YouTube is the new Business Card...

Awesome - @SBSL-Founder-SJ and I were just talking about this!

@hectorgarciacpa

Your silde show was interesting, some very general stats that do make you think, so I took a look at some more stats.

From this page
https://fortunelords.com/youtube-statistics/

80% of YouTube’s views are from outside of the U.S.

Approximately 20% of the people who start your video will leave after the first 10 seconds.

What I could not find, though I admit I did not spend a lot of time looking, was stats on the type of video that was being watched.  If one billion views are hitting utube and entertainment type videos are around 60-70% (and I would bet a lot that the % is higher) - that lowers the probable impact dramatically

9% of small businesses use utube - I find this interesting

MIght mean you are getting in on the bottom of a trend - or it might mean small businesses have found it adds little to nothing to sales.  And sales is what it is all about IMO.  Not sure why the  article references Home Depot for this, that would not be what I call a small business, but their utube channel is concerned with how to do this, or pick this color, etc

I like the link to the 2018 stats.. thanks for That!

I disagree only in one statement you made: "Might mean you are getting in on the bottom of a trend - or it might mean small businesses have found it adds little to nothing to sales."

I personally draw a LOT of sales from my YouTube Channel.   I think, 9% of small business are in it... because 91% do not know what it can do for them OR they do not want to make the investment for it.  Which is what I would call a MASSIVE opportunity.

If the same article came out 20 years ago about websites that said only 9% have websites, your "bottom of the trend" statement would be completly wrong (in hindsight); but not necessarily untrue based on the state of the internet and internet users at the moment.   Is also possible that only 9% of the small business buyers use YouTube, but if as the trend moves up.. so will the adoption.

I could also be wrong in the way I am reading if your statement "bottom of the trend" means being too early or too being late.. would love your clarification on that

I have heard that Youtube is a good place for advertising. I don't know, because we don't use it, but we have found other social media to be great for advertising. 

For example, Facebook. Our business was included in a post on a page and we are still getting new customers from that. We also put up a post on our page about a week ago and have around 1.1 thousand reactions to it. Facebook is our main social media advertising. 

yeap.. FB is great as well

@jessbru99568, that's amazing - that FB post has some serious legs!!

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@hectorgarciacpawrote:

I like the link to the 2018 stats.. thanks for That!

 

I disagree only in one statement you made: "Might mean you are getting in on the bottom of a trend - or it might mean small businesses have found it adds little to nothing to sales."

 

I personally draw a LOT of sales from my YouTube Channel.   I think, 9% of small business are in it... because 91% do not know what it can do for them OR they do not want to make the investment for it.  Which is what I would call a MASSIVE opportunity.

 

If the same article came out 20 years ago about websites that said only 9% have websites, your "bottom of the trend" statement would be completly wrong (in hindsight); but not necessarily untrue based on the state of the internet and internet users at the moment.   Is also possible that only 9% of the small business buyers use YouTube, but if as the trend moves up.. so will the adoption.

 

I could also be wrong in the way I am reading if your statement "bottom of the trend" means being too early or too being late.. would love your clarification on that

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The issue is viewpoint.  I am in retail for the most part, so when I say sales I am referring to getting customers in the store, either again or for the first time.  Retail changes rapidly, at least my niche does, sales, style trends fading and new ones appearing, etc etc.

I can see utube working very well to allow a new client to get to know your speaking style, how you explain things etc.  That would indeed be beneficial in terms of garnering new clients.

And I guess that is my issue in most of these one size fits all articles.  Industry or niche application is never mentioned, and never mentions how it would apply.

So let's take a practical theoretical scenario, you are a value adde accountant / consultant, so if I was your client, knowing I am women's clothing retail, both new and consigned, How does this apply?  Or would you even bring it up?

As far as my comments on the 9% stat.  Nothing was ever mentioned about 9% of business buyers using utube, the stat refers to small businesess using utube for their business.

If the same article came out 20 years ago about websites that said only 9% have websites, your "bottom of the trend" statement would be completly wrong (in hindsight); but not necessarily untrue based on the state of the internet and internet users at the moment.   

Well I disagree, Creatin a web site back then would put you at the bottom of the climb of popularity, the growing presense of web sites.  IMO that would be a good thing.  Actually, I had a web site when html was on version 2, circa 1997-98

If I specialized in women's clothing, I would create videos about that combined with the accounting/value-add element of my practice.  I would also immediatelly ask why you dont have a YouTube channel (or other video library) of the products you sell, how they function (assuming thery have some unique feature), etc...

