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This week we’re back to content creation.
And Mike’s most effective video wasn’t what I expected.
"Listen, the number one video that’s attracted the most agents on my YouTube channel is this incredible mid-20s woman who was at a previous brokerage for six months. She closed zero deals. She joined us, closed one deal in 30 days, a $10k commission. One deal in 30 days, not a hundred million in volume.”
There are some killer tactics just in this one video…
Super clear thumbnail
Relatable story
Big potential audience
Next step is a call with the guest (not Mike)
Tons of onscreen info helps viewers sell themselves
But….when YouTube comes up in my conversations with leaders, I hear a much bigger, unspoken question.
“What does it cost to WIN on YouTube…In time, energy, money…and my SOUL?”
That’s what I want to dig into in this edition. So here are the non-obvious insights from the chat with Mike and my analysis.
Plan on $100k & 2 years minimum to “prime the system.”
“Well for 3 years, I was putting out 2, 3 videos a week. And after 3 years, I had like 1500 subscribers. Nobody knew who I was, not much engagement on my content until the right vehicle aligned with the content. When I joined [eXp], that's when I had 30 agents every 30 days for my first six months. And it just blew up because I primed the system ahead of time.”
Priming the system means mastering content creation and building social capital with an audience. That social capital is what you’re drawing on when you make an offer.
I’m making a few assumptions that you will…
Take the same amount of time (you’re probably not better than Mike)
Release 300-500 videos total - (2-3/wk for 3 years)
Hire out the creative work (you’re not editing vids at 2am)
A little napkin math gets you to 6 figures pretty fast.
Think you’ll get a great editor for cheap overseas? Good luck.
You’re probably doing what my agency does, hiring freelance pros in North America.
So let’s assume $100 per video on editing. That’s on the low end. So that’s $30-50k in video editing costs.
At the highest levels, thumbnails require a specialized graphic designer. I’d be ready to spend $200+ per thumbnail (not counting split testing variations). At one point, the agency behind Mel Robbins’ YT channel was charging $1500/mo just for thumbnail design and split testing.
If you can hire a great young thumbnail designer for $100 each, consider yourself blessed by the gods. That's another $30-50k for thumbnails.
Then we have everything else.
Codie Sanchez reportedly dropped $200k on strategy, branding and groundwork for her channel launch.
Competing at the highest level is serious business.
Either give the audience what they want, or stay invisible.
“I did really well in the beginning with [videos about] Instagram, Facebook ads and door knocking. Well, everyone wanted the se.xier topics, Instagram and Facebook ads, not door knocking. So I went down that kind of avenue."
To grow a channel from scratch today, you have to throw enough content out there to see what works…and then double down on it.
Even if the audience pulls you away from topics you want to cover.
Here's how Paddy Galloway, the YouTube consultant behind Mr Beast, recommends planning content…
YouTube draws a high percentage of beginners overall. Industry turnover creates lots of beginner agents. So if creating beginner-level content feels totally authentic, you're set up pretty well.
To compete with the best Youtubers, you’ll have to go beyond that and find the sweet spot where your content speaks to beginners, intermediate and pros.
If you can’t find that sweet spot, or beginner-level content feels inauthentic, you’ll have a hard time competing at the highest level on YouTube.
Your ego will die a 1,000 deaths
From the content you put out, or the guests you have on, to the feast-or-famine nature of the algorithm. Every aspect of the journey will kill your ego.
"So where I see a lot of people on YouTube go wrong is…they all get infatuated by the vanity metrics. I want to feature this major influencer, this person that was on TV or this big coach, all of that stuff…
…Every person I've featured on my YouTube channel [success stories] is in my revenue share organization, but it goes deeper than that…Those interviews truthfully have been the secret sauce of scaling. It's pretty much a 30-50 minute success case study."
Those videos have no big name guests and don’t get the most views. They are simply the most effective videos for hitting his goal of attracting agents.
Having a ton of overlap is a nice bonus. The content you love to make…gets big views…and is super effective.
But when there isn't a ton of overlap, and you want to compete at the highest level, you’ll be faced with a choice.
Lean into what’s most effective…Or what gets the most views?
Mike also shared the spotlight, and it paid off in a big way.
"I said, well, We're all partners on this journey. How can I put out a different message that allows somebody to connect with the [guest] based on who they are?
I have people from every age, race, ethnicity, gender, language, personality type, and geographic location. So if you're not interested in me, it's almost impossible to go on my channel and not find somebody you see yourself in."
By sharing the spotlight, he gives the audience more options. More people they can connect with. And then he sends viewers to the guest, so they get the sponsorship, even when it dilutes the direct benefit Mike gets.
You'll learn a lot about your relationship with ego in those choices.
Ultimately, the cost of competing on YouTube at the highest level is obsession.
Mike took his engineering background and obsessed over an algorithm built by engineers. He changed his consumption habits and cut relaxation time to spend more time on YouTube. He obsessed over what grabbed attention and what didn’t. If you share that obsession, you’ve got a good head start.
Want to go deeper? Click on the audio file above to listen to the full chat, also available on Apple Podcasts and Spotify.
Or Hit Reply and tell me what you’re thinking.
Are you already on YouTube? Looking at it?
Ask This:
Where can you share the spotlight?
Where can you let your agents, clients or users tell their own story?
Quick Links & Resources
Massive thanks to Mike for sharing what it takes to compete and win on YouTube! Connect with him (if you haven’t already) and if you’re going down the same path, pick apart his channel. You’ll come away with some killer tactics!
Talk soon,
Matt
Matt Johnson
CEO & Author - MicroFamous
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