How To Promote A Contracting Business On YouTube With Paul Peck From DrywallTube

Paul Peck DrywallTube

A lot of marketers and business owners think that to win on YouTube you have to have fancy video production or something so-called viral or silly or hilarious. Not so. Paul Peck is a drywall contractor and runs a channel called DrywallTube. And it’s not funny or viral – unless he’s showing you how to fix a hole in the wall you just punched. And he has been very successful with his channel showing professionals and first-timers how to do drywall better. Because no matter what the video is, if it helps you solve a problem you have right now, it’s the most interesting video in the world.

GUEST: Paul Peck of DrywallTube. Make sure to watch his video I was mad and punched the wall! How to repair hole in wall tutorial and read the comments on that video.

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HOSTS: The Video Marketing Value Podcast is hosted by:
– Dane Golden of VidiUp.tv and VidTarget.io | LinkedIn | Twitter | YouTube
– Renee Teeley of VideoExplained and ReneeTeeley.com | LinkedIn | Twitter | Instagram | YouTube

SPONSORS: This episode is brought to you by our affiliate partners, including: TubeBuddy, VidIQ, MorningFame, Rev.com, and other products and services we recommend.

TRANSCRIPT

Dane Golden:
It’s time for the Video Marketing Value Podcast. This is the podcast where we help marketers and business owners just like you get more value out of your video marketing efforts. My name is Dane Golden from vidiup.tv, where we help you up your game on YouTube and transform your viewers into loyal customers. And my other company is vidtarget.io, where we help you save time and money through more targeted YouTube ads. Along with my cohost. She’s the powerhouse video marketer from San Francisco. She’s R-E-N-E-E T-E-E-L-EY, Renee Teeley from Video Explained. Hello, Renee.

Renee Teeley:
Hello, Dane. I am delighted to be co-hosting this podcast with you today.

Dane Golden:
Yes, but are you thrilled?

Renee Teeley:
I’m thrilled. I’m delighted. I am all of the things today.

Dane Golden:
She’s all the things. Renee, what do you do at Video Explained?

Renee Teeley:
Well, at Video Explained, our primary offer is really helping companies with video production and consulting services to help them generate some type of business results. So that could be generating leads, converting leads into sales, or even building credibility within their industry through the use of video.

Dane Golden:
Okay. And for you, the listener, you should know that as always, you can follow along in your podcast app with the transcript and links. And if you scroll to a certain area, you can click the review button. So please review us. It really does help. And today we have a special guest, Paul Peck from DrywallTube. Welcome, Paul.

Paul Peck:
Thank you, Dane and Renee. So happy to be here. Glad I could join you.

Dane Golden:
Excellent. Paul, we asked you on today because a lot of marketers and business owners think that on YouTube, you have to have fancy video production or something so called viral or silly or hilarious, but you succeeded as a small business. You’re a drywall contractor, without… Not that it’s bad, but without any of those things, you’ve been very successful. Does this topic work for you to talk about?

Paul Peck:
I love talking about this topic actually, Dane.

Dane Golden:
Great. Renee?

Renee Teeley:
Yeah, that’s wonderful. I’m just curious. I always like to get some information about people’s production process. So how do you shoot the video and do the demonstration at the same time?

Paul Peck:
Well, thankfully technology’s come a long way with cameras. And so I use GoPro a lot to film, actually close up of what I’m doing, and then I’ll get a coworker or someone to fill me with a iPhone or something like that. So basically it’s all smaller devices I’m using to get all the footage for my videos.

Dane Golden:
And as far as when you’re editing, you do sometimes a voiceover to narrate what you’re doing. What other editing techniques do you do that are a little bit personalized to yourself?

Paul Peck:
I’m trying to start out the video the same every time. And within the first 30 seconds, when I’m doing my voiceover, I’ll give a value proposition, like what value they’re going to get out of this video and my channel, and then I’ll ask them to subscribe. And so I’ve really gained a lot of subscribers and stuff, just adding that in the voiceover. And then I’ll also at the end of the video, put an end screen, which you can promote other videos at the end of that video, which keeps viewers watching and go into other videos. That’s all done in the production side before it gets uploaded to YouTube.

