🤖 Why your YouTube views actually do matter if you want to attract clients

_{The YouTube Algorithm for Real Estate Explained Pt. 2:}

When I started on YouTube in 2008, that channel is remaining hidden lol.

I was posting gaming videos I edited, but I neglected almost everything.

Titles. Thumbnails. You name it.

I didn’t do it well at all. But I did care about the content.

And in 2015 when I was posting educational health content it didn’t get any better… I was still terrible at packaging videos.

It wasn’t until a few years ago that I started getting better.

In the last edition, I explained the first crucial YouTube metric and everything that affects it: clickthrough rate (CTR).

Which is affected by the packaging of a video.

In order to perfectly package a YouTube video, you have to look at the:

1. Idea - this is the main video topic
2. Title - this is the magazine article headline that makes you want to learn more
3. Thumbnail - this is the ad that stops and grabs your attention

All combined together are the reasons why people will click and watch your video (views) or not.

So if you didn’t read the last newsletter, there it is summarized in a few short sentences. But I go deeper on how you can improve each one so you can read that here.

But now that you have the click and view, how do you actually get the viewer to watch the entire video?

Back in 2015, I was making one of the biggest “educational” YouTube mistakes, I only focused on sharing the best information.

However, we don’t learn from more information, or else reading would all make us millionaires.

Think back to school and which teacher of yours did you actually learn the best from?

It likely wasn’t the smartest.

It may have been the funniest.

The most interesting.

Or the one who told great stories…

I thought the information I was sharing was valuable.

But since 90% of decisions are based on emotion, information is not learning.

Remember that time your parent or spouse told you to clean up your room or do something?

If you didn’t change and they asked again, did you really learn?

Learning only happens when we change our behavior.

And there’s a reason why some of our most emotional moments in life provide the best lessons.

Because emotions activate our brain so that we store memories more effectively, resulting in stronger memories.

So why does all of this matter?

Storytelling is one principle we can see throughout history:

• Caveman drawings
• Ancient Egypt hieroglyphics
• Ancient Greek mythology & Roman stories
• Shakespeare plays
• Hollywood & Disney.

We remember what’s told in stories because they engage our emotions. (making us feel something helps us remember)

That’s when I learned information without context is useless.

When I started using storytelling in my content on Quora in 2016, I started going viral. My Quora answers currently now have over 3 million views and get over 30,000 views a month organically.

Stories are communication vehicles.

And if you don’t believe me, think about how a Realtor, Glennda Baker, blew up to 770,000 followers and over 150,000,000 TikTok views while many of us struggle.

She mastered storytelling.

But why does this even matter with YouTube content and bringing in business?

If you lose 90% of people in the first 10 seconds, 30 seconds, and minute (which most people do on YouTube), then you could lose 90% of the potential leads & clients.

So if you only got 1-2 quality YouTube leads a month from your videos, which most do, imagine if you just retained 30% (3x) more people?

But 3x more people isn’t just a 3x increase because brand compounds.

But even 3x more clients a month can be upwards of $50,000 in extra income a month…

And in markets where you work with higher end then you’re talking an extra $100,000.

All from making better YouTube videos.

So do you see why your content matters?

Because your viewer retention throughout the video can make a massive difference in how much money you make vs don’t make from your content.

The more people who click ➡️ more views ➡️ longer people watch ➡️ more leads ➡️ more clients.

So how do you actually RETAIN viewers’ attention?

1. Script - aka just the words and what you say

Now, I know what you may be thinking, but do I need a word-for-word script?

I suck at reading scripts.

Reading scripts are unnatural.

And there’s a whole lot more, but the truth is you don’t need a script once you understand the structure.

Even the best YouTubers and actors use scripts still. So why?

Because they help you communicate effectively & efficiently.

But most agents who have a deep understanding of a community can also get away with bullet points.

If you’re the type of person who’s been living in an area for years and could talk about it in your sleep then you can also get away with “a post-it note with bullets.”

So what’s the structure of a YouTube script?

Breaking it down there’s 3 core parts:

1. Intro (Hook 🪝) - how you capture their attention
2. Value (Retain 💡) - how you keep their attention
3. Payoff (Reward 🎁) - how you reward them for sticking around

Your hook is a bold statement that reinforces that title and thumbnail but also makes them want to watch the entire video.

Think of it as 1 sentence summary of the video like the title of a book, blog article, or magazine title stating what they will get (outcome) from this video. This is the sizzle to the steak.

Your value is the main points of the video. This is your meat. There are a number of ways you can do this.

• Lists
• Stories
• Frameworks

An example of a framework is like a home tour:

1. Location - you talk about the community/area, neighborhood, and the lifestyle
2. Macro - outside the home talking about the big picture details
3. Micro - inside the home going from bottom floor to top talking about the details

Or for neighborhood or community tours you can go like this:

1. Location
2. Lifestyle
3. Real estate

You want to simplify it to the core fundamental parts that a consumer will care about.

2. Visuals - aka what you see (show don’t tell).

I used to be terrible at this.

