Last updated on June 15th, 2024
Sean Cannell talks about his new book with Benji Travis, “YouTube Secrets: The Ultimate Guide to Growing Your Following and Making Money as a Video Influencer.”
GUEST: Sean Cannell of Video Influencers, Think Media, SeanCannell.com, and the brand new book.
HOST: The VidAction Podcast is hosted by Dane Golden of VidAction | LinkedIn | YouTube
SPONSORS: This episode is brought to you by our affiliate partners, including: TubeBuddy, VidIQ, MorningFame, Rev.com, and other products and services we recommend.
PRODUCER: Jason Perrier of Phizzy Studios
TRANSCRIPT
Dane Golden:
It’s time for HEY.com. This is the podcast where we give you Video Content Marketing tips to help you get your customers coming back to your videos again and again. My name is Dane Golden, and today, we have Sean Cannell of Video Influencers, Think Media, SeanCannell.com, and the brand new book, “YouTube Secrets: The Ultimate Guide to Growing Your Following and Making Money as a Video Influencer.” Welcome, Sean!
Sean Cannell:
Dane, I am so pumped to be on the podcast. Thank you for having me. I’m excited.
Dane Golden:
Woo-hoo. Now first, I want to just say at the top of the show, what’s the URL for the book?
Sean Cannell:
TubeSecretsBook.com. That’s T-U-B-E at the front, Secretsbook.com.
Dane Golden:
Okay. I want to say you’re in so many places, more than a million subscribers on all your YouTube channels. What do your different YouTube channels cover exactly?
Sean Cannell:
Yes, and so the main two are Think Media, and that’s the best tips and tools for building your influence with online video. It’s really a tech channel, but it covers not really consumer tech. It covers cameras, podcast, microphones, lighting, backpacks, travel, the tools that content creators of all kinds need to do their craft. Then, I also share some tips there around online video strategy, but then our other channel, Video Influencers, co-founded by Benji Travis, is a weekly interview show with people that are killing it in online video, as well as some tips and strategy videos from us there as well. Those are the two main ones, and then I have a few other projects, but they’re less significant.
Dane Golden:
Now, tell us about your partnership with Benji Travis. Most creators, they do a YouTube channel. They do it all by themselves alone in a room. Why did you guys decide a team was a better idea?
Sean Cannell:
Yeah. It’s such a cool question. A lot of people have been wondering that. For us, we each have individual projects, and so it’s probably important to know that first off, I’m based here in Las Vegas. I’m originally from Seattle, and that’s where we met.
Sean Cannell:
We actually met, grew up in the same kind of small town, same area. Eventually, I moved, so now, I’m based in Las Vegas. I’ve got my own business, my own team, my own projects that I’m working on, and so does Benji of course. He’s got his own YouTube channel for cooking. He’s got his and his wife Judy’s vlog.
Sean Cannell:
She’s a beauty YouTuber and mom influencer, and so we have these separate projects, and so four years ago, before Video Influencers started, we realized that we share this common affinity beyond our friendship for online video, that both of us were so passionate about YouTube online video, we’ve been doing it in so many different arenas and niches, and to be honest, Dane, we actually set out to write a book. We thought, “We could really help entrepreneurs and business-minded content creators with some of our experience.” For example, Benji has a real estate channel that not many people knew about, grew to about 5,000 subscribers, but coming out of the recession and really The Big Short, 2008, 2009 here in the U.S., he went from selling 10 homes a year to over 100 because of using strategic moves on YouTube, and so he had that experience. For me, I had helped a lot of people behind the scenes, whether that was authors, speakers, churches, and different people like that with strategy, video production, so we wanted to create a book. Then, once we committed to that process though, we actually put the book on hold and started a channel from scratch called ‘Video Influencers’ really to say, “Yes, we have tested a few things.”
Sean Cannell:
“We’ve done a few things, but could we build something from scratch? Could we actually start at zero and see if our theories really could work and be repeatable and replicatable, not just by us, but by others?” Now, four years later, Video Influencers crossed 350,000 subscribers. We’ve interviewed over 100 Video Influencers, and now, “YouTube Secrets” just came out, so really the book was sort of the unifying thing that started it all.
Dane Golden:
Yeah. “YouTube Secrets,” the book is out this week, and I pre-ordered it on Kindle, and be a little bit more specific. Who did you and Benji Travis write this book for?
