Exploring Fitness

Learn the simple process this business owner uses to create YouTube videos that get views and drive customers back to her website.

When you look at my YouTube channel today, you might think I’ve had this thing figured out from the get-go. With over 13,700 subscribers, a new video every two weeks, and YouTube driving more organic traffic to my search engine optimization (SEO) consultancy than any other channel, you’d think it all came quite easily.

But I promise it wasn’t always this way. 

After starting a YouTube channel in 2017, my posting was sporadic. I lacked strategy, struggled with the technical aspects of video production, and failed to gain traction despite publishing over 35 videos. This led me to burn out, and aside from a couple of random videos here and there, I almost abandoned my YouTube efforts altogether.

Until one of those seemingly random videos saw significant success. It was about setting up Google Analytics 4, a video that I initially created for a client. I uploaded it to YouTube pretty casually so I could easily share it with a few people, then forgot about it.

When I logged in again, I was surprised to find that the YouTube algorithm noticed it. Within six months, it reached 22,000 views. That might not seem like a lot when you compare it to other YouTube channels, but this was huge for me. 

This experience dramatically shifted my mindset around YouTube. First and foremost, this video allowed me to hit the threshold of being monetized on YouTube with ads (meaning I literally get paid to market my business). 

But it also gave me a framework for planning videos that would serve both my audience and the algorithm. It helped me understand the different ways YouTube could benefit my business, ad revenue included. And, most importantly, it showed me that creating successful videos doesn’t have to be as daunting as I initially thought.

Now, I have done everything I can to make the process of running a YouTube channel for marketing as easy and effective as possible, while still keeping it fun and sustainable for me — and I want to share my approach with you. If you’re a business owner struggling to incorporate YouTube into your marketing strategy, here are my tips for streamlining the process. 

Choose topics that will be helpful to your audience and fun for you

Given how much work YouTube videos can take to create, it’s tempting to over-strategize about which topics will maximize search traffic or virality. But, not only can this approach take time, I found worrying too much about the numbers made me lose passion for it.

Now, I have just two questions that help me choose the topics for my videos:

1. What does my audience want to know about? 

First and foremost, I want my videos to be helpful. That, more than anything, means I’m serving a need that people are searching for, I’m providing content that people will want to watch, and I’m showing off expertise that people may want to hire me for. 

I get most of my video inspiration from client questions, DMs on social media, and comments on my other YouTube videos, which I compile into a long list of ideas. 

My clients now joke that if they have a question, I’ve probably got a YouTube video on it. Even if YouTube did nothing else for my business, it’s motivating to know I’m creating a useful resource, so this approach to planning keeps me pushing forward. 

2. What video do I want to create? 

When it’s filming day, I look at my list of potential videos and pick the one that sounds fun for me to create. This allows me to feel truly energetic going into filming, rather than forcing myself to check something off a list, making the whole process way easier. 

Find an easy format (and don’t hesitate to get help)

People are often shocked to hear that I don’t script my videos. But I’m able to do that because of the format I chose.

Most of my videos are tutorials on topics I already help clients with, meaning I’m essentially teaching something that I know inside and out. I don’t have to research or script anything, I can just sit down and let the words flow from my brain. 

Sometimes I vaguely plan the flow in my head so I can stay on track, but otherwise, my “pre-record” task list is pretty minimal.

I also decided early on I didn’t want overly edited videos because my audience would come to expect them from me every time, and I didn’t want to have to do that work. Instead of making me seem less polished, the simplicity builds trust and authentic connection, giving people a peek at what working with me would be like rather than sounding scripted.

That’s not to say there’s no editing on my videos. Someone needs to cut out my awkward pauses, string my clips together (because I usually record in chunks), plug in my intro, outro, and commercials, and add simple graphics to keep things engaging.

I quickly realized if