How to Make Money as an Introvert on YouTube

An Introvert with a Successful YouTube Channel?

Matthew Pollard: Hello, everyone, and welcome back to the Introverts Edge podcast, and I have a really unusual guest for you today. Unusual for a few reasons. One, because he’s going to talk to you about YouTube, which for the average introvert, well, let’s just face it, being on YouTube is probably the last thing you’d imagine an introvert doing, yet I’m going to tell you, we’re going to share a story and he’s definitely an introvert. And he doesn’t use faceless YouTube channels either.

But also, you know, unusual because of the way he kind of came about for me. So I actually didn’t hear about it. I actually found it on YouTube and one of the things why that’s so important to me is practicing what you preach is everything to me. So I find a lot of people and you probably had these spam messages.

Let me show you how to make all this money. Other digital marketing yet they’re spamming you. Or let me show you how to make all this money from DMing people. And you never have to use ads, but they’re using ads. Yeah, it’s actually attracting clients through YouTube. And the biggest thing about this is he’s actually presenting a real kind of unique, kind of goofy version of himself.

But it’s just an honest portrayal. And, you know, I really resonated with that because it leans into everything I believe in, which is planning, preparation, and being an honest version of yourself, not trying to be everything to anyone else. So sorry about the huge monologue for everyone, but I’m a big fan of Ed’s work because I believe that he actually practices what he preaches, and he has actually proven.

I mean, that’s how he became famous on YouTube. And I guess you could say YouTube famous is that he’s actually blown up his own channels. I mean, he became viral in six weeks in his own channel, documenting his own journey, and then he’s been able to document doing it for others, including his girlfriend. So for me, practicing what you preach is everything.

And so he comes in with a level of authority that I can’t wait for him to share with you. But Ed, welcome to the show mate. I’m ecstatic to have you.

Ed Lawrence: Thank you for having me. Happy to be here.

Matthew Pollard: Well, I have to say that you and I had an interesting dialog about your introversion, and I said to you upfront that no one’s going to believe you’re introverted. And truthfully, you won’t even show off for quite a while. So I think that this is the concept. The conversation around introversion specifically is an interesting one for people to hear, because I feel that it will.

Our conversation was you kind of lean into some conversations and you love them and others you don’t. So help me understand early. And, you know, growing up in in the UK and did you have a sense that, you know, you were introverted or you weren’t sure help me understand that journey, and then let’s talk about how we kind of got to the end outcome.

Ed Lawrence: I guess when I was younger, it wasn’t really a thing. Like I’d probably never even heard of the term. You would just quiet or loud. So, you know, it was never something, anything that was pushed on me. My brother was very, very introverted, so I probably looked like an extrovert compared to him. but yeah, he was more the introverted type.

it was probably only when I started getting a bit older and realizing that, I found it kind of exhausting in social situations. I needed more time on my own to sort of recover. Sunday was like my special day where I just didn’t want anyone to go near me. I just needed to, like, recharge that. I started to think, okay, maybe I’m not the extrovert.

Maybe I was just not quite as introverted as my brother. So I guess that would’ve been the first introduction.

From Quiet Kid to Making Viral YouTube Videos

Matthew Pollard: That’s interesting. And I think a lot of people are still figuring introversion out. I mean, let’s face it, the psychologists have made it way too confusing. I think that one of the things and during our dialog, what was really interesting is our dialog specifically around the conversations you enjoyed and the conversations you needed to kind of even, well, let’s face it, drink to get to get through.

And because of that, there was it is am I introverted or do I just not like certain people, or do I not like certain conversations? Would you mind speaking a little bit more about that? For those people that are like, well, I can get through conversations.

Ed Lawrence: Yeah. So what it was it was only in the last six months I’ve started hanging around with a lot more of on line business owners. So the conversation and a lot of my YouTube channel ideas, so the conversation is just like effortless, very interesting. I can just sit there, listen. I can ask questions all the time, but it’s fun.

