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Course Review: YouTube for Bosses - Sunny Lenarduzzi. How to grow your YouTube Channel into a Business

YouTube for Bosses Free Mug... 
or the most expensive mug 
you'll ever buy?
I've been subscribed to Sunny Lenarduzzi's YouTube channel for a few years, learning a lot on how to grow a following on sites like YouTube and Instagram.

If you have any interest in growing your own YouTube channel I'd highly recommend watching some of Sunny's videos on the subject. 

Definitely explore her 2019 back catalogue for the most useful information. This year she's been on a bit of a 'being authentic' pivot that, personally, doesn't resonate all that much with me (but probably speaks volumes to anyone with similar experience). I'm not saying she shouldn't or isn't being authentic, it's just I didn't subscribe to hear stories about her life journey.

To get back on track, Sunny runs a successful online business with her flagship course, YouTube for Bosses, a stand alone paid course that does act as something of a gateway to further paid (but optional) coaching with Sunny and her team.

Full disclosure, this post is not sponsored, nor am I an affiliate (though I would be if Sunny had an affiliate program).

YouTube for Bosses normally retails for USD$597.00 but if you keep an eye on Sunny's YouTube channel and other social media she periodically hosts free online course webinars in which you can sign up to the course for $397.00 and get a 'free' Be Your Own Boss mug (that's mine in the main image) if you sign up before the end of the webinar. I signed up in March of 2020 - a little before everything went off the rails with COVID-19.

I have two YouTube Channels, one since 2006. Neither have reached 1000 subscribers. While I haven't really tried to turn either into a business, I have been actively trying to grow them for the past couple of years with very little success. 

While Sunny's YouTube channel has a lot of good information, it's not a step by step guide to anything. It's kind of a greatest hits of Sunny's knowledge, jumping around from topic to topic based on the Youtube algorithm and what works, statistically, with her audience - which is basically the 'Sunny System' in action.

Even though Sunny also has a free YouTube Course it still only scratches the surface of building a successful YouTube business. 

YouTube for Bosses takes you through every stage of building a YouTube business from researching potential content and making videos to creating an opt-in and building your email list.

It is not an insignificant course in terms of either content or the time you'll need to not just work your way through, but also absorb and understand all the steps. That said, there's no padding here. Everything is essential and to the point.

For me the real value of the course, and what I found to be most impressive, is phase 1 of the process,  content research and analysis. If you've ever struggled with ideas of what to make videos about, or feel you've already covered every topic in your niche, Sunny's research method will generate a list of new ideas extremely quickly. Honestly, it's the best idea generator I've come across.

More time consuming is analysing all the ideas to see which are most likely to gain traction in YouTube's algorithm.

Phase 1 is the foundation of why YouTube for Bosses is a proven system for success. Phases 2-4 cover creating your videos, optimizing them for Youtube search, and building an email list.

I won't go over phases 2-4. The information in them is solid but more production based. You need to learn it but you could learn it from any similar YouTube course. The most value and what sets this course apart from others is in the first phase.

I really struggled with Phase 1, not because it's difficult, though it does take a good deal of focus to really absorb the process, but because Sunny really likes organising everything in spreadsheets. Which is not complicated in itself but once you start filling up a spreadsheet with a lot of text it starts to become overwhelming.

Combine that with multiple, lengthy checklists for every phase and you really wonder how you're going to remember all this and what checklist you're on etc.

Sunny does assure us that we'll come to really enjoy the research phase but yeah... nah (as us Aussies tend to say). I've been through every stage of the course twice since I signed up. Still not liking those spreadsheets.

To be fair, Sunny does say you can use other methods, apps, to organize your research and other course information, even suggesting alternatives, but doesn't really give any tips for how to do that.

I'm kind of stuck there at the moment. I need to find a better way to organise the research so I won't feel like it all looks too hard.

If I had any suggestions for Sunny, I'd really like to see a version of the course better suited to visual thinkers, paired back a little, with fewer checklists. Spreadsheets are fine but they were invented for numbers not massive lists of text. (This is coming from someone who is used to reading and writing lots of text - can you tell from this post?).

The course is supported by an student only Facebook group where you can ask questions and post links to your videos on dedicated posts. While intended to be supportive, posting videos to the group can be a little problematic in that it can give you a sudden hit of views, and sometimes subscribers. Initially that sounds like a good thing but it can mess with your YouTube stats by making your Facebook posted video look like it was more popular than other videos with your audience.

As an example, my channel introduction video, that I created and posted to the Facebook group, as part of the YouTube for Bosses course, had a third more views and quite a bit more comment engagement from people in the course than any video posted to my channel (but not to the Facebook group) since.

Overall I think YouTube for Bosses is good value if you're serious about turning your YouTube channel into a business. I do feel it's better suited to people who want to sell online services, courses, or other digital products but the skills learned are transferable to almost any kind of YouTube channel if your main focus is audience building.

Sunny Lenarduzzi
Sunny Lenarduzzi
As I said, it's not an insignificant course in terms of time and content. Some of the video lessons are up to an hour long. I'd recommend setting aside at least a couple of hours a day to give you time to watch each video lesson and too apply what you've learned.

If you really wanted to you could power through the whole course in a week but I don't think you'd take it all in. I'm still going back and redoing parts of lessons, just to remember what they were about. It really is a lot to take in.

If you're not sure about spending so much on a course then I highly recommend Sunny's free YouTube Course just to get an idea of what to expect (and you may even get that discount for YouTube for Bosses with a free mug).

Sunny does know her stuff. You just have to do the work.

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