Sean Cannell:
We really wrote it for, first of all, the Video Influencers community. I mean, it’s dedicated to the Video Influencers community, the stories of sacrifice, hustle, persistence that we have heard as this channel’s been growing. Beyond that, it’s absolutely for beginner YouTubers because it gives you an overview, but then, we go into some advanced tactics, so even veterans have been capturing some fresh inspiration, as well as some nuanced insights or just reminders for leveling up their game. To be honest, Dane, the book actually is pretty ambitious in the effect that it’s a bridge, I think for people who don’t really know what’s happening in YouTube. You and I are so deep in this industry, and we’ve been to a billion VidCons, and we’ve been to all the events, and so we like drink online video, right?
Sean Cannell:
We just like live it. Whereas, we are so passionate about this because we see it change lives and I think about my neighbors. I think about people in my city. There’s a lot of people that are actually still asleep to what’s happening with the internet, with social media, and with YouTube, and so it really makes the case to the fact where I think it’s accessible for even a wider audience, and we’re already seeing it resonate in that way, and so we hope it continues.
Dane Golden:
I think it’s fantastic, but you were saying that you actually did this in reverse. A lot of people, they’ll start a channel. Then, they’ll write a book, but you actually started the channel with the book in mind. How long did it actually take you to write this book?
Sean Cannell:
It took us four years to really write it, and mind you, we did put the book on hold because the first thing we realized was kind of some advice I would get elsewhere.
Dane Golden:
Wow!
Sean Cannell:
One of the people I look up to online’s named Michael Hyatt, he’s got a great blog, and he wrote a book called “Platform”. What he would say is that, “Any entrepreneur, any content creator, anybody who wants to launch anything, a product, a business, a book, you need a platform.” He’d say, “When’s the best time to start building your platform? Five years ago. When’s the second best time? Today.”
Sean Cannell:
You got to build it at some point. What we realized was once we already committed to writing the book, we thought, “Okay. Benji and Judy’s influence is pretty big. They’ve got this vlog audience. He’s got a cooking channel.“
Sean Cannell:
“I have quite a few people on an email list and some people that have been looking to me as a video production and YouTube strategist kind of a person”, but we really hit the pause button and said, “You know what? We don’t really have a platform that is specifically reverse engineered for a book like this”, so we actually set out a goal of saying, “Let’s get 25,000 people on an email list. Let’s grow an email newsletter of people that are opting in to say, ‘Yes, I want to grow my influence with online video and with YouTube'”, and so that was the first target. Then we thought, “If the book comes out, we would love to again, be able to send the email and say, ‘Hey, it’s out just like you should, just like anybody that would maybe be reverse engineer a project'”, so then we did the hard work. We put the book on hold for about 12 months, and then we were working on it steadily over the years, but there was a couple of times we put it on pause where it just, we want it to be right and not rushed, and so we redid it about two times, and the final product now, we feel very proud of because we didn’t just try to get it out there, just try to like get a book.
Sean Cannell:
Books are like business cards, sometimes they say. They’re a way to just kind of open the door, but we wanted to actually be something that really was powerful and impactful, so we put a lot, a lot of time, a lot of hours. Then, here’s the other thing. Of course, after interviewing over 100 video influencers, the stories, the insights, the nuances, the book was 10X stronger than it would have been had we just launched out and wrote it off of our own experience, and not just those interviews, people in the Video Influencers community who we’ve actually watched go from not doing YouTube, to now being their full-time job from people who’ve been able to switch careers or create side income, and so all of those different stories, the possibilities, and the case studies are woven into the book. Waiting that long, I mean, four years is a long time, has really proven to, I think be very powerful for the final product that’s now in the book.
Dane Golden:
You actually on your videos when I’ve heard you interviewed more than anyone else, you talk about really great business books that influenced you. Did you pick up anything … I hope you have a list of these somewhere that people can get for Audible or Amazon. Do you?
Sean Cannell:
I don’t-
Dane Golden:
Your reading list?
Sean Cannell:
I do actually. On my Kit.com, there’s a couple of books that I recommend. I should probably update it. That’s mostly for a lot of times camera gear, but K-I-T.com/SeanCannell is where I definitely list out some books.
Dane Golden:
Okay.
Sean Cannell:
Go ahead.
