DevFactor
Member
Hey Guys,
I'm Andrew and I run a YouTube channel called DevFactor: /devfactor
DevFactor has a pretty big history, so I'll give you a run down before I start the tutorial.
Two years ago after being unhappy with the state of programming education (its outdated, slow, inefficient) - I opted to start a website to teach people how to code. On the DevFactor website, I produced over 100 text based programming tutorials. Growth was steady, but slow. Last year DevFactor was seeing ~100k unique visitors per month and 500k page views. But most of my traffic was going to one or two "viral" posts.
I started dabbling with video on YouTube, and realized that I got a ton more organic traffic due to the lack of good quality programming tutorials on YouTube. So I decided to go all in, redirecting my traffic from DevFactor to YouTube (or to a landing page actually). And running my channel using principles found in agile development and lean management.
For those of you who aren't familiar with Lean Management, I suggest reading this book: amazon.com/Lean-Startup-Entrepreneurs-Continuous-Innovation/dp/0307887898/?tag=devfactor-20
To Summarize My Approach:
1) Using data available, select a market (programming, game development) and create hypothesis on who will want your content and how you will market it.
2) Plan 2 week "sprints" where you test a feature, or content change. Gather as much data as possible so you can review the results and make informed decisions on the success of the feature.
3) Use A/B testing. For our channel, I tried putting out two series at once. I started a Ruby on Rails (web development) and Java Game Programming tutorial series simultaneously. For each I optimized keywords using the Google keyword planner tool, optimized titles and created special thumbnails (more on that soon).
4) Pivot. Based on the data you gather and results of A/B testing, determine your most popular video's categories and topics. Because game development was WAY better performing, we opted to "pivot" and focus on game development. Since we have RoR fans, RoR tutorials will continue but at a slower pace and lower priority.
5) Market your content directly to your target demographics (not at random), and ensure your mission statement / goals and emotions go into the marketing. There is a book called Contagious which talks about viral marketing. But the summary is you need to explain "what", "how" and "for what purpose" in your marketing. Because I was honest about my channel & goals, and expressed I was passionate about the topics I was able to get hundreds of subs from one viral post: reddit.com/r/gamedev/comments/2y7ln6/would_you_be_interested_in_a_free_java_game_dev/
6) Finally, always collect as much data as possible from subscribers on how to improve your channel. In the end, they are the consumers of your product and may see things differently than you do. Especially in the case of my tutorials, I've found it great talking to subscribers because they have a totally different role than I do (I already know the content, they are learning).
And here is what I used to "add icing to the cake". I wanted to create not only a popular channel, but an authority channel which would be perceived as high quality, useful and concise. In essence, I decided I wanted to shoot for regular subscribers and relationships rather than high views here and there. I've used these techniques to work on that:
1) Custom thumbnails - my thumbnails all include my very simple logo. This means if someone sees my video in search, they instantly know its from me and they instantly know it is of a certain quality, and that they will get feedback if they need help.
2) Custom Intro/Outro (10 seconds or less). I experimented with this and it worked great! But only when it was cut down to under 10 seconds. Above that and I lose viewers.
3) Playlists by topic. Not only do playlists help organize, but they will get you more views. Viewers will accidentally let the next video play and opt to watch it regardless of if they originally intended to.
4) Produce Value: Why does your channel matter? At my channel you can learn to code (proven to increase your earnings), learn to build video games (many people's dream job!), and you get free debugging in the comments ($40/hr+ at a tutor). Your channel must bring literal value into someones life for it to be worth subscribing, and you must have a clear goal for your channel (don't do multiple things in a channel, e.x. cooking, cars, unless that is your "thing").
Finally, some philosophy of mine (from spending a few years marketing online content):
1) Don't Repeat Your Self
2) Short, Concise, Trim the Fat
3) Clear Mission
4) Key Words to think of: Engage, Inspire, Excite
In 1 month on YouTube we have grown to ~2,000 subscribers.
If you are interested in learning about coding or game development, check us out: /devfactor
If you have questions or comments I'd love to help answer them![DOUBLEPOST=1428096884,1428091263][/DOUBLEPOST]Hey Admins, I appreciate the sticky. Thanks!
