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1of10 Founder Explains How to Properly Use 1of10 · Gimbal Podcast

0:00
I don't know if you're willing to share this or not, but what does the retention look like on stuff like that?
0:03
A lot of beginners, they, they'll have a viral video and then they'll just stop doing it for some reason.
0:08
Do you remember any like specific standards that surprised you from that data set?
0:12
More views, more money, so it's like a win-win-win for a liquidity everybody.
0:17
Hey, what's up everyone? My name's Richard, the YouTube strategist online.
0:21
I found it oneof10.com.
0:23
I've worked with over 100 YouTubers out there from Aliyab Dal to Calaway and all kinds of niches.
0:30
Richard, I want to frame you as the ideation specialist.
0:33
You have one of 10, which is an incredible tool.
0:36
If you are the creative director for a team, let's say, what's the best way to conduct ideation meetings?
0:42
How often should people be having them?
0:44
I mean, without ideas, you don't have a banger video, right?
0:47
So it should be the most important thing for a team behind the creator.
0:52
So, I mean, at least once a week, right?
0:55
If you're a creative director, you should always be thinking about what ideas,
0:59
but also what's working out there.
1:00
How many people, like, who should come to that meeting?
1:03
What role should be involved in that meeting?
1:05
The creator should be part of it, but it depends, depending on the size, right?
1:10
But let's say before the creator, then it should be the ideation team,
1:13
then it should be the creative director,
1:15
then after I guess the producer, so they're all aligned.
1:18
Let's try and put some numbers into it, so how many big picture ideas
1:23
and how many, like, really detailed ideas do you want to go through on a weekly basis?
1:27
Yeah, so let's say my team of strategists, right?
1:29
How they work with other creators is they'll have probably 50 to 100 ideas
1:35
that they just go through, and then they'll funnel it down to five to 10
1:39
for a creator that uploads on a weekly basis, and then they'll pitch it.
1:42
So on a weekly basis, you should see at least like five new ideas, let's say.
1:47
The thing is, that's something that always needs to be ideated
1:50
because things are moving.
1:51
There's new formats that are popping every week, every month.
1:56
So you're always going to be in the know of what's working,
1:58
you know, inside your niche, outside your niche.
2:00
How do you know if an idea is good enough to pitch?
2:04
Like, how much detailed research should you do before you say?
2:07
I think this is in a good position.
2:09
We have a checklist, right?
2:10
Like, is the title and thumbnail for that idea good enough?
2:14
Will the intrigue be high enough for a person to click on that idea
2:18
based on the title thumbnail?
2:20
What is the data behind it, both positive and negative?
2:24
Like a negative data, meaning let's say you check the last 30 days,
2:28
and that idea format has been tried by many smaller subscribers,
2:32
and they have led to videos not being outliers, and that's negative data.
2:36
But if you see just a few creators that have led to a blow up or even smaller creators
2:41
where it has that to blow up, then maybe it's a good time to go all in on that format.
2:46
But also, if it makes sense with the audience you're targeting,
2:49
that's always one thing that people, I think, miss the mark,
2:52
is they're going to create an idea that's maybe too broad,
2:55
just goes outside the time that they should be targeting.
2:59
Let's say for one of 10 we're targeting intermediate to advanced YouTuber, let's say.
3:04
If we did a video around editing for beginners,
3:07
that would attract way too broad of an audience, basically.
3:10
Do you have a set criteria of each idea must come with five proven titles,
3:17
five thumbnails? Is that the number five?
3:20
Five, no, but I'd say three, for sure.
3:23
Okay, three.
3:23
Three, and also at least five outliers that backs the format that you're pitching.
3:30
And what is the best type of outlier to look for?
3:34
What is the criteria of a good outlier video?
3:38
What I like to do is, for example, see what a 50,000 subscriber
3:43
what's happening in that range.
3:45
Because if a 50k subs got a 100k views,
3:49
or event let's say a 7k subs got 100k views, it's impressive.
3:53
And basically that format is interesting for us to use.
3:57
And if it has not been overdone with bigger channels,
4:00
then maybe that's where there's a gap in the market,
4:03
either inside your niche or outside your niche.
4:05
When I'm looking at two things, one is the format,
4:09
and one is the interest topic.
