YouTube Funnels for Client Attraction: The Ultimate Playbook
Who is This For?
- Agency Owners
- Course sellers
- Coach/Consultant
- Professional Service Businesses
This document is NOT for:
- Entertainment YouTubers (no gaming or crypto please)
- Influencers
My YouTube Funnels Client Results
⚠️ Warning ⚠️
This document is Helmi Hasan’s copyrighted property. Unauthorized use, distribution, or sharing (including screenshots, clicks, and URL shares) is strictly prohibited and may result in legal action. Your IP address and device are being tracked. If you do not agree to these terms, please exit this page immediately.
Who is Helmi Hasan?
Ex-Mechanical Engineer turned YouTube Funnels & Digital Marketing Agency Owner. I help entrepreneurs get more leads with YouTube Funnels.
➡️ Built YouTube & TikTok channels of my own (Finance, Parenting, YouTube Funnels)
➡️ Led Content at Involve Asia, Shopple, & a local automotive media company
➡️ Guest coach for Client Ascension
➡️ Father of 2. I understand your time constraints
How 70% of My Clients Came from YouTube
Tired of chasing clients, doing cold outreach and paying for ads? What if YouTube could attract your ideal customers to YOU – for FREE?
Most businesses struggle with social media, but you’re smarter. You’re here to learn how YouTube can become your secret weapon.
Forget about going viral – we’re creating videos to attract your ideal clients and position you as THE expert, so your clients are convinced that you are the best person for the job.
Only 3 ways to acquire clients nowadays:
Each will have its pros and cons.
| Client Acquisition | Pros | Cons |
|---|---|---|
| Paid Ads | Fast & scalable | Need a big budget to work, not suitable for beginners |
| Outreach: Cold DM’s & Cold Email | Fast & no cost | Time-consuming & need to handle rejection |
| Inbound: Content | Attract the best quality clients | Slow to fruition & DISGUSTING amount of work |
The reality of running a sustainable & scalable business is you must do all three. I do just that and document my raw experiences on my YouTube channel.
What I’ve found is that YouTube leads are often the easiest to close. Why? Because they’ve already watched my videos, heard my voice, and connected with my personality. They’re not just leads – they’re warm leads.
So the rest of this video is about why you should use YouTube to get high-quality clients.
Why YouTube Over TikTok & Instagram
| Differences | TikTok & Instagram | YouTube |
|---|---|---|
| Audience | There to waste time or be entertained | Searching for a solution or inspiration |
| Audience Attention span | Short | Want to listen to in-depth solutions – where they can get a chance to like you |
| Lifespan | A few days | Compounds over time |
| Place links | Only in your bio | In the ‘about’ section & in each video description |
| Perceived authority | 50,000 followers? Nothing special | 5,000 subscribers in your topic? You are somewhat of an authority |
How I Got My 1st Client from YouTube
My first channel wasn’t about business. It started as a personal finance channel, where I shared my journey as a digital creator. Like many YouTubers, I relied on YouTube ads and affiliate revenue for income – no real strategy, just sporadic content creation.
Back then, every creator used Linktree, a tool for putting multiple links in your Instagram and TikTok bios. The catch? You had to pay the $4 a month for Pro version to unlock all the good features.
Being the cheap fuck that I am, I reverse-engineered the premium version and built it myself for free on WordPress. I even made a YouTube tutorial to show others how to do it.
The video itself didn’t go viral, only getting around 2,500 views. But a few months later, a SaaS founder stumbled upon it while searching for a LinkTree pro alternative, liked my video, and ended up binge-watching my entire channel.
Later, I got this email from her:
She sponsored me for one of her products and she introduced me to her friend who’s also another startup founder. I got to work on a marketing gig for her friend and that was the first time I got paid from a ‘client.’
So what I learned from this is that rather than creating viral YouTube videos trying to make money from ads and affiliates, the real money maker is creating videos that’ll attract business owners, where you can sell your high-ticket service to them.
That’s when I got the idea to launch a new YouTube channel about how to use YouTube to get clients for business owners. When that new channel finally took off, I got leads pouring into my email like this:
This is PROOF that YouTube Funnels for Business works. I often use my own channel as proof to pitch to my clients.
But it’s so easy to get carried away chasing viral topics that’ll give you that dopamine hit. But what’s the point of going viral with people who will never buy from you or can’t even afford your services?
Unfortunately, that’s what many of your favorite YouTubers are doing. Let me tell you a story…
Why ‘Going Viral’ Won’t Make You Money
Going viral should be part of your marketing strategy, but it shouldn’t be your only strategy.
Let me share with you another story. When my new YouTube channel finally blew up, I was contacted by many people.
One of them was this local YouTube Influencer (in the tech review niche) with 180,000 subscribers. That’s a really respectable & damn good social proof.
He wanted to hang out with me to ‘pick my brain.’ So I asked him to meet me at a local cafe on a Tuesday at 11 am (office hour).
He said he couldn’t. I asked ‘Why not?’
He said because he has a job as a video editor.
I was speechless. Think about that. 180,000 subs. But he still needs a job. Can we unanimously agree that he messed up somewhere in his YouTube career?
Don’t chase going viral.
You are not an entertainment channel. You are a business using YouTube to promote your high ticket offer.
Entertainment Vs Business YouTube Channel
There are only 2 types of YouTubers:
- Entertainment YouTubers
- Businesses that use YouTube to promote their Offer
| Entertainment YouTuber | YouTube for Business | |
|---|---|---|
| Examples | Mr. Beast, gaming channels | Agency owners, coaches, consultants, professionals |
| Primary Goal | Entertain people | Educate target audience |
| How they Make Money | Primarily YouTube Adsense, affiliates & merchandise | Primarily funneling traffic to their high-ticket offer |
If you’re reading this document, you are most likely a business owner.
I’d 100% recommend you stop listening to “how to go viral” advice online, especially if they are from 17-year-old kids & not running a business themselves.
Make sure you don’t go down the wrong path. In the next section, I’ll explain how to use YouTube as a sales funnel for your Offer.
