I am so excited about this week’s episode! We’re talking about YouTube on the podcast today. As I was filling out the episode outline, I realized I am really excited to talk about his. I don’t think a lot of people realize just how big YouTube is for us with the Stephanie Kase brand. This is where we get so many new leads from, we have income on autopilot and with everything we’ve setup on the backend, we’re not putting a lot of work into getting that income anymore. YouTube is the second largest search engine behind Google, so it’s a big deal to get this platform to work in your favor. So today, we’re going to talk about what YouTube has done for my business as well as four things that have been game changers for me in terms of growing on YouTube, too.

What YouTube has done for my brand

YouTube has created organic free leads for me from my evergreen content. What that means is that we’re creating long form content that is evergreen – which means that we can post a video today and maybe a year from now, it will still be picking up traffic and gaining traction. This allows us to bring leads into our business without having to post every single day. Because of that, some of our revenue is truly on autopilot, too because those leads get put into email list sales funnels and leads them to purchasing educational content from us. This has honestly been such a game changer for me!

Expanded My Audience

Another really cool thing is that YouTube has expanded my audience for business education. I knew that I wanted to break out of being just a photography educator, and YouTube was pivotal in my ability to make that shift. It allowed me to reach a brand new audience who had no idea who I was – but I was able to quickly show them what I offer! People on YouTube become invested. They’ve seen your face, heard your voice, and it’s a great way to increase that like, trust, know factor. Another huge game changer!

One other thing YouTube has done might seem obvious by now, but it’s helped me grow my email list. That’s huge, especially with a digital product-based business. Right now, I’ve got over 18K subscribers and a majority of those came from YouTube. Each month, we have about 500 new subscribers – all from YouTube, so that’s really cool too. Those subscribers get put into our sales funnel and they do bring income in, which is amazing too!

Generate Income

I also want to mention that YouTube has provided me with additional income. In addition to making sales from our paid products or affiliate links, we also have YouTube ads. It’s nice to have a little extra come in each month from our videos – probably about $1,700 or $1,900 depending on the month. It’s not a ton – but that is still a nice little chunk of change!

How to Make YouTube Profitable for Your Business

The first step of making YouTube profitable for your business is incorporating freebies, paid products, and affiliate links into videos. By this I mean, state that you have a link for something – share about your class or product that ties into the video’s content at the beginning and end of your video. Remember, when people sign up for these products or freebies, you can create a sales funnel in your email marketing platform so they will get pitched your paying products down the line. Make sure that you’re sharing your products and freebies that go with the topic of the video!

For example, if I’m sharing a video about Instagram Reel ideas, I’ll share my free webinar about Reels or maybe my 10 Free Reel Ideas. From there, the new subscriber will eventually get pitched the paying product – like the Reels Mini Course. Last month, we had 97 people sign up for the Reels Mini Course. While some of that was from our sale, 58 new members came from YouTube – which is just insane. That’s the power of sharing your links, freebies, and products! The same concept applies to affiliate links. If I’m talking about my wall calendar, I’ll share my affiliate link with Kat Schmoyer!

Create Videos around Your Freebie

Beyond incorporating freebies into a video, we’ve also created videos around a freebie! For example, I made an Instagram tutorial about how to create a circle graphic for your newest post. They could download the template from me for free and the video showed them exactly what to do with it and how to use it. It was great!

You can do the same thing with your paid products. I’ve shared about how to create an aesthetic Instagram feed – so when I made that video, it made sense to link to our presets. You can do the same thing with affiliate links. At the end of the day, using your own product line will be more profitable, but these affiliate links can still generate income, too!

Posting Consistently

One of the hardest things to do is grow your account – just like any other platform. For YouTube, I’ve noticed that posting consistently is the best way to grow. YouTube then sees my channel as fresh and active, which helps draw more traffic. I also carefully choose topics and how I name videos so that I know they will rank in the searches on the platform. Honestly, I’m less concerned with getting engagement on YouTube as I am with other platforms, because if I’ve done the upload and prep right, the video will live on and become something that is viewed for months to come. There’s just so much more potential and longevity for these videos! If you’ve tried YouTube before but not seen a lot of traction, just give it time. I have videos that don’t do anything right away but then a year from then, they’re gaining traction. It really is a long game!

Reviewing My Analytics

So the third thing that has helped me grow on YouTube is looking at my analytics. This is a game changer! If you’re posting videos on YouTube but you’re not reviewing how they’re actually doing on a consistent basis, you’re missing a huge opportunity to see faster growth.  YouTube wants your content to be bingeable – meaning, if someone finds your video, you want to have more like it that they can continue to watch. One way to make this happen is to see which videos are doing well and the terms people are searching to find your videos. Then, you can create more content around that topic! It’s an easy way to find gaps in content, too, so you can get even more ideas about the content your audience is looking for.

Creating Better Engagement on Your YouTube Videos

The last thing is some hacks for better engagement on your videos. Now, to be clear: I’m self-taught when it comes to YouTube. So, I’ve learned a lot by trial and error. The first hack is just to get to the point. 10 years ago, or so, more detailed openings were popular. But now, people just want you to get to the point of your video! Do a quick 10-15 second intro, maybe a related product pitch (keep it short!) and dive right in. Those first few minutes are crucial in your video!

Next, take the time to edit your video. Take out your pauses, “ums” or other mistakes. People don’t want to be sitting around while you think for a few minutes. Keep your video streamlined and to the point. Another easy hack for more engagement is to create engaging thumbnails. A big mistake I see people making is their thumbnails. These may not always be on brand – instead, you may want to do something brighter or bolder so it grabs someone’s attention. Make sure it’s easy to read and clear what your video is about.

Last under these hacks is just a reminder to strategically include your products, freebies, and affiliate links. I want to serve people well – so including these things is intentional and strategic to make their journey with me easier.

Recap

At the end of the day, YouTube has truly been incredible for us. I don’t have to physically show up for work every day to generate new leads, and that’s given me so much freedom and flexibility, especially as I’ve stepped into becoming a mom. Using this platform strategically has paid off! With a little pre-planning, you can make YouTube work for your business, too!

If you’re listening and you have ideas about what to talk about next, please send in your requests! I really do want to know what you want to hear about in future episodes. Email me at [email protected] with your questions!! I can’t wait to hear from you! Don’t forget to leave us a review on Apple Podcasts, too. We appreciate all of the support and love!