#147 – A Simple YouTube Workflow for Web Designers with Stephanie Kase

Shannon Mattern (00:01.871)

Hello everyone and welcome back to the Profitable Web Designer podcast. Today I'm joined by Stephanie Kase. You know what? I didn't even ask you. Is that how you pronounce your name? Okay, cool. I was just like, okay, we need to like start over because I'm like, in my mind I was saying it case and then I was like, maybe it's case. I'm just going to try case. Okay, cool. Okay, so take two.

Stephanie Kase (00:11.394)

Yep, you got it right.

Stephanie Kase (00:23.756)

Nope, you got it. Case of the K.

Shannon Mattern (00:31.855)

Hello everyone and welcome back to the Profitable Web Designer podcast. Today I'm joined by Stephanie Kase, an online marketing coach and content creator who teaches ambitious female entrepreneurs and brands how to gain visibility with online content marketing that actually converts. So Stephanie, welcome to the show.

Stephanie Kase (00:50.858)

Yes, thank you so much for having me. I'm so excited.

Shannon Mattern (00:54.309)

So we are going to talk about all of the people that you've helped to build their dream life and how you've leveraged YouTube and grown your channel to nearly 100,000 subscribers to do that. We're going to talk about your scale your business YouTube class and all of the things. But first, I just want to get to know you a little better and have our listeners get to know you a little better. So take me back to like

the beginning, like what's your origin story and what led you to like what you're doing today?

Stephanie Kase (01:30.648)

Yeah, great question. So I actually started almost 10 years ago, can you believe it? Crazy. Back in high school as a photographer. And so I did wedding photography for like four to five years before I really had this vision of like, wanting to build more of an online scalable type business, something that I could do from anywhere and not have to work with clients 24 seven and essentially always turning my time for money and building a type of business that gave me more freedom, especially as I looked into the future of

Shannon Mattern (01:35.922)

God.

Stephanie Kase (01:59.5)

wanted to have a family and have kids and just wanting that flexibility. So I really launched myself then into learning everything about online courses, creating online offers and also started my YouTube channel. And ever since then through that channel have been able to serve primarily it started off with teaching Instagram strategy, social media marketing. I love organic marketing and teaching all things surrounding that especially nowadays YouTube.

and have been able to help over 5,000 online students since then have done multiple different types of things. But nowadays I spend most of my time helping business owners with YouTube and showing up there because of how it's changed my business. And also just seeing how even my students are implementing like the strategies and frameworks that have worked for me and how they've really taken off. And it's just been really awesome to see. And I also spend a lot of my days at home with my twins, with my husband.

As a result of my YouTube channel, my husband was able to quit his nine to five because it brought in enough income for our family. And it's just been such a blessing for us. And yeah, just really on fire to get more business owners and more, especially because I know your audience, I know you guys listening are web designers and you have an online based business. You literally like create websites, right? And so YouTube is such a great opportunity to

get found and to have more, whether it's client work and have more online service work or to build out other offers as well.

Shannon Mattern (03:30.061)

I love that. I can't wait to dive into all of that. The most important thing I have to ask you though is you're an Ohio girl, right?

Stephanie Kase (03:40.014)

Yes, well, actually lived in, well, depends on what you define as Ohio girl. So my dad was in the military growing up. So I've lived all over the place, but that is where I met my husband and where I lived for about six or seven years. And then we just recently moved to South Carolina a couple of years ago. So yeah.

Shannon Mattern (03:54.565)

Okay.

Shannon Mattern (03:58.405)

Okay. Yeah, that's it. So our mutual friend Maggie who connected us was like, Stephanie's from Ohio. And so I noticed you said something that you said you guys earlier and I'm like, oh, that's so Midwest Ohio. no. Yeah, that you guys is what I say too. And it's so funny. And when you said it, I was like, oh yeah, like there's the Ohio connection. No, so.

Stephanie Kase (04:14.09)

Yes, the y'all hasn't hidden yet like

Stephanie Kase (04:25.826)

Yes.

Shannon Mattern (04:28.325)

Yeah. So I started also my business back 10 years ago, 2015. And I feel like the landscape has changed so much in the past 10 years since we both started. And so you said you also started your YouTube channel back then. Did you start it in 2015?

Stephanie Kase (04:51.438)

started it in 2018. So yeah, I started my business as a photographer 2014, 2015 ish and then it was a few years later. Yeah, I started on YouTube.

Shannon Mattern (04:53.58)

Yeah.

Shannon Mattern (04:57.081)

Yeah.

Shannon Mattern (05:01.167)

So what are some of the things that you notice have changed and like also what hasn't changed?

Stephanie Kase (05:09.634)

Yeah, I do feel like it has been interesting seeing just online in general. There are a lot of things that have shifted from like back when I started my business Instagram stories wasn't even a thing. It's like I still remember when Instagram stories came out, then obviously like Instagram reels, Instagram itself just changes so much. But one thing that's really awesome that I personally especially being at this point in my business that I love is the fact that YouTube really hasn't changed a lot.