Absolutely fascinating. and we would go out and I’d be like, oh, does it really feel like I need a drink? however, you know, go to a party in the UK and I don’t have anything in common with anyone. So they have traditional jobs, they don’t have a YouTube account. They look at me like I’m weird because I’m a YouTube creator, and that just doesn’t mean anything to them.

And they’re like, how are you even making money? So they don’t really want to talk to you about that. They find you confusing. So we just have this like clash from like, oh, I’ve got to pretend I’m interested in you. You’re pretending you’re interested in me. And it would just be this struggle. So yeah, you just generally found that you would drink through it, especially in the UK where everyone is quite big drinkers.

So that was something that occurred to me recently. Was that, oh, okay. Maybe the people I hang around with have quite a big impact on me. and how I kind of react to social situations. And I’d never really thought about it before.

Matthew Pollard: Yeah, I think it’s interesting. I think one of the things that I’ve found with my communication with you in the past is and even leading into this dialog, is you’re very methodical about what you’re willing to do, what you’re not willing to do, what’s something you’re comfortable with or something you just, you know, even though it may pay a lot of money, it’s just something you’re not interested in.

Is that something you’ve kind of developed over time to protect that energy or to protect that love for what you do? Because I find a lot of introverts agree to a lot of things that perhaps they shouldn’t, and that then leads them to not even enjoying their business.

Ed Lawrence: Yeah, I think well, I guess it’s the case of how easy you find it to say no to certain things. But yeah, I like creating processes behind things. they’re not necessarily like the most streamlined processes always, but having systems to enable me to achieve something is kind of important. And I also find if I don’t, it’s stressful.

It feels like a mess all over the place.

Matthew Pollard: And I think I think that’s a really positive thing for people to hear, because what I’m hearing is methodical. methodical. This isn’t really something you just apply to, to YouTube, which we’re going to talk about, but it’s actually something you meaningfully apply to everything in your life. I mean, I asked you and I didn’t include it in your intro because I asked you if I could call you homeless, in, in your introduction, because you are, in truth, a digital nomad, but you’re very comfortable with that, where a lot of people will kind of trying to explain.

Oh, it’s not that I’m trying to make it. I just, you know, it’s a job that I it’s the things that I enjoy. And, I mean, the truth is that you you’ve got a successful channel. You clearly have a successful consulting business teaching people how to how to be successful on YouTube making videos. But you’re unapologetic about how you spend your time, what you’re willing to do, what you’re not willing to do, and even how you choose to, where you choose to locate, how you choose to live your life.

There are a lot of introverts. They feel like they’re trying to live up to other people’s standards. And I think that the reason why I’m asking you this question is because we’re allowed to talk about YouTube content, demo videos, music videos, faceless youtube channel, animated videos, creating content, all of it. Which is all about trying to, is the way other people see it, trying to impress everybody and try to be everything to everyone.

And you talk about niching around what you’re actually interested in, but I feel like you do it in a greater sense of your entire life. It was that a decision point for you or is it something you’ve kind of always done?

Online Businesses and Niching

Ed Lawrence: I think I had my own standards I wanted to live up to, but I also felt like, I had something to prove. I was kind of written off by schools. I just kind of average everything, which I didn’t know. Anything bothered me. I was just like, yeah, that’s cool. but maybe it did because I was very, very driven.

what I would say is unusual is that I’ve gone back. So I went for this whole, like, make it big, go big, and now I’m like, niche down, niche down. I think I hit a goal and then realized that that goal was not the right goal. I don’t want big. I don’t want fame. I actually want less attention.

I want to help more people in a more focused way without people coming up to me in the street, which is started to happen a bit, even though I’m small and it weirds me out going to events and have people come up to me and ask me question after question and like it’s I went to one and just left because I wasn’t getting left alone.

So yeah, there’s been this change recently, which was originally it was like a big following. And now it’s like, now I just got a really targeted one. Be very, generous with the information, look after a certain type of person and you’ll probably get all the things you want from life. Much easier than just trying to be famous to everyone.

And it’s healthier. And I think it applies to everyone, not just introverts.

