Transcript
[00:00] He is living proof that you actually do
[00:01] not need to start a new channel to win
[00:04] on YouTube cuz for over a decade Matt’s
[00:06] channel actually just sat there. But
[00:08] just a year ago he woke his channel up
[00:10] adding about 45,000 subscribers, 1.5
[00:13] million views after he started taking
[00:15] things seriously. And his approach, the
[00:17] way he did this is exactly what we’re
[00:18] going to dive into today.
[00:21] Matt, thank you so much for being here.
[00:23] How are you doing today, man?
[00:24] >> Absolutely great to be here, man.
[00:25] Thanks.
[00:26] >> Hey, let’s do it. So just so everyone’s
[00:27] up to speed really quick, if you could
[00:29] explain your channel just like, you
[00:31] know, who you’re who you’re for, what
[00:32] you’re about, how you’re making your
[00:33] videos.
[00:34] >> Yeah, I’m an artist, been an artist for
[00:36] 30 years and love to create content that
[00:38] encourages faith-based artists,
[00:40] primarily Christian artists who are
[00:41] doing things like painting and sculpture
[00:43] and wood and all the all the visual
[00:44] arts, so.
[00:45] >> Man, I love it. Hey, well if you’re
[00:47] listening podcast, come on, this is a
[00:48] great person to learn from here today.
[00:50] Hey, so I let’s just jump in. This
[00:52] channel that you had is over a decade
[00:54] old.
[00:55] Okay, what changed a year ago to where
[00:58] things started to move? Like how did you
[01:00] view your YouTube channel before? Like
[01:01] why did you start it actually in the
[01:02] first place?
[01:03] >> [laughter]
[01:04] >> Well, let me say what changed was
[01:05] desperation and I’ll tell you why in a
[01:07] minute, but when I started back in 2009,
[01:10] I don’t even know when YouTube started.
[01:11] I mean, when did it start?
[01:13] >> was like six or seven, 2006 or seven.
[01:14] >> Okay, so I knew something about it and
[01:17] around that time I was going through a
[01:19] big transition in my life. I felt like
[01:21] God had called me to raise up an army of
[01:23] artists. That was the kind of the
[01:24] mandate I had. And I was like, well I
[01:27] need to get on this YouTube thing and
[01:28] talk about it. And so I did and I look
[01:30] back at those videos and I’m like, who
[01:31] in the world gave me a camera? You know,
[01:33] we we can all look back at at that kind
[01:35] of thing back then. And I so I you know,
[01:37] I did my best, I didn’t know what I was
[01:38] doing and I started putting content out
[01:40] there, but over the years
[01:42] as we started, you know, I built a
[01:44] coaching program and started writing
[01:46] books and that sort of thing,
[01:48] other things that seemed more
[01:51] they were able to get more clients
[01:53] quickly,
[01:54] really took priority. And so YouTube for
[01:57] me, seemed very slow and I could never
[01:59] figure out how to monetize it because I
[02:01] was I was in the launch world. So, I
[02:03] was, you know, trained by a lot of great
[02:05] guys. So, I got into memberships and
[02:07] launches. We were doing five-day
[02:09] challenges before anybody was doing
[02:10] that. And so,
[02:12] did that for years. And when COVID came
[02:14] along, things were awesome. And we were
[02:16] really positioned, but then after COVID,
[02:20] uh it kind of felt like it went off the
[02:21] cliff and the things that were working
[02:23] great no longer worked. And
[02:25] we went through really, I don’t want to
[02:27] say devastating, but it was [laughter]
[02:29] emotionally, you know, you go from doing
[02:31] things that are really working
[02:32] >> Yes.
[02:33] >> to things that aren’t. I was just
[02:35] looking around and I was trying to
[02:36] think, what is the next thing? And I
[02:39] kept hearing everybody talking about
[02:40] YouTube’s the second largest search
[02:41] engine. YouTube’s the second largest
[02:42] search engine. And videos where it’s at.
[02:45] And again, just in prayer and looking
[02:47] around and trying to see what was going
[02:49] on, I found you guys and just began to
[02:52] to, you know, think, what can I do? I
[02:54] got this channel sitting there. Why not
[02:56] start creating some content on purpose
[02:58] and see if I can start to master this
[03:01] like we had mastered launching and and
[03:03] all the other stuff we’d done for so
[03:04] many years. So,
[03:05] >> Wow. Okay. What were What were those
[03:06] first few videos
[03:08] like on your YouTube channel from the
[03:10] moment you started to take it seriously,
[03:11] right? Cuz this could be interesting.
[03:12] You got a lot of experience coming into
[03:14] YouTube, but nonetheless, YouTube’s
[03:16] still a new thing, right? So, what were
[03:19] those first few videos like? What was
[03:20] your approach to creating content? Would
[03:22] love to hear you as you reflect on that.
[03:24] >> So, back in the day, it was just me and
[03:26] a hope and a prayer and a and a video
[03:27] camera, you know, like I’m just getting
[03:29] on there stream of consciousness
[03:30] sharing. I think, you know, by the time
[03:32] I came to it last summer, I really knew
[03:35] that, all right, if I’m going to talk
[03:37] and I’m going to speak, I need to really
[03:38] understand who my audience is. Need to
[03:40] clarify what I’m trying to, you know,
[03:42] encourage them. We do art, faith, and
[03:44] business. That’s kind of my unique, you
[03:46] know, what I do in the marketplace.
[03:48] Helping artists take what they feel like
[03:50] is a calling from God, but may just like
[03:52] may be a hobby into a part-time or
[03:54] full-time income that has both income
[03:56] and impact for them. When I looked over
[03:59] the you know, trajectory of what I had
[04:01] done on YouTube, most of it was this
[04:03] sort of waking up stuff. Like, you can
[04:05] do it. God’s got a calling on your life
[04:07] as an artist. It’s not too late. That’s
[04:09] kind of what I started with. I just was
[04:11] looking at well, these things have have
[04:13] worked before. Let’s kind of see if we
[04:15] can we can kind of start there and and
[04:18] using tools like VidIQ and others and
[04:21] just trying to to watch comments. I just
[04:23] began to to create content in a lane, if
[04:27] you will, that that I I thought would
[04:29] resonate. So.
[04:30] >> That’s huge.
[04:31] I’d love to hear talk about this one
[04:33] video that I love how you phrase this
[04:36] broke every rule. So.
[04:38] >> [laughter]
[04:38] >> We I mean, we got to just talk about it
[04:39] right now. So, it’s actually it’s become
[04:41] your most popular video of all time
[04:43] on your channel. It’s currently sitting
[04:44] at over 270,000 views. The title of this
[04:47] video is five powerful ways to honor God
[04:51] with your art. Thumbnail also looks
[04:53] really good, man. But, hearing you
[04:55] recount how this video was created,
[04:57] you’re like, this really shouldn’t have
[04:59] worked like it did. It’s an 18-minute
[05:01] video. As you look at this video now,
[05:03] this was from 7 months ago. What was
[05:06] that whole process like? Did you have
[05:07] any hunches? when you were filming it or
[05:08] was it just in the in the week, in the
[05:10] moment it was like, here’s another
[05:11] video. We’re just trying to get another
[05:12] video out in the pipeline. What does
[05:14] this video mean to you?
[05:15] >> Yeah, one of the So, one of the things I
[05:16] was learning when I was first starting
[05:18] out is, hey, survey the neighborhood and
[05:21] see what kind of topics things might be
[05:24] working
[05:25] in your neighborhood, in other adjacent
[05:27] neighborhoods and that sort of thing.
[05:29] And so, this kind of idea I was seeing
[05:31] in other things in in business and art
[05:34] and that sort of thing. And so, I
[05:35] thought, hmm, I could take this this
[05:37] sort of now I know the word listical
[05:39] >> [laughter]
[05:40] >> this sort of you know, list-centered
[05:41] idea and come up with five ways, but I I
[05:45] mean, obviously I wanted to make them
[05:46] mine that were unique to, you know, my
[05:48] kind of the theology of what I believe
[05:49] about how to grow a business and how to
[05:51] be an artist and that sort of thing. So,
[05:53] I literally just sat down and kind of
[05:54] sketched out five things and but I I
[05:57] didn’t I didn’t understand a hook. I
[05:59] didn’t understand, you know, put the
[06:00] call to action up in the first third. I
[06:02] didn’t understand of don’t do a long
[06:04] roll in, Matt, and you know, for 30
[06:07] seconds and all this and I’m so great
[06:09] guy. Don’t do all that. And so and I
[06:11] didn’t have a script. I was I was like
[06:14] working off of a sticky note.
[06:16] >> Oh man, come on.
[06:17] >> So,
[06:18] but and so when it’s when it like it
[06:20] started and I was like, “Wow, okay, this
[06:23] is really going.” And it kept going and
[06:25] it kept going. One thing that I’m
[06:26] putting back in my more
[06:29] scripted, if you will,
[06:32] you know, videos is leaving plenty of
[06:35] space for what my coach Molly and I now
[06:38] call it
[06:39] let Matt be Matt.
[06:41] >> Ooh.
[06:41] >> And because part of what I
[06:44] I said broke all the rules in that big
[06:45] video was I’m just I’m just sharing. And
[06:48] I’ve been I’ve been a I’ve been speaking
[06:50] for 30 years. I can generally, you know,
[06:52] >> [laughter]
[06:52] >> I can land well. You know,
[06:54] I can land the plane.
[06:56] >> Yeah.
[06:56] >> But you know, you you want to say thing
[06:58] as as quickly and as as appropriately
[07:01] and as powerfully as possible. So, I
[07:03] think I swung to the other side for a
[07:04] little while and I I look back at last
[07:07] fall and I think don’t ever pull out and
[07:10] work out and script out the spontaneity
[07:13] that people love about what you do as as
[07:15] a coach and as somebody that that
[07:17] hopefully is is making a big influence
[07:19] on people. So,
[07:20] >> I’d love to hang here for a second if
[07:21] that’s cool because this is actually I
[07:23] think a a pretty big insight, especially
[07:25] in the age of AI.
[07:26] >> Yeah.
[07:26] >> The age of pushing buttons and scripts
[07:28] are generated. Especially in the age of
[07:30] how quickly can we get through the art
[07:33] is an interesting thing I’d probably be
[07:34] here your take on. But like when you
[07:36] look at that video and the things that
[07:37] you one of the things you’re clearly
[07:39] saying that oh, I did that right or that
[07:41] went well. This contributed to the
[07:42] success of the video was letting Matt be
[07:44] Matt. And so, I would love to hear from
[07:46] your standpoint like when you go about a
[07:48] scripting now, when you go about your
[07:49] process now, do you mind if we jump
[07:51] right to like how heavy do you script?
[07:54] How heavy is AI a part of that process?
[07:57] Because I’m noticing this whole
[07:58] scripting thing, man, since AI is
[08:01] slowing creators down.
[08:03] >> Yeah.
[08:03] >> And it’s also silently there’s like this
[08:06] phantom drain that’s on, man, and it’s
[08:08] like we’re losing personality.
[08:10] >> Right.
[08:10] >> What would let Matt be Matt or whoever
[08:12] be whoever. Do you just mind if we ask
[08:14] what what’s your approach now? Like what
[08:16] are you currently doing?
[08:17] >> One of the things that I I really
[08:18] committed to doing when I started this
[08:20] channel and this has been like this
[08:21] inner transformation
[08:24] metamorphosis of me coming out of the
[08:26] launch world and trying to let go of
[08:28] expectations.
[08:30] I really have tried not to go after like
[08:34] I’m going to make a video about this
[08:35] because I know it’ll rank and I know
[08:36] it’ll
[08:37] you know, all of that. I really I felt a
[08:40] real calling when I started re- kind of
[08:42] restarted the channel. I felt like the
[08:44] call to me was Matt, just remind them
[08:47] who they are.
[08:48] Just remind them who they are.
[08:50] >> Wow.
[08:50] >> And so, I try to let that lead
[08:53] everything that I do. When you’ve had a
[08:55] measure of success in whatever it is
[08:57] that you do, when people see you, they
[08:59] automatically think, “Oh, it’s always
[09:01] been this way.” And then you forget to
[09:03] tell the backstory because you’re so
[09:04] busy telling the what can be for them.
[09:07] >> Yeah.
[09:07] >> And I think one of the things that I’ve
[09:09] just I’ve realized and have appreciated
[09:11] and it’s connected my heart to the
[09:13] audience and the audience to me again
[09:15] >> Mhm.
[09:15] >> is telling the backstory of struggle and
[09:19] the potholes that you step in, the
[09:20] things you did wrong, the things you
[09:22] wish you hadn’t have done, the things
[09:23] that you know, if somebody told me this
[09:25] 10 years ago, I wouldn’t have done it,
[09:26] you know, but I I love, you know, I feel
[09:29] like my calling is as a as a father to
[09:31] artists, if you will. I want to be Uncle
[09:33] Matt. I want to be that guy that comes
[09:34] alongside and says, “Hey, no matter what
[09:36] you’ve been through, no matter how hard
[09:37] it’s been,
[09:39] God’s got a creative calling on your
[09:40] life. You can do it. And uh I screwed
[09:42] up, maybe so have you, but there’s a
[09:44] plan. There’s a there’s a path forward.”
[09:45] >> It’s huge. I think you’re you’re hitting
[09:47] something very powerful. And this is the
[09:48] whole thing that at least, you know, for
[09:50] me as I’m hearing you say that I’m like,
[09:51] “Oh, that’s almost like a sticky note,
[09:53] you know, that you might have or
[09:54] something that’s like Uncle Matt or
[09:55] whatever.” And it’s just like that thing
[09:57] that helps you reorient for a second.
[09:59] You’re flipping on the camera. Maybe AI
[10:02] or whatever was a part of your process,
[10:03] but it’s like it can’t outsource you.
[10:05] You can’t outsource yourself and your
[10:07] voice.
[10:08] >> Yeah. And so to answer that, not to
[10:09] interrupt, but just to answer the whole
[10:11] AI piece, what I try to do, I’ve got I
[10:14] don’t know if I have it right here. I
[10:14] have my
[10:15] I’m a big journaler, so everything I’m
[10:17] I’m always writing in my journal.
[10:19] >> [laughter]
[10:19] >> And I and I I really try to
[10:23] take ideas from things that I feel like
[10:25] God’s speaking to me or things that are
[10:26] on my heart or even from from comments
[10:29] or questions that I’ll see. And I love
[10:31] AI as a tool. Like I use it AI’s, you
[10:34] know, the YouTube studio
[10:35] AI. I love for it to help me analyze
[10:38] comments. What are people saying on the
[10:39] channel? What are things they’re
[10:41] struggling with? And really till I
[10:43] started, you know, working with you guys
[10:45] and and coming, you know, to to
[10:47] mastermind and that sort of thing, I
[10:48] never really even thought about using AI
[10:51] as a verbal tool. But now I I just sit
[10:54] here and talk to it. And my wife’s like,
[10:56] “You and your friend are in there
[10:58] talking [laughter] again.” But I just I
[11:00] love to kind of talk through just off
[11:03] the cuff what I’m doing and say, “Now
[11:04] help me
[11:06] put this together in a way that’s the
[11:08] tightest, the best, the most
[11:09] transformative possible.”
[11:11] >> I love that. Yeah, if if podcast you’re
[11:13] listening, if you’re not aware of that,
[11:15] yeah, the whole dictation feature and
[11:17] there could be plugins you can get
[11:18] depending on what tool you’re using. All
[11:19] the most of them natively let you do
[11:21] this now. Being able to just like speak
[11:23] it out, talk it out, and not trying to
[11:25] have it perfect as you’re just
[11:26] downloading everything. Sometimes I’ll
[11:28] call it like a heart dump. You know,
[11:29] it’s like this idea of like, “I don’t
[11:31] know what
[11:31] what video I would make. We just talk it
[11:33] out, you know, just kind of like get
[11:34] some stuff down there, have a tool help
[11:36] make sense of things, but then at the
[11:38] end of the day, what’s your process for
[11:41] it’s helping you organize, and then what
[11:43] does your script look like, Matt? Is are
[11:44] you a word-for-word person? Are you a
[11:46] bullet point person?
[11:49] How do you What does it look like when
[11:50] you’re filming a video?
[11:51] >> I’m a word-for-word person. And um and I
[11:55] think I think you
[11:57] I When I look at me, I can’t tell that.
[12:00] I’m When I’m doing When I’m Yeah. Yeah,
[12:02] when I’m talking on a teleprompter, I’ve
[12:05] got it paced in a way, and I
[12:07] I sit there like whatever AI gives me, I
[12:10] just take that. I’m like, all right, now
[12:11] I got to go work on it. And I’m I’m
[12:13] putting it all in my language, and I I
[12:15] know the little things that I say or the
[12:18] way I’ll pace something or I’ll give I
[12:20] know how to give myself space
[12:23] >> Yeah.
[12:23] >> um for things to really land. And so
[12:25] there really is a big art to learning
[12:28] how to do teleprompter in a way that is
[12:31] convincing and natural. I’m trying to do
[12:33] a live stream every Thursday as well,
[12:35] most Thursdays.
[12:37] And those are completely off the cuff.
[12:38] And I’m fine to do that, and I’m finding
[12:40] that
[12:41] I don’t see any one more popular than
[12:44] the other. It’s usually the topic, you
[12:46] know, so I feel comfortable either way,
[12:48] but I feel like when I do a one of my
[12:49] content videos, I want to say it in the
[12:51] tightest, most effective way possible,
[12:55] um especially when it comes to hooks and
[12:56] points that I’m trying to make and calls
[12:58] to action and things like that.
[13:00] >> Any uh tips you’d pass on to someone who
[13:03] is thinking about using a teleprompter,
[13:05] maybe they just got one? Um any tips for
[13:08] it to not come across like you’re
[13:11] reading from a teleprompter? Like I
[13:12] don’t know how to ask that, but it’s
[13:13] like a real thing, cuz sometimes you can
[13:15] tell. It’s like uh it’s like you’re
[13:17] totally reading something. So what do
[13:19] you think if you’re
[13:20] >> I know how I speak normally. And and and
[13:23] because I speak all the time, I’ve got
[13:25] these little verbal quips or the way
[13:26] I’ll phrase something or pace it.
[13:28] >> Yeah.
[13:28] >> So, I really make sure to like if I say,
[13:31] “You know, friend.” or “Listen, man.” or
[13:33] “Hey, this I will put those things in
[13:35] it.”
[13:35] >> Got you. Okay.
[13:36] >> I put every little thing and I’ll really
[13:38] space it out. So, if I’m really wanting
[13:41] something to land,
[13:43] three spaces.
[13:44] >> There we go.
[13:44] >> I really I’ll make You know, I’ll make
[13:47] that happen so that so that it’s flowing
[13:49] in a way. The other thing I think you
[13:50] got to know is your speed. And for me,
[13:53] 110
[13:55] is is the speed that I I speak at.
[13:58] >> Yes.
[13:59] >> And that gives me energy. It keeps me
[14:01] keeps me moving, but at the same time, I
[14:03] just build in the the space if I need
[14:05] it.
[14:05] >> How was that one video that went viral
[14:08] for you, as we’d say here at Think
[14:09] Media? Like how has that impacted the
[14:12] videos that you’ve done since then?
[14:13] Because it’s not a surprise to me that
[14:15] your second most popular video of all
[14:17] time is a video that came out just a
[14:19] month later, five signs God wants you to
[14:22] create art. That’s almost at 100,000
[14:24] views.
[14:24] >> Yeah.
[14:24] >> So,
[14:25] what was that like to have a video do
[14:27] what this one did? And then
[14:31] what was your approach to the uploads
[14:32] after that? I don’t Were you stressed
[14:34] out? Were you like, “Okay, what do we do
[14:35] next?” Do you know what I mean? Cuz like
[14:36] something’s working. What is your
[14:38] approach to the videos after that been?
[14:40] >> You know, it’s kind of like I tell my
[14:41] art students, like when you do an art
[14:43] show, it’s great to sell stuff, but it
[14:45] you’re really there for data and
[14:46] relationships, right?
[14:48] >> Wow.
[14:48] >> And I see these videos as that as well
[14:51] because I’m I’m putting out what I feel
[14:53] like is the best video that I can do at
[14:55] that moment. So, I kind of I really do
[14:58] try to be like, “Lord, whatever you’re
[14:59] going to do with this, like get just,
[15:01] you know, take it where it’s going to
[15:02] go. I want to learn from it.” But at the
[15:04] same time, and again, this is where AI
[15:06] comes in, I want to scour that thing for
[15:10] the comments. What are people saying?
[15:12] What’s it evoking in them? What are the
[15:13] questions? What are the pain points?
[15:15] What are the the things that they want
[15:17] to learn about next? And so, I think
[15:19] that that has been the most valuable and
[15:21] continues to be the most valuable
[15:23] because when we talk about niches, you
[15:25] know, niches are great. You can go to
[15:27] VidIQ, TubeBuddy, whoever you’re going
[15:29] to and try to find the keywords or
[15:30] whatever, but what’s resonating with
[15:32] your people? And I think for me
[15:34] the comments has helped me to do this
[15:38] really drill down. And so like we we
[15:40] figured out one of of God providing for
[15:43] artists and artists struggling with
[15:44] money, the whole starving artist thing.
[15:46] That wasn’t That was something I knew
[15:47] people struggled with, but it was really
[15:50] being validated by a lot of these
[15:51] videos. And so that’s one of my, you
[15:54] know, again, kind of an outlier for me
[15:56] is one of these about um God’s promise
[15:59] to provide for artists. And but it came
[16:01] right out of and so many of these come
[16:03] right out of the comments and trying to
[16:06] to meet people where they are. So
[16:07] >> I love this. I absolutely love that this
[16:09] is what you did after you had a video
[16:11] take off like this did because here’s
[16:12] what’s cool. On that most popular video,
[16:14] you have over 3,000 comments.
[16:16] >> Yeah.
[16:17] >> So can you walk us through like is maybe
[16:20] someone has like 50? Hey, great. There’s
[16:22] still so much data there from comments
[16:24] on videos.
[16:26] What what’s your process? What what’s
[16:27] the what’s the strategy there when you
[16:28] say you like mine the comment section
[16:30] and you’re using AI? What does that
[16:31] mean? Like I would
[16:33] >> Well, so in YouTube studio, I can go up
[16:35] there and I guess I don’t know if
[16:36] everybody has this tool in their YouTube
[16:38] studio, but I just go to the top to the
[16:40] AI and and I’ll say, “Hey, look at this
[16:42] video, analyze all the comments and give
[16:45] me the top 10, you know, most popular
[16:47] comments or what’s the the general thing
[16:50] that people are saying?” And then I’ll
[16:51] after I get that, I’ll ask it like,
[16:53] “Give me three video ideas that could
[16:56] meet the needs or address the issues
[16:58] that they’re talking about.”
[16:59] >> So Matt just said something I think a
[17:00] lot of creators need to hear and it’s
[17:01] that AI is helpful when it helps you
[17:03] organize your own thoughts, but not when
[17:06] it’s stripping your voice out. And I
[17:07] think this is a perfect time to talk
[17:09] about the partner of today’s episode,
[17:11] which is Riverside. Whether you’re
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[17:48] conversation’s recorded, Riverside
[17:50] actually helps you move all of that raw
[17:52] recording into finished, published
[17:54] content faster. [music] You can actually
[17:56] edit using the transcript, which is my
[17:58] favorite thing to do. Just like clean up
[18:00] pauses,
[18:00] >> [music]
[18:00] >> filter through words, generate captions,
[18:03] and even their magic clips feature can
[18:05] turn strong moments [music] from the
[18:06] conversation that Matt and I are having
[18:07] right now into shorts, reels, or even
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[18:14] specifically is Riverside’s new planning
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[18:56] Think Media, and we’ll put that in the
[18:58] description and show notes below. All
[19:00] right, back to Matt. We’ve walked
[19:02] through a little bit of your research
[19:03] process, but I’d love to talk a bit
[19:05] about like, what are you doing cuz you
[19:07] have this volume, your baseline has
[19:09] risen.
[19:10] What’s like the money plan that’s in
[19:11] place? Do you mind if we just talk about
[19:13] that? Like cuz you’ve got your videos,
[19:15] but then you’ve you’ve mentioned call to
[19:16] action several times here. So, what are
[19:19] your calls to action? Like what do you
[19:22] do in these videos to try to bring
[19:24] people off platform?
[19:25] >> I tried initially to do some just, you
[19:28] know, freebies. So, you know, download a
[19:30] PDF, whatever. And and we’ve done that
[19:32] successfully bringing people over to the
[19:34] mailing list.
[19:36] But, one of our lead our I’m not one of
[19:39] our lead
[19:40] um kind of low-ticket offer is called
[19:42] our Foundations Course. And so, it’s a
[19:44] heart and mind-oriented thing for
[19:46] artists, you know, help get the junk out
[19:47] of your head and and really be the
[19:49] artist that God created you to be. It’s
[19:51] a 9-week course that comes with a book,
[19:53] you know. So, the digital version of
[19:55] that is 27 bucks.
[19:56] >> Okay.
[19:57] >> And so much of the content that I
[19:59] produce on the channel is directly
[20:01] related to the issues that are in that.
[20:03] The cool thing was last fall, we had um
[20:07] almost a hundred small groups all over
[20:09] the world of artists who had gotten the
[20:12] book, gotten the course, and were
[20:14] starting small groups all over the world
[20:17] uh in their local area kind of
[20:19] replicating what they’re learning, which
[20:20] is totally my heart, you know.
[20:22] >> cool.
[20:22] >> And everybody that’s coming into the
[20:24] Facebook group community and all that,
[20:26] my wife was starting to be like, “Oh my
[20:28] gosh, everybody is from YouTube.
[20:31] Everybody’s saying, ‘I saw Matt’s
[20:32] videos. I’ve been watching him for 3
[20:33] weeks. I just saw him today.’” And for
[20:35] me, I have to say as somebody that’s
[20:37] been doing this for a long time and it
[20:39] felt like the launch ship had sailed,
[20:41] like is this thing over, whatever.
[20:43] This has been such a refreshing you
[20:46] know, breath of fresh air for me to
[20:49] realize that there are and you know, for
[20:51] all of us, there are millions of people
[20:54] who need what we offer in in all of our
[20:56] different niches and who have no idea
[20:57] who we are and are waiting for us to
[20:59] create content. And so, the 497
[21:35] one-time purchase and $37 a month
[21:38] community, and just had a great launch
[21:40] with that. And again, just affirming,
[21:41] okay,
[21:43] we’re on the right track. This is
[21:44] working. We’ve
[21:45] >> [laughter]
[21:45] >> We’ve got something that’s been proved,
[21:47] and we can replicate this, and and we
[21:49] can keep moving forward. So, those are
[21:51] the two things that were that were
[21:52] offering right now.
[21:53] >> Okay. I I’d love to hear about you
[21:54] mentioned this launch that you just had,
[21:57] and it’s like a it’s a YouTube launch.
[22:00] So, maybe if you don’t mind, just for
[22:01] anyone who’s listening, if we might if
[22:03] we might back up a couple steps before I
[22:04] want to hear about this launch that you
[22:06] all had, but what does that mean?
[22:09] >> [laughter]
[22:09] >> What does that mean to I guess, you
[22:10] know, to do a launch, and then you do it
[22:13] with YouTube?
[22:14] >> Yeah.
[22:14] >> Yeah. What does that mean?
[22:15] >> Well, when I say launch, um, I was a
[22:18] student of Jeff Walker for so many years
[22:20] who’s who is the launch king, you know.
[22:22] >> Okay.
[22:23] >> And, um, learned so much from him. And
[22:25] so, I I just like stand on the shoulders
[22:27] of all the things I’ve learned over the
[22:28] years. But, so much of that that I
[22:30] learned to do was email-based, and then
[22:32] we went on Facebook. And so, when we
[22:34] would do
[22:35] a launch back in the day, and and I’ve
[22:36] spent hundreds of thousands of dollars
[22:38] on ad budget for for launching over the
[22:41] years of this idea of we’re going to run
[22:43] ads, get people into a free challenge,
[22:46] >> Yep.
[22:46] >> and then do the five days, and then five
[22:48] days of open cart, and
[22:50] it would I mean,
[22:52] 30 to 50,000 dollars a launch easy on ad
[22:55] budget just to get people in a bucket on
[22:58] Facebook, you know, in a group that you
[22:59] could talk to them.
[23:00] >> Yes.
[23:01] >> And so, you better hope that you’re a
[23:03] great converter
[23:04] >> [laughter]
[23:04] >> Yeah, pretty much spot on.
[23:06] >> Yeah, right. So So thankfully, um that
[23:09] worked really well for us over the years
[23:11] and we had done it enough before COVID
[23:13] that when COVID hit, as crazy as it was
[23:15] in the world, for us, it was incredible.
[23:18] We were I was doing launches with 10 and
[23:20] 15,000 people and we were converting 7
[23:22] to 10% of those people into our
[23:24] membership and
[23:26] um it was just a huge huge blessing and
[23:28] it like a big megaphone, you know, out
[23:31] there.
[23:32] But our launch, um
[23:34] and my wife runs all this on the back
[23:36] with our team. At that point, we had
[23:38] about 14 people on our team and we had
[23:40] about 1,500 launch tasks that had to be
[23:44] done within a 6-week period, plus all
[23:46] that budget in order to roll these
[23:48] things out.
[23:49] >> Okay.
[23:50] >> You’re talking text text campaigns,
[23:52] email campaigns. I mean, woo, I just all
[23:55] the
[23:55] >> Yeah, that’s a lot. [laughter] Yep.
[23:57] >> all of the stuff. So we were in it to
[23:59] win it, but it was it was a lot of work.
[24:02] So anytime somebody said launch in the
[24:04] last few years, we’re like,
[24:05] >> A little bit of
[24:06] >> I don’t know if I can
[24:07] >> [laughter]
[24:08] >> I don’t know if I got it in me anymore.
[24:09] >> Hey, real quick, if you’re listening or
[24:11] watching and you’d like your channel to
[24:12] wake up the same way that Matt got his
[24:14] to wake up, it’s important to know that
[24:16] this didn’t happen by accident. You’ve
[24:18] heard Matt mention his coach Molly and
[24:20] Molly is one of our one-on-one coaches
[24:22] here at Think Media inside of our
[24:23] accelerator program. So he Matt has
[24:26] actually had someone by his side to help
[24:28] him navigate through building a YouTube
[24:30] channel and not just the YouTube side of
[24:32] things, but also the business side of
[24:33] things. So if you would like that kind
[24:35] of help, you don’t want to do this alone
[24:37] anymore, it’s time for something to
[24:38] change and we would love to invite you
[24:40] to apply at viralvideo coach.com if you
[24:43] think that one-on-one coaching would be
[24:45] a benefit to you in your current season
[24:47] with your YouTube goals or your business
[24:48] goals. It’s a free call. It’s
[24:50] application only, so it may not be for
[24:51] everyone, but you’re going to fill out
[24:52] some information about your channel,
[24:53] about where you’re at, what you’re
[24:54] trying going
[24:55] and if it’s a good fit, you get to hop
[24:57] on a free call with our team, someone
[24:59] from Think Media to get eyes on your
[25:00] channel to help you strategize your next
[25:02] steps. So again, that’s at
[25:04] viralvideocoach.com.
[25:06] All right, back to Matt.
[25:08] >> And as it, you know, after COVID, the
[25:10] the prices started going up and less
[25:12] people, less people converting. I think
[25:14] people got launched out, you know, it
[25:16] was just like, you know, everybody could
[25:18] see it coming.
[25:19] >> Yeah.
[25:20] >> So with this, with YouTube, I would, you
[25:23] know, I think one of the masterminds, I
[25:25] heard people doing this again. I’m like,
[25:27] okay, I can I can do this, but I’m like,
[25:31] I’m not spending anything on it. I’m not
[25:33] doing any ad budget. Like I’m going to
[25:34] test it organic before we were to spend
[25:37] anything on it. I’m just going to hit
[25:38] our email list and advertise it on on
[25:41] the channel.
[25:42] And we’re just going to do it, me and my
[25:45] wife. Like I’m not involving anybody
[25:47] else. I’m doing the graphics, the
[25:49] you know, I made the PDF, I’m doing the
[25:52] whole, I’m working my own switchers on,
[25:54] StreamYard, the whole deal.