And it really has stayed very true to like it's it's built on those long form type of videos, right. And obviously, they have YouTube shorts now. And that is a part of the platform. But especially with like the way it operates as a search engine, and it got like it's now owned by Google. It's been owned by Google for a while. And like, because of that, like, there's just so much like searchability within the platform, so many ways to get found. But yeah, I mean, man, there's so many things if you're thinking about like marketing as a whole.

so much has evolved from all the short-form video coming out, but I do think there's also this, almost this craving of like, okay, there's so much thrown at us all of the time when it comes to short-form content, whether it's thrown at us all the time, but also just feeling like you're constantly having to be on and create and almost become a part-time content creator and just to market your business. But I do think that there's almost this craving that users have online, but also we have to kind of go back to how can we just create this simple content that we're...

connecting and engaging and really being like genuine with our community and in connecting with them that's where I think there's really big opportunity for things like a podcast and also like a YouTube channel to really connect with people on a deeper level and I know I've just seen that shift in myself of like there's just so much thrown at you when you go on to something like Instagram and you're like, I just I want to choose those people who I really want to learn from or go deep with

and then go deeper with them, whether it's starting off with a podcast or YouTube channel, it then leads them to buying from you,

Shannon Mattern (07:10.245)

I appreciate that so much too because I am a long form content consumer and I feel the same way. Like when I come across someone or someone refers me to someone or however I discover someone, I am uninterested in like the short preview clips, snippets of them and I can't

I just don't consume content that way. And I know I might not be the norm, but I love to like binge a good podcast or binge a good YouTube channel. And I love that there's like a lot of content where I can go deep with someone. And I think, you know, one of the big challenges I hear from web designers as service providers, I think you touched on a little bit is just like feeling like if I'm going to

do any type of content marketing, which that's a big question mark for a lot of them because of how much time that they don't have to necessarily, they're like serving clients. They're doing a lot of client work. They feel like they're at capacity already. And then they're like, and on top of that, now I have to like create all this content and come up with all these new ideas. And it really holds them back. And so

What would you say to that person who's like, but I'm a web designer, I'm not a content marketer, this doesn't come naturally to me, how is this gonna help me really connect with people who want to become my future clients? Basically like the, why should I put time into this?

Stephanie Kase (08:59.852)

Yeah, yeah, I think that it's become, I think the awesome thing is it's become a lot less about you don't have to like build this big audience. You don't have to like play into the algorithm 24 seven. You don't have to try to go viral all of the time. It's about reaching the right people. And this is something that I've even leaned even more into recently of like, I don't need this, you know, a huge audience of people. I just need to reach the right people at the right time and then bring them into my world with me.

Shannon Mattern (09:16.334)

Yeah.

Stephanie Kase (09:29.55)

And so I do think it is a balance of like, yes, we want to be serving our clients really well. And I think back to my photography days of, you know, trying to find that balance of where to put your time as far as like, yes, you need to your client work, you need to show up in that way. But also making sure we are still building on our marketing. It will look different for every person, I think, because, you know, some of us might want a larger client load than others. And so that's going to change and shift the...

way you market and how you show up and how you market yourself. I also think too, for me, even since my photography days, like something of an a vision that I had for my business was I genuinely wanted to connect with my clients. I wanted to serve them really well. I wanted the right people to be booking me. I do think content marketing and social media is a great way to put your best foot forward and to really

speak to that person, right? And really for them to connect with you and for them to get a taste of who you are. And for me, it was almost a way of being like, I'm going to help weed out the people that were not going to be a best fit. And that doesn't look like you have like you having to post every single day or show up in a way that might be different from someone else who is looking to scale a little bit more is having a bigger client load or is building out maybe even an agency or something along those lines. Like, it will look so different depending on your business, even your capacity.

and the season of life you're in, the goals that you have will be so different. So I feel like it really depends on so many different things. But I do think so much like what's happening online right now, like people want real and people want to connect. And I do think that does lessen the pressure a little bit of like, okay, I don't have to show up constantly, but if my goal is to just connect with those right people and to bring them in and then to serve those people really well.

that's also gonna lead to, like, if you're able to put some of that time towards content marketing, you're gonna bring in those best fit clients, and that's gonna allow you to charge more for what you do, for you to be more of an immediate yes to what you are doing for them. And I know for me, like, that was such a big thing, especially when worked with clients a lot, to ensure that I had the right fit clients, and that they, and my social media marketing, even then, I mean, back then it was Instagram, which is crazy, because it's changed so much since then. Back then it was like, posting your cute, like,

Stephanie Kase (11:48.75)

coffee and breakfast photos and like that was like your feed post. But I found that my clients fell in love with me through those things and it did take showing up with content and social media marketing. But doing that led to a business I felt so fulfilled in and also I could raise my prices and continue to raise my prices because my demand was going up because of that.

Shannon Mattern (12:12.131)

Yeah, I'm, as you're saying this and I'm trying to like imagine as a web designer, like how would I use YouTube to bring in the right fit clients and, and what could that look like? Some of, some of the things I was thinking about, and I'm curious about what you think about this is, you know, a lot of times we have one-on-one consultations with our clients where we're like leading them through this process of deciding to work with us and helping them like.

connect with their vision and their goals. And we have this whole process that is really, really powerful, but that only the person on the other side of that consultation ever sees. And so you're doing this thing and it's for one person. But what if you could just make a video walking like...

