5 Principles That Helped Me Generate 50 Billion Views.

I have helped build some of the biggest channels in YouTube history. Generating over 50 billion (organic) YouTube views across 100s of channels.

When you open up your youtube app, there’s probably a title and thumbnail staring back at you that I have directly worked on.

How?

I would love to tell you I'm some YouTube midas, and that everything I touch magically turns to views haha... but the reality is a lot more simple.

My 'edge' as a YouTube strategist comes from a set of principles that guide how I think about content (and you can steal them).

Here's 5 principles behind 50 billion organic views:

Principle 1: Don't put 5% of time into something that's 50% of the game

My whole career is built on knowing what YouTube prioritizes and where my time has the most leverage.

Let's contrast two things: Impact on views (imo) & the average creators time allocation I see.

Illustrative based on my experience working with creators

See the disconnect?

People might disagree with the exact ratio, but I really think the idea, title and thumbnail make up at least 50% of a videos performance.

Yet most creators barely put 5% of their time into it.

That doesn't make sense.

Scripting, filming and editing will always be a majority, they are more time intensive... but the return on time invested into idea and packaging is often much higher.

Our clients will make 10+ thumbnails per video, sometimes 50+.

We'll come up with as many as 500 ideas to just find one banger.

Those numbers might overwhelm you, but just start by putting more than 5% of your time into something that's 50% of the game.

Principle 2 - Every video must pass the 'glance test'

As creators we grossly overestimate how much consideration a viewer is giving our videos.

I will watch a creator scroll through their feed at break-neck speed, passing over videos in the blink of an eye.

And then make a title and thumbnail that you need 5 seconds to read.

5 seconds sounds short, but it's probably 10x more time than your title and thumbnail will actually get.

Enter the ''Glance test'' - can you understand your idea, title and thumbnail in a glance? Give yourself under a second.

Deya went through our accelerator program. Look at the before and after.

On the before, it takes so much longer to actually understand what the video is about and why I should care.

Some tips to pass the glance test:

• I try to keep my titles under 60 characters, I'll only go longer if I feel it really needs it.

• I try to keep thumbnail text to under 5 words

• I keep images to 1 to 3 focus areas (3-element rule)

• I always look at how those elements interact - e.g in Deya's first thumbnail notice how much her text blends into the background.

Every video I make must pass this test. If it can't, we need to keep simplifying.

Principle 3: Ruthlessly focus on competitive advantages

Everyone reading this has some form of competitive advantage.

Sometimes, it's obvious.

A lot of people send me this entrepreneurs' channel, Greg Lav.

''How did he grow to 100k subs so fast? He's just come out of nowhere??''

He has good ideas, titles, thumbnails, his videos are really well executed... but come on guys...

There's probably under 10 people in the world who can write that title. He spent a decade building a proof point.

Even on a smaller scale, me with this very article, how many people in the world can say they've worked across billions of youtube views?

Now I know what you're thinking *''oh easy yea I'll just become a billionaire very helpful paddy.'' *

But competitive advantages can be less obvious.

What do you have access to that most people don't? What do you have more knowledge in then others?

What are your own unique life events and experiences?

Even being a beginner: That in itself can be an advantage, you have less risk, less opportunity cost.

So yes it can be a billionaire giving life advice... but it could also be the fishing channel who lives beside the best trout river in America.

When I find a channels competitive advantage, I ruthlessly use it as a moat.

Every idea goes through the filter of* ''could everyone just say this'' . *

Principle 4 - Everything has a stake if you try hard enough

My mentality towards content is always: you have to make the viewer care enough to invest their precious time.

Adding stakes to a video is an easy way to do that... but people have too narrow of a definition of what a stake actually is.

''I'm not mrbeast bro... I make educational videos... I can't just give away a $100k mystery prize at the end''

I truly believe a stake can be added to anything.

Let's say your video is about how to build a great investment portfolio

If in your intro you say ''Following the rules I'm going to lay out for you can be the difference between having 1m in retirement and 100k'' (consequence)

Or maybe ''The big banks and financial providers don't want you to know what I'm about to tell you'' (Enemy)

The common theme between the worst videos I watch is they feel lifeless, there's nothing at stake. Why would I even care.

I never want that to me by video.

Principle 5 - Replace the word algorithm with audience (always)

About 6 years ago, Todd, a friend who works on the algorithm at YouTube said something that has stuck with me ever since.

''Anytime you're about to use the word algorithm, replace it with audience and you probably have the real answer.''

You may have heard it before, and feel you already know it... but I'm someone who works across thousands of youtube videos a year and I still have to catch myself.

The algorithm is punishing me = the audience isn't interested

The algorithm didn't like that thumbnail change = my audience didn't click it

It helps because it re-shifts how you view problems, blaming the algorithm is a cop out.

Never forget, we are creating videos for real humans. All YouTube strategy essentially comes down to understanding them and predicting their behavior.

I have these 5 principles written down on a sticky note on my desk. They guide me every day, on every video.

I hope this article was interesting, please consider sharing it if it helped.