A long long time ago I made video tutorials about the things I learned and I really enjoyed it. I don’t remember why, but doing that on YouTube wasn’t a real option back then. The video format was still pretty fresh it wasn’t a financially viable venture at the time. In life’s mysterious ways, it’s something I had to abandon for a long time, but the idea of teaching never left me.
Many years have passed and I’ve always paid attention to what’s going on. At this point, I feel like I’m really late to the game. But the flip side is that I get to bring everything I’ve learned over the years with me and I can look to other creators for inspiration because they’ve paved the path already.
I’ve been thinking a lot more about YouTube for the past year. I really want to get into it, but I don’t want to add noise or create videos I wouldn’t want to watch.
This is the start of my journey.
Deliberately Different
I think it’s important to stand out. But how do I apply that idea to YouTube?
It seems like there’s already a video for everything, do I really have anything to contribute? I think I finally have the answer.
I’ve seen a lot of advice thrown around like “just do it” and “don’t overthink it” and while I appreciate where that’s coming from, I’m way past not overthinking it. I’ve been overthinking it for a year now.
I firmly believe that the key to any success is to be intentional and flexible.
Even with all the overthinking, I know I’ll make a lot of mistakes anyway. But being intentional isn’t about not making mistakes. Being Intentional is having a plan systematically observing and pivoting as necessary.
So here’s my plan.
I’m going to steal
In his book “Steal Like an Artist” Austin Kleon quotes Salvador Dali:
Those who do not want to imitate anything, produce nothing.
I really enjoy watching @fireship videos. I think Jeff (the creator of Fireship) has found the perfect recipe.
The videos are fast-paced and varied and strike a really good balance in terms of adding a bit of flare with humor that’s stupid-kind of silly (the best kind) while not being over the top.
I wish there were more videos like that. I like it so much that, I think I’ll steal it.
And that’s where Austin has another recommendation for me:
Don’t just steal the style. Steal the thinking behind the style. You don’t want to look like your heroes, you want to see like your heroes.
Most YouTube developer channels get a bit rambly. I know for a fact that as soon as I open my mouth to explain anything I’m going to swiftly get to the point 45 minutes later. Creating fast-paced videos seems like something that doesn’t come naturally to me at all.
LG(E)TM. What could go wrong?
The Magic Formula
So with all that going through my head, I think I’ve finally settled on the formula I’m going to pursue:
Motto: Teach while being entertaining.
Target audience: People watching YouTube on the pooper.
Target length: 5 minutes, +/- 2 minutes.
Main Objective: Condense Everything to the shortest possible format.
At the same time, don’t just skip over everything.
Sub-objective: Don’t take yourself so seriously. 🦦
The key is to be concise by simplifying radically. Explain complex concepts quickly, without sacrificing clarity.
This is the balance that I’m going to chase.
Here I go…