Matthew Pollard: I think that’s a really, I’m going to say, healthy understanding. I think it was Jim Carrey. Jim Carrey always seems to have these amazing sayings, but Jim Carrey sort of said, I wish everyone could be famous and rich just for a minute to realize how important, important and actually unhealthy it can actually be. And I think I’m forever sharing.

Like, you know, I’ve been responsible for five multi-million dollar success stories, but that doesn’t mean they made me happy. As a matter of fact, there’s nothing worse than having a rapid growth business with customers you don’t like in a business you can’t stand. So if you’re and I know it seems to people that this is such a positive thing, like just if you just want rapid growth, it doesn’t matter what it looks like, but you can create rapid growth and earn money, earn serious money out of anything.

And in truth, what I’ve seen with your work is that you’re very you’re now very good. And I should qualify. You’ll now very good at creating opportunities that fit right within your box of genius and actually allow you to enjoy it, but also separate yourself from that popular charity that does drain your life force by being noticed, by being that identity to people that are never going to buy anything from you.

Ed Lawrence: Yeah, the popularity thing is, a weight on your shoulders. I think people think they want status. but when you get it, even though, like, I’m not world famous or anything, but then a small group of people, like when I post a video, I am getting judged. and I feel that pressure every time. It sucks. A lot of the enjoyment now, and I don’t think many people are built for fame and large status, but I think what we are built for is smaller tribes and smaller communities.

and that’s actually my goal is actually to niche down at the moment and take a step back and just target a, like you said, an educational content channel. because I feel like that’s gonna make me happier. And I feel like I’m gonna be able to help more people in a, in a more targeted way. So, yeah, I’m taking a I’m trying to get smaller, which might sound weird to a lot of people, but I feel like it’s a happier existence, existence and a less stressful one to.

Matthew Pollard: I think that’s I think that’s a powerful message for people. And it’s interesting, like Susan Cain talks about in her book Quiet. And I, I mention it in the first chapter of my networking book that people used to read books on inner virtue and things like that when it when they lived in these country towns. And then we all moved in to the big cities and we started talking about charisma and charm and reading books about charisma and charm and developing these big audiences.

And I think the world is starting well. Firstly, for the introverts, we never wanted that, I think, but we feel like we have to get it to then realize that we don’t want it. But I think what’s happening now, because of social media and because of our new connectivity university is coming back, right? Because we need to get these reviews.

And the fact is, if we rip people off and if we get people on charm and we’re not the ideal fit for them, they’re going to write a bad review because we’re not delivering on what we truly said we could help them with. So I, I’m so glad to see that even on something like YouTube, which so many people focus on over other platforms, just getting this broad and overly extensive audience that doesn’t make the money, they’re starting to realize that if they can put a box around it and say, actually, no, I want a really small country town inside, inside YouTube, as opposed to having New York City.

Everybody knows who I am, but really, I can’t make money out of all of them. So let’s talk about the strategy around that, because, I mean, everybody that’s listening to this knows my work, and they know that I talk about my niching blog post and so on, and you’ve found your place as a niche in the world of educators. But I feel like a lot of people that come to YouTube, or actually, I would say a lot of people choose not to come to YouTube because they think it’s about growing broadly rather than growing in a specific area, and they feel like that task is insurmountable.

And what I love about your work is you’re saying, don’t even bother with that. There’s no money in that. And there’s a lot of stress in that. Go small. And as a matter of fact, that’s happier and actually will make you a lot more money. So do you want to talk about some of the creators that that you’ve worked with, or just share some of the barriers they have around thinking this way?

Fame or Money?

Ed Lawrence: It’s a really tough thing to deal with. So what I found is if I make a video about getting more views, I will generally get more clicks than making a video about getting money from your channel. This was on my main channel. and I was like, right, so status and a large following is more important to people than money.

So the first thing we have to overcome is you. You don’t want fame, you want money, you think you want fame. But what happens on YouTube is everyone goes to the fame and then goes, wait a second, I’m not getting paid much for this because I’m not in a niche where I can get hundreds of millions of views and the ad revenue is low and the sponsorships are annoying.

