What I've Been Doing Besides Making Videos | Ep. 84

Ever feel like you’d rather do anything but record a YouTube video? Same here! Today I’m sharing the honest truth about creative ruts, business distractions, and why consistency isn’t always easy... even for a video strategist. We’ll dive into my latest projects, why I love simple talking-head videos, and how I’m automating my business for more freedom. If you need a boost to get back on camera, this episode is for you!

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Transcript

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Lately I've been feeling like doing everything else in my business except make my YouTube videos let's talk about it. If you're new here, my name is Meredith and I'm here to help you infuse the best video marketing strategies into your business so you can build your binge-worthy video brand. With YouTube and this is the Video Brand Infusion podcast. Now I am on, I think this is episode 84 of this podcast, and two years ago when I started this video podcast, it was partially an experiment to see, you know, in a world where so many YouTube videos are very. Retention, editing heavy with lots of bells and whistles and animations and stuff flying on the screen and sound effects and all that stuff. I was like, what if I just did the opposite? What if I just hit record and yapped about whatever the topic was that I was gonna talk about that day? And I really loved. Slash love that approach because I don't wanna do all of that fancy editing all the time. Sometimes I do. Sometimes it's fun and exciting, but at a regular like interval, you know, publishing every week, I thought. What if you could just show up and, and talk to a camera? What if you could build your audience and grow your business that way? So it was a little bit of an experiment for me. The experiment paid off. I love it. Um, I've got, I got. Lots of traction on my videos and I recorded a video, I don't know, earlier, I don't know, maybe it was last year. I've lost track of time, um, about how surprised I was at how well my podcast videos have done because they are just me talking to the camera and so many YouTube gurus like almost. Almost all of the ones that I would label as a YouTube guru teaches that you have to have all this stuff flying on the screen and have all this retention, editing, um, stuff. And so like I believed that I was just experimenting. What if I did the opposite and it paid off? I like. And like in terms of YouTube, uh, YouTube ness, um, that's not a word, but you know what I mean. It it like strategically algorithmically, it's worked out really well for me and I really enjoy it. And at the same time it was also just a bit of an experiment in. Let's make sure we're using YouTube's features to their fullest as somebody who teaches other people how to use YouTube, right? So it was like a little bit of a, um, there was multiple reasons for starting this podcast, and I really liked that. I could just pick a topic and figure out what I wanted to say and then hit record like it's so easy. And for several months it felt so easy. And then I don't know why, but just. The last couple months, I'm like, oh, do I really have to record a video this week? I don't like batching. I, I really have a hard time with batching content. Um, although full disclosure, this is the second video I've recorded today, so I am batching a little bit. Um, so every week it's like, oh, do I really have to record a video this week? Could I just take a week off? And in the last month. By the time this video goes out, I will have skipped three weeks, two of them in a row. And that's me being a really bad student of myself. So when I sat down to like, ask myself, what, what are we doing? I really resisted even opening my list of video topics. Um, why, why Meredith? I know you're asking like, why, what is wrong with you? Trust me, I'm asking myself the same thing because I have this whole list of. Video topic's like ready to go, already, like researched it, got the title, and some of them, um, you know what, some of them, I even have the thumbnail and still I'm like, eh, I don't know. I don't really feel like recording that. So what's the problem? And the answer is, I don't necessarily know that it is a problem. Now, I teach people how to create YouTube content. I teach people that they should create weekly, you know, YouTube content, consistent content will. Create consistent business growth for you. I know that to be true, but I think it's totally normal in, um, I think it's totally normal to reach a point of almost like writer's block in a way, because writer's block is like partly creative. You have to use like the creative part of your brain. Even if you're not writing something creative, you're using that part of your brain, right. But at the same time, it has to be productive and useful, and it has to serve a purpose. And I think the, the block comes from the, like butting heads of those two things. And so I think it's the same thing with creating videos, even a video like this where it's just me talking to the camera, right? And even e even in my own mind, I'm saying to myself, Meredith. How hard could this possibly be? Just hit record and record something, and that's what I'm doing today. I thought, you know what? I'll just record an episode talking about all of the things I've been working on besides making YouTube videos, all of the things that I'm excited about. I have a sticky note right here. It's all written out on one sticky note, so let's get into it. What the heck have I been working on besides creating YouTube videos for my channel? Well number one, back about a month ago now, I hosted the first ever all in on YouTube 2026 I think we're gonna make the all in on YouTube workshop, an annual thing. So I'm really excited about that. I, I actually. Wouldn't mind starting the 2027 version planning right now because it was really fun to, uh, to put together and we had giveaways and um, it was a really good time and I welcomed a whole new crew into Video Brand Academy, which is also really exciting because the momentum that was created in the three day workshop. Just like continued on and immediately people started taking action, getting results, redoing thumbnails, and like getting a bunch of views on videos that they had posted a while ago without even posting a new video. And so it's been really fun. So