Creative Energy, Substack Plans - and Butter.
A Sneak Peek At What's Coming Up In August
One of the biggest gifts we gave to ourselves this summer was carving out space.
It started with our travels in June to Paris and the French Riviera and even last month, I intentionally didn’t book a single speaking engagement, workshop or podcast interview. I did this on purpose so that we’d have more room to think, to build, to work on the things that often get shoved into the ‘important but not urgent’ pile (and as a result, they get de-prioritized because other things are always more urgent).
A few things Jewel and I are reflecting on right now:
What can be added/removed/changed within our done-for-you YouTube services that will absolutely overdeliver for our clients - even more than we are now?
What does a live in-person event look like, either here in Vancouver or up in Whistler?
How can we become the best YouTube publication on Substack?
The creative energy is oozing right now. So we’re heading into August feeling energized by these questions rather than feeling stretched thin. Our calendar will pick up again soon enough, but for now we’re enjoying the extra time with family, the longer summer evenings, and pouring our energy into the projects that excite us most.
So here’s a little peek at what’s happening behind the scenes at Essetino this month:
🎬 Essetino Backstage Pass
Substack Relaunch
If you’ve been following along our journey, you’ll recall we officially relaunched our Substack on June 9th with this article here (link to I resented.. article).
Since then I’ve been sharing my thoughts, insights, case studies, and reframes on YouTube’s platform, YouTube strategy for business and visibility in general.
For me, it’s been a chance to return to my roots. I’ve always loved writing, and Substack gives me the space to dive into the strategy, bigger-picture thinking, and ideas that don’t always fit into a YouTube video. At the same time, Jewel brings the implementation side to life, so it’s been really fun to collaborate and build something that reflects both of our strengths.
Since that re-launch date, we’ve welcomed 67 new subscribers and what’s meant even more to us are the thoughtful emails and comments we’ve received from readers saying how much these articles are resonating and changing the way they think about YouTube. I just wanted to share a few below...
“Love this! We say the most enrolling thing you can do (in sales conversations) is be yourself!! Thank you for this powerful example and shedding the light on authentic, messy, original is ranking better and more relatable and trustworthy.”
“I needed to hear this today!”
“Thanks for this great email, Auret and Jewel. I like the idea of being a thought leader on YouTube a whole lot more than a content creator.”
“What a great piece again. This topic/focus really resonates with me.”
Don’t worry, we got more coming 😉
This month, you can expect us to go deeper into what an effective YouTube strategy actually looks like for an expert or business owner who cares about attracting clients from YouTube, not chasing vanity metrics (I call it our ‘Anti-Viral YouTube Strategy’).
And since I know a lot of you have YouTube channels that are just kinda ‘sitting there’ collecting cyber dust, we’ll talk about the difference between planting vs cultivating a YouTube channel - and how to be more intentional so you’re doing the latter.
Because that’s really what this publication is about. It’s not about creating more content to feed an algorithm…this is about sharing your craft, building a searchable body of work, a portfolio of your ideas, sharing real experiences, and integrating what you do with who you are...
I just think that’s a much more meaningful way to approach content creation, and judging by the conversations I’ve been having lately, it seems like many of you do too.
So it’s gonna get fun ‘round here, hope you don’t mind!
💎 Community Spotlight
This month, we’re celebrating Noel Lorenzana, a CPA and Tax Resolution Specialist.
Noel recently hit a huge milestone on YouTube: 75,000 subscribers 🎉.
We did a few YouTube coaching sessions with Noel a few years ago and it’s been so cool to see how much he’s grown on YouTube.
In his post celebrating the milestone he shared that he feels called to this work and simply keeps showing up, learning, improving, and trusting the process.
And I see why he keeps growing because that pretty much sums up the secret to success on YouTube (or anything for that matter!) - being able to do these two things at once: continue showing up/planting the seeds without getting discouraged AND stay adaptable/know what to improve along the way.
Congratulations, Noel 👋We can’t wait to see what the next chapter looks like.
✨ Currently Sparking Joy
What’s still sparking joy for Jewel (and okay...maybe me as well 😏) is all the butter and baguettes she ate in France.
If you’ve ever been to France, you know the butter is just out of this world.
It sparked so much joy, in fact, that she vacuum-sealed five blocks of butter and brought them all the way back home to Vancouver. 😂
She’s been eating it every day since she got home.
💌 This Month’s Mantra
“There's only one thing you can become the world's leading expert in with zero competition, something no one can ever take from you or do better. That's being more of yourself.
Bring more of you into the work. That's your edge.”
📺 Coming Up on the Channel
✅ This week, Jewel check’s out YouTube's new AI feature in the channel analytics dashboard. How does it work and is it useful?
✅ Later in the week, I share how to add or switch out your logo to a PDF doc using Adobe Acrobat Pro.
✅ Next week, Jewel walks your step-by-step through what you get with our FREE YouTube Authority Checklist.
✅ Then later in the month, we discuss why our YouTube videos don’t get millions of views and why we’re totally ok with that. What are the real metrics that matter?
Make sure you’re subscribed to our YouTube Channel so you don’t miss a thing…
Talk soon,
Auret & Jewel
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By Auret Esselen & Jewel Tolentino
A fresh take on using YouTube for experts, business owners and thought leaders - we call it the Anti-Viral Strategy. Subscribe for weekly insights on growing your presence, getting found in search, and attracting aligned clients through YouTube - all backed by what works now and 11+ years of real-world experience.
Im really enjoying these post Auret. Looking forward to your next. 😊