05:38Nolan Molt · Talking Head
I Made $13k This Week Posting Unedited YouTube Videos
Nolan Molt on 31 days of unedited daily uploads, the comments that proved nobody misses the editing, and the 30-day challenge he's launching next.
October 29thThe argument in one line.
YouTube growth comes from a strong first 30 seconds, natural delivery, packaging that earns the click, and simply outlasting everyone who quits early.
Read if. Skip if.
READ IF YOU ARE…
- You are about to start a YouTube channel and keep delaying because the microphone, lighting or background does not feel good enough yet.
- You post regularly but your videos get few views, and you suspect the intro or the thumbnail is the weak link.
- You feel stiff on camera and want a mental trick that makes talking to a lens sound like a normal conversation.
SKIP IF…
- You want analytics-level tactics such as retention graph breakdowns or A/B testing; this is a personal-experience list, not a data study.
- You already run a large channel and need advanced growth or monetization strategy.
The full version, fast.
After 400+ videos and three years of consistency, the creator lists eight lessons that took her to 78,000 subscribers and full-time income. Open with a hook and credibility instead of 'hey guys', treat the first 30 seconds as the most important part of the video, speak to the camera like a best friend, and look at the lens rather than yourself. Start posting before gear is perfect, avoid generic day-in-the-life vlogs while your audience is small, put more effort into thumbnails and titles than most people do, and keep going long after others quit.
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00:00 – 00:29
01 · Intro and credentials
Admits early cringe, states results after 3 years and 400 videos, promises eight lessons.
00:29 – 01:27
02 · Never start with hey guys
Intros are precious real estate; greetings and recaps of past videos lose the audience immediately.
01:27 – 02:55
03 · The 30 second rule
Use the first 30 seconds for a before and after or authority, showing why you can speak on the topic.
02:55 – 03:53
04 · The BFF method
Talk to a best friend behind the camera instead of presenting as an expert.
03:53 – 04:52
05 · Don't look at yourself
Flip the screen away and look at the lens, naturally and not in a constant stare.
04:52 – 06:40
06 · Don't solve problems you don't have yet
Post first, then improve audio, lighting and camera step by step.
06:40 – 08:15
07 · Don't just vlog
Generic day-in-the-life vlogs rarely grow a new channel; they nurture an existing audience.
08:15 – 09:44
08 · Spend more time on thumbnails
Research and plan packaging before filming; views problems are usually packaging problems.
09:44 – 10:42
09 · Outlive your competition
Consistency is the unfair advantage; she grew after years of showing up.
10:42 – 10:59
10 · 12-month plan and sign-off
Points to a free 12-month YouTube plan and asks for subscriber counts in the comments.
Lines worth screenshotting.
- Starting a video with 'hey guys, welcome back' burns the most valuable seconds of the video on something that gives the viewer no reason to stay.
- The first 30 seconds should establish why you are qualified to speak on the topic, usually through a before-and-after or personal experience.
- You do not need to be an expert to teach on YouTube; three years of decluttering your own home is enough credibility for a decluttering channel.
- Viewers often do not want an expert presenter, they want someone who has been through the thing they are trying to learn.
- Imagining your best friend standing behind the camera makes your sentences flow like a chat instead of a presentation.
- Flipping the camera screen away from you removes the temptation to watch yourself and makes eye contact with the lens easier.
- Constant, unbroken eye contact feels creepy; look at the lens like you would a person, and glance away to gather thoughts.
- Trying to solve problems you do not have yet, like perfect audio or negative comments, keeps you from posting at all.
- Think of the channel as a staircase: take the first step (post), then improve audio, then lighting, then the camera as you can afford it.
- A daily vlog with no unique twist and no existing audience is very hard to grow, because nobody searches for a stranger's day.
- Vlogs made for an existing audience nurture the people who already follow you; they do not grow the channel.
- If views are your problem, the issue is usually the packaging (thumbnail, title, idea) and not the content itself.
- Plan the thumbnail before you film, and research what is working in other niches, then adapt it to your own.
- Most creators quit within months or a couple of years, so persistence alone is an unfair advantage.
- The creator spent about 10 years on Instagram before going from 7,000 to 100,000 followers in three months.
Start imperfect, hook fast, outlast everyone
WHAT TO LEARN
Growth on YouTube comes from a hook-first intro, a relaxed delivery, strong packaging and the persistence to keep posting while others quit.
