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The Power of Starting a YouTube Channel
I’m going to be really honest with you. For the last year or so, I’ve had thoughts about potentially starting a YouTube channel, but each time I began to truly think about it I pushed the idea away, because frankly? YouTube is a LOT of work. And I want to keep things as simple as possible for myself.
However, I know it’s a deeply powerful marketing platform, so even though I wasn’t convinced it was for me, I wanted YOU to hear more about how to leverage it for yourself. Which is why I brought on today’s guest – LaShonda.
LaShonda Brown is an award-winning Tech Educator, YouTube Coach and Speaker based in the beautiful Blue Ridge Mountains of VA. Through her YouTube channel, Bootstrap Biz Advice, her membership, and her virtual workshops, LaShonda teaches service providers how to leverage tech and YouTube to increase traffic to their offers, generate passive income and partner with brands.
However. As you’ll see in today’s episode … the way LaShonda teaches about YouTube and how it can be done simply? Well, she might just have changed my mind about starting my own channel.
Links and Resources Mentioned in This Episode:
- There are a LOT of different marketing strategies out there. from content to networking to speaking, to ads, and so many more. And with so many different marketing strategies, it’s easy to find yourself hopping from one to the next – without seeing results. Especially when you see other entrepreneurs getting results from their marketing strategies, when you aren’t seeing any from your own. After hearing from listener after listener wondering WHICH marketing strategy they should focus on, I decided to create a quiz to help you narrow down which will be best for you based on your current phase of business. Head to amandawarfield.com/quiz/ to take it, learn where you should focus your marketing energy, and start seeing results from your marketing! Again, that’s amandawarfield.com/quiz/
- LaShonda Brown’s membership
- Streamyard
- Workshop for preparing your first YouTube video
- This week’s action step: Sit down and think about what your free, low, mid, and high ticket offers are.
- This week’s book recommendation: Unmet Expectations by Lisa Hughes
- Find me on Instagram and tell me you completed this week’s action step: @mrsamandawarfield
LaShonda Brown is an award-winning Tech Educator, YouTube Coach and Speaker based in the beautiful Blue Ridge Mountains of VA. Through her YouTube channel, Bootstrap Biz Advice, her membership, and her virtual workshops, LaShonda teaches service providers how to leverage tech and YouTube to increase traffic to their offers, generate passive income and partner with brands. LaShonda believes there is no shame in bootstrapping and her content will help you keep your expenses low and your profit margin high while you DIY. LaShonda heavily advocates for sustainable, healthy rhythms in business and is most well known for her 20-Hour Work Week practice that’s built on the foundation of deep focus work and a mindful morning routine. In 2022, LaShonda became one of the first 25 Canva Verified Experts in the world. In addition to training organizations of all sizes about Canva, LaShonda serves as an instructor for the email service provider, Flodesk inside of Flodesk University.
Social Links:
http://www.youtube.com/lashondambrown
www.instagram.com/lashondambrown
www.linkedin.com/in/lashondabrown/
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Rather Read? – Here’s the Transcript!
*Just a heads up – the provided transcript is likely to not be 100% accurate
Amanda Warfield: I’m going to be really honest with you. For the last year or so, I’ve had thoughts about potentially starting a YouTube channel, but each time I began to truly think about it, I just pushed the idea away because, frankly, YouTube is a lot of work, and I want to keep things as simple as possible for myself.
Amanda Warfield: However, I know it’s a deeply powerful marketing platform. So even though I wasn’t convinced that it was for me, I wanted you to hear more about how to leverage it for yourself. If you so chose to, which is why I brought on today’s guest, LaShonda. LaShonda Brown is an award winning tech educator, YouTube coach and speaker based in the beautiful Blue Ridge mountains of Virginia through her YouTube channel, Bootstrap Biz Advice, her membership and her virtual workshops.
Amanda Warfield: Lashonda teaches service providers how to leverage tech and YouTube to increase traffic to their offers, generate passive income, and partner with brands. However, as you’ll see in today’s episode, the way Lashonda teaches about YouTube and how it can be done simply Well, she just might have changed my mind about starting my own channel.
Amanda Warfield: You’re listening to episode 203 of the Chasing Simple podcast, and I’m your host, Amanda Warfield. This episode was brought to you by my book, Chasing Simple Marketing, and you can grab your own at amandawarfield. com / book.
LaShonda Brown: How
Amanda Warfield: do I find time to create content without overwhelming myself? Where should I even be showing up in my marketing? How do I come up with fresh content ideas? Where should I be focusing my marketing efforts? What is lead generation anyways, and how do I do it? Are launches still a thing? And most importantly, how do I put it all together to market my business strategically?
Amanda Warfield: Can I really grow my business without spending all of my time marketing? These are some of the questions that float around in your head when you think of marketing. Welcome, friend. This is Chasing Simple, where practical marketing strategy meets simplicity. I’m your host, Amanda Warfield, simplicity focused content marketing and launch strategist, speaker, educator, and author of Chasing Simple Marketing.
Amanda Warfield: I traded in my classroom lesson plans for helping creative entrepreneurs sustainably fit marketing into their business without it taking over their business. So that they have time to grow their business, take time off, and live the life they dreamed about when they first decided to go out on their own.