[25:56] So we put it out there and we got 2100
[26:00] people that signed up
[26:02] with no ad budget.
[26:04] Now, I just have to say, that was huge.
[26:08] Just just that was huge.
[26:11] And uh so I’m like, woo, thank you
[26:13] Jesus. Okay, this is
[26:14] we take another step.
[26:15] >> And where are those coming from, Matt,
[26:17] by the way? So 2100 people from YouTube,
[26:20] just YouTube videos?
[26:21] >> Primarily from YouTube and the most of
[26:24] our we we’ve done this other thing these
[26:26] last few years of just peeling people
[26:28] off of our email list. I mean, we had
[26:29] 100,000 people on the list at one time.
[26:32] We were just, you know, a lot of that
[26:34] was free launch people. They just, “Ooh,
[26:35] I want something free and then I’m out
[26:37] of here.”
[26:37] >> Yeah.
[26:38] >> So we have been really, you know, trying
[26:40] to to pair that down just to, you know,
[26:42] we don’t want to bother people. We don’t
[26:43] want to talk to people that want to hear
[26:44] what we have to say.
[26:45] >> Yeah.
[26:45] >> So most of the people that came over for
[26:48] this, some were from our our list, but
[26:50] most of them, the lion’s share were from
[26:52] from YouTube. You know, coming from an
[26:54] uh just a hey, we’re doing this we
[26:56] called it Discovery Week, you know, find
[26:58] out how to be the artist that God
[26:59] created you to be.
[27:00] And so they came on get opt-in for it
[27:03] and um and instead of doing five days,
[27:05] I’m like, I can’t even do it.
[27:08] >> [laughter]
[27:10] >> I can’t even do it. And I’ve got launch
[27:12] trauma, you know. And so I said I can do
[27:15] I can do two days
[27:17] and a live Q&A.
[27:19] >> Okay.
[27:19] >> And so I did a Tuesday um like uh 12:00
[27:24] to 1:30 no about 12:00 to 12:00 12:00 to
[27:26] 1:15 so, you know,
[27:28] uh 75 minutes or whatever. Um a live uh
[27:32] the first time and then on on Thursday I
[27:34] did another one and that was half
[27:37] teaching and half presenting the offer
[27:40] and open cart for the Thriving Christian
[27:42] Artist Pathway.
[27:43] >> And are these public on your YouTube
[27:44] channel or was this hosted
[27:45] >> Public on the YouTube channel but, you
[27:47] know, everybody registered we sent them
[27:49] out the link so we’re doing reminder
[27:51] stuff. So we had I’m just looking at the
[27:53] numbers. We had um out of 2100 we had
[27:57] 529 people show up the first day and 457
[28:01] show up the second day.
[28:03] >> Man.
[28:03] >> Which I thought, hey, that’s pretty
[28:05] strong, you know. And um
[28:08] 25% you know, issue [laughter] of of
[28:09] people showing up. Tons of comments, uh
[28:13] you know, really really energetic, no
[28:15] crazies, you know, we’ve kind of learned
[28:16] >> Oh, that’s good.
[28:17] >> in this stuff, you know, 5% of people
[28:19] are going to be crazy. You just it just
[28:21] is.
[28:22] >> Yeah.
[28:23] >> But we didn’t have crazy which was like
[28:24] again and then on the Zoom call we had
[28:27] almost 250 people there.
[28:30] And it went on for almost three hours of
[28:33] me sitting there and just answering
[28:35] questions off the cuff from people that
[28:38] had had been on. The interesting thing
[28:40] was we we ended up selling um
[28:44] about 100 we sold 129 of the courses
[28:48] and we brought 151 people into the new
[28:52] community. It was phenomenal. Was it the
[28:54] biggest launch we’ve ever done?
[28:56] Absolutely not. But for no ad spend and
[28:59] for uh trying something and launching
[29:02] it, it was absolutely impactful, cash
[29:05] positive, profitable, and it proved that
[29:09] the product meets the market for where
[29:11] we are now. And that was the biggest
[29:14] thing for me.
[29:14] >> Man, I’d love to ask you the classic
[29:16] question, but I think it’s so helpful
[29:18] for someone like you to hear from
[29:20] someone like you who just restarted
[29:21] their channel, um
[29:23] what would you say to that person
[29:26] who who probably feels a little bit like
[29:27] you did? Like maybe they’ve been at
[29:29] YouTube for a little bit, they’ve been
[29:30] at at content creation for a little bit.
[29:32] Maybe there’s they’re losing the wind in
[29:34] their sails, starting to question if
[29:36] they should keep going, you know? Um
[29:38] what do you What have you learned
[29:40] yourself? And then maybe if I could just
[29:42] ask you to coach us for a second as we
[29:43] close, like what do you often tell
[29:46] artists that you work with? Cuz
[29:47] undoubtedly this is part of the process,
[29:49] the resistance, the questioning, the
[29:50] doubt. Like
[29:51] >> Yeah.
[29:52] >> how do you overcome that?
[29:53] >> Well, I always say, you know, the
[29:54] pushback that you feel is is not proof
[29:56] that you need to stop, it’s proof you’re
[29:58] on the right path, right? I mean, it’s
[29:59] the it’s all of the stuff out there
[30:01] that’s saying, “We can’t let this person
[30:03] out there because when they get out
[30:04] there, this thing’s going to blow up.
[30:06] It’s going to be incredible.” And so
[30:08] >> Wow.