4:11
For example, one dollar versus one million dollar car.
4:14
So car is the interest topic, and one dollar versus a million is the format.
4:18
Combining both means you have a high time for the cars,
4:21
and then the one versus X is a format that just works really well across the board.
4:25
And so you're looking at those two and see,
4:28
okay, maybe we can change the interest topic for something larger
4:32
or for something that makes sense for your niche.
4:34
So, okay, diving into the tool now,
4:36
this is something that everybody who watches or listens to this show already uses.
4:40
How do you get the most out of your 1 of 10 search query,
4:43
so that it filters out stuff that's irrelevant to you?
4:45
I find what I'm doing searches.
4:47
A lot of it is noise.
4:48
Is there a way to hone in specifically on what you're looking for,
4:52
your niche, that kind of stuff?
4:53
Yeah, for sure.
4:53
We can go through it.
4:55
Like gaming is the one that I try to avoid,
4:57
and it's all over the place.
4:59
Just before that, though, I just want to make clear
5:02
that how to ideate on YouTube.
5:04
There's really four ways ideating inside your channel.
5:07
So you're looking at outliers that have done well in the past for you,
5:10
and you try to see if you can remix those
5:13
with a higher interest topic, right?
5:15
Like, yeah, a lot of beginners, they'll have a viral video,
5:18
and then they'll just stop doing it for some reason.
5:21
They say, oh, I've already made this.
5:22
I can't make this again, because I can't, I see.
5:25
Whereas, you know, by talking and working with a lot of YouTubers,
5:28
those that have gone to the next level
5:30
is by doubling down, tripling down,
5:32
quadrupling down on a format that's work,
5:34
and just playing around with the interest topic.
5:37
Number two is inside your niche,
5:38
see if you can remix in your own style,
5:41
a format, and just maybe changing the interest topic,
5:43
that makes more sense for your channel.
5:45
Number three is looking at adjacent niches.
5:48
It's a niche that has the same characteristics as yours,
5:52
but you're just a bit more broad.
5:54
For example, you can think of video editing
5:57
and music production being too niche
6:00
with same characteristics, right?
6:01
You have a timeline, you're changing raw assets
6:04
into a finished product,
6:06
so a format that works on one works on the other.
6:09
And then number four is you're going super far from your niche,
6:13
and you're trying to see what's working completely out there.
6:16
You can technically $1 versus a million dollar car,
6:19
can be $1 versus $10,000 razor,
6:22
and that works in the hairdresser niche.
6:24
Any questions?
6:25
Yeah, I'm wondering if my search queries in one of 10
6:28
are too thin, because for example,
6:31
the World Cup is coming up, and so all of the clients
6:33
that I work with, we're trying to find ways
6:35
to leverage that trending topic,
6:37
and I work with journalists,
6:39
and so I just type in World Cup.
6:41
And what I see is a lot of like FIFA
6:43
that's not super relevant.
6:44
Let me see, I mean, soccer, that's what comes out.
6:48
If we were to hone in on that,
6:49
the art of football by Lionel Messi as an example,
6:52
we know Messi is probably a very clickable packaging,
6:56
and we could build an entire video around his elite athleticism.
6:59
If you were to look at that as an outlier,
7:01
does that speak to you?
7:03
Yeah, so it speaks to me in the sense
7:04
that it's an intriguing composition of the thumbnail,
7:08
something to keep in mind when you're ideating is,
7:10
I see it as a few phase, and phase one is always audience.
7:15
What is the audience you're trying to target,
7:17
and how big is that Tom?
7:18
Number two is researching outliers, few phases,
7:21
and then number three is remixing,
7:23
and then number four is validating.
7:25
You mentioned that there were specific ideators
7:29
as a role within a team.
7:31
At what point is that an important role to bring in?
7:34
I mean, technically from the start, if you have the money,
7:37
because I mean, that's how you'll blow up as fast as possible,
7:40
is with the right ideas,
7:42
and the right ideas are through long research.
7:45
But most people, what they'll do is,
7:46
I know my niche, I'll just script it out and film it,
7:50
and use a nice camera, a nice editing, and that's it.