Amanda Warfield: When I’m working, you can find me working with one on one clients, such as The Contract Shop and Rebecca Rice Photography on their marketing strategy and copywriting, or helping my students simplify their marketing and launches. And when I’m not, you can find me spending time outside with my husband, Russell.
Amanda Warfield: Reading in our hammock, watching Gamecock Sports, traveling, or forcing our cats to snuggle me. If you feel overwhelmed by marketing, you aren’t alone. Many entrepreneurs find marketing frustrating, overwhelming, and simply an obligation. They know they need it, but they don’t enjoy how easily you can suck up their time when what they really want to be doing is is the thing that they started their business to do, which is why I’m here to help make marketing simple and less time consuming so that you can spend less time on your marketing and more time growing your business and doing what you love.
Amanda Warfield: Each week offer you transparent conversations. actionable steps, and judgment free community to encourage and equip you. So grab yourself a cup of coffee or whatever your drink of choice is and meet me here each week for love, support, practical tips, and advice on uncomplicating your marketing and business.
Amanda Warfield: Let’s do this entrepreneurship thing together, shall we? There are a lot of different marketing strategies out there, from content to networking to speaking to ads and so many more. And with so many different marketing strategies, it’s easy to find yourself hopping from one to the next. Without seeing results, especially when you see other entrepreneurs getting results from their marketing strategies when you aren’t seeing any from your own.
Amanda Warfield: And after hearing from listener after listener, wondering which marketing strategy they should focus on, I decided to create a quiz to help you narrow down which strategies will be best for you. based on your current phase of business. Head to amandawarfield. com slash quiz to take it, learn where you should focus your marketing energy, and start seeing results from your marketing.
Amanda Warfield: Again, that’s amandawarfield. com slash quiz. Lashonda, I’m so excited to finally have you on. It’s funny, we had talked before we hit record where last year I was supposed to have you on and we just weren’t able to make schedules connect and, um, it just kind of feels Serendipitous that it didn’t happen until this year, but man, I’m so excited to have you on.
Amanda Warfield: Can you please tell everyone a little bit about who you are and what you do and who you serve?
LaShonda Brown: So my name is LaShonda and I am a tech educator, a YouTube coach, and a speaker. And if you had asked me that last year, I probably would have had a completely different intro. So I’m really excited to kind of double down on the fact that not only do I use YouTube for my business, but I have a means to coach people on how to do it in the way that I’m doing it.
LaShonda Brown: And so in this season, I find myself really helping service providers. Who are burnt out actively promoting their business and teaching them passive ways to do it. You know, when I think of active marketing, I think of constant posting on platforms like Instagram or tick tock. And so I’m trying to show people how to create a passive income engine by leveraging technology and YouTube.
LaShonda Brown: And so I am kind of my own case. I’ve been doing it for myself, and now I’ve tested things and done it enough that I can duplicate that process for other people. And so it’s a really exciting season to see who I get to help and what challenges they have. But ultimately, I am probably one of the biggest hype girls for YouTube because it truthfully has changed my life.
LaShonda Brown: Okay, so let’s talk
Amanda Warfield: about what it is that you’re current. overall content strategy is. So you mentioned Instagram, TikTok, outside of YouTube, what are you doing to market your business?
LaShonda Brown: Yeah, so honestly, I had this conversation with my husband the other night and it was like, I feel like What you do can’t really be called marketing because it doesn’t look like what other people do and I think ultimately I’m such a community builder That it’s almost like I lean more into Relationship building and then people buy what I’m selling.
LaShonda Brown: I am NOT someone that is constantly nickel and diming people or pushing products because ultimately I My primary customer is the tech company trying to connect with entrepreneurs. So if entrepreneurs didn’t buy anything from me, I would be completely fine. And the first year I did YouTube, I didn’t sell anything.
LaShonda Brown: I needed a break from it. I didn’t want to launch anything. So for one full calendar year. I was a full time YouTuber, not selling to my students. And so once I did my research and kind of learned what they needed and how they wanted to learn, then I could start testing out different strategies and say, okay, well, are workshops a good fit or do we need to do one on one?
LaShonda Brown: Is a group setting better? And so ultimately this year I’ve really settled on a really solid business model. And so my community. They can be mobilized to do pretty much anything. So I communicate primarily to them through email, um, but then sometimes, you know, they’ll message me in the DMs on Instagram, but it’s hysterical because I archive so much content on Instagram.
LaShonda Brown: I have, like, 15 posts and it’s, it’s so funny because I just remember when, like, I was wanting, oh, I should have over a thousand posts. Like, I really should be creating and creating and creating. And so ultimately at this point. I try to park as much content as possible on YouTube because when I post there I get paid to post versus platforms like Instagram, you know, it’s a hope and a prayer, but there’s no guarantee to being paid.
Amanda Warfield: Okay. So interesting. So you’ve archived a ton of your stuff on Instagram. What made you decide to do that? What was the decision factor around that?
LaShonda Brown: So my Instagram profile is more of a portfolio of sponsored content at this point. There’s a couple posts on there that weren’t paid. But ultimately, when a brand goes to my Instagram, what I want them to see is past activations.
