Scriptwriters constantly ask me how to find clients.

So let’s talk about it.

The Problem.

You’ve probably heard of ytjobs.co, Fiverr and Upwork.

That's where most writers/editors/creators think they should start.

But unless you have a portfolio (of even just one video), you have no social proof.

Therefore, you have just one goal - to get that first client + testimonial.

Everything else will follow.

But how?

Foundation.

Like anything, you can’t just "do a skill" without practising it.

I learned more about scriptwriting in 6 months reviewing people’s retention graphs than after a year writing scripts for Ali Abdaal.

So throw yourself in.

• Break down transcripts of successful videos to figure out what they’re doing.
• Create your own scriptwriting frameworks / hypotheses / systems.
• Experiment on your own channel.

Then…

Share your thoughts, breakdowns and hot takes.

Twitter, LinkedIn, Newsletter... it doesn't matter.

And, if you’ve already written a couple of paid scripts…

What did you learn?! Talk about it publicly!

Almost every lead I’ve ever had has been inbound. Why?

Because I’m constantly sharing my thoughts on scriptwriting.

Eventually, people start to notice.

But, let’s assume you’re trying to find a client right now.

Here are your options:

1/ Don't look for clients. Look for writers.

Scour the YTjobs scriptwriter page.

Then, reach out to them on Twitter or LinkedIn.

Or, find them directly on Twitter - search “YouTube scriptwriter” and you’ll find a bunch of people advertising themselves.

Finding other writers is invaluable because:

• They might have past clients they could recommend you to.
• They might just have turned away a client because they were too busy.
• They might have their own tips about how to find clients!

When I first went freelance, my friend (and now podcast co-host!) Gwilym and I pooled our potential leads.

If I was busy, I recommended him. And vice versa.

Meeting other scriptwriters is an industry hack.

2/ Approach YouTubers you want to write for.

There are two methods here:

1/ On Twitter, search phrases like “YouTube scriptwriter”, “hiring scriptwriter”, “need scriptwriter”.

You’ll find creators who are looking for writers right now.

2/ Reach out to creators you already watch.

It’s usually best to aim for creators in the 10-100k subscriber range.

At this level, they’re making money + excited to keep scaling.

DM or email them with something like this:

“Hey [name], I just re-wrote the hook of your most recent video. I believe something like this could perform better because [include rationale].If you like, I’ll happily look over any scripts you’re working on for free to see if I can make any helpful suggestions. No strings attached, and no expectation that you’d hire me afterwards - candidly, I’m building up my experience as a scriptwriter and just looking to add value and learn.”

If you do a great job, you won’t find many creators who wouldn’t pay to keep you on.

3/ Approach businesses.

Generalising here, but…

Businesses suck at YouTube.

But they also have a lot of money to throw at the problem.

I'm talking anything from real estate agents to SaaS companies, or even local businesses that have high-ticket products/services.

Often, YouTube is an afterthought for businesses like these...

But they know at the back of their mind they ought to spend more time (or money) on it.

The ideal client is someone who’s already making content (i.e. they’re sold on the value of doing so), but their videos are bad.

Waltz into their DMs or drop them an email with an improved version of their most recent script, and ask whether they’d be interested in a paid trial to write another one.

Unlike when you’re approaching creators on Twitter, I encourage you not to work for businesses for free.

You’re likely to add significant value to their scripts + channel right away, and you’ll learn less about YouTube than when working for traditional “creators”.

Ergo, you deserve to be paid for your time.

4/ Job application!

I got my start with Ali Abdaal through a simple job application.

Creators regularly drop these in their video descriptions, so keep an eye out.

Easy peasy, (kinda).

And once you've landed your first client...

Shout about it!

The instant I wanted new clients, I tweeted this:

Yes, having Ali as my first client was a ridiculously unfair advantage.

But no matter how big the channels you've worked with, testimonials + results show you're trustworthy.

So don't be afraid to shout about your achievements!

New episode just dropped 💥

Now, I wish I could list a fifth method to get clients - "join my scriptwriting agency!"

However, as you may know, I absolutely hated running it and shut it down after 3 months 😂

But was this the right decision?

Well... feel free to check out the latest episode of Making It where Jamie and Gwilym quizzed me about exactly that 👇

I Closed my $15k /month YouTube Agency. Here’s Why.

That's all for this week. Any questions, just let me know!