Everybody through here's the process of what it looks like when you schedule a consultation with me. Here's what we talk about. Here are the questions I ask you. Here's why I ask you those questions. Here's what we're trying to create. you know, so I think sometimes I'm thinking like, wow, how compelling that would be to help you build trust with someone who's looking for a web designer, establish you as a thought leader, establish you as an expert, establish you as like a

safe person for lack of a better term who is like approachable and cares and isn't going to try to sell you. So is that the type of like content you're talking about in terms of like how you can call in the right clients and like weed out bad fits?

Stephanie Kase (13:55.95)

Yeah, 100%. I actually did this with YouTube. So I started my channel a couple of years before I faced out of photography. And I started out, I mean, my strategy as far as new people finding me through YouTube was not strong. Okay, so the first couple of years, I was just all over the place and didn't really, I was just throwing up what I thought would help. But it did help with my, on the photography client side of things in the beginning. This is what I teach my students is like, if you're wanting to book, like work with more clients and

work with high ticket, like you don't need a ton of people, you just need the right people, right? And so I use my YouTube videos as a way to really give them like a taste of what I do. Like I would even, I would make videos on like simple tips for like preparing for their photo session or how to choose the right photographer or give them like a taste of working with me, what it looks like, like even just seeing me on camera, seeing my personality, seeing how I come across and they'll be like,

I could imagine her on my wedding day photographing my wedding, just like for everyone listening, like, I could imagine her like coming and creating web design for me, right? And so it's a little bit more, more so about that and also taking, whether they find you on YouTube and then they fall in love with you and wanna work with you or even using the videos you make for YouTube, like using that as a way to share in other ways. Like I would share those videos to my inquiries.

who would inquire with me and be like, oh, you had this specific question. Here's a YouTube video I've made that covers that. And it's not a hard pitch within the video, but it's just something to like they watch and they're like, I don't see any other web designer sending me any sort of video where I get to know her personality and who she is and like, just learning more about her and getting a taste of like the way that she serves her clients. And so I do think that is very powerful. And it's again, like creating YouTube content.

There is a larger learning curve than throwing up a reel, throwing up a story, but it's something that you can continue to send that video and use it over and over and over again. And also if you optimize it right, and you also create videos for like within search on YouTube, you can get found other ways within YouTube. So if you're wanting to even just build demand for your own services, if you're wanting to create any sort of other offers in your business, it can help build an audience for that too.

Shannon Mattern (16:15.193)

Yeah, I'm also just sitting here thinking like all of the questions that we answer over and over and over again. It's like the next time you get that question, like you can make a video and you're not having to separately like it's work you're already doing anyway, right? To serve this client. if you're thinking about.

Like, do I even have time to like build a YouTube channel on top of all of the things I'm already doing? Like I see so many opportunities based on how you're talking about it to integrate it into the day-to-day things that you're, you're already doing in terms of like answering client questions and things. so one thing that I see web designers trend toward.

And I'm curious your thoughts about this is like taking people behind the scenes of like technical parts of like building a website in terms of like how to get clients. And my thought has always been like, that's going to bring you people who want to learn how to do that thing for themselves versus bringing you people who want to hire you. Like, what are your thoughts in terms of like what types of content, if you're wanting to like book.

like high ticket clients who want to actually work with you versus other, you know, other types of services or products.

Stephanie Kase (17:46.636)

Yes. Yeah, I, so the first thing I would think is I wouldn't discount those people who are searching for those answers because oftentimes they can still become clients and they, maybe they, they're just searching just to see what's out there. And then they realize this is like way over, how much time is going to take me or what I actually want to do with this. Right. But I also think it's thinking about like, there is an opportunity there to expand the type of offers that even you have in your business or even

the type of income that you can make from YouTube. Like something that I teach as well is incorporating and sprinkling in videos that can generate affiliate revenue for you. So this could be like strategic affiliate partnerships with companies that you know are a great fit. So whether it's something like a web design platform or things like that, like I know I have a few companies that I've partnered with that have been incredible.

income generators for me from those YouTube videos. I really just like I can think of one generated over $30,000 for me in a couple of years from one partnership by creating two videos for it. Like, that's insane. Like that and that's traffic coming from YouTube, and people coming into my world as well, who then might also want to jump into other offers with me. And so do think there's an opportunity there as far as like, I do think one that high ticket clients like I know of, I have a friend that comes to mind instantly who

is on YouTube and recently told me like, I have had like amazing clients find me through the tutorials, like the very technical tutorials I've made on YouTube, who were initially searching for how to do something, then they're like, wait a second, you can do all of it for me? Like, this is great. So I wouldn't discount that at all. And I do think it establishes almost your credibility a little bit of like, okay, she knows what she's talking about. If I hire her, like I have a taste of her personality and I know she's gonna like understand all of this stuff, like even for me.

If I'm hiring a web designer and I know that they are proficient in Showit, they know how maybe Kajabi works and how it connects to Showit, those types of things, if I already get a taste of that from their YouTube channel, I'm like, that's awesome, because I'm not gonna have to explain anything. You already know all of this. So I do think there's opportunity there in a couple of ways.