LaShonda Brown: Because I’m not really trying to Reach my target market through my feed content. I’m reaching them through live streaming on YouTube through Instagram stories through ads. And so my primary feed isn’t actually for them, but it’s also a really good example of. How I can help my students to partner with brands, because clearly I am partnered with them and you can see it in plain sight.
LaShonda Brown: And so I just switched my focus. Like, the feed is not really for communication with my audience. It’s a showcase of the past partnerships that I’ve done and different strategies that I’ve implemented. So I can refer back to it and say, hey, guys. Here’s a strategy that you can do versus, you know, hoping that every single post will convert for me.
LaShonda Brown: That’s not really the point. So it takes a lot of pressure off Instagram. I tried to delete the platform and, uh, within a month of saying that I gained like a thousand followers and I’m like, this. This is so ironic, like, I just, I tell Instagram, I’m breaking up with you and then here you go growing. So at the end of the day, it’s, it’s a community platform.
LaShonda Brown: It’s how I engage with my audience because YouTube doesn’t have a direct message feature. And it’s also something that I will bundle with a YouTube video as a way to make additional revenue when I do sponsor content. Oh,
Amanda Warfield: man. Okay. I feel like we need to have you back on again later this year to talk about sponsored content because that’s a whole other topic that I would
LaShonda Brown: love to get into.
LaShonda Brown: Oh, that’s a whole thing. Yes. And I, and I think too, I, I think there’s so much bad press. For brands, not, you know, compensating creators fairly. And I think it’s less about the brands giving the correct amount of money to the creators as it is. The creators don’t know what to negotiate for, and they don’t know that you can negotiate.
LaShonda Brown: Um, and so I think that ultimately. Having those negotiation skills from my past career as a corporate film producer, like I go into these meetings, knowing what to look for, knowing what to ask for, knowing that I’m the one with the leverage because they reached out to me. And so I put a lot of effort into those emails and those calls.
LaShonda Brown: And so when I show up for my audience, it’s like, this is just fun. Let’s just have a good time. And so it takes so much of that pressure off because the people with. Money, you know, at the tech companies are the people that I’m putting, you know, the bulk of my brain power into. And then when I look over at my students, I can just serve.
LaShonda Brown: I can be responsive to where they are in the moment. And I don’t have to worry about, you know, is there a trip wire attached to that? You know, how am I funneling them into anything? It’s just, what do you need? Am I a good fit? Great. Awesome. If not, here’s somebody you should reach out to. I love how simple that makes
Amanda Warfield: your whole business strategy.
Amanda Warfield: Yeah. Well, definitely after we finish recording, we’ll talk about having you back on because I think this would be a great conversation, but I don’t want to get too far down a rabbit hole with that. Circling back to your Instagram strategy. DMs and Instagram stories. You said that most of your content lives on YouTube, that you’re not really, you’re only doing sponsored content on the feed.
Amanda Warfield: So what is your Instagram strategy currently?
LaShonda Brown: Yeah. So, I mean, I just have a very simple strategy when it comes to deciding what to post and when to show up. You know, I kind of made this decision for myself that it’s either I’m talking about You know, the Lord, or I’m talking about tech. It’s like God or tech.
LaShonda Brown: And I just think the reason why I wanted to lean into that more is because, you know, it’s such a huge part of my success in business that I think in the past, I really didn’t know how to incorporate it. And so really sharing my faith and encouraging people with that during a time where so many people are.
LaShonda Brown: You know, discourage and dejected is really important to me. But at the same time, you know, I want to provide people with practical solutions. You know, what can you actively do to help propel your business forward? And so, you know, when I do these sponsored posts, it’s not just an ad. I have managed to figure out how to do a 60 second vertical testimonial.
LaShonda Brown: And so the reason why these brands are paying for it is they’re like, okay, you’re not just using B roll with text on it. Like you are literally teaching in 60 seconds and you’re funneling people to the long form content to say, Hey, if you enjoyed this, let’s dig in deeper on YouTube. And so I think. My approach to always leaning into how can I provide value with this piece of content?
LaShonda Brown: If even if you didn’t leave the platform, I want it to be beneficial to you. I have done some very simple, you know, what did the calm low lift or low effort reels. For the purpose of funneling people into my free workshops, because I know that I convert a lot of free workshop attendees into members and my membership.
LaShonda Brown: And so again, it’s that mindset of like, okay, fine. I’ll play the game. I’ll do the little 7 second reel that loops with the trending audio just to get you. To opt into my email list to sign up for the free workshop and to get into my ecosystem where I can talk to you directly. And so, you know, I have done that periodically for workshop promotions.
LaShonda Brown: That’s probably the only time that you’re going to see me just creating content from scratch that I wasn’t paid to create. Um, but ultimately I will be paid to create it by getting them on the list and getting them in the workshop and signing up for affiliates and all of that. And so I just think that.
LaShonda Brown: What I have managed to create after a decade in business is a business model that is built on a foundation of ease. You know, I don’t like friction in business. If I ever run into something that is like, things aren’t working, or it just feels like I’m putting so much effort into it with low return. I just let it go because I only work 20 hours a week.