7:54
But it's really with the right ideas
7:56
that you can grow fast to get those tens of thousands of views.
8:00
But then as soon as you have some money,
8:01
I guess the first thing is,
8:03
well, I'd say the first thing normally
8:05
is to delegate to an editor,
8:07
which is always two-time consuming for a creator,
8:10
and then after bringing an ideator.
8:13
But maybe what's possible is just
8:15
do a one-hour consultation with an ideator out there
8:19
just to get your brain going
8:20
with someone who's doing it full-time.
8:23
Because that's the reason why you would hire an editor full-time,
8:25
is because that person is 40 hours per week,
8:28
50, 60, just editing, so he's for sure better at you.
8:32
Same for ideators, they'll be better at you,
8:34
because your job as a creator is to create good content.
8:37
But the right idea should be taken care
8:39
with someone focused on that.
8:41
Are ideators full-time positions,
8:43
or are they contractors that you just buy an hour
8:46
of their time every week?
8:47
Yeah, it's both, depending on the levels, right?
8:49
It can get expensive,
8:51
so any big YouTuber should have,
8:54
like if you have a team of 10,
8:55
should have at least one ideator in there
8:58
that's just doing the idea of title thumbnails.
9:00
Are you willing to disclose what your team looks like
9:03
in terms of what roles exist?
9:05
It's now four or five strategists,
9:07
and their job is, yeah, idea of title thumbnails.
9:11
What we offer is basically,
9:13
now it's changed, but like two to four calls per week,
9:17
chat support Monday, Friday, you have ideas title thumbnails,
9:20
yeah, like I said, five to 10,
9:22
and then on the software side,
9:23
it's developers and marketing head of strategy stuff.
9:29
How far should you get ahead
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before it's too far in content creation?
9:32
I'd say one month is good.
9:35
Is that because things change too quickly
9:38
and if you're too far, okay?
9:39
Yeah, one, let's say two months, max.
9:42
And then yeah, you'll have a bunch of ideas
9:44
that you put up placeholders for month three, month four,
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but they should always be interchangeable
9:50
by the new ideas that you're gonna come up on a weekly basis
9:53
because the goal is always to up the previous ideas.
9:56
And you always think, oh, I cannot find better ideas,
9:59
but then if you just force and try to get new ideas,
10:02
you will find better ideas in the end.
10:05
Can you find ideas on other platforms like Instagram
10:08
and leverage those?
10:10
How would you spin that into a YouTube video?
10:12
Yeah, for sure.
10:13
I always say outside of YouTube,
10:15
then you can expire from books, TV shows, movies,
10:19
even like mobile apps, right?
10:21
Tinder ended up being a format that is really popular.
10:25
And so same for Instagram, right?
10:27
You see what has blown up as a hook
10:31
and maybe that hook becomes a title slash idea
10:34
for a video for you.
10:36
So you put out a report, I think it was 110 pages,
10:39
you scanned like 300,000 viral videos,
10:44
and then you put it out and it kind of shook up
10:45
the industry, everyone kind of learned something,
10:47
which was cool.
10:47
I learned a lot.
10:49
It changed my perspective of putting people's faces
10:52
on thumbnails versus when not to,
10:53
because some of the data was marginally better
10:55
for educators if you don't put their face
10:57
on the thumbnail, which was interesting.
10:59
Do you remember any specific standards
11:01
that surprised you from that data set?
11:03
So number one, I don't think was a surprise.
11:06
More of a something everywhere on thought,
11:08
but was not sure is that longer videos tend to get more views.
11:13
Like it's what we kept seeing in the past years
11:16
and more and more recent days,
11:18
just because we see YouTube pushing TV a lot.
11:21
And that data just really showed it across niches
11:24
that longer videos lead to more views.
11:27
So might as well do longer videos.
11:29
Well, of course, don't put, put long and just fluff it out.
11:32
Like make sure it's all optimized, of course.
11:35
Well, I guess another thing was title characters.
11:37
We always aim for 50 characters or less.
11:40
And that did it.
11:41
I'd say the number of face is what you said.
11:45
It doesn't change much from educational or entertainment.
11:49
And I think two, three or four faces
11:51
all lead to about the same views.
