Chain Reaction Framework
15-minute study
aka. Stress-free growth on YouTube
Growing on YouTube is hard, right?
I was hitting my head on the wall for a long time.
“If I just keep publishing videos, the channel will grow.” Yes and no.
Anyone, you and me included, can grow their channel at a very SLOW rate using this primitive strategy. However, we don’t want to spend years doing that.
So after seeing so many disappointing duds on my channel, I had to come up with a breakthrough strategy that ends the slow grind and shoots the monthly stats up with a multiplier. And I did.
What you see here is my February and June Detonators on my YouTube channel.
Those huge bumps are detonator videos that caused a chain reaction on my channel.
A detonator is a reverse-engineered video, that literally turns the video creation process around. It is designed to attract wider audience and get more views and subscribers for your channel. More about that later.
And the chain reaction is what happens when the detonator sends shockwaves down your funnel.
In this case, in February my channel finally passed 1K subscribers, got more views in one month than in the past year, and got me a new high-ticket client. Cool, right?
Now in June I have already raked up over 100K views and the channel is growing.
Chain Reaction Content Strategy
aka. The simple content strategy that solves the biggest solopreneur problems at one go.
This framework is simple, yet deadly effective. It helps you balance between low-effort and high-effort production, and allows you to make videos almost about anything to keep things fresh.
Here’s how it works. You’ll make three types of videos:
- Personal interest videos
We’re building personal brands and want to help people to feel connected to us through our personal stories, interests and challenges. Make videos where you share more about you (that will also help your audience).
- Problem-solving videos for your target audience
Your future clients are now suffering at the point A, and you want to help them to get to point B (the dream outcome). Plot out the steps to get there. Now you have 10 new video ideas.
- Promotional videos
We’re not out there to earn ad revenue dollars. Instead, we want to enroll people in our communities, get them to book calls, opt-in to lead magnets and newsletters – and finally to purchase whatever we are offering. Don’t be shy to sell on videos.
This 3-part content cycle will create the critical mass on your channel that you need before you create detonator videos.
In practice, your content calendar could look like this:
Week 1: Personal interest video → Show your personality = RELATABILITY
Week 2: Problem-solving video → Build your authority and expertise = TRUST
Week 3: Promotional video → Make it clear that you help people = OFFER
Week 4: Detonator video → Grow your channel for social proof = LEADS
Why this strategy is so freaking awesome (and effective)?
For multiple reasons.
TIME: This way we don’t need to spend inordinate time researching a hot topic, writing a script for days, designing a viral packaging, shooting and editing for 40 hours, and trying reach “virality”.
VIRALITY: You don’t need to chase virality and overthink every video. So what if the “wave crashes”? Because it always does.
MONETIZATION: We don’t rely on ad revenue, so setting off a detonator once a month is generating more than enough traffic to our funnel.
PERSONAL BRAND: Low-effort videos solve problems, and personal interest videos help us connect and speak directly to our target avatar.
Example of each video
Problem solving (A2B) video
This simple video solves a problem for my target audience: Many solopreneurs are self-taught video editors, and have many questions YouTube or Google can answer (You).
It positions me as an authority on the topic and provides value to people who have this problem.
Personal interest video
One good topic for personal interest videos is to share your experiences. In this one, I share my opinion about Playa Del Carmen in a way that answers many questions the audience has.
Showing your life and “behind the scenes” helps to build trust and create a connection with people who want to do something similar or are doing it already: Your target audience.
Promotional video
How to make promotional videos that don’t sound too salesy?
Have a strong argument and give 3-5 points to have a strong premise. That’s what I did here. At the end of the video, I have a call to action to visit my website for my YouTube coaching. (Did you realize I shot this with a 10-year-old smartphone?!).
Studying part completed!
Now you got a basic understanding how the Chain Reaction Content Strategy works.
This way, you can generate endless video ideas, aligned with your offer, and grow your channel on YouTube with clarity and direction.
Do you enjoy making videos?
One thing is to logically understand the strategy and apply it. Another is to put your heart into it.
For each of these topics, make them your own. Take responsibility to enjoy making them. Don’t just go through the motions and post videos you don’t care about. Because if you do, people will care even less.
Instead, remind yourself why are you doing this in the first place. Remember the freedom, self-actualization and new opportunities you want to create for yourself and others by being a solopreneur in the creator economy. Tap into that energy to radiate on camera.
Show people your spirit. Let them see that you got that fire.