Heather Torres:   0:00
Welcome to the Think Marketing Show, the number one podcast for growing and scaling your business with online video. I'm Heather Torres.

Sean Cannell:   0:11
And I'm Sean Cannell and we're from Think Media and if this is your first time listening, welcome. 

Heather Torres:   0:16
This show is dedicated to helping you learn how to get your content noticed and the latest money-making strategies working right now online. So, whether you wanna grow your YouTube channel or maximize online video across social media, this is for you. We're answering some of the biggest questions we get in the community, in the Think Media community, and this one's comin' at you, Sean: how do you get your first 100 subscribers? 100's a big deal and most people think it needs to be a million subscribers, but that first 100 is critical.

Sean Cannell:   1:09
It is and, you know, some people get there pretty quick and some people, it feels like it takes awhile to get there. I think the first thing is you wanna be patient with your own journey. We're all starting, you know, some people have social media followings pre-existing to YouTube, so they can say, "Hey, I started a YouTube channel," or send an email to their list and grow their channel, some people have to really bootstrap from zero with no connections, no social media. So, it kinda depends on where you're starting, but I think the biggest thing is there's really two different ways to start and I hear, like, it's almost like there's disagreement on this. I think you really just have to have self awareness. One of the ways to start is actually to just experiment and have fun, to not feel the pressure of niching down, of having a niche, because that can be limiting or on the other hand, though, is to actually pick a niche. That's the best way to start but if you don't have clarity yet, then it can be limiting and you can overthink it. And so, I don't know what you think about that.

Heather Torres:   1:38
Yeah, I think when I first started my homeschool channel, we had a discussion and it was like, "What do you wanna start your channel about?" And that was a hobby that I had, but I didn't know how to make videos, so my experimenting wasn't necessarily just about the content, it was about understanding how to create videos. So, my experience has been getting to over 100 and over 1,000, over 15,000 with having a niche, but my experimenting has been in the content creation part of it. What about you?

Sean Cannell:   3:48
Well, you already knew your passion, you already knew that you had some experience there, you'd read the books, it was something you could help people with, you had people asking you about that. But I know a lotta people watching are maybe like, "I don't have even, I don't, "I don't, is homeschool my thing?" And in that case, I actually, even though I'm the guy who's like, "Start with clarity, start with a niche," I didn't start that way. Like, on my channel, Sean Cannell, and you can see the entire history of these videos. In fact, my story goes back to 2003. I started shooting video of my church. So, I got to do weekly video announcements and learn video production that way. Then, though, in 2000, around 10, I wanted to start a YouTube channel, but I was all over the place. I mean, I did an Amazing Spiderman review and then a how to cook baked salmon in a tin foil boat and then I did vlogs with my wife for about 50 days straight and then I did just random videos of traveling and of specific reviews of, like, the Palm Springs Aerial Tour. And I was even learning a little bit about search. Like, Las Vegas horseback riding. But it was just all kinds of random stuff. Here's the thing: I did not have a niche, I didn't have a niche, but I was getting critical skills of the YouTube landscape, of creating content on YouTube, I was basically strengthening my YouTube muscles. So, I would argue that if it wasn't for all that experimenting on my Sean Cannell channel that, like, Think Media and Video Influencers wouldn't be what they are today. So, it basically comes down to this: if you don't have clarity, just start. Like, punch fear in the face, punch perfectionism in the face, and press record and just start posting videos. The thing is, that channel might not even be the channel that succeeds. Like, Sean Cannell eventually, I think, will be something, but it's just sitting there while we're over here on Think Marketing and have Think Media and I'm doing Video Influencers with Benji. So, that was a learning YouTube channel that led to my successful YouTube channels that I have over here. On the flip side, maybe you are already passionate about running and so, you love running, you do marathons, you do half-marathons, you own 50 pairs of running shoes, you're obsessed with all of the different running practices and you're like, "What do I start a YouTube channel about?" Maybe running. And that is an amazing niche to blow up on. People review shoes, they look for the reviews of shoes. I'm an aspiring runner. So I just have done two half-marathons, so I wanna learn. I've been watching all these shoe reviews, I'm subscribing to different people. And I'm finding them why? Because I also have a similar specific passion. So, don't judge yourself either way. Either go variety or pick a niche, but just get started.

Heather Torres:   4:43
In celebration of the launch of this brand new podcast, we're giving away two tickets to our annual conference, Grow With Video Live, a $1,500 value.

Sean Cannell:   4:52
All you have to do enter is make sure you subscribe, leave us a review on Apple Podcast, and then take a screenshot of your review and go to thinkmarketingshow.com for the rest of the details.

Heather Torres:   5:05
Yeah, I think, you know, it is also: what's the end result that you want to happen? And there's so many paths up the mountain, right?

Sean Cannell:   5:11
Yeah, absolutely. That if you were to ever think that there is only one right way to get there. It's kinda like starting businesses. I heard one of the sharks from Shark Tank say, "In your 20s and your 30s," and it doesn't matter what age you are, it just means when you start getting into that kind of entrepreneurial, experimental, creative phase. All the successful business owners usually have had one, two, three failed businesses before they got to the successful one. And so, he was saying, "In your 20s and 30s, "just do as much business experimenting as you can "until you kinda figure out a little bit of self awareness, "a little bit about what works for you, a little about "what has momentum, and then go deeper on that." I feel like YouTube's the same, that's been my journey. I mean, I got my Clearvision channel, Think International channel, my personal channel, my church's channel. I had four channels that I had been working on before I got my breakout channels that I'm kind of known for today. That's a lot of experimenting. I think we need to have more permission to experiment more and kind of judge ourselves less.

Heather Torres:   6:08
Yeah, and getting to that first 100 subscribers, that's a milestone and I think sometimes we don't think about, like, during the experimenting phase and getting into it, that that is something to be proud of, but I think it rocks. I think it's awesome to get to your first 100 subscribers 'cause you learned so much on that journey.

Sean Cannell:   6:25
It's incredible. I mean, think about, my background's the church world and I've been in ministry for a lotta years before kind of going into what we'd call the marketplace or, you know, kinda entrepreneurship. And the average church in America is under 80 people. Which, that's incredible. We're talking about, like, an incredible community where a pastor is helping people, you know, get through the challenges of life and have a better relationship with God and, you know, overcome all types of different things, And they're in this community serving 80 people, we're talking about 100 subscribers, you know what I mean? That, like, no matter where you are, no matter, you know, I'm a college dropout, small town kid, didn't come from, like, a big city, didn't come from, you know, all these connections or all these types of things. And you could just start shooting videos in your bedroom and get to a hundred subscribers? You have a larger congregation than, like, most churches in America, if you will, if you kinda use that analogy. So no, you really have to, for sure, don't compare yourself to what somebody else is doin', don't worry about the person who, by the way, has been puttin' in the work and has been on the platform for 10 years. You're just getting started and really celebrate the subscribers you do have rather than really worrying about what you don't have yet.

Heather Torres:   7:35
Thanks for checkin' out this episode. We hope you got a ton of value. And, if you haven't already, subscribe here to the Think Marketing Show wherever you're watching or listening.

Sean Cannell:   7:44
And hey, it would mean the world to us if you would rate and review this show on Apple Podcast.

Heather Torres:   7:49
As we grow this movement of purpose-driven content creators, we encourage you to share it with a friend. And we'll see you in the next episode.