Dane Golden:
I really love to have that list for our listeners and myself frankly, because you really well-read, but from these amazing business books that you read, what did you pick up that you decided, “That’s a good way to do my book”?
Sean Cannell:
I will tell you this, and so it goes into a story and also of how Benji and I met. “YouTube Secrets” for us, we kind of wanted it to be the Gary V. “Crush It!” of YouTube. The reason why is because we both, right around when we’re meeting, because Benji and I met right around 2009, that’s when “Crush It!” came out. On a more personal level, in 2009, my wife almost died, and we had been going through health challenges, and chronic illness, and we actually spent six days in the hospital where I was by her side the whole time.
Dane Golden:
Right.
Sean Cannell:
As she would go to sleep or whatever, you can imagine in my mind as a husband, I was just all of these thoughts of worry, and, “What are we going to do, and what does our future look like?”
Dane Golden:
Sure.
Sean Cannell:
We were dual income. We don’t have any kids, and so we were both working, and now with health challenges. One of those incomes is going away, so I had a lot of hard questions like, “How am I going to provide?”, and I really felt this spark brewing in me of, “Man, I need to step up as a leader, as a provider, as someone who really plays the game at a bigger level because my life circumstances just dramatically changed, and I want to make sure I’m there for my family and I can stay strong”, and so it was a very hard time. One of those days, I walked across the street to Barnes & Noble across from the hospital, and I picked up a copy of SUCCESS magazine. Back in the day, SUCCESS came with these CDs, so I popped this …
Sean Cannell:
Remember those? I popped that into my laptop with the CD player, listening to the interviews, and they had a guy on there named Gary Vaynerchuk, and of course, his energy … This is also well before most people even knew Gary Vaynerchuk at the level that he’s known today, and so I was like, “Wow.” He’s talking about why now is the time to cash in on your passion, the internet, social media. If you’re passionate about Smurfs, make a channel about Smurfs, and you could potentially make a living off of that, and so the next day, after listening to that interview, “Crush It!” was out, so I went and bought the book.
Sean Cannell:
I read the entire book while in the hospital, and I’m so thankful. I mean, years later now, they actually captured that story on the Crushing It! Blog, where they’re capturing a lot, the new book now that’s out like nine years later about how my wife almost died, and how he built the six, and then seven-figure business really sparked from “Crush It!.”
Dane Golden:
Wow.
Sean Cannell:
It’s kind of a longer story, but one of the reasons why we wanted to write this book is I think that there’s not just the information and the strategy and the tactics and the tips, but I do think it’s really inspiring, and not because we’re inspiring, because the stories of all the people who’ve overcome adversity, they’ve overcome different challenges from different life backgrounds, and how they’ve used YouTube to crush it, and so I think that that book was one of the reasons “Crush It!” was so powerful to me. I’ll admin, when I finished it, I actually didn’t really know what to do next. Even though he lists out like 13 things, I forgot all of them, but what I left was with a spark, with clarity that, “This is possible. If I keep going towards it, if I keep hustling, if I keep working, if I keep learning, that this is a reality.” I know a lot of people have experienced that reality and Gary’s changed a lot of lives, so in some small way, we are honing down into just YouTube to say, “Look, even though this platform now is about 13, 14 years old, it’s still brand new.”
Sean Cannell:
Like it’s still just getting started, and there still is white space, especially if you niche down, especially if you’re strategic, and so that’s definitely one, and that’s a little bit different right then.
Dane Golden:
Absolutely.
Sean Cannell:
There’s definitely other books I liked that are maybe more head, but we wanted a lot of heart and a lot of that … We want to light that spark and reinvigorate people to put in the work necessary to potentially change your life forever because you hustle, and you build, you stake your claim, you plant your flag, you build an influential and profitable YouTube channel that could affect generations.
Dane Golden:
You guys have already influenced so many people, and I’m sure this book will influence a lot more. What is the most common question that you and Benji get, and how do you answer that in this book?
Sean Cannell:
One of the most common questions we get is related to people not knowing what their channel should be about, and the second chapter, we actually talk about the seven C’s of YouTube success.
Dane Golden:
Run those down, those seven C’s for us.
Sean Cannell:
It all starts with COURAGE. You got to actually press record in the first place, and get started.
Sean Cannell:
Then, it goes to CLARITY. “Who are you trying to reach? What is your message? How often are you going to upload?” “What is your positioning? What’s your branding?”, clarity about who you are, who your target audience is.
