Create more engaging videos with simple, actionable scriptwriting tips.

If you need to pack a lot of information into one script, how do you structure it?

For example, a script that includes 2-3 main topics, but which also includes several sub-topics within the main topics?

No matter your niche, this will have happened to you at some point, or it will in future.

So let me show you how to structure this properly. Get it wrong, and your video will be so boring even you won’t want to watch it back.

Key Structure:

As you may know, I break every script into segments.

And each segment follows the same structure:

• Setup - where we introduce the segment and what the viewer will gain from it.
• Tension - where we deliver the bulk of the information in an interesting way.
• Payoff - where we fully reveal the information we got the viewer curious about during our setup.

Most scripts between 8-15 minutes tend to have somewhere between 5-7 “segments”.

That’s 5-7 times we repeat the process of “setup, tension, payoff”.

Simple.

But how would you approach a script in the following scenario?

Let’s say you’re making a video teaching how to create and sell digital products using AI.

There are 3 “main” parts of this video.

1. Deciding which digital products to make.
2. Learning which AI tools are needed to create them.
3. Discovering how and where to market them.

But within each of these topics… there is still a lot to cover.

For example, within “Learning which AI tools are needed”, we’re probably going to discuss:

1. What the tools are.
2. How to set them up for this project.
3. How to use them step-by-step.
4. How they integrate with any marketplaces covered in part 3.

So that begs the question - how do we apply setup, tension, payoff?

Do we use it only on the main topics, or for each of the subtopics?

Well, let me show you what I see happen all the time when YouTubers do the former…

The "Bad" Way (avoid this):

Setup:

During the setup, YouTubers often feel compelled to summarise everything that’s going to be covered in the segment.

“This second step can be broken down into 4 simple ideas:

- First, we need to learn what the tools are.

- Second, how we’re gonna set them up for the project.

- Third, how to use them to create your digital product.

- And fourth, how to upload them directly to Gumroad.”

This is bad for retention, because:

1. I’m not going to remember these, so you’ll have to re-introduce them again later. Functionally, this is wasted time.
2. It risks feeling overwhelming.
3. It also doesn’t sell the result of this part of the video, which is what setups are designed to do.

Tension:

This is the biggest problem area.

Because we’re now having to try and list multiple ideas, principles or steps all within the umbrella of a single “setup”.

And the most common outcome of this is that they feel rushed.

For example:

“First, which tools do we need?​

Honestly, ChatGPT is the best bet here because of it’s projects feature. But if you want a bigger context window, go for Claude.

Second, setting them up. Let’s say you’re using ChatGPT. You’re gonna want to make sure you’re uploading a style guide to each custom GPT you create, so if you don’t have one of those, go ahead and create it now.

Third, to create your product using ChatGPT, upload the style guide to a new custom GPT, and explain in natural language the digital product you decided to create earlier. Let’s say you were trying to code a new app, you simply tell ChatGPT to express itself using your preferred coding language.

Fourth, open Gumroad and…”

I cannot tell you how many scripts I’ve read that look like this.

It somehow manages to feel both rushed and bloated at the same time - like I’ve heard a lot of noise, but I couldn’t confidently implement anything I heard.

Payoff:

These end up becoming bloated as well, because now it feels like we need to summarise a huge chunk of information in one place.

The "Good" Way (do this)

As you’ve probably guessed by now, my advice is to treat each subtopic as its own segment.

That means going through the cycle of setup, tension, payoff multiple times within a single main topic.

It might feel a bit weird, but let me show you why this works.

Setup:

Rather than having to waste our setup explaining the structure of the next four sub-topics…

…now we can simply focus on the benefit they’ll receive by watching.

For example:

“Now it’s time to cover exactly which AI tools you’ll need to create your digital product, starting with understanding which tool has a track record of creating the most lucrative products…:

The first clause indicates that we’ve moved onto the second main topic, and the second clause focuses in on what step 1 is and why the viewer should be excited about it.

Tension:

Not much explanation needed here.

In a nutshell, all those details we had to breeze over before…

“Third, to create your product using ChatGPT, upload the style guide to a new custom GPT, and explain in natural language the digital product you decided to create earlier. Let’s say you were trying to code a new app, you simply tell ChatGPT to express itself using your preferred coding language.”

…can now be explored in more detail, leaving the viewer feeling equipped to actually take action:

Step 3 is where we're actually going to build your product using ChatGPT, and as you might have guessed, that means we're going to need our style guide we created earlier. Head into the custom GPT's settings, scroll down to the "knowledge" area, and upload your PDF. Anything you upload to this area will be referred back to by the GPT before it builds anything.

