Pivot on YouTube; Lean Into What's Working | Ep. 92

Ever wonder how a business can land new clients from just 30 YouTube views? I sat down with Matthew, a retired truck driver turned YouTube editor, to talk about building authority, learning from mistakes, and why long-form content is the secret sauce. We cover practical strategies, the power of niche videos, and how Video Brand Academy’s tools make it all possible. Ready to rethink your YouTube strategy?

Matthew's Channel (Opichi): http://youtube.com/@opichi

⭐️ Turn your YouTube channel into a sales funnel! Get Meredith's YouTube Funnel Playbook here: https://videobrand.link/playbook

✨ STILL IGNORED IN YOUR NICHE? GET YOUR YOUTUBE VISIBILITY REPORT: https://meredithmarsh.co/visibility

📹 Be Binge-worthy on YouTube: https://videobrand.link/become-bingeable

🟣 Video Brand Academy: https://videobrand.link/vba 

🎥 CRUSH IT ON CAMERA GUIDE: https://vidpromom.com/crush

🎧 Video Brand Infusion Podcast: http://meredithmarsh.co/podcast 

📲 Download my FREE Video Brand Academy app! 👉 https://videobrand.link/app

👉 Consistent Sales of Your Course with YouTube: https://youtu.be/GBhulsp0s-4 

📹 Follow on YouTube for Video Podcast: https://youtu.be/zkscCExxg9Y?si=B2EAIPxJV0-jEP-7

Transcript

SPEAKER_02 0:00

We do learn a little bit by leaning into successes, but our biggest lessons are learned by our screw-ups. Marketing genius, right, Meredith? I know you're jealous. I've wasted money on cameras and lighting and and and all of that. Now don't even use it. The long form YouTubes were what was creating the business.

SPEAKER_01 0:21

What you're about to hear in this interview with Matthew is, I think, a really unique perspective on YouTube and on approaching YouTube because Matthew is a client inside Video Brand Academy, but he's not creating a channel for himself yet. Although when you take a look at him, you might get some ideas about what his next channel is going to be. And if you're listening to this as an audio-only podcast, I guess you'll have to come over to YouTube to get a visual of what I'm talking about here. But here in episode 92 of Video Brand Infusion, I picked Matthew's brain about exactly how it is that the YouTube channel for the company he's working with is generating new clients for every 30 views on their channel. So if you thought that you had to like go big and have millions of viewers in order to just grow your business, in order to just be in business with YouTube, it's not quite like that. But I want you to hear all this from Matthew. So let's dive into it. I can't wait to pick your brain because you're working on a channel for a business that's not a business that you started on your own. It's a totally new and different kind of scenario. So let's dive into this. Tell me about the business that you're working on.

SPEAKER_02 1:41

It is actually owned by my son for a little bit of background about me. I'm a retired truck driver. So this is definitely a fish out of water for me. It started off originally. We were going to get rich making apps. And Dad, do you want to come in and help and do the customer service and the sales? And what would happen is people would call and say, that's cute and all, but can you help us build this? Because we've got this is sort of similar. And it became quite apparent in November of last year that the long form YouTubes were what was creating the business.

SPEAKER_01 2:22

You had said when you joined Video Brand Academy, you were like, I'm totally new to YouTube.

SPEAKER_00 2:27

Yes.

SPEAKER_01 2:27

Um, I don't really know what I'm doing. Like you even said, like, you're a fish out of water. Because when I talk to people about YouTube, they're like, oh, it's so overwhelming. What made you even interested in tackling YouTube for the business YouTube channel?

