Tips on getting further reach with youtube videos?

[LovePrevails]

Hey can anyone think how I can better promote my youtube channel and videos to help them reach a wider audience?

 

They are mostly on self-help topics, particularly improving relationships, and aim to offer practical advice which is do-able not just theoretical.

 

I am also making them succinct and focussing on quality of information so suggestions like : "make good videos" are not useful to me at this juncture, I'm already trying to make the content very good and get better with each video

 

 

any feedback on how I could improve my delivery would also be welcome, www.youtube.com/enrichyourlife1

 

[Tyler Durden]

I would recommend a mainstream haircut. And possibly a collared shirt and a more neutral background, such as Stef in this video: Stefan Molyneux: U.S. Destabilizing The Ukraine - An American Coup

 

But those are of lesser importance, the haircut is my main suggestion.

[dazed and confused]

Ive watched a few of your videos and the accent can be hard to follow at times. The main concern for me though is that the message seems to be bullshit. You give advice on relationships but there is little evidence to show that you know what youre talking about. all i see is a scrawny guy with a weird haircut. with very little evidence to show that you have any sort of good relationships in your life. 

 

So maybe you could talk a little bit more from experience if you have any and add some subtitles

[dsayers]

I disagree about the accent. I enjoyed the times I heard him talking with Stef once upon a time because he seemed curious, intelligent, empathetic, and well-spoken. I even burned an hour long interview between them to share with others because it made for a good "anarchy 101" presentation I thought.

[aFireInside]

Yeah, I agree with the first comment maybe a main stream look would attack more people besides Fdr listeners. A lot of people judge a book by its cover also creating thumbnails for your videos to attract more views.

 

I personally like your videos when I'm interested in a topic I'll watch it.

 

You could experiment with different methods and see what works , just keep at it.

[aFireInside]

Im also going to try doing this myself. 

[Shea Roberts]

I've been doing Youtube videos for a while, and some of the strategies I've used are including lots and lots of relevant tags in your video, make the description as detailed as possible, and make sure your titles to the videos include both the main topic of what you discuss, as well as something to catch the eye. Video thumbnails also help with drawing viewers. I change my environment up a lot, but if you're going to be a talking head, try to get a good background, good lighting, and presenting yourself well. I'm still learning myself, but I've been able to reach a good audience so far. One other suggestion is to do video responses to others who do similar videos or cover similar topics, as well as engaging in a community related to the issues. And of course, social media can help as well.

 

I like what I've seen from your videos, just keep at it and you'll get more viewers. 

Hope that was helpful.

 

Shea

[Three]

I am not entirely sure. I don't have a youtube channel, let alone a successful one but, I wanted to add to what Tyler was saying by sharing with you experiences I've had of being attracted and repelled by authorsFor example, the first time I came across Christopher Hitchens being interviewed about his book "God is Not Great" 7 years ago as I was exploring ideas on youtube, before I knew how to think, the first thing that came to mind when I saw him was "well, he looks like he needs Jesus." and I didn't finish watching the clip. I couldn't get past the baggy eyes, the annoyed look on his face, the messy hair. It was really distracting. He looked miserable, more miserable than the the High Priest of the Church of Satan, who's interview I managed to get through just a few minutes before!

It wasn't until I read the God Delusion and got some foundation for how to think critically that I went back to read Hitchens' critiques of religion. And what got my then christian hiney over my reservation towards reading a book called The God Delusion was when i turned the book around and read that 'Richard Dawkins is one of the top 5 intellectuals in the world.'  "Well, if he's that smart he must have some good reasons!", I thought. . I think making your appearance more mainstream is a good idea because when people have a look that stands out it can really interfere and distract the listener from the content.  And I think the content in your videos are good. I've even tried some of your suggestions from the video 'how to jump into anyone's circle of conversation' today by asking a coworker if they like cats or dogs, which I found successful. But, I did find your look distracting.  Maybe you can ask people for feedback and have a list of your  reviews be one of the first things people see on your site. Like how Stef asks for itunes reviews.Speaking of mainstream maybe you could every once and a while dip into pop culture! I'm sure Stef got a lot more listeners with the "Truth About" Series talking about what 'everyone else' is talking about like Miley Cyrus, the Zimmerman trial, reviewing blockbuster film ect. Also, when I type something in the youtube search bar like "pulp fiction review" I'm attracted to videos that have titles that stand out as well as artwork which makes the video look interesting. I hope this helps!  