Then, it’s all about your CHANNEL. That’s the home for your content. You’re not going to be able to dominate on YouTube if you don’t start a channel, and then of course, best practices of optimizing that.
Sean Cannell:
Then, on top of that is your CONTENT. Now that’s what matters most. Content is king, and if you lose with content, you lose, period.
Then, after content is COMMUNITY. YouTube is not a one-way street like maybe Hollywood or television. It’s a two-way street where you can make connections, and have conversations, and actually create a deep care for your community and the audience that you build.
Sean Cannell:
And then it’s CASH. If you’re going to create a profitable YouTube channel, you got to think about actually generating some revenue, and for a lot of people, they know about the partner program, but there are so many better ways and there are so many other ways. We talk about 10 different ways to monetize on YouTube and some strategies.
Then, it’s CONSISTENCY, and that is, “How do you sustain this for the long haul because YouTube is a marathon, and not a sprint? Also with consistency, we really encourage people that you need to create smart systems that speed up your workflow, that allow you to keep your sanity, still see your family, still see your kids, still live a life, especially over the long haul of posting content. Dane, the seven C’s are not a linear process.
Sean Cannell:
It’s a circle, because even if you are a veteran YouTuber, you come right back to courage again, and honestly, you got to tap into new levels of courage. No risk, no reward. Maybe there’s a piece of content and a belief you have or a polarizing point of view that you know would bring maybe a little bit of backlash, a little bit of hate, but you also know it’s not only your truth, but it’s also could be very powerful because, yeah, it might actually push some people away, but it also could attract the people that you should be attracting, but I know that sometimes we play it safe and we play comfortable at every level, and so you have to retap into courage. You got to get fresh clarity for every season for your channel, for your content strategy. You always got to update your channel. Make sure it’s fresh, reflecting your brand, and so it’s really an ongoing framework that people can continually use to strengthen their content and make a greater impact.
Dane Golden:
Those seven C’s run throughout the spine of the book, and you give a lot of great examples on each one. Coming back to the most common question, you said that people wanted to figure out what their focus should be. How do they find that focus?
Sean Cannell:
Yeah. The question for sure is a lot of times, I think what they’ll say is, “How do I succeed at X?”, and what they’ll be saying is, “What I want to do is I want to start a daily vlog, and my mission is to inspire people.” Now, we never want to deflate, take the wind out of anybody’s sales, but to be honest, that statement right there is going to be a very challenging road. If you feel graced to do that, you’ve got the skill set, you’re bringing something unique to the space, but you and everybody else on planet Earth right now wants to be just a daily vlogger that’s inspiring people. When it comes to clarity, I think one aspect of that is actually really niching down and figuring out how you can bring something fresh to YouTube, or something that is already preexisting.
Dane Golden:
Right.
Sean Cannell:
In the famous book from Seth Godin, “Tribes,” that’s a good business book to read, he talks about tribes are not something you create. Tribes are something that you stand up and just start leading in. They already exist. Therefore, if you start a channel because you’re obsessed with jeeps, and you love jeeps, and you work on jeeps, and you rebuild jeeps, if you start a YouTube channel about that, there’s already a preexisting audience that even if there’s competition that wants good content on the best parts, where to save on parts, how to make your jeep run better, how to powder-coat your chassis, like whatever, like all those things, so for people, I know that sometimes it could feel limiting to niche down. It could feel limiting to just plant your flag in one specific area, but the most predictable way to succeed on YouTube in my opinion is to actually plant your flag in a specific niche that has an interested audience, and for a lot of people, it’s kind of like your business model, the foundation of your business, your brand, your channel could be flawed from the beginning.
Sean Cannell:
Like it’s not guaranteed. If I open up a coffee shop, or not even a coffee shop.
Dane Golden:
Sure.
Sean Cannell:
If I go a couple blocks from my house, and I open up a restaurant selling rock water, and I’m like, “Look man, this is what I’m passionate about”, if there’s no market that … I don’t know what that is, but I’m like, “I’m selling rock water. It’s the new thing”, it’ll probably fail, but if I actually go open up a coffee shop, guess what? There’s already a lot of competition, but a lot of people drink coffee, so if I can bring a unique brand, a unique positioning to it, a unique angle to it, but I tap into a preexisting market, I think you really want to lay a solid foundation for YouTube success, and that could mean picking a niche and staying committed to it.
