As we hit 9K subscribers I wanted to take a moment to look back at the last year (or so) of our YouTube workflow, gear, equipment, revenue, and strategy here on the channel.
Today’s blog is all about the behind-the-scenes look at the YouTube channel and the overall growth of our channel over this past year. We’re going to give you the back story on how the ProcessDriven YouTube channel went from 0 to over 9,000 subscribers in the past year and everything it took to get it to that point.
There were four main chapters we’ll be going over today:
- The Whim Period
- The Hustle Period
- The Evolution Period
- The Platform Period
Let’s dive into the ProcessDriven journey!
Chapter 1: “The Whim Period”
Let’s go back to March 2020. This is when Layla really started to post on YouTube.
At that point, she was mostly providing one-on-one ClickUp setups and tech implementation services. Then, COVID hit and two clients canceled right away.
Thankfully, it wasn’t the end of the world, but it bumped her from 100% capacity down to about 60% capacity. This also gave her a little wiggle room to explore options outside of a full plate of just client work. With that extra time, she decided to create a YouTube channel.
During those four weeks, she was able to produce about 30 YouTube videos just by using Loom and recording quick clips.
Here was the basic overview of this time period:
- Strategy: Anything a client might ask me
- Revenue: $0
- Gear & Equipment: Phone, webcam, Blue Yeti microphone, Loom
- Filming and YouTube workflow: Record answers to client questions with no editing
- Repurposing: Occasionally post on social media
- Team: 99% Layla
Layla explains more about this period at 0:54
Chapter 2: “The Hustle Period”
Around a month later, in June 2020, things slowly start to change.
The main thing that happened was Layla’s schedule quickly filled up to 110% capacity between clients and the YouTube channel.
With such a full workload, she had a choice: either to start working nights and weekends to get it all done, or to just get back to YouTube later on.
Thankfully, she decided to enter full-on hustle mode and get it all done – keeping up with her full-time client load and also uploading two videos per week.
After seeing that one ClickUp video had done better than any of the other videos she had uploaded to that point, it was a lightbulb moment to start to hone in on this new software that not a lot of people were covering.
The strategy was at the time was to attract people using the ClickUp keyword, but help them stay around once they learn how mapping out different processes can help their workflows.
Here was the basic overview of this time period:
- Strategy: ClickUp focus
- Revenue: $0 + $10K in services
- Gear & Equipment: Webcam, Blue Yeti microphone, Loom, Cheap ring light
- Filming and YouTube workflow: Answer common searches + 15-20m edit in Premiere Rush
- Repurposing: Create 1 “blog” and 1 social media post per video
- Team: Layla + Content repurposing VA + Client support VA
Layla breaks down the hustle chapter at 3:55
Chapter 3: “The Evolution Period”
Now that Layla was at full capacity across the board, it was time to expand into different offers and services.
This is where the beginning of the ClickingUp community began.
During this time, Layla had a great interview with Jonathan about “How to Organize & MAINTAIN Your Online Course (in Notion or ClickUp)” where he put Layla in the hot seat about why she decided to go straight into a membership option.
During this time, Layla also decided to go with monthly “themes” for the YouTube channel, just to simply streamline the entire process and make scheduling and planning much easier.
Here was the basic overview of this time period:
- Strategy: Content buckets throughout month
- Revenue: $848/month (ads) + $50K services
- Gear & Equipment: Sony a6400 camera + Sigma 16mm f/1.4 lens, OBS studio, Blue Yeti microphone, Cheap ring light, Laser Light
- Filming and YouTube workflow: Detailed outline + keyword research, 30m film, 1-2 hour edit in Premiere Rush
- Repurposing: Create 1 blog and 2 social media posts per video
- Team: Layla + Content VA
At the time, the laser light was important because Layla was undergoing a full home renovation. (Check out this bonus video on Using ClickUp to manage a DIY Home Renovation)
Layla goes over this period starting at 9:09
Chapter 4: “The Platform Period”
The fourth period hit around December 2020 through January 2021.
At this time, the software Layla was doing tutorials about had a live event and she thought it would be good to jump on and help her community get involved.
This is where her videos started to show more personality as she was fully honest about the whole event. Every day after the six or so hour event, she would go live and recap the events of the day. Prior to that, Layla had been much more of a “Hey I’m Layla and here is your tutorial,” so it was a shift to start inserting her opinion into things.
Check out the full recap: What happened?! | LevelUp, ClickUp’s Productivity Conference [ FULL RECAP]
This is truly when YouTube shifted from just being a marketing platform to a personal branding space. Along with that, this is also when YouTube became the top priority in Layla’s overall time and focus. The YouTube channel became the lifeblood of the entire business.
Here was the basic overview of this time period:
- Strategy: Content buckets throughout month
- Revenue: $2,088/month (Ads) + Services
- Gear & Equipment: Sony a6400 camera + Sigma 16mm f/1.4 lens, OBS studio, Blue Yeti microphone, Cheap ring light, Laser Light, Shure SM7B, Elgato Key Light, Streamdeck XL, Left hand mouse, Philips Hue Bar Lights, Philips Hue Light Kit, Elgato Game Capture HD60 Pro, Microsoft Ergonomic Keyboard, Gator Microphone Stand, Mic Stand, Focusrite Scarlett 2i2, Uplift Standing Desk, Streamyard
- Filming and YouTube workflow: Detailed outline + keyword research, 30m film, 1-3 hour edit in Premiere Pro
- Repurposing: Create 1 optimized blog and 3+ social media posts per video
- Team: Layla + Marketing Manager + Content Writer
For all of the gear, it was purchased using YouTube ad revenue, just to make sure the channel didn’t become a money-pit.
The repurposing was turned up a notch as well with each video getting a fully optimized blog and 3+ social media posts per video.
(Want to learn how to repurpose your own content? Check out: Use ClickUp to Repurpose Content for Blog, Email, and Social Media (Workflow example))
The work has been paying off as YouTube is now the driver behind almost all the leads that ProcessDriven receives (both for courses and consulting).
Layla explains more about this period starting at 13:17
Chapter 5: “The Freedom to Create Period”
Moving onto the most exciting part: what’s to come for ProcessDriven.
You’ll start to see more added to the course and curriculum side of things as well as more creativity brought to our YouTube channel and Facebook group.
There will also be more series and themes tied into our overall content strategy.
Join our FREE Facebook Group for all things ClickUp and process-related!
You’ll also start to see Layla bring back her roots of helping small businesses manage their strategies, SOP’s, and other procedures to help them grow while saving time.
Layla dives into chapter 5 starting at 22:17
To those of you who have been around from the beginning, or are even new to the channel, we thank you. We’re here because of your support and we hope to bring you more content that supports on your on your journey.
Related Resources
➤What happened?! | LevelUp, ClickUp’s Productivity Conference [ FULL RECAP]
➤Why “Done-For-You” ClickUp setup services don’t work
➤How I use ClickUp for Moving Cross-Country (ClickUp for Personal Use Tour)
ProcessDriven helps small teams turn chaos into process. The ProcessDriven Approach™️ combines software expertise with practical process-first strategies that have helped 1,600+ teams build a scalable foundation of business systems.
