Picking a Traffic Strategy and The Art of Video Storytelling, Is YouTube on Your Radar?

Happy Saturday!

Wow, these weeks are going by so fast, can you believe it is March already.

I spent this week in southern California visiting family and teaching my first chair yoga class since COVID!

As much as life goes on, my life is so different post-COVID than pre-COVID, and I am so grateful to be able to connect with people in person again, sharing space.

COVID gave some of us a taste of the gift of time, a mandatory pause, and once you get a taste of that, it’s hard not to want more.

I am tired of trading time for money, working the 9 to 5 grind. I want compound interest on my efforts. 🙃 Don’t you?

That is why I am on this journey to launch my affiliate marketing business and go from rookie to riches!

Dean Holland is leading the way and taking us through the roadmap to affiliate marketing success.

Dean teaches four core elements:

(1) Traffic

(2) Capture

(3) Follow-up

(4) Sales System

Developing the skills of these four core elements is necessary to succeed in 2024 in affiliate marketing.

Let’s Talk Traffic: 

Right now, we are learning about traffic and practicing generating organic traffic. We are learning the art of blogging.

Every Saturday, I post here on my blog, sharing what I learn each week. I also share across social media and through email marketing in hopes it builds know like and trust and provides value to help others along their affiliate marketing journey.

Creating a blog post can be exciting, it’s a way to share and keep me accountable.

I like to add images to my blog to help break up the text, and I wanted to share a video of how I have been adding my blog images to my WordPress using Canva and Midjourney!

Social media has been another avenue I have chosen for organic traffic. It has been a great way to practice creating content and getting good at creating videos.

If you want to see how to create additional AI images using Canva and tons of other tips and tricks for creating content, check out my videos on my social media@ RookieToRichesRide.com/Links.

Creating blog posts and social media videos can be time-consuming, especially in the beginning.

A lot of work goes into creating videos, since you are creating them might as well share them on as many platforms as you can.

Of course, there is a caveat here: even though you are putting in the time to create these videos, do you want to spend extra time formatting them for each platform?

When deciding what traffic strategies you are going to use, you really need to be honest with yourself and the time commitment you are able to put in CONSISTENTLY.

Yup, there is that world again.

It is important to only commit to strategies you are able to do consistently.

There is something to taking your efforts and multiplying them, but you need to have realistic expectations about the time commitment, what you need to put in, and what you will be getting out.

What I have learned so far creating videos:

1. You can create videos in a bunch of different ways: Zoom, Loom, your iPhone, etc.
2. You can edit your videos in a ton of ways, too: Canva, Veed, Instagram, etc.
3. 1 minute and 30 seconds is the max a video can be on Instagram.
4. You can use Instagram to edit your videos and add many cool features like subtitles, then save it right to your phone and post it across other mediums.
5. Canva is a fantastic tool for video creation and editing. You can use Canva to edit your videos or create videos using their templates or a combination of the two. You can even split the audio and video in Canva.
6. Veed.IO is a great editor as well, you can also use it to creat subtittles that you can actually edit, and you can use it to compress video files.
7. Loom is a great way to make videos. The free version and the paid version have different features. With the free version, you cannot download your videos, but you can share them via a link. The paid version not only allows you to download videos but also has AI to add transcription and description. Typically, the videos are restricted to 5 minutes.
8. Zoom can be a great way to make your videos. Yes, you can use Zoom to create your videos, like the one I created above. Just start a new Zoom meeting, with only you, and hit press record. You can share your screen. What I like about Zoom is it has a touchup appearance, and when the files download, it separates audio and video, which can be useful. It does create videos in landscape, so if you are posting on social media sites like TikTok, you will need to resize them. Luckily, there are video editing programs, like Canva, that you can use to resize the images to fit any platform.
9. Did you know you can screen record right on your phone? For a lot of my social media videos, I use the screen record feature on my phone, and then I add the audio separately and edit it all in Canva.
10. You can also add music to your videos, want to see how then watch this quick tutorial where I add a song to a video in Canva.

The world of creating videos is vast, and there is not a one-size-fits-all option, but I am happy to share how I am doing it and will continue to post lessons here on my blog and social media, join my newsletter to make sure you don’t miss a thing. Join by clicking here.