Speak soon,

George 👋

Since 2021, the videos I’ve written have gained 25,000,000+ views.

And, as you’ve probably heard over and over again…

The idea is the most important part of any video.

That’s why I’m excited to show you how I’m using 1of10.com to grow the ideas bank for my own channel…

…and how this impacts the scripts themselves.

Thanks to 1of10 for partnering with me this week 🤝

You can get 20% off your subscription (recurring!) using the code "GEORGEBLACKMAN".

Get 1of10 Now!

​

I'm super excited about this partnership because I literally use 1of10 every single day.

So let’s talk about how you can use outlier videos to:

1. Generate killer video ideas.
2. Make important scriptwriting decisions.

Part 1 - Idea Generation

In 1of10’s search bar, I can search for the niche I wanted to get inspiration for:

​
As you'll see below, 1of10 only shows videos that are outperforming their channel’s recent views average.

So, right away, I know that every video I’m seeing is doing something particularly well 👇

​
But, for my channel, I need to be mindful of something...

YouTube advice can go stale fast, so I don't want to see any videos that were published years ago.

In fact, there were a few extra parameters I wanted to set.

So I filtered for videos that:

• Were 2x outliers or higher.
• Had 10k views or more.
• Were from the last 6 months.

​
Once I applied these filters, I noticed a video called “How To Write A Killer YouTube Script (2024 Algorithm)”.

This is exactly the type of video I could see myself making a version of...

So I wanted to see similar content that could inspire me.

Aaaand 1of10 lets you do that by clicking “similar topic” 👇

​
Now I was only seeing videos similar to the one I liked 👇

​
​But a big problem my students have raised inside my community is knowing which outlier ideas to take forward...

To help with this, I consider these 3 factors:

• Subject - am I immediately enthusiastic about the topic presented in the title?
• Expertise - do I have the experience to create a better version of this video?
• Views - what’s the view ceiling? We already filtered for videos with 10k+, but the higher the potential, the better.

Based on those factors, I used 1of10’s “bookmark” feature to save a bunch of these videos into a visualisation space 👇

Now I've got a bank of super relevant, high-performing content from which to take inspiration.

Part 2 - Scripting

But how does this influence the script itself?

This is where a little analysis comes in.

By having these high-performing outliers in the same place, it’s much easier to compare how they approach their scripts.

Pay attention to their...

1. Tone
2. Format
3. Style

Here’s a super distilled version of what that might look like for three of the videos in my “bookmarks”.

How To Write A Killer YouTube Script (2024 Algorithm):

Tone: Chilled.

Format: 5-step system.

Style: Fairly basic talking head A-Roll.

How To Write ADDICTIVE YouTube Scripts:

Tone: “Conspiracy.”

Format: Superfast hook, straight into point #1.

Style: Rapid editing changes, not to my taste. Appears to be deliberately overwhelming.

how to make a killer youtube intro (for the 2024 algorithm):

Tone: “Traditional” explainer.

Format: Another system (4 steps)

Style: Inspiring (”most creators got their big break from one video”)

As James Hoffman says, it's way easier to figure out which type of coffee you like by directly comparing two different cups.

So, by analysing and comparing these outlier videos, it’s easier to figure out what you want your scripts to look like.

My takeaways:

• Tone: While it's clearly working for their target audiences, none of these tones felt like me. I prefer energetic and humourous.
• Format: "Systems" made videos easier to follow. Superfast hook was effective.
• Style: Avoid the conspiracy-style, retention-edited approach of Money Maxing. Lean into the authoritative, inspiring style of Aprilynne.

Recap

1. Identify outlier videos (initially in your niche, then branch outwards).
2. Determine which videos fulfil the “Topic, Expertise, Views” criteria.
3. Review each video and identify what you resonate with.

​1of10.com makes this process so much faster and ensures you’re only ever modelling videos that you know are outperforming others.

Remember, you can use “GEORGEBLACKMAN” at the checkout to get a recurring 20% off your subscription.

Get 1of10 Now!

If you have any questions about how I use 1of10 (or anything else!), feel free to drop me a message!

Speak soon,
George 👋

‍

I got sick this week, so it's just a quick one from me today! 😅

One question...

I want to create content that really matters to you.

Something you can take action on or be inspired by every single week.

So, with that in mind...

What kind of content would you like to see from me in future?

