Our YouTube Channel has been going since 2016, and that has been, for the most part, part time. We only launched our first product on the market on February 4th 2019. AND only intend to concentrate on the business from August this year (once current work contract ends and we can go part time) So very early days. BUT…
We use YouTube to build our brand name (ultimately to bring people as much value as possible), and to help establish our expertise in the field and leverage the awareness/attention there to sell anything we might offer in the future.
The issue we have is deciding what is most important at this very early stage of running a business.
Continue to build the brand?
Or
Create more products to sell?
I have read many books that says once you have sold one of anything you have made, don’t focus on that victory, begin to build the next product immediately. Step up, get feedback and improve on the previous model and then try and sell that. Rinse and repeat.
This comes at a cost. You aren’t building your brand.
Some people might argue that creating a product and then selling it IS also building your brand name but I would disagree.
Building your brand for us is about establishing ourselves in the marketplace, building our name to represent value and consistency and then when we have enough gravitas and confidence within the community release any products we might have.
Patience
I think the problem with arguing whether promoting your brand (and not making money) or trying to flog your product immediately (and not getting a long term following) is patience.
Nowadays, we are used to getting everything immediately, and have been conditioned to expect things on our doorstep tomorrow. Amazon with one click, next day delivery, Netflix and streaming, Supermarkets deliver to your door. Everything is immediate and for some, so is the expectation of profit for a start up.
We are not innocent of this chain of thought at all.
Part of the reason we are not quitting our jobs completely to tackle the ebbs and flows of a our start up is to assure we have enough time to continue to do it.
I have also read a number of ‘successful’ people talk about having to wait for 5-20 years before being an overnight success.
I believe a business takes as long as it takes, and we are definitely in it for the long haul.
Both?
So is the answer to do both?… In truth, probably.
We could spend all of our time making more and more videos every week, more podcast episodes and more posts, but we would sacrifice the time spent on honing our product creation skills (audio and eBooks).
We could stop doing so much weekly content and concentrate on the products and try to earn as much as possible as quickly as possible, but then our community would suffer.
We have a fun time juggling a podcast, YouTube video creation, editing, writing books and two children. But with each podcast and each video, no matter the views or listens, with each post, we build a little more.
Solidifying a good foundation to launch the products of the future from.