Renee Teeley:
Yeah, that’s great. It’s pretty important to make sure that you’re leading people to your next video and getting that watch time. You have a local business, but YouTube is an international company. Obviously, it’s a global channel. So how does that work for someone like you in construction, who I imagine does most of your work locally?

Paul Peck:
Yes, pretty much totally locally do all my work. Actually, I got on YouTube in 2009. I built a website in 2007 and then I started getting into search engine optimization in trying to figure out how I could show up locally without spending a bunch of money. Back then it was yellow pages, almost $2,000 a month and stuff like that. So I’m trying to get on the technology bandwagon and figure things out and come to find out YouTube is owned by Google. And so what I started doing was just doing project videos and I would talk about what town it’s in, drywall repair in Orlando, Florida, or something like that. I would make that the title, and lo and behold, it shows up right on the first page of Google. So I was tying in my website and also my videos from YouTube to show up in searches when people would try and figure out who to get to repair their drywall, or who’s going to hang my drywall at their place.
So it just kind of snowballed into this YouTube thing and my website. And then you can blog. What it is, is basically social media is like a big puzzle and each little part of social media is a piece of the puzzle. So when you start connecting these puzzles, it’s unbelievable. You become an expert, not only locally, but internationally. And so that was my goal. Was to become the expert locally just to get local business, but I had no idea that it would just turn into something bigger than local.

Dane Golden:
Let’s jump into that and talk about when you say it became a lot bigger than local, what has it become? How does it bring you revenue?

Paul Peck:
Oh, wow. On YouTube, you can make money off of ads showing up on your videos. That’s called AdSense, also a Google product. So basically when a viewer starts watching your video, it’s a targeted ad. So Google knows everything. They know what you’ve been looking at. They know what you want to look at. So they’ll throw an ad up there that interests the viewer. If the viewer clicks on it and watches it, you make money that way. That’s been a pretty good revenue stream. The bigger you get, the more money you can make. At first, the AdSense isn’t going to pay the bills, but it might pay your phone bill or something. But the bigger you get, the more you make doing that.
There’s also affiliate marketing through Amazon or any big companies. Actually, Lowe’s has affiliate marketing. What that is, is you can provide links to products say you talk about, or that you recommend. And then when they go to Amazon from that link, you make a small percentage of the sale at no extra cost to the viewer or clicker. And so you can actually make a pretty good chunk of change just doing that, especially in say my drywall niche. People are looking how to do stuff. And then if you’re a trusted expert, they’re going to want all the same things and tools that you used to do the project in the video. So that’s one way to use the affiliate marketing, but I also blog. And so I blog about each video.
On my website, I also have my affiliate marketing through Amazon and they also have a program… I think you need 1,000 subscribers possibly for the Amazon Influencer store, where you can actually build a store with these links, with pictures of each tool and it looks really professional. That’s another way I’ve made money on YouTube just through that.

Renee Teeley:
That’s great to hear how many different ways you’re actually generating revenue. It sounds like a lot of that actually starts with your YouTube videos. So it’s cool to hear that you’re making money outside of just actually getting business for your contractor business. That’s amazing.
A lot of marketers and business owners after they’ve uploaded their YouTube video, they think their job is done. Now I know that you’re using video in different ways and to generate revenue, but one of the things that I’ve noticed on your YouTube channel is that you’re very involved in the comments on your videos on YouTube. Why is that? And what are some techniques that you use to get more comments?

Paul Peck:
Well, I like to stay engaged with my viewers and they come for… YouTube’s turned into a very educational platform. There’s other things going on too, but a lot of people, that’s their go-to if they’re going to fix their car, fix their lawn mower, work on drywall, repair their ceiling. So it’s just kind of turned into that.

Dane Golden:
Yeah. Well, I tell businesses that, for instance, with your channel, that if they’re watching a video about drywall, they’re not watching some sporting event or some movie or TV show. Advertisers and businesses think, “Well, it has to be totally, totally the most interesting thing ever.” And I tell them if you have a problem and you need to solve it, that is the most interesting thing ever. I want to call attention to one of your popular videos that you’ve titled exactly this: I was mad and punched the wall. How to repair a hole in wall tutorial. I want to ask you, why did you make this video? And what type of comments did you get?