CHECKPOINT: YouTube is logistically intense. If you just want me to do all of this for your business, book a free strategy call below:
What is a YouTube Sales Funnel?
The definition of a Sales Funnel is the journey your potential customers take to buy your product or service.
So YouTube Funnels refers to using YouTube videos as the primary form to attract views & channel them into your backend funnel. Here’s the flow of the potential prospect:
- They watch your YouTube videos
- YouTube Homepage
- Landing page
- Get a booked call (Calendly/TidyCal)
- Sales call
- Paying Client
You create on YouTube first on the sole purpose that there are a higher chance people with money that can afford your services will be there.
Your Competitors are Already SMASHING YouTube
You really can’t sleep on YouTube. Because chances are, your competitors are already full-steam ahead with their YouTube channel. Look at these guys:
If you YouTube any of the above people, they are:
- Forex coach selling coaching programs
- Marketing Agencies selling courses & their Done-For-You services
- Coaches for Marketing Agencies
- Doctors promoting their private practices
- Even SaaS
Why are they all hammering on YouTube? Because money goes where attention flows. The longer you put off YouTube, the faster your competitor is outpacing you on YouTube
You’ll get the views as long as you’re providing value on an in-demand topic and appear to be a likable person on camera. Just look at the guy up there – raw video in his bedroom. The audio even lags. But it has 100k+ views because it’s a topic people want to hear.
So I’ll cover how you can come up with topics people want to watch later in this document, which renders your editing, thumbnail, and the camera & mic that you use irrelevant.
The 3 Types of YouTube Content to Produce
I will teach you to create 3 types of videos on your YouTube channel, summarized below:
| Content Types | Definition |
|---|---|
| Top Funnel | Industry trends, personal stories, outliers, hot takes, sales objections |
| Middle Funnel | Searchable – how-to guides, product review comparison, advice, frameworks, Tips & tricks, your Magnus opus |
| Bottom Funnel | Authority Content: Case Studies/Client Testimonials (to convert & book a call/buy) |
These are just an overview. In the YouTube Funnels Masterclass, and one of the modules in this document, I will go over this in more detail with examples you can use in your niche.
Why YouTube Should Be Your Root Content
A lot of people posting short-form content find it like a never-ending job. But with YouTube Sales Funnel, you record 1 long-form video, and it’s later repurposed to other platforms with 1/10th the effort. This works out best for most of you who are running a solo business or a very lean team.
So there’s 2 paths of repurposing each YouTube video:
- The long-form video can be repurposed into Shorts/IG Reels/TikTok
- The script can be repurposed into your email, X & LinkedIn
Are you convinced to make YouTube your primary content hub now?
CHECKPOINT: YouTube is logistically intense. If you just want me to do all of this for your business, book a free strategy call below:
How to Create Your Offer in 10 Minutes
Picking the right offer to sell and packaging it correctly is the secret weapon that can make or break your business. But let’s be real, though – nobody nails their offer perfectly on the first try. It takes time, experience, and a whole lot of trial and error.
That’s why I’m sharing everything I wish I had known when I was starting out.
The insights I’m about to reveal could save you years of frustration and thousands of dollars in coaching or consulting fees.
So, first things first, let’s define what exactly is an ‘offer’:
What is an Offer vs a Service?
A service is a commodity offer you can see plaguing Fiverr & Upwork.
Go to these websites & if you see many people selling the thing you want to sell for dirt cheap prices, that’s a dead giveaway you should not be selling it.
Now, my definition of an Offer is:
Something specific you sell to someone specific that can tangibly improve their money, relationship, or health.
at the end of the day, the person that you’re selling your offer to only cares about either one of these three things:
- Make more money
- improve their relationship
- improve their health
so your goal is to package up your Offer so that it will will have these end results to your ideal client profile.
Here’s the formula. Its’s a very thin line between an Offer & a Service:
| Service (Commidity) | Service (Commodity) |
|---|---|
| I am a Twitter copywriter | I help Founders get 10 booked calls per month within 60 days with my Twitter Content System – without spending a dime on ads. |
| I am a video editor | I help YouTube marketing agencies scale their business with my Editing Autopilot System – Without having to increase overhead or manage editors. |
| I am a YouTube scriptwriter | I help YouTube marketing agencies increase their clients’ subscribers and views with my Magic Scriptwriting System – Without you having to write or manage writers. |
| I am a fitness coach | I help dads with young children lose 10lbs in 6 months – so they can feel more confident and bond better with their kids in sports activities. |
You should see a pattern here. At this point, just remember:
- Service is something generic – a commodity
- Offer is something specific that makes you unique & invokes emotion
- Pick one thing only & be a specialist (not YouTube & website & Facebook Ads)
- Your Offer must get as much logistical intensity off the client’s plate.
- Make them get back at least 2x their ROI
- You need to gear your offer to convert with cold traffic – if your Offer can sell to cold traffic, you can sell it to anyone
What to Sell (Your Offer)
- Pick something that you like and are somewhat good at
- Look at the competition
- You MUST like the thing that you’re selling
How to Make Yourself Unique in a Crowded Market
Turn your services into benefits for your clients to make it sound sexy. Look how I’ve done it for myself:
| My Work Process | What’s in it for you? |
|---|---|
| Channel audit & competitor analysis | Uncover your unique edge |
| Video ideation | Video ideas to get you more booked calls |
| Detailed scripting | Confidence booster: Know exactly what to say in your videos. |
| Thumbnail design unique to you | Get more clicks to your videos with a scroll-stopping thumbnail |
| Recording backdrop coaching | Look professional with my backdrop setup guidance. |
| Video Editing that enhances your brand | I’ll make sure you are the star of the show, not fancy editing. |
| Keywords & SEO | Increase the odds of your videos being found from search |
| Channel Management | Organized to automatically channel traffic into your funnel |
| Live recording coaching | I will help to direct you during your recording via Google hangout. |
| Client recording feedback | Be more confident & trustworthy. Feedback on how to improve your speech, tonality, hand, gestures and facial expressions. |
| Shorts creation | Multiply your views with short vertical videos |
| Multiply content to email, Twitter, IG, TikTok & Li | Create content once, and be omnipresent |
| Landing page design | Get more booked calls with a professional & convincing landing page. |
CHECKPOINT: YouTube is logistically intense. If you just want me to do all of this for your business, book a free strategy call below:
How to Produce a Killer VSL
If you’re selling anything online nowadays, you need to have a VSL. It’s not a nice-to-have, but a requirement to get people to trust you.