SPEAKER_02 2:41

I'm almost 64. YouTube is a book or a magazine compared to TikTok being a daily newspaper. When you post something on YouTube, A, what we were discussing needed 12 to 15 minutes at least. So that automatically puts you in the YouTube category. We tried TikTok, tried uh YouTube Shorts, and so YouTube was was just the better fix. But YouTube's the scarier fix. You know, the temptation is to to go the easy route. Uh I pick up my phone, I talk to it for a minute or two, a quick edit, and boom, it's out there. It's tempting, it's quick, easy, and done. And then if you have a business that is just a single transaction, you know, hi, I'm I'm Fred, I'm selling cars, come buy cars for me. Um, I see that work for friends of mine that are car dealers. Uh, for us, this is technical. This is detailed. This is showing how to start from a product requirements document. And in 12 to 15 minutes, you have a full app that we've built right before your eyes, not even a not just a full app, but we even go in and show you where we goofed up in building that because it's the goof ups where we learn, and it's the goof ups is where our customers' apps, uh, AI projects get snagged on. And it's simple little stuff that that they run into. YouTube format is is what builds uh we have built our business on. So original format was Courtney on Wednesdays would do a one-hour live build, and anybody could come in and watch the build, ask questions, and then I would edit it. So I've started learning descript. Go back to the start of this interview, retired truck driver, small words talk slow. And I'm like, oh my gosh, you know, so I need somebody to explain this and like get the crayons out and draw pretty colors for me. So that's where I found you. Moving from there, I realized this whole world of YouTube and the analytics and how do you rise above the noise. When I took over the channel in November, we were at 268 subscribers. Uh, as of this morning, right before we started this, I'm at 857. I cannot express enough the importance of how you're established as an authority, how my son is established as an authority in in these industries. We work with educational institutes, we work with large industry. There is a um a construction company over in England. So now we're overseas. You go to AI and say, This is what I want to build, AI says, Hey, we got you. We can do that. And so they build, and it's a beautiful screen. It's a big, beautiful, looks great, looks amazing. And then you find out it's it's just stubbed up, it's just vaporware, it's pretty, but there's no nothing on the back end that makes it work. They watched one of our builds, our live builds, uh, when we were doing those uh a few months ago, and um saw it on YouTube, got a hold of my son, and it's turned into this huge project. I think there's a little tweaking they're doing on it, but it was this massive project, got it done.

SPEAKER_01 6:14

It sounds like there has been this sort of quick evolution of the business itself, right? So Courtney made apps like mobile apps, yeah, little mobile apps, and then and then started to sort of transition to what it sounds like now is people are maybe Googling stuff, searching YouTube, like how to move your lovable to super base, which is super specific. But like you said, anyone who's searching that has a very specific problem. Yes, and Courtney has the ability to solve that problem or engage somebody in the video, but also demonstrate the expertise. And so it sounds like now people are coming to Courtney to create custom mobile apps, web apps, like stuff for like internal use in their business.

SPEAKER_02 7:08

He had the Sports Sage AI app, which was the sports bidding. And then on top of that, I live in Branson, Missouri, which is uh an entertainment town, and shows live and die by Yelp reviews, by any Google Maps reviews, any reviews, they live and die by reviews. So he created venue QR because what happens is people would say, well, just you know, would recommend TripAdvisor. Well, that doesn't give the full picture that needs to bounce around. Both great apps, both solid apps, and we marketed, we marketed. There are some really embarrassing TikTok outside out there. Me uh doing venue QR and you know, bring your uh what was one of them? Uh it's a play on on bring your happy butt on in in here is oh, bring your happy cash on in here. Not one of my better marketing genius, right, Meredith? I know you're jealous. Yeah, we did this and it just failed. And my son said, Dad, this is not making any money. What's making money for me right now is people are seeing what we've built and they're seeing our app and they're saying, I need you to fix this for me. I need you to do this for me. I've got something similar. Can you make it better? And so the consulting side of it was it was not business we were even aiming for. If you go back and look, we were trying to push our products, but it became apparent the consulting side of it is what took off. And I said, Well, son, it's easy. Like, lean into what's working. You know, we've got this whole audience, we've got this whole industry waiting to give you money to fix their problems. So let's let's lean into that. And it's just merit, it's just taken off. It's one of those where what we thought was going to be successful failed, but from that rose up what has created Opeachy, what is what is our business. So that has taken off, and it's very obvious that YouTube long form, let me emphasize that. And uh, for those two people wondering why I am emphasizing long form, Meredith has a video out on how YouTube shorts are kind of tanking your YouTube's. Uh, so go watch that because once again, Meredith is right.

SPEAKER_01 9:34

So, so tell me about like what you just said is actually, I think, one of the biggest lessons that I think most people don't realize is like out there for them, which is what you think is gonna work. What you start with might not be what ends up being the thing that you build. But if you don't start with something, you know, start with something that you're interested in and passionate about and you know about it so that the videos you create are easy, but you still have to be just open-minded enough to go, wait, where is the easy path here that we can pursue? So, do you feel like in my mind I'm hearing about the niche being coding, being, you know, AI? So it feels a little bit like right place, right time. Yes for an easy path to be sort of created for you right in front of you. Yes. Um was there resistance to just saying, you know what, this is the easy path, let's do it. Or were you guys like, no, we want these apps to be like the big thing that works for us?

