The Shawshank Redemption is one of my favourite movies of all time.
But when it was released in 1994, it was a commercial flop.
It had a production budget of $25 million, but only grossed $2.4 million during its release in October that year.
And despite being critically acclaimed by the people who did watch it, the film continued to struggle at the box office and only hit mainstream success several years later.
So what happened? And what has this got to do with YouTube?
Well, there was a big reason why Shawshank Redemption didn’t do well initially.
They had a small marketing budget, especially in comparison to other blockbusters that year like Pulp Fiction and Forrest Gump.
But over time word spread about how good the film was, and today it’s known as one of the greatest films ever made.
This is a perfect analogy for what it’s like being a YouTuber.
Making great content is the most important thing long term, but if you can’t get people to watch your videos in the first place, then your progress is much slower.
Sure, if you only focus on making great content, you’ll probably get the success you’re looking for eventually.
But you can save yourself years if you also learn how to get people to click on your videos.
Your titles and thumbnails are like billboards and trailers for traditional films.
They sell the audience on your content. But Shawshank Redemption needed to spend money to market and sell their film.
Luckily for us, YouTube has free advertising built in through their recommendations algorithm.
All you need to do is spend time learning how to make great thumbnails, and get people to click.
I wasted a lot of time and effort not understanding this. I made so many videos that were hidden behind poor packaging.
So if you want to avoid the same mistakes as me, and potentially save yourself years, you’d love Thumbnail Masterclass.
It’s not just that making good thumbnails can fast forward your progress, it’s that making bad ones can hold you back for years.
So I’m excited to share the course with you in a couple weeks. The early-bird students have been loving it and massively levelling up their thumbnails.
The launch is next Tuesday, 1st October, and over 135 YouTubers are already on the waitlist.
You can join them by clicking here (if you haven’t already).
Have an epic week making videos!
Tintin 🧑💻
P.s.
Content is of course king. It’s the same in business, you need to have a great product.
But if you can’t figure out the sales and marketing side of things, your business is going to struggle.
On YouTube, thumbnails are your sales and marketing. They’re how you separate yourself from the crowd on YouTube and get people to watch.
So if you want some help learning how to make good ones, you can hop on the course waitlist here.