Sean Cannell on relying on YouTube as a business:
Well, you tap into Number 12 — Leads and clients for an existing business — and you figure out what that business is, then, you can start generating big money.
And it’s a different mindset. YouTube becomes a tool for your business, not the business, itself.
So, it’s almost like, I think, categorically:
- there’s entertainment channels
- there’s education channels
- there’s YouTube being the business, itself — ad revenue, the channel memberships…
…you can make a great business off of just YouTube paying you. Meaning, they:
- cut you the AdSense checks
- you have some channel membership subscribers
- people give you Super Chats
- people do YouTube shopping…
…like, they’ve created an ecosystem on YouTube — that’s one model.
The other model, though, is like, YouTube is marketing and lead gen for a different business.
I think the conclusion, there, is you getting self-awareness and charting a path — and you might have pivots over— on your journey — but I love this number 12 one, because I never wanna be dependent on a platform, alone.
I— the future’s bright for YouTube. I think it’s not only— it is the dominant platform, but I think the next decade is gonna be the best decade on YouTube, and it’s a good platform to plant your flag on, but you want diversification.
That’s why we also encourage building an email list. Don’t do all of the above, all at once, but this is why SMS, text messaging, having a community there, or building a Discord group, or Facebook group — diversifying your audience off of your platform is a smart move.
Building up newsletters could be lucrative as a whole thing. That’s a whole ‘nother deal — I didn’t even put it in the list — but, not only do you have the newsletter, how— can you monetize the newsletter, but you can keep talking to the newsletter even if the algorithm changed, or you had an issue with your YouTube channel.
Sean’s mindset advice is good, and though directed toward creators with small channels, applies perhaps even more powerfully to well-established creators.
Be a YouTuber. But don’t let YouTube convince you that YouTube is your business.
Leverage it, and stop letting it leverage you.
That said, I can’t avoid pointing out that the diversification Sean mentions is pretty pointless if you diversify to an array of even more platforms you don’t own, such as Facebook and Discord.
If you’re going to move your audience anywhere, move them toward you, not away from you.
As a creator, your email/newsletter list is king. Without one, you have no platform.
— Tang
Sean Cannell’s owned platforms include: Think Masterclass, Video Ranking Academy, and SeanCannell.com.
