The core theme is a shift in vlogging strategy from documenting an entire day to focusing on specific, interest-driven topics, making it more accessible and effective for new creators in the current YouTube landscape.
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If you want to get started vlogging this
year, but you're like, "My life is
boring." Then stick around to the end of
this episode. 10 practical tips that'll
help you figure out what to vlog about,
how to start getting views, even if
you're a beginner. Old way, you're
vlogging about your whole life, right?
The new way, you're vlogging about one
part of your life that people are
interested in, and you're really going
to commit to that. This is why I say
pick a theme because it is more broad,
gives you a little more flexibility,
still an umbrella that influences all
the content versus a niche which kind of
like bottlenecks you into just like one
specific thing. This is why you have to
get started. And that's why the new
vlogging method that I teach actually
emphasizes how can you vlog as much as
possible if not every day at the
beginning so that you catch yourself up
to the level that you need to get
started and start getting the views and
be successful as a vlogger.
Today I'm sitting down with Benji, a
creator who's generated seven figures in
brand deals, who's built multiple
different YouTube channels in multiple
different formats and survived different
eras of YouTube over the past 17 years.
Now, you've designed this new format of
vlogging and there's a lot of changes,
but it's a good time to get started. And
even if you think your life is boring,
you're going to love this episode. So,
we're going to dive into 10 practical
tips. But first, let's lay the
foundation. Why is now a good time to
start vlogging on YouTube?
>> Yeah, so there's a little fatigue with
that high production type of content.
You could even say like short form
content. And so people are desiring that
more relaxed type of viewing experience.
So vlogging is perfect for that.
Secondly, the TV is in play. We always
looked at devices as influencing how we
edit. And those devices were in smaller
and smaller and smaller. And guess what?
We had less time. So that's why things
like Tik Tok videos were working. Well,
now with the living room, with the TV,
people want longer videos. Vlogging is a
perfect format to create that longer
video that's required for that new
viewing experience. And then third,
people just want to deep dive into
topics. You know, again, what short form
lacked, long form has available. And so
vlogs are a great way to deep dive into
topics people are interested in if
you're doing it the new way. But these
10 tips also are going to probably kind
of shake people's thinking. It's a
little bit different than what you might
assume because the first one is stop
filming your whole day. Film one
interesting thing. The old vlogging
method was like here's my entire day and
all the details that I'm doing. This new
vlogging method is different. Can you
explain it?
>> Yeah. Well, when people hear vlogging,
they think Casey Neistat. They think,
you know, you're famous, so your whole
day is going to be exciting and drone
shots are going to get you on a
skateboard going across the ice or doing
something nuts. Um, and and so that is
influencing how you start a vlog channel
if you want to start vlogging because
you're watching vlogs. But these new
vlogs are different. See, the old way
you vlogged your whole day because you
might be famous or you're great at
editing and you can make your day
entertaining, but not everybody has an
exciting day. So then you start doing
it, you know, the old way and it's kind
of boring. The new way to vlog is vlog
one part of your day, part of your day
that's related to a topic that you're
interested in and more importantly the
viewer is interested in. So often times,
you know, in my, you know, vlog channel,
we'll vlog our mornings, getting, you
know, ready for the day, maybe running
an errand, then my wife and I are eating
lunch, and then maybe I'll go shopping
for some food, come home, cook dinner,
and then we're, you know, having
thoughts on the bed about, you know,
what we did that day, and then boom,
that's old way. The new way, I'm just
taking my shopping trip, right? And it's
just Costco because that's the topic not
only that I'm interested in, I want to
highlight, but also other people are
interested in. And that's the new way of
vlogging. Instead of vlogging your whole
day, you're vlogging one part of your
day. Not only is that going to play to
the algorithm, which wants to get
content out to people that are
interested in that topic, but it's just
easier to create content around that
moment. See, one of the things that's
really hard is to vlog your whole day
and then you're back at your editing,
you know, software and you've got three,
four hours of content. Now you're just
got the 30 minutes, 60 minutes. oftent
times however much content I have is the
length of my vlog and it's easier to
edit because it's all around one topic
and I don't have to highly produce it to
make it interesting. It's already
interesting because it's highlighting
the thing that people are interested in.
That's powerful. And if somebody wants
to start and they're a beginner, having
those handles is nice because one of the
biggest things that can get you stuck is
too much footage, too much editing, too
much complexity. So, if you just film
one interesting thing, you're isolating
down how much content you're capturing.
