The YouTube Playbook: How we grew from 220 to 100k subscribers in exactly 6 months. (Part One)
The Hyperfocused Entrepreneur
March 11, 2023
Read time: 12 minutes
Six months ago we got really serious about YouTube.
We’d been making videos for the channel for the better part of a year and a half with little to show for our efforts.
Hundreds of videos released to nothing more than the sound of chirping crickets.
It was frustrating, disappointing, and more than a little disheartening.
But we stuck with it and continued experimenting with new approaches to the platform because I firmly believed it wasn’t a matter of if we’d figure it out… but only a matter of when.
Well, that when eventually came on September 22, 2002 when we published From $80k in debt to Millionaire in 3 Years…Here’s what I did.
104 days after publishing that video, it crossed the 1,000,000 view mark and the number of subscribers to the channel exploded from 220 to 37,000.
(These numbers are astounding and still boggle my mind, to be honest.)
Incredibly, this wasn’t just a one hit wonder.
At the time of this writing, March 9th, 2023, we’ve published 10 more videos that have each received, on average, 340,000 views.
Perhaps the most mind blowing stat, however, is the fact that we crossed the 100,000 subscriber mark in exactly 6 months.
Okay, enough bragging, let’s get into what you came here for…
In this article, I’m going to outline EXACTLY what we’ve done over the past 6 months so you can take your YouTube channel to the next level.
There is A LOT to cover so we’re going to break this into two parts.
In Part One (this week) we’ll cover:
- Consistency
- Quality vs Quantity
- Title
- Thumbnail
- Storytelling
- Delivery
In Part Two we’ll cover:
- Videography
- Editing
- Description
- Pinning Comment
- Channel Customizations
- Community Posts
- Long Form vs Short Form
- Engaging
Quick Note: We’re going to be talking specifically about growing your YouTube channel here, but a lot of these concepts apply regardless of which social media platform you’re targeting.
We’ve got our work cut out for us… so let’s get to it.
Consistency
One of the most important variables of success, whether it be in growing a YT channel, building a business, or whatever, is Time.
This is a gross oversimplification, but generally, the longer you do a thing, the more likely you are to find success.
With that in mind, before you set off on this adventure, commit to this path for at least 3 years (preferably 5).
In my experience, if you dedicate five focused years to an endeavor, you can’t help but find success.
It’s the same with YouTube.
Committing to the long-game serves another benefit:
You won’t get disheartened and give up too soon.
When we launched our first podcast (Multifamily Investing Made Simple) back in the spring of 2020, we committed to releasing at least 100 episodes and waiting a minimum of 2 years before even LOOKING at the download statistics.
It’s a good thing we did, because after a year and a half and 60+ episodes, we really weren’t seeing any sort of meaningful traction…
But then… somewhere around 80 episodes, things started to change.
And then they started to change fast.
Now, after nearly 3 years, we have one of the top Multifamily Investing podcasts in the world.
I attribute the majority of our success merely to the fact that we committed to showing up consistently every single week and releasing multiple episodes regardless of the outcome.
First things first: If you want to be successful on YouTube, put it out of your mind that you’re gonna skyrocket to the top of the charts in the next 6 months because the truth is, you probably won’t.
This is all way easier said than done. Trust me. After a couple months of screaming into the void, it’s only human nature that you’ll start to doubt yourself.
You’ll need a method for coping. Here’s mine:
It’s not about the views, it’s about the reps.
Just remind yourself, the most important thing you’re gaining during this time can’t be measured on a spreadsheet:
Skills
And believe me, to win the YouTube game, you’re gonna need some pretty sick skills (but we’ll talk about that in a bit).
Okay, now that expectations are sufficiently tempered, let’s dive into the MASSIVE mistake I was making for the first year and a half of building the YouTube channel.
Quality versus Quantity
Here’s the most common question I get asked on the topic of building a YT channel:
How often should I post?
The answer?
I have no clue…
But here’s been my experience:
For the first 18 months, I posted multiple videos per week. We focused on repurposing Instagram shorts, podcasts, and what I’ll call YouTube specific content.
We literally released HUNDREDS of videos in the first 18 months.
The result?
Literal crickets.
Things changed INSTANTLY once we made the shift from quantity to quality.
Instead of putting out multiple low effort videos per week, we started putting out only TWO high effort videos per month.
In hindsight, I understand why.
See, we were treating YouTube like every other social media channel where a post only has a narrow window of time to go viral before it more or less disappears forever.
Sure, your Instagram post still exists on your feed, but after the first day or two, that video or reel is unlikely ever to pop-off again.
In that arena, you’re rewarded for putting out a TON of content so you can stay top of mind.
That’s the wrong approach to YouTube because this platform is fundamentally different.
