I\u2019m not saying I exploited my position as managing editor to meet one of my favorite YouTubers\u2026<\/p>\n
\u2026 but I will say that I\u2019m unreasonably excited<\/strong> to share today\u2019s interview.<\/p>\n And, my selfishness aside, this former Disney marketer has a lot to learn from. Today\u2019s master turned his covid furlough hobby into a highly successful YouTube channel with nearly 4 million subscribers<\/strong> and <\/em>a cookbook on the New York Times Best Seller list.<\/p>\n <\/a><\/p>\n Fun fact:<\/strong> Max\u2019s house is filled to the brim with Lego. When I\u2019m not working, I\u2019m probably putting together Lego.\u201d <\/p>\n Claim to fame: <\/strong>Built a YouTube channel with almost 4 million subscribers and wrote an NYT bestselling cookbook<\/a>.<\/p>\n Be<\/span>fore launching his channel, Max worked as a movie marketer for Walt Disney Studios.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cI was there during the golden days when they started putting out the new Star Wars and the original Marvel movies.\u201d <\/p>\n Max Miller doesn\u2019t act like a good YouTuber should: He doesn\u2019t test his thumbnails. He has a theme song. And he never, ever makes the shocked YouTube face. (You know the one.)<\/p>\n \u201cI break all of the rules. And not on purpose; it\u2019s just that I didn\u2019t know the rules,\u201d he confesses with an unassuming smile.<\/p>\n So, how did he earn 3.7 million followers without ticking every box on the marketing to-do list?<\/p>\n \u201cIt sounds selfish, but I am my audience. If I\u2019m making content that I want to watch, and that I\u2019m interested in, there are bound to be other people who are interested in it<\/strong>,\u201d Miller says.<\/p>\n Now, if you\u2019re in an unsexy industry, you might think this doesn\u2019t apply to you. Dear Sir or Madam, I used to write blogs about incontinence briefs. If I can find the interesting nugget in that, I guarantee there\u2019s something<\/em> you can find to care about.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m the one spending 40 or 50 hours a week on a video, so I need to find it really interesting. Otherwise, the people watching will know <\/em>I\u2019m not really interested in it,\u201d he explains.<\/p>\n Whether you\u2019re in media or marketing, interesting content is what keeps an audience coming back. The rest is just icing on the 19th-century Johnny cake<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n \u201c[My YouTube partner] had to drag me kicking and screaming to start posting short-form videos,\u201d Miller laughs.<\/p>\n YouTube Shorts are often dismissed by brands and creators alike because Shorts viewers rarely jump straight to watching long-form videos.<\/p>\n \u201cThe crossover is shockingly small. I wish it was more. It\u2019s like five percent.\u201d<\/p>\n But when he finally did try the format, Miller found that the benefit was in the indirect <\/em>consequences.<\/p>\n \u201cIt brought tons of people to the channel, to Instagram, Facebook, TikTok. It ended up leading to a huge spike in book sales because I was making recipes from my cookbook.\u201d<\/p>\n So, rather than gauging the success of Shorts in terms of direct views, think about them as audience development.<\/p>\n Seen through that lens, \u201c5% of a million people? That ain\u2019t bad, y\u2019know?\u201d<\/p>\nMeet the Master<\/h3>\n
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Max Miller<\/h2>\n
Host and creator, Tasting History with Max Miller<\/a>
\n<\/h3>\nLesson 1: Good content beats best practice.<\/h2>\n
Lesson 2: Don\u2019t short Shorts.<\/h2>\n