Payoff:

Now we have one of these at the end of each sub-topic, designed to pay off one specific thing.

(Rather than an enormous paragraph trying to tie together all the takeaways of the much larger, main topic.)

That's all for this week!

If you'd like to grab one of the remaining spots inside the YouTube Writer's Room and receive direct feedback on your scripts from me, click here.

Any questions? Reply to this email and I'll get back to you.

Speak soon,
George 👋

Before recording your next video, I want you review your script and ask this question:

“How easily can I picture this?”

Or, to be precise, “how easily can my viewers picture this?”

The truth is, this question has a significant impact on retention, yet I’ve worked with dozens of clients, students, and agencies who ignore it.

So, using some simple examples, let me show you why this matters, and how easily you can implement it.

But before we get into it...

LAST TICKETS LEFT

Get 6 months of YouTube strategy in 8 hours.

We’re running an intensive, one-day event for entrepreneurial YouTubers to help you nail the 3 core aspects of a successful YouTube channel:

1. Strategy & Packaging (hosted by Jamie Whiffen)
2. Scriptwriting & Retention (hosted by me!)​
3. Systems & Production (hosted by Gwilym Sims-Williams)​

Our goal?

To help you make more strategic YouTube progress in one day than you would in 6 months.

Last Tickets Left, Grab Yours Here

In addition to our keynote sessions, Q&As and implementation sessions, I'm excited to announce our sponsor!

​Justin Moore: Author of Sponsor Magnet​

Attendees will receive a free copy of Sponsor Magnet plus the following exclusive offer from Justin:

Join a "sponsorship diagnosis call" with one of Justin's team:

• Assess your channel/socials/business.
• Pinpoint roadblocks preventing you from landing lucrative deals.
• Identify opportunities to drive more revenue through sponsorships.

Thanks again to Justin for sponsoring the YouTube Breakthrough Intensive!

To learn more about the event and claim your spot, click here:

Last Tickets Left, Grab Yours Here

So, back to that key question...

"Can my viewers easily picture what I described?"

First, let’s see what happens when the answer is "no" in a hook:

“If you’re a business trying to grow on YouTube, you can’t afford to make videos that don’t resonate.

They need to appeal to customers fast… but it’s difficult to achieve this when you’re so focused on the day-to-day of running your company.

So in this video, I’ll show you how to make more content that attracts your ideal clients, without getting overwhelmed.”

When you read this, how do you feel?

To me, this sounds extremely flat. After all:

• What does a video that “doesn’t resonate” actually look like?
• I don’t know what “appealing to customers” means, except in the broadest sense. And how “fast” do I need to do this?
• I’m not even sure the issue is that I’m too busy “running my company”, but even if it were… what sort of tasks might I be doing that get in the way?
• “More” content? How much more?
• “Overwhelmed” is buzzword-y. How does this look and feel?

Compare that to this re-write:

“If you’re a business trying to grow on YouTube, you can’t afford to make videos that look like this anymore. [Show a visual example; grounds the explanation in something I can picture.]

Because the truth is, if your viewers aren’t hooked by your videos in the first 30 seconds, they’ll never become customers and you’ll struggle to make consistent sales.

So in this video, I’ll show you how to 2x the number of videos you make per month to generate more leads… without spending hours brainstorming new video ideas.”

How did that feel by comparison?

To me, I found myself imagining much more specific imagery:

• By showing what we meant in the first sentence, we leave the viewer in no doubt what we’re talking about.
• I can picture a viewer being “hooked” by a video, and there’s now a specific timeframe as well.
• I can feel the pain of “not making sales”.
• I can picture making “2x” the number of videos per month.
• I can picture the stress of having to spend hours I don’t have “brainstorming new video ideas”.

So that was a hook.

But what does this look like during your “setups”?

Setups:

A "setup" is effectively a re-hook every 1-2 minutes as you begin discussing a new topic.

Just as your main hook is designed to convince viewers to watch the video…

…your setups are designed to reinforce this, giving the viewer clarity about what they’re going to learn next.

And the keyword there? Clarity.

Imagine if I started a segment like this:

“Imagine playing rock-paper-scissors with a monkey. Who’s more likely to win - you, or it? The truth is, it’s more likely that the monkey won’t understand the rules and will probably just scream in your face and throw faeces towards you. And this teaches us something very important about making videos on YouTube…”

Ok, I had some fun with that one. And, sure, I can picture the monkey throwing its poo at me.

But can I picture the benefit of this segment?

Do I have clarity about what I’m going to learn?

Have I stopped thinking about the reason I actually clicked the video because now all I can think about is monkeys?

No. No. Yes.