YouTube is the second largest search engine in the world, which means people engage with this platform differently than they do Twitter, Instagram, TikTok, or LinkedIn.
Furthermore, your videos are ALWAYS discoverable.
Here’s something surprising about YT virality:
It’s not unusual for a video to take a couple weeks (or even MONTHS) to suddenly go viral.
Seriously, of the 11 videos we’ve released over the past 6 month, only one hit viral views in the first week. Every other video (including our 1.3M view video), took months to get traction.
The best example of this is the second video we launched with this new strategy (5 Regrets From My 20s).
This video was an absolute flop for the first 5 months. It was by FAR our worst performing video with only 25k views.
Then, for whatever reason, at the end of January, the algorithm fell in love with this video and launched it up the charts.
Now it’s our 4th best performing video of all-time.
All of this is to say, YouTube will reward you for creating amazing, timeless content.
So pump the brakes on quantity and focus all your energy on quality.
But wait… we’re actually getting ahead of ourselves, because the quality of your video doesn’t even remotely matter unless you nail two things:
- The Title
- The Thumbnail
So let’s unpack those next.
The Title
Here’s a little Copywriting lesson for ya:
The TITLE is the most important part of any article.
If your title sucks, nobody’s gonna click.
It’s just that simple.
So you need to spend considerable time obsessing over your title.
- Should you capitalize the first letter of each word
- Should you use a “You” statement or an “I” statement
- Should you include a timeframe (…in under 3 years?)
But here’s the problem…
Even after obsessing over every little detail… how do you KNOW a title will hit?
Well, thankfully, there’s a way to hack this by doing market research.
Simply put, research your competition to see what’s worked (and what hasn’t) for them.
Specifically, you’re looking to see which of their videos have outperformed or went “viral” in the past 6 months or so.
When researching competitors, make sure you’re looking at truly comparable channels in terms of topics and size.
If you only have 1,000 subscribers, don’t look at a channel with 1M subs for inspiration.
It’s bad data. Those channels are playing by different rules than you.
Instead, find a channel only a little further ahead of you (10,000 subs for example) and filer their videos based on popularity.
Then zero in on the ones that “hit” in the past 6-12 months.
And just like that, you’ve now got a good sense for which titles you KNOW the algorithm will love.
Next, you’ve got to nail the thumbnail.
Pardon the interruption…
But I’ve got something here you’re absolutely gonna want to check out.
The reason I think you’re gonna want to check this out is because you’re hear, reading this article which tells me you aren’t like most people.
See, most people are out there struggling with feelings of overwhelm, burnout, and constant procrastination.
They think that if they just had MORE time to get everything done, they’d get everything figured out and quickly be living the life of their dreams.
But you and I both know that the problem isn’t a lack of TIME…
It’s a lack of FOCUS.
I mean, you’ve heard the lie that time is your most valuable asset, right?
Well, people like us know it’s not.
We both know that our most valuable asset is actually our FOCUSED ATTENTION.
It took me almost 30 years to figure this out… and another 5 to figure out how to turn my ADHD into a super-power.
But once I did, everything in my life changed for the better.
So, I spent the last year laying out the step-by-step systems which enabled me write so many bestselling books, build multiple successful businesses, and acquire over $70M of real estate.
It’s called The Hyperfocus Masterclass.
Over the past two months we’ve had over 1,200 students go through the program and the feedback has been incredible.
Want to learn how to do less, but better, so you can get more done in a month than most people do in a year…
Then click here to join The Hyperfocus Masterclass.
The Thumbnail
You’ve heard that you should never judge a book by its cover, but…
That’s exactly what people do.
So your cover (aka your THUMBNAIL) needs to be damn good.
But what exactly makes for a good thumbnail?
Should you make a silly face while pointing at something like an idiot with a brightly colored background and a couple vomit inducing emojis to draw attention?
Well, that’s what most people seem to think you should do, but when you follow common advice, you get common results.
So we can’t think like the masses. We have to be different and stand-out…
Which is exactly the point of a thumbnail, yeah?
So here’s the secret of a great thumbnail:
A great thumbnail generates intrigue and evokes a strong emotion.
That’s it.
With this in mind, we’ve taken a very different approach to our most recent thumbnails.
Now, instead of just ripping an image from the video and using that as the headshot, we spend HOURS trying to set up the PERFECT shot.
Seriously… last week, three of us spent an hour at the coffee shop trying to nail an upcoming video’s thumbnail… after spending all that time we still didn’t have that one magical shot that just grabs you.
So we’ll have to go back and reshoot.
That’s the game.
Listen, I know this seems like a lot of work, but if there’s one piece of advice I could give that’ll 10x your views it’s this:
Don’t settle for anything less than the PERFECT thumbnail.