So then it’s like, oh, this. You know, I thought I’d get 100,000 subscribers and then it would all just fall together, which of course doesn’t work. So the smartest thing, and especially as it’s getting so competitive now, is to say I don’t want to be the biggest in the niche. I just want to own a piece of it, like you said.

And that would mean you’re not competing with the best in the world, because if you go for the biggest names, you all compete against the best in the world who are spending hundreds of thousand dollars a month. They’re paying $280,000 a year for thumbnail strategists. At the moment, that’s how in-demand it is. It’s impossible to find people good enough to then develop your channel, so that going for the bigger niche is more stressful, less likely to actually make it.

It’s probably going to cause you a lot of emotional damage as well. Whereas if you say, I’m happy being less well known, what actually happened is you’ll become more known because you actually will be known for something rather than continually failing to get known for something. And let me give you an example. Like there’s a guy who teaches people how to stop their wives from leaving them, which is just the most specific niche.

but this guy is doing I think it was like $160,000 a month. And he’s getting, you know, 4 or 5000 views per video, something that was not great. They would never get traction in any other niche. But he’s just known as that. And that’s nice because you’ve not got massive fame, but you have respect. You have credibility and you have a little bit of status, but not enough to make it uncomfortable.

So I think that is the way to go is like.

Small, small.

Small fame within a small, small nation.

Matthew Pollard: Well, I will tell you, there’s a reason why I had you on it, because you and I are in total alignment with that. And I keep telling people it’s counter. I know it sounds counterintuitive, but speaking to less people, especially in these globally connected world, means you’re actually speaking to people in the exact language they need to hear to go.

This person is the only logical choice to work with me. And I really want to, you know, I want to hire them and you know it. I understand people’s point of view is, you know, I was talking you know, I was working with a client of mine only last last week, and she was from this little remote town in Canada.

And so she’s like, there’s only like potentially 4 or 5 clients that I could get in my town. So I have to go broader. I’m like, yeah, but we’re not talking about your town. We’re in this globally connected world. You’re in this little rural town in Canada. If there is three clients, there are thousands with not tens of thousands or hundreds.

I mean, how many people can you work with? And all of a sudden there was this light bulb moment. And I find that so many people are living in this. I’m not saying they’re thinking small, they’re thinking offline. And I get that because, I mean, you’re talking to a guy that ten years ago, embarrassingly, I thought online was a bit of a joke.

A bunch of scam artists trying to say, just give me some consulting money and I’ll, I’ll show you how to do SEO or I’ll show you how to do pay per click, or I’ll show you how to, you know, get on a podcast. And I went, that’s all a joke because, I mean, I took pride as an introvert that I learned how to network, sell those extroverted or so-called extroverted behaviors.

And I wasn’t open to that stuff. I was closed minded for a different reason. But a lot of people are looking at the world as they know it, and assuming that that is what the digital forum looks like, and I am blown away with how many obscure channels that are teaching. So like a tiny little box of the world, but they have hundreds of thousands of views.

The Wrong Way to Monetize YouTube

But I’m going to call this out a little bit, because you and I have a you’ve had you and I have had a private conversation and one of the things that you and I joke about, I mean, everybody wants to be a bestselling author, and my books are in 16 languages. They’ve sold over 100,000 copies. You have one of the most successful YouTube channels in the world.

Like, I mean, and truthfully, to be in the top 5% right has a ton of views. And everybody else, I mean, it’s horrible statistics about the ones that don’t even get monetized. And everyone’s like, oh, if you’re not monetized, you’re not doing well. And I mean, you and I both know this, like being a successful author, if you had to live on the royalties, oh my gosh, that’s going to be a very poor existence.

And if you had to live on the monetization of YouTube, that would be a very poor existence. And the reason why I’m, I’m getting to this point is for the people out there that are coaches, consultants, educators of any type. A lot of people think the end goal of YouTube is monetizing what they know through ad revenue. And if they give away everything on YouTube, then how are they going to sell consulting?

And then also, is I really going to make enough money? And I mean, all of that is rubbish and you know that I know that. But a lot of people listening don’t. So can you like call a spade a spade and let’s get let’s get real about this for a second.