SPEAKER_02 11:39

Biggest resistance or the the greatest concern is um at when we had it was it was a a meetup, and they're saying, you know, this is what's working, this is what's making money, this is this is where it's it's meeting everybody's needs financially. This is what we do. Um and their greatest concern is what do you do with dear old dad? Because I I was brought on board to to do the customer service end of it, to um, you know, to do the follow-up calls and and and be the one closing the deals on the apps. And the way this was going, there was really no need for me. Um now, once again, I'm retired. I'm I'm you know, I'm not a financial drain on the business. I'm I'm just here to help. And I said, son, my gosh, if this is if this is what's going on, lean into it. You know, don't worry about me. I'm a big boy. But one of the customers that we got was uh large educational uh in in a large state out in the west, without getting any any details, uh huge account, but they are creating curriculum. And we happened to have someone with their master's degree in education curriculum writing on board, and she was doing the YouTube edits. I said, Well, you know, I could probably learn the YouTube editing, free you up to go make money, I'll I'll do the YouTube. You knew you brought up the phrase just get started. And I think that's really important because we just got started. We we just started doing the the YouTube live, not really knowing where it was going, just to do something. And I think that's important because I I I have friends that are creators or are starting to become creators, and they'll have 12 to 100 ideas and discuss them. And Matt, what do you think about this? What do you think about that? Oh, that's that that'll play, that'll do, it'll do something. And they outthink themselves, and their channel is still sitting at zero videos. They they don't they vapor like they don't produce. And if I could add a side note, what threw me to Video Brand Academy is actually useful information. You can go on YouTube, and there are people that are claiming give them six thousand dollars, eight thousand dollars, and we'll have you as a YouTube phenomenon in 90 days. Um yeah, yeah. Because once once you've actually done this, um that doesn't that doesn't happen. It looks good, it it's it gets people involved, that it get there's people that that will sign up and do that. In reality, it's gonna take time to build. You need to start, you need to produce that first video. Um, and then you need to be open as you're producing these things to see where it takes you. Um, you need a funnel. Uh Video Brand Academy has a has a great. Then also be being willing to flex, fit, and move because I am not right now not doing what I was originally hired to do, what the original plan was La Peachy was. My son is not doing what the original plan was, my daughter-in-law is not doing where the original plan is. But we are thriving in what are great fits for us because I am geeking out on the tech end of it. And and I'm geeking out on keyword searches. And right now I'm really frustrated with thumbnails. I need to figure figure that one out. But it's a challenge. And my concern in life is going dumb. When I got into truck driving, uh, it's so easy to go brain dead and just, you know, just do truck driving. When I decided to to retire early, I was concerned that I would just sit around, buy a recliner, and binge watch stupid nonsense. Um, I love the fact that my mind is challenged every day. And if anybody watches your YouTube channel, they realize what a moving target this world is right now. You know, as things change rapidly on YouTube. So there's always something new to learn. There's always something new to try, there's always something new to fail at. And do those failures, do them as quick as you can, get them out of your way because we do learn a little bit by leaning into successes, but our biggest lessons are learned by our screw-ups. And the bigger the better. But in a way, yeah. But also uh I I think a key point with this is learn from your audience. They will guide you, they will let you know what's what's most interesting because you could you can put five videos out there and and one will get a hundred views, a hundred, three hundred, five hundred views, and then all of a sudden you've got a 1500 to 2,000 views, and and you can also see that's where the subscribers are, that's where the comments are, that's where the interest is. How easy is that? I mean, I see people spend hundreds of thousands of dollars on TV advertising, not knowing what really worked. And in YouTube, you've got the full analytics. We can sit down, we can see, and then if that's overwhelming, there's this cool little thing called Video Brand Academy that will explain it to you. Oh, and um drawing a blank on the tool, it's your channel review.

SPEAKER_01 17:39

Oh, like the visibility report.