Stephanie Kase (20:04.758)

I do think it's also at least even for my brand and my business and especially since I started on YouTube, just thinking about how I can diversify my income streams, like what if I have a month where I need to take a step back like YouTube can help fill in a little bit by having that. I like to say passive income, but we all know nowadays it's not really passive. There are a lot of moving parts into passive income. But to me, like some of those strategic YouTube videos I've created and sprinkled into my channel, like

Yes, you're gonna make way more by pointing to your paid offers, your services, but sprinkling and some of those things have also been very powerful for my brand as well.

Shannon Mattern (20:42.525)

I love that. Yeah, we just hosted a whole conference on recurring revenue. And yeah, it's like the same thing. We want to call it passive income, but it's not necessarily effortless or purely passive. it can be. You can create those things that continue to generate you money and you put in the effort once for that. I think that's, yeah, it's so fascinating.

Stephanie Kase (20:48.43)

you

Stephanie Kase (20:59.49)

Mm-hmm.

Shannon Mattern (21:11.897)

the all of the different ways that we can create different revenue streams. So I'm curious, when did you get to the point where you're like, okay, I like YouTube, it's working for me, it's helping for my photography business. What inspired you then to be like, okay, I have to help other people with this?

Stephanie Kase (21:37.162)

Yeah. it was so I initially did a lot of photography and then I got so actually in was it picking backup for backup a little bit in 2020. I was ready to quit YouTube. I was like, I've been on for a couple years been all over the place hadn't seen a whole lot from it. Yes, great for my clients, but not so great for getting outside of my current audience and going the direction I wanted to go. And so I was like, I'm going to figure this out.

double down and I did I spent a lot of time analyzing YouTube how it works, but then also applying it to use it as a business owner. And then that's when my channel really took off. So over the next four about four years, it brought me a whole new set of people a whole new audience that I was not reaching through Instagram or other ways. And in a way that was organic, right? Like I, you know, this isn't paid ads, this isn't having to post every day. It's one simple long form video every week to build

consistency and growth on a YouTube channel. And now I'm trying to remember your question.

Shannon Mattern (22:40.143)

Well, yeah, so once you kind of figured that out for yourself, what inspired you to help other people with it? Because you could have just been like, cool, I cracked the code for me. Let's just keep this going. Like, yeah.

Stephanie Kase (22:44.236)

Thanks

Stephanie Kase (22:53.041)

Yes, yes, yes. after seeing that kind of results for a few years, like again, like I mentioned, it grew to the point. So 2021 is when my channel that whole year was really like I was building an audience through YouTube. I launched my first course, like not photography related, which was a big deal for me at the end of 2021. And the following year is the first time I hit multi six figures in gross revenue for my business. And

being an online like digitally based business, my profit margins are also really great. So my husband's been able to come home. And it was just such a game. Like for me, I was like, wow, this has changed my life so much. Like I and I was still going with like the teaching social media marketing. I was really focused on Instagram reels teaching just content marketing in general. And then I started to realize like as like I launched my course, you see for business in at the beginning of 2024.

and started to realize just the impact it was making for my students already from them implementing what I was sharing inside of the course, from them going through it, starting channels, restarting channels, already seeing sales from it. And I was like, I this has just changed so much for me. And there's no way like in 2022, that same year that my business really grew. I also like I became a mom, I had twins, I

essentially went six months like my team member who's with been still with me to this day. She works part time for me and she had just started working for me like right before that. She's like, she looks back she's like you were a totally different person those six months like you were like I was just like peace out and like I twins I was the main caretaker we didn't have a ton of help around so I was just like YouTube was the thing that kept going a lot of my business to really keep going because I had

been showing up for a couple of years had really gained some traction. And so my videos continue to gain views and I had was able to like batch create some content beforehand to go out while I was away. And then I did take a couple of months off even once I got back. And so I really had five to six months of just like really having so much breathing room, breathing room and stepping into motherhood. And then also, you know, for my husband and then come home for me to get to have like more set work hours for him to be at home with our family and

Stephanie Kase (25:10.574)

just the freedom and the time that it gave us. like, there's, like when I look at the different options out there for organic marketing, YouTube is so unique in the sense of like, even thinking about, even for just talking about all of marketing, like including paid ads and stuff, like it's something you can truly create videos and they can continue to market for you for months or years to come. I have, like when I looked at the views from my YouTube channel in 2024, the top viewed videos were from

from 2021 2022 and 2023 continuing to gain me views in 2024. And like I mentioned, YouTube, platform itself hasn't changed a whole lot. like a lot of what it's it's very similar to Google, right? Like Google, yes, they make little changes, but it hasn't changed a whole lot. If you think about it's a search engine, you're searching things on it, you're getting found on it. And so it really just changed so much for me in the way that it's like this bedrock for my business, like I know like if something happens,

Especially it's so reassuring, especially being the breadwinner right now for our family and being at home with little little kids like Knowing if something happens or you know when I need those steps back or I had like another maternity leave last year with my third like It really does continue to go for me Even if I can't manage any paid ads even if I can't post an Instagram every day even if I can't write an email to my newsletter every week like it's something that Continues to go and to continues to gain views like even last year

I went through mold toxicity and had a lot of healing happening and it was filming a lot of content which is not happening for me. So I took about six months off from my channel and just postpartum with my third baby. And my YouTube channel still gained over a million views from my long form videos that I had created before then. And so just seeing how like that literally those viewers were turning into leads for my business was turning into income for my business. And I'm like, wow.