Ed Lawrence: Well, if you just take all the art out of it, it’s just marketing. There’s no different to having a poster on a billboard. There’s just value in it instead of just an advert. And I think that’s the thing people get to. They’re like, oh, the ad revenues call that will pay me to make the content. It’s like, we’re not really that’s going to distract you to chase views rather than viewers will buy your stuff.

So if you think about how traditional small businesses work, the average small business locally probably has like a couple of hundred people they could work with, and then they go after them. Whereas the online space that then suddenly becomes 2 million people. So they should just be thinking more like a traditional business. I don’t need to get 2 million views to appeal to people who are interested in me.

The internet’s just taken away all the geographical boundaries. So yeah, when you start chasing ad revenue, something is it’s fine, but you start playing a game of I need to get more and more views and you chase the system and it will distract you because it’s significant, harder to grow a YouTube channel than it is a business. I’ve done offline ones twice.

Both of them are far easier than growing a YouTube channel, so the best way to think of it is this is just a marketing tool for my business, and if I get a thousand views on a video, can that generate me business? If my product and offering is good? You know, if I’ve got a good, if good email marketing, if I’ve got good landing pages.

And of course, the answer is yes, because your viewers aren’t sitting there going, I’m only going to buy from this guy when he hits 100,000 subscribers. They’re sitting there going, okay, that was interesting. That was credible, that that helped solve my problem. How can I work with this person? And they click and go, oh, this sounds perfect. And then they book a call or, you know, buy something.

So the numbers have been skewed because we have creators like Mr. Beast getting 150 million. And everyone seems to think, you know, we just get hundreds of millions and millions of views. We don’t. We just need to target the right views and then have good marketing and a great offer. And the traditional business things that work like good customer service.

So they keep coming back. It’s basically normal business. It’s just got confused.

Matthew Pollard: Yeah, yeah. And I think that’s the same thing is when you see in a networking room that extrovert is going to want to buy from you. Do you want to buy from me? Do you want to buy from me? The strategic network that’s methodical makes more money, but that person looks more successful. And I see this on Instagram.

I’ve got a million Instagram followers. Yeah, but I’ve got less and I make more money off those. My followers. And I think you do the same. You’ve got less than Mr. Based. But and yes, Mr. Beast has his revenues, but you can try to be Mr. Beast, or you can try to have a nice group of people that you serve that you make amazing money off.

And I think for a lot of the people listening, that’s really what they want to do.

The Science of Being Funny

Now, I want to I want to dive into a little bit of the the uniqueness of your planning and preparation, but I just I need to confront something for a second because one of the things I struggle with when I first jumped on your YouTube channel is you’re funny.

And I hated that about you because I was like, I want to learn from this guy, but I’m not funny. And, you know, I know that you kind of joke about being weirdly funny. And I, I think a lot of introverts, I mean, let’s face it, we have our own weird personality. I’ve got a speech coach that tells me what’s funny, so I know when to pause.

I feel like a lot of introverts feel like they’re funny, but they don’t know how to share it, or they’re not sure that they’re funny. They’re going to struggle to look at your stuff and believe they can be funny. Like you. Can you talk to me about that a little bit?

Ed Lawrence: Yeah. So funny is actually just scientific. All you have to do is something unexpected. So the viewer might expect you to take a left turn, and then you suddenly go, right. That is that’s not a very good example in case of like a joke, but that’s all you need to do to be funny, really, in its simplest form is surprise them so you can think to yourself along the lines of, okay, you know, if I shot it like this, would that be unexpected?

And that might get a laugh. So humor is actually quite scientific when you look at it. And a lot of comedians are very dry in real life and not particularly exciting because they understand the science of comedy. Right? So yeah, you don’t have to be funny at all. And really, humor for me is I on my on film booth, which is my main channel.

The whole idea was appeal to people. So like a beginner and an expert could maybe enjoy this. But you can’t give a beginner an expert the same information. So how do you keep them both happy? What do you tell stories? So the expert is going, I know this, but this is great. It’s fun, it’s interesting. So I used humor and storytelling as a science to try and keep people watching, which would then get me more views.