11:54
When it comes to longer videos,
11:56
I think you're talking about videos
11:57
that are like over an hour in length.
11:59
Yeah, even like 20 minutes, 25 minutes
12:02
is much better than a five to 10 minute video
12:05
or even 10 to 15 minute video.
12:07
So 20, 25 will hit, but yeah, then yes.
12:09
Then you have the one hour plus that also leads to a peak
12:14
just cause people watch on TV, leave it out there
12:18
and then or it's compilation, a type of stuff.
12:21
So it's like more views, more money.
12:23
So it's like a win, win, win for a leery everybody.
12:25
Have you made those kinds of videos?
12:27
Like have some of your clients
12:28
made over one hour videos?
12:30
Yeah, yeah, definitely.
12:32
What does the retention look like on stuff like that?
12:34
Like it feels really challenging
12:35
to make an hour long video and have it full of value.
12:39
Honestly, I've seen a lot of retention graphs there
12:42
and they all look pretty flat.
12:44
Just cause again, they'll just leave it on TV like that
12:47
there and just it'll just run the whole hour.
12:51
Of course, a lot of them fall asleep on those as well,
12:53
but that's what it is.
12:56
Is that something you like gradually build yourself up to
12:59
if you're making 15 to 20 minute videos?
13:01
Do you like work your way up
13:02
or can you just like really jump into it?
13:04
No, I'd say you do a mix.
13:06
Like most people what they do is they'll do those 30 to 40 minute videos
13:09
and then once in a while put in three hour video
13:12
and it's a compilation of a bunch of stuff.
13:15
Okay, when I worked with Mark, he had a podcast
13:18
that was like four hours long
13:19
and we intercut it with talking head videos
13:21
and it skewed all of our data
13:23
because it said every single talking head video
13:25
was below the average view duration
13:26
for these massive podcasts.
13:28
Like our average channel view duration was like 25 minutes
13:31
but we were only putting out videos that were like 15 minutes
13:33
and so we just felt like it was weird
13:35
to mix up durations like that.
13:37
Do you think it was the good move to put it
13:40
all in the same channel
13:41
or do you think it would have been better on two channels?
13:44
Yeah, I'm curious to hear your take on this too
13:46
cause Mark and I fought about it for a year
13:48
and we were both at one point on either side.
13:51
You know, YouTube was suggesting
13:52
to put all your content on the same place
13:54
and I was adamant that it was a different value prop
13:57
compared to the talking head content
13:59
and so as a result, it should go on a separate channel.
14:01
You saw people like Brian Johnson
14:02
and Ramit Sedi at the time putting it on the same channel
14:05
and having success.
14:05
So that was Mark's counter argument
14:07
and then as the channel owner,
14:09
he decided to put it on the main channel.
14:11
Yeah, it's tough.
14:12
I normally would say on the second channel
14:14
would have been the move but again,
14:16
both can work and both cannot work as well.
14:19
So it's a matter of trying.
14:21
But I would have said yeah,
14:22
it's probably two different types of audience.
14:24
I don't know if you're willing to share this or not
14:25
but one of the most important tools
14:28
in any creator's tool book now is the Liar Scorecard
14:31
thing that you've created as like a Chrome extension.
14:34
How exactly does that calculate?
14:36
Because you have some competitors
14:38
that put out something and it creates different scores.
14:40
I find yours is the most trustworthy
14:42
but how the heck do you actually calculate that?
14:44
Yeah, it's a crazy formula
14:47
but basically, it's really nothing crazy.
14:50
It's really just like the 10 videos around it
14:53
and the median views and you just see
14:57
how it compares versus recent videos, basically.
15:00
And if it's the most recent video,
15:02
is it the 10 before it or is it just the five
15:04
behind it kind of thing?
15:05
Yeah, exactly.
15:06
Why do your competitors have different numbers?
15:09
I don't know.
15:10
I don't know what they're doing.
15:11
We're the OGs.
15:12
So that's it.
15:14
So yeah, I mean, we did it because that's
15:16
what we did manually with tons of creators.
15:20
Yeah.
15:21
So we just knew what made sense.
15:23
What are some of the other tools available on one of 10?
15:27
What's probably like the most underrated tool?
15:29
Yeah, it's the thumbnail generator, I'd say.