Shannon Mattern (26:50.693)

Sure.

Stephanie Kase (27:06.379)

Like I want more business owners to experience this, to give more of that breathing room. It's almost just like that. Like I don't have to post on Instagram every day if I don't want to. Like often it feels like that's the main option, right? Or immediately jumping into ads. And a lot of business owners, it's just not a good fit or it's just not the right time to do that, right? And so I just see it as this like incredible opportunity. And ever since, so really like beginning of 2024 is when I started teaching.

more more on it. And then more recently, so the end of 2024 is when I really felt called to go all in on just teaching YouTube. So to really like come down from teaching a lot of different strategies with content marketing, and focus on YouTube growth and just seeing already like the transformation my students are having in starting their channel and just a couple of weeks later, like seeing sales already and already having videos rank and search and already like

Like just in hearing from my students of like, wow, this is so like motivating and exciting, even though it is a long-term platform, like you can still see those results right up front with good like keyword strategy, good video strategy, and just it being a breath of fresh air and motivating when sometimes it feels like Instagram is just constant, everything's sent out you all the time, there's always pressure to create posts, create and post and always post every single day and create new content and.

So I really feel like it's a way that you can just get found around the clock, even when you're not physically in your business. And I know that, well, you know, we know there's a lot of different things that go into that to actually make that income happen. But it's things like, you know, seeing those client inquiries come in, even when you've taken a week off and haven't posted on Instagram that week, because people are finding you through YouTube content, right? And so it's just been incredible to see, especially since going even more all in with it over the past...

It's been like five or six months or so. Like seeing the results of my students are already getting, it's just been absolutely awesome.

Shannon Mattern (29:09.581)

I love hearing that story and just how it's really tied to freedom and autonomy and choices and not feeling so trapped by the, it's like, yes, our businesses should give us freedom and not just the money that we make and the clients that we serve, but the marketing that we do to create that, it all should feel.

feel like freedom, not just the, I'm gonna like churn out content for this platform 24 seven so that hopefully maybe I can make enough money off the back end of this so that I can like have the freedom. feel like that's backwards. And I feel like what you're saying is you get to start with a strategy that allows you to step away when you need to.

go more all in when you have the capacity to do that back off when you don't and that it doesn't have to be this like foot on the gas the whole entire time, which is what leads so many people to quitting burning out feeling like, it would just be easier to go work for someone else even though there's trade-offs with that than to keep having to like operate at this high level and.

One of the things we talk about at the web designer Academy and you know, we, we teach like marketing, like analog marketing strategies, right? We teach relationship building and maintaining relationships and outreach. I wouldn't call it networking because we're, we don't teach like go to a networking group and hand out of us. Like, no, like none of that. But one of the things that, you know, people

people are always asking is like, how do I keep the faucet on? They're like, so if being really consistent with my marketing and I'm developing and maintaining relationships and all of those things, but I want to take a break from everything, like what you did for six months, just you don't want to be off for six months, but still like,

Shannon Mattern (31:26.831)

building, like maintaining relationships and building those one-on-one things. Like what I'm hearing from you and the opportunity that I really, the beauty and the opportunity that I really see is like, it does allow you to kind of keep the heat on of like, keep the heat on the water, right? Like, and keep it warm while you're not there and not have to be the one like putting the heat on things the whole time.

Stephanie Kase (31:56.995)

Yes.

Shannon Mattern (31:57.165)

And so I'm just thinking about all of our students that would be like, but I can't, like they see the opportunity, they see why it's so important, they see how it could bring them the right people, but they're like, but I'm not good enough to like be on camera or I'm too, I'm afraid to put myself out there or I'm an introvert. What would you say to those people who say that, you know,

They don't feel comfortable being on camera or are worried about being more visible in that way, or maybe feel like an imposter or all those things that come up for people when they're about to do something a little bit uncomfortable, a little bit bigger than what they're used to.

Stephanie Kase (32:45.006)

Yeah, so I, the first thing that really comes to mind is that everybody feels that way. And even if you've like made it, you still feel that way, right? It doesn't just like ever go away. So I just want to like affirm that that's a very normal feeling to like even question like, what am I even doing? Like, am I even like, am I an imposter here, right? But the main thing that usually comes to mind for me is,

Are you like willing to push past some of that discomfort to reach the people that you were meant to reach and that doing that like the like pushing past that initial like nervousness and butterflies and like, am I even like doing this right is going to help you to reach the people that you were literally put here to serve. And I also think about how it's going to get easier the more that you do it. So I actually like to think about the time that so back.