Paul Peck:
Oh my gosh. Well, I just made this video… Actually, I have like 300 and something videos on my channel. So I’m always thinking and trying to come up with a new angle on how to repair a hole or whatever it is to do with drywall. And so I know a lot of people punched the walls. I actually have never punched a wall, but I’ve fixed a lot of punch holes from customers. And so I was like, “You know what, I’m going to make a video.” And then in the video, I actually did punch a wall at the beginning to start it out, which was kind of… It’s a little edited, so I get called on that, but that’s fun anyways. But I made that video and then the comments just started flying. I mean, there’s probably at least 2,000 comments on that video now I believe and they are pretty crazy. The things that people do. I’ve heard, “My wife cheated on me and I punched the wall.” I lost a lot of Fortnite people on there. So yeah, there’s a lot of gamers commenting and what am I going to do-

Dane Golden:
But you’re solving a problem. You’re solving a very direct… I bet you people type in exactly in the Google, “I was mad and punched a wall. How do I repair it?” And that’s what you titled it.

Paul Peck:
Yeah. I bet that video shows up right there in that six pack of videos on the first page.

Renee Teeley:
Yeah. I mean, that’s such a good title and it sounds like maybe a little cathartic for people to tell you why they punch the wall.

Paul Peck:
Oh, yeah. It’s like therapy and I’m like, “At least you learned something. You learned how to fix drywall, just move on from it. Everybody makes mistakes.” I’m like a therapist on that video.

Renee Teeley:
So funny. It sounds like that type of video might be something where it’s very searchable and potentially you get views, not just in the first couple of days, but kind of longterm viewership to that. But for the majority of your videos, do they primarily get most of their views in the first couple of days? Or is it spread out over time?

Paul Peck:
Yeah, it’s mostly spread out over time because people are pretty much just searching for problems. So as time goes on, the more searches will go through, but I’ve got videos with over 1 million views and it’s just over time. The more popular it gets, it starts building on itself. And so, it’s evergreen content, which means it’s timeless. It’s going to last for a really long time. The only thing that can date it is say the video quality, if it’s 1080 P and everybody’s doing 4K. But as far as the information, it’ll be good for many years to come because they’re still doing drywall and all the new houses and textures. And so I’m pretty much set with this channel for a long time, I think.

Dane Golden:
There might be other contractors across the country who have found this podcast on Google and are listening. And whether they’re drywallers or general contractors, electricians, plumbers, heating painters, finished carpenters, they might be saying something like, “Well, I’m not going to show somebody what they’re paying me to do.” But by Paul, I’m going to ask you, is YouTube a way for them to earn an income in a difficult economy?

Paul Peck:
Oh, most definitely. I’ll tell you what, Dane, I had the same attitude. I had that attitude up until about 2012, because it’s a specialized field and you go show someone. Next thing you know, they’re going to go start their own business. Now you’re competing against them. But in my line of work, it takes a good amount of time to figure it out. And so I really-

Dane Golden:
Even if you’re showing them, it still takes a while.

Paul Peck:
Right. The way I look at it on YouTube is not only am I showing them, but I’m also letting them know what it takes to get this project done. So even though it might look easy, they see what it takes and what it entails. And they go, “You know what, I need to call the professional in on this one.” So I think it could work for both ways and my theory is always, you got to give to get. And once I started giving, I started getting,

Renee Teeley:
Yeah, I love that. I’ve watched some do it yourself videos on YouTube. And then after watching the video realized I am not going to do this myself and I should hire someone to do it so I could see that going the other direction. So in terms of actually creating your videos and publishing your videos, do you have a structure and a process that you put in place for each video?

Paul Peck:
Pretty much just started out with some short clips. So what the video’s going to be about. Mention what the video’s about because YouTube’s algorithm actually listens to what you’re saying through the video too, so that can help in the optimization as far as that goes. But then it’s just a matter of I try and cut the fat on the videos and not leave any walking around or doing anything like that. I just try to keep jump cut neat, which is a just a quick cut to the next scene to the next scene. I try and keep it moving so people don’t get bored. Because typically a lot of YouTube viewers get bored and click off really quick. So the key is to keep moving, give a ton of information, and then say your goodbyes and maybe get a couple subscribers and then lead them into the next video at the end.