You might even just film it straight
through. Just talk for 12 minutes and
then upload that clip. So, it allows the
beginner to start fast without
overthinking. Now, you have a student
named Carrie. You have a program called
Vlogging Academy. And can you break down
some of these insights in terms of what
is she doing and how does that apply to
her content? Yeah. So, when Carrie came
to me, she had the same challenge that
everybody else had, which is, "What do I
vlog, right? How do I make my day kind
of interesting? I kind of live a boring
life." Well, I said, "Well, first off,
the new way to vlog, we're not really
highlighting your whole day. We're just
highlighting one thing in your day." And
so for her, she went through a weight
loss journey losing 100 pounds and she
wanted to share that and eventually
coach other people on how to get
healthier and lose weight and live a
this healthy lifestyle. And so she
applied the new vlog method by just
talking about specific topics. Oftent
times she'll just have a a thought that
she wants to rant on. And so it could
just be her in front of the camera, no
other edits, and just straight talking
about this one thing because there's a
takeaway that people can learn from it.
And so within a month, she not only got
a video that hit like 30,000 views,
which was a big deal because she had
started her channel from zero
subscribers the month prior, eventually
having videos that were hitting 100,000
views and then one I think went more
viral for her, 360,000 views. But the
big big takeaway from her experience was
that video that hit 300,000 views was
just her in the car because it's good
audio, right? Talking to the camera and
no edits
>> because she was applying my new vlog
method at 100%. She was just talking
about the one thing that people care
about and giving a very specific
takeaway and then sharing all her
opinions and thoughts and you know
basically her her like advice and
nothing else. Part of it was of course
the volume and putting in the reps but
ultimately it's because the new way
people are consuming content it's not
based off of your influence it's based
off of your interest and we call it
interest media. And so that's why
someone like Carrie, even as a beginner,
is winning versus a seasoned creator
trying to do it the old way and they're
not winning. Hey, quick pause before we
get back into the podcast. If you're
posting on YouTube but not getting the
views or subscribers you want, this will
help. Go to mycreatorquiz.com.
It's a free 2-minute assessment that
reveals what type of creator you are,
where you're stuck, and what to do next
to grow. You'll get instant clarity, a
simple plan, and it's totally free. So,
just go to mycreatorquiz.com
to take the free two-minute assessment,
or click the link in the show notes. All
right, let's jump back into the episode.
So, then number two, and this ties into
Car's story, is pick a theme so people
know why they're clicking. So, I'm
guessing Carrie's niche is weight loss.
And then by na by nature of it being her
journey to lose 100 pounds being a
female there's a lot of like subniches
already attached to it like the people
that are going to resonate with her
click on her thumbnail. But that being
said, I would now imagine, okay, if I'm
going to do a weight loss journey, I
might just do a mindset day or I might
just do the day you fail or and then I
might actually do a meal day or I might
do a workout or I might there's there's
like endless orbiting topics around
that. But just the opportunity so that
you could just sit in your car and talk
about anything, but you're saying pick a
theme. So for the listener that wants to
start vlogging, how do you figure that
out for yourself? Like what theme do I
do? Yeah, if again we compare it to the
old way of vlogging. Your vlog channel
was about you and your life. Okay, that
was the old way to vlog. The new way to
vlog is you're picking one thing about
your life that your channel's going to
be about. Not you, but that one thing
that you want to be known for, that
other people are interested in. So
again, most people want to be a Casey
Neistad. They want to be this big
celebrity and they want to be super
famous. So then they have to become
that, right? Or they have to try to
create something that they would create.
But now we're just isolating to that
theme of your channel. What do you want
to be known for? So in the case of
Carrie, right, it was her uh weight loss
journey and I want to be known as a
person that was able to be successful at
losing a whole bunch of weight and
connect with other people doing that. So
that puts guard rails on the types of
topics that she's going to choose for
her vlogs. Old way you're vlogging about
your whole life, right? The new way
you're vlogging about one part of your
life that people are interested in and
you're really going to commit to that.
And this is why I say pick a theme
because it is more broad, gives you a
little more flexibility, still an
umbrella that influences all the content
versus a niche which kind of like
bottlenecks you into just like one
specific thing. You can still do that,
but when you have a theme, you have more
topics you can, you know, cover. So for
her, um, the theme would be just like a
healthy lifestyle. So she can cover
different things versus like these are
the exact workouts I do. And that's like
a niche, right? I'm just going to talk
about the workouts. Especially as a
beginner, you need more options to kind
of figure out what it is that you're
good at anyway. So, this is why I say
choose a theme for your channel versus,
you know, having your life be the channel.
channel.
>> Number three is talk to one person, not
the whole internet. Break that down.
>> Yeah. So, one of the reasons why people
are trying to be perfect is because they
want to please everybody versus just
simply understanding the reason that
interest focused vlogs work is because
there's one other person that's also
interested in it. The easiest way to
explain is when you're hanging out with
that friend that's also into the same
hobby as you and you can just talk for
hours and hours and hours. When you're
talking to that person, you're not
thinking about the 10 other people. you
might have the same conversation with or
like, hey, this might go out to a
million people. I hope they all like it.
You're going to overthink it. You're
going to like maybe be a little fake.