15:32
Why is it underrated?
15:34
I think most people don't know about it.
15:36
First, you can sketch out something.
15:38
It'll recreate exactly what you're thinking.
15:41
Like for example, Mark Walberg uses us.
15:45
That's so cool.
15:46
Which I think is pretty cool.
15:47
Our thumbnail gen, they told us they've tried many.
15:52
And ours was always the best.
15:54
I can even put it here.
15:56
thumbnail was created using one of them.
15:57
Oh wow.
15:58
They're using it for the actual finished product.
16:01
It's not even just like a concept.
16:02
Yeah, a lot of them do that, basically.
16:07
Because what's important to know is changing
16:10
your title thumbnails actually works.
16:12
Like for example, Dantic here uses us a lot.
16:15
So this shows title and thumbnail changes
16:17
that have led to a blow up in views, one of 10.
16:21
So it's cool to study how YouTube thinks.
16:24
And for example, you basically see that here
16:28
using the one of 10 Chrome extension.
16:30
By the way, it was stuck at like 800 views per hour,
16:34
9 million views, changes the thumbnails
16:36
and goes to like thousands of views per hour
16:39
is up to 14 million, just with like that thumbnail change.
16:43
If the thumbnail generator is as strong as it is,
16:45
then you can probably just use it.
16:46
It won't take that much time to repackage something
16:49
from months ago.
16:51
Because the question that I always have
16:52
when it comes to repackaging older content
16:55
is should you be putting, you know,
16:56
everybody has a limited amount of energy.
16:58
Do you put your energy into creating better new ideas
17:01
or do you put it into repackaging stuff
17:03
that has done well for you in the past?
17:05
Exactly.
17:06
Which is why the thumbnail generator exists.
17:08
So now you love careers.
17:10
Basically, they're just revamping their whole back catalog
17:12
because instead of taking literally weeks
17:15
to change, I don't know, 20 videos,
17:17
it'll take them a few hours.
17:19
Yeah, and it'll be done.
17:20
I like it.
17:21
What are some other tools that are valuable
17:23
in the one of 10 catalog?
17:25
The title generator is the next big thing that everyone uses,
17:29
but basically video around World Cup.
17:32
And let's see what comes out.
17:33
So basically the title are based on your channel titles
17:37
and top outliers.
17:38
So here, let's just say just around that, made it,
17:43
yeah, why the World Cup makes a success
17:45
or the strength power behind the World Cup.
17:47
Or maybe this is not the exact title you're thinking,
17:51
but the goal is to keep changing angles to it.
17:55
And maybe there's one that you're like,
17:56
okay, this will lead to the highest intrigue
17:59
for a person to click on my video.
18:00
Because there's really three reason
18:02
where a person clicks, right?
18:03
Based on desire, based on fear, and based on curiosity.
18:07
So whatever your title you're doing,
18:09
you're trying to aim for the highest level of intensity
18:13
of either of these three core drivers of human attention.
18:17
Do you think that this is something that could be automated?
18:20
Like, could you send this to Claude
18:21
and then every week it comes up with 10 data backed ideas
18:24
that are actually good?
18:25
Well, yeah, the thing about Claude is,
18:28
it doesn't has context of your channel.
18:31
You always got to prompt it.
18:32
Whereas here, let's say you want 10 ideas
18:35
or you just come here, you do this, boom.
18:37
So it makes it just so much easier.
18:39
So you talked about automating,
18:41
you just come here, click generate,
18:42
and you'll get like 12 new ideas.
18:44
Our goal with one of 10s is to make it as easy
18:46
as possible for everyone to just come in,
18:49
get things done from the idea to execution.
18:53
I was thinking maybe put Claude,
18:54
like let Claude use your Google Chrome
18:57
and then navigate the whole thing
18:58
and do it like brute force is way in there.
19:01
I mean, maybe, but what's cool here also is,
19:03
you have like the, what I call the Bloomberg of YouTube
19:07
or the Google trends of YouTube.
19:09
Where you see what is trending,
19:12
let's say in the past few weeks,
19:14
and then you see, oh, okay, hidden secrets you missed in.
19:18
So what you can then do is just remix that title format
19:22
and then in just five seconds, you'll have that format.