I would hoard all the links to things in my Google drive or expect an editor to try and find it all themselves.

Then I would go back and forth with the editor and end up with 5-10 revisions…

So instead, front-loading the work can save a lot of time and money on the backend.

• Filming with multiple backgrounds - simply turning the camera, changing rooms, or filming in multiple locations. Or shooting vlog style - walking and talking with a gimbal or selfie stick.
• B-roll - is other video footage you can add on top of you speaking to “show” what you’re talking about.
• Graphics - overlaying things on top of the main footage of you speaking like images, motion, animation, etc.
• Text - this can be titles, subtitles, lower thirds, pop-up text for emphasis, etc.

The best way as a presenter we can help our editors is with planning and preparation.

If you have a script, you can plan on shooting b-roll footage or have a videographer grab some.

When you have a script you can also add comments and links to supporting assets like photos, videos, etc. for visuals.

But there’s more to storytelling than what you see and what you say, there’s other ways to engage emotions:

1. Sound - what you hear
2. Emotion - what you feel

So if you want your video editor to be great, it’s more than what they put “into” the video while editing. They’ll need to learn storytelling and engaging the emotions with rhythm, pacing, sound design, etc.

But as the speaker, it’s generally easier to control the factors you can control more than trying to teach someone else.

So if you learn storytelling then you make it much easier for the editor.

A few great books are:

1. Storybrand
2. Stories that Stick
3. Wired for Story

The simplest way to learn story is:

This is a piece of Stories that Stick and from a presentation by Kindra Hall, the author.

1. Beginning - what was (normal aka current situation)
2. Middle - what happened (explosion or the change)
3. End - what is now - (new normal / future)

There’s an

• Identifiable character - person, place, thing
• In a specific moment or time
• With specific emotions
• Snd specific details

So now that you know storytelling helps increase retention, there’s an unfortunate truth about retention for agents (business owners) creating content on YouTube.

Retention isn’t the main goal from creating content.

While retention does matter, as a business owner your focus isn’t on becoming an influencer or creator.

Our core focus is creating valuable content that makes people want to work with us.

Having great:

1. Packaging - clickthrough rate
2. Retention - watch time

There are 2 ways you can see if that’s happening, as I alluded to in the previous newsletter there’s other sources of feedback that can tell you if things are working or not.

I’ve had people who didn’t focus creating the absolute best YouTube video get millions in sales from their YouTube because they provided valuable information for a long enough time.

So what does all of this tell us?

1. Create content people care about
2. Be the identifiable character they can connect with on video
3. Repeat this and invite them to work with you

That’s where the next piece of this puzzle starts…

On-platform feedback like comments, leads, emails, etc.

And off-platform feedback such as people reaching out to you or telling you about your content.

There are ways to go deeper with:

• lead magnets (content upgrades)
• webinars (masterclasses/workshops)
• newsletters like this, and more…

But for simplicity just remember what I mentioned above:

1. Create content consistently
2. Allow people to connect with you & your brand/story through video
3. Repeat this over a long enough time

So it’s better to focus on “is the channel bringing in business?” and the best way to audit that is:

1. Output - are you producing x4 videos a month?
2. Views - Packaging (CTR): is the idea/topic, title/headline, and thumbnail compelling enough that it’s getting clicks & views?
3. Retention - Presentation (AVD): is the hook, content, and payoff rewarding the viewer enough to watch the entire video?
4. Leads per video - lead magnets, ending CTA
5. Clients (buyers & sellers) - # of leads per month x volume of videos x time x value exchange

But like Ali Abdaal (a YouTube with 5 million subscribers who makes $3M-$5M a year from his channel), real estate can focus less on metrics like CTR, AVD, comments, likes & subscribers if the videos are driving business results.

Now, having better metrics can help drive more, but that doesn’t mean you can just 100% neglect them.

This means you have more flexibility and don’t need to focus on being perfect and being a creator.

Hopefully, these deep dives help you understand how to get more views on your videos and grow your channel.

I’ll touch on in part 3 - how to increase leads per video with lead magnets, webinars, newsletters, etc. and how to attract more clients from YouTube later…

So stay tuned for more deep dives like this!

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🧱 An Unfiltered Conversation with NY's #1 Mortgage Lender (Top 10 in US) | Brian Scott Cohen

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Meet Brian Scott Cohen. This is an unfiltered conversation with Brian Scott Cohen, NY's #1 mortgage lender, top 10 in the US, and the most reachable mortgage lender in NY with over $6 billion in loans & 9,000 homeowners served.

In this conversation, we discuss:

• 00:00 - intro
• 02:15 - his story after 19 years
• 07:34 - 19,000+ TikTok followers: embracing digital
• 10:25 - overcoming tough markets
• 16:54 - high volume but high touch
• 22:55 - work life integration as a high performer
• 25:38 - over prioritizing communication
• 32:08 - becoming the knowledge broker
• 34:36 - meeting & working with Ryan Serhant for 15 years
• 40:25 - Brian's secrets for long lasting relationships
• 46:23 - educating & expanding into new markets
• 57:06 - world class leadership