SPEAKER_02 17:41

Yes, visibility report. My situation is a little different. So I'm I'm the video guy, and and I'm basically a consultant to my son and his business. That visibility report is priceless because I ran it and I was able to send a screenshot over to them and say, okay, here's where we're at. And for them, since they deal with analytics, hard numbers, everything like that, all of a sudden I'm looking brilliant because I've done all this. Don't tell them where it is. Uh and I send it over to them, and and now we're able to look and see. And and it's a coaching. If anybody's been a parent, they they know that children are reluctant to take their parents' advice. That dynamics still exists. I'm I'm aware that we it's it's it works. It we make it work. But now this is a third party saying this is what needs to happen. And uh, and it helped us re-gear. Uh, we're not able to implement anything right now because we're we're in training mode and uh onboarding new staff. But um, in two weeks, it's it's in our plan to implement everything that was recommended in that report. Um very, very useful tool. And I think you've made it available for people to just use, right?

SPEAKER_01 19:05

Yeah, it's free. Yeah. I'll put a link down in the description to the YouTube visibility report.

SPEAKER_02 19:11

You know, that's crazy, right? I'm just saying.

SPEAKER_01 19:12

I mean, just but it's cool. It's a it's a cool, it's once I started making it, and like I don't know if you have played around with any of like clawed code or the tools that probably Courtney knows about. But once I started, I was like, oh, um, what if I made this visibility report that took like the stats and all like my AI like was in my brain. And so it happened really fast for me to create and then go, oh, this could be free. What an amazing freebie. But I think you what you shared, I get a lot of feedback about from people that are like, oh, this made a lot of things really clear about what like maybe they were wrong about what they thought they were showing up for on YouTube, or maybe they are on the right track. But I think the most helpful thing is the section of like opportunities that you're not currently tapping into yet that you could be or should be for your business and for your offers. So I love that you took a screenshot, shared that with them. It's like one of those like, well, if you won't listen to me, you can take the screenshots word for it. So you mentioned something about you know setting up a funnel. And I want to hear, because I got bits and pieces about how the business works with YouTube or how YouTube works with a business to bring in clients and customers, like currently. And I know you said you're onboarding new people, like the team is growing, the business is growing. But for my viewers who are like, my business does this or that or some other thing, like let's break down how what how it works that somebody could find Courtney's video on YouTube and then pick up the phone and say, Where do I send a cash? What's the flow there? Like, explain it in simple terms, the flow of how that works.

SPEAKER_02 21:11

Well, our main flow is is really simple. They they watch the YouTube video. I I keep the description to one or two lines. Um I I realize that that going really extensive in the in the description or the description didn't really help anything. So it's one or two lines. So when they he will mention, you know, there's a link in the bio. They go down to the they go down and they look, and there's a short description right under that is book a one or one or need help with this project. And there's the link where they they can click through and schedule. So they can click through that link, uh, calendar comes up and and has pricing. So they can do a real brief um intro for free. Um, I think it's 10 or 15 minutes. Um, but then they also have an idea of what the pricing is. So that pre-qualifies um your audience because if they are thinking, you know, for fifty 15, 20 bucks, I can get this fixed. Um, and then they say, I think right now it's$300 an hour, they're like, oh, okay, this is you know, this this is a Lamborghini, and I'm looking for a Chevy Chavette. Um and so that's that's a filter. Um and so then when they click to book, they know what budget they're looking at, and they know what caliber of staff that they're hiring, you know, to do this project. Um, the other side funnel, which uh there's it's prd.opchy.ai. It's a product requirements document and it's a generator. So you can Sit down, you can type in in really simple truck driver English. Um, you know, I want to build this, and maybe I have color ideas, and you put those in there, and it'll create the PRD, cut and paste, and and put it in Replit, Lovable, whatever you're you're where you like to build stuff, uh, in there. And it has a lot of the behind the scenes already created, like your.mv, your your markdown files. Um, it's already in there. And it even has the prompt in there of uh once this is built, show me what's real, show me what's stubbed up, which you've built apps, you know the importance of, you know, I need to know what's really, really here and what just looks pretty. But if I click on it, nothing happens. So the PRD tool has become a secondary funnel. It gets an email, it shows us that somebody had an interest in it. What I have done, um, which has worked out to be helpful, is I think it's called Google Notebook.

SPEAKER_01 24:03

So I have created LM?

SPEAKER_02 24:05

Yeah. Um I have created a cyber version of what he teaches uh in this, and every transcript of everything we've ever produced that is AI related, all those transcripts go in there. And then what we can do is go to notebook and say, this is a topic we want to talk on, and I need it a thousand words, 1800 words. And it'll print out or it'll give us the rough in. And then thankfully, my lovely and talented and very smart daughter-in-law can look at that and make changes, and then we pass it by Courtney uh for any technical errors. And now we've got a blog post which has taken 15 minutes, and that blog post goes to the funnel from the PRD tool, and we are keeping prospects warm because they may not need us right now. They might not need what we do, may not may never need what we do, but we're still being able to get education out there.

