GE 258: Master of YouTube Tim Schmoyer Spills His Secrets to Growing a Channel to 60M Views in Just 9 Months (podcast)

Eric

7 years ago

Hey everyone! In today’s episode, I share the mic with Tim Schmoyer, CEO and founder of Video Creators, which grew out of something organic and is now one of the leading businesses that seeks to help others create financially viable YouTube channels.

Tune in to hear how Tim helped a CEO build a channel that gets 30M views a month from scratch, how he’s helped people further their own lives and careers with his videos, and how you can make money using a number of revenue streams.

Download podcast transcript [PDF] here: Master of YouTube Tim Schmoyer Spills His Secrets to Growing a Channel to 60M Views in Just 9 Months TRANSCRIPT PDF

Time-Stamped Show Notes:

[00:52] Before we jump into today’s interview, please leave a review and rating and subscribe to the Growth Everywhere Podcast!
[01:42] In 2005, Tim was dating someone he wanted to introduce to his family, even though they were far apart. So, he uploaded videos to YouTube for them.
[02:33] The videos became popular with people other than his family.
[02:50] He started YouTube’s first educational channel about how to make videos.
[03:00] Now, he has worked with top 50 brands in America and other large corporations.
[04:02] He has two channels, because each channel targets a different demo.
[04:30] The video creator channel is all about creating great YouTube videos.
[06:00] Both channels make money, but there are lots of different revenue streams.
[06:25] AdSense is passive, product sales, consulting work, paid brand ads, etc. make up Tim’s different revenue streams.
[07:30] Tim also uses affiliate marketing.
[08:25] 30% of revenue is thanks to product sales, 30% of revenue is consulting, and a big chunk is live events, brand deals, AdSense, etc.
[09:20] When working with a high-level CEO, he helped him figure out how to create a YouTube channel and action plan.
[09:50] By the end of the year, he had 30 million views per month and $50,000 per month in AdSense Revenue.
[11:24] Tim likes that his videos have had a personal effect on a lot of viewers.
[12:25] He likes that his channel has helped people further their own lives and careers.
[14:15] Tim would rather spend his time helping creators that share his values.
[15:00] There are no hard and fast benchmark numbers.
[15:15] For instance, one person had 6.5 million viewers and Tim helped him build a team and fix his business model.
[15:52] Now, the guy has a full-time staff of 20 and shoots once per week.
[16:40] However, people with 100,000 subscribers can make more than people with a larger audience. It’s all about your business model.
[17:47] Captioning will increase your watch time.
[18:30] Put time into your thumbnail and title; make sure they are accurate and descriptive.
[19:50] Plan a hook before you get started.
[20:00] Cut more often; don’t just have a static shot the entire time.
[21:45] YouTube’s algorithm collects content that people want to watch. Your actual content needs to be optimized to hold people’s attention.
[22:22] Learn how to tell stories that get people to feel something.
[23:05] A good book that helped Tim get started is Long Story Short by Margot Leitman.
[23:40] Margot Lightman has won storytelling contests.
[24:00] Another book he likes is A Million Miles in a Thousand Years by Donald Miller.
[24:20] Building a Story Brand also by Donald Miller is another helpful book that Tim enjoyed.
[25:00] Eric feels his channel is struggling and doesn’t know what it is.
[25:40] Tim feels podcasts don’t tend to do well on YouTube (because of the static image, which is the worst way to do it).
[26:20] Make sure your audience feels they need to watch all of your videos; deliver value.
[27:45] Optimize your videos for people, not for YouTube.
[28:45] Keyword matching doesn’t exactly exist, because Google uses “intent”.
[29:30] Eric’s thumbnails all blend together.
[29:42] Each video needs to be represented differently.
[30:45] Design unique thumbnails, pitch the value, and tease the story.
[32:07] One new tool Tim has been using is HelpScout.
[32:27] He uses it to manage the main email account.
[33:30] Tim would not pay for advertising at the stage that Eric and Neil are at with their podcast.
[34:10] Putting money on top of posts that aren’t getting results won’t help.
[34:40] Focus on organic growth before you pay to promote something.
[35:20] Paid ads will get you new viewers, but not necessarily engaged viewers.
[36:10] Tim recommends everyone read Primal Branding.

Resources From This Interview:

Leave Some Feedback:

What should I talk about next? Who should I interview? Please let me know on Twitter or in the comments below.
Did you enjoy this episode? If so, leave a short review here.
Subscribe to Growth Everywhere on iTunes.
Get the non-iTunes RSS feed

Connect with Eric Siu: