The Toyota Way: A Recipe For Success On YouTube and Beyond
When I was approached over a year ago to join the Gamacy.com Start Up, I have to admit I was a bit hesitant. Gamacy.com is on a mission to become the definitive source for video game data for consumers and businesses alike. Part of this process would be to build a YouTube channel, Gamacy Network, with shows dedicated to everything video games. The Gamacy Network would help to also direct viewers to Gamacy.com, thus growing both the YouTube channel and the Gamacy brand. To me this was a solid business strategy. The only problem? I was going to be the one tasked to create the YouTube channel and grow it. I like a challenge, but this one was totally out of my comfort zone.
Like most people, I watched videos on YouTube for both entertainment and information. I admired these creators for the work they did. I would see the number of subscribers they had, how active their comment section was, and most important to me, the quality of the content they created. I never gave it a ton of thought on the amount of dedication and work it took to continuously improve their videos and gain more and more subscribers. I just watched the videos and moved on.
That was until I was the one doing it myself.
It was time for a crash course in everything YouTube. What type of cameras should I use? How important would the quality of audio be? Video editing? How was that done? What was the perfect length for a show? These were just a few of the myriad of questions I had. I quickly dove head first into the task, watching and reading everything I could on the subject. It was a lot to take in. I felt overwhelmed, doubts beginning to creep into my head.
That’s when I remembered my training in the Toyota Way.
The Toyota Way
For many years before my opportunity with Gamacy.com, I worked in the auto industry. I sold cars for Toyota and organized local marketing events for my dealership. Part of my job included extensive training in Toyota philosophy and how it translated into sales and marketing of Toyota automobiles. How the Japanese company ran everything from corporate, production, and sales was all based on what was known as the Toyota Way.
I soon realized these same principles could help me to build a successful Gamacy Network channel on YouTube.
Continuous Improvement
One of the pillars of the Toyota Way philosophy is that of continuous improvement. When this relates to having a channel on YouTube, you always have to ask yourself this question: Is the content you are producing steadily getting better? To help you to succeed, you have to educate yourself in the three core principles of continuous improvement and follow them:
Challenge, Kaizen, and Genchi Genbutsu.
Challenge
When you are starting a YouTube channel and looking at the mountain you are going to have to climb to make it successful, you have to accept the challenge and embrace it. You have to be willing to fully commit to it and do everything you can to build it, including going outside of your comfort zone. You have to confront each and every obstacle with courage and push through. There will be many times you want to just throw in the towel and quit. Looking at channels that have thousands, even millions of subscribers, and thinking you’ll never reach that is a recipe for failure. Smile and relish in the opportunity to build something of your own. Harness your creativity and go!
Kaizen
Kaizen is the heart of continuous improvement. When you embark on the YouTube journey you must put yourself in the mindset of doing what must be done to improve your product, no matter how small. It is this type of thinking that will empower and encourage not just yourself, but everyone involved in the process. It leads people to seek out solutions to problems no matter the scope. This could be everything from the type of font you use in your videos to the topics you decide to dedicate your film to. The more that you do this the stronger you, your team, and your channel will be.
Genchi Genbutsu
When you are unsure about something, and want to make the correct decision, it always pays to go to the source and check it for yourself. This is Genchi Genbutsu. When it comes to working with a team on YouTube, or when you are incorporating elements from other sources on your own, it always pays to check it out for yourself. In the case of Gamacy Network, we might be doing a show on a certain video game. We are given information on that game. I always make sure that I go directly to the maker of that game to verify that information, rather than rely on second-hand sources. Take the time to go to the source and see it for yourself. Whether it’s editorial or production decisions, you will help your channel to avoid costly mistakes.
Respect For People
The second pillar in the Toyota Way philosophy is respect for people. Whether it’s just you making YouTube videos or a team, it will always be paramount to have respect for everyone involved in the process. This especially includes those that watch, subscribe, and comment on your videos. The worst thing you can do is start letting things people say get to you. The minute you make things personal, whether from those you work with or from viewers, is the minute you will find yourself on the road to failure.
Respect
Respect for those that help you make your content, as well as those that view and comment on it cannot be stressed enough. Build an environment of trust and understanding. This will include everything from cultural differences to political views. When you go out of your way to treat your team and film subjects with respect, it will do nothing but improve your channel and content. You will gain a reputation as someone who is positive to work for and with. This translates into your finished product. The better the product, the more subscribers you will get. There will always be viewers that make negative comments about your content. The best thing you can do is be positive and respectful. Agree to disagree and move on. If you have the respect of your team and contributors it reflects well to the public and will lower the frequency of negative comments.
Teamwork
A successful YouTube channel can only be achieved through teamwork. Even if you go it alone, there will always be people to support and cheer you on. So whether solo or not, when everyone involved understands the goals and works together to achieve them, success is sure to follow. Opportunity and accountability are core tenants to teamwork. Everyone has the chance to prove what they can do. They will in turn be held accountable for their efforts. When individuals are provided with a healthy work environment and understand the goals, they will band together to accomplish the task. This is especially true when building your YouTube channel.
Going Forward
Flash forward to today. I’m not going to tell you Gamacy Network has over 1 million subscribers and is an overwhelming success. The truth is we currently sit at 40 subscribers with around 40 videos and two shows, with another show in the works, all focused on different aspects of video games and the people that play them. But what we do have is a continuously improving channel and content. If you were to go back and look at our first show and compare it to our latest you’d be amazed at the difference in quality and content. We are most definitely improving and getting better.
I have found that employing the Toyota Way philosophy to our YouTube channel has helped immensely. One successful YouTuber recently said that when you reach 100 videos you’ve just started. You can’t be fixated on how many subscribers you have in the first year, heck even the second or third. Those that have built successful channels have been doing it for many years. They all started with nothing. It takes time and commitment to be successful. If you approach your channel, or any project for that matter, using the Toyota Way, you will have built it on a strong foundation that will supply you with all you need to be successful in the long run.
Check out our latest G3 Show on the Gamacy Network.