We live in a world where information is abundant & free. People (aka your prospects) are craving trust & human connection.
Lucky for you, I’ll just tell you how I created a VSL that’ll add at least $19,000 to my agency’s revenue.
What is a VSL?
VSL stands for a Video Sales Letter. It is typically a short video between 2 to 4 minutes geared to get cold traffic to know:
- Know who you are
- Who you serve
- A clear ROI (help them make more money, improve their health, or their relationships)
- Ask them to do something at the end (CTA)
A VSL is typically used:
- on the hero section of your landing page
- as your YouTube channel trailer
Let’s see them in action. This is what it looks like on my landing page:
And here as my channel trailer on my YouTube channel:
The video format of your VSL should always be a talking head with you sharing a screen recording to solidify your points.
VSL Structure to Get Booked Calls
This is the VSL that’s gotten me at least $19,000 in sales from this VSL.
- Intro – (Call out your target audience & State your big claim + guarantee)
- Social Proof (Client results)
- Pain Points & Struggles (Before)
- Future, Bold Claim (After)
- More Social Proof (Client results)
- Your Credibility (why should they listen to you)
- Main Benefits (make more money, save time & prevent headaches)
- High-Level Features (Flow Chart)
- Staying As You Are (What will happen if they don’t do anything)
- More Social Proof (Client results)
- CTA (book a call)
How Often Should You Update Your VSL?
Every time you have a better:
- Social proof
- client testimonials
- Objections in your sales calls or outreach DM’s
Just make a new one.
If you want to save even more time, download my Google Doc template here.
CHECKPOINT: YouTube is logistically intense. If you just want me to do all of this for your business, book a free strategy call below:
The PERFECT Landing Page Formula
If you’re trying to sell something online, like a DFY service, course, coaching program, or any service or product, YOU NEED a Landing page.
If you have one, but it’s shitty, or worst yet, don’t even have one, all your marketing activities go straight down the toilet.
Obviously, you don’t want that.
I’m revealing the exact landing page framework that’s generated at least $19,000 for my agency. Just follow my EXACT steps and you can replicate these results for your business too.
What is a Landing Page?
It’s a 1-page, long ass website with the sole purpose to achieve these goals in order:
- Explain quickly to cold traffic, what is your Offer
- Explain how it works with a convincing copy so they’d keep scrolling to the end
- CTA – to get them to do something (book a call)
Why Do You Need a Landing Page?
You look official & more trustworthy, especially if you bought a custom domain with your name on it. Example: www.helmihasan.com. Custom domains usually come together with a custom email, like mine is helmi@helmihasan.com, which boosts your credibility even more.
Landing Page vs Website
| Website | Landing Page | |
|---|---|---|
| Purpose | Online brochure with many CTAs (read our blog, follow us on social media, contact us) | To convince to do only 1 CTA (book a call) |
| Typical users | Traditional ‘corporate’ businesses who uses a lot of corporate jargon. | Digital entrepreneurs who are more direct with their audience |
| Emphasis | Looking ‘pretty’ | Showing proof of competence |
Landing Page Framework
You can build your landing page on any platform like Carrd, Webflow, or WordPress. I prefer WordPress because I am used to creating blog posts.
This is the proven Landing Page framework that I use to get booked calls for my agency and also what I use to build my client’s landing pages:
Each component is the minimum requirement. I added and moved stuff around to make the flow of information perfect for my agency. You can compare the framework above with my actual landing page here.
This landing page framework has added at least $19,000 in revenue for my agency & now it can for yours too.
If you don’t want to waste your time implementing all these, I can help you build your landing page that looks similar to mine, book a free consultation call below:
CHECKPOINT: YouTube is logistically intense. If you just want me to do all of this for your business, book a free strategy call below:
YouTube Video Idea SECRETS that’ll Attract Clients
Finding video ideas suck and it requires a blend of science and flair. For someone starting, it is very overwhelming. So I’ll show you the secrets I use to get validated video ideas that will bring you clients.
Step 1: Video Ideas Are Hiding on THIS Website
Alright, here’s the inside scoop – a 3-step process that’s gonna revolutionize your video game:
- Hunt for top-selling online courses in your niche. We’re talkin’ the courses that are flyin’ off the virtual shelves,the ones with those glowing 5-star reviews.
- Dive into the course modules. Think of ’em like chapters in a killer book. They’re the building blocks of the whole course.
- Your video ideas? They’re starin’ you in the face – the module titles!
Why This Is Cunningly Brilliant:
- Validated demand: People are throwin’ their money at this info. That’s proof positive there’s an audience hungry for it.
- Research done for you: The course creator already busted their hump figurin’ out what people wanna learn and how to teach it best.
- Built-in structure: The modules are organized in a logical flow. It’s like a roadmap for your video series.
The Binge-Worthy Bonus:
At the end of each video, tell your viewers which video to watch next. It’s like Netflix for your niche. Before they know it, they’ll be hooked on your content and come back for more.
I Know This Works – I’ve Been There!
As a former course creator myself, I put in blood, sweat, and tears validating my course idea and making sure the flow was perfect for my students. So why reinvent the wheel when you can simply reverse engineer what’s already proven?
You’ll build your authority FAST without wasting time with trial & error. Pretty sweet, huh?
Next up, I’m gonna show you exactly how to find those top-selling courses in your niche. Get ready to level up!