Friday’s Class:

This week’s class was all about YouTube. Sophie, one of our amazing mentors at Internet Profits Accelerator, went over her journey on YouTube and shared with us all the ins and outs so we can decide if we want to delve into this world.

YouTube has been on my radar for awhile, so this lesson came at a great time, (no coincidence, I am sure).

As I said above, I am spending a lot of time learning and creating video content, so why not repurpose it on another platform? 

But before I can commit to any new strategy or platfrom, it is important to know about it, and what I am committing to. 

So, let’s delve into YouTube…

Let’s Start With Some Fun Facts about YouTube 😀

Did you know that YouTube has over 2.5 BILLION monthly users?

Every day, people watch over a billion hours on YouTube – that’s a lot.

It is the second-largest search engine in the world and the second most visited website in the world, after Google.

Unlike Facebook, TikTok, Instagram, etc., YouTube is a search engine, which means people usually come looking for something: entertainment, solving a problem, i.e., fixing a leaky sink, how to do something on WordPress, etc. They are traditionally searching, not scrolling.

There is a new feature, short videos, that caters to scrolling videos; we will get into that in a second.

YouTube was originally intended to be a video dating site. When that didn’t work, the founders decided to turn it into a video-sharing platform. This is a good lesson to be learned here. Although YouTube was intended to be one thing, the users had another idea, so the creators had to pivot. Be flexible, keep up with the trends, and always give the people what they like!

In its first year, YouTube generated only $15,000, but by 2022, it was generating nearly $20 billion a year.

As you can see from these fun facts, there is a lot of potential with YouTube, but before we commit to making it part of our traffic strategy, we need to understand what we will need to put in and what we will get in return.

Setting realistic expectations:

• It’s a myth that you need a big channel to make money. 
• Your first videos will be terrible, but it doesn’t matter, do them anyway! Go to people’s channels and check out early videos to see how people improved, don’t let imposter syndrome prevent you from getting started, and keep those beginning videos, don’t delete them; they are part of your journey. 
• You need to approach YouTube like your blog. It is a long-term strategy. YouTube is an asset like the blog you are creating for the months and years to come. This is not post a video and get a bunch of leads, this is a slow game strategy. 
• There is a time commitment to creating content. Whether you are going live on YouTube, like social media, or creating short or long-content videos, Sophie estimates that a minimum of 5 hours a week is a realistic amount of time needed to allocate for YouTube. 

What you need to get started: 

• A Gmail address 
• A recording device – Your Phone
• Microphone – to create good sound
• Lightening – optional but cheap to buy a light on Amazon, so just make sure you record in good light or use some artificial help.

YouTube Video Components: 

Your video should start with a Hook.

In today’s world, people want you to get right to the point. Therefore, having a hook to grab your viewer’s attention is critical to success.

You don’t want an introduction with music, or talking about who you are,  you want to dive in right away – give them the meat and potatoes.

As someone who has ADHD, you need to be quick to get my attention, and if you go off on a tangent, you lose me. Most people are the same these days.

Try something like….If you want to learn x, then watch this video to the end, I am going to show you how to do this,  that,  and the other thing. Tell them the one question you are going to answer or the one problem that this video is going to solve.

Look at the lens of the camera. Looking people in the eye is important and will help you engage with them. 

A good thumbnail and title are very important.

Your thumbnail is extremely important; it is the equivalent of a book cover. Your thumbnail can make a difference between people clicking on your video or scrolling right past it. It is like a subject line in your email, that will grab their attention and get them to consume the content. Think from your viewer’s perspective.  When they come from YouTube, they will find you through search or suggested videos; if your thumbnail stands out, it will grab their attention, and that is what we want, to get them to stop and watch. 

A great thumbnail and tittle are important but the content is equally important. The video needs to deliver on what the thumbnail promises. 

Have good SEO in your description. Good SEO in your description is another really important element. Thankfully, there are AI tools to help you find good keyword phrases. Make sure to put these keywords into the description. This will help when people are searching to find your videos. This is especially important in the beginning when you are starting out. You want to make YouTube “work for you,” and you can use SEO to help your videos get viewed. Once they start getting views, the YouTube algorithm will kick in and start suggesting your video in people’s feeds.