But all of that is based around planning, and structure. And you can’t do it off the cuff. I can’t anyway. I don’t think many people can. So yeah, it’s just a game of, you know, writing, planning and then thinking, how could I make this amazing? What would make it amazing? Or how should I tell a story to make this point?

Or should I use a metaphor? But it’s all down to planning. It doesn’t come to me naturally. I have to sit there and actually think about, okay, this needs to be funny because if this bit isn’t, it’s going to lose people or this bit needs to be more interesting. So how do we do that? And then we look at similes, metaphor, props, stories.

There’s just like an armory of techniques that you can use to make things more fun. and if you can learn how to use them, it just becomes kind of systematized.

Matthew Pollard: I think that’s powerful for people to hear because, I mean, we’ve had comedians on the Introvert’s Edge podcast and they kind of some of the comedians kind of blend until you get them on the podcast and they’re like, bang, bang, bang, and it’s all pre-prepared and, you know, they’ll get on stage and they do the same thing, and you watch their YouTube channels or their TikToks, you know, oh my gosh, the hilarious.

But then on and just, you know, people think I’m so articulate. But I mean, no one saw, by the way, the conversation I mean, I drilled it before this podcast to make sure that we hit on all the points, to make sure this was absolutely what the audience needed. No one sees that stuff. They just go, wow, that’s dynamic.

And it just nails these answers. They don’t know the homework that goes in before this. To make sure they know. I have been on interviews where people say, well, tell me a little bit about you because they don’t know research at all. And, you know, some of these shows are in the top 5% of all podcast. And I can tell you that it’s a really uncomfortable thing for me as an introvert to get on one of those shows, because sometimes that recording and I don’t even know, you know, that that part is going to be used in the show.

So I think that what I’m hearing is success on YouTube, like success in networking, like success in sales comes from methodical planning and preparation to make sure that the 5 minutes or 8 minutes that you’re on camera is delivered in a way that really connects with with the audience. Do you want to? Because I’ve seen some of your YouTube videos about planning and preparation, and I’m forever saying, don’t go to a networking event if you don’t do these things.

And people are like, well, that’s a lot of work. And I’m like, wow, it’s a lot more work to go to the networking events, to pay the money, to go through all that stress and then get no results. How do you break up the time? Like if I said, I’m going to give you 100 hours to produce YouTube videos, are you spending 95 of those in front of the camera or what would you how would you break that off?

The Importance of Planning and Preparation

Ed Lawrence: Probably say 70% planning because yeah, the problem with the YouTube is it’s like if you don’t think it can do well, then you can’t make it. So we plan thumbnails and titles on idea until we have a thumbnail, until we’re like, okay, will people click on this? If we feel confident they will, we then go make the content and then we write the intro and the hook.

So planning is 70% filming. I mean, I filmed an entire four week course today and 2.5 hours, which is all been planned and written for ages. So and there’s like, I don’t know how many videos in it, but they don’t take very long to film when you’re just talking to camera in your planned, then the edit takes a lot of time.

That will take the remaining, you know, 29%. But yeah, planning is where the results are, and all the top YouTubers know that. The people that struggle are the ones that jump in front of the camera because everyone comes to YouTube to make a video, not to plan because it’s boring, right? Yeah. So yeah, most of most of the results is in the plan and the system that you create.

Matthew Pollard: Yeah, I think that’s powerful for people to hear because people will say that you, you know, you focus. You can really explain networking so clearly. And this because I wrote a 40,000 word book about networking. Right. Like it was that level of planning that allowed me to be articulate and explain it simply. I think it was, Richard Branson that said, any idiot can make something sound complicated.

It takes an expert to make it sounds simple. And I think what you’re highlighting is that planning and preparation makes it simple, makes it funny, makes it engaging. You think about the thumbnail first, which is, by the way, and the reason we’re not going deep into this, because, you know, some thumbnail strategy I know is something you specialize in storytelling, which is something you and I know works incredibly well on YouTube.

