4 Steps To Iterate Ideas Without Wasting Time & Money On Flopping Videos

Most newbie creators have what they think is a brilliant idea, pour everything into the video, then wonder why it flopped.

With YouTube videos, the problem could be as simple as the wrong title and thumbnail not enticing viewers to watch. It could be that the idea is brilliant, but it isn't conveying the pain of not addressing the issue in a way that viewers connect with. What if there was a way to get in the minds of your audience weeks and months before the video goes live?

Fortunately, successful creators have already found a way following 4 simple steps to refine ideas before wasting time and money on videos that might flop.

Step 1: Post Initial Ideas To Twitter/X and Threads

A quick look at successful creators' profiles on Twitter/X or Threads will show they put out several ideas every day.

When an idea pops in your head, post a short tweet about it. See which ideas are resonating with more reach and engagement and, if an idea doesn't resonate, reframe it a few times before discarding it completely.

With every step, look at analytics in percentages not nominal numbers. Small creators with 3 comments vs the normal 2 and large creators with 150 comments vs normal 100 both have a 50% increase in engagement.

Step 2: Expand Those Ideas Into Threads

When a tweeted idea has higher resonance than normal, expand the idea into a thread.

We're not creating a new idea, just expanding it to provide more context and add some details. Now, we can see which contextual pieces and details are resonating with our audience beyond the core idea.

For creators who want to stick mainly to video, I'd still recommend expanding into threads, but you could also talk through the thread in a story.

Step 3: Expand Those Threads Into Articles

Once a thread has higher resonance than other threads, expand further into an article.

We're doing the same expansion, but just more of it. Articles don't have to be 1,500 word definitive dissertations on a topic, but can be as short as 500 words and add even more context and details.

For the video creators, these can be your Reels and YouTube shorts.

Step 4: Expand Those Articles Into Videos

Finally, we get to the YouTube videos, which are just expanded versions of the articles that had higher resonance than other articles.

Videos are where some magic can happen because we don't always type the same way we speak. When expanding the article, try to stay away from writing an exact script to recite to the camera, but rather give yourself an outline detailed enough to keep on track.

Now you're iterating based on data, not emotion.

The key is not giving up when an idea worked at a lower level, but not a higher one.

If an idea worked as a tweet and thread, but not an article, the idea isn't bad, but it needs a little more work for the article level. Go back to the winning thread and see what similar threads did or didn't work, then rework the idea as a new article. Keep iterating at each level to find what's resonating, then promote to the next.

Best selling authors James Clear and Ryan Holiday didn't start by writing winning books, they leveraged the audience response with articles and expanded the ideas into the books.