I’ve been taking the YouTube Mastery course by George Kao and have accepted the 100 YouTube Videos Challenge, giving myself the fun deadline of April 14th, 2024 to complete them.

I’ll share my progress and insights so far below.

My YouTube 100 Videos Challenge Update

I’ve created 33 of my 100 videos so far, and am still going strong.

My views, comments and subscribers are up. (I wasn’t starting from scratch, already had about 300 subscribers.)

The most noticeable thing is that I am fully engaged in creating content. It’s just bubbling out of me, and it’s actually not horrible. 😂

I’m discovering how much of my podcast and webinar content I can repurpose as short video excerpts. For instance, I’m making four videos from a 60 minute workshop I just led, and three from a recent podcast. (You can see them in my 100 Videos Challenge playlist here.)

Takeaway: making videos regularly, even two per day, is WAY easier than I thought, especially when I use excerpts from my longer form video content.

It’s fun to watch the views and read the comments, but I’m not paying that much attention to the stats. I’m having fun and enjoying the process.

I even started a video series about Human Design that I’ve been dreading for years (literally) because I was afraid of what “they” would think. (“They” being imaginary haters who won’t like my contrarian views about their modality of choice.) Well, it’s not stopping me now — and people are responding well to this series, too.

A Breakdown of My Video Creation (Un)Process

I’m currently doing different variations of video creation, with no specific plan or strategy in mind.

I’m creating videos with my phone, usually outside, or with zoom on my laptop, where I may add some text overlays simply because it’s fun. I use Camtasia for video editing. (I’m using Camtasia because I’ve had the software for a long time, but wouldn’t recommend it; there are probably much easier to use editors available these days.)

I’ll break down the different ways creative inspiration strikes as I see them now:

Creating content for a paid course, which then inspires new short video (3-5 min) content. I’ve just completed the CREATE course (about getting into action on a project and creating momentum) and am now working on SHARE (how to share your message to create impact and clients.) Since I’m pondering these things, it naturally occurs to me to make additional videos about them.

Presenting a workshop or podcast, then editing excerpts into short videos. For instance, last night I did a 60 minute workshop. Immediately following, I re-listened and chopped out five segments that could be stand alone 1-3 minute videos. For me right now, thinking about creating content while I’m in the experience makes me less present with people, so I don’t even think about it until afterward. I suspect this would get easier and require less thinking over time.

Short videos inspired by my personal journey and reflections. I often share stories from my own experiences that resonate with themes in my community. I’m naturally thinking about these subjects anyway, which makes it easy to spontaneously pull out my phone, record and share.

YouTube video Shorts. I’ve been playing around with making a few videos under one minute and then sharing them as Shorts. I find the YouTube editor extremely clunky. I think about 1-2 sentences I can say to make a point, then go for it and add text. (I’m not loving this yet, but it’s fun to play with.)

Videos inspired by comments and questions. People might ask a question underneath my video, send me an email, ask in my community, or in a client session. Again, it’s natural for me to ponder it, so it becomes content for a video.

A series of videos on a theme. This one I’m doing as an experiment around a topic I’ve been avoiding for a looooong time. I’ve created a rough outline of what I want to say, mainly because it may become a course later. I’m using this to organize my thoughts and see how people respond.

re: descriptions and keywords – I haven’t put much attention on this yet to stay focused on creating content. I write a sentence describing the content, add a few relevant keywords, and add the video to a relevant playlist. It doesn’t take more than a minute or two.

The (Not So) Secret to My Content Creation Success

I haven’t been doing this as a conscious strategy.

“Video creation time” isn’t a task on my To Do List and I haven’t been doing any time blocking for it.

So how is all this happening without “discipline” and structure?

Here’s the (not so) secret to my creativity recipe:

1. I actually want to do this.
2. I’m fully enjoying the creation process.
3. I have a clear intention for what I’m up to: exploring my content, learning about YouTube, engaging with people

Bonus not-secret: I’ve also given myself a deadline for creating these 100 videos by April 14th. I don’t think a deadline is necessary for creativity, but it can create a strong focused intention that’s helpful.

Here’s how it looks to me…

When you focus your intention on creating something over a period of time, the Universe swings into action on your behalf.

You’ll get more ideas without trying. The space to do it opens up, and you’re inclined to take it. You’ll begin to see possibilities everywhere, and the more you enjoy it, the more you’ll want to do it.

No self-flagellation, pressure or time blocking required – but you can still create those experiences if you like that sort of thing. 😉

FYI – this blog post was repurposed from one of my comments in a community forum. I also made it into a separate forum post. See? I’m a content-creating machine.

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