It would have been a couple almost a couple of years ago, we decided to take our twin toddlers to Disney World for the first time, which is kind of a feat if you've ever taken one, but like we took two at the same time. And I just remember like getting there on the first day and thinking like, like this is so much work like we have done so much to literally pack up everything and drive down here and get to an Airbnb. And then on the day of like we had to pack everything for you know, diapers and wipes and snacks and food and

everything I had prepared, all the outfits and just all the different things to get to the park. But I remember after the very last day, and me and my husband, like over the course of the week, it felt so easy to go to the park and to get there and to have so much fun. And it was like so magical. Didn't feel that way when we first got there, but I thought to myself like, wow, we really have like this system down now.

Shannon Mattern (34:28.196)

Yeah.

Stephanie Kase (34:32.6)

He knows what he's helping with. I know what I'm helping with and we're able to get there and it's just so smooth. And it always, like that reminds me of creating YouTube content in the sense of like, it's going to feel harder at first. And you're be like, I'm figuring out all of these different moving pieces, just like we were when we were preparing to like to go to Disney World, right? There's so many moving pieces from the video idea to the outline to, you how do I wanna look on camera, to setting up my filming space, to the microphone.

there's so many different moving pieces to figure out. But once you figure it out, it starts to feel so much easier. And then your confidence starts to increase with that because you're like, Wow, I'm really getting this down. I'm really having fun with this. I am feeling more confident on camera, the more that I'm doing it, the better that I feel on camera, right. And so I really encourage that as well of like, it's going to feel easier, the more that you do it, in the same way that it felt so much easier for us.

the longer that the trip went on to actually get out the door with our toddlers and that it's so cool to like once you keep going and once you keep doing it in the same way that Disney felt like so magical to us. It starts to feel magical when you start seeing like I still remember when I started on YouTube and like started seeing my first views come from search and I was like, my goodness, like it's happening. Like people are finding me like this is.

just getting those first taste of organic reach from a video that you made a month ago or two months ago, I really do feel, and my students find this too, that it carries into the way that you feel going on camera, but that's not gonna happen until you decide to do it and to put yourself out there, even if you are nervous at first. And if you want a little bit of encouragement to you, go back and watch my first videos. They're pretty cringy, okay?

No one's gonna be perfect at it at first, right? But by pushing through and putting yourself out there, it's going to help you reach the people you want to reach. It's going to make you get better and better at it and develop those systems and streamline that workflow and get better at camera and feel that confidence as well, so.

Shannon Mattern (36:38.969)

I remember my first videos that I made for just, they weren't like YouTube videos, but they were videos teaching how to build a website, like way back in the day, because I started off with affiliate marketing and teaching people how to build a website and how to set up their blog and all of that stuff. I remember the first video I made just teaching someone how to buy web hosting was like, it took me like two days.

Stephanie Kase (37:04.322)

Yeah.

Shannon Mattern (37:07.845)

to film that 10 minute video because I was putting so much pressure on myself to sound different, look different, be different, be the version of myself who's like 25 videos in or 250 videos in and not the first video. I'm so, so what, it took two days. I did it and I put it out there and it's cringy and I should find it.

Stephanie Kase (37:10.03)

You

Yes.

Stephanie Kase (37:35.138)

You

Shannon Mattern (37:37.349)

But I did it and I kept doing it and I kept doing it and I think it's fine that it took me two days to like get over seeing my face move and talk and hearing my voice and all of the weird things that we have this like inner, well I do, had this inner critic that's like, you really sound like that? Your mouth moves weird, you blink a lot. Like all of this just chatter where I'm just like, mean girl in my head, go sit down, we don't need you right now.

Stephanie Kase (37:48.098)

Hahaha

Stephanie Kase (38:02.978)

Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.

Shannon Mattern (38:05.519)

and kind of just getting through that, through that discomfort of it. And I love your analogy of like going to Disney and how, yeah, it wasn't easy at first, but it was so, so worth the experience. Like you would never not do that. You would never not go through the beginning to get to the end.

Stephanie Kase (38:19.52)

yeah.

Stephanie Kase (38:28.504)

Right, exactly. Yeah, and I, it's just, it's so, and once you start to like taste how, like that magic of like seeing that growth on your channel, you start to see people commenting on your videos, you're like, my goodness, people are watching. Even if like I don't totally love the way I sound on camera yet. And what's cool too about YouTube nowadays is that it's become even less, like one big shift I've seen happen since I started on YouTube is it's become way less like,

Shannon Mattern (38:30.893)

my goodness.

Stephanie Kase (38:58.414)

scripted and like it has to be this you know super professional edits with all these pop-ups to like keep people's attention like people just want to feel like you're sitting down and talking over coffee with them yes we'll do some editing to tighten things up a little bit and just make it a little polished but it doesn't have to be one complicated editing that's over the top with all these different things popping up but two it can be simple and just like like you're sitting down talking to a friend

And it is funny now the more that I film now that I filmed YouTube content, especially for years. It's funny because now like I can sit down and talk to my camera and I'm so comfortable with it. And sometimes even more comfortable than like going out and meeting a friend for the first time or something or going to like an event. I'm like, my goodness, like I'm meeting new people like versus now the camera is like way less intimidating because I've done it for so long. It almost feels like a friend that I've gotten used to talking to isn't that kind of funny. It's very weird.