Now, I’m not saying metaphors don’t have their place (and, as you’ll see below, we don’t even have to cut this one out).

But we do not want to use a metaphor during a “setup”.

Check out this re-write and you’ll see why:

“First up, we need to understand the main reason most business-focused YouTubers struggle to upload consistently, because it’s probably what’s holding you back too. And until we unpick this habit, I guarantee you’ll never start to make more sales.

To explain this, I want you to imagine you’re playing rock-paper-scissors with a monkey…”

Do you see how different this feels?

We can still use the exact same metaphor, but we simply move it until after the setup.

This means we kick off the segment using stake-heavy language that I can easily picture.

Now, our viewers can clearly understand what they’re going to learn in the next 1-2 minutes.

And the metaphor becomes a vehicle for explanation, rather than curiosity.

Try this, and see what happens to your retention during both the hook and each time you begin a new topic.

That's all for this week.

Speak soon,
George 👋

The most important “strategy” your YouTube channel needs this year is stupidly simple.

And you don’t need to:

• Dig through your YouTube Studio analytics.
• Spend hours brainstorming
• Or “study the top 1%, bro.”

It's as easy as this:

Make it extremely obvious who your videos are for, every single time.

And the #1 place people fail at this? The hook.

Here’s a recent Matt Gray hook that does not make it clear who the target audience is:

What if I told you that ChatGPT can 10x your output with four simple systems?

Sam Altman, the CEO of OpenAI, said the first billion-dollar solo business is coming, and it's going to be powered by AI.

We're living through the David versus Goliath moment of our generation, where one person with AI can do far more than 50, 100, or even 500 people.

So today, I want to show you four ChatGPT systems that you can go and leverage to make real money in the new era of AI. Let's get into it.

The problem? This video is aimed at helping businesses make more money with AI.

Sure, he mentions “business” once.

But the parts in red sound either extremely vague (”10x your output”) or aimed at individuals who want to make more money (”systems you can go and leverage to make real money”).

To show you how to fix a hook like this, I re-wrote it.

But a quick announcement first...

14/20 TICKETS SOLD

Join me in London for an in-person YouTube strategy day!

We’re running an intensive, one-day event for entrepreneurial YouTubers to help you nail the 3 core aspects of a successful YouTube channel:

1. Strategy & Packaging (hosted by Jamie Whiffen)
2. Scriptwriting & Retention (hosted by me!)​
3. Systems & Production (hosted by Gwilym Sims-Williams)​

My co-hosts, Jamie and Gwilym, have generated millions of views working with channels like Bryan Johnson, Gordon Ramsay, and Ramit Sethi... to name just a few.

Our goal?

To help you make more strategic YouTube progress in one day than you would in 6 months.

To learn more about the event and claim your spot, click here:

6 Tickets Left, Grab Yours

We're grateful to our event sponsor:
​Justin Moore: Author of Sponsor Magnet​

Ok, back to the business-focused re-write:

What if I told you that ChatGPT can 5x your business’s revenue with four simple systems?​

Sam Altman, the CEO of OpenAI, said the first billion-dollar solo business is coming, and it's going to be powered by AI.

We're living through the David versus Goliath moment of our generation, where even a one-person business with AI can do far more than teams of 50, 100, or even 500 people.​

So today, I want to show you four ChatGPT systems that you can leverage to increase both your business’s efficiency and its bottom line profitability. Let's get into it.

Small changes, but it’s now crystal clear who the video is for.

So this year, before you publish any video, check that you’ve made it extremely obvious who it’s meant for.

And, if you want direct feedback on your scripts from me this year, you can join the YouTube Writers' Room.

That's all for this week.

Any questions? You can to reply to this email and I'll get back to you.

Speak soon,
George 👋

How's your year been?

Have things gone as you planned? Or better?! Or... worse? 😬

After all, it's the ideal time of year for a bit of R&R - reviewing and reminiscing 🤓

And in that spirit, I decided to review not just this year... but the last four.

All the way back to the very start of my career as a YouTube scriptwriter.

Because the way I write YouTube scripts - and my entire business model - have changed a lot in that time.

So, to save you the four year learning curve, here's how my approach to scriptwriting has changed since 2021...

Watch it as a video...

Watch Here

Or, if you prefer to read the highlights + takeaways, I've extracted these below, broken down by the different "eras" of my business...

Full-Time Scriptwriter for Ali Abdaal:

The truth is, I learned close-to-nothing about scripting for YouTube while working with Ali.

There was no training, our systems changed constantly, most video ideas were scrapped - and the result was that I never got to study what had and hadn’t worked with my scripts.

Ergo, every new script felt like I was back to square one, blindly writing in the dark.

