Gary Vaynerchuk talked about this recently: Every single one of us is a media company.
Over this past summer, I tried this theory out.
I had originally started a YouTube channel called Exploring Denver in 2012, but it sat empty for years. I finally uploaded the first video generally talking about what it’s like to live in Denver, Colorado.
To date, here are the stats on that video:
Not too bad, eh?
It has zero bells and whistles and was literally filmed in my kitchen.
For some context: I have copywriting videos and other channels I’ve been working on for years that only have double digit views.
Anyway, I started to make a few videos here and there about the neighborhoods throughout Denver and ended up with:
Subscribers: 437 Total views: 26,464
I took down a few of the neighborhood videos because I’m nowhere near an expert on living in Colorado.
Lesson learned: While there wasn’t much of a financial return outside of YouTube AdSense, what I learned was that this is a huge market that is lacking.
While browsing around most videos on YouTube, most videos about the city are not very helpful. People want to learn about where to go, what to do, and specifics about the areas.
Out of the estimated 29,553 real estate brokers in Colorado, WHERE are they and WHY aren’t they utilizing social media? Where are their YouTube videos?
Each video got a flood of comments about specifics, for example:
Do you see the huge opportunity real estate agents have? Most of these people are looking for somewhere to live, and Real Estate Agents should be experts on that.
All I filmed with was my iPhone 4S. If someone got a GoPro, made some videos, and religiously answered questions in the comments section, they could immediately gain clients after a few months of hustling.
I played in this area to experiment with copywriting and marketing in the Denver/Real Estate space, but seriously, an agent better hop on this before I go get my license and steal all their clients.
It also brought about new followers to my copywriting business and local people who need copywriting have been inviting me to more and more events.
So, no matter your industry, becoming a media and establishing your own space is simply a matter of creating the content and bringing value (the missing ingredient).