As a reminder, I've:

• Written for Ali Abdaal, Mike Shake, Creator Booth, Noah Kagan and more.
• Consulted with 10,000,000+ subscriber channels.
• Hired writers, been hired as a writer, and have been let go!

Not only am I trying to make this newsletter the cream of the crop, but I'm also finally going to start making my own YouTube videos this year.

(Even getting 3.7k views on a 20-minute, unscripted ramble got me SO excited to start making videos again 😁👇)

I'm excited to see which direction we end up going in 😁

Have an awesome week!

Speak soon,
George 👋

‍

Imagine a car that has no windscreen.

As you drive around, you get frustrated as the seat upholstery gets covered in muck.

After all, there’s no windscreen to protect the interior.

So, being the fast-thinking genius that you are…

You replace the seat upholstery.

Good move. Windscreen aside, your car looks brand new again.

But, as soon as you take the car out for another spin…

…the seats get covered in muck again.

Because, with no windscreen, your car has a chronic problem.

And, sooner or later, you’ve probably got to ask yourself:

“Should I just buy a windscreen?”

Structural Problems

When we rely on a retention graph to identify problems with our video…

It’s like replacing the upholstery in a car that has no windscreen.

Yes, it’s going to help in the short term…

…but it doesn’t account for critical, structural problems with our content.

“But wait a sec, George. Didn’t this newsletter used to be all about retention graphs?”

Firstly, there's no need to call me out like that!

But secondly - yes it did. And it made me realise something.

It’s usually pretty easy to figure out what happened at moments like this in your video...

• You started a new topic which the audience wasn’t interested in.
• You rambled for too long about something and people got bored.
• You introduced the video’s sponsor.

(Or any number of things.)

But, for graphs like this, it’s not always so simple.

Sometimes, we can’t rely on big dips and obvious clues.

Mindset Shift

That's why my goal across everything I write is to create a mindset shift among YouTubers.

Rather than troubleshooting individual problems after you've made the video…

…I want to bake in strong “retention awareness” before you make it.

Because, sometimes, it’s not as simple as reupholstering the seats.

It might be the problem with your windshield...

‍

“All I'm trying to do is get people to a point where they're CLOSER to scripting, even if they’re just planning more and really thinking about the structure ahead of time.
​
It's why every single YouTuber under the sun starts out a video like ‘here are the objectives’ or ‘in this video we're going to talk about boom boom boom’ or ‘here's the game plan’. It just makes it easier for us to digest.”​

- Me, on the Scriptwriting For Newbs Podcast.

‍

When your retention graph is slowly declining for no clear reason, it's nearly always a problem with:

• Confusing structure.
• Lack of payoffs
• Payoffs given too early.

That's why you can't think of your videos as a series of moments that can be corrected with quick "retention fixes".

You need to zoom out and view your video as a whole.

That's why, when scripting a video, I encourage YouTubers to:

1. Break the script down into segments.
2. Identify the payoff for each segment.
3. Ensure each payoff is properly set up.

(There's lots more to talk about here, so check out my full scriptwriting system if you're interested.)

And look, I get it.

For some folks, word-for-word scripting will never be enjoyable.

In fact, for some niches, it doesn’t make sense at all.

But, by encouraging creators to “script everything”, I’m not actually saying that you should.

I’m just trying to make you think about the structure a little more.

Because a clear structure keeps the viewer oriented within the video.

And when we feel oriented, we’re less likely to get overwhelmed and click away.

So keep reviewing your retention graphs, but remember they only tell half the story.

They’ll help you troubleshoot the little things over time.

But if you want to make your videos better, faster…

Spend more time plotting the structure.

Wanna hear more?

This newsletter was inspired a longer conversation I had on the Scriptwriting For Newbs Podcast, where we also discussed:

• How I learned lots about scriptwriting in a short period of time.
• Scriptwriting workflow for entertainment channels.
• Imposter syndrome when working with 10m subscriber creators.

​Watch Now

Miko’s questions were different to the usual stuff I get asked, and it was one of the most fun podcast experiences I’ve had.

(Ed from Film Booth went on the week after me too, so there will be plenty of amazing guests to come.)

That's all for this week!

Speak soon,
George 👋

Last year, I made a pretty wild claim.

I said that my end-screen call-to-action (CTA) formula could boost your end-screen click-through rate (CTR) by as much as 3-4x.

It turns out I was wrong.

