Remember when I said I might do a review on successful online marketer Derral Eves’ book, The YouTube Formula? Well I may have misled you a little bit. I’m at the halfway point and thought I’d drop a quick update on my impression of the book so far.

As a full time Hollywood story analyst I read thousands of books and scripts (really upwards of 15,000) and then wrote coverage, which is a kind of report on the material with recommendations on whether or not it was worth considering. I’m NOT doing coverage on The You Tube Formula for this blog. You’d have to pay me a lot do do coverage these days and this is free. It’s great to be able to NOT write coverage, BTW.

What I will do is give you a few data points that highlight what you’re probably most interested in anyway.

Let me start by saying that Eves has his B.A. in marketing so there are many references to that college level training. This isn’t just some dude who watched a ton of YouTube videos and figured out a way to build a profitable platform. Eves had the basics of marketing down before he started trying to make a living on YouTube. Reading his book serves as a primer for wannabe marketers in general. That’s a very good thing.

Fortunately, he’s smart enough not to make this book a textbook. He uses a first person narrative to document his crazy success making millions on YouTube and helping others do the same. So the book isn’t as dry as I dreaded it might be. However, Eves isn’t the best writer out there. That’s because his superpower has gotten very specialized.

So the first 5 chapters of the book struggle to set the hook. No offense Eves. Your info does rock but you already know that, right? There is definitely value in establishing a mindset and overall history of marketing in a digital universe. Chapter 6 is where things start to take off.

The top points for me so far are:

A.I. , not SEO, is where the power lies. Machine learning is way beyond key words and hash tags. The software comprehends all the content.

YouTube was acquired by Google in 2007 and implemented a revenue sharing model designed after their AdSense program in 2012. That program is called the YouTube Partner Program (YPP).

Requirements to be accepted as a YouTube partner are to have quality videos, a minimum of 1,000 subscribers, 4,000 hours of watch time and a linked AdSense account.

Multiple avenues of income are enumerated in chapters 7 & 8 and there are many more than you might expect.

In the course of the discussion Eves, as an active online marketing consultant, gives case studies on a handful of his clients to illustrate certain points. There’s lots of juice to squeeze from this book, which will certainly be a key reference as I move forward on my own journey. It’s owing to these stories within the story that the book generates real excitement for what us muggles of marketing would otherwise miss. Eves genuinely wants to help the Everyman succeed.

What has surprised and delighted me so far is the invitation to look at long term goals for contributing back to society. Having passion for your content, Eves points out, is ultimately driven by knowing your Why. Is it just to generate more views and make more money or is it bigger? How would YOU change the world if you knew you could?

This isn’t the first time I’ve heard about knowing your why on a deep level. But it is the first time I’ve seen the concept tied directly to a specific method for making piles of money using a system that’s already in place and free to use. Part of YouTube’s genius is that they enable individuals to prosper off of their ads in exchange for quality content. As long as you follow the Community Guidelines and produce consistent, quality content, the sky’s the limit.

So, bottom line. I definitely recommend this book not just for YouTube but as a way of getting a handle on the unlimited success that can be achieved by studying metrics, upping your overall game and focus and adjusting your approach accordingly.

I’ll follow this post up with another update in a day or so. In the meantime, Happy Winter Solstice! The tipping point of balance between darkness and light that humans have celebrated for thousands of years is right now.