$3.3M in deal pipeline from YouTube for clients
Joined April 2026
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My client landed a $1M home buyer with just 10 subs.
I've been handling his editing, thumbnails, and overall YouTube packaging for the past 9 months.
19 days ago, we launched a hyper-local channel.
"LIVING IN LAKE ARROWHEAD CALIFORNIA"
Instead of talking to every home buyer...
We only talked to people moving to one specific place.
19 days later... A $1M buyer lead come in.
You don't need more views. You need the right viewers.
Alex Hormozi told 2.2M people not to buy stocks. In a video about how to invest.
The thumbnail says “DON’T BUY STOCKS.”
The title says “How I Would Invest $1000 If I Were In My 20s.”
That’s not a mistake. That’s the whole trick.
You open YouTube expecting “here’s how to invest.” Then a thumbnail tells you the opposite. Your brain stops for a second because it doesn’t add up. That second is the click.
It’s all over business YouTube right now:
“Don’t start a business” → 4.5M views
“Don’t Sell AI” → 129K views in 12 days
“NEW CUSTOMERS” crossed out → 144K views
If you want to use this on your channel, here’s what I’d watch:
(1) Say no to the exact thing your viewer came for. Stock buyers get “don’t buy stocks.” Founders get “don’t start a business.”
(2) Let the title fix it. The thumbnail says no, the title says “here’s what to do instead.” Without that, it’s just confusing.
(3) The video has to back it up. If you say “don’t” and then tell them to do it anyway, they won’t click on your next one.
The fastest way to get someone’s attention is to tell them they’re wrong about something they care about.
This self-help channel has a cast at free that cost Hollywood billions to build.
Walter White. Thomas Shelby. Loki. Neo. John Wick.
It pays them nothing.
But that’s not even the smart part.
Most self-help channels fight over the same viewer: someone searching for motivation.
This channel doesn’t. Every thumbnail opens a different fandom.
- Breaking Bad fans click Walter White.
- Peaky Blinders fans click Thomas Shelby.
- Marvel fans click Loki.
People who would never search “self-help” end up watching a self-help video because their favorite character is on it.
I call it fandom hijacking.
Not saying go put Loki on your thumbnails. But think about who else would click if they saw the right face.
Your face can win your thumbnail the first week, then cost you views after.
This channel took the creator’s face off a thumbnail 2.5M views in.
The week before: +44K views.
The week after: +126K views.
Here’s why.
When a video comes out, YouTube usually shows it to people who already watch you. They know your face. Your face makes them click.
But when the video gets bigger, it goes to strangers. To them, your face is just a random guy. It takes space and says nothing.
So once the video is already working, you change the thumbnail for the new crowd. Take the face out. Let the idea do the talking.
3 things I’d check before you do this:
(1) Only do it after the video takes off. On day one, your face is your best asset.
(2) Don’t do it if your face IS the brand. If people click because it’s you, keep it.
(3) Don’t trust one week of views. Look at CTR before and after, on the same traffic.
A thumbnail isn’t done when you upload it. It’s done when the video stops growing.
A channel with 993 subs averages around 2M views a video.
That’s not a typo. Here are 3 more like it:
1.7K subs → 1.2M views
5.9K subs → 915K views
8.9K subs → 547K views
How is this possible?
YouTube doesn’t really ask “how big is this channel?”
It asks “will this person click this video and keep watching?”
So every new video gets judged on its own. Your subscriber count doesn’t carry it. Your idea and your packaging do.
That’s good news if you’re small. It’s bad news if you’re big and lazy.
What I’d take from these 4 videos:
(1) The idea is bigger than the channel. Old Hollywood giants, ranked levels, a $2 card worth $954K. You get it in one second.
(2) The thumbnail tells a story without the title. A jar on a boat. A price going up. 7 colored levels.
(3) None of them need you to know who made it.
You don’t need more subscribers. You need a video a stranger can’t scroll past.
A LinkedIn Top Voice with 70,000 followers reached out to me.
But, I lost the deal the moment I told him my price.
So this was a few months ago.
I get a message. "Hello sir, I need help with my thumbnails."
I open his profile and, I mean, 70,000 followers. Posts every single day. Top Voice badge. I'm sitting there thinking okay, this is it, this is a big one.
We talk a bit. He tells me he puts out one video a week. I check his channel, come back, and give him my usual price.
And he goes: that's way, way above my budget. Have a nice day.
Just like that.
So I ask him, okay, no problem, what budget did you have in mind?
$25 a thumbnail.
And look, I'm not mad at him. He had a number, he told me the number, that's fair.
I was more annoyed at myself. Because I never asked him anything. I saw 70,000 and filled in the rest on my own. Big audience, so big budget, right?
Nope.
Turns out followers just tell you how many people are listening to someone. They don't tell you what that person will pay for anything.
And the funny thing is, I've had people with tiny accounts say yes to my price without blinking. Because their channel actually makes them money.
Anyway. I don't look at follower counts before I quote anymore.
I just ask what the channel is supposed to do for the business. That one answer tells me pretty much everything.
Has this happened to you too? Big name, small budget?
This guy literally copied my whole post and changed a few words with AI.
It took me hours to find that idea. It took him 30 seconds to copy it.
Why don’t people just find their own ideas?
A 6 year old girl is beating MrBeast in Shorts views.
Ananya Khandelwal is a 6 year old Indian YouTuber with 76M subscribers, getting 2.7B monthly Shorts views.
Meanwhile, MrBeast has 500M+ subscribers but gets around 1.9B monthly Shorts views.
Let that sink in.
I guess in the next 2 years, even 2 year olds will be getting billions of views and becoming bigger than most YouTubers.
Iman Gadzhi has 6.2M subs, but never posted a Short ever.
Even though Shorts are one of the easiest ways to reach new people, he has built a huge personal brand without posting a single one.
Are there any other big creators doing the same?
I can't stop looking at this channel page.
Every single thumbnail is a banger.
Whoever makes Enrico Tartarotti's thumbnails, I'm jealous.