02Never start with hey guys
- Skip greetings and recaps; use the opening seconds to catch attention and show why you are qualified to talk about the topic.
03The 30 second rule
- Credibility needs experience, not expertise: a personal story or years of doing the thing is enough to earn the viewer's trust.
04The BFF method and eye contact
- Speak as if to a close friend and look at the lens, not at yourself, so the video feels like a conversation instead of a presentation.
06Don't solve problems you don't have yet
- Publish before the gear, background or comments feel safe; improve audio, lighting and camera one step at a time after you have started.
07Don't just vlog
- Generic day-in-the-life vlogs rarely grow a small channel; use them to nurture an existing audience once you have one.
08Spend more time on thumbnails
- When views are the problem, fix the thumbnail, title and idea first, and research what works in other niches before filming.
09Outlive your competition
- Consistency over years is the cheapest edge available, since most creators quit long before results arrive.
Terms worth knowing.
- BFF method
- A delivery trick where you imagine your best friend sitting behind the camera and speak to her, so your tone sounds conversational instead of like a formal presentation.
- 30 second rule
- The idea that the first 30 seconds of a video matter most, so they should hook attention and establish why the creator is worth listening to.
- Packaging
- The combination of thumbnail, title and video idea that decides whether someone clicks, separate from the quality of the video itself.
Things they pointed at.
10:42product12-month YouTube plan
Lines you could clip.
05:20
“Don't solve problems that you don't have yet.”
10:00
“Your unfair advantage can be just sticking to it.”
08:50
“If your problem right now on YouTube is getting views, then it's probably not the content itself that's the problem.”
Word for word.
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when i first started youtube a few years ago my content was sloppy inconsistent and just cringy and the results kind of showed it i'm not saying i'm a professional now but i have stayed really consistent with my youtube for the past three years i have grown to 78 000 subscribers on my main channel i've got multiple videos over a hundred thousand views and i'm able to do this full time which as a mom of two means the world to me so here are the eight lessons i have learned from creating over 400 videos on youtube that you might find helpful to never start with hey guys and okay this is coming from someone who used to start her youtube videos like every single youtube video like that i would start by saying hey guys welcome back to my channel and then i realized that's really doing my content a big disservice because i am using up precious real estate in the beginning of the video that is just making it flop and i think that's one of the reasons why my videos just didn't get a lot of views in the beginning and it is a skill that's acquired right no one's gonna start youtube and just be a natural straight away and
That's absolutely fine. I feel like even if I look at some of my videos from a year ago, I still cringe. And maybe that's a good thing.
Maybe it just shows that you are making progress. But something that I have learned is to never start my videos with, hey guys, because your intros need to be what catches people's attention. So it's going to be the thing that makes people want to watch for longer.
And if I start the video with, hey guys, with a long disclaimer or something that I have mentioned in a previous video, you know, saying stuff like, if you've watched my previous video, then you know this or that. That is just... losing the audience straight away.
And what this means is the video is not going to do well because that beginning of the video actually matters a lot. So if you look at this video that you're watching right now, what I try to do in the intro is to actually make it about the viewer. And this brings me to my next point, which is the 30 second rule.
The first 30 seconds of your video matter the most, in my opinion. And this is something that I have learned from a lot of other people who share their knowledge on YouTube. So when you look at a lot of the big YouTubers like Patti Galloway or Ali Abdul or all of these people who share their youtube knowledge what i've learned from them is that those first 30 seconds matter a lot so when i started incorporating that into my content it actually changed things for me because it made me a lot more intentional with those first 30 seconds of my video so in my intro i will try to do a before and after or some sort of authority like why am i a person who's entitled at all to speak about this topic what sort of credentials do i have behind this and when someone watches your video they want to see that you have done this before right like you watch this video you want to see that i have done youtube in the past because if I'm giving you YouTube advice but I have never really done YouTube myself then you're probably gonna think who the heck is she for me to listen to her and it doesn't mean you have to be a professional or an expert in your topic it just means you have to have some sort of experience to talk about it some sort of personal story or something you went through like on my main channel I talk about decluttering I am not a decluttering expert I'm not a pro I'm not a professional but what I do have is experience of decluttering my home for the past three years or going through a massive declutter so that's what I should
in those first 30 seconds of my videos. There's also the BFF method. So I used to feel like it needs to be more professional.