the all in on YouTube workshop took a lot of time and energy earlier on in the year, even afterwards, just kind of like wrapping it all up. That's a kind of a big thing that I did about a month ago that I'm still kind of, uh, catching up on other parts of the business because, um, I put so much time and effort into planning that. Uh, number two is, um, this gonna sound really weird, this gonna sound. This might sound really strange, but you know how Well, if you don't know, okay. On my channel I have lots of how to videos and tutorials for how to use DS script, how to edit with D script, um, how to record your face and your screen at the same time. Um, how to you use like tele and things like that. And I kind of. Started to feel behind on all of the changes taking place with DS script that I started to feel like, oh, I don't even know what to create a DS script video on at this point. Because on one hand I felt behind in like updates because they keep, they, they, they're creating new updates all the time and then now they've changed their branding. Um. I like the blue better, but it's not up to me. And so I felt behind on all of the changes, and so then I was like, well, now I'm gonna have to go in and make sure that I understand all of the new things with Ds script and this and that. And also at the same time, because. They make so many changes. I have this fear, this is ridiculous. I have this fear that as soon as I publish a, a video that's like a descrip tutorial, they're gonna change something and it's gonna be obsolete. And then I'm gonna get comments from people that are like, well, my descrip doesn't look like that. And, and so it's like, almost like, um, it, it's almost like a little bit of gun shyness from like, you know, you guys just tell me when you're done. Developing the app and then I will make a bunch of tutorials about it. But that's not really possible, right? So today I kind of, I opened DS script for not for the first time in a while. 'cause I've been using it. I use it all the time. For the first time, I like poked around at some of the things that I've, that are different, some updates, some under lurd updates, and, um, I think there's more updates coming at some point. And again, it just kind of like piles on the, uh, there must be a word for this, um, like. Anxiety maybe, but there must be a specific word for like the YouTuber anxiety of, as soon as I publish this video, the software is gonna be obsolete. And so I'll just wait and then I'll never catch up. And then, and, and then again, it's like, then what are we making videos on, You know? And there's a whole list of things I could be making videos on. Absolutely. For sure. It just, I get really excited about making videos that don't necessarily belong on my YouTube channel. Which brings me to the third thing that has been, um, distracting me. I guess you could say. I started a second YouTube channel and I haven't made a whole lot of content for it, but the topic. Of the channel, which is ai, um, really has been the big distractor because, um, again, just like with d script changes, the world of AI is changing so fast. It's like so fast. It's making my head spin. There's updates constantly. Every new if you, if you follow along. The AI world of AI ness. Every time one LLM releases something, another one releases something. It's like they all keep their new game changing, releases in their back pocket, waiting for something to happen, and um, one of them releases and then the other one's release something. And. It's so, it's so much to keep up with, but I really enjoy it. Right? So it's like a distraction that I don't, it's not a necessary distraction. It's definitely a choice to let myself be distracted by, by these things. But I have a second channel called Bots Mean Business, where, um, I don't have that many videos there, and it's not very strategic at all. It's just kind of like whatever I feel like creating videos about that relates to ai. Um. But they're, they're more like tutorial ish. Not all of 'em, but um, it's a lot of Mind Pal. Um, stuff like that and Mind Pal is another one. Constant Changes. If I publish a video on Mind Pal, um, today, tomorrow my, what's in my video is gonna look different to what you see on your screen. I think this is just, this is the nature of being a content creator as, um, part of your, as part of your business, as part of your everyday life, right? So the bots mean business channel has been a little bit of a, um, distraction but it's like, Ooh, this is new, this is shiny, this is exciting. That channel has like 85 subscribers. It doesn't matter. It's, it's a topic that I feel really excited about and, um. And I will be spending more time creating content for that channel in the coming year, um, years, decades, probably. the fourth thing again, are we on number four? This might be the fifth thing. in the realm of ai, um, I did go down a little. Vibe coding Rabbit Hole recently and gosh, gosh darn it, there's no getting out of it now. Um, so, um, if you are in Video Brand Academy, you know, I have these chat bots and workflows that I created with Mind Pal. They're like assistants. They're trained by me that help you do something specific, like write my YouTube description, help me, uh, script my video, give me clickworthy video titles for this topic. Um, uh, script my YouTube funnel videos like they're assistants that do all of these tasks. You select one, you use it. Then you go on your merry way and you create your content, right? Well, I recently vibe coded an app that you can log into, and because you log into it, it knows you as a user and because it knows you as a user, all of the chat bots and workflows that you use within the app are saved to you so you can pull 'em back up again. So kind of like chat, GPT or Claude or Gemini. You go and you have a conversation, you come back to it, you can continue the conversation. Well, my initial, my current iteration of my mind pal, uh, chat bots and workflows, you don't come back to it once you refresh the page or close your browser or anything. It's gone until now because I have created an actual app to house these things. So I'm really excited about that. And, um, some of the other like integrations that are, that are possible, I am using Base 44 for the app. It's called Video Brand Toolkit. It's gonna be accessible for my video brand academy members, um, to begin with. After