Unlock a $100K+ Online Business: Your 7-Step YouTube Revenue Roadmap

Step 1: Implement the Super Mario Effect

• Adopt a mindset of learning from failures, similar to how gamers learn from mistakes in video games.

• View challenges as opportunities to learn and improve, rather than as setbacks.

• Ensure your finances are stable so you can experiment without the pressure of immediate financial success.

• Consider how much time you can commit to YouTube, recognizing that it may take 3-5 years to gain traction.

Step 2: Identify What You're Optimizing For

• Define what success means to you: Is it money, time, or new experiences?.

• Align your YouTube channel with your life goals.

• Make your goals tangible: Write out what a dream day, week, and year would look like if your channel is successful.

• Ensure you enjoy the content you make, as success means you will be doing more of it.

Step 3: Perform a Niche Analysis

• Research the community you want to join: Watch videos in that niche, understand how they talk to their audiences, their colors, episode length, posting frequency, opening lines, themes, and titles.

• Identify gaps in the community: What aren't people saying that you would like to say?.

• Look for potential collaborators and be part of the existing ecosystem.

• Create a year's worth of content titles and loglines.

• Understand that your initial product is attention.

• Study how audiences discover videos, primarily through browsing and suggested content.

• Recognize that you will gain an audience within a pre-existing community, so it is important to understand the visual language, timestamps, and tone of that community.

Step 4: Choose Your Value Proposition

• Study your niche to understand how you can be slightly different and provide unique value.

• Create a "Pinterest board" of thumbnails and community comments to understand what people like and dislike.

• Analyze the first 30 seconds of videos in your niche to understand how they open their videos.

• Consider a niche topic: For example, instead of general travel, focus on unique Airbnbs with activities.

• Analyze the brand partners and common sponsors in your niche.

• Look for common formats in your niche, such as "this vs. that" or challenges.

• Recognize that storytelling involves conflict and contrast, which should be present in your thumbnails.

• Use the "identities, emotions, and actions" exercise:

  • Identify the different identity groups in your audience.

  • Write down the emotions you want them to feel.

  • Determine the actions you want them to take.

Step 5: Write 100 Titles

• Develop an idea bank: aim to generate 10 new video titles every day.

• Use AI tools for inspiration, but also write down all your ideas, even if they seem bad, as they might lead to better ones.

• Commit to developing ideas daily, like brushing your teeth.

• Note titling conventions and formats you like, such as "versus" or "$100 thing vs. $1000 thing.".

• Whittle down the 100 titles to 30, and identify your favorite two or three each day.

Step 6: Find a Testing Ground

• Test your ideas in low-lift ways to see if they resonate with your target community.

• Share your ideas on platforms like LinkedIn or with your social circle.

• Use short-form videos to test ideas.

• Look at community hubs like subreddits or Discord to understand what people care about.

Step 7: Film, Edit, Upload, Repeat

• Pre-production is crucial. Create a document with your title, thumbnail, and a list-based format that outlines the hook, beginning, middle, and end of your video.

• Spend the most time on the first 7 and 30 seconds of your video.

• Ensure your hook meets expectations and introduces something new.

• Make sure you have unanswered questions throughout your video that keep viewers engaged.

• Use a lean filming style to avoid overcomplicating the process, starting with an iPhone.

• Plan for 52 weeks of content creation, not one week.

• Start with short-form content to test ideas and drive audience and subscriptions before committing to long form, aiming for 2-3 shorts per long-form video.

• Longer watch times are rewarded by YouTube, with 20+ minutes as an ideal target.

• Remember that people watch content on televisions now, not just phones, so longer videos can work.

• Aim to complete 85% of a video and then release it without obsessing over perfection.

• Look for opportunities to repeat successful video formats with a new spin or chapter.

Data Tracking

• Track click-through rate (CTR): Aim for 10% or higher on launch day.

• Track first 30-second viewership: Aim for above 90%, meaning that you hooked the viewers.

• Track average view duration/percentage: Aim for over 50% for a 20-minute video.

• Track average views per video and new versus returning viewers.

• Look at browse vs. suggested traffic and device average view duration to understand how audiences consume your content.

Additional Advice

• Focus on making great videos, and your network will emerge naturally.

• Be patient, as building a successful YouTube channel takes time.

• Do not overlook Pinterest boards as a tool for visual inspiration.

Monetization and Further Learning

• If you want more information about monetizing your channel and turning it into a business, consider watching our free webinar on how to make $1000-$3,000 per day👇.