I used to actually talk a lot louder to the camera because I felt like that's just what you do, right? It's more presentation -like. But I have since changed the kind of tone I speak to the camera.
And I have stopped saying, guys, when I talk to the camera, when I'm filming a video, I'm trying to imagine, okay, right behind it is my bestie, is my BFF, or, you know, like a very good friend of mine. And I'm just chatting to her. And that's something that really helps me and kind of, I think makes my sentences flow more naturally.
It flows more like I'm having a chat to a friend rather than me putting on this big presentation and making it sound super professional and like I'm the expert. Because I think especially on YouTube, people don't always want an expert. They don't want expert advice.
They just want someone who's been through that thing they're interested in learning about. So I think when you change the way you speak to the camera and you go from being a presenter to being more of a BFF, like a bestie, talking to a friend on camera, then it really changes the whole vibe of your videos. And I think it makes us more...
relatable it makes people want to watch us for longer also don't look at yourself you know having that eye contact with the camera makes such a big difference it can be so tempting to look in the viewfinder and i used to do that a lot in the beginning it's really hard it's a skill that you definitely acquire in time so the more you do it the easier it will get if you find it hard in the beginning one trick you can do is to just flip the flip screen so like yes place yourself make sure you're in the middle of the frame or wherever you want to be and then flip the flip screen so you can't see yourself anymore if it's very tempting to look at yourself And just try to look in the center of the lens, just like you would look in someone's eyes when you're talking to them.
Like, you know, keep that eye contact. And I don't mean like stare at your audience like this for 20 minutes straight, because it's kind of creepy. It's also not something we would do in a normal conversation, right?
Like you would look at the person, keep eye contact, and maybe look on the side, you know, gather your thoughts, then look to them again. So that's just something I try to do when I'm filming my videos. But I just try to keep in mind that that eye contact is important, but also we try to make it as natural as possible.
And I know it's weird because you... talking to a camera you're not talking to anyone but the more you kind of train yourself to think like this the easier it is to film your videos i think i've also learned not to solve a problem that i don't have yet and in the beginning it used to hold me back a lot because i would think well i can't post my videos or i can't create videos until i have all of this figured out until i have the perfect microphone the perfect setup the perfect background you know my home was not aesthetic enough there were always so many reasons behind me not creating content and i would get in my head a lot about you You know, what if one day I get a negative comment about this?
What if someone says this? And I was trying to solve problems that I just didn't have yet. Like I wasn't even putting videos out there and I was worried about audio quality.
The first thing you need to do is to get those reps in, right? Like you need to post the content. You need to put your stuff out there.
You need to test your messaging, test the kinds of videos that you like to make and the kinds of videos that your target audience relates to. And that's what we need to focus on in the beginning. And when we're just looking way ahead at the staircase, it can be very overwhelming.
But what we just really need to do is to take the first step. And the first step is just posting your videos. And then you take the next step, which is, okay, maybe improving your audio quality a bit.
And then the next step is maybe improving your lighting a bit. And then the next step is maybe getting a better camera in time when you maybe have money to invest in that. But it's not something you need to do in the beginning.
I sometimes have people message and ask about having a talent manager and like what that would be like, like how hard is it to work with a talent manager when they haven't even started posting. So it's not like it's a wrong question to ask. And it's good to be informed.
But I also think don't solve problems that you don't have yet. Because that just makes you feel overwhelmed. It just makes you like look at the whole staircase.
And feel like I'm never gonna get there. Or there's so much I need to do to get there. But instead just take that first step.
And don't stress about everything else. Just stress about what you need to do right now. Well ideally not stress about it either.
But you know what I mean. Don't just vlog. Now I don't want to put you off vlogging.
