Have you ever felt confused by the conflicting advice from different YouTube gurus? You’re not alone! Many well-meaning creators share what worked for them, but often this advice is either regurgitated or doesn’t apply to everyone’s goals. The truth is, there are two distinct paths on YouTube, and understanding which one you’re on is crucial for effective growth.
In this episode, we’ll expose some common YouTube myths and reveal what truly drives channel growth. We’ll also delve into these two separate YouTube strategies to help you focus on what will actually move the needle for your specific objectives. Let’s get started!
Two Distinct Paths on YouTube
Why do YouTube gurus exist? Usually, it’s because they’ve achieved some level of success on their own channels and want to share their insights. However, the advice often varies wildly, even contradicting itself. This confusion stems from the fact that there are two fundamentally different paths you can take on YouTube, and these paths rarely intersect. What works for one will likely hinder the other.
Think of it this way: if you’re on Path A, you should follow certain strategies and avoid the tactics of Path B. Mixing the two is where the confusion and frustration arise.
Let’s break down these two paths:
- Path One: The Derral Eves Strategy (The Bucket Strategy) This approach, championed by the renowned Derral Eves (author of “The YouTube Formula”), focuses primarily on maximizing ad revenue, followed by sponsorships and merchandise. The key here is to attract the largest possible audience, focusing on views and subscribers, and following audience trends wherever they lead. It’s about casting a wide net – the “bucket strategy.” MrBeast, who wrote the foreword to Derral’s book, utilized this strategy to achieve massive growth.
- Path Two: The Nate Woodbury Strategy (The Leaf Strategy) My strategy, which I detail in “The Hero’s Guide: Influence on YouTube,” takes a different approach. The primary focus is on YouTube search traffic to generate high-quality leads for your business. The goal isn’t necessarily massive view counts, but rather attracting a targeted audience actively searching for solutions you provide. The results can be dramatically different: where 1 million views might generate $10,000 in ad revenue on Path One, Path Two can achieve the same revenue with as little as 100 highly targeted views.
Choosing Your Path Wisely
It’s crucial to identify which path aligns with your goals. If you’re aiming for ad revenue and broad audience growth, then following the advice of Derral Eves and others who teach similar principles (like Evan Carmichael, Sunny Lenarduzzi, Tim Schmoyer, and Sean Cannell) is the way to go. In this case, my “leaf strategy” might actually be detrimental to your progress.
Conversely, if your goal is to leverage YouTube to generate qualified leads for your business through search traffic, then the “leaf strategy” is your focus. Don’t be swayed by advice geared towards the “bucket strategy.”
A Crucial Missing Piece: The Built-in Audience
The inspiration for this discussion came from a video by Live Video School titled “YouTube Gurus Is Lying to Small Creators,” which I highly recommend you watch (link provided in the original video). While I agreed with most of the points made in that video, there was one significant element missing: the importance of having a built-in audience from the very beginning of each video.
Yes, optimizing your Title, Thumbnail, and Hook (TTH) is essential, as discussed in that video. However, before you even film or design your thumbnail, you need to know precisely who the audience is for that specific video. This goes beyond your general channel audience.
Think of it as targeting narrow slivers within your broader audience – individuals who aren’t yet subscribers and might not have heard of you. By creating videos specifically for these smaller, defined groups who are searching for particular solutions, you can attract them, provide value, and convert them into subscribers and even email list members.
This focus on a built-in audience for each video is a core component of the Leaf Strategy.
Want to Learn More About the Leaf Strategy?
If you’re interested in a deeper dive into the Leaf Strategy and how to effectively leverage YouTube search to generate leads for your business, I’ve created another episode called “The YouTube SEO Secret Strategy.” I highly recommend you watch that video next to understand this powerful approach.