You're going to put on a smile versus if
you're just talking to that one person,
especially if it's a friend or family
member, you're not you're overthinking
it. You're just yourself. You're more
natural. And what's crazy about that is
even though you're only making the video
for that one person, I always say that
like talk on camera as if you were
talking to your best friend. it equates
to a lot of other people wanting to
watch that content that you're talking
about. And so rather than thinking about
I'm gonna get super famous, so I have to
be that famous person, just talk on the
camera like you're talking to the person
you already talk to all the time around
the topic there. It's like a
breakthrough for a lot of people because
they realize, oh dang, I'm already doing
this. So rather than getting comfortable
on camera or building my confidence,
guess what? I'm already comfortable
talking to my friend. I'm already
confident talking about this topic. Now,
let's translate it to video. And when
you change your perspective from I'm
vlogging for everybody versus talking to
one person, it just is it makes it so
much easier to record videos. That's
actually so powerful because I think so
often we do get into a rut when we
overthink about trying to please
everybody. If you start thinking about
the whole internet, you're almost
guaranteed to be paralyzed because
you're like, "Okay, well, I got to
please this person or what would this
critic think or I need to overexlain
this or I need to justify this." But
when you know you're talking to the one
person, which the algorithm is so
powerful when you really start to align
even with one person, there's over 8
billion people on the planet. Like then
the algorithm can help you find that
kind of one friend tribe, thousand true
fans, that like group of people. Okay,
so let's then go to number four.
share a takeaway, not a timeline. And
so, old way of vlogging was kind of just
like, "Here's what I did today." But
you're dialing this in, that might be
some triggers. If someone says, "Well,
what am I going to talk about in the
car, you might talk about, well, here's
what I learned, here's what I realized,
and also here's what I messed up." It's
almost like anybody that's married, they
got a partner, you know, if you recap
the day with them, but you talked about
how' the job interview go or how did
work go, and you're like, "Well, here's
the wins, here's the losses, here's
something I realized, I didn't think
about this." And so when you say
takeaway versus a timeline, what's that mean?
mean?
>> Yeah. So, um, you know, my new vlog
method, I say when you're going to
create a vlog, have a topic that you're
covering. A good example is I have a
food themed vlog channel. And a topic I
often uh hit is Costco. Okay. But the
takeaway isn't necessarily Costco.
Takeaway might be all the, you know,
sales in January. And that is a
takeaway. that is something that you're
going to walk away with. There's two
reason for that. One, it's going to
separate you from everybody else that's
just covering the topic but not giving
anything. And it's it's something that
people will remember. It's like, "Oh, I
remember when Benji told me about this
new product or he told me about that
clearance item and now I've got like a
whole bunch of Wagu beef tallow in my
garage. I got it for a good deal." It's
a way to serve your audience. And so
this comes from the educational side,
but what's funny is you can easily do it
in a vlog. You already probably do it
with that friend you talk to on the
weekends like, "Hey, you won't believe
this deal that I, you know, learned
about." And you tell them right in
there, "Oh, thank you so much." And then
they'll go to the store. You can do
that. So rather than just focusing on a
topic, have a takeaway that they're
going to leave your vlog with and feel
like they got value so they want to come
back to your channel the next time you
do have a vlog. And so that's what I
mean by having a topic and a takeaway.
And also like you often talks about you
have experiences and perspectives that
are unique to you that might be
relatable to the other person, right?
Part of your theme is knowing who you're
reaching out to. So for me it's other
parents, right? Other people that cook
for their kids. And so my takeaway might
just be like my perspective on this
topic that they also value or they like
just love that they hear that from
someone else makes us more rel
relatable. And so that's that's what I
mean. I want to make sure that they feel
like I'm giving them something that's
unique from me that no one else can give.
give.
>> You know what's interesting is I think
actually a lot of creators underestimate
sharing a takeaway because takeaways
aren't just educ education, they're also
entertainment. If you're going to tell a
good story, there's always a takeaway.
It's called the moral of the story. And
so any vlog that is even just story
driven, if it's like a good Disney
movie, you think about it, there's like
not just their characters, there's story
arcs, there's conflict, there's
resolution, but there's a moral to the
story. And usually in like a Disney
film, it's stated plainly at some point.
It's like, you know, you should always
treat people well and never get too
prideful or something. It's a takeaway
and and having it spelled out. So it's
interesting. It could be all the deals
or it could be some kind of an epiphany.
That's really powerful. And we've
already kind of hit this one, so I'll
just sort of summarize it. Number five
is opinions beat expertise. So, you're
already mentioning like you're talking
about your opinions, your story, but I
think people that are listening, they
might be paralyzed right now. They want
to start a vlog, but they're like, I'm
not an expert. Why is it that your story
could actually be more powerful than
your credentials? So, number one, if you
wait to be an expert, you might never
upload a video. Okay? And then if you're
like, I want to be an expert and you're
willing to vlog, it's like you're trying
to be something that you're not. The
cool thing about opinions, everybody has
them, right? And they're different, and
that's okay. That's the whole point. Uh
I I talk about this a lot because uh the
third T of my three T's of the new vlog
method is tell more stories. You know,
all a story is, it's what you think
about a topic. It's just like your
perspective on the thing that other
people are looking at. And so, your
opinion is an easy way to tell a story
around the topic that you're covering.