And I talk about in my books that it’s the heart of a sale, a horror network. And if you don’t know how to storyteller, as an introvert, you really limiting your potential to connect with people. The reason we’re not going deep into this stuff, by the way, is there’s a ton of amazing videos that has already created on these things, on these YouTube channel.

And he I’m gonna ask him where to find out more about him. But there’s a ton of you if you can get beyond the funny part, believing you can do that, then you’re going to find there’s a ton of content there that can really allow you to succeed. And you can methodically plan comedy, too, just like it said.

But the reason we’re not going into that is because I don’t want to recreate a whole bunch of stuff that’s already there. Go and check out his YouTube channel. What I really want people to hear is that the planning and preparation that goes into this makes the on camera stuff easy. That’s why I find sales easy, networking easy.

Speaking about the books that I’ve written, easy is the planning and the preparation, not the just getting on camera that I would find incredibly difficult. And the thing I love about that is what I’m hearing is that you’re presenting the best version of yourself through planning and preparation so that you can actually help an audience. And I want to finish with this question because I think it’s really important, but far more important than the actual tactics of how because they can go to your YouTube channel for that.

I’m always talking about in sales. It’s not about you in networking, it’s not about you. We had Ryan Deiss, the founder of Digital Marketer, on this podcast, and he talked about on stage. He found it terrifying until he realized it wasn’t about him, it was about serving the audience. And I think one of the things that you talk about when you’re writing YouTube channels is writing video content is you can take the How-To, which people find boring, but then when you write videos, if you go with the, you know, what do I want to share about myself that never really works?

Know Your Audience

You’ve got to get into the mindset of the person, the avatar of the person, and that really leads right back to it’s not about you, it’s about the end user. What are some of the mistakes people make when it comes to creating videos? Because they can’t get themselves from writing about what they think they want to, getting into the it’s not about me, it’s about them mindset.

Ed Lawrence: It’s very tough to do it because you have to understand and get to know your audience. So the way you do that is basically by practicing and you have to keep failing until we realize, oh, okay, this is what they’re interested in. This is what they click on. This is what they find into, you know, they keep want to keep watching.

Most people quit before it gets to that. So it’s the same as sales. It’s just all about the viewer. But the thing that confused people on YouTube was vloggers. While it’s just me showing off my life now, what people don’t realize is the good vlogger is not showing off their life. They’re telling relatable stories with a view of steps into their shoes and lives that moment.

So it’s still about the viewer. So the mistake is, yeah, a lot of people are like, oh, I just want to show off what I do. You know, people find me interesting. It’s like they don’t. They might find out your stories and how you can transform them. And especially in education, if you tell stories that show a transformation, if that’s about your transformation, it’s actually about the viewers transformation because they’re sitting there going, oh, cool, how can I do what this person’s done?

So yeah, that’s the big mistake, is that they go, oh, we’re going to make this idea. And then they don’t validate it, and then they go and make it and it is rubbish. And they’re like, oh, why is no one watching this? And it’s like, because you made an idea you thought was good. The rest of the world didn’t.

And that is the really tough thing about it is it takes years to finally start to really understand, okay, what does my audience actually want? And the only way, you know is by continually making mistakes until you can cross them all off a list. And there’s a lot of them.

Matthew Pollard: Yeah. Yeah, I think that’s I think that’s powerful. And I think for a lot of people listening, it’s weird. Most introverts don’t want to make it about them yet. They then make it about them from lack of planning, preparation and understanding. Their avatar or Donald Miller made a really good point. We get on, you know, whether we’re selling a networking or speaking from stage or YouTube, I guess we might get about ourselves because we get on camera and then we get needy, right?

We’re like, well, I need you guys to validate me because I’m doing this uncomfortable thing. And that also leads to that issue, which again, planning and preparation can fix. So I’m really glad you share that. I’m going to I’m going to finish this interview before I ask you where people should find out more about you. I’m not going to say where people can find out more about you, but the question I always end my interviews with is everybody talks about how introversion is a disadvantage, and I think that you are a, in a lot of ways, a titan introvert in your field.

What’s Your Introvert’s Edge?