This is not the way to become a good writer for YouTube.

Takeaway:

• Spend time reviewing your videos post-publish, otherwise you’ll never learn what’s working, or what’s holding you back.

Freelance Writer; various clients:

Getting to write for multiple channels at the same time was eye-opening.

This not only exposed me to new niches, but new formats as well.

Plus, unlike working full-time where there had been a long feedback loop between videos, now I was writing 1-2 scripts per week, every week.

Takeaway:

• Try different formats for your videos to expand your scriptwriting skills - from listicles, to detailed explainers, to more story-driven content like the video I linked above.
• Write consistently. We run weekly group scriptwriting sessions in the YouTube Writer’s Room for this reason.

Started building an audience:

While working freelance, I began writing this newsletter.

At first, I had no strategy. But I promised myself I’d write something every week.

Eventually - more through statistical probability than strategy - I hit on a topic that really resonated: reviewing retention graphs.

For the next 6 months, every single issue of this newsletter was devoted to reviewing 3 retention graphs my readers had sent in.

Not only did this help me grow my own audience, but it rapidly accelerated my understanding of scriptwriting and retention.

Takeaway:

• As above, write consistently. You only need one idea to pop off, and your channel’s trajectory may change significantly. It happens with YouTubers all the time, and it happened with my newsletter. Keep placing bets.
• Study your own retention graphs, and look for patterns that arise across multiple videos. Diagnose; test; repeat.

Started building frameworks:

“The retention stuff is cool. But I think people want to see more of George.”

This is what Dodford said to me at a London meetup in mid-2023.

The truth is: I had become so entrenched in the retention graph “thing”, I’d become too scared to write about anything else.

But he was right. And I was getting bored. So I started to write newsletters much more like this one.

Not only was this creatively liberating, but I started to explore the connections between the patterns I’d noticed in all those graphs.

Suddenly, I was creating frameworks for scriptwriting - repeatable structures I could lean on every time.

Takeaway:

• Whether you use mine, someone else’s, or create your own - use frameworks for scriptwriting. It’s what I wish I’d had when I worked for Ali.

Launched my complete scriptwriting system:

After 6 months of work, I codified and combined my scriptwriting frameworks into a complete system.

Originally launched as “The YouTube Scriptwriter’s Playbook” (now renamed “The YouTube Scriptwriting Playbook”), this system allowed me to follow the exact same steps every single time I wrote a script.

No second-guessing. No overthinking.

This was everything I had wished I’d had for the previous two years.

(And, of course, you can join the 600+ students who have learned the system here.)

Takeaway:

• Whether you use mine, someone else’s, or create your own - combine scriptwriting frameworks into a repeatable system. This takes 90% of the guesswork out of every script, and allows you to focus on creativity.

Grew my scriptwriting community:

Last minute, I decided to add a scriptwriting "community" upsell to my course.

Now, not only could students learn my system, they could also get direct feedback from me (and each other) on how to implement it properly.

I won't bang on about it, but after two years running the community, I finally kicked the imposter syndrome on this one - I think it's a truly valuable place to be if you want to write better YouTube scripts.

(If you're interested, you can join the YouTube Writer's Room here.)

Takeaway:

• Whether it's in my community or elsewhere: get feedback from trusted peers on your scripts. You'll learn your blind spots way faster.

Had an identity crisis!

Lol. Let me try and explain why.

In January 2024, I had launched:

• My course.
• My community.
• An agency (for some reason).

This led to me making over $100k between January-March, which was the kind of money I might previously have made in 2-3 years.

But, in March, I also closed my agency because I hated running it.

The net result was that all the big projects I’d been working on for months were either launched or in the bin.

Plus, making good money quickly came with some truly unexpected feelings of guilt and even something like apathy.

• I no longer had a “North Star”, or any specific goals.
• I was making more money the less I actually wrote YouTube scripts for clients (imposter syndrome central).
• I no longer felt like an “underdog” - a feeling that that had spurred me on in 2022-23.

At the exact moment things were better than ever, I felt completely lost.

Ok, that got heavy, but there is a…

Takeaway:

• Prepare for crazy mental swings as a YouTuber. You might have a video go viral, then struggle to get decent views for the next 3 months. So...
• Think in "longer time horizons". Acknowledge that every flop (and every win) is just another data point across a long time period. Hashtag YouTube is a hashtag marathon not a hashtag sprint.

So... 2025.

These days, things have smoothed out a bit.

A lot of my biggest business worries were calmed after time being coached by a lovely guy called Craig Shoemaker.

Ergo, I've finally landed on a cadence of work that I mostly enjoy, and that feels valuable to my clients and students.