Dane Golden:
One of the things you guys are incredibly good at is teaching about getting found on YouTube. What’s one thing that people commonly misunderstand about getting found on YouTube?
Sean Cannell:
Yes. I think that even though this is kind of common knowledge now, I would say … In fact, for the last five years, if you ever hear a talk on YouTube, you probably hear somebody say, “YouTube is the second largest search engine in the world, owned by Google, which is the first largest search engine in the world. Therefore, it’s powerful for search and discovery.” I would say this, that even though that is common knowledge, I actually don’t believe that it’s common practice for most creators. I don’t believe that they are actually consistently leveraging that truth, and that has been how I have built my brand entirely, by creating ranked videos that show up on the other side of search for questions people are looking for.
Sean Cannell:
Now of course, YouTube also works for vlogging. It works in suggested videos. There’s all kinds of non-search related ways to grow, but again, if you have a niche channel, there are so many topics and questions and search terms people are looking for, and so I think what it really ultimately comes down to is learning the best practices of search and discoverability on YouTube, and continually refining that process for yourself and your brand, and then being committed to posting consistently strategic videos that rank in search. We call them a … You want to create a library of ranked videos, and let’s go nuanced here.
Dane Golden:
Sure.
Sean Cannell:
I use VidIQ. Love VidIQ, and of course, a software like that will show you the ranking tags for your videos, so will TubeBuddy and other things, and it all helps you with keyword research. There’s a tab though on VidIQ that’s called “Velocity.” That’s the videos that you have views per hour, like how many views they’re getting per hour. If you go to my channel, and you go to the Velocity tab, it adds it like beyond, after your About Page, you click on it, you’ll see a page, and there’s more videos than can even fit on that page of videos that are getting views every single hour.
Sean Cannell:
Some 100 views an hour, some three views an hour, some 55, and so my real-time traffic on Think Media is something like 2,000 to 2,500 views every 60 minutes, but here’s the powerful thing, Dane. That’s whether I upload new content or not. I have like an army of videos that are out there working for me when I’m not working. I kind of … Another way I like to think about this is those videos are like an employee that you pay once, but then, that works for you for free for weeks, months and years to come, and how do you pay that employee?
Sean Cannell:
The hard work of planning your content, shooting the video, optimizing it right, putting in the hustle, putting in the work, but this is why I love YouTube the most over all social media platforms, is because Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, none of these are search engines, and I like to call the other platforms, even though I use them … They’re great.
Dane Golden:
Sure.
Sean Cannell:
I mean, we’re on all of them, but I like to call them the “Social media hamster wheel” or really “Content monsters,” and the monster is hungry, and you have to feed it every day, and you have to feed it 20 times a day, and you have to upload 50 Instagram Stories today, and three Instagram posts is the best practice, and four times on Facebook, and 10 tweets today. My gosh, like I’m already -.
Dane Golden:
It’s a lot.
Sean Cannell:
I need a nap.
Dane Golden:
It’s a lot.
Sean Cannell:
You know what I mean? Yeah.
Dane Golden:
Now, I wanted to ask you another question because one of the things that I really liked that you guys are doing is really helping people understand affiliate marketing, and whether it’s someone’s side hustle or a larger part of the company’s media or income stream. What’s one thing in your book that can tell us about this?
Sean Cannell:
Yes. In the monetization strategy chapter, we do talk about affiliate marketing, and I think the biggest tip on affiliate marketing is you want to just use it when it is aligned well with your content and with the intent of the viewer. Here’s what I mean. A lot of times, vloggers for example, might say something like, “Yeah. I put some affiliate links in my description, but nobody’s clicking on them, and it’s not really working”, and so I like to say, “What is the intent of that viewer?”
Sean Cannell:
If they’re watching a vlog, it’s usually an entertainment intent. It’s a curiosity. We like to watch people’s vlogs for, “Wow, their life is interesting, or they’re so funny, or I’m getting insights about how to raise my kids”, or whatever, but I’m usually not turning on a vlog and ready to make a purchase conversely. If I am going to YouTube and I’m typing in Black & Decker washer versus whatever other brand washer, I probably want to buy a washing machine that day.
Dane Golden:
Right.