Step 2: Watch Me Do It Live
Google: “Best [your niche] online course.” I love examples, here we go:
| Your Niche | Google Keyword |
| Landing Page Agency | Best landing page online course |
| Short-Form Content Agency | Best short-form content online course |
| calisthenics Coach (Fitness) | Best calisthenics online course |
| Sales Funnel marketer | Best Sales Funnel online course |
For the rest of this video, I’ll be using a landing page agency owner who’s trying to grow on YouTube as an example.
Imagine you’re this person. You’d probably start by Googling something like “Best landing page online course.” I typically skip all the sponsored results and focus on the organic ones. Anything that ranks organically is usually high-quality and trustworthy content.
There are plenty of websites selling courses, but I personally like Udemy and Skillshare. Skillshare’s course structure is more straightforward, which is why I recommend starting there.
So, let’s click on Skillshare.
Alright, here’s the list of all the online courses on Skillshare that teach you about landing pages.
We’re going to pick a course with the most students enrolled. This one has the most, at 9000 students, So let’s click on this. Scroll down to his course lessons:
Wow, check this out. This course instructor literally spelled out your video ideas for you!
There are 13 lessons in this course, which means you now have 13 potential video topics.
You could create videos on:
- Why businesses need a landing page
- How to craft a clickable headline
- Best Call to Action to get clicks
- How to showcase a powerful before & after
These are topics that 9000 students have actually paid to learn about. It’s already been validated!
And the best part is, they’re already in sequential order. Students have to complete the first lesson before moving on to the second, and so on.
So jot down all these ideas in your note-taking app. Don’t worry about the YouTube titles just yet, just capture the main ideas for now.
I like to use Miro because it’s a visual whiteboard, but you can use whatever software you’re comfortable with.
So, for all 13 ideas, I’ll create 13 different frames or pages, and we’ll fill out information about each video in its respective frame later.
Great! Now you have 13 solid video ideas that:
- Have been validated and your target audience wants to learn about.
- Are in the perfect order to create a series.
- Can link together at the end of each video, encouraging viewers to watch the next one.
This is what working smart looks like.
OK, the next step is to decide if it’s worth making YouTube videos around these topics.
Step 3: Validating Video Ideas
Let’s start by talking about keyword research tools.
Installing Keyword Tools
It’s important to understand that you should NOT use keyword tools to decide whether or not to make a video. Nobody knows where they get their data from. Instead, I use these tools to get other information that I’ll show you in a bit.
There are two FREE YouTube keyword Chrome plugins you can use:
- VidIQ
- Tubebuddy
You can use either one of the free versions of these plugins. It really doesn’t matter. For the rest of this video, I’m using VidIQ.
So go ahead and install the free plugin to your Chrome browser. You can find the link in the description below.
Next, you want to enable the plugin in Incognito mode. Then click on ‘Manage extensions.’
Click on the puzzle icon in the top right corner of your Chrome browser.
Scroll to find VidIQ & click on ‘details’
Turn on the toggle that says ‘allow in incognito mode’
OK, now we got that out of the way, now we’re ready to validate our video ideas.
Validate Those Ideas with YouTube Search & VidIQ
Go back to your note-taking app and copy the first idea you jotted down.
In our example, it’s “Why You Need a Landing Page.”
Great, copy that, open your Chrome browser in incognito mode, go to YouTube, paste the idea phrase into the search box,and hit enter.
Bam! We get a bunch of results.
The first thing you need to do is analyze the search results.
Are the search results answering the searcher’s intent? Who’s searching for this phrase? It’s most likely someone trying to sell something online through their website. The search results seem to be targeting the correct searcher’s intent.
The VidIQ score is also in the green, which means this is a good topic to explore further. Of course it is, it’s already a validated idea, remember?
Our next step is to look for video outliers. These are videos that have significantly more views than that channel’s subscriber count. Thanks to the VidIQ extension, you can see all of this information easily at a glance.
If you see many, let’s say more than 3 videos that have more views than their subscriber count, this indicates that this is an excellent video idea to produce.
Great. Now, the last step is to gather some information into your note-taking app.
Screenshot any videos that are:
- Outliers
- Have a good thumbnail
- Have a good title
Get around 4 to 8 of these in your Miro board. This will come in handy in the future when you’re designing your thumbnails and titles.
Repeat the process for all of the modules.
Congratulations! You now have your entire content strategy, possibly for the entire year, laid out in advance.
CHECKPOINT: YouTube is logistically intense. If you just want me to do all of this for your business, book a free strategy call below:
How to Beat Imposter Syndrome
So you know you have to create videos to get clients, but do you:
- Try to emulate bigger YouTubers
- You feel like you’re not good enough
- Procrastinate by doing other things than doing videos?
This is called the ‘Imposter Syndrome’ and watch this video on how to beat it:
CHECKPOINT: YouTube is logistically intense. If you just want me to do all of this for your business, book a free strategy call below:
How to Write Scripts – So You Sound Confident
Hey, I’m going to go over how you can write a killer YouTube script in less than 25 minutes.
Without wasting your time writing all day & having people click off your videos within the first 30 seconds.
But how do you write a script if you’re not a good writer, too busy to write, or can’t afford to outsource?
I’ve used this exact YouTube scripting formula that I’ll be revealing in this article on my personal finance channel to get views like these:
and those views got a company I promoted in the video 1031 PAYING CUSTOMERS:
The very same script is also what I used to get my YouTube clients booked calls like this:
All from my YouTube script formula.
At the end of this video, we’ll go over the 4 steps to produce a killer YouTube script that’ll get you the views that you deserve, earn you raving fans, and ultimately more leads for your business.
STEP 1: Your Video Blueprint
The MOST IMPORTANT thing is VALIDATING your video idea.
Your video idea MUST be able to answer all the questions in my Video Blueprint table.
If it doesn’t, scratch the video idea & move on to the next idea.
So, here it is. I know for some of you newbies, you need examples on how to fill this up.
So I’ll be using the script to create this very video that you’re watching as an example of how to fill out this table:
If you’re too lazy to type these in manually, you can download my template ↓
STEP 2: YouTube Thumbnail & Titles
Will people click on your video?
