Subscribing to YouTube Stations

[CDBurns]

Troy recently took the time to ask everyone to subscribe to his YouTube station. I'd like to ask everyone to do something similar but with a twist. I recently was selected to speak at an event called Ignite Memphis. The presenters were given 5 minutes to talk about something that was informative and could empower people in Memphis. Here is my speech:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4qZgvh49IUo

Check it out and if you think it can help someone please share the video with people you know. Then if you have a few minutes check out my YouTube channel where I discuss business at this link and subscribe and view one of the videos.

http://www.youtube.com/archbyccb

Thanks AALBC fam!!!

[Troy]

Done.  I also added it to your website: http://christopherdburns.com/

Man as soon as I started the video I began to look for the TEDx sign :-)  That was a really good talk.  You packed a lot into 5 minutes.

I was thinking we really need a way for people in our "collective" (being built as we speak), to place links or information such that other in the collective know to share across their platforms. 

I'm not talking about every little thing, but something that is important.  If there are say 30 people in the collective then each of the member gets to have others share something once a month.  If there are 90 people you get to request that all 90 member of the collective promote (share) your information once a quarter.

This would be free and potentially very powerful.  Members would have to have a platform with some predefined reach and ideally a shared demographic.

 

[CDBurns]

You know I really dig how you are using the website as a base for authors on AALBC. I don't have any intentions of every asking for that domain. I think having it operated by someone else is a relief!!!! Thanks for that compliment on the Ted talk comparison. That is really how it was laid out with the exception of getting in as much as possible in 5 minutes. This was my first speaking engagement by invite at a large venue. The location was a new performing arts center here in Memphis right next to the Orpheum Theater. It was packed and the slide was not how I sent it in so I had to wing the presentation. I'm just happy it turned out okay. I wish I could add the video to my page, but I will take it since it is available for anyone to check out.

On your idea about the collective, I actually gave this girl that I manufactured underwear for the same advice. First I told her not to make the underwear and then I explained that the most efficient and easiest way to get your information out is to join a group of likeminded people and choose one person per month to promote. If there are 12 people in the group then 1 person per month would be promoted. If there are 50 people in the group, then 1 person every week will be promoted. I told her this would allow everyone in the group to get behind something that was important. It's the same concept that you just presented and you're right it would be explosive! Thanks for sharing the video on Facebook. I'm really going to start applying for more events and panels. It's time to take the writing and speaking just as serious as I do the sneaker biz.

 

[Troy]

I think I can present author information as well or better than anyone else out there.  My advantage is that I'm not limited the way a bookseller, publisher or even an author is.  For example I have my own database so I can show books that the vast majority other booksellers (save Amazon) are not showing. 

I have an advantage over Amazon in that can provide buy links from anyone.  The domain name registration is also big advantage.  Plus I plan to collect data and information that Amazon simply does not have.

There is much more coming.  We need more independent thinkers like Chris--or at least more people who will follow your lead.

[CDBurns]

I had a long talk with my wife yesterday and I finally realized that we are both in an uphill battle. 20 years ago the www was not such a vast repository of content. Today kids are producing content at such a high rate that it is extremely difficult to build an audience without a specific draw. Unfortunately for us that draw tends to be Hollywood, or sensational material. If it's not sensational the eyes that reach us tend to be the eyes of the community that is looking for the same support as us. You can't sell to a community seeking the same support because they already have what you are selling, or they don't really need what you are selling, but most important they feel that sharing yours will choke off sales to theirs. The impetus to support isn't there because in the mind of people like you they are already supporting you by visiting. 

So the job then becomes breaking down the walls to reach the eyes (new eyes) and that is a near impossible task that if too much time is spent on, you can kill yourself off by working so hard to get new readers/eyes you don't spend enough time nurturing the eyes already looking. So the job is to build a shit load of content. Build so much content without regard to readers and subscribers. Make sure it is indexed and search ready and then rely on direct and search traffic coming to your site. Then maybe, just maybe because you have so much content, you can't be ignored or people begin to value you even if the material isn't star driven or sensational. 

I value the work that you do and in my own way what I finally realize is you can sell to a community that you build especially if what you are selling is valuable and that community is looking for your material. I want to move into speaking and teaching people how to repair or launch businesses, so I'm building up educational content focused on starting up a business, finding money and then getting started. I don't really push my fiction because my business writing is more vital and feels more natural as a teaching element. I don't care that I don't have many subscribers or readers because the few that see what I'm doing value it. I would like to make a living from it, but it's not necessary. In time I'd like the transition to be better, but at least I know that I can't force that. What I can do is help build the places I believe in. If people visiting this site and other sites did this it would prove to be all we all need to build.