[ribuck]

I would recommend a mainstream haircut.

 

You are joking surely? How could you expect someone speak about authenticity if they felt their hair needed to conform to societal expectations?

 

LovePrevails, your delivery is pretty good; it's probably nearly optimum for a captive audience such as at a lecture. But for a discretionary audience such as YouTubers, you will do better by telling a story. Start the video by telling people where you're starting from and where you're going, then give them a "hook" (e.g. "...but first, we need to discover how our unconscious creates imaginary obstacles"), then take the audience on a journey of discovery. Increase engagement by including some emotional elements (e.g. surprise, a necessary U-turn, an "aha" moment, and a satisfying resolution).

 

Your titles are already well-written, but it's worth summarising the video in its description. Many people click onto a video and won't watch the whole video unless the description promises something they would find worthwhile. Don't forget to cross-promote one or two of your other videos in your description text and in the video itself.

 

In your video description, your website link is not hyperlinked so people won't go there unless they can be bothered to copy-and-paste. And if they do, they will find that the link is not a functioning website (it seems to be a domain holding page).

 

Having said that, I think the main limiting factor is simply that hardly anyone knows your videos exist. I'm no expert on marketing, but a very simple way to take the first step is to add some text to your blog posts. Simply embedding the video isn't going to get it found on the search engines. So take the time to write some text to go with the embedded video. You could talk about the content of the video itself, or you could talk tangentially (e.g. you could talk about why you made that video, and what benefits you hope its viewers will gain from watching it).

[LovePrevails]

thanks for the advice guys, will consider all these points.

 

the hair stays.

 The main concern for me though is that the message seems to be bullshit. 

 

Can you please give some examples of things that I have said which are bullshit and what I have said that is wrong so I can issue corrections as appropriate.

[Carl Green]

I think a mic upgrade would help with people not being able to understand the voice/accent.  One of those lavalier mics (the small ones mounted on your clothing) that cut out any other background noise.

 

As for promoting it, do you utilize any paid advertising? Like, google ads or advertising on a relevant site?

[nathanm]

There's no single trick to being successful, but to my way of thinking you have to make the presentation attractive enough that people will stick around for the content.  Just like physical beauty.  You'll listen to something that looks or sounds good longer regardless of its core appeal to you.  (up to a point of course…) 

 

So I'm saying your videos need metaphorical boobs.  Which are:

 

1. Sound quality - get a good mic and eliminate the room tone.  It's all about talking, so the talking has to sound pleasing.

2. Video image quality - nobody wants to see 4:3 480p anymore.  Gotta be HD.

3. Lighting - Get a nice soft key light on your face and maybe some rim light to show off the wild mane.  A good background.

 

The hair is great, it's a selling point.  You look like a creation of Jim Henson studios, and I mean that as a compliment.

[dazed and confused]

 

 

Can you please give some examples of things that I have said which are bullshit and what I have said that is wrong so I can issue corrections as appropriate.

 

i cant distinguish good relationship advice from bad, it all seems plausible to me. All i have to go on is: does this advice seem to be working for the person who is giving it. And you dont look like you are in any sort of relationship, you dont even look like you leave the house often. 

[Carl Green]

And you dont look like you are in any sort of relationship, you dont even look like you leave the house often. 

 

If you're not being helpful, what are your being?

 

What is your opinion of the formula E=MC² and the appearance of the gentleman that discovered it?

[LovePrevails]

I'd say that view of the world is likely to isolate you more that it's going to isolate me so I'm ok with what you have said

 

stay tuned maybe you will see some value in what I am saying, perhaps you won't

at the end of the day you have to try it out for yourself and see

[PatrickC]

Yea, the haircut is rather unnecessary frankly and the accent is fine.. I can see the appeal for certain folk, but as they always say, 'content' is king, not 'form'.