And also, it's your perspective. No one
else has it. So, embrace your opinion.
You know, especially with politics, um,
a lot of people tend to go one side or
the other and the the creators or the
channels that kind of make a decision. I
want to be more conservative. I want to
be more liberal. Usually win because
those opinions are so strong. And that's
what I learned it from politics. Like so
if you have an opinion, whatever it
might be, even if you think some people
will think it's wrong, state it, share
it. That's what people want to hear. And
also that's how they're going to relate
to you. So opinions are really
important. And you don't have to be an
expert to have an opinion.
>> That's strong. Number six is show the
process, not the highlight reel. So,
break this down like uh you and your
vlogs recently and this is a two-part
series. I en encourage individuals to
listen to part one, subscribe to the
Think Media podcast if you're new here
and uh if you want to grow a profitable
YouTube channel this year, but you are
vlogging on your food channel and it's
not necessarily super polished. Now, you
follow a whole framework and you teach
that in a free class. By the way, we'll
link this up in the show notes, but you
can go to vloggeracademy.com to go
deeper on this topic. You have a whole
master class that really breaks down
kind of the template and the format and
the framework at greater detail. But
you're not perfectly polished in your
vlogs, like are you just break them down
for us?
>> Yeah, so when I first started my
channel, it was a Food Network style
recipe tutorial channel and I wanted to
teach people recipes and those were very
polished. I use a $5,000 camera, a
$2,000 light. I always had a
videographer. And for all the hours, for
all the effort, for all the editing, I'd
get a six-minute video. Okay? And I'd
compete against actual chefs, other Food
Network stars that had channels. It just
got super competitive because it
required a lot of production. Now, my
channel is just really relaxed. It's
really chill. And so this is a good
example of like the highlight reel was
just my uh dialed in recipe tutorials
versus now I'm showing the messiness of
my cooking. In fact, I'm not trying to
be an expert anymore. I realize there's
no way I can compete against Food
Network stars or my friend Matt who's
been a chef for 10 years in Seattle. No
way, right? Like they know way more than
me. So I just show my experience of
cooking for my kids. oftentimes it's
like the title will be like a dad
cooking lasagna for five daughters,
right? Or cooking a romantic meal for my
wife or buying uh Costco dumplings and
trying them out. And I just show that
whole journey. In fact, you know, to
prove my point, I do work with an editor
that kind of edits my videos. Not
nearly, it's ironically the same guy
that did my recipe tutorials. And so he
keeps it very relaxed. We keep it all in
there. I was like, you know what? I'm so
confident in the fact that people want
all the in between moments. I didn't
upload my content to him to edit. I just
put it into a timeline because I still
know how to edit a little bit and I
exported it and it was one of my highest
performing videos and it had everything
in there. Even me like pressing the
record button, the stop and start button
was all in there. And what was crazy,
nobody said anything. I did get coms
like, "Oh, I like this more relaxed uh
uh version of you." So again, when we
talk about the highlight reel, that
still has a place, but guess what it is?
It's YouTube shorts. The showing the
process method, right? This new vlog
method is you just put it all in there.
It's my experience. It's my recipe. And
even Judy jokes with me, I was doing the
whole house cookie recipe once, right?
And I showed it's like, how can you
teach? I was like, I'm not actually
teaching it. I'm just showing how I do
it and the nuances of it. And again,
that was like a really wellperforming
video of something has been recorded a
million times on YouTube. But again,
this new format, it's all about my
experience and sharing what I do to the
audience that can relate to me and want
to know what I'm doing, not what the
expert cook does or the baker that's on
Food Network.
>> I think listeners are going to love if
they want to start a vlog this year.
What you just said, let me break it
down. So, you film with the DJI Pocket 3
camera, which if you can flip the
investment if you get the creator
bundle, it's going to be 700 800 bucks.
Sometimes it's out of stock. Uh, but if
you you filmed with that camera when you
talked about no editing, you went into
like a grocery store and you shot the
hook first, you turned it on, turned it
off, you then shot the next clip and the
next clip and the next clip. And
sometimes you're editing your videos,
but in this case, all you did was then
drag those files. So there's 30 files,
>> all the mistakes and all like sometimes
like I I say something wrong or I didn't
say the way I wanted and I have to say I
just left it all in there.
