I’ve gained over 139,000 subscribers across 4 channels, all just by sharing music and random ideas in my head.
One has a plaque.
And two are in the YouTube Partnership & Monetization Program, with a third on the way…
So I know I’ve found a system that works.
If you’ve been struggling to make progress with your channel, it’s not your fault.
Free information about how to do it correctly is scarce 🤷♂️.
That’s why today I’ll teach you the method that took me over half a decade of blood, sweat, and tears to uncover.
And I’ll show you exactly how to do it without that gross stuff 💉🩸.
If you’ve got just an hour per day and a persistent attitude, then this is the exact guide you’ve been waiting for to blow up your YouTube channel next year!
And, as a bonus, I’ll show you how to build an audience of people who’re interested in your music/products long before you hit the monetization thresholds.
[Watch this letter on YouTube]
Section 1: What type of content should you make?
But before I go further, we need to talk about the single biggest mistake I see producers make in content creation.
Whether I’m doing a private consultation or 1-on-1 mentorship in my group, it’s always the same.
And I get it, because I started out making the same error.
I started YouTube by just posting beats.
And - to be fair - it worked decently enough.
But things exploded when I started building a brand by posting content.
This is Secret #1: The Long Form Strat.
Take advantage of Long Form (especially because 90% of musicians won’t).
I’ll spend the rest of this newsletter breaking down how to use this for your brand.
But, TO BE CLEAR, I can only teach you what I know…
So I gotta tell you that the only way you’ll grow a meaningful following is with long form video.
If someone else is telling you something different, go with what they say instead 😅.
But THIS is exactly how I grew my main channel.
That’s how my homie and mentee, Rob Chillin https://www.youtube.com/@robchillin , gained 1,000 subs in just about a year (we have an inspiring podcast x newsletter collab dropping soon).
I also applied this to my second https://www.youtube.com/@prodbychu and third https://www.youtube.com/@prodbychu2 channels too.
If you want to build a subscriber base of people who will actually fuck with your music, then you need to curate that audience with long form content.
Ps. Check out the Centerfold bundle for the full Chu Method (click to find out why I have to describe it that way).
Section 2: How much content should you release?
However, there’s a bit more to it than just posting long form.
The thing that tripped me up A LOT what not knowing when to post the next thing.
The solution is in structure, my friend.
It’s not discussed enough how important a consistent posting schedule is on YouTube.
There’s a million good reasons (and they come with as many anecdotal and statistical justifications).
But I’ll just give you my head cannon explanation. 👇.
I like to run my channels like a TV station, so I look at every drop as a ‘new episode’.
Ongoing shows. Limited series. Things of that nature.
BUT…
The only way I could figure out what worked and what didn’t was by posting consistently.
It was sporadic at first, but I started getting good at figuring out what was working when I moved to once a week.
That’s Secret #2: Just focus on uploading ONE LONG FORM per month.
Why not once per week? Because that’s fucking hard to start with.
Build up your muscle for posting consistently by starting with a manageable goal.
This prevents you from burning out and gives you time to develop a good idea worthy of testing (instead of just rushed pieces of crap with 30 second half lives).
Take advantage of other YouTube features to remain active during the month.
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Post one YT Short per week (based on the long form).
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Post one community post per day (based on the shorts and long form).
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Post 1 or 2 beats per month (create a beats dump channel).
(This newsletter explains more about content scheduling).
A structured approach will consistently grow your channels’ weight and tenure, two of the most important statistics for getting an account off the ground - also discussed in this letter.
Section 3: How long should you spend working on content?
So far we’ve talked about what type of content you should make, and how often to post.
BUT…
If you don’t sit down to make content, it won’t get made (and so you can’t post consistently).
This seems simple, but this took me a while to grasp.
I kind of just expected the content to make itself.
Or, at the very least, I thought the ideas would just flash in my head whenever I was ready.
However, wait as I did - nothing came.
But I’d always get ideas when listening to music.
I’d hear stuff that I couldn’t do, and this would force me to go learn.
I take a lot of notes when I study, so one day I just took those notes and turned them into a video explaining things in my own words.
It’s really just an exercise in recall for me (like making flashcards), but that’s the basis for my entire content creation strategy.
It works because it’s valuable to me; I’m only learning things interesting to me that help me make better music.
And since it helped me solve a problem, I can be confident that it will help at least one more person.
That’s how I learned Secret #3: You only need to spend ONE HOUR Per day working on your content.
Study music for 30 minutes.
Then put your learning into practice for 30 minutes right after.
Do this for 30 days straight and you’ll gain new music superpowers (guaranteed).
AND…
You’ll NEVER run out of content ideas.
As long as you’re hunting for your own solutions, all you’ll need to do is find entertaining, inspiring, and/or educational ways to present that to others in order to achieve winning content that promotes your dope music.
As we’ve already touched on, structure can be one of your biggest allies for creating valuable content that grows an audience.
Another key area structure aids in is the ideation process.
It’s a little outside the scope of this letter, but if you want to learn how I consistently come up with banger content ideas, check out this writing and editing guide.
Blessings,
Chu
Ps. When in doubt, make better beats #DOPECONTENTONLY.
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