Shannon Mattern (39:54.661)

I totally resonate with that, yeah.

Stephanie Kase (39:55.394)

But it happens. Yeah, yeah. So it is funny how like over time it does, like your confidence does increase. And, and also I think it is so like it's almost getting over that initial like three to six months of seeing growth on YouTube and uploading consistently. And once you start to see that consistent growth and those consistent views and leads and sales come in from the reach that you're getting, then you're like, okay, I can't afford to not do this. Like even for me.

I have well my twins just turned three but three under three and so even for me with really young kids I YouTube has been one of the things that's still so worth it I can do it on my own time as long as I have a few hours blocked off in one day I can get it done. I can pre create videos whenever I want It's not this pressure that I like have to show up on this certain day every single day Which has just been really freeing for me, too

Shannon Mattern (40:50.985)

So, you touched on a lot of my hesitations about even going in, like even doing a YouTube strategy personally, when you were like, you don't have to have these super edited videos with all of these, you know, like cuts and animations and all of these things to keep people engaged. And the way you talk about it is so accessible and approachable.

and I don't think I've heard anyone else. I personally have not talked to anyone else about YouTube who talks about it in the way that you do where you're saying it's really like having a conversation and yes, you want to tighten some things up and you know, do things like that. But the way you are talking about YouTube makes me think about how I feel about my podcast, you know, where.

Stephanie Kase (41:46.104)

Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.

Shannon Mattern (41:48.789)

I was so all in on podcasting that I didn't even think about like, but it's going to take maybe three to six months for me to start hearing that people found me through my podcast. I went in knowing that and I was like, I know because this is my second podcast, it's a different, different audience than my first podcast. And so I was able to look back at my first podcast and say, okay, it really didn't like start.

creating that type of result for me until about six months in. And so when I started Profitable Web Designer, I knew I'm like, yeah, I'm just going to do this for six months and not obsess over metrics or even make it mean very much. make sure that what I'll look at the metrics is to just check like, did I do everything correctly? Is this actually published and being distributed? Okay, cool, check, moving on.

Next episode, get the process down, get comfortable. And six months in, I start getting people joining our program and I'm like, where did you hear about us? They're like, your podcast. And I'm like, it's working. Like you get so excited. And the way you're talking about YouTube makes me feel like, okay, this is doable, approachable. I don't have to be someone I'm not or pretend to be someone I'm not. I don't need.

Stephanie Kase (42:50.414)

Mm-hmm.

Stephanie Kase (42:57.87)

Yes.

Shannon Mattern (43:16.035)

to have a film crew or an editing crew or all of these things. And so you're like, I don't think this was your intention, but I think you're like, I'm getting sold on this as a way to connect with more people. So I just appreciate your approach, I guess, is what I'm saying.

Stephanie Kase (43:40.678)

Yes. Yeah. I even say like if the because I have a lot of students who like most of my students have already been building a brand somewhere else. Like they they know their ideal audience. But even for them, they're like, I don't know if I'm ready to like invest in this fancy camera with gear and like, I just don't think I'm ready to like figure all of that out. Like the one biggest tip I can give you with that too.

is there's a simple microphone called the Rode VideoMic Me that literally plugs directly into your smartphone. So easy, you don't have to adjust any settings and you can use your smartphone to start with YouTube videos. it doesn't, like honestly, the first camera I bought to record YouTube videos on, I paid like $1,000 for it and I think my smartphone does a better job now than those videos. Like when I look back, I'm like, wow, the quality of my smartphone is actually way better and a lot of them use 4K as well. Like you can do 4K.

And so, YouTube loves seeing that. I encourage you, like if that's gonna hold you back, just use your smartphone. My favorite editing program, I'd recommend one. Obviously there's the free iMovie editing program on all Apple computers. That's a great start. There's also Descript that I know a lot of podcasters use as well, but it's a great editing platform that's a subscription-based, so it's like a low cost to get started with it.

And it has AI tools in it where you can literally click and remove like your arms and remove the filler work like the filler gaps of time. Like so I do that even I love Final Cut Pro. It's like a it's about $300. It's a program. It's like an upgrade from iMovie has a lot more features. So I'm fairly familiar with it from using it for you for years now. But I still even now we use Descript to usually I can edit the whole YouTube video if it's a little more complicated. Sometimes I take it into Final Cut Pro but

For the most part, I do lot of my edits and descripts I absolutely love it. I think it's very user friendly and it's also, they have those AI tools to make things really fast. So if I can give you an encouragement with that. And so really the main things that I'm just doing is trimming out when gaps in my talking. I usually do add one pop-up overlay with what I like to teach and I talk more about this in.

Stephanie Kase (45:55.116)

my YouTube Cash Flow Masterclass, which I know we're gonna link or whatever, but you can go to my website and find it. I just lost my train of thought. I'm trying to think. No.

Shannon Mattern (46:08.261)

Three under three, no. You lost your train of thought? That's crazy. You mentioned a pop-up overlay that you did.

