The biggest mistake most YouTubers make is not spending enough time on ideas.The quality of your idea caps your thumbnail and title.The quality of your idea caps your ability to keep people entertained.The quality of your ideas will determine the success of your channel.Everything comes from the quality of your idea.This page is about how to come up with high-quality ideas.If you need more convincing about the value of ideas, here's MrBeast 👇
Here's the exact checklist I use for video ideas.If an idea passes these, I'll make the video.Don't worry about noting all this down. I'll be giving you a cheat-sheet at the end of this page.
People watch videos because they're new and beneficial.New means they haven't seen it before.Beneficial means the video gives some benefit.For example, it may be entertaining, educational or solve a problem.A video about spending 24-hours locked in a jail cell is new and entertaining.A video about following a Roman Emperor's morning routine is new and educational.The best ideas combine both of these aspects.If it's old and beneficial, it's boring.If it's new and not beneficial, it's a scam.If it's old and not beneficial, it's a politician.Great ideas are always radically new and incredibly beneficial.
Most YouTubers think about the thumbnail and title last.Because it's so important, it's one of the first things I think about.After coming up with an idea, I ask myself: What's the thumbnail and title?I then ask myself: Can this thumbnail & title get a High (10%+) Click-Through Rate?If it can, it passes this test.I'll show you how I assess the quality of thumbnails & titles in the next page of this guide.
The next thing I look for is AVD potential.Could this video get an incredibly high Average View Duration?More on this in the "View Duration" page later.
Channel Love is something the top YouTubers achieve, and it's the last thing on my checklist.After someone watches this video, are they going to watch 6 of my other videos?Are they going to love the channel?Here's a dangerous trap to avoid:Some YouTubers will have one of their videos go viral but gain few subscribers from it. Viewers don't come back because the video didn't make the viewer fall in love with the channel.They're only there for the video.Viewers should love the video and the channel.
Those are the 4 things I look for in a video idea.But how do you consistently come up with all-star ideas?Recently, I found a "technique" to achieve this.I stumbled across an interview with Ed Sheeran. He spoke about how he thinks about coming up with song ideas. It was exactly how MrBeast instructed me to come up with video ideas.Ed compares creativity to a 'dirty tap.'When you turn the tap on, dirty water starts to flow out.If you leave it on for long enough, clear water will start to flow out.When you start coming up with ideas, your mind has to clear away all the bad ideas to get to the good ones.Here's Ed's explanation👇
MrBeast gave me some very direct advice to apply this:'Sit down for at least 1 hour a day and brainstorm ideas.'
Here's our idea generation process:
Once you have a list of ideas, run them through these criteria: