Erika Heald and Catara Lane discuss leveraging YouTube for content marketing and selling books. Catara emphasizes the importance of playlists, which act as sales funnels, guiding viewers through a series of videos. She advises authors to create original content, optimize titles and thumbnails, and use tools like Canva and Riverside. Catara suggests starting with a personal brand channel and focusing on consistent posting, aiming for 2-5 hours weekly. She highlights metrics like click-through rates and returning viewers. For viral videos, she recommends unlisting them to prevent them from overshadowing the channel. Catara also stresses the need for a mindset shift, viewing oneself as a media company.

Conversation highlights:

0:00 Intro – Why YouTube is critical for authors and thought leaders

2:48 Common struggles with YouTube & why you don’t need perfect production

4:14 Turning playlists into a YouTube sales funnel

12:43 Messaging map – understanding what your audience is thinking, feeling & doing

16:14 Packaging your videos: titles, thumbnails & identity-based hooks

19:30 Examples of top, middle & bottom-of-funnel playlist content

31:29 How much time YouTube really takes & creating a workable system

41:14 Tools to make YouTube easier: Canva, Riverside & simple setups

43:25 The metrics that matter & what to do with an off-brand viral video

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/live/JPqHonqm2gU?si=pPvmgKggLIletXKV

Otter transcript: https://otter.ai/u/LF2TTRu4QdPKCaRUuYcBWSCw3ko?utm_source=copy_url