Like many married couples, Tai and Talaat McNeely hit a rough patch with their finances and worked hard to turn things around. They started documenting their journey to debt freedom and teaching others the lessons they were learning along the way on their website, His & Her Money, which is now a popular YouTube channel with over 219,000 subscribers.
Knowing YouTube's reach is global, the couple recognized they had to be intentional about teaching people via video, as they sought to impact more lives outside of their local community.
“Being that we have a background in education, we understand that different people learn in different ways,” Talaat said. “While some people prefer written content and some people prefer audio content, we also understood that some people learn best by watching videos. And therefore, we knew that if our goal was to really impact as many people as possible, we would need to create video content to reach those types of learners.”
However, it wasn’t always easy — especially in the beginning. Here’s how the McNeelys were able to grow their brand through the YouTube community and how they’ve found success as a married couple in business together.
Navigating YouTube as a new business
As a new brand with a small following, it can be difficult to gain traction on sites like YouTube.
“Our first biggest challenge was the fact that nobody knew who we were,” Tai said. “Although we have this burning desire to help people, it's still required [for] people to know that we were available to help them.”
As a result, the couple focused on maintaining a level of consistency to develop trust from their audience. This took time and dedication, of course, but the results spoke for themselves as their following began to grow. The more they posted regularly, the more subscribers they attracted, and more referrals were made by their viewers via word of mouth.
“Our top advice would be to commit to the process,” Talaat said. “You can't do a YouTube video here and there on an inconsistent basis and expect to get great results.”
He added that you should also commit to learning your craft as you go, rather than trying to be perfect right off the bat.
“Be intentional with the content that you create and the audience you're trying to reach,” Talaat continued. “It’s super important for you to be authentic because you want to attract people based on the real you and the information that you have to offer.”
[Read more: How to Create a New YouTube Channel for Free in 5 Easy Steps]
Be intentional with the content that you create and the audience you're trying to reach. It’s super important for you to be authentic because you want to attract people based on the real you and the information that you have to offer.
Talaat McNeely, co-founder, His & Her Money
Using video content to grow your business
Because they were consumers of YouTube themselves, the couple understood the platform’s power and reach.
“We knew that by taking the message that we were using locally to help people and putting it on YouTube, we would be able to reach people that we would have never been able to reach otherwise,” she said.
Additionally, YouTube offers a great community for its users and viewers alike. Being surrounded by like-minded creators and an audience with similar interests helps drive your purpose and make you feel less alone in your endeavors. Through comments, questions and stories shared by other users, business owners can get to know their audience better and foster a powerful community for their brand.
“The biggest advantage of being part of the YouTube community is the fact that it is a community,” Talaat said. “We have been able to learn from other [YouTubers], both directly and indirectly. We've been able to enhance our craft and also come up with strategies that we would have not known otherwise unless we saw them on YouTube being demonstrated by others.”
In terms of growth, the McNeelys have two goals for the new year.
“For starters, we would like to push our way to the 300,000 subscribers mark,” Tai said. “Secondly, we would like to double our current average revenue from AdSense that we get from YouTube on a monthly basis.”
To do so, they plan on creating more content their audience is seeking and being more intentional around offering tips and advice their viewers can put to use.
“We think both of these factors will contribute to us getting to these goals that we are chasing,” said Talaat.
[Read more: 8 Tips For Making Engaging YouTube Videos to Promote Your Business]
Owning and operating a business as a couple
While starting a business with your significant other might feel like a dream come true, there will be difficult moments you’ll have to face together — and you might not always see eye-to-eye.
“You both are going to have to recognize what each of you is good at and try as much as possible to stay in the lanes of your strength,” Talaat said. “Never value yourself over the other, and vice versa. Always understand that you are teammates, not competitors.”
Additionally, they both recommended finding time to communicate and operate outside of the confines of your business. That way, it won’t become all-consuming or have negative impacts on the personal relationship you two share.
“For couples [who] go into business together, it's important that both parties feel valued, feel heard and feel respected,” Tai said. “And that's going to take some intentionality on both parts.”
CO— aims to bring you inspiration from leading respected experts. However, before making any business decision, you should consult a professional who can advise you based on your individual situation.
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