>> So then you take, you know, the SD card
out of your camera, you dropped all
those files into the timeline and where
you could go in and just even trim a few
seconds maybe off the start or the end
of any of these clips. You didn't do
that. So it was just linear through. Now
I will put a caveat that you know you've
built up your reps. And so listeners,
this is why you should start. You should
start messy. punch fear in the face,
press record. So, even your mistakes are
like you you put it all together. You
you thought about where you're starting,
you thought about where you're ending,
and you just filmed all these clips, put
them in a timeline, clicked export, so
export, so these 30 clips became one
40-minute video or whatever, threw that
on YouTube, uploaded it, and not only
did nobody mention it, but people even
were like that, I like the just the
rawness of that. And it still was. It
was a complete episode. Not just
continuous recording, but just clip
after clip after clip exported and
uploaded. This reveals why if someone's
listening to this right now and they're
hesitating, they should start before
they're ready. You just you should get
in the game. Like, you want to start a
vlog, stop overthinking it. Get your
first upload up in the next 24 to 48
hours. Like, just get going. You can
polish if you want, or not even polish,
but you could edit. You could cut
something out. Maybe there is a mistake,
but it just proves that it's possible to
just show your process and you don't
need a highlight reel.
>> Absolutely. And um I always give that
context, you know, I've been doing it
for 17 years. Yes, I do have some
skills. I have some experience and I'm
confident in doing it, but I'm not doing
it because of that. I'm doing it because
complete beginners have done it already
in the in this new era that we're in and
are getting more views than me. I was
like, "Okay, if they can do it, I should
definitely be able to do it." So, I'm
just trying to prove that I'm willing to
do something that before I didn't think
would work because there's other people
that are beginners that are winning. So,
even without the reps, because they
don't have the baggage of the old way of
doing it. So, yes, that context is
important, but it's also important to
get in the reps. And you're absolutely
right. This is why you have to get
started. And that's why the new vlogging
method that I teach actually emphasizes
how can you vlog as much as possible if
not every day at the beginning so that
you catch yourself up to the level that
you need to get started and start
getting the views and be successful as a vlogger.
vlogger.
>> So number seven is make one long clip
instead of 30 little ones. Now this one
is touching on the fact of what we just
covered which is like instead of shorter
videos there's something about longer
form videos. So, what I want to do on
this number seven is talk a little bit
about why long form is winning in the TV
era. So, earlier on you mentioned Carrie
and so some in her car sometimes she's
talking for 12 minutes, 16 minutes,
that's fine, but is there an ideal time
length if somebody wants to be posting
vlogs that are triggering what's
happening with TV, what's happening with
long form? What's the state of YouTube
and vlogging in long form right now?
Yeah, a lot of people ask that question.
How long should my vlogs be? Are they
too long? Are they too short? It's crazy
because the invent of Tik Tok reels and
now YouTube shorts actually made it so
anything shorter that can be shorts is
going to compete and also get
cannibalized by that. So, I tended to go
longer. And so, today I actually have a
number that I suggest to people 30
minutes. And it's crazy for me to even
hear myself say that because it's still
kind of an arbitrary number because your
video is not going to be exactly 30
minutes. But my top three performing
videos are above 30 minutes. So 32
minutes, 34 minutes, 35 minutes. I
actually believe there's a reason for it
cuz people are used to planning their
day out in 30 minute increments. Half
hour day, you know, half hour, whatever.
And also shows are 30 minutes cuz you
know the second number I say 1 hour.
>> Mhm. I believe that both the algorithm
and the audience and usually that's one
in the same thing want videos that are
just longer and so when you hit that
threshold of 30 minutes and this is why
the second is an hour really is like an
hour and beyond two and three hour
videos are winning you just like that
playing on your TV and so for me 30
minutes is good goal you don't have to I
still upload some videos sometimes
they're like 15 18 minutes if it's good
and it focus on a topic and I know my
audience wants it. But if I can choose,
even today I'm uploading something and
guess what? We're excited because it's
going to be beyond 30 minutes, not
arbitrarily above 30 minutes. It
happened to land after doing all my
recording, which by the way is easier
when you're just talking like a real
person very naturally and you're
vlogging in this new method where you
keep all the fluff that used to edit
out. And so, yeah, the the videos that
blow me away are usually over an hour
long and have millions of views and
there's a reason for it and I think a
lot of it has to do in this new era, the
TV being so influential in how you watch
and consume content.
>> So, we're going to 10 tips and we have
three more, but I want to go a little
bit deeper on something that most people
probably don't realize. It might shock
people to think you should upload or
could upload an hourong video on YouTube
and it would perform well, but there's
kind of like a hidden secret of why
that's true. And it's the fact that some
people are going to watch the entire
thing or they're going to let it play in
the background, much like a podcast,
much like while they're doing chores.
But it's because of average view
duration. And if you think about it,
YouTube just rewards time on platform.
They want viewers to be on platform as
long as possible and to watch videos as
long as possible. And so if you
hyperedit a YouTube short, and YouTube
shorts can be up to 3 minutes right now,
the maximum amount of watch time you
could get on a YouTube short is is 3
minutes. And chances are someone's going
to swipe by it. That's going to knock
down the average view duration. So it
might be it might be 7 seconds. It might
be 30 seconds. What's fascinating about
ultra-ong form videos and why they can
work well is if you upload an hourong
video, it's common to see an average
view duration of 7 minutes, 14 minutes,
23 minutes, which which says that on
average a lot of people are clicking
off, but that's an insane amount of
time. Like the fact consider if you
could get you upload an hourong video,
people only watch 10 minutes on average.
