How to Blitz the Competition and Build a Successful YouTube Empire With Drew Vosk from VoskCoin
Through the art of specialization, crypto mining YouTuber Drew Vosk has managed to capture a content-hungry crypto YouTube audience that only wants more. Find out how he did it below.
YouTube has become one of the most popular social media platforms. In fact, YouTube is by far one of the best platforms for building a successful content-based business. And in today’s write-up, I’ll be talking to you about a guy who’s done just that. Built a content-based business from the ground up and side-stepped his competition through the art of specialization.
Drew Vosk, the creator of the VoskCoin YouTube channel which is dedicated to cryptocurrency news, reviews, and tutorials has seen rapid growth in recent years. Drew Vosk the man behind the channel has documented his crazy journey into cryptocurrency and crypto mining with a relaxed and relatable vibe in his video reviews and guides.
If you’re looking to build a successful YouTube empire like our friend Drew, my advice is to look at what VoskCoin is doing. Personally, I have been a fan for years.
There are a few things Vosk does that make the channel stand out amongst the crowded crypto YouTube space.
Below I’ll give you my thoughts on why I think a channel such as Vosks is far and away better than many other crypto-related YouTube channels and why he has set himself up for success but also how you can take some notes and maybe copy-paste some of his success.
What is VoskCoin?
The VoskCoin channel is one of the largest and fastest-growing cryptocurrency YouTube channels. VoskCoin was launched in 2017 and has amassed over 600,000 subscribers, but importantly, it produces a specific type of crypto content.
VoskCoin covers a wide range of cryptocurrency-related topics but it takes just a couple of seconds to work out that cryptocurrency mining stands out as that special kind of content I mentioned earlier.
You can see below, that the very first video the baby-faced Drew Vosk made was titled ‘First Ethereum 6x GPU Mining Rig — ETH $80 USD — Mining Cave’.
This kind of helps to tell the rest of the story. Vosk’s channel focuses mostly on cryptocurrency mining. This is Vosk’s secret sauce.
Compare that to the rest of the crypto-related content on YouTube and you’ll notice something peculiar…there are not that many mining-related channels.
In fact, almost all other crypto channels on YouTube are dedicated almost completely to the financial, investment, and or news side of crypto.
This is amazing when you stop to think about it!
Who is Drew Vosk?
Drew Vosk is the creator of the VoskCoin channel.
From what I can tell Drew has risked every dollar he had ever earned on his crypto, YouTube, and mining journey. I say from ‘what I can tell’ because Vosk is hard to knuckle down for an interview.
FYI: I have been trying for about six months now chatting back and forth with Vosk and Miss Vosk to try and tie Drew down for a lengthy Crypto Fireside interview and it’s been tough, although that’s understandable considering the guy is now building a mining facility, warehouse, and new home all at the same time.
I did, however, manage to get some comments from Drew and the extended VoskCoin team which includes Miss Vosk and Tails the doge (Tails I’ve heard rumors is the team’s secret chief technical officer).
I asked Drew to tell me how it all started and how its going.
“Basically, I started out recording what I was doing, why, and how others could do it, if they wanted to. It kind of just took off, and I’ve been trying to contribute to the VoskCoin community heavily since then along with just growing crypto through our content… I’d say our core mission now is just to show people how to make money with crypto, or get their coins working for them.
Some exciting things we are doing moving forward are our solar-powered mining farm and a new series of mining farm tours giving people a unique lens into the space.
This video (below) wraps up a good chunk of the channels journey.
What is specialization and why does it matter on YouTube?
When it comes to content creation, specialization can be very powerful.
What do I mean by specialization though? You need to focus on a specific skill or topic to stand out from the crowd.
To provide an analogy. A general practitioner Doctor is just that, ‘general’. A specialist in the medical industry would be a Dermatologist that focuses on conditions involving the skin, hair, and nails.
Drew Vosk does this with his YouTube channel.
He specializes in cryptocurrency > mining content. Its like a sublayer or a sub-niche if crypto is the top layer, mining is the layer underneath.
This allows him to attract a niche audience interested in this topic.