Sean Cannell:
If I go to the YouTube, and I’m looking for a comparison video of two different health programs, even in like network marketing for example, which is very similar to affiliate marketing, and I’m wondering, “Should I do Insanity, or should I do PiYo, or should I do P90X?”, what am I trying to … At the end of … That person’s intent is already defined. We know that they’re on a mission to buy a camera, to buy a washer and dryer, to buy some health supplements, whatever it is, and so what I would encourage people is that I believe this can fit into any strategy that you have, that not every video has to be related to affiliate marketing, but that you will have videos in your journey that could, even if you’re a vlogger for example.
Sean Cannell:
Why couldn’t you … If you’re vlogging five days a week, start a Saturday show where you talk about your favorite things, and maybe sometimes you talk about your favorite places. That’s not going to be affiliate marketing, but then one week and you’re like, “Our five favorite health things that we do every day to keep our family healthy. We use this blender, we like this thing”, and then it makes sense because if someone searches and finds that, they’re like, “Oh man, I want that too”, and they’re in a mentality of really wanting to make a purchase probably by the end of the day, and they’re just looking for a helpful voice, a guide to help them make a good choice when it comes to that buying decision.
Dane Golden:
Exactly. Also, one of the things you do to promote your business that I’ve been very interested in, and I’ve taken some of these on your website, is you do some evergreen webinars to bring people in. What can you tell us one thing about evergreen webinars? I think this is a fascinating and really not that well-covered topic.
Sean Cannell:
Yeah. I think that evergreen webinars are really powerful, especially because in most cases, if you have something to sell, and I think a power principle for people listening is that depending on how expensive what you’re selling is, the sales conversation needs to take longer, and if it’s cheaper, their sales conversation might be much shorter. If we go to a grocery store and you are standing in line, there’s a whole bunch of items around you that are called ‘Impulse buys’. It’s like try to get you a pack of gum, try to get you a magazine. These are very low-ticket items, and a lot of people are just not even thinking about it. They’re like, “I’m already about to spend $100 on groceries. I’m just going to pick that up.”
Sean Cannell:
If you’re selling a $10 coffee mug or a $20 shirt, or even a $20 introductory online course or something like that, then you might not even really need much of a sales conversation at all, like you could just throw up a sales page.
Dane Golden:
Right.
Sean Cannell:
Whereas, if you’re going to be potentially selling something that’s higher ticket or something that’s even also that needs some background to help understand it, I’ve found no better way than webinars to add massive value, but to also educate about a product or a program that you have, and so those evergreen webinars are always, they’re free and they are packed with value, which also is like reciprocity. You’re showing that you’re good for it. You have a chance now to actually show … People are going to be like, “Wow, this guy knows his stuff.” Like, “Wow, this stuff”, and even things that they could go try, see that they work.
Sean Cannell:
One mentor told me, and said it like this, “RIA.” You want to get people results in advance before doing business with you. If you get people RIA, results in advance, they go, “Okay. If you can help me with this, then you could probably help me with other things”, and so a webinar is just so powerful for doing that, and the powerful thing of an evergreen webinar is again, just like those videos are ranked and automated, and right now, if we talk for an hour, I’m talking to another 2,000 people at least on YouTube automated. There I am. The webinars are doing the same thing. It’s a chance to get deep dive training with me, hang out with me, learn some things, and then also have the opportunity to go into some of our advanced training programs, and so it creates leverage in your business, leverage in your life, it’s scalable, and it’s just such a great way, especially if you have something that’s a little bit higher ticket, maybe over $200 that you would offer at the end of the webinar.
Dane Golden:
Right. You and Benji together, you have all your own projects, you have Video Influencers, Think Media, and all your other stuff that you’re doing. You’ve got the book now, and you guys were not satisfied, you decided to also start a conference, Grow With Video Live, and you just had it. Tell us about what that is?
Sean Cannell:
Yeah. Growth Video Live is a project the Think Media team and I started here in Vegas, and what we … Dane, you’re totally right, and I feel like personally I-
Dane Golden:
It’s not enough. You got to do one more thing.
Sean Cannell:
Yeah. Here’s what happened. I’m kind of like all of us maybe on Thanksgiving, where your eyes are bigger than your stomach. Like if you’re me, you do like a whole layer of mashed potatoes, and then you put the gravy and the stuffing, but then, sometimes I’m like, “Can I actually doubled this layer? What if I actually just almost make this mashed potato stack like a Big Mac, and just go like three layers deep, and stack the turkey, or here’s the other hack, get a second plate?” Right?