You’re competing with other videos on YouTube and the competition has never been more fierce.
I’d screenshot 8 of the best videos I’m competing with and arrange them into a 3×3 grid in Miro (or any whiteboard software of your choice), but keep the middle empty.
It’ll look like this:
Next, I want to place my thumbnail & title preview in the middle of that grid to see if it’s good enough to pull attention away from these competitors.
To get my thumbnail preview, I use a website called thumbsup.tv.
It’s a free website where you can upload your thumbnail & title to preview how they’d look on the YouTube homepage, sidebar, and on mobile:
I’d screenshot my thumbnail & title combination from thumbsup.tv then place it in the middle of that grid, like this:
I put myself in the shoes of someone browsing in my topic.
If I were to see my thumbnail, would I click on it over the competition?
Be honest. If my design doesn’t stand out,I’d go back to Photoshop and edit my thumbnail and title until I feel like it’s more interesting than the rest:
STEP 3: Your Killer YouTube Intro
This is where the rubber meets the road.
It is THE determining factor if someone clicks off from your video within the first 30 seconds, or sticks around and watches till the end.
The YouTube intro is so important that I’d recommend you to spend your efforts:
- 40% in designing your thumbnail & title
- 40% scripting your intro
- 20% for the rest of the video
I learned a lot about YouTube intros from Aprillynne Alter (she’s awesome btw). But I merged some other info I got from other people to make my YouTube intro template a little bit better IMO.
Here’s an example of the Killer YouTube intro table filled out with the very script I used for this video:
Checkpoint – alright, we covered a lot. So make sure:
- All columns in the Intro table is filled out
- Read the script out loud & you like the flow
- You’re able to rehearse the entire intro script in less than 30 seconds
STEP 4: Body of Your Video
The body of the video is the easiest part. I’d outline the video body in bullet points. Then, I’d fill out the body like a blog post (kinda like this document right now).
Unlike writing for your school, keep the script 1 sentence short so you can easily skim through it while recording later.
Include as many visuals like screenshots and screen recordings as possible or else your educational video will be too boring.
At the end of the video, the call-to-action (CTA) should either be to tell the viewer to click on something like watch another video of yours.
So that’s how you write a killer YouTube script.
BONUS: Get More from Your Script
But wait, you’ve already spent a great deal of effort writing your script, do you know that you can reuse it as:
- a blog post like what you’re reading right now
- content for your email newsletter
- content ideas for a long thread on X or LinkedIn
- short form video ideas
Imagine that… you get all of this content for your personal brand repurposed from ONE YouTube script. Talk about being smart!
Want to Make Your Scripting Even Easier?
Download my YouTube Script template below and plug and play for your video idea & niche:
CHECKPOINT: YouTube is logistically intense. If you just want me to do all of this for your business, book a free strategy call below:
How to Design Thumbnails – that Get Clicks
As the saying goes in the YouTube community If your Thumbnails suck, no one will click on your video – And all of that hard work scripting, editing & late nights is for nothing.
You’ve even tried to copy your favorite YouTubers thumbnail, only to see your videos flop, HARD
So what’s their secret? How can you create a clickable thumbnail even if you’re artistically challenged (like me) & not good with Photoshop?
I’ve spent over 200+ hours studying top YouTube creators’ advice & even paid for thumbnail expert consultations
And I realized a pattern And formula for extremely clickable thumbnails.
So at the end of this video, you’ll understand the:
- Thumbnail Ideology
- Thumbnail styles that suit you
- Go over a live Design
So your videos get the clicks & views that they deserve. So let’s start with the 4 principles for a good YouTube thumbnail.
Principle #1: Do the Thumbnail BEFORE the Video
Most big YouTubers agree on this – from MrBeast and April Lynn Alter to Ed Film Booth.
Now, I don’t think we should take famous YouTuber’s words as gospel. But if you really think about it, it makes sense.Here’s MrBeast’s logic:
“The thumbnail & title’s job is to make people scrolling curious. They see your thumbnail, they want to know what’ll happen next, or they need answers to satisfy their curiosities. Then, your script & video needs to meet or exceed the expectations raised by your thumbnail.”
Think about that for a minute. It does make sense now, doesn’t it?
So, 80% of the work (ideation, thumbnails & scripting) comes way before you even touch the camera. Here’s the work process for a successful YouTube video, in order:
- Have a BANGER video idea (if you need help with that, watch this video here).
- Create the thumbnail & title to spark curiosity (an emotion) – which is what this video is about
- Create the video script to meet or exceed the expectation raised from the thumbnail
- Only then you’ll produce the video
Principle #2: Unique is Better than Generic
OK, shoutout to Moneymaxxing for this tip. His YouTube channel is the perfect example of this in action.
His new channel broke through the noise in one of the hardest niches: Growing on YouTube. His simple thumbnail with the frog meme stood out from the crowd by being an ‘alien’ in the sea of cleanly edited but generic thumbnails.
So this proves a point to newbies: You don’t need advanced photo editing skills in Photoshop. Any beginner with free software like Canva will be fine if you’re starting out.
All you have to do is to NEVER BLEND IN with the crowd. I’ll show you how to do exactly this in a minute.
Principle #3: Design Your Thumbnails with Mobile in Mind
Most of your viewers won’t be watching YouTube on their perfect home setup with dual 42” LED screens and RGB lighting.
Chances are, potential viewers are looking at your video thumbnail on their phone or on the suggested sidebar. In other words, most viewers will look at a tiny version of your thumbnail.
So design the thumbnail so it stands out on the YouTube sidebar or mobile view. Here’s how you can do that:
- Make it as simple as possible
- Good contrast: bright & dark colors
- A max of 4 words or none at all
Here’s how to visually test your finished thumbnails:
- YouTube search your keyword.
- Pick the best ones
- Screenshot them & place them in a 3 x 3 grid on Miro
- Use thumbsup.tv to test your thumbnail & title together, screenshot it & put it in the middle of that grid.