Alright, once you’ve nailed your Title and Thumbnail, it’s time to focus on the content of the video itself.
The goal is to create something that captivates… and in my experience, the best way to captivate an audience is through the magic of storytelling.
Storytelling
Finally, we’re to the actual meat and potatoes of your video.
A good Title and Thumbnail will get people to click… but it takes a great Story to make a video go viral.
Storytelling is one of the most valuable skills you can develop in life, but here’s the truth:
I can’t teach you how to tell a fantastic story here. There’s simply too much to unpack.
I’ve gotten a ton of requests for a storytelling workshop, so here’s what I’m gonna do…
Sometime in the next month I’m going to host a live training to share everything I’ve learned about telling an incredible story. These are all the lessons I’ve learned from writing a dozen bestselling books and scripting out a whole bunch of viral YouTube videos.
If you’re interested in joining that live (online) workshop, simply shoot me an email (anthony@anthonyvicino.com) and let me know you want to learn how to tell a seven-figure story.
Registration is $20 and we’ll be limiting attendance so we have the ability to answer all of your questions.
Delivery
There’s no way around this… to succeed on YouTube, you need to get really good at delivering your content to the camera.
If you’re like most of us, you’re gonna suck in the beginning.
Your delivery is gonna come off stilted and awkward…
Worst of all… it’s gonna come off as inauthentic, which is guaranteed to turn off your audience.
And that right there, is the single most important aspect of good delivery:
Authenticity
Here’s the struggle: how do you talk to a camera authentically?
Well, I’m no expert on this, but here are two people I’ve personally learned a lot about public speaking from:
Both of these guys put out remarkable free content, so go brush up on the basics of tonality, body language, and so much more from them.
Now, when it comes to scripting out your YouTube video, there’s 3 schools of thought:
- Extemporaneous
- Bullet Points
- Word-for-Word
Extemporaneos scripting is when you just turn on the camera and start talking about the topic at hand off the top of your head.
The plus side of this style is it comes off as very natural. The downside is you run the risk of rambling or wandering off topic.
This is how I created videos for YouTube in those first 18 months. Despite being pretty damn good at riffing off the top of my head, these videos never hit.
Not once.
You may be tempted to default to this type of delivery because it’s so much easier, but I think the sooner you abandon this path, the better.
Chances are you are not NEARLY good enough to pull it off. Sorry.
One step up from Extemporaneous delivery is to Bullet Point your script. This is functionally an outline of major points/stories you want to hit, but the actual delivery is a bit more fluid.
This leads to a tighter script overall while still remaining natural. It’s better than going off the top of your head, but truthfully, I still don’t think it’s good enough if you REALLY want to pop off on YouTube.
In my experience, to really get a video to land, it’s got to be incredibly intentional and tightly choreographed. There is simply NO room for filler, fluff, or tangents.
Which is what led me to scripting out my videos Word-for-Word.
Now, here’s the problem…
If you’re not a good writer, delivering a word-for-word script can come off as INCREDIBLY stilted and awkward.
This is where practice comes in (and why it’s probably a good thing you won’t pop off in the first couple months as you’re developing your skills).
Once you have your word-for-word script, there’s two ways of delivering it:
- Memorize line-by-line
- Read from a teleprompter
You don’t need to memorize your ENTIRE script. Most YouTubers just memorize a line or two at a time and then deliver it naturally to the camera.
The other path is to read the script off a teleprompter (this is what I do).
Reading off a teleprompter is a unique skill that requires a ton of practice, but I’ve personally found it to be the most powerful form of a delivery (for me, at least).
Whichever path you choose, remember, this is the heart-and-soul of the video and you MUST nail it.
But once you do, it’s time to add the sizzle… which we’ll cover in next week’s Part Two (stay tuned!).
Stay Hyperfocused,
AV
From YouTube This Week:
These 3 Daily Habits Made Me A Millionaire
Want to go even deeper?
1. Unleash your hyperfocused mind to dominate life, business, and everything in between? Here’s how:
- The Hyperfocused Masterclass: the exact system I used to overcome ADHD, write a bunch of books, build some successful businesses, and acquire a whole lot of real estate. Join now!
2. Learn to passively invest in commercial real estate with better returns, less risk, and zeo hassle.
- Invictus Capital: my real estate private equity firm.
- Multifamily Investing Made Simple: Top Apple Podcast.
- Passive Investing Made Simple: Amazon Best Selling Book with 100 5 star reviews.
3. Want more like this? Check out these 3 popular articles from the vault:
- My Simple 3-Step Framework For Making More Money
- These 6 Skills Will Make You Millions
- It Never Gets Easier, You Just Get Better
4. The Amplified Impact Podcast: A daily podcast for those in relentless pursuit of Less, but Better:
