Power of YouTube

YouTube’s free platform offers people tons of options, so give them a reason to watch YOU!

By Ethen Kim Lieser

Your roofing or construction business has been humming along nicely, but are you still looking for that extra spark? Well, Dmitry might have the perfect answer for you: Start your own YouTube channel. Dmitry has plenty of experience, three years in fact, in this particular arena, and he is willing to reveal five awesome tips that will help jumpstart your brand-spanking new (and hopefully profitable) YouTube channel.

Why would you want to start a YouTube channel?

Here is the easy answer: It’s free! All you need is a video camera or your smartphone and you’re ready to roll. This is indeed the perfect platform where you can really engage with your audience and potential customers. Have them ask questions about roofing or your particular business. Maybe they want to know whether you should replace a roof in the wintertime. Or maybe more simply, the best color for their roof. It’s really in your hands to create that amazing content, but understand that as a free platform, it will be a bit crowded with everyone vying for attention. Focus on separating yourself from the rest.

Tip No. 1: Start with a value proposition and hook

Please don’t be boring and stale. Never start videos with your professional title or academic credentials. If you do that, they’ll already be on a different video. You’ll only have several seconds to fully capture their attention, so be direct and tell them why they should watch this particular video. People are busy and they don’t need the runaround. If you show that you care about their time being spent watching the video, they’ll care more about your overall message.

Tip No. 2: Don’t even try to sell

People don’t go to YouTube to be consumers of commercials. Heck, there’s already plenty of that during the Super Bowl. You must understand that people go there to receive insider information. They want to be educated on certain pressing issues they have run into, such as something being broken, they want to start a DIY project, or to see if asphalt shingles are better than metal ones. They’re not searching for which is the best roofing company, but they are asking real questions. And most importantly, they are seeking your help — free help at that.

Tip No. 3: Don’t be boring

If you have a flat, monotone voice and a constant resting face, forget it. People will click their mouse and go to another video, hopefully something that is more exciting. When you’re in front of the camera, prove to your audience why they should be watching you. Remember, people are sacrificing precious minutes of their busy day to put their eyeballs on you. You must follow through with charisma and excitement that will make the experience worthwhile for them. Also, don’t fake that charisma, as people can pick that up relatively quickly. Be true to yourself, and you will be likeable. You’ll eventually be a magnet of sorts who will immediately draw in your audience. Try to learn from guys like the Best Damn Roofer and sales-rep-turned-comedian Kenny Brooks. While giving insightful information, they are entertaining you, and you can’t take your eyes off them. It is not difficult to see whey they have so many subscribers to their respective channels.

Tip No. 4: Be iconic

Dmitry hears people all the time who say they are shy or hate being in front of the camera. They constantly make excuses like, “I don’t have the necessary English skills to be a good speaker.” Dmitry is reminded on a daily basis from his five children how much he is lacking in the English department. It wasn’t too long ago when he was bombarded with mocking memes and comments regarding his Russian accent. Even those in the Russian community hurled negative remarks. In spite of this experience, Dmitry continued on his path, his focus never stronger. Nowadays, he uses his Russian heritage and accent as positives, and he is proving that by killing it on YouTube. In short, it doesn’t matter what your race or gender is. If something like that bothers people and drives them to make negative comments, that’s their problem, not yours. As long as you’re committed to your goal and display personality and charisma, you will definitely succeed.

Tip No. 5: Be controversial

If you always take the safe side and be politically correct, you’ll never attain the success you imagined for yourself on YouTube. Dmitry knew early on that it is OK to stir the pot and go against the grain. People don’t want a talking head to just say that everything is fine and there won’t be any problems. They go on YouTube to get real-world tangible answers. Tell them what really doesn’t work, and what are the shortcomings of this particular product. Prove to the audience your expertise, relevant information that can’t be found elsewhere. Don’t settle for always being the nice guy, never saying a bad word about anybody. As we all know, there will be times when someone or a company needs to be called out. If you never take risks and always be in the safe zone, you’ll just be another sales rep on YouTube. You might as well take down your channel right then and there.

OK with losing money

For Dmitry, if he sees something unethical going on in the industry, he will not hesitate to call it out. For example, he’s put out radio ads that highlight the fact that waiving insurance deductibles is illegal. Obviously, pointing this out could eventually lead to losing customers. Dmitry didn’t care, as he knew what was right and what was the law. He went on YouTube and started talking about this issue on his channel, and he would get calls from people who fully supported him. These people wanted to do it the right way, not cutting any corners financially. Dmitry admits that he may have lost a few customers, but in the end, he bagged $175,000 in deductibles in 2018, in addition to $4 million in total sales.

Big budget not needed

Dmitry has seen YouTubers who spend thousands of dollars on videographers and production to just garner a handful of subscribers. You don’t need to take this route. You don’t need a lot of money to produce high-quality videos. In fact, you can just use your smartphone camera and some relevant apps and you’ll be offering an experience that seems like it was filmed in an expensive studio. Mr. Beast is a great example of what Dmitry is talking about. He started his own YouTube channel years ago only by using his laptop camera. Now he’s incorporated an iPhone to his videos, and they all seem to skyrocket to the top of YouTube. Like Mr. Beast, you need to place your focus on having charisma and possessing a personality that really draws people in. Only then will you become that next big player on YouTube.

Bonus tip: Check out VIDIQ

This Google Chrome extension will do wonders for your YouTube videos, as it will reveal the necessary steps you need to take to make them a huge success. You will receive information and data on how to get more views and how to get your videos on search engines. If you really have high hopes for yourself on your YouTube channel, this is definitely something worthwhile to look into.

Three awesome channels

So, to back up what Dmitry has been talking about, here are three brilliant channels you should look at. The first is Drew’s Roofing & Home Repair. This North Carolina-based company is the No. 1 roof repairer in that region. With almost 12,000 subscribers and really well made videos, it is easy to see why this company has flourished there. Also, its niche is in roofing for mobile homes and trailers, and this fact works well to separate itself from the competition. All of the content isn’t roofing-related either, as some comments have shown support for a cancer diagnosis. These types of comment threads really showcase how much this company is part of the tight community there.

The second is the relatively new The Metal Roofing Channel, which is a great example of one fully utilizing and dominating his niche. This individual is great in front of the camera and really does an amazing job engaging with the audience. He’s not there to sell, only to give you that insider information.

Finally, take a look at the California-based Roofing Solutions by Eric Garcia. What’s striking about this channel is that you never actually see Eric’s face, but only hear his wonderful deep voice. Obviously, he has enjoyed much success with some of his videos garnering over a million views. Many of the comments on his channel are incredibly positive and uplifting. Seeing those alone should make you want to create fantastic content like that and then eventually reap all of the business-related benefits.