In 2025, my time is divided between:

• Lower-contact client work (1-1 calls + script reviews).
• Running my awesome scriptwriting community.
• Writing scripts for my own channel.

Financially, I had a poor Q1 and Q2… but a much better Q3 and Q4.

Looking back over the last four years has helped me see the many mistakes I’ve made - both as a writer, and a business owner.

But it’s also given me renewed appreciation for you.

When I wrote my first newsletter on July 15th 2022, I had no idea where it would take me.

So the fact that I’m able to have these little interactions with you every week, three and a half years later, means a great deal.

With that said, I’m looking forward to writing to you again in 2026.

Let’s see where we all end up this time next year!

That's all for this week.

Any questions? You can to reply to this email and I'll get back to you.

Speak soon,
George 👋

Last week, I shared a podcast I had appeared on where my scriptwriting business got... kinda roasted 😆

This week, I want to share what I’ve been doing behind the scenes to fix the problems and make YouTube a more effective funnel for my products and services, so you can do the same.

We’ll start with the advice my business coach gave me that’s already added thousands of dollars to my revenue...

...and we'll finish with the different ways I’ve been deploying call-to-actions in my scripts - so you can steal them.

The $4000 hole in my business (now fixed!)

Before I go any further, I want to shout out my business coach, Craig Shoemaker, for helping me see this HUGE missed revenue opportunity.

(He was one of the guys who roasted me on that podcast... 😆

...and he's got a unique offer made just for you that's gonna help you increase your profits without getting more views on YouTube.

Learn more!

Anyway, on Craig’s suggestion, I started using my low-ticket product (the AI Scriptwriting Toolbox) as an upsell for my course (the YouTube Scriptwriting Playbook).

I had always been so focused on making more products that I'd never stopped to think about how my existing products could be working harder for my business.

So I paired the two products together, as Craig suggested.

(And, safe to say, it’s been pretty game-changing.)

Since doing so, average order value for the AI Scriptwriting Toolbox has increased by 56%…

…generating an additional $1400 in revenue.

Meanwhile, average order value for the YouTube Scriptwriting Playbook has increased by 25%…

…generating an additional $2500 in revenue.

That’s $3900 additional revenue for doing… nothing.

Nothing except reminding high-intent buyers that my other products exist.

Extrapolated across the whole year, that's approximately $16,000 in additional revenue I could expect my business to generate.

But the cash is one part of it. The mindset shifts have made an even bigger impact.

• I had stopped consulting because I found it too stressful. Craig helped me re-frame my relationship with it. Now, not only do I actually enjoy it, but I've made $20,000+ in the last six months from it.
• I had no idea what my customers actually wanted from me. But after Craig convinced me to actually speak to existing customers, and my marketing copy completely changed.
• I worried that I wasn't delivering enough value for my community students. But Craig totally re-framed my thinking. So I increased the price 50%... and people are still buying.

And now? Craig is sharing his expertise with you...

Increase your YouTube-driven profits without having to chase new customers.

Craig has put together a comprehensive, FREE resource pack, designed specifically for my newsletter readers.

After all the work we did together, I'm incredibly excited to share this! If you sign up, you'll receive:

• Introductory mini-course covering the 5 key areas your business could be creating bigger profits.
• Follow-up email course over the next 27-days, diving into more detail about how to execute these low-lift strategies.
• $1000 discount on coaching, should you ever decide to work more closely with Craig.

Sound good? (Spoiler alert: it does sound good 😆)

I want these free resources!

Now that I’ve started plugging these gaps in my business, I can focus on executing my in-video CTAs to increase traffic.

So, here’s how I’ve been doing this in my scripts, so you can do the same...

Steal these 4 CTAs for your next script.

If you’re using YouTube to promote anything, whether it’s a high-ticket flagship product or a free lead magnet, there are different ways we can try to convince our audience to “click our thing”.

If you need inspiration, steal these 4 approaches I’ve tried over the last few weeks:

1/ Don’t mention it at all.

One video focused on my unique approach to scriptwriting structure, and the lead magnet was a template viewers could download to help them write the same way.

I never mention it in the script. I simply put it as the first link in the description AND in a pinned comment.

Surprisingly, this has been my highest clicked + highest converting lead magnet!

2/ Proof in the pudding approach.

Here, I’m literally using one of my custom GPTs to write the next few lines of the script I was midway through recording.

I rely on the demonstration being good enough to convince them to buy, and leave a handy QR code on-screen.

3/ “Wanna make this easier?”

After teaching a scriptwriting principle, I casually mention that the viewer can speed up implementation with a free custom GPT.

No hard sell… just a no-strings attached offer to make their life easier!

(Ok… the string is that I get their email address.)

4/ “Want EARLY ACCESS to these tactics?”

Here, I pause to explain that the video they’re watching right now started its life as a newsletter article.

This is pulling on the same psychological strings you see when YouTubers upload their content to something like Patreon 24 hours earlier than YouTube.

The idea is: if they want early access to my tactics, they can simply sign up for my free newsletter.

We want to create the idea that the viewer can become part of an “inner circle”.

That's all for this week.

Any questions? You can to reply to this email and I'll get back to you.

Speak soon,
George 👋

There's a free tool I'm using to "bulk out" my YouTube scripts that should be a no-brainer for your own arsenal.

You may already know about Perplexity, but I want to show you exactly how I'm using it in my scripts.

But first, what makes Perplexity different from ChatGPT or Claude?

On the surface, it looks very similar:

But, unlike ChatGPT (which has a tendency to "hallucinate" information) and Claude (which has an emphasis on more "human-sounding" dialogue), Perplexity is built around one thing:

Citations.

Perplexity must cite its sources for every single output.

It will cite a list of sources after every paragraph, a full list of sources at the end of its output, and you can highlight specific parts of its answers and ask it to cite the source it used for those words.

Perplexity is a gamechanging research tool for scriptwriting (and, I don't know, everything ever?!)

But here's exactly how I'm using it as a YouTuber...

How I use Perplexity in my scripts:

1/ To find things I've said in the past.

The key to my own consistency on YouTube has been to ensure I never write a script about something I haven't carefully thought about in the past.

Instead, I always convert a past newsletter or series of tweets - where I've already spent time thinking and writing about new concepts.

(I strongly encourage this practice by the way - if you're struggling to be consistent on YouTube, look to old pieces of your writing in any medium, and convert them to YouTube scripts.)

But sometimes I can't remember where I wrote about a particular topic.

Which is when I'll simply ask Perplexity to help me:

2/ Bulking out scripts with additional research.

If you need additional sources to back up a point you're making in a script, or simply a faster way to research a script, Perplexity shines once again.

I'll often describe a scriptwriting framework or retention principle I'm trying to teach, and ask Perplexity whether there's any scientific research (usually in the realm of psychology) that might help explain why the technique I'm teaching is effective.

There is a risk of confirmation bias here, so it's important to check the sources it's drawing on are reputable, but at least Perplexity does cite those sources so you can check.

Which is more than can be said for ChatGPT and Claude.

My Business Model Got Roasted on a Podcast 🎙️

I have a business dilemma.

For the last few months, I've been on the cusp of entirely rebuilding the marketing for my biggest revenue driver.

But, honestly? I'm scared to mess with a system that mostly works pretty well.

So, last week, I made an appearance on The Growth Question podcast, where my business coach Craig Shoemaker and his awesome co-host Jon Brosio helped me work out what to do.

If you're interested in hearing their advice, and how YOU could implement the exact same things in your business, I think you'll like this!

Watch It Here!

That's all for this week.

Have you used Perplexity yet? If so, how are you using it? Reply to this email and let me know!

Speak soon,
George 👋

Last week, I went live and open-sourced my entire YouTube Studio!

We broke down:

• My fastest-growing video (and why it might have been a mistake).
• Retention issues, traffic sources, and end-screen CTR wins.
• Lead magnet conversions.

Missed it? Watch the Replay here!

Biggest takeaways:

1. Consistency is more important than individual stats.

As I hinted at in an earlier newsletter, my stats are all over the place:

• Poor first 30s retention (50-60%).
• Loads of new viewers, hardly any casual returning viewers.
• Suggested traffic coming from completely random videos.

On paper, it's a mess.

But, the reality is this:

YouTube doesn’t know who I am or who my videos are for yet.

If the platform doesn’t know who to show me to, then over-analysing tiny CTR differences or obsessing over early retention is procrastination pretending to be “strategy”.

So instead, I’ve set a very boring - but attainable - north star:

• Make a video every two weeks.
• Make those videos for a highly specific audience (like you!)

Everything else is secondary for now.

2. The Ali Abdaal video might have been a mistake.

My fastest-growing video is this one where I basically just rinse Ali Abdaal.

This did “well” in classic YouTube terms:

• Big initial views spike.
• Strong browse traffic.
• High CTR early on.

Then, all of a sudden... CTR dropped, browse fell off a cliff, and views dried up.

My read:

• The video benefits from Ali’s face and name
• It attracts “Ali fans”, not necessarily “I want to become a better YouTube writer” people.

