Hi, we’re Lexi and Cody, aka Dynamo Ultima. We’ve been living and working out of our converted Sprinter van for the last two years, but long before that, we were freelancing and working remotely. I guess we just never were going to be typical “work from the office” kind of people. Helping people create the career they’ve always wanted while traveling and living a nomadic lifestyle is one of our passions, and something we do more and more through our videos, blog, e-books and upcoming e-courses.

Let’s start at the beginning, though. After working remotely and finding our own work as freelancers for a while, we decided it was time to take our creative studio full time. In 2016, we bought our van and got to work converting it and turning it into a place we could live, work, and travel from.

That same year, we also started our YouTube channel. Our intentions were solely to show people our personalities to help build the know, like, and trust factor in our business. We never thought our channel would grow so quickly! People were excited about what we were doing from almost the very beginning… in fact, our fourth video has close to 1 million views. Crazy!

What’s even crazier is that we’ve been recognized by our subscribers while we’re out and about. It’s so awesome to meet people that love what we do and the content we create. As a creative, being recognized for the hard work you put into your craft is one of the biggest achievements there is. Having that happen was a huge milestone for us that we didn’t even plan for or think would happen.

We really believe that YouTube has helped us grow our business exponentially. I believe that it drastically made a difference when it came to creating brand recognition. It attracted more money and more clients to our business, and it helped us feel creatively inspired and it pushed us to create more.

When you can connect a brand to a face, you’re more likely to recognize that brand. We really wanted to showcase our personalities and let people see who we really are. This was important to us because when people are hiring us from all over the world, we don’t get to work with them in person. Creating videos about our lifestyle was the best way for people to see who we are, to get to know us on a deeper level, which also helps them trust us when it comes to the task of bringing their creative vision to life.

I want to share a few of our favorite tips today, both on how to use YouTube to grow your business, and advice for staying in your own lane so you can stay true to you.

Create A Plan, A Goal, And An Intention For Your Videos

Don’t just create to create. We’ve learned the hard way that putting stuff out there with no intention behind it will not get you the results you are looking for. Instead, create a plan for your YouTube channel by thinking about the goals.

Is this platform going to be used to get people back to your website? Is it to get people to purchase your products? Is it to show them you are an expert in your industry? What is the goal of your channel?

For us, the goal was to show people our personalities. This was important because with the type of work we do (branding, websites, videos, and e-courses) we are often unable to meet people in person or work face-to-face. Creating videos about our lifestyle was the best way for people to connect with us and get to know us on a deeper level. This allowed them to trust us to bring their creative vision to life or to teach them about starting a business of their own.

Once you have a goal and an intention around the videos you create, you will find that it’s easier to come up with content and know what kind of audience you want to build.

Be Consistent And Post Quality Content

YouTube over the last couple years has changed and it will always keep changing as long as it’s around. When we first started our channel I think the number one thing that helped us grow was the fact that we were new creators.

Our fourth video, the one that got close to 1 million views, was featured on the hot and new page. YouTube really likes to push new content with their algorithm, so that is probably one of the main reasons our channel grew so fast.

Now that we’ve been creating videos for a while, it’s starting to get a little more difficult to gain subscribers and get views. I think the best way to do this is to consistently create high quality content and to be consistent with posting new videos. I think one video per week is a good rule of thumb.

What do I mean by quality content? Your videos need to have good audio, they need to be edited well, and they should have either entertainment value, educational value, or informative value. Think about how your videos will benefit your audience after they watch them. Which brings me to my next point…

Create Videos People Want To Watch

You might have goals and intentions for your channel, but over time as your audience grows, it’s important to listen to them when planning the videos you want to create.

What do they want to see? Don’t let your ego get in the way of your business. Listen to your audience and you’ll find much more success.

The best way to listen to them is to read the comments. Measure the success of your videos by the quality of the comments. Views only really mean one thing – that you had a good title or thumbnail. The comments will tell you if the video was a success and your audience will guide you in the right direction.

Also, don’t be afraid to try something new. See how your audience reacts to a different style of video or topic to judge if it’s something worth continuing.

Don’t Get Caught Up In The Comparison Trap

There are SO MANY creators on YouTube, and a lot of them are doing the same thing as you. I guarantee someone else has already made that video you want to make.

It can get really easy to start watching other people’s channels and compare yourself to them. Maybe you made a video that’s similar to another YouTuber’s, but yours didn’t get as many views and it’s bringing you down.

We’ve been there.

There are so many people creating van life videos now, and it’s easy to look at their videos and subscriber count and think we’re not good enough.

I’m here to tell you that’s not true! This line of thinking is just a fictional story you are telling yourself which is preventing you from creating more. The more time you spend comparing and feeling bad about yourself, the more success you give to others, because you’re not out there making awesome videos! We are all on our own path, and we’ll all have our own version of success.

Don’t Let Comments, Views, And Subscribers Get You Down

YouTube can be harsh. People are much more likely to leave mean comments on your videos than they would ever say to your face. Bullying is real, even as an adult.

The key is to ignore it.

If you can’t ignore it, delete it and act like it never even existed! I know it can be hard to do, but you must not let it get to you. Instead of focusing on the negative (which ahem, humans are wired to do), focus on the positive. Save all of the nice comments in a folder and read them when you are feeling down. Focus on the small milestones you are reaching instead of worrying about whether you have enough views to monetize your channel. Focus on the success you’ve already had, even if that’s simply putting yourself out there and creating your first video.

Try To Post Videos To Other Platforms

When you are creating video content to help grow your business, it’s good to try and think of other ways you can use that content.

Try Instagram stories, Instagram live, or Facebook live, or create videos for your Facebook page. It’s good to consider using other platforms as well… but again, make sure there’s a plan in place for how you’ll use that content to grow your business and attract more clients and customers.

Use Business Tools To Help You Grow

Don’t try to do it all by yourself. There are tons of tools out there that will help you make your videos look amazing. Adobe Creative Cloud is what we use to edit our videos. We also use Epidemic Sound for our royalty-free music.

But our most favorite tool we use is TubeBuddy. TubeBuddy helps you manage your YouTube channel and gives you insider tips and tricks to grow your channel and reach a larger audience.

We make sure to plan our video titles, descriptions, thumbnails, and tags with TubeBuddy before we post our videos. This helps us make sure our videos are optimized for growth.

If you’re thinking about starting a YouTube channel or implementing video into your nomadic business, now is the best time to do it. The longer you wait, the more difficult it will be to grow your channel and see success.

If you want to learn more about working remotely and growing your business so that you can live the nomadic lifestyle you’ve always dreamed of, we invite you to join our free facebook community to connect with other digital nomads making a living from the road. To join, just answer the questions and we’ll add you to the group!