2 years ago today, I uploaded the first video to the Aprilynne Alter YouTube channel 🎬

I now have 80K subscribers and am on track to make over a quarter million dollars this year 💰

Here are my top 18 lessons from the last 2 years 👇 1) Focus on quantity, then quality, then quantity

To start, consistency will be your biggest hurdle - focus on quantity

When consistency gets easy, give yourself more time to make better videos

When your quality gets good, build out systems to post more consistently again 🗓️

I studied 307 YouTube thumbnails across 46 top creators🎬

And I realized the best YouTubers are masters at pattern interruption

They know exactly how to hack our brain's attention system to stop our scroll🧠

So here are 8 proven "scroll stoppers" to steal for your next video👇 1. FACES

A classic example you've probably heard before is the use of faces

There's a reason why so many thumbnails out there feature a gigantic face on them:

Our brains are wired to seek out and notice faces

I spent 36 days straight studying YouTube thumbnails

🎬I studied 307 thumbnails across 46 top creators
📝I took 73 pages of notes

And I realized that many of the best thumbnails used one the same 6 formats

Here are 6 proven thumbnail formats to steal for your next video 👇 1. RESULT

Result thumbnails feature a visualized result

Whether it's a physical product or a skill, the curiosity is driven by the questions:

"How did they do it?" and commonly, "How can I do it, too?"

The more sought-after the result, the more clickable the thumbnail

I spent 7 days straight studying MrBeast

🎬I studied countless videos, interviews, and tweets
📝I took over 44 pages of notes

And afterwards, I realized he applies the exact same formula to every one of his videos 🧪

Here's how @MrBeast solved YouTube 📈 It starts with the first 5 seconds ⏱️

In the first 5 seconds of each of his videos, MrBeast applies a 2-step formula 🧪:

1) His first sentence matches his title
2) His first shot matches his thumbnail

Tier 2 for my course is officially SOLD OUT!! 🎉

Tiered pricing is new to me, but it's been working for my course:

The Beginner's Guide to YouTube: From Zero to Monetized 🎬

If you're curious about tiered pricing, here's some more info about it and how I approached it👇 I had been having a very in-depth conversation with some folks about pricing, and I was getting mixed answers

Some thought I should be selling at $99😄

Some thought $199😳

Some thought $399 or even higher🤯

https://twitter.com/AprilynneAlter/status/1601312929860550656?s=20

I'm building a new course!

The Beginner's Guide to YouTube: From Zero to Monetized

I'd love to build this in public, so prepare for lots of course creation content😉

So...Here's my ENTIRE lesson plan👇

I'd love to hear your thoughts, especially if you're interested in YouTube 🍎LESSON 1: What to Expect

🎬CONTENT:
- Welcome to lesson one
- Brief you on what to expect in the upcoming lessons
- Course map, the stages
- All it takes is making one video a week for a full year
- Consistency graph
- Dunning-Kruger effect

Having trouble pricing your products?

I found this summarized "Guide to Pricing Theory" on Imgur, and I figured I'd share in case anyone else found it useful

13 Pricing Strategies, Visualized 👇

(all credit to ShlomoGenchin on Imgur) 1. Decoy Pricing

The premium costs only a bit more than the decoy, but provides much more value

Figma is design's hottest startup, recently valued at $10Bn and on a mission to make design accessible to all🔥

Their all-star lineup of customers includes Airbnb, Google, Uber, and more

And it all started with a 19yo college dropout and...drones?

This is the story of @figma👇 @figma EARLY LIFE👶

As a child, Figma CEO & Co-Founder Dylan Field (@zoink) was a math whiz, learning algebra when he was only 6 years old🎒

He found middle school so boring that he mostly hung out with a janitor, who was a bit of a math savant himself

I'm quitting NFTs

Being in the NFT space has led to:
💰$12,000+ in revenue
🎬20K+ YouTube subscribers
📰Features in Business Insider and the Verge
🎥A documentary appearance
💸A $60,000 consulting gig offer

But despite these benefits, it's time to say goodbye👋

Here's why👇 I first got into NFTs by accident🤷‍♀️

I was selling custom Twitter banners on @gumroad, and folks absolutely loved them. A few people suggested I turn my Twitter banners into NFTs

I was very hesitant at first

I knew close to nothing about NFTs. They seemed... complicated

Let's talk about Twitter bios ✍️

These 160 characters play a massive role in converting profile visits into followers

If you're not seeing conversions, there may be something wrong with your bio

Here are the 6 most common Twitter bio mistakes I see (and how to fix them)👇 ⛔MISTAKE 1: Resume bio