It is in YouTube’s interest for your channel to succeed. They want the channel to succeed so they can put ads on and get revenue, but there is a learning cure: give them as many elements to push the videos to the right people using SEO.

Put your call to action in the first three sentences of your description.

Your description can be like a mini blog post. It is an opportunity to put in good keywords and increase visibility. Although the description can be long, it is important to understand that, the first three sentences of your description will show up above the fold, and then the viewer will have to click the more button to continue to read. This is important to consider because whatever you want people to do, i.e your call to action ( CTA) needs to be in the first three lines. This is really important to get you more leads and more sales, as many people won’t click the more button. 

Having good sound is important when creating your video. Consider your audio quality. Consider investing in a microphone; you can purchase one for $15-20 dollars on Amazon. 

Allocate your time to your video content, thumbnails, and titles. Creating a fancy banner or channel art is not the best use of your time.  Include a profile picture of yourself, exactly as you would on other social media accounts. 

Dressing up, doing your hair and makeup, and having a fancy background is not necessary. You don’t need a recording studio or professional equipment, and you don’t need a fancy background – people have done it in their bathrooms and made millions.

No makeup, that is okay, crazy hair, like me, no worries.  People care more about what you are saying and the delivery. Having high energy, and good tonality is way more important than looking good, so no need to do hair and makeup! (YAY) 

It is important to think of the viewer when making your videos.  Make videos for them, look at the comments and give the people what they want!  Tutorials and how to’s are a great way to provide value to your viewers. Is this topic something they are interested in, help them solve a problem/pain point/answer a question. 

Lastly, one of the most important metrics on YouTube is not your subscriber count. It’s the retention and watch time! Your goal is to get people to click on your video and watch it all the way to the end. Adding music can help with retention rate,

YouTube used to be only long-from videos, but now there is the ability for shorts. 

Shorts Vs Long-Form Videos:

Shorts are usually found through scrolling. People are less likely to watch these if they are searching to solve a problem. Shorts are more for entertaining. These can be a great way to build channel awareness.  These videos are similar to social media, so if you are creating short videos for social media, you can re-purpose them here. They have a different algorithm then long and tend to attract a different, younger audience, that are not searching for anything but just want to be entertained. More challenging with shorts to hook people in because viewers are scrolling, not searching. Shorts don’t necessarily get a description, and you cannot put a clickable link in the comments of shorts anymore. Shorts with music where you point tend to work well.

If you want to know the recipe Dean shared for short form videos then check out my blog post by clicking here.

Long-Form videos are found through people searching for a solution to a problem, or answer to a question. These videos attract an audience that is looking to get help or be entertained. These videos can gather views for years to come and bring in leads and commissions over time.

Sophie shared with us her strategy if she was just starting out:

1. Publish shorts a few times a week (2-3 a week), not on the same day you publish long-form video, on the same topic, related to your niche. 
2. Publish one long-from video a week. Share this post on social media, on your blog, to your list, and with anyone who can benefit from it . Note that you want to try and only share with people who will watch it and find value in it. Don’t share it with your mom or other friends if they are only going to watch a few seconds and shut it off, this tells YouTube algorithm that they are not interested and can be detrimental to your YouTube business growth.
3.  Don’t burn out. It takes time to make traction on YouTube so be patient and be consistent.

Sophie also shared with us her “Tips For Channel Growth”:

1. Recommend another video of yours in the description, end screen, and pinned comment.  The more your channel grows, the more people it reaches, and the more chances you have of making commissions! You have to be focused on how to grow your channel. You can do this by recommending another video of yours in the video, in the description, in the end screen, and pined comment. 
2. Reply to all the comments.
3. Interact on other channels. Just like blog hopping! 
4. Share your videos on social media! 
5. Share your videos in your emails.
6. Share your videos on your blog.

Over the next week, I will be watching Sophie’s training and setting up my YouTube channel. I will record my steps and be sharing everything with you. From how to create videos to setting up a YouTube channel! 

If you don’t want to miss a thing, join my newsletter by clicking here, and follow me on social media!

Let’s ride from rookie to riches together,

To our success,

Alison Blaire