Because I think it's actually kind of a fun thing to do. But vlogs. Like if you do a day in the life vlog.
and it's like some of your first videos you don't really have an audience yet it's going to be very very hard to grow that channel unless you have some sort of unique twist to your vlogs like maybe you have a job that people want to see what it's like to work that corporate job or to work as a lawyer work as a doctor or you know just kind of have something that's a little bit more unique that's not done a lot on youtube already or you can do daily vlogs if you do them in a different way like for example life of risa right she's going so so big by doing daily vlogs but her daily vlogs are not just her with holding up a camera and saying hey guys welcome back to my channel it's her you know making this whole storytelling and cinematic type of content and that's what people come back to her for and so if you just do a daily vlog I think it's going to be very hard to grow and even now as I'm growing my main channel which has 78 ,000 subscribers like occasionally I will do a daily vlog because it's something that people do request as you get like bigger as you have more of an audience but
those daily vlogs are vlogs that I actually do for my current audience just to kind of build a connection with them and you know just share a bit more about my story but they are not the kind of videos that grow my channel they're the kind of videos that just nurture my current audience so if your goal is to grow the channel then vlogs are not going to be probably the way to do it this one's probably going to sound a bit weird but you want to put more time in making the thumbnails than filming the video so I'm not saying don't put effort into creating the content obviously the con Content itself matters a lot and having, you know, good videos is part of the game.
Like it's going to help a lot. But what I used to do a lot is I used to just film my video on whatever I wanted to film. Maybe it was a day in the life.
Then I would take a screenshot from it, like randomly slap on some text or slap on a lot of text on it. And then that was it. My thumbnail will take me like five minutes to make.
I'm not saying you need to spend hours and hours and hours on thumbnails, but I think doing thumbnail research, creating a plan for the thumbnails and just kind of having to think about what your thumbnail will be. like before you film the video, will be so helpful because the thumbnail really matters a lot. If your problem right now on YouTube is getting views, then it's probably not the content itself that's the problem.
The problem is probably the thumbnails, the title, you know, the idea of the video, like the packaging of it. So if views is what you're going for, then I would spend a majority of your time not just on creating the content, but rather on doing research for the content. So researching thumbnails that are, you know, doing really well, researching types of videos, titles, and...
Not just necessarily in your niche, but also in other niches. And just take inspiration from that. Adapt it to your own.
And I think that's going to give you a lot more results than just focusing on making a good video. Which, yes, we want a good video. But if it doesn't have a good thumbnail behind it, then it's just not going to do well.
And it's going to be a little bit of a waste of our effort. Also, something I learned from 400 videos on YouTube is you need to outlive your competition. So I think one of the biggest advantages that a lot of people have on the platform is consistency.
And a lot of people give up within the first few months, within the first few years. A lot of people will get discouraged. They'll stop posting because they're not seeing results as fast as they would like to.
But your unfair advantage can be just sticking to it. And I think that's my unfair advantage here because, you know, I have been on Instagram and YouTube for years and years and years before I ever saw like big results. I think I was on Instagram for maybe 10 years before I grew in three months from 7 ,000 to 100 ,000 followers on Instagram.
and it was the same on YouTube I was on here for a long time and it was in the past two years that I have grown to almost 80 ,000 subscribers now and I think one of my unfair advantages you know I don't feel like I'm the most clever or the best at creating cinematic videos or anything like that but I think I just stuck to it long enough and I just tried to make my videos a little bit better each time and yeah as long as you stick long enough I think you are going to see results and opportunities will come your way and I think YouTube is one of the best platforms to be on these days I've also created this 12 -month YouTube plan for you in case you want to have some more of the next steps that I would take.
If I were you, if I was starting my channel from scratch, I think that's going to be really helpful. But let me know where you're at with your channel right now, how many subscribers you have. Let me know in the comments.
But thanks so much for hanging out with me today and I'll see you in my next one.
The Hook
The bait, then the rug-pull.
She opens by admitting her early videos were cringy, then drops the numbers: 78,000 subscribers, videos over 100,000 views, and a full-time income as a mom of two. The eight lessons that follow are what changed.
Named ideas worth stealing.
01:27concept
The 30 second rule
Make the first 30 seconds the most intentional part of the video: a before and after or a statement of credentials that shows why you are worth listening to.
Steal forany YouTube intro
02:55concept
The BFF method
Imagine your best friend behind the camera and speak to her, which loosens delivery and makes you more relatable.
Steal fortalking-head videos
05:20model
The staircase
- Post videos
- Improve audio
- Improve lighting
- Upgrade camera
Take only the next step instead of looking at the whole staircase, so you never wait for a perfect setup before publishing.
Steal forany beginner creator
How they asked for the click.
VERBAL ASK
10:42product
“I've also created this 12-month YouTube plan for you.”
Soft pitch after the lessons, paired with a comment prompt asking subscriber counts.
Visual structure at a glance.