The strategy is clearly working for Drew and the team. Drew appears to have become somewhat of an expert in the field of crypto-mining with video uploads several times a week.
Evidence?
The closest competitor the VoskCoin channel has is Red Panda Mining. A YouTube channel also dedicated to cryptocurrency mining with 223K subscribers.
If you search further, you’ll notice most other competitor channels are miles behind!
I’m taking a wild stab in the dark and assuming that one of the reasons for the lack of crypto mining channels is the sheer cost of mining equipment, which probably acts as a barrier to entry.
You might be able to create a channel that focuses on mining and offer commentary but at the end of the day, it’s a hardware product and if you’re not going to or can’t physically acquire these products, test and review them, your channel is gonna struggle. Real talk.
Why YouTube specialization matters:
What makes some YouTube channels so popular while others struggle?
There is a great quote that I like from Naval Ravikant “escape competition through authenticity”. Well, I’d like to add to it, “or specialization…”
“Escape competition through authenticity or specialization
Naval + Andrei R.
It’s all about specialization.
Drew Vosk specializes in cryptocurrency mining, and his channel has over 600,000 subscribers. He’s built up this following by consistently posting high-quality content that his viewers find valuable, and while the videos are not solely cryptocurrency mining-related, they mostly are. This means the viewer knows they can rely on the content being related to what they are interested in.
You wouldn’t create a channel about Basketball and then have 50% of the content be about Soccer! Stoopid! Yet that is exactly what many people do.
This very blog is a great example.
I have a TON of blog post ideas about everything from startups to entrepreneurship, and life in general, but I don't post them because they are mostly unrelated. And my audience comes here for a specific kind of content.
What happens, is you dilute the power of your content if you start to go off-track.
These casual viewers are more likely to become loyal fans and subscribers knowing that the content is consistent and reliable.
As we all know, YouTube is a numbers game. You get more views and engagement if you have more subscribers, and you get more subscribers if you can attract more viewers and you attract more viewers by…you guessed it, consistent content that is specialized.
By doing this you are literally training the YouTube algorithm to continue to place your videos in the top of the search results because you bring the goods.
If you’re searching for a particular type of topic on the YouTube and one channel consistently keeps appearing, chances are, you’re going to eventually subscribe, especially if it’s a specialist niche type of content as I keep repeating.
Feed the algo and then pat it on the head when it does its job.
Whos a good boy…!
As I showed above there are not many channels that dedicate their videos to mining and the others that do exist, their quality needs some work in my opinion. Vosk has not only the specialization part down pat but also the level of production quality is 5 star.
Combine that with genuine authenticity and you have a recipe for success.
And what does success bring?
Specialist topics attract sponsors.
As a general rule, the more specialist your content is, the more likely it is to attract paying sponsors.
It is because businesses are always looking for new ways to reach their target audiences, and if your content is a good fit for their products or services, they’ll almost literally throw money at you knowing their customers are already watching your content.
Gone are the days when YouTubers relied solely on ad revenue!
Many are now being sponsored and promoting the products and services of companies with big budgets and they’re getting rewarded handsomely for their efforts. So much so that venture capitalists are now wanting to cash in too.
Important note: there is a big difference between YouTubers and content creators that will simply advertise and promote anyone and anything versus honest creators like VoskCoin. I had a chat with Miss Vosk about this and asked how they handle sponsors and promoters:
We love our sponsors.
But our channel doesn’t just shill any sponsor just because they want to pay us.
We are unbiased even when being sponsored. In fact, our agreements with sponsors say we give third-party reviews and coverage, not just promotions, because we value our unbiased stance and so do our subscribers.
We always give our honest opinion and that sets us apart.
Sponsors pay tens of thousands of dollars for sponsored videos
Sponsored videos offer an intimacy that other forms of advertising simply can’t match. People are more likely to watch a video made by someone they trust. And sponsors know this.
When a sponsored video is created, it’s typically done so with the specific goal of promoting a product or service to the viewer. But as Miss Vosk said above, this is not always the case. I have seen first hand how some influencers and content creators reject deals because the product, brand, company or service does not line up with them, their values or their audience.