This is by far the most common bio mistake I see on Twitter

This isn't LinkedIn

Unless you're already a well-known figure, it's very unlikely someone will follow you simply because of what you do for a living or where you've worked before

NFT lingo is confusing

This list of 50+ terms will get you up to speed (fast): 1. AIRDROP

To send someone free crypto stuff - usually NFTs or tokens🪙

Confusingly, this has nothing to do with Apple's AirDrop feature

Sometimes it's giving certain NFT holders something special, but usually it's for giveaways or as a sketchy marketing tactic

I started YouTube 9 months ago

As of today, I have:
✅20,619 subscribers
👀1.1M views
💸$11,370 in revenue
💰$50K+ consulting gig
📰Features in Business Insider & The Verge
🤝Countless sponsorship offers

Here's the story of my YouTube journey👇 THE BEGINNINGS

A little background on me 🎓

I attended Cornell's School of Hotel Administration - essentially a business degree through the lens of hospitality

As I progressed through college, banking/consulting grew wildly popular with my peers

Want to do a little product fangirling for @Fly_Wallet✈️

(Completely unsponsored - I just really love this company)

I recently just hit a personal milestone - traveled out of the country solo for the first time🌎

Here's a little story of how they went above + beyond to help💜 So it started with purchasing my plane tickets - I was able to get flights for $600 less than comparable flights from Google🎫

When it came time for check in for my flights, I was having technical difficulties with an airline's website - so they contacted the airline for me!📞

I've made $6,537 in 3 months from YouTube 💰

Almost everything I know about YouTube has come from @AliAbdaal's Part-Time YouTuber Academy 🎬

Here are my top 40 takeaways from PTYA 👇 1) The most powerful lever to pull to achieve YouTube success is consistency

Make one video a week for a full year, and chances are, you'll get yourself monetized 💸

Unfortunately, the success curve looks like this, making the process very disheartening at first

In 2022, I want to get to $22,222 MRR 💸

Here's how I'm going to do it👇 💸$10,000: YouTube AdSense

At 10K views/day (my current level), I'm making $100/day through AdSense

By extension, if I tripled my views (super doable) to 33K views/ day, I could get my AdSense revenue up to $333/day, which would get me to $10,000/mo

My YouTube channel took off

As of today, I have:
✅ 3,759 subscribers
👀 187K views
⌚ 14.5K watch hours
💸 $100/day recurring revenue
🤝 Countless sponsorship offers

Here's the story of my YouTube journey 👇 GETTING STARTED

I first discovered "the whole YouTube thing" after listening to @AliAbdaal on the @IndieHackers podcast

He was doing YouTube and he was making a killing from it

I spent $1495 on a cohort-based course from @AliAbdaal called Part-Time YouTuber Academy

To commemorate being halfway through the course, here's 36 things I've learned so far

We'll cover YouTube, writing, niches, content creation, and more

Let's get into it 👇 @AliAbdaal 1) The most powerful lever to pull to achieve YouTube success is consistency

Make one video a week for a full year, and chances are, you'll get yourself monetized 💸

Unfortunately, the success curve looks like this, making the process very disheartening at first

Last week, I launched my first NFT collection

Here's a breakdown of how I did it, what I learned, how much money I made, and whether or not I thought it was worth it

Let's get to it! THE IDEA

I had been selling personalized Twitter banners on Gumroad for a few months, and people seemed to love them

Then, a few folks suggested I start making Twitter banner NFTs

Don't know what to tweet?

Here are 50 ideas to tweet when you're stuck 1. Offer some motivation
2. Shout out a successful project
3. Share insights from previous jobs/industries
4. Make a prediction
5. Create a top 10 list
6. Create or share an infographic
7. Share the story of how you got to where you are

Cold DMs are hard

But they don't have to be

Here's a breakdown of what may be the best cold DM I've received so far on Twitter, and an explanation of what made it so effective 👇 1) Prior engagement

For some time before sending me a DM, Carlo consistently replied to my tweets. By the time he reached out to me, I was already familiar with him

Takeaway: Before you send your cold DM, spend some time following the other person and engaging with their tweets

Considering selling a digital product?

Here's a step-by-step guide on how to set up a @gumroad page to make your first sale today @gumroad When you first create a product, Gumroad will ask you what you are creating

To start selling today, select "Classic". You can alternatively create a Pre-Order if your product isn't ready yet or even set up a recurring Membership charge

Name your product and specify a base price