LaShonda Brown: So it’s really easy for me to decide, like, is this worth it? Because if it literally takes up too much of my time. I have to cut it in order to make room for things that will make the money. So having those boundaries and having those guardrails has been awesome. And ironically enough, only working four days allows me to do other things that stimulates me creatively.
LaShonda Brown: And so I have time to kind of recharge. Because it’s four days on, three days off, and that works really well for me. So
Amanda Warfield: everything that, you know, that I teach, all of the premises of my entire business is also that simplicity, that how do we make it so that our business strategy, our marketing strategy, everything is as simple as possible.
Amanda Warfield: So I really love what you’re doing. I know that there are two things that I think the listeners are going to bump up against as far as things not feeling simple. And I’d love your take on them. The first being that transition from I’m spending all of my time marketing on Instagram, I’m over it, there’s no reach, but I don’t know how to get out of that.
Amanda Warfield: So what is, how do we make that transition from social media focus to YouTube, longer form content? How do we do that in the simplest way possible? But then also, YouTube is the most time consuming and most intensive form of long form content. How do we keep that as simple as possible?
LaShonda Brown: So the simple answer is StreamYard.
LaShonda Brown: And I’m like, StreamYard just sponsored me already the amount of times that I dropped their name. Oh, my, but here’s the thing. StreamYard is a tool that allows you to live stream to YouTube. And even when you think about the concept of live streaming for some people, that feels super overwhelming. But you have to think of it as you’re able to edit your content as you create it.
LaShonda Brown: And what’s wonderful is it has three features. You can go live. And you can multistream it to LinkedIn, to Instagram, to YouTube, Facebook, what have you. But you can also just use the recording studio. So the same tools that you have if you go live, you could just use the tool and record the video file on your computer.
LaShonda Brown: And then the third feature of StreamRite that I love is the webinar feature. And so For me personally, having a single tool that I can use if I need to record a video file, if I want to go live, and if I want to teach in a workshop helps me to get super comfortable with that tool where I can learn, you know, okay, I can create little video clips in Canva to kind of break up the content, or I can add pop up graphics directly in the editor.
LaShonda Brown: I can add music while I’m speaking directly in the tool. And so, so many of the Editing issues that people have, it completely goes away with that particular tool, because it’s kind of like an all in one solution. The reason why I suggest live streaming is because for so many people, even if it’s one other person, there’s so much more engaging when they know they’re talking to someone versus just talking to the camera.
LaShonda Brown: I’ve gotten so desensitized to it at this point. I’m like, I’m used to talking to myself. I do it every day. But for the vast majority of people, they’re used to, at least, if they’re on a Zoom call, they’re talking to at least one other person. And so if that helps you to appear more natural on camera, then invite your community.
LaShonda Brown: That’s why, that’s one of the reasons why I live stream every Monday at 10. Because if I’m really busy, that one live stream can be my weekly upload to YouTube for the week. It gives me a chance to engage with my email list, engage with my community. And create for the platform, and I can go back and optimize it just like I would a feed video.
LaShonda Brown: So I think that so many people have this perception that YouTube is such a time suck, and they don’t think about how much time they’re actually spending on Instagram. Like, I’m willing to bet, track yourself. If you have an iPhone, go in and see how many hours, because I know it’s plural. How many hours are you spending on Instagram every single week?
LaShonda Brown: When I go live at this point, I probably prepped 10 to 15 minutes before. 945. I’m in there. Okay. What are my points? Let me load those in. I can literally get my content created in an hour and a half every week. Are you spending more than an hour and a half on Instagram? And so it’s really just you have to, you have to get over your preconceived notions and find educators that are willing to teach you different approaches.
LaShonda Brown: To what you’ve always ruled out as an option. Okay,
Amanda Warfield: so interesting. So you’re going live on Instagram
LaShonda Brown: each week, each Monday? Is that right? So I’m going live on YouTube. So if I have a, if I have a sponsored live stream, which I do a sponsored live stream at least once a month, then I’ll go live on LinkedIn and on YouTube at the same time.
LaShonda Brown: I will say I have gone live on Instagram and It’s okay, but the better experience is if you’re on YouTube watching it. That’s the primary platform that I suggest people watch the lives on. Okay, so you’re going
Amanda Warfield: live on YouTube once a week and that is sometimes, maybe often, you’re, you then take that and turn that into an evergreen video.
Amanda Warfield: Correct.
LaShonda Brown: Yeah. As soon as it ends, it becomes a video on my page and the same views that I got while it was streaming live apply to that video and they continue to grow.
Amanda Warfield: So, let me ask you this. Do you find that. Do you do any, like, producted videos? Let me ask you that
LaShonda Brown: 1st. Oh, yeah. So a lot a lot of the pre recorded videos that I do are sponsored at this point.
LaShonda Brown: If I do a pre recorded video, that isn’t sponsored. It’s because someone in my membership has had a question. And I’m like, okay, if you had that question, five other people have that question and it’ll probably be well on YouTube. So let me spend the time, film the content and have our team edit it. But yeah, I mean, you can, I have a friend of mine who I convinced to start posting on YouTube, who was a huge TikTok, um, influencer and she just posts vertical content.