[30:08] >> I would If you can reframe that in your
[30:10] mind that the struggle that I’m feeling
[30:12] is proof that I’m on the right track.
[30:14] >> Wow.
[30:14] >> Um the other thing I would say is that
[30:17] specific city of what you’re called to
[30:19] do and who you’re called to serve is
[30:21] just so so important because, you know,
[30:25] we can all be, you know, masters of a
[30:28] lot of different things you know, and do
[30:29] this shotgun approach. But I think the
[30:31] thing that works for me on YouTube and
[30:33] other creators that I know and really in
[30:34] anything that we’re doing in business is
[30:37] choose the thing that you are the most
[30:38] passionate about, that you are the most
[30:41] skilled at, the thing where you see the
[30:43] most opportunity at, and give yourself
[30:45] to that. And where you put yourself out
[30:47] there, and other people are going to
[30:49] find you. And where that opportunity
[30:51] comes together, that’s where there’s an
[30:53] opportunity potentially to have a
[30:54] business, to have an income, an impact.
[30:57] And um it’s trusting the passion. Right?
[31:00] That’s in our heart to be able to to do
[31:03] that even when we feel like nobody’s
[31:04] listening, even when we feel like that
[31:06] there’s not an opportunity because for
[31:08] artists, and I think for me as a a
[31:10] person of of faith, I can’t do something
[31:13] I don’t want to do something just cuz I
[31:14] could do it or just cuz it’s it’s going
[31:16] to make money. That is the quickest way
[31:18] to lead, you know, to burn out.
[31:20] >> Yeah.
[31:20] >> And so if we’re going to be making a
[31:21] living at doing what we do and and
[31:23] serving people, I want to do it in a way
[31:25] that I’m passionate about and I know
[31:28] that I can do this for a long time. I
[31:30] hope that I’m here when there’s hologram
[31:32] Uncle Matt, and when there’s
[31:34] >> [laughter]
[31:35] >> You know, whatever, but I want to be
[31:37] doing it out of this place of life and
[31:39] of of burning passion, not just what’s
[31:42] the next video that I think will get the
[31:44] most clicks cuz that that’s a quick way
[31:46] to to burn it all down, so.
[31:47] >> I love it, man. Thank you. I’m thinking
[31:49] too that counterintuitively, like you
[31:52] talk about trying to put wind in other
[31:53] people’s sails, but this approach, I
[31:56] would imagine, puts wind back in your
[31:58] sails.
[31:58] >> Absolutely. It’s like it’s this
[31:59] fulfilling sort of cycle that happens,
[32:02] right?
[32:03] >> Yeah, I’ve I’ve said to all my coaches,
[32:05] they’re like, “What’s your goal? What’s
[32:06] your income goal?” I’m like, “I really
[32:08] don’t have an income goal. I have an
[32:10] effectiveness goal.”
[32:11] >> Yeah.
[32:12] >> I want to know that when I speak and
[32:14] when I offer something to somebody that
[32:15] I know will help them, that we’re doing
[32:17] it in a way that they can take advantage
[32:19] of it, it can be transformational for
[32:21] them. And And that And that’s why those
[32:22] two little sales this week, you know,
[32:25] were so powerful for me cuz I’m like,
[32:26] “It’s working.” Like this is this is the
[32:28] the machine is starting to work, you
[32:30] know? And that’s what really, you know,
[32:33] jazzes me.
[32:33] >> Huge thanks to Matt for this one. What I
[32:35] love about the story is he didn’t build
[32:36] a brand new channel. Matt actually just
[32:38] woke up a really old one, which is like
[32:40] to me proof that winning on YouTube
[32:43] consistently comes down to three things:
[32:45] clarity, strategy, and then how
[32:47] consistently are you clear and strategic
[32:49] in your week-to-week, your day-to-day,
[32:51] your upload-to-upload. You know, Matt
[32:52] and I were talking before we recorded
[32:54] today, actually, and he was telling me
[32:55] that something that really helped him
[32:57] was getting away from the one-off
[32:59] tactics and plugging into formulas,
[33:02] plugging into sequences and strategy.
[33:05] And that’s something he said he’s really
[33:06] appreciated about Think Media and from
[33:08] the way that we coach. And actually want
[33:09] to pass that on to you. Do you feel like
[33:11] you’re just running off of YouTube hacks
[33:13] and overindulging at the YouTube tactics
[33:15] buffet and not really getting anywhere?
[33:18] I’d actually like to invite you to try
[33:19] it our way. Try it Matt’s way, the way
[33:20] that he did it. And right now we’ve got
[33:22] a few slots that are open in our
[33:23] one-on-one coaching program, the RA
[33:26] Accelerator, that Matt’s a part of. And
[33:28] you can apply right now at
[33:29] viralvideocoach.com.
[33:31] It is application only. It is
[33:33] one-on-one. It is all gas, no brakes. It
[33:35] is full-on YouTube coaching to help you
[33:37] build a business around your YouTube
[33:39] channel. And so, if you think this might
[33:41] be a good fit, if you think that this is
[33:43] something you’d like to take a shot at
[33:44] for the rest of this year to finish
[33:45] strong, I’d like to encourage you to
[33:47] apply at viralvideocoach.com.
[33:49] And hey, like Matt said, the pushback
[33:52] you feel isn’t proof that you need to
[33:54] stop. It’s actually proof that you’re on
[33:56] the right path. Don’t stop. Like, rate,
[33:58] share, review wherever you watch or
[34:00] listen. This is the Think Media Podcast.
[34:02] I’m Nathan S. Wine, and I can’t wait to
[34:04] connect with you in the future episode.