Dane Golden:
Some businesses may say, “Hey, we’re not funny. We’re not kids. We can’t do anything on YouTube. We shouldn’t even try. Our business isn’t cool.” What would you say to that?

Paul Peck:
Well, that’s what I’m saying about Tik Tok talk right now, but…

Dane Golden:
Well, we’ll focus more on YouTube on this.

Paul Peck:
Right. I think there’s a room for everybody on YouTube, young, old, whether you’re a singer, musician, a construction worker, auto repair mechanic, marketing guru. There’s plenty of room and I don’t think anybody’s dated or not have enough information to probably put a channel together.

Renee Teeley:
Yeah. Yeah. I definitely agree with that. There’s lot of space and I think still even room for people to get started on YouTube. In terms of getting started on YouTube, you talked about this a little bit, but can you dive in a little bit more of, why did you start doing this in the first place? What really compelled you to start creating YouTube videos for this business?

Paul Peck:
Actually, let’s see. It was about getting some videos to promote myself online and also to showcase my jobs. YouTube basically in the beginning for contractors or construction was a before and after. Here’s my before, here’s my after of the project. And so that’s what I started doing and just putting together stuff for my business, promotional, pretty much just for fun. And then to also promote, but I’d get videos of the shuttle going up and stuff like that too, or surfing, or all kinds of stuff. But really, it’s best to just focus on one thing. That’s what I started doing on the channel.

Dane Golden:
Right. Would you say your viewers are like individual people with a problem or are they other drywallers? Or who would you say is watching?

Paul Peck:
Actually, I’ve done a few polls on my community page on YouTube and it’s pretty much split 50, 50 between DIYers and contractors.

Renee Teeley:
Yeah. That’s a good mix. In terms of the topics that you cover in your videos, sometimes you address a specific topic more than once. You do that in multiple ways. Why do you do that?

Paul Peck:
Well, one, I’d look at my analytics and I know what is getting the most response from viewers. So if my views start going down or I don’t have something to put together, I can know that if I do a skim coating video, it’s probably going to get a bunch of views. So that’s normally what I do for something like that.

Dane Golden:
Right, right. Well, Paul Peck, this has been a very helpful interview and I think you’ve really drilled down into some types of topics that not just various contractors can use, but other businesses can learn from this and say, “Hey, you know what? This might be something I should do for my business.” How can people find out more about you and DrywallTube?

Paul Peck:
Well, you can look me up on YouTube, of course, under Paul Peck, DrywallTube, or drywall. If you put it in the search, I’ll probably show up too. I’m on Twitter, Instagram. I also have a Facebook group where… The thing with YouTube is you can’t communicate with the community like… If someone has a question and I need to see a photo, they can do that on Facebook. That’s the good thing of having another platform to get people over too because you can engage a little bit more than you can on YouTube. Like I said, I’m on Facebook with that group, and then also on LinkedIn, Instagram, and I think that’s about it.

Dane Golden:
Excellent. Thank you, Paul Peck.

Paul Peck:
You got it. Thanks so much for having me, Dane and Renee.

Dane Golden:
You were great. My name is Dane Golden, and my cohost, she’s R-E-N-E-E T-E-E-L-E-Y, Renee Teeley. And we want to thank you, the listener, for joining us today. Don’t we, Renee?

Renee Teeley:
Yes, absolutely. Today I want to leave you with a quote. As I once told my good friend, Dr. Seuss, “You have brains in your head. You have feet in your shoes. You can steer yourself in any direction that you choose.” I hope this podcast has helped you, the listener, choose the right path in some way.

Dane Golden:
I want to invite you, the listener, to review us on Apple Podcast. It’s right there by the other episodes. You can click on that. Renee and I do this podcast and our various other YouTube videos and other projects because we love helping marketers and business owners like you do YouTube marketing better. Thanks to our special guest, Paul Peck. Until next week, here’s to helping you help your customers through video.