the trip. Arriving in New York, we immediately wrote to another YouTuber there. Just. Remember? Spitok is not a loss. However, we were genuinely surprised when YouTuber gladly agreed to meet. What is his name? Casey Neistat, winner of New Media Star from GQ and the First Person category from Streamy Awards 2016, as well as YouTuber with over 9 million subscriptions.
He invited us to his studio, where we did an interview. He also mentioned the interview on his own channel and left a link for all 9 million viewers. The day, which began with disappointment, ended with great success.
Collaborations are a powerful tool. Start feeling the ground now, but don’t worry if you get rejected first. Such things take time. However, in the next section we will share with you a strategy that can be taken immediately. Believe me, your channel will start to grow like yeast.