 

Do you have a blog at all? Many of the successful Youtubers I've known have a blog whilst juxtaposing a YT channel which they update less frequently. The blog often becomes less important as your popularity increases. Why not throw in some podcasts too, which can be longer and more informative perhaps. You could also contact other YT'ers/bloggers who have similar content perhaps for interesting conversations etc.

[dazed and confused]

 

What is your opinion of the formula E=MC² and the appearance of the gentleman that discovered it?

 

i know less about physics than i do about relationships. But Einstein looks like the sort of guy who you would go to if you have a physics problem

[PatrickC]

i cant distinguish good relationship advice from bad, it all seems plausible to me. All i have to go on is: does this advice seem to be working for the person who is giving it. And you dont look like you are in any sort of relationship, you dont even look like you leave the house often. 

 

The problem with this statement, is that it provides no help whatsoever. Personally I have no idea of LP's relationship/home status and I'd guess, neither would you. If there is an issue with the content then discuss that and in detail if need be. Making assumptions based on visual appearances alone will not bring decent people into your life and will mostly drive you away from those you'd like to get to know.

[LovePrevails]

i know less about physics than i do about relationships. But Einstein looks like the sort of guy who you would go to if you have a physics problem

 

Lolled, upvoting you just for this

You are joking surely? How could you expect someone speak about authenticity if they felt their hair needed to conform to societal expectations?

 

 

I particularly enjoy the fact that it is Tyler Durden from fightclub who said this, it's about the least Tyler Durdeney thing someone could post. Unless he was being ironic. In which case it would be very Tyler Durden.

[LovePrevails]

I've got a blog built into the website xcelent and a personal blog, we'll see how it goes I think I just need to keep making them and self-assessing as I get more experience I will decide whether I want to redo vidoes on older topics

I'm also definitely considering the podcast idea

 

I would like to create longer materials, the youtubes are for people with short attention spans, which is most people

 

I think it needs to get to the point where people identify me and know my personality and want to hear more

 

it happened once before long ago with my first youtube channel I had "fans" who would check every video but it was on politics I gave it up 4 or 5 years ago because it wasn't meeting my need for doing something that would actually help people/the world in a tangible way

[PatrickC]

Some of your stuff reminds me of my friend Darius on the boards, who created a site called Self Archaeology. You may have heard of him perhaps. He has been slowly building up content over the last 2 years now and has built some substantial content and quite a following for himself as well. His stuff is perhaps more psychologically rooted than your own. But there are certainly definite parallels with each others content that you both might benefit from.

 

http://blog.selfarcheology.com/

[LovePrevails]

yes I've seen Darius' stuff, I think I'm gradually getting better

 

here is the latest one

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LiE6Uwd-8wA

[dsayers]

Obviously in that video, the message is what's important. However, I'd like to repeat the lighting recommendation above. Even if you cannot afford to upgrade your camera at this time, increasing the lighting will help your existing camera not blur the image too much trying to compensate for the low lighting.

 

If you do have ~$150 to put towards production quality, you can get yourself a cheap HD camera with a backlit CMOS. This would not only bring you into HD, but also deal with lower ambient lighting.

 

If I had my way, people would focus just on the message. However, I think people that are not in agreement with you before the video might use the apparent production quality to discount the message.

 

Do you have access to such a camera? What do you think about how this might change the videos in a way that might reach a larger audience?

[LovePrevails]

I will definitely see about improving the lighting for the next one then. There is a place in Edinburgh that does 2nd hand cameras phones laptops etc very cheap so I can see if I can get a $150 one for more likk 60/70 it will be a bit more difficult to film  but if it makes them look better then that's good

 

I think it's important that I get lots and lots of practice on the speaking/presentation as I think I am improving gradually gradually

my aim is to upload one every 5 days and I have been doing that consistently and I think the quality is going up and confidence

I am seeing what works (more hand gestures, more humour, more smiling, more examples - especially funny ones) and doing more of this

seeing what doesn't work (speaking in a monotone, spekaing mechanically, etc.)

[Freedomain]

I would recommend a mainstream haircut. And possibly a collared shirt and a more neutral background, such as Stef in this video: Stefan Molyneux: U.S. Destabilizing The Ukraine - An American Coup

 

But those are of lesser importance, the haircut is my main suggestion.

