How She Makes 7 Figures on YouTube Selling Online Courses with Brett Larkin The YouTube Power Hour Podcast 227
“I finally saw the opportunity. I really saw where my skills that I was struggling to put together could come into play.”
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Brett Larkin’s YouTube journey began in 2012 when she started uploading her yoga sequences and postures so that she would remember them, but she quickly discovered that despite only using YouTube as storage for her videos, they were starting to gain views and comments. At the time, Brett was working at a tech startup company making video games and doing yoga on the side. Her background in dance and tech, plus her passion for fitness and yoga seemed like a perfect fit for yogi YouTube where she could easily fuze her passions, and everything started to snowball from there.
Around 2013, Brett was invited to YouTube Creator Day when she had about 10k subscribers, which at the time was a huge milestone for her. Brett credits attending this event as one of the biggest game changers for her. She was able to meet all kinds of full-time YouTubers from a variety of industries who did this for a living; something that had never really occurred to her before. She never even knew it was really a “thing.” Even though she was by far the smallest channel there, she quickly realized that people could make a living doing this and that there was a huge possibility for growth. She was able to get content creation tips from Tati Westbrook, and Jaren Polin talked to her about launching courses, and it was those conversations that inspired and changed Brett’s life, and she started to realize where all these pieces could fit together.
“I remember driving home from that Creator Day with just explosions going off in my brain. I was so excited. I’ve never felt anything like that in my whole life.”
As soon as she started her channel, she started a website and began collecting emails for a mailing list, and from there, she started playing around with what people might want to buy. What started with a single yoga class evolved into a beginner’s yoga course, which then evolved into a yoga prop kit that she packaged and shipped herself, but nothing was really hitting the jackpot. This was around the time that Periscope got really popular, and Brett discovered the power of selling things live. She also realized that one way that people were making money was through a membership site, so she launched her membership site and a private facebook group. Out of that membership site came TONS of requests from members for a training course for Yoga teachers, and so Brett created a comprehensive training course that serves as her high ticket item, and that was what truly changed the game for her. She now has a YouTube channel with over 300k subscribers, and built a 7-figure business out of her online courses!
“My advice for people trying to monetize their channel is to just do list building off your YouTube channel, even if you don’t know what you want to sell yet or you’re still figuring it out, just start collecting emails. That’s going to help you down the line.”
3 Key Interview Takeaways
- Start an email list. Brett believes in the power of email marketing, and it was because she started an email list immediately and was able to grow it, she was able to truly hone in on what her audience wanted, and what they would want to buy. Even if you haven’t figured out what you want to sell yet, start collecting emails anyway and really build that relationship with your audience.
- Figure out paid traffic. Brett considers this like an insurance policy. Figure out how to do paid ads to protect yourself and your business, because you will never know if and when the YouTube algorithm will change and no longer favor your channel.
- Batch your content. What would happen if, for some reason, you couldn’t create content? What would happen to your channel or to your audience? Another of Brett’s “insurance policies” is that she always batches her content and has at least a month’s worth ready to go at the drop of a hat. Sometimes life happens, and to make sure she is always showing up for her subscribers, she always has content available ready to post.
Connect with Brett
Brett Larkin’s Websites and Yoga Teacher Training Courses
Resources
Add your name to the Zero to Influence YouTube Bootcamp waitlist so you are notified when space becomes available!
Watch my replay of my FREE Zero to 100k Subscribers Masterclass
FREE GUIDES:
Creating Content During Crisis: How to Create Impactful Content During COVID-19 Pandemic
Getting Started on YouTube: YouTube Niche Workbook
How to get onto PR lists and receive a TON of free product even if you have a small following: PR List
YOUTUBE OPTIMIZATION PLUG-IN I RECOMMEND
TubeBuddy [Use the code ErikasBuddy to get 20% off]
MY FAVORITE BUSINESS TOOLS
Course Creation: Looking to create a course? Kajabi is the BEST platform hands down. I use this for my course after extensive research on all the other platforms.
Live Calls and Interviews: I use Ecamm for my podcast interviews, both audio and for YouTube that you see here on YouTube. It makes it super easy to share my screen and create the split-screen with my guest. I’m not super techie and this software is really easy to use!
Webinars and Live calls: I use Zoom.us for my group coaching calls in my private membership group for female YouTube creators. It’s also the software I use to record my Road to 100k YouTube Subscribers Masterclass!
THE BEST YOUTUBE/PODCASTING EQUIPMENT
After interviewing HUNDREDS of successful YouTube creators, these are the pieces of equipment that hands down get mentioned time and time again. You can’t go wrong with anything on this list!
- 4k Camera: Great for starting out and vlogging
- Lens: This lens is recommended highly by many of my podcast guests, it gives the blurry “YouTuber” background look.
- Audio: If you want to upgrade your set-up, audio should be one of the first investments (after a good camera). This microphone is unanimously the favorite amongst my podcast guests.
- Podcast/Voiceover Microphone: If you are looking for a great microphone for a podcast or video voiceover, this is it! This is the one that you see in all of my videos and the one I’ve recorded my podcast on for years.
- Webcam: For my interviews, that you see in my videos, this is the webcam that I use. Super inexpensive and easy to set up!
- Inexpensive Lighting Kit: Need to pick up some lights but don’t want to spend a ton? This is a great set that will get you started and help improve the look of your videos.
- Ring light: Looking for that beauty look? Invest in a ring light! This is an inexpensive light that does that trick!
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Podcast Music Credit: Boop by x50 @x50music
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**Disclaimers: all opinions are my own, sponsors are acknowledged. Links in the description are typically affiliate links that let you help support the podcast at no extra cost.