Sean Cannell:
That’s why you’re listening to the podcast today. Two plates for your Thanksgiving. My eyes have kind of been, and maybe a little bit bigger than my stomach in regards to my calendar because we just recently did that event. We’re doing this book launch, and we did a major product launch unlike any that we’ve done before that was kind of like Jeff Walker’s PLF style product launch, and most people I think should do one of those things a quarter. We did all three in one quarter.
Dane Golden:
Wow.
Sean Cannell:
It’s just, it was not wise though. It’s been nuts, and so it is what it is. Here’s what happened. I actually was at my friend’s event speaking, and she wanted me to make an offer and some of my training, and I wanted to put together actually a live event, and what it was going to be was just kind of a workshop, so it wasn’t going to be like a conference. I thought that maybe 30 people would come, and we still actually will probably do this, and we just work with people on how to use their cameras, and get started, and actually have a personal touch with my team and I, but then, once things started going, it just kept growing, and we were researching venues, and the possibilities grew, and we also, we’re just going to keep it just our own team.
Sean Cannell:
We weren’t going to have any guest speakers because we didn’t pay any speakers, because we didn’t have any money for this first year, but then, speakers started clicking in, and it’s very organic, all friends of mine are mentors of mine, and so it grew into what it was, and eventually, I put a video out about it, but we ended up … I mean, we invested $100,000 to throw an event. It literally went from a small workshop in Las Vegas to like a proper conference, and I’ll tell you what. It was the scariest thing I’ve ever done. Like it was intense, and I don’t recommend it actually, but in hindsight, it was amazing, and that’s really for two reasons.
Sean Cannell:
Number one, my team because live events can take a lot out of you, man, and if that’s all on you, I think it’s probably not a good idea. Then number two, mentors. Even though it was our first live event, I’ve been able to be really mentored by people like Chalene and Bret Johnson. They have an event called “Marketing Impact Academy”, “SMART Success Academy,” and these things are world-class, like the way they run them, the way they organize them, and I’ve been a part of those for four years, so I’ve been absorbing, learning, taking notes, learning from my friends, learning from my peers, and thinking about what I would want to do in my own conference, and so that’s what happened. Then, we put it on the calendar, and like I said, Dane, in hindsight, I wouldn’t have done Grow With Video Live and launched the book two weeks later, but once calendar date started getting blocked, it’s kind of just the way everything landed.
Sean Cannell:
I’ll tell you what, I’ve had a few extra Nespresso shots every day from my espresso machine during the season, but it is just a season, and we’re going to be a lot smarter with our calendar blocking in the future.
Dane Golden:
Knowing everything that you do and the quality you provide and the help you provide to each person that watches your videos and will read your book, I’m sure that the conference was great too, could you tell us again where people can get this book, and also subscribe to your other channels?
Sean Cannell:
Yeah. Tubesecretsbook.com, and we are giving away some free bonuses like a PDF accompanying workbook that’ll just run you through some questions to help you get crystal clear clarity for your YouTube growth strategy, and a training video with Benji and I all for free, and all the details are at Tubesecretsbook.com. Then, on YouTube, just type in Think Media in search, and you’ll find the Think Media channel, especially if you’re like, “How do I level up my production, my cameras, my lighting, as well as tips on even how to use your DSLR, your mirrorless camera, things like that?” Then, on Video Influencers. Just type in the word Video space Influencers. That’s E-R-S, Influencers, and we have a weekly interview show. Always putting out new content there to help you go further, faster with online video and YouTube.
Dane Golden:
Excellent. Thank you, Sean Cannell.
Sean Cannell:
Thank you, Dane so much. Appreciate you.
Dane Golden:
My name is Dane Golden, and I want to thank you for listening today. VidAction is about helping you get your customers coming back to your videos again and again. How do you do this? By sharing your expertise, because when you share your expertise in a way that helps your customers live their lives better or do their jobs better, you’ll earn their loyalty, and their trust, and their business. Thanks to our special guest, Sean Cannell, co-author with Benji Travis of “YouTube Secrets: The Ultimate Guide to Growing Your Following and Making Money as a Video Influencer.”
Dane Golden:
Please subscribe to us on your favorite podcast app, and on YouTube, and wherever you watch social video, and please follow me on LinkedIn. Until next week, here’s to helping you help your customers through video.