If you are looking at this from a sponsor’s perspective, they see built-in audiences already interested in what these YouTube personalities have to say. And if their product matches the channel’s content, bazinga!
When people see their favorite YouTubers talking about a new product, they’re more likely to check it out themselves as opposed to some unknown person in a 30-second ad slot trying to sell them the same thing. This is just common sense. Its human psychology, we are social creatures and copying and imitation is the name of the game.
Sponsors are becoming hard-wired to look for these types of content producers because they know that finding one and building a relationship cuts through all manner of hurdles for them.
In this article, blogger Jonas Muthoni breaks down how sponsorship on YouTube works and gets into how the pricing is usually calculated.
Why do sponsors pay so much?
There are a few reasons sponsors are willing to pay large sums of money in exchange for coverage on a channel.
Firstly there is branding. Either the sponsor already has a brand and they wish to build or maintain brand loyalty or simply just to get coverage for the brand.
This is a common approach. It’s why companies like Nike sponsor athletes. The brand aligns itself with athletes, in this case, athletes that they believe embody the virtues of the brand.
Then there is the second type of branding which is brand building.
When you’re building your brand as opposed to maintaining it, it’s important to strike at the grassroots level. Brands understand that psychological component I mentioned above, humans are social creatures and copying others is a powerful way to establish relationships and build rapport with other fellow humans.
In the case of a YouTuber using a certain product, it really is a monkey-see, monkey-do type of effect.
Most importantly, sponsorships reach the target audience like no other modern medium and this can directly improve leads and sales.
How else do YouTubers monetize?
It’s honestly hard to say because there are so many different YouTubers.
Looking at VoskCoin as an example, it’s pretty obvious the VoskCoin channel monetizes through partnerships and sponsorships. In addition, VoskCoin may also receive compensation when affiliate or referral links are used. And of course, there is YouTube ad revenue.
I’ve already spoken about sponsorship a great deal. Below, I’ll break down YouTube ads and also talk about apparel and merchandise.
YouTube Partner Program (Ads)
The YouTube Partner Program (YPP) is a way for eligible channels to make money from ads on their videos. If you’re in the YPP, you can run ads on your videos and get paid for it.
You need to have a certain number of views before joining the YPP and meet specific requirements to stay in it. Once you’re in, you can link your AdSense account to start making money. At last check, I think it was 1000 subscribers or 4000 hours of watched content. You can learn more here.
And of course, there are Super Chats.
Super Chats are a way for channel fans to donate money during live streams. You might remember my interview with my friend The Aussie Armwrestler where he broke down how his Super Chats work.
Since that time, Aussie has revealed to me he’s made upwards of $1500 in a single super chat session alone. Powerful stuff. And again, specialization, Arm Wrestling as a sub-niche to wrestling, as a sub-niche to sports in general.
Merchandise and apparel
If you become a successful YouTuber, there are plenty of opportunities to cash in on your newfound Tuber fame.
One way to do this is to sell merchandise and apparel with your channel’s name, logo, or some other type of ‘in-crowd’ or community joke or community lingo.
It’s a great way to make extra money, and show your fans that you appreciate their support but also another way to advertise your channel and build a cult-like following.
VoskCoin also has a line of merchandise and apparel. You can find everything from t-shirts to mugs and more.
Conclusion
Creating a successful YouTube channel requires expertise.
That’s why Drew Vosk focused his channels content on cryptocurrency mining, build guides and reviews.
By catering to this specific niche within the cryptocurrency space, he’s been able to slice through the noise and build a following of over 600,000 loyal subscribers that keep coming back for more.
What I find the most interesting thing of all is that you don’t need to be an expert when you start! Here me out: you can build up and become an expert while you create content. It’s a type of flywheel approach where the more you do, the more you produce, the more you create and upload, the better and more knowledgeable you become, and the effect compounds.
Not bad Mr. and Miss. Vosk. Not bad at all.
Want to know how you can support Crypto Fireside?
Sign up below. It's free and easy 🔥.