How many YouTube shorts is that? Way
more than 10. and it's probably like 30,
40, 50 shorts because they're so short
like someone on your video. And when you
start hitting those kinds of numbers in
long form, YouTube will reward you
because they want viewers to stay on the
platform as long as possible. So there's
still, of course, like again, if you
have too much of a hockey stick, if
someone clicks on the video and leaves,
well, an hour is not going to help if
you don't have a good opening, a
compelling idea, a good title, some
different things like that. But there's
a reason long form is working because
YouTube rewards time on platform.
>> I got this idea initially from you Sean
in the era of video influencers where
we're interviewing people. It's very
edited and of course your channel think
media it's very produced. The craziest
thing was your 45 minute long just
PowerPoint presentations would perform
so well and you know they were different
kinds of views 50,000 views 100,000
views. You've had ones that perform
better, but what was the AVD on some of
those videos?
>> Yeah, sometimes it's 18 minutes, 24
minutes, 32 minutes
>> with less work. Now, you don't want to
discount all the experience and reps to
get to the point where you do those type
of videos, but less editing, right? Not
as produced. It's just you and the
camera. No cameraman or anything like
that, right? And so I was seeing that
and then also these longer vlogs that
were hitting, you know, in the 2020 era
and I thought, you know what, it's just
easy to let that play versus picking 10
other longer videos. And so, yes, you're
absolutely right that AVD is really
important. And oftent times for me, when
I'm doing a 30 minute video, I'm hitting
15 to 20 minutes. And I always think
about that. How many Tik Toks would you
have to watch to do it? So, by default,
if my AVD is longer, the amount of time
the average view is watching, the more
likely that YouTube will want to suggest
my video, even if somebody else's video
that's hitting on a similar topic is
more engaging, produced because I'm
hitting a longer amount of time that I'm
keeping people on the thing. Because
when a video ends, the biggest risk to
YouTube is that person might leave to
another platform or just not watch
content. But if your video is longer and
they want to know what the end result
is, right? Like say there's a challenge
I'm trying to hit or they want to see
all the different sales, they're more
likely to stick around, hence stay on
YouTube longer. And guess what? The
algorithm loves that. Yeah, that's good.
So, we're going to cover these final
three tips and uh we've got a couple
cool resources for you as well. Let's
just hit number eight. I'll just touch
on this one. Use your real voice.
Imperfections included. The new
algorithm rewards authenticity, not just
polish. There's a time and place for
highly produced content. And of course,
creators that are doing retention
editing are still doing well. But what's
so cool about this new vlogging method
is it allows anybody to get into the
game that doesn't have fancy doesn't
have a team, doesn't have fancy editing
skills. You could just start filming in
your car. But the point is you're being
human and you're already interesting.
But I actually want to skip to point
number nine next, which is don't chase
views, chase volume. We're talking about
starting a vlog channel this year. And
if someone's a beginner, if someone's
just getting started, what is the
important of volume? What does volume
mean? It means like amount of uploads.
Not just trying to have one video that
gets 10,000 views or 100,000 views and
you hope to go viral. It's actually
saying like show up and upload a lot.
Why is this important?
>> Well, any skill in life, right? It could
be a uh profession, it could be sports,
it could be a hobby. The more you do it,
the more you practice, the better you
get. And that includes vlogging, but
especially the new way of vlogging. And
so, this is speaking to both beginners
and creators with an audience. This new
way of vlogging is different than
anything you ever did. Um, unless you're
from the OG days of like 2007, 2008
where this was what we did, but we did
it like 5 10 15 minutes because there
was a limitation on the length. I
actually believe if we could have
uploaded hourong vlogs or videos in
2005, we would have did it this way. But
we had the limitation of like uh a
ceiling for how long your videos could
be. So we as creators and even viewers
don't understand this new skill of guess
what? Just be yourself. We always said
be yourself, but guess what? That was
after Oh, that was before you produced
it. You edited it. You put the graphics.
You did the B-roll and all that kind of
stuff. Now, you and a camera just
talking in your car about one thing with
no edits can get you hundreds of
thousands of views. And there's plenty
of examples of a million plus views. And
so, getting the reps in is going to help
you be comfortable on camera. Um, and
then also there's this thing that I call
the mirror exposure effect. And when you
think about the friends that you're
closest with or family members you're
closest with, you probably hung out with
them a lot. Would you agree?
>> Yeah. The people you spend the most time
with is the people you've cultivated the
most depth with.
>> Is there anybody that you only hung out
with once and had this amazing 30
minutes that you're just like, that's my
favorite person ever.
>> Not typically.