Those viewers are much less likely to:

• Watch my nerdy scriptwriting videos.
• Join this newsletter.
• Become customers.

And, by seeing early positive results from an audience who would probably click Ali's face in any context, the algorithm later struggled to figure out which viewers to serve it to.

So yes, the Ali video is a “win” in that it brought more attention in the short term.

But in terms of helping the algorithm figure out who my channel is for, it's not ideal.

A video that gets fewer views from the right people is more valuable than a video that gets more views from the wrong people.

(And I even kinda knew I was shooting myself in the foot with this one... I just couldn't resist poking fun at Ali ONE more time, for old times' sake.)

3. There are SOME stats worth looking at.

Here’s what I am keeping an eye on:

a) Who my videos are being suggested next to

For the three launch videos, suggested traffic is now mostly:

• Other scriptwriting content.
• My own videos.
• My Jay Clouse interview.

Perfect. That’s what I want.

And I know I can increase the likelihood that my videos get suggested next to each other by:

• Adding them to playlists with each other, and other videos in my niche.
• Consciously making videos on similar topics.
• Using end-screens to link relevant videos together.

b) End screen click-through rate

Across the board, end screen CTR is high (often double digits, sometimes above 20%).

That tells me my structural frameworks and CTAs are working, so I don't need to change my approach.

c) Lead magnet conversion

Viewers who are downloading my free lead magnets, have provided me with some useful stats.

This lead magnet is converting at 77.6% 👇

Whereas this one is only converting at 60% 👇

My take on this?

The transformation suggested by the former is much clearer.

Ergo, I've updated the landing page for ScriptHook to try and create the same effect.

NEW VIDEO

The Easiest Retention Trick For Educational YouTubers

This video shows you a quick and easy retention trick that:

• Boosts watch time.
• Increases your authority within your niche.
• Increases the video's runtime (without you even trying).

Watch Here

That's all for this week.

Any questions? You can to reply to this email and I'll get back to you.

Speak soon,
George 👋

‍

Sometimes, a well-written script can be wrecked by the editing.

Not by fancy effects, fast cuts or other creative choices.

But by overusing (or misusing) the simple visuals I'm about to reveal.

Here are the 7 easy-to-miss visual mistakes that I've repeatedly seen wrecking retention (so you can tell your editor to avoid them).

1/ Text appears out of sync with your voice.

Let's say you're using text to reinforce a payoff you're delivering at the end of a segment.

The audio (you speaking) and the visuals (text appearing) must be synchronised.

Yet I've often seen text appearing faster than the YouTuber is speaking.

But why is this a problem?

The reality is, your viewers can scan text faster than you can speak.

So if the text has fully appeared before you’ve finished speaking, the viewer will get bored waiting for you to finish saying what they already read.

Ideally, text should appear exactly in sync with your voice.

BUT, if it has to skew one way, it’s better for the text to appear slightly slower than your voice.

2/ Relying on stock B-roll that hides your face.

Truly... TRULY... static A-Roll is preferable to impersonal, boring, ten-a-penny B-Roll.

An online inspiration of mine, Kieren Drew, recently started on YouTube, and his videos are packed with incredible information.

But, as a YouTube newbie, he's falling for the "B-Roll is better" trap.

In the first 5 seconds of this video, he's disappeared from the screen entirely, and we're left watching a rotating cycle of generic B-Roll.

The fact that stock footage makes the visuals "varied" doesn’t “hack” my attention… it just makes me lose my connection to you.

3/ Text almost matches the audio (but doesn't).

I’ll often see a YouTuber begin a segment saying something like this:

• “Next, let's talk about the very worst thing to do right after your first ayahuasca session.”

Meanwhile, the text used to reinforce this says:

• “Just done ayahuasca? Avoid this for 24 hours!”

The problem is, if your viewer notices a discrepancy between what they see and what they hear, they're likely to ascribe meaning to it, assuming it's something you've done deliberately.

This is a psychological phenomenon called "illusory pattern perception", where meaning is derived by the observer, even if there is no meaning.

And even the 0.5s it takes them to verify that what they saw and what they heard were saying the same thing, but in slightly different ways is enough to cause "comprehension lag".

In that time, they've missed the next thing you said, and they now have to try and catch up.

So make sure on-screen text headings like this contain highly similar vocabulary to your spoken word (e.g. "The Worst Thing to Do After Ayahuasca")

4/ Confusing visual “language”.

Recently, I saw a video that used a small “checklist” style graphic in the hook to represent the key points he would reveal during the video.

So far, so good - this helps illustrate the video’s structure.

But then, he used the same graphic later to create an entirely different “list” related to a different topic.

Avoid this at all costs.