- Now ask yourself, from all the competition, is your thumbnail unique enough? Will I click on this?
Principle #4: Thumbnail Performance
Your thumbnail performance can be quantifiably measured by a metric called ‘Click Through Rate’ or the YouTuber kids call CTR.
In simple English CTR means the % of people who clicked on your video after they saw your thumbnail & title. So a 5% CTR could mean, that out of 100 people who saw your thumbnail & title (impression), 5 people clicked on your video.
You can access your CTR data by:
- going to your YouTube studio
- Pick any long-form content (Shorts don’t have thumbnails)
- Click on the graph icon
- Click on the ‘Reach’ tab
- On the ‘Reach tab’ click on the ‘Impressions Click-Through-Rate’ inner tab
Don’t overcomplicate this, a good CTR to aim for is anything more than 10%.
Alright, enough theory, let’s get down to business by showing you the types of thumbnails you can do.
Thumbnail Styles
As a beginner, this whole thumbnail design could be incredibly overwhelming.
But luckily, I’ve done tons of research and there are 4 types of high-performing thumbnails on YouTube.
Let’s go over them one by one (I’ll leave the link for these channel examples in the video description)
| Type | Examples | Elements | Typical Niche | Pros | Cons |
| YouTuber Classic | Nate Black, Vanessa Lau, | background, facial expression, text, emphasizing element | Lifestyle, educational or anyone starting on YT | Easy to make, perfect for beginners | Mainstream. Hard to stand out. Must bank in on your personality |
| Clean, Heavy Edit | Mr. Beast, Danial Fazio, N8wealth, Alex Hormozi, | Edited to have super high contrast, 2 to 3 words, elements to symbolize video ideas | Gamers, entertainment channels & agency owners | If you know how to do this, you know how to get people’s attention. Period | Need photoshop skills. Generic & high competition |
| Simple & Cinematic | Life of Reza, Lynnette Adkins, Matt D’Avella, Yes Theory | No text, cinematic scene at a beautiful place | Artistic characters – videographers, travel vloggers | Banking heavily on personal branding & photography skills | hardest to pull off as a beginner |
| Raw & unique | MoneyMaxxing | Looks crudely put together. But somehow it works. unique and causes curiosity | New wave / 2023 trend setters / advanced | Proof you don’t need cray photoshoppin skills to be blow up | It looks crude but requires a lot of talent to pull off |
So now you know the 4 thumbnail styles you can try. One of these will resonate with you very well. You can see yourself in one of these thumbnail styles.
Which one is it? Leave a comment & tell me why.
The next thing I want to share with you is some of the thumbnail designs I made for my client.
Thumbnail Design Live Demo
One of my clients, Molly is a sales funnel expert, where she helps business owners automate their sales with a landing page & email copywriting.
I helped set up her YouTube channel from scratch & did her first few videos.
One of the videos I did for her was about how to write emails that your target audience wants to click & read. Which is super relevant to her target audience.
I always start with the:
- Look at competitors & screenshot
- Max 4 elements
- Bland background
- Main character/element – needs to be weird, wacky
- Secondary elements to enhance the main character – arrow, circle
- Text – Less is better, max
- Color combo – contrast
- Make 4 variations
- test on thumbsup.tv & ask feedback
CHECKPOINT: YouTube is logistically intense. If you just want me to do all of this for your business, book a free strategy call below:
YouTube Gear – From Beginner to Pro
I have two YouTube channels where I film myself, and I also coach my YouTube clients on how to film themselves for their channels. It’s easy to get carried away buying all the fancy gear your favorite YouTubers use, hoping it’ll magically blow up your channel…
…only to see your videos flop, one by one.
Your gear is NOT what’ll make your channel explode. Just like how these channels grow hundreds of thousands of subs with simple & cheap equipment.
I’ve ‘invested’ a LOT of money in YouTube gear, many of which I’ve never even used. So in this video, I’ll be sharing the YouTube gear I recommend to all of my YouTube clients as a beginner, and what you should buy once you’re ready to scale your YouTube channel.
Let’s start with the most asked question: What camera should you use to record your videos?
Camera
Cameras are a multi-billion dollar business with hundreds of models to choose from.
So understandably, it could get extremely confusing for the average person to pick one specific camera model.
However, if you’re just starting your YouTube career, I recommend you start with a camera that everyone has access to.It’s the one you’re holding right now, your smartphone. And it doesn’t even need to be an iPhone.
In fact, one of my very first videos on my personal finance channel 3 years ago was shot on a mid-range Huawei with terrible audio & lighting. That being said, it still got me 30k views!
Remember, your main goal with YouTube is to produce videos that solve your target audience’s pain points.
So promise yourself to produce at least 5 videos with your smartphone before ever considering upgrading your camera,which I’ll talk about in a bit.
OK, so here are some best practices to record with your iPhone:
- Back or selfie camera? Use the back camera because it has the best resolution.
- You don’t need fancy camera apps, I use the native camera app.
- 1080p is enough, you don’t need to shoot 4K
- The framerate should be as close to 24 fps as possible.
- Always remember to wipe the lens before shooting.
However, if you insist on upgrading your camera, I 100% recommend the Sony ZV1. It’s one of the best cameras for solo content creators & it’s this camera that I’m shooting this video right now.
- It has a flip-out screen so you can see yourself
- It has superior video quality than your phone
- You can also use it to create higher-quality thumbnails
- It can make the background blurry with one button
- It’s compact, in case I need to take the camera out for an outdoor shoot
This camera will set you back around $650. I favor the Sony ZV1 over the bigger professional cameras.
Cool, next, you need something to hold the camera while you record yourself.
Camera Tripod
I bought SO MANY tripods but ended up only using 1.
QZSD Q222 Tripod
My first tripod was the QZSD Q222 and it cost me around $39. Pretty cheap because it’s from China.
It’s well-built & pretty sturdy, but it’s too bulky.
I bet most of you are also shooting your videos in a very limited space, like your bedroom or a small office. So, I don’t recommend this tripod for beginners for that reason.