[CDBurns]

Thanks Sara! My wife has a cursing jar and it's filled due to my potty mouth, lol. That video was for a Memphis event and is not attached to my page. It was my first "official" speaking engagement that wasn't in a classroom or for training. My personal Youtube is the second link, this one: www.youtube.com/archbyccb I'm really digging your interaction.

[Troy]

Chris I should have mentioned that I completely agree with your assessment (your December 6th post) of the current state of the web, and a strategy for dealing with it.

I'm still 235 subscribers short of my goal. I have gained 153 subscribers in the past month.  Given that is about 40 more than I gained the entire 12 months prior, I guess this effort was successful.  I'll make another push in the new year.

I'm not sure I ever mentioned why I wanted to reach 1,000 subscribers.  I'm not just trying to get subscribers to boost this number.  I need a minimum number of subscribers to be able to provide visitors with video they can have to pay to watch; Paid Content.  

During the National Black Writers Conference, at Medgar Ever this spring,  I will be hosting a seminar on book publishing featuring industry professionals.  I was thinking about filming the event and charging people to view it on Youtube.  In order to be able to charge people to view content you need 1,000 subscribers to your channel.  

 

[CDBurns]

Well if that is the goal, I knew that's what you are doing, I'm almost finished with Youtube Certification program and it discusses that there, but you don't have to use Youtube for subscription purposes. Dame Dash released a movie this year named Losaidas. He built the film in 10 parts and released them on Vimeo. If you pay for a professional platform on Vimeo the quality of the stream is fantastic! You can monetize right away without worrying about reaching a certain number of subscribers first. The problem then becomes there isn't any ad revenue to be made from Vimeo so you lose that base of 1000 people that you can further monetize. It's a dilemma, but not really. Your subscription platform on Vimeo could be handled completely separate from your Youtube content. I thought about this with the What I'm Doing Right Now, but decided against it because I know I don't have enough of following to charge anyone for anything I could say.  Spreecast is also another option for you if you'd like to do live classes and accept payments during the class.

Wow your spike was good, and then that 10000 people that Facebook promises will see and share your stuff never converted... smh. We are in a very difficult situation. A few days ago I did a video because one of my customers attempted to cheat me by returning fake shoes. That video has garnered more views than any of the educational content I posted. This is a case of the market looking for that content, vs people who are interested in business talks.

[Troy]

Wow someone tried to return knock offs!  A slick scheme, that might work for a large corporation.  Where these sales through Amazon?

I used Vimeo for years, but I could not justify the monthly expense given the views the platform generated--which was minimal.  

Youtube actually generates views of my videos--independent of AALBC.com. I'm getting views that I would not get otherwise.   Plus, and this is a big plus, I make money off these views. No other social media site does that.

This 5 minute video (below) of the Harlem Godfather book launch party (a book about Ellsworth "Bumpy" Johnson) I posted, taken with a camera, so the quality is relatively poor but it has gotten over a 1/4 million views, over the last 8 years and generates a couple of bucks a month. I'm not getting rich off this revenue, but it is FAR better than the model other social media platforms have adopted where you have to pay for your content to be seen.

 

 

[CDBurns]

I agree 100 percent Troy. I tried to tell someone this on Facebook, but they decided it was worth it to drive traffic to the video and increase engagement. I think if your goal is to just have the video seen and shared then it makes sense to use Facebook because they autostart the video and they give preference to content generated on Facebook. BUT you don't earn anything. I did a video recently where I responded to this dude who asked if it was worth using Youtube and I said yes because if I earn 60 cents on a video that's money that I couldn't have made any where else.

On the fake shoes... yep that was through Amazon. I've seen it all on Amazon and I've had so many random things happen that nothing surprises me anymore. I had a lawyer return a pair of shoes worn. I used to refund without even opening the boxes, but that return taught me my lesson. You can't trust anyone when it comes to you money in eCommerce. I am going to donate the fakes, but man it was irritating as hell for that to happen. I have some serious stories to tell about this sneaker game though... maybe I'll put in a book one day.

Oh, the fake shoe return... Imagine if I used Amazon FBA! The package would have come back and an Amazon person may not have known the difference and then they would have sold the shoe again which would have led to the loss of my online shop due to fraud. It's a cold world in the online arena.