Your YouTube channel won’t grow, here’s why…

Are you stuck in that pattern of waking up each morning refreshing your YouTube studio stats to see if magically one of your videos finally went viral and your subscriber count and watch time has skyrocketed overnight? Yeah, I have been there. Heck - I still religiously obsess over my YouTube stats (not saying that’s healthy, but it’s the reality). I have been on YouTube for a long time and because of that - I have learned a lot about what NOT to do on YouTube and what can truly help you grow. So, today I want to share with your why I think your YouTube channel might be hitting a wall (and how you can push that wall down to finally see some growth).

Not coming up with the title and thumbnail FIRST

The perfect structure for a YouTube video actually starts before you make the video at all - it begins with a title and thumbnail. If you can’t even get people to click on your video, then it doesn’t matter how awesome your video is - no one is ever going to watch it.

So unlike most people on YouTube, who come up with a concept and then just start creating the video, then decide on the title at the end. I start my planning for every video by coming up with a compelling title and usually, I will know what the main concept or points are going to be… but the most important thing is that the title grabs your attention. Then I’ll make sure I script the video to match the title. Basically, if you can’t think of an attention-grabbing title and a great thumbnail concept, you might not want to even make the video in the first place.

If you want some tips on creating a better thumbnail, make sure to visit my YouTube channel (youtube.com/katie) where I posted a video all about my secrets of developing an attention-grabbing thumbnail.

Not spending time on research and planning

One of the biggest downfalls of most videos stems back to the lack of preparation that went into it. We have all rushed through a script to make a deadline or make sure we get our video done by our normal posting schedule, but at the end of the day - the quality of your video will be so much higher when you spent genuine time planning for its success.

Over the years of obsessively watching Matt D’Avella, FilmBooth, and Colin and Samir over the years - I developed a template for scripting videos that always set me up for a success. Though I used the tips I learned from these amazing creators - the format itself is my own creation, and based on what has worked on my own YouTube channel.

Let me walk you through each phase of my video script template

It’s no surprise that the first headline you will see on my script template is "Title Ideas” and that’s because as I mentioned before, this should be your first step in developing your video. Your title is the first sentence of your story and you need to make sure it’s set up properly to grab your audience's attention.

Next is a section to research the video concept. You need to ask yourself questions like, What will your viewer take away from this video? What story are you going to tell?

Going down further you will find some prompts to break your video down into a story. You will brainstorm your story outline - asking yourself -

Who is the character?

What’s the desire?

What are the obstacles?

What are the stakes?

…and finally, you will answer - What is the resolution of the story?

Okay, going down a bit further in this script template I start thinking about my specific comment goals. What do I want my audience to say in the comments? Knowing how you truly want your audience to feel after finishing your video will help you write the perfect script for that result.

Now that you have some all of that brainstorming - you can now think of some thumbnail ideas. The text of your thumbnail must be different than the title; try to generate curiosity, think of it as the first sentence of your intro or the opening to the story. Make them think “how?”

With all of that - it’s time to write your script, I have this broken down into 3 simple catagories.

Opening, Body, and Outro.

In the opening, you need to hook them in the first 10 seconds, bring in the tease from the thumbnail, and preview the end result before diving into deeper detail. Try to keep the intro 30 seconds long max.

With the body, you want to keep the pace up and introduce new questions that make the viewer want to keep watching. Ideally, you will tell a story in parallel with the information/education you’re sharing.

In the template, I have a few sections for “talking points” as well, which will keep your outline clean and clear when it’s time to film.

Finally, the outro. You will choose a relevant video beforehand, tease the outcome or result of that video, and then mention it in the last 20 seconds. Link to the video on the endscreen.

Okay, I know that was a lot and probably hard for you to imagine, but I’ve officially released it so you can buy it on my website to use on your next YouTube video at the link in the show notes.

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Here’s the thing, if you want to have an effective video, at the end of the day you need it to be fast-paced, full of value, and intriguing to your viewer - and the only way you can do that is by writing a solid script with the intention and strategy behind it.