Stephanie Kase (46:16.762)

Oh, Yes. So I talk more about this in that master class, but I like to teach having a one primary call to action for each of your videos. So kind like I mentioned, like you can sprinkle in those affiliate videos, but most of your videos are going to point to your own offers, right? So like reaching out to you to book you or to see if they also have a consultation or call or whatever, whatever you do.

maybe it's an email list opt-in, like having that call to action in there and having some sort of like visual of what that is. It might make more sense for some things than others, but like for me, if it's a email opt-in, I'm making sure I have a visual there. But otherwise, I keep it very simple. We don't do a ton of overlays. Like you can add more things if you want to, but I really don't think you have to if you don't want to, and it'd still be very, very effective.

Shannon Mattern (47:07.365)

So good. So tell us more about your program and how you work with people to teach them YouTube.

Stephanie Kase (47:17.518)

Yes, yeah, so I, my signature program is YouTube for Business, so it helps to make YouTube simple and worth it. So I'm all about making YouTube feel very approachable, having a very streamlined workflow. Like I've mentioned multiple times, I'm a mom of three with really young kids. Like I can't have YouTube take over my life, and it still has been such a great marketing channel for me.

And so I have a workflow that is, if you're doing it all solo, four hours a week, if you're even get like one video editor on your side, you can get that down to about four hours a month, just your time to ideate, create the videos and get them out into the world and have someone take over the editing and scheduling part of it. And I, inside of my program, obviously it's like video based, so there's a lot of workshop style tutorials. You can see exactly how I'm doing things, how I'm things up.

There's also lot of AI that I've added into it and I'm continuing to add into it as far as helping you come up with video ideas, helping you come up with ways to title your videos to get to like optimize for keywords in search, to write your video descriptions, to help you come up with ideas for thumbnails, to help you write your outlines. I that's a big sticking point of like, what do I even say in all the videos, right? And what I teach in my framework.

is creating simple videos that are about 10 minutes long, usually around like one topic, usually have maybe three main points you're making within the video. And that usually is going to come out to around 10 minutes. And it can be as simple as that doesn't need to be super long, super in depth, giving them a win on something, helping them to think about something, even thinking about what your clients are thinking about before they hire you kind of like we already talked about like creating videos around that. And so I talked more about all of that, the strategy of like

the kind of a visual, like what different cold actions are and like video ideas and things like that. And more about the workflow inside of that YouTube Cashflow Masterclass. So like if you're interested, if you want to learn more about YouTube, my framework, how it works, and if you want to get inside of YouTube for business, that's a really great place to start because there's a couple of bonuses if you watch the Masterclass.

Shannon Mattern (49:22.607)

Amazing. So where can everybody go to get the masterclass?

Stephanie Kase (49:26.614)

Yeah, so StephanieK's.com slash YouTube cashflow.

Shannon Mattern (49:30.319)

And that's Stephanie with a K. Or not Stephanie with a K, Ks with a K.

Stephanie Kase (49:32.278)

Yes. Yes. I got you.

Shannon Mattern (49:37.413)

Yes, so good. So I just have a couple more questions for you before we wrap up. And this one is one that I ask everybody that comes on the podcast and that is what belief about yourself did you have to change to get to where you are today?

Stephanie Kase (49:54.274)

Wow, that's a great question.

Stephanie Kase (50:00.236)

Hmm, I think it is.

the belief that like God put me on this earth, kind like I alluded to earlier, but I truly believe like God put me on this earth to serve certain people. And I believe that about my students as well. And that people who come into my world are coming into my world for a reason. And like I made to help them to get to where they're going. And really like within me, like changing that belief of like I am not an imposter in what I'm doing, right? Like having that confidence of like,

No, I know what I'm talking about. Like I have helped so many students. I am, my own, my own journey, like in how I have implemented my frameworks and my strategies, like kind of even what we were talking about earlier with imposter syndrome. It's like that never completely goes away, but learning how to shift that inside of yourself and instead be like, no, like I'm here for a reason. Like I am helping and transforming lives. And like that is what I've been put here to do.

And so really, maybe it's even like a constant like reminder and shift in belief of like, making sure that I'm not falling into that imposter and listening to that, but instead, recognizing that like I am here to transform lives for a reason, right? And really listening to that instead and moving forward with confidence. And I do feel like

that has just brought me so far in putting myself out there starting with YouTube, but also in other areas as my business has grown.

Shannon Mattern (51:36.397)

my gosh, that's so good. think that is the perfect place to wrap up this episode. So can you tell everyone where can they go to connect with you, learn from you, learn more about you, check out your YouTube videos, all of the things.

Stephanie Kase (51:50.88)

Yeah, so StephanieCase.com has basically links to everything, but you can find me like Stephanie Case on YouTube. Type in youtube.com slash Stephanie Case is where you can find my YouTube channel. You can go on Instagram at Stephanie Linkase. And yeah, those are really the main ways to find me and connect with me.

Shannon Mattern (52:09.067)

Amazing. Well, thank you so much for being here. This was an awesome conversation. I really appreciate it.

Stephanie Kase (52:14.516)

Yeah, absolutely. Thanks for having me on.

Shannon Mattern (52:18.019)

All right, that's it for this episode, everyone. We'll see you back here next week. Bye.