I made 494 YouTube videos and learned this

🎬 If you want to be on the waitlist for the YouTube course when it first drops, can you please sign up to this email list please: https://www.jamessmith.business/30-days-james?video=NLX69aaIHpg 📱 Become a Master in Short-Form Content Creation: https://www.jamessmith.business/content-creation-course?video=u25eU8cR1lg ✉️ 30 Ways In 30 Days To Grow Your Online Business: https://www.jamessmith.business/30-days-james?video=u25eU8cR1lg 💵 Work With Me Directly: https://www.jamessmith.business/business-mentorship-course?video=u25eU8cR1lg Anything else? Just comment, or email me on james@jamessmithacademy.com 00:00 I made 494 YouTube videos and learned this 01:29 1) No one cares 01:32 2) Title & thumbnail first 02:01 3) Script the first sentence 02:38 4) Stage the first frame 02:59 5) The 100-video rule 03:38 6) Shorts vs Longs = different algos 04:22 7) Ruthless pacing 05:00 8) Social hacking 05:33 9) Modern thumbnails 06:12 10) Tell stories 07:26 11) Evergreen 08:04 12) You pay yourself 08:42 13) Use the Community tab 09:16 14) Thumbnail quality matters 10:55 15) Content buckets 11:52 16) Tracking links (RevTrack) 12:41 17) Care about AVD over CTR 13:16 18) Brand the channel 13:43 19) Browse, not Search 14:12 20) Channel Trailer 14:33 21) Go very long 15:06 22) Use AI for competitor research 15:47 23) Light scripting in a doc 16:11 24) Don’t vlog—solve problems 17:10 25) Timestamps: pros/cons 18:01 26) Livestream more 18:28 27) Early & mid-roll CTAs 19:00 28) End cards for binges 19:27 29) Edit after publishing (retention fixes) 19:51 30) QuickTime screen-record tip 20:08 31) Edit on desktop (Resolve/Premiere/FCP) 20:29 32) Thumbnail split-testing (3 variants) 20:55 33) ThumbsUp.tv title/fit check 21:25 34) Cameras that are “enough” 21:51 35) Prioritise audio chain 22:58 36) Lighting & room control 23:48 37) Premieres 24:00 38) Spin up new channels if needed 24:18 39) Track competitors’ outliers 25:40 40) Emulate winners (don’t reinvent)