LaShonda Brown: Like you don’t have to even, long form is an option of YouTube. It’s not the only function of it. So you could literally do 30 to 60 seconds. Vertical content. You could be reposting what you post on Instagram. So there’s just a lot of different options available. And at the end of the day. It’s the platform that compensates creators the most fairly of all of the different social media options.
LaShonda Brown: So if you want to be paid to post and paid to market your business, it’s the way to go.
Amanda Warfield: Okay, so you’re doing both live and kind of productive quote unquote videos. Do you find that there’s a difference analytics wise in the, the views, how long someone watches between the two different
LaShonda Brown: types? So the live streams definitely have a longer watch time, which is very interesting because the production value is a lot lower.
LaShonda Brown: So I do see longer watch time with the live streams. The CPM is lower on live streams, but it’s not that different. It’s about 5 off for me. Um, so in terms of AdSense revenue, not that different. Um, YouTube does promote live streams differently than feed content. So. I’m way more likely to get thousands of views on a feed video than a live stream.
LaShonda Brown: But at the same time, you can go back in and you can optimize your content with your tags and keywords and whatnot. So after it’s over, you can still treat it like a feed video. So I, I think in a lot of ways, The live streams are kind of this untapped territory as well, because there’s still so few people doing it.
LaShonda Brown: Right. And so to be able to say, you know, once a week, if you have questions for me, just hop on my life and you can ask me live. There’s something about being able to engage with your audience in real time that just shortens the sales cycle. You know, because people are like, Oh, like I can trust her. Like there’s no editing.
LaShonda Brown: There’s, you know, if I have a question in the moment, she can answer it. And it’s just so much more authentic and genuine. And so I think. What’s really happening in online marketing across the board is people are just so tired of the smokescreens like they want real, they want honest, they want ethical and so those are the types of values that are communicated when you’re willing to be vulnerable and just show up live, and I’ve noticed as a speaker.
LaShonda Brown: I’ve become a better speaker live streaming more because it’s, I’m basically, I’ve got a stage every week, you know, and so I’m able to really refine my messaging and I learn how to think on the spot. I learned how to handle, you know, things going wrong because inevitably things happen. And so I just think it’s a good training ground for anybody who’s an online educator because.
LaShonda Brown: If you’re just waiting around for a summit or a conference to have an opportunity to speak, you know, you’re not going to hone those skills as fast as if you’re showing up on a regular basis on YouTube.
Amanda Warfield: Absolutely. Okay, so Lynn, you mentioned that you prep your content about like 10 to 15 minutes before.
Amanda Warfield: Yeah. Do you, Have set topics each week or is it kind of a free for all people come and ask questions? Is it a mix? What does that look like? How do you decide what
LaShonda Brown: you’re talking about? I did a lot of experimenting last year and I think the sweet spot for me is to have a general topic, you know, create that thumbnail, create a title, a very brief description about, hey, we’re going to be going over this.
LaShonda Brown: Um, I’ve heard someone call it a listicle, which I’m like, I never heard of that before, but like, you know, five things, three things, four things. So I usually have at least three points on the given topic at that time. And so I’ll get on, you know, say hello to people, do a little housekeeping, kind of an update on what’s happening with my brand.
LaShonda Brown: Then I transitioned to a time of education and then I go to the comments. And so the live stream can be anywhere 30 minutes to an hour, but no longer than an hour. Um, and so I just kind of block out 10 to 1, uh, 10 to 11. And it’s interesting because sometimes people will just ask you questions and like the Q and a becomes like a whole nother session in and of itself.
LaShonda Brown: And what I love about that is my editor can go in and, you know, she can take out, you know, me saying the question, the answering the question, and then that’s really good LinkedIn content. It can be repurposed as a clip, you know, in an Instagram story. So in my mind, You know, YouTube, especially my YouTube live streams, that’s like top of funnel for content creation for me.
LaShonda Brown: You know, here’s a bunch of content. Here’s me talking for 30 minutes to an hour. Hopefully you can, you know, glean two or three clips from this, and then we can utilize that to market various things throughout the week. Man, this,
Amanda Warfield: I gotta be honest. I have been very, I would never do YouTube and I am. You’re changing my
LaShonda Brown: mind.
LaShonda Brown: It sounds a lot. Well, and here’s the thing. It’s funny because I, I may have shot myself in the foot because I say all day long that courses are dead. And yet in the back of my mind, I’m like, dang, I need to make a course about how I left straight. Like, you know what I mean? It’s like, I say they’re dying.
LaShonda Brown: But so maybe I could come up with a different approach. Maybe it’s a challenge. Maybe it’s a boot camp. But to be honest with you, I, I think that’s what’s been leveling the playing field for my membership. Like, they do not have time to be editing this content, you know, and so I think the idea. Of being able to use a tool that’s very similar, a very similar vibe to zoom.
LaShonda Brown: You know, if you can teach a workshop on zoom, you can use StreamYard. A tool that is not so overwhelming that they can create that content. They can get it out on a regular basis. Time block it out. Batch their content. It’s just a dream, right? And so, yes, you can hire editors and, and you can edit yourself.