Today, I found out that when Jay Clouse took my advice…

...his end-screen CTR increased by 5x:

"This ONE change made a huge difference for our channel…

‍@GeorgeBlackman_ gave us the secret to improving the end screen click rate on our videos.

After implementing this, our end screen click rate went from ~3% in our videos up to 15%+ for some videos."

‍Need a refresher on why this matters for your channel? Check out my original article here.

Can we take this further?

I’ve had a lot of people asking how to apply this formula to a different type of CTA.

One where, instead of promoting another video, you're encouraging the viewer to sign up to or download something.

It could be a free resource, a template pack, or even a paid course.

These types of CTA usually occur mid-video, rather than at the end.

So, my question is this:

Can the same CTA formula be used halfway through a video to promote products and services, as it can to promote another video?

To find out, let’s talk about the subtle difference between an end-of-video CTA (”End-CTA”) and a mid-video CTA (”Mid-CTA”) so you can drive more downloads of your products and services.

(Worth noting, I’m not talking about integrating paid sponsorships here. I may do in future, but the number of variables involved in a sponsorship makes it tricky to distil into a simple formula.)

(1/3) Recap

For an End-CTA, this is the formula I use:

• Link - refer back to something covered in the video.
• Curiosity - open a new curiosity gap around that topic.
• Promise/CTA - outline the transformation they’ll experience by clicking your next video and closing that curiosity gap.

So, let's adapt this to create a Mid-CTA…

(2/3) Theory

The biggest difference between an End-CTA and a Mid-CTA is the level of subtlety we can apply.

During an End-CTA, we’re being super subtle.

Because, when well-executed, the viewer thinks we’re simply setting up the next talking point of the video.

Yes, they have to click to keep watching…

But we create the effect that it’s all part of the same information flow.

During a Mid-CTA, there’s no escaping the inevitable “plug”.

One way or another, you're going to have to tell them to “download my thing”.

This feels different for the viewer because we can’t apply the same level of subtlety.

So, to combat the “ick” they (or we) get from the plug, we need to:

1. Keep it brief.
2. Illustrate clear benefits to the audience.

With that in mind, here’s how I think about adapting the formula for a Mid-CTA:

LINK becomes “TRANSITION”.

Rather than calling back to something else that happened earlier, the information is integrated in a way that would still make sense even if the "Plug" (see below) was removed.

Check out this example from Pick Up Limes. You wouldn’t know it in isolation, but this is actually the start of her Mid-CTA…

"So I just checked and this soup is super nutritious… I think because of the legumes and all the different greens in there. There's over 25 g of protein and over 7 G of iron per serving…"

CURIOSITY becomes “PLUG”:

There’s no escaping it: you’re gonna have to straight-up say what the product/service is.

But think about it from an audience-first perspective - what do they want and why does your thing make it easier?

Pick Up Limes continues as such...

"…and this is also going to be a shameless plug for our app. But if you are interested in more high-iron and high-protein recipes, we've got a filter for that!"

PROMISE becomes “DETAIL”:

Briefly provide additional information for the viewer.

That could mean listing a couple of additional benefits of your product, or getting them excited with the promise of a free trial.

Pick Up Limes concludes...

"If you want to try out one week for free check out the link in the description box below."

So, thats... Transition > Plug > Detail

Here's another example from Bass Buzz, this time without interruption:

"You just start one scale note below, and then bask maniacally in the glory of your superior theoretical knowledge.

​

[Transition] If you don't have the theory chops to bask maniacally and know the right scale…

​

[Plug]…maybe it's time to take my Beginner to Badass course where I'll cover all this essential theory in a way you can actually understand…

​

[Detail]…plus everything else you're working in this exercise, including muting, accuracy and basic slap technique."

(3/3) Experiment

So, here’s our formula:

• Transition - subtly set up the reason the audience might need your product.
• Plug - tell them what it is and be explicit about the benefits.
• Detail - provide any extra info (and get out of there!)

But remember... the audience will be on to you almost immediately.

The moment you reach the "Plug", you start a ticking timer in the viewer's mind.

While you can take your time with an End-CTA, carefully widening the curiosity gap and getting them excited for the next video...

...the Mid-CTA needs to be snappy.

You haven't delivered the Grand Payoff yet, so don't spend more than 10-15s promoting your product.

An admission...

So, here’s the thing…

This is the first “piece of advice” newsletter I’ve ever written without prior evidence of success.

Yes, you heard right…

I have no idea if this will work.

We have strong evidence from the End-CTA that this type of formula has a good chance of affecting audience behaviour.

BUT…

To test this formula, I need you.

So…

If you promote your own products/services inside your content, I’d love you to try this:

1. Record your average conversion rate across the last 3-5 videos.
2. Implement this formula.
3. Compare conversions over the following 3-5 videos.

If enough folks come back to me on this, I’ll write a follow-up in a month or so with the results.

If you don’t… let’s just pretend this never happened and move on with our lives 👌😎

That's all for this week!

If you have any questions, you can always reply :)

Speak soon,
George 👋

‍

A lot of people ask me what to charge for scriptwriting.

(Or, how much to pay a scriptwriter.)

So, I went back through a bunch of invoices I’ve sent to clients in the last 2 years.

And I noticed some patterns which I think you’ll find useful (or at least interesting), whether you’re trying to figure out what to charge, or what to pay.

But before we get into it...

Want us to review your script?

My small team will provide detailed notes (and video feedback) from a structural and visual standpoint, including recommendations for...

The hook, use of B-Roll, storytelling, pacing, CTA, and more.

And, while I'm training them up... I'll actually be doing the reviews myself.

So, for a limited time, you'll get a personal review from me at a reduced price!

Learn More!

​

So, let's talk script pricing...

The single biggest factor that determined what I could charge was actually the client’s level of YouTube experience.

But, interestingly, it was not a linear pattern.

In fact, hitting the highest rates ($1000+) was only really possible when dealing with clients who had EITHER very low or very high experience.

Those with middling experience, or whose channels were not yet making life-changing sums of money were (obviously) inclined to pay less.

Taking 10 real scripts as our data points, here’s the spread:

​
Let’s explore the different “clusters” so you can understand more about who these channels are, what they want, and why these were the rates we agreed on.

1/ Low Experience, High Cash

These are almost always businesses.

They have low YouTube experience, but plenty of cash.

They’re treating YouTube as a funnel for their products and services, so aren’t often “passionate” about the platform.

They just want someone to kickstart / maintain their YouTube presence.

Because YouTube is top-of-funnel for their business, the ROI from hiring a writer is high.

If their flagship product (e.g. course, software, etc) sells for $200 and they pay a writer $1000, the video only needs to convert 5 customers in its lifetime to make a return.

Remember - the "value" of a script changes based on the goals of the YouTuber. When negotiating, always think about what would make the deal a “win” for both writer and YouTuber.

2/ Some Experience, Some Cash

Here, we’re often talking about channels with under 100k subscribers.

This can obviously vary wildly, but a common trait of this middle group is that YouTube, by itself, isn’t generating a shed-tonne of money.

Or, maybe their YouTube budget is being funnelled into something they consider higher ROI, like editing.

They aren’t necessarily looking for a writer to revolutionise their channel. They just need help maintaining upload consistency.

Naturally, these are the YouTubers to target when you’re just starting out as a writer, because you’re basically paid to plug into an existing machine, learn fast, and keep the wheels turning.

If you’re hiring a writer and paying $3-400, you shouldn’t expect them to make a tonne of strategic suggestions either. If they do, they’re probably above-averagely good, and you should consider paying them more.

3/ High Experience, High Cash

As we move towards more experienced channels, the budgets go back up.

Generally, we’re looking at channels between 100k-1m subscribers (and beyond).

Anecdotally (though I have no idea if this is representative), these channels are the most “creative” - their content is really fun to write.

They’re probably pulling in plenty of money through AdSense, sponsorships, and other parts of their ecosystem.

Ergo, they’re willing to pay for writers with a little more experience.

At this level, writers should be thinking strategically, pushing back on bad ideas, and making suggestions of their own.

Some experience working in clusters 1 and 2 is invaluable for landing clients like these.

4/ High Experience, High Expectations

Once we go upwards of $1200, these are usually (though not always) multi-million subscriber channels.

They absolutely aren’t looking for “plug and play” writers - they want strategic thinkers as well.

When I’ve worked with YouTubers in this camp, they’ll:

• Ask for insights from other clients I’ve worked with.
• Expect me to spend more time looking at retention graphs from videos I’ve written.
• Treat me like a major part of the team, and we’ll bounce ideas off each other.