And so I like to really put a spotlight on what people consider the introvert edge that have become successful introverts. What do you believe your introverts edge is.

Ed Lawrence: Probably the it just enabled me to think through things a lot, so that I could then go on to plan them. Everything has a purpose. Like why am I making this? What’s the result that I want? Okay, who are the people that I then want need to appeal to help me hit this result? Okay then what content do I make to appeal to those people?

Okay, then how do I produce that content in order to get in front of them? And then what can I learn from that? So it’s I guess thinking through everything quite a lot has been very helpful in helping my channels and businesses get successful because everything needs to kind of have a point and connect.

Matthew Pollard: I think that’s a really powerful message to leave people with. And because a lot of people, you know, I call it busy procrastination, they do the busy work without thinking because it feels like they’re moving forward. What I’ve seen with you is you do less and you actually produce a lot less videos than some of those people that are just hammering out content.

You do less. It just has more of a significant impact. And I’m very similar in everything that I do. You know what I mean? The thesis of my networking book is let me show you how to succeed in networking, so you never have to go back to a networking room unless you want to. And I think you’re doing the same.

It’s let me show you how to produce videos with strategy and preparation so that you have to produce less videos. And so you actually make more money. So you’re not reliant on the YouTube revenue, which means you don’t have to be a glutton to the crowds. You can just speak to the direct people. So I really appreciate you sharing that.

You know, I, I would love for people to find out more about you. You have too much stuff out in the world. What one resource or one thing should people do to find out more about not being YouTube famous, but being YouTube profitable?

Ed Lawrence: YouTube profitable would be, well, probably my email list because I, I niche that down a lot too, just mainly focusing on niching down. so you can that’s, this is film-booth.com/booth-club which is a nice cheesy name. I also have another channel actually called Creator Booth, which is specifically designed to helping creators monetize their following.

But I’m going to start talking more about storytelling on there because I want that to be about educators looking to monetize and going even more niche. But yeah, those are the best places to start, and I feel like going to be less overwhelming if you’re not into fast paced and slapstick stuff. That’s going to be a way easier read, because I’m way less playful in there and more scientific.

Matthew Pollard: And for those people, wondering whether or not they should check out that list, I should actually say that I’m on, Ed’s mailing list myself. And I actually have to ask him because he does this unique thing for a guy that had a reading speed of a sixth grader in late high school. it was something that I was, like, blown away with that he did.

He did. He actually reads out his email and puts an audio link at the top, which for me was amazing because I always joke about it. I’m blown away with how many people say, Matt, I loved your book. I’ve sent you my book to review because I’d love you to endorse it. And I’m like, in my book, I tell you, I don’t read, I listen, right?

Because I mean, for me, it just takes so much time. The thing I love about Ed’s email list is it’s something that you can easily consume. And if you like me, you can click on the audio and then listen. I mean, Australians speak quickly. We listen quickly to, you know, I can listen to it at two times speed.

Get the message, get the value out and apply it into my business. And what I will tell you is a lot of the strategies that Ed shares actually have really good application to the rest of your business as well. But I mean, you’ve heard me talk a thousand times around the science of why story works so well. So, you know, obviously story.

I’m a big believer in planning and preparation. I’m a big believer on and this is not just YouTube centric stuff though. If you are considering starting a YouTube channel or fixing the one you’ve already broken, then you should definitely check out, that YouTube channel as well. But it. I so appreciate you being on here and sharing an open, introverted story on on YouTube and the successes of it, but also the mistakes you’ve made.

Ed Lawrence: Thank you. Appreciate it.

Matthew Pollard: Terrific. Well, thank you everyone for joining us on today’s episode. I’ve, I’ve got no doubt you got a ton of value. I know I took some notes myself, so thank you for joining us. And we greatly look forward to seeing you in the next episode. And if you’ve liked this episode, take a second to subscribe. Post a review.

Even if it’s all about Ed, that’s totally fine. Post a review about it on the podcast to let people know that that’s the podcast that they should check if this podcast actually left an impact with you. Thanks for joining us and we’ll see you in the next one. Cheers.