Ulanzi MT-44
The 2nd tripod I bought was the Ulanzi MR-44. It’s cheap at around $20.
It’s versatile because it:
- can get up to waist-high
- can hold a camera & has a built-in smartphone holder.
- somewhat portable
Pretty solid choice & what I recommend beginners to get. However, after a while, like a true gearhead, I felt the itch to ‘upgrade’ my tripod.
PGYTECH Mantispod
So the 3rd tripod I bought was the Mantispod.
I saw one of my favorite YouTubers promoting this thing and thought it was cool as hell because you can change from vlogging to table mode fast. Also, you can hang your camera at weird locations to get interesting camera angles.
It is a decent tripod and it’s what I bring with me during my travels. But, it’s:
- Expensive at $49
- Although the USP is the Mantis mode, I’ve never used it in real life
- Not as versatile as the Ulanzi, because it can’t extend its height
I don’t recommend the Mantis Pod for beginners.
So, just save yourself some money & get the Ulanzi. It’s the cheapest & most versatile of the bunch.
Cool, what can you upgrade next to make your audience watch your video till the end?
Let’s talk about mics.
Microphones
Your audience can tolerate a shitty video, but they can’t tolerate a video with shitty audio.
Luckily for all of us, since the creator economy is booming, there are so many good mics out there that aren’t expensive.
I’m no sound engineer, but I’ve bought almost all the types of mic, and I’ll be recommending which one I use the most & why.
Shotgun Mic
If you plan to do mostly sit-down, talking-head-style videos like this one right now, you can consider a shotgun mic.
It’s this mic with a fuzzy thing you see a lot of vloggers use.
This type of mic picks up most of the audio directly in front of it and it turns on as soon as you turn your camera on & doesn’t require batteries.
It’s also cheap, with a good one costing just $42. The only downside to this mic is that if you plan to walk around & turn the camera back & forth, it will mute your voice.
Depending on your style, this may not affect your production much. But still worth mentioning.
Condenser Mic
These are typically USB-powered and are placed on the table like the popular Yeti.
IMO, these are sensitive mics perfect for singing in a controlled treated studio, as they’ll pick up everything including ambient noise.
This won’t be a good mic for talking-head-style videos. I wouldn’t recommend it.
USB Dynamic Mic
This type of mic has been very popular as of late with the explosion of the creator economy and podcasts.
It’s a type of mic that you plug into the USB port of your computer and makes your voice sound deep, kinda like on radio.
I only recommend this mic for advanced users because it’s expensive. This one costs $250. It’s also anchored to your desk, which means if you want to get creative and do other shots besides a talking head, you need to use another mic.
So that leaves my recommendations for beginners to be:
Wireless Mic
This is the most versatile mic you can get.
It’s a 2-piece device: the transmitter connects with your camera/phone, and the wireless mic attaches to your shirt. The mic picks up the audio & transmits the signal to the receiver, wirelessly.
It’s perfect for beginners. It picks up really clear vocal audio, because the mic is close to your mouth, and it’s not expensive.
This one costs me $65 and you can be very creative with it. You can do:
- Talking head
- Vlogging
- Shooting in a noisy place
If you don’t know which mic to pick, just get a wireless mic. You won’t be disappointed & it has a lot of room to grow with your filming skills.
But how can some people make their videos look so high quality? Just like how I get comments like this on my videos.
I’ll let you in on a little secret, it’s not the camera, but:
Lighting
This is my secret weapon to create amazingly high-quality videos that’ll WOW your prospects.
You’ll come across as someone who takes marketing very seriously and therefore more trustworthy in the thing that you’re trying to sell.
This is the Godox SL-60W & it only cost me $179.
It’s this giant LED light attached to this umbrella-looking thing called a softbox. The whole point of this contraption is to get strong, consistent but soft lighting so it’s not too harsh on your skin.
Don’t get the ring light, it’s too harsh & you’ll look like you’re going to start twerking. Nobody will take you seriously.
The only thing that could be a problem is that the tripod and umbrella are hella big. So it could be a problem if you’re shooting in a tiny bedroom or office like I am.
Me & the wife have gotten used to it though.
OK, so now you have all the gear out of the way, the next thing is to set up your backdrop more appealing & consistent with your brand.
YouTube Backdrop
You are the main subject of your videos, but you still need to have some sort of background that’ll balance between:
- Not being too busy & distracting the viewer’s attention from focusing on you
- Being cohesive with your branding (colors & props)
This could be an entire video course altogether, and I’ve changed my backdrop several times. So I’ll share what I know.
First, I bet most of you will start shooting videos in your bedroom or office. I assume your space will be limited and there are some angles that you don’t want to be in frame. Just like my bed is just a few inches away in this frame.
So the general rule is to point the camera diagonally at the corner of the room so it’ll appear more spacious than it is. Make sure there are no messy bits or beds in the frame.
For decor, you can add stuff that will showcase your personality without distracting the viewer. Like I’m working towards my 100k sub YouTube plaque. Once I have that, I’d place it on this bookshelf. I also have a motorcycle helmet down there to show a splash of personality.
Don’t waste money buying new decors just yet. All you have to do is look around your home for random stuff that can be used in your backdrop.
Lastly, add 1 source of light in the background. I’m too cheap to buy a decent lamp & I had this cheap IKEA floor lamp lying around, so I used that. I did however buy this smart LED bulb that can change colors & I picked the color that fits my brand.
Remember, you need to be tasteful with the backdrop. Generally, the less stuff, the better.
CHECKPOINT: YouTube is logistically intense. If you just want me to do all of this for your business, book a free strategy call below:
Your Audience Wants THIS New Editing Style
Your YouTube audience is changing. Fast. They’re over the constant flashy edits and quick cuts. They’re hungry for something different, something real.
I’m not just growing two YouTube channels of my own – I’m helping my clients do the same. I’ve been deep in the trenches, experimenting with a fresh editing style that’s getting serious results.