Matching writers with YouTubers at this level usually comes through recommendation/headhunting.

Caveats

Let me just quickly cover my arse with a few things:

• I am generalising here - there’s more nuance to the conversation than I can fit in this piece.
• This is not the gospel on how much to charge. There are numerous factors when deciding how to price yourself / pay. I’m sure I have under/overcharged before.
• Some projects on this list took 1-2 days… others took more than a month 😬 There’s a lot we could unpack about each project, but that’s not the focus here.
• I started freelance life with an Ali Abdaal testimonial under my belt, so I was definitely able to raise prices faster than average. I’m sharing these figures to shine a light on how high the ceiling can go, not to dishearten you if you’re charging on the lower end (because that’s totally normal).

That's all for this week!

I don't often delve into this stuff, so let me know if it was helpful or not.

And, if you have any questions, you can always reply :)

Speak soon,
George 👋

When working with clients, it’s my job to extract relevant information from them to help me write the best script possible.

Because, unless I know certain details, there’s no way I’ll be able to write anything good.

So here’s a wacky thought.

What if we treated ourselves as our own client?

What if, rather than simply starting to write our next script based on intuition alone…

…we forced ourselves to lay out all the critical information we would want an external writer to know?

The problem is…

Most of us think we’ll hit the nail on the head instinctively, simply because we're experts in our subject.

But I've consistently found that the more time you spend thinking about the "macro" of your video, the easier it becomes to nail the "micro".

So, here are the most important questions I always ask a client before writing their script.

Going forwards, I encourage you to ask yourself the same things:

1/ Describe the video idea in a sentence

• This is a critical starting point.
• If you can’t summarise the video in a few words, the concept isn’t clear enough in your own mind yet.

2/ Who is your audience avatar?

• This underpins absolutely everything you do.
• It’s essential for figuring out the “framing” (more on this soon).
• It’ll affect every word of your script.

3/ Why haven’t you subscribed to Tintin Smith’s newsletter yet?

• Wait, sorry, how did this get in here? Well, seeing as we’re now talking about it…
• Tintin is Ali Abdaal’s Head of YouTube and writes an incredibly down-to-earth weekly newsletter for educational YouTubers. He's also just a supremely nice man 🥹

• You basically get the inside track on all the experiments he’s running on a 5m subscriber channel - to see what works, what doesn’t, and what he’s learning along the way.
• This isn’t sponsored btw - I just want to take every opportunity to highlight other useful resources for you on your YouTube journey, and I’ve really enjoyed Tintin’s stuff recently!

Check it out ⚡️ (It's free!)

4/ How do you want this video to be framed?

• This forces you to make your idea more specific.
• Doing so makes the idea more interesting, but it's also essential for making sure the video appeals to your audience.
• I wrote about this in way more detail here.

5/ Have you ideated any titles/thumbnails yet?

• You know the score...
• Don’t develop your idea before checking you can package it correctly, etc etc.
• (However, I do prefer to “frame” my idea before ideating titles + thumbnails.)

6/ By the end of the video, what do you want your audience to understand/feel?

• Based on the direction you choose (”framing”), what sort of transformation will the audience have undergone by the end?
• Is there a specific emotion you want to elicit? (This helps focus the type of language you use).

7/ How should the video be structured?

• Always create the structure before you write.
• e.g. 3-5 key points that NEED to be included.
• Knowing how you plan to link from one payoff to the next makes writing those transitions way easier.
• Check out the “payoffs” segment of this article I wrote for a bit more detail.

And, in case you’re a writer and you’d like to use this list with your clients, here’s a quick rundown of all the other questions I ask:

• Tell us about your editing capabilities. For example, do you create animations for your content, or film additional B-Roll? Or, is there anything you want to avoid, like stock footage?
• Ideally, how long would this video be? (Duration/word count/both).
• Would you like us to include any specific CTAs?
• Is there a sponsor? If so, please link their brief below and let us know if there's a specific way you'd like us to approach the integration. If not, we'll get creative!
• Any specific sources we should use to guide our research?
• Any other info we should know to help guide how we write this video?

6-figure product launch with a 10k audience

Alex Llull (The Steal Club) recently interviewed me about launching a 6-figure product with a small audience.

It might be an interesting listen if you use YouTube as a funnel for your business / paid products 👇

Watch Here 🎥

That's all for this week!