>> Not typically. Even if there was
somebody, you know, like a celebrity you
met or whatever, but you're not trying
to go out and hang out with them. You're
probably going to hang out with the
person that you hung out with the most,
that you like the most, that you can
relate to the most. The mirror exposure
effect is explaining that. That person
that you go to school with and you're in
every single class together for years
and years and years, you end up becoming
close. Maybe not best friends, but
really close just from the fact that
you've been exposed to them many times.
The same thing happens on YouTube. It
also happens on social media. So reps is
really important. We kind of went away
from this because quality was everything
for a long time. We forgot that people
connect with and become uh you know
closer and trust the people that show up
in our lives every single day. So the
reps are great to get the experience and
be comfortable to do this new vlog
vlogging method. But the reps are still
important even if you are comfortable
because you want to show up in people's
lives. And because there's a lack of
supply of these longer videos, you can
by default just win by doing it a lot.
You know, I've had different sprints
where I'll do every single day for a
month or whatever. And it's crazy how
much more engaged my audience is.
They're like let down if I miss a day.
They're, "Oh my gosh, I was waiting for
you." And my vlogs aren't that much
different than when I only do it once a
week. I see those comments. So my wife
and I back in October when we did the
daily vlogging challenge, you could just
see that engagement. And what's funny is
that was a power of having a lot of
subscribers back in the day. And whether
they're subscribed or not, this is the
craziest thing, they still want to watch
our videos because we're showing up in
their lives. And the mirror exposure
effect made us closer to them and them
closer to us. And that is powerful. You
can only get that from doing lots of
reps and doing the volume. Yeah, that
makes sense. It's like uh there's all
kinds of analogies of why this is so
important. The world is so noisy that if
you only get one exposure to somebody,
you're going to be forgotten.
>> You're gonna get drowned out.
>> And so you even you need to do a lot of
reps just to get the time to to clock
some time with people. And it's like
it's like dating relationships and
marriage. You know, you might have met
somebody. You guys had chemistry at the
start, but it still took a couple dates.
But then once you lived life together,
you went on a road trip together. You
made some memories together. Times and
seasons have passed. You've been through
the holidays together. You've been
through summer together, that bond is
there. You start to get to know that
person. Well, if you're going to create
a personal brand online that connects
with people, you need those multiple
different touch points with them. I
would bet money that nine out of 10
people that are watching this or
listening to this are closer or feel
closer or trust a creator that has low
production that is not, you know, shiny
and pretty low-key and more real natural
that shows up a lot in their life,
whether daily or maybe like two or three
times a week. versus a very polished
celebrity that's got a whole production
that puts out banger vlogs or videos
like once every other week. Just that
person that shows up in their life is
the one that they're obsessed with. And
it's weird because they probably
wouldn't say I'm obsessed with, but they
actually want to watch their views,
their videos. We call it like comfort
viewing. That comes from showing up in
their life a lot versus you don't do
comfort viewing when there's only one
upload every other week. And so that is
the difference. Different strategies,
different goals, but for me, I like it
when I have that connection with my
audience because then I have a
relationship and trust. And that not
only leads to follow-up views, but also
opportunities, whether it's, you know,
you selling your products or doing brand
deals. Whole another topic, but I'm
telling you, it's powerful. and you can
do it as easily as showing up as often
as possible, but not in a way that's
highly produced.
>> So, we're talking about starting a vlog
this year, and we've shared nine tips so
far. I want to hit tip number 10. Uh,
but a couple resources. One, if you
didn't catch part one of our
conversation, there's a lot of other
nuances about the opportunity with
vlogging right now. We'll link that in
the show notes. Um, another one is if
you want to go deeper on this topic,
Benji, you've got a free masterclass at
vloggeracademy.com, entirely free. And
that's you doing a presentation. It's
over your shoulder so people can get
really tactical. I would encourage
listeners to go um take advantage of
that free master class to keep the
momentum going because I know that a lot
of times when we think about starting I
mean, if you're still listening to this,
you you want to start a vlog or you want
to get back to it. keep the momentum
going. Like especially at the beginning
of the new year, like don't just keep
watching stuff, but like put it into
action. Pick your camera, pick your
phone. I know you talk about all that
kind of stuff that you can help people
with. So in the show notes, you can
check out the free class, check out part
one, and then also subscribe to the
Think Media podcast. We're bringing you
unfiltered tips for building a
profitable YouTube channel. And we've
got some really good content coming up
this year. And so, um, as we land the
plane though, I think here's the big
final idea. Your boring life is somebody
else's comfort TV. And so, I think the
thing that holds people back is like,
but does anyone going to really care?
But isn't it too competitive? Or isn't
like, are people going to judge me? Or
like, you know, what do I really have to
say? And there's so much I'll start when
or limiting beliefs and doubt. Benji,
what is your final few thoughts about
why people should punch fear in the face
and get into the vlogging game right now?
now?
>> Yeah. Uh, I think about this old cowboy.
