Create a YouTube Channel with Kevin Appleby
This podcast is about setting up a YouTube channel. Kevin Appleby has recently set one up and is going to tell us what this experience has been, why he is doing it, what the purpose is and what his hopes for it are.
21st century business accountant
Kevin's YouTube channel targets accountants (hence the name!). More specifically, it aims at the sort of accountant that works inside a company and advises the business team running the organisation.
The content is very much based on what Kevin teaches as part of his course called 21st Century Finance Business Partner. Now, you may be wondering why there is such an emphasis on the 21st century. We've been in the 21st century for 19 years now! But, with the 21st century has come a lot of change. When Kevin first started his career, he did virtually nothing using a computer. As time went on, Excel and other software became his friend.
However, we're in a time that is so much in the finance world that it's becoming automated. This impacts the accountant because the routine work has well and truly disappeared through computer efficiency.
Be vital rather than functional
Daniel Priestly talks about being vital rather than functional his book, Key Person of Influence (click the picture for a link). Essentially, the functional will disappear, will be automated, will be replaced by IA, for example. The vital remains.
For these accountants then, it doesn't seem so sunny-side up! However, Kevin thinks it is. The first episode on his YouTube channel talks about being VITAL.
V - Vision strategy. This is all about the accountant being involved in the strategy of his business.
I - Insight around the financial numbers (product profitability, customer profitability, and activity-based costing).
T - Team. Do you understand what the rest of your business team needs of you? What insight are they needing from you as the accountant?
A - Agility in change. An accountant's role is to be right in the middle of business change. Change is about doing some things and stopping others; about culture and attitude so, within the numbers, there's actually a lot to learn about people.
L - Learning. There's always something new to learn.
In fact, the first six videos are dedicated to what it means to be VITAL.
How did the YouTube Channel come about?
http://thenext100days.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/How-did-this-come-about.mp4
With a YouTube channel, Kevin realised a series of material can be built across time, much like our podcast, The Next 100 Days. However, unlike a podcast, he decided that people's attention to a video isn't that great. 30 minutes of 40 minutes would be too long. It would be a quick dip into the classroom, 5 to 10 minutes being just right.
Short and Sweet...
In effect, Kevin replaced a webinar strategy with a YouTube strategy, through which clients can be driven toward 'tasters'. That way, if watchers liked the idea of the YouTube videos, then they would know a place to go to get a more detailed course.
YouTube as Strategy
You want to attract regular watchers so that they subscribe to your channel. Then they get notifications every time a new video comes out. Much like our podcast, the aim is to get out content once a week.
Refer to the channel in marketing posts for courses. As Kevin sets up a new course, you can use YouTube channels to give a taster of what you are up to as the manager of the course.
Blog post. Each video about VITAL will be embedded in Kevin's blog post.
Producing content
When you look at it, the strategies used to optimise YouTube channels actually come within the scope of content strategies. Recently, we had Mark Taylor on the show, discussing how Google focusses on content.
Think of the type of things that are on people's minds. You need to start thinking what are the questions your target audience are thinking - about business,
