In this episode, Paul James joins the show to talk about SEO, transition to a new platform, and leverage it for your business. He is a digital marketing expert, entrepreneur, and YouTuber. He is best known for his vast expertise in digital marketing, software, website development, and SEO. Paul has a passion for helping people build profitable businesses and achieve their lifestyles by turning their ideas into products or services.
Visit Paul's website at https://www.pauljames.com/ or https://www.iampauljames.com/
Learn more about Paul James on:
LINKEDIN: https://www.linkedin.com/in/iampauljames/
FACEBOOK: https://www.facebook.com/hellopauljames/
INSTAGRAM: https://www.instagram.com/hellopauljames/
TWITTER: https://twitter.com/hellopauljames
YOUTUBE: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCj2zirDn1hkPKSARbARfeQw
Entrepreneurial beginning
[1:49]I started ten years ago when I came across SEO, Search Engine Optimization, from a course called Bring The Fresh. I thought it would be cool to start taking this over to doing with local business owners.
[1:58] I was one of the first people to do it with Google Maps with lead generation creating Google Map listings. I would sell the leads to someone and put out a course on the Warrior Forum about how I was doing.
[2:37] I needed a good place to host my videos. I started putting videos on YouTube to update people on the different strategies I shared with them. I realized one of those videos took off.
[3:10] I ended up dropping out, moved out of my brother's garage, took out a loan for a laptop on a credit card, and went full-blown into that and scaled it up pretty quickly. I wasn't making a lot of money at the time, but I knew that if I focused on this, I could make it work.
Transitioning to a New Platform
[4:50] It took a while before I perfected the strategy of actually growing on YouTube, but I realized this is a natural platform to increase subscribers. I just started putting out content and mostly around search engine optimization and lead generation.
[6:16] You're perceived as an authority, and you can leverage it however you want. So in my beginning stages, I leveraged it to get local clients. Then I started casting my net wider, went more generic, and stopped talking so much about SEO.
Leveraging for Local Marketers
[7:43] I think local marketers that understand SEO have a unique advantage over anyone else out there. YouTube is one of the most significant search engines.
[8:21] When you're starting, you want to start with that search algorithm because it's easier to get into. You can start to niche down and start to go after keywords that are practically no competition.
[8:57] You've got to get things on both sides of the equation. Get your service delivery very structured, standardized, and automated as much as possible so that you can afford to maintain those customers and make a good enough margin from them even to exist because small businesses can't pay a lot of money. You've got to be very lean and efficient on the service delivery side.
Monetizing
[10:04] YouTube will promote my videos more if they're making money off of them. When I turned the ads on and monetized them, I started getting a lot more traffic. So I would make the video so that they meet that criteria. My focus was to generate leads and get new customers.
The Right Content
[12:33] It depends on your niche. I came from a world of recording videos in the local marketing niche because they're informative and teaching something.
[14:38] Make sure that you're dialed in and exactly know what types of services that you're going to offer because that period in between connecting with the business and being able to provide them with something of value to take advantage of your audience is vital. I think that's where many people start to make mistakes-not having that speed and efficiency of a sales process.
[12:53] And at the end of the day, people come to YouTube to search for something because they want to solve a problem. So it doesn't matter whether you're on camera or whether you're showing your computer. The importance is solving the problem of people watching. If you want to get into the suggested algorithm, there are some factors at play. If you can't get someone to click on the video, they're never going to get there.
[13:25] I learned later that I needed to focus more on that because I couldn't focus on my title or thumbnail before. So spend as much time on your thumbnail if you want to hit some of those suggested stuff as you do your actual video itself. YouTube wants to see that you're keeping people watching for a long time. If they start to see it, they might choose another video to promote, making them more money because people are watching it longer.
[13:59] I started to do little skits in between. I began to cast a wider net and try to go after the younger demographic watching videos. Learning other niches on Youtube and blending them into my world propelled my channel up so fast.
The Effects of Optimized Description
[16:21] For SEO purposes and search rankings, if you want to be ranking for those keywords, then definitely want to have your keyword in the title and description. Put related keywords in your tags as well. Take those tags in your description box. If you do that, you're going to have a lot better results in the search algorithm.
[17:35] Engagement is significant as well in both algorithm searches. I always ask people to like the video and subscribe. It's a call to action. Marketers know that when you tell someone to do something, they're more likely to do it than if you don't ask at all. Ask them to like the video. It would help if you gave them a reason to like it.
[18:42] Trolls are an indicator that you're making it. If no one's talking about you, that's probably a bad thing. You can permanently delete comments if you want, but typically you start to cultivate a pretty big fan base.
Best strategies to use to capture the attention
[20:35] If you can plan your video out on a notebook or something ahead of time, that can help. Break your video up into segments and hook them in. Each different component should lead up to that. Give them what they want as quickly as you can.
[21:45] Try to make the video feel like it's not over yet so that they keep watching and go on to watch something else.
Key Quotes:
[21:45-21:52] "Try to make the video feel like it's not over yet so that they keep watching, and they go on to watch something else."
Visit Paul's website at https://www.pauljames.com/ or https://www.iampauljames.com/
Learn more about Paul James on:
LINKEDIN: https://www.linkedin.com/in/iampauljames/
FACEBOOK: https://www.facebook.com/hellopauljames/
INSTAGRAM: https://www.instagram.com/hellopauljames/
TWITTER: https://twitter.com/hellopauljames
YOUTUBE: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCj2zirDn1hkPKSARbARfeQw