SPEAKER_01 25:08

But they might know somebody that needs what you do, and they'll know where to send them.

SPEAKER_02 25:13

Exactly. Exactly. And they'll even send a blog post on to them, you know, oh, this fixes your problem. So it's you know, have have the funnels out there, have the tools out there, because none of us have a crystal ball. If I could give advice that is that has brought us the success, that we're saying, um, get started, post something, don't waste your money on clickbaity ideas unless you are seriously wanting to be a clickbait. I most of us that are going to step into this, and if you look at any of our wonderful family that we have at the VBA meetups, um we're all doing specific niches. I don't think any of us are are clickbait worthy. No, um you know, but we're all doing specific niches, and it is people like you and I who have found independence, freedom, um, through YouTube. You know, it directs and drives our business. We are able to, in my case, I I wake up in the morning, I am in a small corner of my my house, and I I edit videos all day because YouTube has created a business for my son, where it's now so big I am a YouTube editor.

SPEAKER_01 26:44

One thing I love about the like the simplicity of you guys make videos that that that point to a problem or help solve a problem or um help somebody recognize that they have a problem. And the funnel isn't some big complicated 12-step thing. It's just if you have this problem, we can solve it for you. Here's the link. And it's not complicated. And I think a lot of people hear the word funnel and they think it has to be a certain way. And it's and it doesn't have to be a certain way, but man, if you if you provide a service and all you need is is clients, you know, qualified clients. Um I think people overthink, like you said, people overthink themselves and then they have zero videos.

SPEAKER_00 27:38

Right.

SPEAKER_01 27:38

I think people overthink what they need to create content about to get the right clients, and then you know, they worry they're gonna give away too much information. But I but every like if you're a service provider of any kind, it doesn't even have to be something um advanced like AI or building web apps, but any kind, like you have way more expertise than the person who's trying to solve the problem. Yes, who probably like if they just knew there was somebody they could hire, they they would. They all they have to do is find you.

SPEAKER_00 28:14

Yes.

SPEAKER_01 28:14

And so I think it's really interesting that the simplicity of it, of just the the videos are SEO optimized so that people searching for those things, like you know, how to how to move lovable to super base, for example.

SPEAKER_00 28:32

Right.

SPEAKER_01 28:33

Um super specific. And maybe they can go and do that from the video, but there's a percentage of those people that are like, uh, I still don't get it. I just need to hire this guy. But that's just one video.

unknown 28:45

Right.

SPEAKER_01 28:45

Think about when you have 50 videos, 100 videos, 200 videos, and the game is just keep putting those videos out there, solving the problems, but positioning you as I'm an expert that can solve these problems for you if you would like. Easy peasy link in the description.

SPEAKER_02 29:04

Yeah, absolutely. And um what we found, don't don't be afraid to put your pricing out there. Uh, because originally when we when we created the link, it was just book a 15-minute, we're just gonna get people through and see how it goes. Uh, and you get uh you can get a lot of people that way. You know, free, YouTube, boom. Uh once we had the pricing of what it was actually gonna cost per hour to use our services, it really thinned out um the clicks that we got. But once we once they booked the session and talked for 15 minutes with one of our staff, uh, it turns into a project. The the closing rate, I I don't have that number. I should have asked for it, uh, is very, very high and and very, very quick. Um so that uh yeah, put the put the numbers out there so people know you know what they're what they're wanting to do. The other part that amazes me about this, if you watch one of our YouTube, our tutorials, you get a complete step-by-step. Once again, I thought Courtney was crazy too for giving, son, you're giving away all the candy in the lobby here. There's no reason why they'd want your service. But he'll show detail every nuance, every screw up, you know, just you could sit down, take the video, and build what he's building. You could do it. Uh, people see it and they say, Yeah, yeah, we could, but my time's worth more than this, so we'd rather hire you to do that.