that, I don't, I don't know if it's gonna be. Like, I don't know how it's gonna work, um, if it's, I created it for Video Brand Academy basically. So, um, I'm not totally sure what my next steps are, but I used Base 44 and I'm all out of AI tokens for the next month. So I think I have, um. I'm looking at my calendar. I think I have eight days left before I replenish my AI tokens. So the app is like frozen in time right now and, um, I'm, I'm kind of like gated from procrastinating from everything else, like making YouTube videos. Um, and so it's probably a good thing. It's probably a good thing that, I mean, I could always upgrade my account and get way more credits, but. Instead, I'm being a responsible business owner and making my YouTube content. Okay. Uh, the other thing I've been working on behind the scenes instead of making YouTube content is IUI use Kit, formerly ConvertKit for my email, and I have a pretty robust. Um, I wanna say complicated, but it's like, it's actually really simple, but it, it feels technically technologically complicated. Um, like automation for evergreen emails, meaning that when you're on my email list and you get an email from me, it's, it's not because I wrote it out the day before and scheduled it, it's because I wrote it like. Months ago, or, or even more than that, and then put it into an automation so they get like dripped out and they're, they're relevant. And I've had this automation for a couple of years now, but I completely reconfigured it. So that it was, um, dare I say, even more automated. So, um, it's hard to explain without showing it on a screen. And if I showed it on the screen, you would be like, Meredith, this is way too complicated. What is wrong with you? But what, what I feel excited about for this, and the reason why I wanted to put my time and energy into it is because building your list is, uh, as a business owner is, is a key. It's a key to having clients and customers. It's not just about showing up on YouTube. It's not just about having a sales page or using social media. In fact. Just to even drive this point home. I told you that I've been kind of slacking on creating YouTube videos lately for the last month or so, even for the last several months. If you look at my channel, I haven't published like a regular YouTube video. They've all been these Talking Head podcast videos, which are regular YouTube videos. You know what I mean? It's been really months since I've been like consistently pushing out the tutorials and things that I used to. So how could I possibly still be in business? You might ask The answer is because I have an email list and because my content is continuously building my email list, so I am able to, um, automatically autonomously. Deliver and distribute my content when people find me for the first time, not just because I happen to publish a video that week. Um, and so it's one of the reasons I love YouTube for longevity, and it's one of the reasons why building your email list is so crucial and so. I was willing to kind of, uh, I don't wanna say distract myself. It wasn't a distraction. It was like a deliberate business decision. Um, but the reason I was willing to set aside some focus to reconfigure the backend of my email is simply so that it's even better at distributing content to the right people at the right time. When they first come into my list. So I'm really excited about what I actually created because writing emails consistently, I mean, if you thought. Staying consistent with your YouTube content was a challenge. Writing emails consistently is like, wow, it's way down there on my list of things that I wanna be doing, which is why I use my YouTube content to turn that into the emails that do get sent out. Um, and so having it automated is obviously really impactful because then I don't have to spend as much time and energy reaching my clients and customers. And, um, my audience that's on my email list and I have a mini course, um, about this. System inside a video brand academy that I'm gonna redo at some point this year to, um, to kind of bring it up to speed and bring it up to date for my email system and my email, like automated processes that I have set up now. So if you're a member of Video Brand Academy, you can look forward to that coming. And if you're not a member of Video Brand Academy, you might be interested to know that we now do weekly live coaching calls every week as a group call inside a video brand academy where I can look at your analytics, I can diagnose what's going on. Why isn't your channel growing? Why aren't you getting leads in sales from the content you're creating on YouTube? Um. What should your next video be? Where should you start? Which niche should you choose? Like really anything as it pertains to growing your audience with YouTube. That's what we dive into every single week in Video Brand Academy. In addition to, I share the things that I'm seeing that. That's working well for me and what I see working well for my clients and students as well. So it's kind of like little in inner circle of Meredith ness with a like almost 200 other, um, content creators like yourself. So I'll put a link down on the description to Video Brand Academy for you. And I will leave you with this because this video has been a, you know, sort of chaotic. I'm just kind of throwing things at you of what I've been working on and what I have been enjoying working on lately. Um, if you feel, if you are ever in this same kind of place, like I described, where you're like, oh, I really need to record a video, but I really don't feel like doing that. I think it's really important to. Give yourself the like the space to just say, I'm not gonna do that this week. Because I do think that in the three videos that I've missed in the last like month,it probably would've been a waste of time and energy to force myself to record a video they wouldn't have been my best work, so to speak. Which is funny. I'm just my inside my brain, I'm like laughing at myself like this, is this your best work, Meredith? But no, I truly think that it is because. I felt excited to hit record, um, today, the video that I recorded right before this. And then as I was recording that, I wrote these things down 'cause I was like, you know what? I can make a video all about everything that I've been doing, but making YouTube videos, that's literally what I wrote down. So here we are.