LaShonda Brown: But I think. When it comes down to it, you have to just get started because everybody, I think some people say it takes up to like a hundred videos to hit your stride. I think that’s a lie. I’ll be honest with you. I think if you have help, if you have a coach, I would hope to think you’re not just doing a shotgun approach for a hundred videos before things take off.
LaShonda Brown: Um, but at the same time, you just have to do it. You know, you have to build up that muscle. It gets easier over time. You get better and better. I look at live streams from four months ago and I’m like, ugh, you know, I’ve gotten so much better. And so you just have to be open to saying every video I’m going to show up a little bit better than the last one.
LaShonda Brown: And just keep posting. Nobody’s going to be digging in the depths forever. So just keep going.
Amanda Warfield: Okay, so that brings up a really interesting point, though, that I want to make sure we hit, is the, the idea of starting over, I think, is what is keeping people attached to Instagram for so long. I think they’re like, but I have an audience here, but I have a community
LaShonda Brown: here.
LaShonda Brown: But do you? Are they engaged?
Amanda Warfield: That. But then also, we all know how hard it is to get people off of Instagram. So. What would you say, how do you handle the starting fresh? You’re like, okay, I’m gonna start posting on YouTube, I’m gonna go live, but I don’t have an audience there. What do you say to that? How do you
LaShonda Brown: start building that audience?
LaShonda Brown: So this is a really good question. I’m actually working on, uh, formulating a workshop 1k subscribers. Because I feel like, once you get over that hump of having at least a thousand, obviously you would, if you have 4, 000 watch hours, you would qualify for monetization. But I think it’s a mental thing. We only have a few hundred followers on any platform, it’s kind of like Uh, it’s just not where I wanted to be, but if you can get at least a thousand, you know, then it’s like, okay, not so bad.
LaShonda Brown: And so I think When it comes down to it, a lot of people don’t like the idea of starting from zero, but many of us have an audience somewhere, right? You either have an email list, you have an Instagram following, like, if you’re in business in 2024, I’m sure you have an audience on some platform. And so ultimately.
LaShonda Brown: The most important thing I can communicate is you can entice people to leave whatever platform they’re on and go where you want them to go. Just like you would, if you were launching a product when you launch a course, you’re driving traffic from Instagram to teachable or Instagram to Kajabi or whatever you’re using.
LaShonda Brown: So we understand the concept. A funneling traffic to a location, but we don’t make it enticing enough for people to leave where they are to go to YouTube. We just go like, oh, new YouTube video. Oh, starting a YouTube channel and you have to think about starting your YouTube channel like a launch. There has to be some type of excitement.
LaShonda Brown: Some type of incentive because you’re asking people to use one more app and subscribe to one more thing. And so, again, just like you would launch a digital product or, you know, a course, you need to launch your YouTube channel and you need to continue. To update people about your milestones, about your wins.
LaShonda Brown: About comments, people are leaving on your content that’s performing well. And so I just think ultimately it comes down to just having a launch mindset with your channel and not just treating it as yet another profile because, you know, I had a linkedin profile for years that was freaking dormant because I thought as an entrepreneur, I.
LaShonda Brown: What do I need LinkedIn for? I’m my own boss, but I made one when I was in college because that’s what you did to find jobs. And so now that I realize that LinkedIn is like the new business Facebook, I circled back and for months I’ve had to post engaging content to tell the algorithm that I’m actually posting and that page isn’t dead.
LaShonda Brown: And so it’s just important to just think about how can I encourage people, not just. Oh, hey, go consume more content somewhere. Why should they, you know, position it in such a way where it’s like, Hey, you know, I’m doing a, a five day video course on X, Y, Z. And it’s hosted on YouTube. You know what I mean?
LaShonda Brown: Like it’s all about positioning. It’s all about having a launch mindset, but I think the biggest problem why people start YouTube channels that never grow is they think, Oh, well, if I just start one, people will come and that’s just not how it works. Okay,
Amanda Warfield: ma’am. This is good. I love this. I’m all about a launch.
LaShonda Brown: So, yeah, I mean, you make it fun to you could do a giveaway, you could do collabs like you could do a scap. I’ve even done a scavenger hunt and videos before. It’s like, find the hidden word and all these videos for a chance to win a free website. Like, I mean, get creative. I think, I mean, that’s my own little soapbox, but it’s like, you know, we are called to be creative.
LaShonda Brown: And I just think so many of us. have stopped using our imagination and all we’re doing is just duplicating what we see other people doing. It’s like, my word, be unique. It’s easier when you’re unique because you’re no, you’re not competing with anybody else. So what’s something crazy you could do? Maybe you could cook your favorite meal live on your YouTube channel and just chat.
LaShonda Brown: You could do a wine tasting. You could do a knitting party. I mean like at a certain point it’s like you have to think of marketing like I’m doing something crazy enough that someone would want to do a story on me. If, if, if someone hears the concept and they go, oh my gosh, that’s insane, like I need to contact, you know, New York Times or Washington Post or whoever, then you’ve got a good strategy.