SPEAKER_00 30:41

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 30:42

And and as people, you had mentioned, you know, maybe I I don't think I'm an expert at it. Well, uh, I don't think I'm an expert at descripts. Um, but uh a couple days ago I got the invite for the script to put it on my LinkedIn that I am an expert descript user. So apparently maybe we're not the best judgment of ourselves. I think I think what instead of expert, what's interesting to you, what do you do that that sparks your fire, that that lights that that little fire in your soul? Uh, that that you've unintentionally, unknowingly, you didn't set out to say this is what I'm gonna do a deep dive in my life. Uh, I have friends that jeep. And uh love my Jeep, love going out with them, taking the doors off riding out through the woods. To me, it's fun. Uh, to them, it's it's their life. And uh had one friend that that decided to post a YouTube, I think it was on Deathwobble, which is a Jeep thing, on and how to search it out on the death wobble. And it was not because they were an expert, it's because they had chased down every possibility and found out it was this one bushing. You know, they didn't say I'm gonna be an expert, they just said, here's everything, okay, here's everything, here's the 18 things that didn't work. 19 worked, here's that. Um they posted it, and it's gotten thousands and thousands of views. Um you know, and I've I've steered them towards you if they want to keep doing this. Uh so but start, you know, a A, get started. B uh definitely next time there's uh there's availability, sign up for Video Brand Academy. Um you're not promising you know nine thousand dollars a month in 90 days. It's it's you you build. Um it really explains the analytics, it really explains how descriptions work, how keywords work, um uh the thumbnail class I'm gonna take in in a week or two, because I gotta get I really gotta get better at thumbnails, but it's it's there. I just haven't gone through it yet. Um and then start posting. Do not do not get caught up in perfectionism. Do not get caught up in um in the best lighting, the best camera, the best anything. I am seeing, and you're you did a video on this also, on we get caught up in production value, but I am seeing tutorials out there that they just did with awesome screenshot. Yeah, which if you've used awesome screenshot, you know the look.

SPEAKER_01 33:35

I haven't.

SPEAKER_02 33:36

Oh, you have oh, it it has you see one one awesome screenshot video, and you know, you know the look. And basically they did awesome screenshot and and kind of a patchy edit, but it was good information that people were looking for. Now they got an audience. Knowing what I know now, um, I would start with Video Brand Academy. And I don't want to sound like an infomercial for you. I just forgive me. I just I know all the mistakes that I've made to get to this point, and then all of a sudden it works, and all of a sudden we are making really good money at this. And it all started VBA, all started once I found you talking about the script, and uh it's built up from there. So that's that's where I my first money I ever spent on anything, if I had it to do over again, that's where I'd spend it because I've wasted money on cameras and lighting and and and all of that, and now I don't even use it.

SPEAKER_01 34:40

Well, now I'm curious though, have you ever have you considered starting your own channel and doing your own thing separate from OPG?

SPEAKER_02 34:49

Well, you know, thankfully, Video Brand Academy just opened up this deal where you could have two channels in the toolkit. Yes, and um I am uh yeah, in June, in June or July, I am launching my Santa Claus channel. People would look at it. Really? Yeah, yeah, I am um it well, it's out of Kansas City. My daughter, uh, my daughter does Elsa for a lot of events up in Kansas City, and I am here in Branson, Missouri. I'm the stage Santa for the Clay Cooper Country Express for Dean Z Ultimate Albus, and also when we go to when he goes to perform in Graceland, I'm the Graceland Santa Claus. It's just a fun little fun little side world that um I I look like the dude on the Coca-Cola can, so might as well market it.

SPEAKER_01 35:44

Um monetize it.

SPEAKER_02 35:47

Yeah, turn it so so I am looking, we're we're looking, I'm looking at launching the you know, the Santa Z, because it's Dean Z and I'm known as Santa Z here. Um launching the Santa Z channel to discuss uh just little Christmas things, you know, uh maybe some you know some Christmas tunes, some Christmas stories, some uh just goodwill things to promote me as Santa Claus, but then also uh add my daughter into it, who looks like Elsa. So we moved down to downtown Kansas City. I'm Santa, she's Elsa. We just went to a park in the downtown area, and we watched all these little kids' minds just blow up because Santa and Elsa are hanging together, they know each other. We've just crossed two worlds, and that's amazing. Yeah, so I think I think that's gonna be for her. Uh I want to help her launch her princess business up in Kansas City. Um, and she's gonna be my agent for um any bookings, and I'm taking a different angle on it. I am not comfortable with claiming I'm Santa Claus. And what uh it's it's just a personal, it's just me. It's just you know, um, or the the little mind games, well, do you think I'm Santa? If you think I'm Santa, then I'm your Santa, you know. When little kids ask, and they are plenty cool with this, it's it tweaks the parents. Um, when little kids ask, I'll I'll say, no, I'm not. I am, you know, I love Santa, I love Christmas, I love the spirit of get of giving, but I'm not the real Santa. He couldn't be here, so I'm I'm filling in. Do you want to pretend like I'm Santa? What do you want for Christmas? And the minute you tell a little kid, I'm an adult, let's pretend they're all in. They they've you know, they've never had any problem. They're in a thousand percent. So I kind of uh I want to figure out how to work that into it too. We'll see. We'll see. I I've way, way back in the 70s and 80s, I did some radio and some television. And man, you throw it out there and you don't know what sticks and what doesn't. You don't know what hits, what misses, um, unless it's really way off, and then they'll they'll call in. But with this, you know, I can post it on YouTube, I can give it a week. Um, which that's another side note. Don't don't drive yourself nuts looking every 10 minutes to your analytics. That's that's the voice of wisdom there, Meredith. Not that I would ever do that.

