Question 1: What's Your ACTUAL Goal?
Most people say "I want more views." That's not a goal, that's a vanity metric.
Instead, get specific:
- "I need 50 qualified leads per month for my $5K consulting packages"
- "I want to build enough authority to charge 2x my current rates"
- "I need content that shortens my sales cycle from 6 months to 3"
Tip: Work backwards from your revenue target. If you need $50K/month and your average client value is $5K, you need 10 new clients. If your consultation-to-close rate is 50%, you need 20 consultations. If your video-to-consultation rate is 2%, you need 1,000 qualified views per month.
Now you have a real target to optimize for.
This is assuming that YouTube will give you direct conversions, a lot of the time YouTube has a lot of indirect benefits like shorter sales cycles, higher sales conversions, ...
Question 2: Who's Watching YouTube in Your Niche?
Here's what I see constantly: Business owners assume their YouTube audience mirrors their current customer base.
Wrong.
YouTube viewers are typically earlier in the buyer journey. They're problem-aware, not solution-aware yet.
Ask instead:
- What problems are they Googling at 2 AM?
- What misconceptions do they have about your industry?
- What "obvious" advice do they need to hear first?
- What kind of content are they consuming?
Example: A high-ticket business consultant's customers might be established business owners, but their YouTube audience is likely newer entrepreneurs still figuring out basic systems.
Question 3: The Consistency Reality Check
YouTube rewards consistency over perfection. But here's what nobody tells you about resource planning:
The 80/20 rule applies: 80% of your results come from 20% of your efforts.
That 20%? It's not editing. It's not equipment. It's:
- Idea generation (40% of your success)
- Packaging - titles/thumbnails (30% of your success)
- Hooks (20% of your success)
- Everything else like equipment and editing (10%)
Most creators spend 80% of their time on the 10% that matters least.
Reality check questions:
- Can you commit to 2-3 hours weekly for the high-impact stuff?
- Are you trying to be a perfectionist or a profit-maximizer?
- Can you batch content creation?
Question 4: What's Your Content Unfair Advantage?
Every successful YouTube channel has a content moat. Here's how to find yours:
Your unfair advantage = Your expertise + Your unique experience + Your personality
Most people only focus on expertise. The magic happens when you combine all three:
- What specific results have you achieved? (with numbers)
- What process do you use that others don't? (your methodology)
- What industry myths can you bust? (contrarian insights)
- What behind-the-scenes access do you have? (insider knowledge)
Example: Instead of "How to do SEO," try "The $2M SEO mistake I made (and how it changed everything)" now you're combining expertise + experience + personality.
Question 5: Your Lead Generation Blueprint
YouTube isn't about viral videos, it's about viewer conversion.
The Content-to-Cash Pipeline:
- Hook → Viewer stops scrolling
- Value → Viewer trusts your expertise
- CTA → Viewer joins your email list
- Email sequence → Viewer books consultation
- Sales process → Viewer becomes customer
Most creators nail #1 and #2 but completely fumble #3-#5.
Your conversion questions:
- What's your primary conversion goal? (Email signup vs. direct booking vs. product purchase)
- How will you track YouTube ROI?
- What lead magnet naturally connects to your videos?
- How do you nurture YouTube leads differently from other channels?
The Mistake That Costs $10K+
Skipping these questions and jumping straight to production.
I've seen businesses spend:
- $5K on equipment they didn't need
- $3K/month on editing for videos that don't convert
- $2K/month on a team before they have a strategy
Better approach: Answer these 5 questions first. Then start with the minimum viable setup and scale based on what works.
Your Next Move
Before you buy another piece of equipment or hire another team member, audit your current approach against these 5 questions.
If you can't answer them clearly, that's your real bottleneck, not your camera quality.
What question hits home for you? Reply and let me know which one you need to work on first.
P.S. Want to see exactly how we help clients answer these questions? I've got our complete client onboarding questionnaire that covers everything from audience analysis to revenue tracking. It's the same framework we use for our $3-7K/month clients.