If you’ve used a graphic during the hook to help create a sense of the video’s structure, do not use that same graphic for another list within the same video.

5/ Lots of text with no visual guide indicating what to focus on.

For example, if your video contains a screen-recording of an article, or a large wall of text in any other context.

You must guide your viewer's eye to the relevant text, even if you're reading it out.

Otherwise, our eyes will wander and we'll lose track of what you're saying.

6/ Including a second camera angle to make it look like... you're being interviewed for a Netflix show?

Ok... I have no retention-based evidence that this is bad.

And I know it's helpful to cut between angles so you can hide any mistakes.

But it looks kludgy af and you should stop it 😆

7/ Text is thrown on-screen for the sake of it.

Whenever we put text on-screen, this ascribes it a degree of importance.

So overusing text will reduce its effectiveness in moments that truly do matter.

Ergo, be picky with when you use text - on my channel, I’m pushing towards only using it in 3 instances.

1. Hook checklist.
2. Chapter opener.
3. Lower-third takeaway.

Remember: if a visual isn't actively increasing the viewer's clarity, it's either doing nothing - or it's reducing their clarity.

That's all for this week.

Any questions? You can to reply to this email and I'll get back to you.

Speak soon,
George 👋

There will come a moment in your YouTube career where you face a difficult decision like this one.

So stick with me for this quick story, because you never know when it might come in handy.

This week, I had a conversation with a scriptwriting student of mine.

He was trying to figure out what type of content to make in the next 6 months, but had run into a problem that you might recognise.

Here's a (paraphrased) version of our conversation:

Student: “I want to grow my channel faster.”

George: “Ok. Why?”

Student: "To funnel more clients into my program.”

George: “Great, what’s your program about?”

Student: “It’s about [A]”

George: “Perfect. So make videos about [A]”

Student: “Oh but here’s the thing, you delightful idiot-” [he didn’t say that part] “-my best performing video is about [X], so if I want to grow my channel faster and make more sales, shouldn’t I just make more of that?”

George: “Would that video appeal to the audience you’re trying to build?”

Student: “No.”

George: “Or the clients you’re trying to reach?”

Student: “No.”

George: “Do you want to make that video?”

Student: “Oh, definitely not - it’s actually annoying that people associate me with [X] when I’m trying to sell [A].”

Now, the solution to this problem does look pretty simple when summarised like this, doesn’t it?

“Stop making videos about [X]; make videos about [A].”

But, when it comes to YouTube, we are constantly told to follow the signals.

And this... can be confusing in moments like this.

Of course, we DO want our decisions to be guided by data. But data can be distracting.

I know this because I’m going through something similar to my student right now.

I’ve just launched my own channel, and… YouTube doesn’t know who the hell I am yet.

That means I'm receiving "signals" from YouTube that would usually convince me to change course. For example:

• My first 30s retention is terrible.
• I have 90% new viewers, almost no casual or returning.
• And, when I dig into the data a little, I can see one of my videos is being recommended by another called “Cool Uncle Mods: Jailbreaking the Kindle 4”.

These signals are confusing.

Or, they would be... if I weren't choosing to ignore them completely.

So, why am I ignoring the data? Well... it's actually quite simple.

I have my ideal audience in mind, and I accept that it’s going to take 2-3 months of relentlessly, consistently staying the course to find them.

That means:

• Uploading videos for the audience I want to build (and only them).
• Scripting my videos to speak to the customers I want to attract.
• Accepting that this will not happen overnight, and therefore remaining devoted to my guiding direction.

Once I find (or, rather, YouTube finds me) the audience I need, then I can listen to the signals.

I'll get bogged down in YouTube Studio figuring out how to fix my retention, my CTR, and my idea selection.

But for now, direction supersedes data.

Likewise, everything in my students’ data is telling him to make more videos about [X].

But that data is not valuable to him anymore, because he wants to build an audience who care about [A].

Again: Direction supersedes data.

All this to say, there will be moments where you have to choose to ignore your data.

And that’s really difficult.

But when the time comes, I know you’ll do it - if you have a bigger, more important directional goal for your channel in mind.

And, if you’re interested, here’s me staying the course in my latest video (dropped today!):

Watch it here ⚡️

That's all for this week.

Any questions? You can to reply to this email and I'll get back to you.

Speak soon,
George 👋

P.S. Newsletter cutting room floor here. I was trying to get this metaphor in somewhere, but I lost confidence that it actually made any sense. Anyway, see what you think:

“If I was sailing from Ireland to Canada, I wouldn’t dock in Greenland just because they had a nice shiny lighthouse.”

Put that on a T-shirt and smoke it!