19:26
And so when you're ideating, it's good to see.
19:28
Like here, clearly you're seeing Claude like crushing
19:31
using how to use X better than Y percent of people.
19:33
Yeah.
19:34
So maybe in the educational niche in whatever niche,
19:38
this format can work.
19:40
There's a good newsletter called Creator Hooks.
19:43
It's very similar to that.
19:44
And it's like a manual learning process.
19:46
This kind of takes it and shows you what's actually working
19:49
in the moment, which I think is sick.
19:51
Indeed, indeed.
19:52
You know, we've talked a lot about ideation
19:53
and coming up with good packaging.
19:55
How involved are you with the actual content?
19:58
It's self, is that how important is that as well?
20:01
Depends on the creators.
20:03
I have worked in the past, some I would deep dive more.
20:07
But over time, me and the team just focus
20:10
on idea style thumbnails and the hook, I would say.
20:14
Oh, okay.
20:15
Just doing that and let the creator do its thing.
20:17
Yeah, of course you can talk about like,
20:18
okay, what could be interesting inside the video?
20:21
But then after that, as long as they follow the right principles
20:24
of good editing and just normal editing, basically.
20:28
You're good and normal storytelling.
20:30
Like, of course, you have to improve that over time.
20:33
But without the right idea to tell thumbnail,
20:35
there's no point.
20:36
What's your assessment of YouTube in the year 2026?
20:39
Like, I feel like shorts is increasingly important.
20:43
I think long form is getting less exposure.
20:45
What's your perspective?
20:47
I take the biggest problem with 2026 is the AI content
20:50
that's just getting pushed everywhere.
20:52
So that's an issue that's gonna keep growing.
20:55
So in the end, what will win is,
20:57
if you're able to create good authenticity,
20:59
good relationship with your audience
21:01
and super high quality content.
21:03
So actually, what I've been talking idea
21:06
to tell thumbnail is the main thing.
21:08
But I guess in 2026 with the rise of AI,
21:10
high production quality is what will help you stand out.
21:14
Interesting.
21:15
I think so.
21:16
Because technically AI content can use good ideas,
21:19
but no one can beat like good content.
21:21
That's why we have one of 10 is to make sure
21:23
that everything around content is taken care of.
21:26
And so you just focus on creating good content.
21:30
Do you see a trend with thumbnails becoming
21:33
like more authentic, more raw?
21:34
Is there any background to that?
21:36
Attentive type thumbnails have always existed
21:39
and will still exist in a subset niche.
21:42
Like our thumbnail gen will do great thumbnails.
21:45
I also still think like, basically what we've done
21:48
with the thumbnail gen is all the bad thumbnail designers
21:51
that take seven days or to reply
21:54
and that type of stuff are gone.
21:56
But still the ones that are like top 1% thumbnail designers
21:59
will still be able to create the best thumbnail designs.
22:02
And actually a lot of them are using thumbnail gen
22:05
to get inspiration for composition
22:07
or like to get 50% done,
22:09
but they can for sure still bring it to the next level.
22:12
Right.
22:13
Is there a trend where it's becoming more realistic looking?
22:15
So there's a trend maybe right now
22:18
in entertainment for hyper realism, I guess.
22:20
I'd say yeah, hyper realism is trending up.
22:24
My last question is who is somebody
22:27
that is on your radar that's doing an excellent job
22:30
on YouTube that people should know more about?
22:32
I'd say Tonyo Guajardo is crushing
22:34
in the entertainment niche in the educational niche.
22:38
Caleb Ralston is a type of content
22:41
that has gone way high quality, which have led to,
22:45
and of course good idea of thumbnails.
22:47
He's crushed in a very saturated niche
22:50
and was still able to grow his personal brand to that level.
22:53
Well, thank you very much.
22:54
We appreciate you coming on the show
22:55
sharing your expertise with packaging.
22:58
I mean, you're the God of it.
23:00
Everyone here should listen to Devon and subscribe.
23:03
Okay, that's the episode.
23:04
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23:06
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23:08
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23:10
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23:11
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23:14
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23:16
I'm sure you have tons of knowledge to share.
23:19
So please reach out.
23:19
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23:21
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