If you have any questions, you can always reply :)

Speak soon,
George 👋

After only 3 months of operation, I have made the difficult decision to close my scriptwriting agency 😱

We had a long client waitlist, fantastic writers, and the proverbial "world at our feet".

So today, I sat down to discuss why I decided to close it...

...and why ignoring a few critical lessons back in January meant this project was probably always doomed to fail...

​Click to watch

If you applied to write for me...

...I want to thank you for taking the time to fill out the application.

My future plans involve mentoring promising scriptwriters so we can better meet the demand this industry has at the moment.

Still figuring out the details, but I may be in touch sometime in the future 🔮

If you're new here, you sure picked a drama-filled week to sign up!

Back to business as usual next week :)

In the meantime, I'm curious [FIRST NAME GOES HERE]...

What's the biggest "failure" you're grateful for? 👀

Speak soon,
George 👋

Why So Curious? 🤡

Curiosity gaps are what keep people watching your videos.

But a lot of YouTubers aren’t using them correctly.

And, until you understand the problem, you’re constantly at risk of viewers clicking away to watch something else.

So let’s talk about how to set up a curiosity gap that doesn’t cause your audience to leave.

❌ The Common Approach

Read this paragraph and see if you can spot the problem:

"To understand which type of soil you need to grow tasty parsnips, we need to talk about soil density.
​

But I would never have understood soil density if I hadn’t heard of a principle that’s so important, gardeners who don’t understand it fail 90% of the time.
​

To show you that principle, I’m going to reveal what my gardening mentor told me in 1989."

At a glance, this might look ok.

The creator has opened a few curiosity gaps to keep me hooked.

Which is a good thing, no?

But the problem with this approach becomes obvious when you break down what’s actually being said:

“To understand A, we need to talk about B.
But I would never have understood B, if I hadn’t heard of the super important principle C.
So, to uncover principle C, I’m going to reveal critical thing D.”

Think of it like this…

The white line is the viewer’s “starting” level of understanding.

They want to understand mini-payoff “A”.

So we tell them they first need to understand “B”.

But before we’ve explained “B”, we introduce another curiosity gap, “C”, and so on.

This is “Curiosity Gap-ception”.

We’re creating curiosity gaps within curiosity gaps.

In our attempt to create a ton of curiosity for mini-payoff “A”…

...we’ve taken the audience down so many extra rabbit holes that they’ve probably forgotten what “A” was, and why it mattered.

And, when your audience forgets why what you’re saying matters…

They’ll get bored and leave.

✅ A Better Approach

It’s time to fix this.

Notice the difference between my last paragraph about parsnips, and this one…

"To understand which type of soil you need to grow tasty parsnips, we need to talk about soil density.
​[Explain important things about soil density]
​And now you know about soil density, it’s way easier to choose the right type of soil!
​But that raises an important question - how much soil do you actually need?
​To explain this, I’m going to reveal what my gardening mentor told me in 1989…"

These aren’t big changes.

In fact, a few sentences are exactly the same.

But the difference is that we’re no longer stuffing curiosity gaps within curiosity gaps within curiosity gaps:

“To understand A, we need to talk about B”
‍[Talks about B]
‍And now you’ve understood B, you understand A!
But that raises an important question, C.
So, to explain how we solve C, I’m going to reveal important thing D…"

This diagram makes it clear why our second approach is so critical…

We’re no longer getting bogged down in curiosity gaps just to reach a single mini-payoff (e.g. ”A”).

Instead, mini-payoffs ”A” and “C” are achieved by opening and closing individual curiosity gaps each time (”B” and “D”).

Every time we open a curiosity gap, it’s clear what we’re building towards.

We keep the viewer oriented within the overall structure of the video while giving them a regular "hit" with each mini-payoff.

Rather than drowning them in a ton of curiosity gaps that obscure the direction of travel...

...now, their understanding is constantly progressing.

This approach is far more likely to keep people watching.

Welp, I’m never saying “curiosity gap” again in my life. The words have lost all meaning.

Perhaps I’ll let AI write my newsletter from now on.

Speaking of which, you can check out my recent conversation with Gwilym and Jamie about how we’re using AI in our YouTube workflow.

(Side note - this was recorded a few months back, and I’m wayyy more on the AI hype-train these days. Don’t come for me in the comments 🤖)

Watch Now!

That's all for this week!

Speak soon,
George 👋

‍