Mr. Beast Hosted a MasterClass on CoffeeZilla’s Channel. Here Are Some Takeaways.

These can go way beyond Youtube.

Photo by Jakob Owens on Unsplash

For anyone who’s been on Youtube for any significant amount of time, it’s likely that you’ve come across a Mr. Beast video. If you’re not aware, the guy basically pioneered another level of video creation involving outrageous stunts and philanthropy. Anything from tipping a delivery guy with a house to surviving in ice for 24 hours.

Mr. Beast is all in the name. The guy is a beast at Youtube videos and basically pioneered another level of video creation involving outrageous stunts and philanthropy.

Recently he sat down with Coffeezilla who makes Youtube videos discussing scams, frauds, and gurus. The topic? Going viral on Youtube. Here are some takeaways from what Mr. Beast had to say:

1. Make Your Content Irresistible: As they’re chatting, Mr. Beast and Coffeezilla talk about the feeling of needing to know or not being able to look away. This characterizes the idea of irresistibility and is important to garnering views in crowded spaces like Youtube.
   
   Make your work so good that people can’t help but click or look away.
2. Match Expectations, and then Exceed Them: When discussing audience retention, your thumbnail and title set the viewer’s expectations for a video before they even click on it. It’s your responsibility as the creator to ensure that what they watch matches their expectations. The beginning of your video should make it clear that what the viewer is about to see aligns with what idea they have in their head already. Mr. Beast does this in his videos consistently by directly stating to the camera what he’s about to do.
   
   And for virality? Make sure that you exceed the viewer’s expectations. This is where the over-the-top stunts come into play in Mr. Beast’s case, but there are plenty of ways you can overdeliver for others.
   
   Even a small amount of extra effort can make a big difference. Ask yourself what the minimum expectations are and assume this is what most people will do. Then ask yourself “What small action can I take to make this better?” or “How can I leave this viewer coming back for more?” Mr. Beast notes that experience with your last video highly affects decisions to return to your content. Compound interest applied to attention is at play here.
3. Establish a Foundation: Mr. Beast spent years tinkering, studying, and honing his channel’s persona on Youtube prior to building out a team and starting other channels. Scaling and creating systems too soon without first understanding the fundamentals and establishing a clear vision can cause problems.
   
   “The first rule of any technology used in a business is that automation applied to an efficient operation will magnify the efficiency. The second is that automation applied to an inefficient operation will magnify the inefficiency.” — Bill Gates
   
   This is why many entrepreneurs may have started by doing many things themselves first and then systematizing them later. Similarly, working a job in an industry for a while can give you the experience and insight on someone else’s dime and company time before striking out on your own.
4. Less can be More: Putting more effort into a single video can have it pay off much more than putting less effort into several tens or hundreds of videos. It’s why Mr. Beast’s videos take months of planning and long film days to get to the standard of quality he has. Go deep rather than broad.
   
   “It’s much easier to get five million views on one video than fifty thousand views on one hundred videos.” — Mr. Beast
5. Get Honest & Knowledgeable Friend Groups: Mr. Beast discussed how he counsels or advises other Youtubers from time to time for fun, and he’s found that not all advice they receive from their other Youtube pals is good advice. That or their friends aren’t willing to roast their videos in a constructive manner that will help them grow. Finding people who are willing to be honest with you while building you up in a positive way is valuable for your growth, and this goes beyond Youtube videos.
6. The Algorithm Reflects the Audience: One of the more interesting points noted is that as you study the Youtube algorithm you come to realize that you’re actually studying human psychology. This is because the algorithm is feeding people what they want based on data and reflects that input. Anytime you hear yourself using the word “algorithm” when analyzing your work, replace it with “audience”. Start to connect yourself to your viewers instead of the computer.
   
   Incorporating concepts like Human-Centric design and empathy into video planning and production or any part of business & life can help you gain a greater connection with your audience and, ultimately, a greater output in what you do and create.

With that said, go out and find your inner beast in whatever you do.