LaShonda Brown: But if it’s like, Oh, womp, womp, I’ve heard that before. It’s going to fall flat because you’ve got to cut through the noise. So I just encourage people, like so many people are so afraid of being disruptive. And it’s like, it’s the noisy people that are winning right now. It’s the people that are, you know, doing something so different that it’s causing you to notice.
LaShonda Brown: That are really growing and really thriving. And so what is it that you can do to put your own unique spin on whatever it is that you offer and use that to get people to leave the platform they’re on? Um,
Amanda Warfield: absolutely. You probably have many people convinced, like you’ve convinced me that maybe this is something that we should start doing.
LaShonda Brown: Maybe you should consider it. Here’s the thing, it’s making me money. I’m not, I’m just not going to lie to people. Like, yeah, I know it works. It’s what I did. It is making me money. I am making six figure income, working 20 hours a week. I’m the healthiest and happiest I’ve ever been. You decide for yourself.
LaShonda Brown: Right. You know, it’s a very simple pitch.
Amanda Warfield: What would your suggestions be for equipment? Because I think that’s another thing that holds a lot of us back, is it’s like, I don’t even know, like, do I need a camera? Do I need, I have a mic, obviously, as a podcaster, but like, what do you need? I know you recommend StreamYard, but, which we’ll link to in the show notes for everyone, but, Yeah.
Amanda Warfield: What, where do you start with
LaShonda Brown: equipment? Yeah. So, you know, that is a common question. So we did a whole workshop about preparing for your first YouTube video. And we did a setup on a desktop, a setup on a laptop and a setup on a cell phone. And ultimately, when it comes down to it, you need to utilize the tools that you’re the most comfortable with.
LaShonda Brown: And you can always upgrade from there. I’m, to be completely honest with you, a lot of YouTubers are telling people to film YouTube content on their cell phone. And I think that’s stupid. And the only reason why I say that. Is because when it comes down to it, once you film it, then what? You know what I mean?
LaShonda Brown: Like, most people are not going to manage a YouTube channel on their cell phone. So you’re going to have to transfer the data. Now you have this giant video file. Like, are you plugging in an external microphone to your, to your phone? And so for the vast majority of people, I just recommend that they use their webcam and they use.
LaShonda Brown: Their microphone, like you would on a zoom call, like truthfully start out with what you would utilize to just talk to someone virtually, whether you use Google meet or zoom or what have you start there. And again, you can always increase production value because, like, you know, if you were looking at the clip right now, like, I’m using an actual camera right now.
LaShonda Brown: That’s why I have a 1080 feed and it looks like my normal YouTube content. Um, because I’ve invested in that setup. And so over time, as you get better and better, you could buy a higher quality webcam. Then maybe you can use an actual DSLR camera as your webcam. And so I think that’s actually the easier way to do it because any other way, then you’re having to transfer that data and then you’re getting into a data nightmare.
LaShonda Brown: And so I just think, you know, yes, yeah. You can use your cell phone if you want to make shorts, but practically speaking, I probably would not record a long form YouTube video on my cell phone because editing it, transferring it, uploading it, it just feels like a nightmare to me. Man,
Amanda Warfield: so true. I bought a Mac this year specifically because I wanted my phone to link up with my computer
LaShonda Brown: easily.
LaShonda Brown: Yeah, with AirDrop. AirDrop
Amanda Warfield: is great. It is, but there are some things that I still struggle with. I had um, camp with my youth group this past weekend, and I’m trying to get the photos and the videos off of my phone, onto the computer, onto the program to be able to show them off on Sunday, and it’s just, it’s a nightmare.
Amanda Warfield: I can’t get things to sync up correctly, and I’m just like, you know what? This is such a pain, even with stuff that talks nicely to each other. So definitely a good point.
LaShonda Brown: Yeah, the Dropbox app is helpful. I use that a lot on my cell phone. Um, but even still, even still, I mean, it’s all about reducing friction because I think ultimately the best tools are the ones you actually use.
LaShonda Brown: So it’s like, just what are you going to actually use? I literally have some members in my membership who will open up zoom and do a zoom call with themselves and record there and then put it on YouTube. So it’s, it’s just really not nearly as complicated. You’ve got to focus more on the quality of the content.
LaShonda Brown: You’re saying then the production value as long as the audio is decent and the lighting is decent. People will watch it. So I just wouldn’t stress too much about that.
Amanda Warfield: Speaking of your membership, tell us a little bit about that for those of us that are like, okay, I want to get started, but I still
LaShonda Brown: need help.
LaShonda Brown: Yeah, I, I’m not gonna lie to you. I am so freaking proud of my membership because I think after seeing them engaging in the comments on our workshop this week, I’m like, oh my gosh, I’m actually building a real community and not just a bunch of people that pay for the same thing. So that’s really exciting.
LaShonda Brown: Um, so basically the YouTube membership is the only way to get ongoing YouTube coaching support from me. So the, the keystone aspect of it is leveraging the app async, which is kind of like Voxer on steroids. And essentially every member in my membership has their own thread with me, where whenever you have a YouTube question, you can just send me a voice note and within 48 hours, I’m going to respond to you.