Videos are abstract.. they are not just for showing off your speaking slyte, they can be used for all sort of things.  A small business making YouTube videos can combine the best of TV Advertising (spots), Infomercials, and Industry Though Leadership (and this can be entertaiment ot not.. my videos are certainly NOT entertaining)

As a matter of fact, I am so bullish on this concept; that when my clients ask for my input in a new business idea or business model, the first thing thatgoes through my head is "What would this YouTube Channel look like?"  And that starts many conversations about branding, image, what is the Unique Value Proposition / Differentiator, target customer, how the value needs to be communicated, etc...  <- Certainly not what a typical accountant does, sounds like "marketing" really... but there is nothing wrong with that?

While I was reseaching the stats, I read several articles on making a utube professional look video.  Since you do that habitually, how much time does it take, from start to publication of the video?  Articles talk script writing, videoing, retakes, editing, dubing, etc

If I specialized in women's clothing, I would create videos about that combined with the accounting/value-add element of my practice

If I am the client, why would I care about my video highlighting your accounting practice?  I asked about your advice to me as a client who sold new and consigned womens clothing.

And let's add prep time to my ? about making the video, I either have to dress a manequin or have a model to show the item(s).

How much time, approximately, will it take to make one utube video?  How long would the video you suggest I make be?  That is going to determine how many articles I can show.  

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@hectorgarciacpa wrote:

 

As a matter of fact, I am so bullish on this concept; that when my clients ask for my input in a new business idea or business model, the first thing thatgoes through my head is "What would this YouTube Channel look like?"  And that starts many conversations about branding, image, what is the Unique Value Proposition / Differentiator, target customer, how the value needs to be communicated, etc...  <- Certainly not what a typical accountant does, sounds like "marketing" really... but there is nothing wrong with that?

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Nope, there's absolutely nothing wrong with that! QuickBooks has produced dozens of quick-hit videos highlighting small business customers (I've posted quite a few of them here) and I think they're very effective in telling just enough of the business's story to make me want to learn more. Creating a channel of 1- and 2-minute videos showcasing various facets of your business can be a quite savvy use of social media for branding and marketing. If you have the means and the skillset, why not exploit such an engaging form of outreach?

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLVxBmyedTVhRZFKA85RuCONUe6xD97aJs

Hi, 

Absolutely right. In today’s digital world we cannot ignore YouTube. YouTube is the second most used search engine in the world.

Awesome idea!!!!!  I use other social media, especially Facebook to go live & Instagram. Both which have helped my hair business #monat #monathair!

You have some great tips! Thanks for the idea! I am going to give it a shot & hopefully people watch & enjoy it!!! 🤗☺

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@EmilyCowanwrote:

Awesome - @SBSL-Founder-SJ and I were just talking about this!

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Hi Hector,

I took inspiration from your videos on YouTube. When I was first learning how to use QuickBooks Online I watched many of your videos.

I now work in practice as a QuickBooks Pro Advisor and am the first point of contact for any QuickBooks related queries. 

I have since started my own YouTube channel to help my clients. You can find it by following this link: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCfz0AYyDp3GdcQPF1JI9TXw/videos. 

I try to upload a new video once a week (although time pressures sometimes don't allow me to do this) but I love making videos and my clients have told me its the easiest way of learning!

Kind Regards,

Emily

That is wonderful... i saw a few videos, I love the consistend introducions and short video length; I wish I had hat dicipline!

I found it odd that that you did not put you contact info in the video, I see a link on the description, but people are lazy to do so many clicks..   maybe put the websie address on the footer of the video or email/phone number.. make it easy for people to contatct you.. just my 2 cents

Hi Hector,

That is a small thing I stupidly missed. I will definately be going back and entering this into the video footers!

Thank you!

Emily

Hi James,

No, no professional training! I just really enjoying teaching people new things!

Emily

there is a fine line between being salesy and informational... I hard NOT to be salesy, because producing videos is a big investment in time, equipment/software, labor, outsoured production, etc... and we want to see RESULTS translated into new cutomers right away.... but make sure you have a sound, if you want to build an audience or fan-base, you may need to put the sales-pitch aside for a a few months (or years) so people SUBSCRIBE to your channel; they may not buy right away, because you are not selling, but you build a loyal audience...  

If you lay the sale pitch right away, you may get a few more immediate leads, but may not grow the channel as fast...  

I did that for 4 years (no sales pitch) and now I have a little more clout to be able to monetize in different ways because I have 20k subscribers (that is not a lot, but is a lot more than other youtubers in this space)

So consider your strategy, but ALWAYS let the people know WHAT is it that you do for a living, so they know you are for hire.

Really handy top tips there Hector!

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@EmilyMockett wrote:

Really handy top tips there Hector!

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