SPEAKER_01 38:36

Um I do it too.

SPEAKER_02 38:38

You can look at the analytics through Video Bandit Brand Academy, you've got all these amazing tools, and now you've got ideas of what to lean into next. What is the audience liking? What is the audience not liking, and what can you do? And you start building the channel instead of having to rethink it every time or sit back and you're all on your own trying to guess, you can build, you can grow. And so, what I've learned through Opeachy and through uh using Video Brand Academy here, um, I'm going to carry that over to what's next. And that's the wonderful thing. You start a channel, you get it going. If it's something people are not interested in at all, or you can't find the niche, um it doesn't cost a thing to A start another channel, or uh the thing that we did originally, um Opeachi Channel is I think 10 or 11 years old. Um, but we have videos about what we used to do, you know, with the SEOs and the websites and um building the back ends for ticketing systems and things like that. It was once we found this niche and decided to go all in with it, there's this amazing little tool in YouTube called unlist. And you can shape, you can reshape your channel the direction that you're going. So, say your first 10 videos, you're scattered, you're out there, just try on everything, just throw it against the wall, see what sticks. And you've got one one video that hits. Well, you start leaning into that. Uh, with the tools through VBA, you'll be able to see what's working, what's not working. There's no huge failure, there's no big mistake that's unrecoverable. Just start, yeah, just do something.

SPEAKER_01 40:39

Awesome. Well, maybe we'll have you back as uh Santa in the future. So, but where can people find the Opeachi channel now to kind of get a feel for what you and Courtney and Taylor are doing?

SPEAKER_02 40:56

Um, they it's it's on YouTube at at OPG, O P I C H I.

SPEAKER_01 41:01

Um Okay, I will link to it in the description. Yeah, and you last words?

SPEAKER_02 41:07

Yeah, I would say I would say just start. Do not seek perfection, start where you're at. I think I've got$2,800 worth of equipment to be an influencer. Uh and now I am laptop already owned, cell phone already owned, and VBA, and we are crushing it.

SPEAKER_01 41:29

Awesome. Matthew, thank you so much. This has been such a wonderful conversation.

SPEAKER_02 41:34

Oh well, I've I've enjoyed it and uh it's just much love to you. You have you have changed my life.

SPEAKER_01 41:42

Thank you. Look, the truth is when I heard that Matthew is a legitimate professional Santa Claus, I immediately ran upstairs and told my husband, you will never believe who is in Video Brand Academy. I have Santa Claus. I've got Santa Claus. Now I pull all of my guest interviewees for the Video Brand Infusion podcast directly from inside Video Brand Academy. If you haven't figured out that pattern yet, that's how it works to be a guest here on this podcast on my channel. And I'm not suggesting that that should be a sole reason for joining Video Brand Academy. But if you want to grow your audience with YouTube, if you want to establish yourself as the go-to expert in your niche, if you want people to find you when they are searching for the very problems that you solve for your ideal clients and students, Video Brand Academy teaches you exactly how to do that. But the best way to find out what's possible for you as a solo entrepreneur on YouTube is to go get your free YouTube visibility report. This is something that I built, I created. You put in your YouTube channel, and it literally tells you how YouTube sees your channel and how easily or not your ideal clients and students can find your channel. So I'll put a link to the visibility report down in the description below. It's completely free. It's part of the video brand toolkit that I built, and you might just be amazed at what you find in there.