Hi Friends,

2 years ago I started my Youtube channel and since then I have become a huge fan of the platform. Not only is it fun, in terms of driving traffic to my memberships – it is the main way I grow outside of ads because of its strong organic reach and longform content style. You can also work towards monetizing your channel which is pretty cool!

Plus Etsy have recently introduced a fee kick back which really makes it worth sending the traffic. Driving traffic to your shop will not only drive sales and awareness to your store it can help you save on fees. How? When you share a unique trackable link to your shop or listings and make a sale, Etsy will take 4% of the order total off your Etsy bill. This really increases the incentive to start driving more traffic to your store from other places.

But can you use it for any business?

I serve so many students in so many different niches – everything from wellness to business to stationery. I have an incredible friend in a very niche niche, who proves that Youtube can be an amazing asset for any business.

Introducing Sarah – my beautiful (and very driven) friend who started her channel just over a year ago. Her niche?

Ragdoll cats and kittens 😺

As science proves that when you teach through fluffy cats your students are 995% more likely to retain information, I thought I would put the spotlight on her channel today because it’s not only adorable but there is a lot more that goes on behind the scenes. She also really proves that any business can benefit for Youtube.

You can check out her recent video here if you are wanting to see the cuteness.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NV5hCibRrkQ 

I have seen her grow so much over the last year and it’s been totally organic – she is already over 1000 subscribers and looking at her success – she does 4 things really well.

Define Your Niche

She knows her niche and is consistently thinking about what her viewers want to watch. Her channel has a very consistent theme with clear content pillars and she cycles through them without straying too far outside of what her channel is.

Optimize Your Channel

We are friends so I get a bit of an insight into the fact that she always optimises her videos – she is thoughtful with her tags and title, always pins a comment & has a strong description which leads people to her other social platforms.

Consistency is Crucial

Set up a consistent posting schedule – it doesn’t need to be every day but it needs to be regularly – I personally aim for once a week. This keeps your audience engaged and signals to YouTube’s algorithm that you’re an active channel. Respond promptly to comments on your videos answering every single one as engagement builds a sense of community and encourages viewers to return for more content. Check out her upload schedule below:

Analyze and Adapt

Another innovative quality Sarah has is she is constantly trying to figure out what will help grow her channel. She tweaks thumbnails, polishes her editing, tries new titles and tags. You can see in the diversity of her thumbnails below she tests text with icons, different colour schemes – its trial and error. She monitors the performance of her videos using YouTube analytics and takes action based on this. 

How to use Youtube for your business

Now you might be like this is cool, but how can I use it for my niche? Here are some ideas for the most common niches my students are in.

Birthday Stationery – think tutorials on how to print things off, decorate for a party, tips and tricks for unique and crafty event decorations, how to print on envelopes

Wedding niche – diy yourself printables where you link to your templates, planning your big day videos, ways to propose to your bridal party, currently trending wedding styles

Business niche – software tutorials, answering common questions, showcasing how your products can be helpful, documenting your own business success

Activity & Education – arts and crafts for kids, how to draw, small lessons helpful to homeschoolers

Planner niche – organisational hacks, how to use digital stickers, document how you yourself stay organised, sweet mindset tips & tricks

Youtube as a stream of income

I talked about it a little earlier that Youtube can also be an amazing source of passive income – while driving traffic to your digital products. It is a very slow burn, it took me around a year to even get monetised and it will take a huge amount of time and patience, but it is a viable way to grow your brand and monetise your free content. 

A huge thank you to Sarah for letting me share her channel in this email – if you want to support her channel and check out some cute fluffy cats you can see it here.

https://www.youtube.com/@ringoffireragdolls 

Big love,

Jessa B

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