LaShonda Brown: You can send texts, you can send audio, you can send a photo. And so that is a very simple way for you to get, you know, questions. Questions answered about YouTube. Then I give people my YouTube content calendar template, which will show people how to actually create content that generates traffic to your offers, because a lot of people don’t formulate their channel correctly.
LaShonda Brown: So they’re not seeing a benefit from posting fairly early in the process. So I give them that. Then we do monthly workshops where I bring in subject matter experts. And so you get a ticket to all of those plus the replays. So this week we were talking about, um, four different AI tools other than chat GPT that are going to help save you time and that was absolutely incredible.
LaShonda Brown: And so the last thing I would say about the membership that’s really cool is you get me for accountability, which I think is hysterical because I love kicking people in the butt. So people tell me what they intend on doing and I’m like, okay, if you tell me. Understand, I will check in on you. Now, I will help support you in that.
LaShonda Brown: I will encourage you in that. But at the same time, I’m going to ask you, and I think for so many people, they simply need someone else to care about their dream. They need someone else to care about what they’re trying to accomplish to actually show up and do the thing. You know, and that’s why personal trainers work and that’s why group fitness classes work because people need to know that other people are aware of what you’re striving to do.
LaShonda Brown: And so, um, you know, I thought about different pricing structures and, uh, what makes sense and I just settled on 50 a month and at least for this year, that’s what I want to keep it at. I want to make it super accessible. I’m not trying to break the bank that’ll help cover the software costs and, and my VA who helps me out.
LaShonda Brown: Um, but it’s just wonderful. I think it’s just an awesome outlet for people to be in network with other people that are trying to make YouTube work for them. And everybody’s coming at it from different angles. I have a lot of people who are podcasters wanting to leverage YouTube, which is a fun dynamic.
LaShonda Brown: So I hope we kind of do some type of collaboration with all of them at some point. But yeah, it’s just a genuine community. There’s laughter in the chat. There’s celebration in the chats on our calls. And we just have a really good time. And for that, I’m really grateful. Well,
Amanda Warfield: listeners, if this is something you think is.
Amanda Warfield: Right up your alley. We’re going to link to this in the show notes. You can easily check it out and Go join that great community that Lashonda’s created. So before we end, I’ve got two final questions for you The first is if you could give everyone just one action step to take this week,
LaShonda Brown: what would it be?
LaShonda Brown: I would say sit down and think about what your free, low, mid, and high ticket offers are. And I know that’s like a really weird piece of advice, but the amount of people that start a YouTube channel that don’t have those four categories covered. blows my mind. YouTube is an incredible way for you to draw traffic to your email list with free offers.
LaShonda Brown: So like, that’s great. Right. But then we also want to make money. We don’t want to just be spending money on the channel and not getting a return. And so, you know, the low ticket offers help a lot to get buying customers on your email list. And then hopefully, you know, they benefit from that low ticket offer and then you can upsell them.
LaShonda Brown: You know, that mid ticket offer and then that high ticket offer for some people, they may go straight to it. They may just go. You know what? No, I want one on one time with you. I want to book a strategy session, or I want a VIP day or whatever that looks like for you. But once you have those offers defined.
LaShonda Brown: Then you can create content that’s specifically geared to addressing problems for people and those 4 buckets. If you don’t have that before you start posting, what you’re going to get is a bunch of people who are just. They never, you know, subscribe to your email list. They never buy anything you’re trying to sell.
LaShonda Brown: And so if you have those offers defined for yourself, it’s going to impact what you create. So that’s what I would encourage people to do. And honestly, that thought process could help you on any marketing platform. But specifically, if you’re trying to make money with YouTube, you need to have those offers defined before you start posting.
LaShonda Brown: Yeah, being
Amanda Warfield: strategic is so important when it comes to your content marketing. Absolutely. So if you could give everyone a book recommendation, and it can be a business book, but it doesn’t have to be, what would it be?
LaShonda Brown: This is going to sound like super moody and overdramatic, but right now I am walking through the book unmet expectations.
LaShonda Brown: And I think, you know, in a post COVID world, I think we’re all kind of like, okay, we had some expectations, you know, 2020, the year of clear vision, going to do all the things. And let’s be honest, that did not, that did not happen. That did not happen. And so I think we all had expectations of how things were going to go.
LaShonda Brown: And how you deal with things not panning out is a big deal. And so I, I’ve really enjoyed walking through it. I’m not quite done with it yet, but it’s been a really good read. And so I would recommend that one. All right,
Amanda Warfield: we will link to that in the show notes, everyone. LaShonda, thank you so much for coming on today and sharing your expertise.
Amanda Warfield: I look forward to having you on again soon to chat more about sponsorships.
LaShonda Brown: Well, I would love to come back and thank you again for having me.
LaShonda Brown: Thank
Amanda Warfield: you so much for joining me here today, friend. You can find this episode show notes as well as all the resources you need to simplify your marketing over at amandawarfield. com. If you liked what you heard here today, be sure to subscribe to the podcast so that you never miss an episode. And if you could take a moment to leave a rating and review, it would truly mean the world to me.
Amanda Warfield: Ratings and reviews are the number one way that you can support a podcast. And ensure that it sticks around for many more episodes to come. I’ll see you next time. Now go out and uncomplicate your marketing and business.
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