I’m pulling back the curtain. You’ll learn exactly what this new style is, and how you can master it before everyone else catches on. It’s your chance to create more high-quality content, without burning endless hours and cash on editing.
What is Retention Editing & Why Do YouTubers Use It?
To keep those average video durations sky-high, many YouTubers resorted to an all-out assault on the senses:
- Shouting matches disguised as dialogues
- Breakneck pacing that leaves you breathless
- Jump cuts that feel like a caffeine overdose
- Transitions and animations that scream for attention
This is the infamous “retention editing” – a visual sugar rush designed to trick viewers to keep looking at what’s going on the screen.
But this only works with the entertainment channels. If you’re a building a YouTube channel to attract clients, this is the wrong way to go. In fact, this will actively repulse people from wanting to work with you.
Let me show you why.
The Problem with Retention Editing
Reason #1: Most YouTubers will look for an editor who can do retention editing because it’s too complicated to do on your own.
And after paying for that expensive editing, you’ll find out that your video looks exactly the same as everyone else’s.
As a digital entrepreneur, why would you spend all that money to end up blending in with everyone else? You won’t get business opportunities by blending in.
Reason #2: Your YouTube channel is about you.
It’s a way for you to brand yourself online.
It’s where strangers get to know you, grow to like you (become your subscriber), get into your funnel & eventually do business with you.
With retention editing, you’re making it hard for the audience to connect with YOU (the subject & the star of your channel), because they’re artificially stimulated all the time.
They’re distracted. So why would you deliberately dilute the audience’s attention away from you?
Reason #3: You’ll attract a lower attention span audience. These could be the younger crowd with not as much spending power.
If you’re subscribed to my channel, you’re most likely a business owner looking to use YouTube to promoteds your high-ticket offer.
Who can afford your offer? Chances are it’s other business owners and they’re probably not that young, at least 25 or much older.
Would a retention editing style video resonate with this audience? Or would it turn them off?
I’m 36 and I can’t stand high-paced videos. I find it childish & any YouTuber who’s doing this type of editing is probably trying to mask something behind all the flashy editing.
What are you trying to hide? That you have no personality? No edge? As the years go by, the audience (and YouTube) is changing.
They’re tired of the over-edited style videos & they’re craving for real human connection.
Why Your Audience (and YouTube) is Evolving
Despite living in a hyper-connected, digital world, the truth is, that most of us are craving genuine human connections.
We want genuine friendship, attention, and quality conversations.
The YouTubers who understand and satisfy this insecurity will win on YouTube and any social platform.
Let’s go over some examples of some YouTubers who don’t have overly edited videos but are crushing it on YouTube:
YouTuber Example 1: Lynette Adkins
She’s a lifestyle creator and her video about the secrets of content creation popped up on my suggested feed.
She’s literally talking in her house in front of the camera. She didn’t change scenes or even have any fancy editing.
She felt like a friend I never had giving me advice about content marketing (the thing I’m actively searching for).
I subbed her right after that video & have been following her journey ever since.
YouTuber Example 2: Daniel Fazio
AKA the Cold Email Wizard. This is the OG in the digital business/cold email scene.
These videos are jam-packed with value (I assume you have to pay other people to get this info) and he delivered in a way that felt natural. He even stutters in his speeches and the editor didn’t even edit it out.
Left it there raw to ‘add personality’ and it’s working! Look at the views.
If you have this level of confidence, you don’t even need a fancy thumbnail. Look at these.
YouTuber Example 3: Dina Lu
Dina’s video about ‘blowing up on YouTube’ was suggested to me.
Since I’m growing YouTube channels myself, I 100% resonated with the thumbnail & title.
Dina’s video has some editing like added B-roll, but for the most part, it’s nowhere near the typical retention editing that we talked about before.
I love her vibe. Literally, like a friend I used to have.
I subbed because I liked her vibe and wanted to follow her on her journey.
YouTuber Example 4: Creek Wrangler School
This is the OG of unedited videos.
It’s literally an old dude in the countryside spitting out solid life advice. 100% unedited, sometimes even bad audio.
But he’s pulling in views & subs like no other. These are really cool channels & YouTuber creators I admire.
I’ve given you how I discovered these people and also why I subbed & became their fan. Your target audience will be going through a similar journey with your YouTube videos.
How to Get in On This New Editing Style
The best way I can explain this is that you need to make your audience feel like you’re their friend & you guys are having an intimate conversation.
Kinda like if you’re meeting up with a good friend you haven’t met in a while and you guys are catching up at a local bar or cafe.
That’s the vibe that you should aim for. I call this the Catching Up with a Friend at a Cafe (CUFC) vibe.
I want you to always have this top of mind while recording your videos:
- Your audience wants to feel connected. You should be their friend or big brother/or sister or father/mother that they wish they had.
- They want to hear your stories, not tutorials
- They want to connect with YOU, and not your flashy editing.
What You’ll Gain from the New Editing Style
Everyone’s Catching Up with a Friend at a Cafe (CUFC) vibe will be different because we all have different personalities.
Experiment with what works for you, where you feel so natural talking to the camera and you’ll:
- Spend less on video editing
- You’ll look unique & therefore eliminate competition
- You’ll get die-hard fans
- Effortlessly pump out more content
- You’ll enjoy creating videos and won’t feel like it’s a chore
CHECKPOINT: YouTube is logistically intense. If you just want me to do all of this for your business, book a free strategy call below:
How to Edit Your Videos in Minutes with Descript AI
Forget about learning Adobe Premier Pro or Davinci Resolve.
You’re a business owner, there’s no way you have time to figure all that out.
There’s a NEW way to edit your videos:
- 1000x cheaper than hiring an editor
- No human to train or manage
- slash editing time from 24 hours to 15 mins
Watch this video on how a beginner can use it to edit 100x faster & CHEAPER.
Try Descript for free here.
CHECKPOINT: YouTube is logistically intense. If you just want me to do all of this for your business, book a free strategy call below:
Book a FREE 30 Min Strategy Call
We all have different situations & circumstances. Book a call to explore if we are a good fit.