 

I agree.  If you are looking to promote controversial ideas, making your appearance as non-controversal as possible is certainly a positive.

 

A collared shirt or polo would be an improvemnt over a t-shirt or hoodie too.

[Mac]

LovePrevails,

As Carl mentioned earlier, upgrading your mic to improve the sound quality of your videos might be an investment that will pay off.

 

I can't think of anything else off the top of my head.

I have had the pleasure of watching a handful of your videos and have very much enjoyed them; I love the topics and your presentation style. I wouldn't change much else; you're unique, and the accent and cool hair add to your uniqueness.

[ribuck]

If you are looking to promote controversial ideas, making your appearance as non-controversal as possible is certainly a positive.

 

I'm astonished at what I'm reading in this thread. Would a mainstream haircut have been a positive for Bob Dylan when he promoted controversial ideas? Bob Marley? Che Guevara? Leo Tolstoy? Albert Einstein? Leonardo da Vinci?

[PatrickC]

I'd like to stress of course that your look doesn't particularly bother me. But I think it's an interesting point, since a lot of people have made the same one on this thread. That a more conservative look might improve your listenership. Some people will be turned off, others not. But if you wanted to reach the widest possible audience, then it might be worth reconsidering your appearence a bit more.

 

I saw a video with Stef recently, suggesting that since he talks about really radical ideas like anarchism. That he purposefully goes out of his way to look as normal and conservative as possible, so as to put the listerner at as much ease as possible.

 

I just watched your latest video you posted on this thread and was struck by the poor quality of it. Which made you look kind of scruffy. I'm certain you weren't of course, but HD would have improved your appearence no end. If the camera is all you've got at the moment, then you might want to consider tying your hair back and wearing a collared shirt in the meantime.

[LovePrevails]

Thank you for the positive feedback Ari , very much appreciated

 

I am going to seriously look into improving the production values, if they are as important as people on the thread say they are then this is well worth doing

 

I am not changing my haircut as it is part of my identity and I am not a prostitute

 

I also don't think I am spreading controversial ideas (yet)

[dsayers]

To be clear, providing a service in a way that would be better received by your customers isn't the same as being a prostitute.

 

I don't intentionally put too much stock into appearance. After hearing Antony's voice in Stef's work off and on, I was a bit surprised when I first caught a visual. Nothing that put me off though. If anything, the way he speaks combined with his look tells me that he is both empathetic and confident. Both very strong qualities.

 

I think (for me) that in order for the look to be off-putting, you'd have to be promoting something like organic foods. Or as I would interpret it: Promoting a lack of technology that would increase the amount of starvation in the world. At that point, the hair might inspire in me discounting your words by writing you off as a hippie. This is not to condescend. Since studying philosophy, I understand concepts like love, corporatism as evil, etc and feel like a hippie myself like never before in my life.

 

I guess what I'm trying to say is that the message would have to have mystical, irrational underpinnings for me to be put off by your appearance. Otherwise, it's not difficult at all to look past the appearance and absorb the message. Most of the youtubing I do is for the audio anyways.

[jpahmad]

I really didn't even think about the appearance.  I just thought it was nice to put a face to a voice.

[Shea Roberts]

I think the hair is a plus to be honest! You're easily recognizable and on Youtube that is a good thing! Just upgraded equipment and shooting environment would be the only suggestions. That takes time and money, obviously. So just keep doing what you're doing, slowly upgrading and you'll build a following. It takes a little while but they will come. 

[Freedomain]

Very interesting thread. 

[LovePrevails]

I also think the thread is very interesting

 

I also think my appearance, including hair, will end up being a plus because I will look original and be "that quirky guy"

I don't want to seem like a clean cut automaton

 

I really don't like clean cut automatons I feel like they are overly conformist and they are focussed too much on appearing acceptable to really push an agenda of authenticity

 

We will see

 

Thanks for all the feedback it has been really great and inspired thinking

[dsayers]

I really don't like clean cut automatons I feel like they are overly conformist

 

What does that mean? I noticed that you conveyed that idea in a language most everybody that would read it understands. Does this make you a conformist? Overly conformist?

 

Sorry, I think that is one of those words that is tossed around to solicit a specific reaction despite the process being disingenuous.