I was wondering how I could edit this? Doing so would allow me to work on the formatting and condensing the material. If a lot of people are going to view this I want to make sure I maximize readability and insure the important points stick out
I'm Andrew and I run a YouTube channel called DevFactor: /devfactor
DevFactor has a pretty big history, so I'll give you a run down before I start the tutorial.
Two years ago after being unhappy with the state of programming education (its outdated, slow, inefficient) - I opted to start a website to teach people how to code. On the DevFactor website, I produced over 100 text based programming tutorials. Growth was steady, but slow. Last year DevFactor was seeing ~100k unique visitors per month and 500k page views. But most of my traffic was going to one or two "viral" posts.
I started dabbling with video on YouTube, and realized that I got a ton more organic traffic due to the lack of good quality programming tutorials on YouTube. So I decided to go all in, redirecting my traffic from DevFactor to YouTube (or to a landing page actually). And running my channel using principles found in agile development and lean management.
For those of you who aren't familiar with Lean Management, I suggest reading this book: amazon.com/Lean-Startup-Entrepreneurs-Continuous-Innovation/dp/0307887898/?tag=devfactor-20
To Summarize My Approach:
1) Using data available, select a market (programming, game development) and create hypothesis on who will want your content and how you will market it.
2) Plan 2 week "sprints" where you test a feature, or content change. Gather as much data as possible so you can review the results and make informed decisions on the success of the feature.
3) Use A/B testing. For our channel, I tried putting out two series at once. I started a Ruby on Rails (web development) and Java Game Programming tutorial series simultaneously. For each I optimized keywords using the Google keyword planner tool, optimized titles and created special thumbnails (more on that soon).
4) Pivot. Based on the data you gather and results of A/B testing, determine your most popular video's categories and topics. Because game development was WAY better performing, we opted to "pivot" and focus on game development. Since we have RoR fans, RoR tutorials will continue but at a slower pace and lower priority.
5) Market your content directly to your target demographics (not at random), and ensure your mission statement / goals and emotions go into the marketing. There is a book called Contagious which talks about viral marketing. But the summary is you need to explain "what", "how" and "for what purpose" in your marketing. Because I was honest about my channel & goals, and expressed I was passionate about the topics I was able to get hundreds of subs from one viral post: reddit.com/r/gamedev/comments/2y7ln6/would_you_be_interested_in_a_free_java_game_dev/
6) Finally, always collect as much data as possible from subscribers on how to improve your channel. In the end, they are the consumers of your product and may see things differently than you do. Especially in the case of my tutorials, I've found it great talking to subscribers because they have a totally different role than I do (I already know the content, they are learning).
And here is what I used to "add icing to the cake". I wanted to create not only a popular channel, but an authority channel which would be perceived as high quality, useful and concise. In essence, I decided I wanted to shoot for regular subscribers and relationships rather than high views here and there. I've used these techniques to work on that:
1) Custom thumbnails - my thumbnails all include my very simple logo. This means if someone sees my video in search, they instantly know its from me and they instantly know it is of a certain quality, and that they will get feedback if they need help.
2) Custom Intro/Outro (10 seconds or less). I experimented with this and it worked great! But only when it was cut down to under 10 seconds. Above that and I lose viewers.
3) Playlists by topic. Not only do playlists help organize, but they will get you more views. Viewers will accidentally let the next video play and opt to watch it regardless of if they originally intended to.
4) Produce Value: Why does your channel matter? At my channel you can learn to code (proven to increase your earnings), learn to build video games (many people's dream job!), and you get free debugging in the comments ($40/hr+ at a tutor). Your channel must bring literal value into someones life for it to be worth subscribing, and you must have a clear goal for your channel (don't do multiple things in a channel, e.x. cooking, cars, unless that is your "thing").
Finally, some philosophy of mine (from spending a few years marketing online content):
1) Don't Repeat Your Self
2) Short, Concise, Trim the Fat
3) Clear Mission
4) Key Words to think of: Engage, Inspire, Excite
In 1 month on YouTube we have grown to ~2,000 subscribers.
If you are interested in learning about coding or game development, check us out: /devfactor
If you have questions or comments I'd love to help answer them![DOUBLEPOST=1428096884,1428091263][/DOUBLEPOST]Hey Admins, I appreciate the sticky. Thanks!
I was wondering how I could edit this? Doing so would allow me to work on the formatting and condensing the material. If a lot of people are going to view this I want to make sure I maximize readability and insure the important points stick out