He's like 80 years old. He has a YouTube
channel and he just sits on the porch
and just talks about stories about his
life as a cowboy and it's it can get
like a million views. People need to
differentiate with the setting that
you're recording in and the topic you're
talking about. So, yeah, your general
life might be boring. Guess what? Almost
everybody, if you're really honest with
yourselves, has kind of like a normal
regular life, okay? Unless you're like a
superstar in the in the NBA or celebrity
living in Hollywood, that's everybody,
okay? It's what you're talking about
that's interesting. And so don't think
like I have to have an exciting life for
someone to want to watch. No, I have
something very interesting to talk about
around an interest and that's why people
watch. And people are putting too much
weight on the visual and not enough on
the audio. I'm not just talking from a
technical aspect. I mean, I wear a
microphone for a reason because people
like that crispy sound like this
microphone. But no, it's because they're
sometimes just listening to what I'm
talking about versus watching what's in
the video. And if you think about that
and you apply this new method where I'm
talking and I'm obsessing and I'm
nerding out on a topic, think about all
these other videos. So that cowboy, old
cowboy on the porch, it's always the
same perspective. It's always the same
framing. It's like a rocking chair. How
interesting is that? It's not that
interesting. He kind of looks
interesting, but how long can you watch
him for just doing the same thing? But
it's what he's talking about that is
keeping you interested and that's
compelling and think about your life.
What have you done that's amazing or
great that you don't have to like create
a whole production around to share or
what is it that you're obsessed with
that someone else is obsessed with? The
easiest example to like prove this is
correct. There's probably people in your
life that when they cross paths with you
because you're so into that that you can
talk about it. You actually were the pro
the one that proved this to me. My whole
new vlogging method on my channel as a
food vlog is because when you'd come
over to my house, you would just sit
there and listen to me talk about the
different ingredients, the farmers that
sold me these onions, you know, this
method that I learned from Matt. And
then you would sit there and like, "Oh
my gosh, the way you play, you take a
picture and you eat it." I was like,
"Man, if I can just do what I do for
Sean in my kitchen on YouTube, I bet you
there's other people like that." And I
was I was proven right. And so there's
something that you already do that is
compelling enough to keep someone's
attention for a long period of time. You
just need to put that onto video. And
that's why the cowboy on the po porch
though like it seems like it's you know
like a very boring scene. I bet you
there's people in his life that like
said hey you have so much wisdom you
should just put this on video and bam
you got a million people listening when
before there was nobody on his porch
because he had a boring life. No, he had
a lot of amazing things to talk about.
And that's the point. This is why you
need to get your opinions out there.
share your experiences or talk about the
thing that cranks your wheel because
there's an audience out there waiting
for that video to just get suggested on
their YouTube on the TV that they can
just relax to and watch while they're
sitting on the couch doing chores or
even commuting to work. And if you think
about that and the content you've also
done that for, then you need to get
started right now.
There's so many opportunities that came
to mind when you said that. When I think
about I think his name is Dwayne, right?
That's uh you know sitting on this on
this porch. I think that the key there
is there's so much opportunity right now
for people in their 40s, 50s, 60s and
even 70s to start YouTube because they
have life wisdom. And when you're
telling life wisdom and you pick a
theme, that's super powerful. But I
think also whether it's RC cars, it
could be Magic the Gathering, it could
be uh you know careers, maybe you've
been going through getting promotions
and how do you interview or what are you
doing and you're recapping your
experience in tech and these people that
especially you're coaching are filming
just 10 minute 13 minute videos in their
car. You know, I interviewed somebody
that talks about he um talks about the
economy, but from a spe uh standpoint of
particularly lumber because that's his
career. And he gets into his pickup
truck and he puts his phone on the
passenger side door and the angle is
always the same and he presses record
and then he turns it off. But it's
already what he obsesses about. He
obsesses about looking at the economy,
what's really happening and what's
happening with tariffs and what's
happening. So whether it is around
something like an interest like weight
loss or whatever, the landscape is wide
open, but you might want further help
like narrowing your niche, figuring out
your theme because this is not to
downplay the fact that there's
competition. 20 million videos are
uploaded every day to YouTube is what
YouTube said. So having your theme topic
and telling stories and dialing in those
details could be really helpful. So if
you do want more stuff from Benji, you
do have a free class at vloggeracademy.com.
vloggeracademy.com.
I'll link that up in the show notes as
well. Definitely subscribe if you're not
subscribed. And then if Benji, if people
want to follow you, where can they
connect with you online?
>> Yeah, Instagram. Type in Benji Travis.
Benjamin TV is the handle. And uh as I
always say, uh don't worry about my
content finding you because if you're
interested in food vlogs, the topics I
cover, the algorithm will find you. And
that's kind of the point. Um, you know,
more and more we're not trying to
promote our videos or share our videos
because YouTube's so powerful. It
connects your video with the right
viewer. So now you just have to make the
video and you'll see the magic of this
platform that we call YouTube and why
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