Some recent reads and my brief commentary (Shein, Areopagus, Do Kwon, Mr Beast)

Great weekly newsletter, a sort of Western cultural history buffet:
https://culturaltutor.com/areopagus

Mr. Beast is the new Disney. Attention = money and Beast is the king of YouTube attention and has proven people will attentively follow him into other products even if it’s as dumb and unrelated as chocolate bars
https://www.axios.com/2022/10/25/mrbeast-youtube-fundraising-merch-restaurants

Surprise — that opaque Chinese company with the insanely cheap clothing is opaque for a reason and pays its workers insanely cheap(ly)
https://www.thecut.com/2022/10/shein-is-treating-workers-even-worse-than-you-thought.html

I also took notes on this interview and…yes. Impressive levels of self-denial
https://www.coindesk.com/layer2/2022/10/19/do-kwons-beautiful-dark-twisted-fantasy-world
my notes: https://kevinhabits.com/podcast-notes-do-kwon-on-unchained-even-to-this-day-im-proud-of-work-we-didvalues-we-tried-to-defend/

What do words like “capitalism” and “free market” even mean anymore (aware that I sound like a libertarian purist curmudgeon here)
https://www.zerohedge.com/markets/one-bank-makes-stunning-discovery-bank-japans-ycc-broken-and-soon-entire-jgb-market-will

Podcast notes – Pat Flynn, If I Was Starting a YouTube Channel Today

Caleb (co-host)
-Posted first vid in 2013, about a random piece of technology, played around for a few years, wasn’t until he made consistent videos that he learned how to grow it
-Works closely with Pat, it’s a side biz
-General advice: The people who click your videos will be interested in the topic, they want to be there – don’t worry about people who don’t care or aren’t interested

You don’t need a fancy camera

You don’t need a huge elaborate spectacle to get a lot of views (eg, Mr Beast)

Everyone wants the magical 1M subs, but you can have a solid business in 10K+ subs range

First thing to start a YT channel – Don’t start recording right away
First, figure out who you’re creating videos for – YT will help connect you to those people!

Pat Flynn – entrepreneurship was his niche, started really focusing on it in 2018
But even entrepreneurship is too broad, so many sub topics – he gets a “come and go” audience
You want a “come and stay” audience

My YouTube channel is different because ________
(Fill in that blank)

Follow other channels and watch videos in your niche – find out what viewers like and dislike
Read the comments for research
Study the engagement graph to know what parts people watch the most and least

“If you help YouTube succeed, they will help YOU succeed”
Make “click and stick” videos – it’s all about engagement and watch time – it’s legit-bait not clickbait

YouTube knows you better than you know you

**START WITH THE TITLE** – think about the title first, then create video to support the title
Write 5 titles, and pick your favorite
If you can’t get a good title, move on to a different video
Faces generally do better – a reaction face, surprise face – especially your own face once you have somewhat of a following

Have different text in thumbnail graphic vs actual video title
These text must grab their attention!

SEO / search is lowest source of views on YT – highest is BROWSE and SUGGESTED

Thumbnail is probably most important thing – Mr. Beast at summit spent an entire talk about thumbnails, different colors and versions

Most views should come from Browse / Suggested / Search – because that’s new viewers, that’s growth

So you got people to click – now how do you guarantee they’ll stick around?
Need a good HOOK to get them to stay watching – watch Mr Beast, immediately you’re pulled into the world and know what’s going to happen
75% retention at beginning (after 30s) is good – all about the hook

“When we cringe, we learn” – so much cringe looking at your old videos, but that’s how you get better

Retention tips
-add chapter marks / bookmarks so people can jump to where they want, also helps with search results
-story – tell them what’s at stake
-add B-roll – quick transitions, variety

1K subs / 4K hours watch time unlocks monetization
Affiliate marketing is great way to get started

Pat’s been on YT since 2009 – so when he creates a new channel today it can grow quickly – but don’t compare yourself to that

Make videos about products you like, because those brands will pay attention
Timing is important – being first product review video is really helpful

Intro yourself and your channel throughout the video – don’t just rely on a big slot at the beginning