As a former pastor at Saddleback Church, Phil Congellier played many roles—from starting a training platform at The Ranch retreat center, to launching a Saddleback campus in Aliso Viejo. In the midst of the Saddleback boom, he felt God calling him to walk away from something he loved.
In its place would be a field he knew nothing about . . . YouTube. It was 2016 when Phil and his wife, Alex, faced the painful road of infertility, a journey they would share with complete strangers through their own YouTube channel.
“We discovered people needed authentic communication and real life,” recalls Phil. “And so we turned on the camera and we put it in front of us day in and day out, walking them through the process and encouraging them along infertility.”
Their main goal in documenting their struggle, was to let people know that they mattered and were not alone. This medium of communication allowed Phil to harness his communication skills as a pastor, and Alex to share her expertise as a nurse. Together they helped people through the spiritual, emotional, and financial journey, in the hopes of someday building a family in the midst of the brokenness.
Over the past two years, they’ve posted 525 videos and garnered 94,000 subscribers, 14 million channel views, and 62 million minutes of watched content. For them, the winning formula was to take their pain and try to solve a problem that could help someone else in their own season of infertility.
While this level of vulnerability isn’t for everyone, Phil and Alex saw the impact their own experience had on others. Their timing couldn’t have been better. Currently there are 1.5 billion users on YouTube watching 5 billion videos every day. Creating the content are 50 million people, hosting 5,000 channels, that are watched by over 1 million subscribers. In the process they are helping creators, like small businesses, churches, and charitable organizations use YouTube for the ultimate search engine optimization marketing tool.
The main 18 to 49 year old demographic is watching on average, 40 minutes of videos, in search of entertainment, education, and a distraction from the lives they’re trying to improve.
“Everybody has a different pain and a different journey, and they are all on YouTube— this global platform where they are looking for their purpose in life,” says Phil. “The church has the answer.”
With a third of the population on YouTube, there’s never been a better time to build a channel for the Kingdom of God. Jesus calls us to use our passions, past, and pain to reach the lost. For Phil and Alex, infertility and adoption were the topics they pinpointed to bring hope and healing to their audience.
Among them was a suicidal mom who found Jesus, victims of abuse who found forgiveness, and a woman who was reunited with her birth mother.
“That’s the power of video,” explains Phil. “YouTube was the platform of healing and encouragement, because we weren’t afraid to get in front of a camera and share our pain, triumphs and journey.”
Creating a YouTube channel is simple, especially with a formula that Phil developed over the years. First, know your vision. Second, name your target audience and the people you are trying to reach. Third, gather tools to start your channel, such as a camera, audio equipment, video editing, software, photo editing software, or whatever it may be.
Fourth, start your channel by signing into your YouTube account through email, click on ‘create a new channel,’ and create a name for that channel.
Fifth, create a trailer for your video homepage that explains what you do. As content is uploaded, cross promote through other social channels including Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter. In the process, build your SEO—search engine optimization, and engage with subscribers.
“The goal is not to build a channel that has a lot of followers,” says Phil. “The goal is to build a network of people who love what you do, who love who you are, who find value in what you do, and who will eventually come into the community that you’ve created so that they’ll be healed and restored and find passion and purpose in life.”
Phil says to stop focusing on the number of “likes” and views, and to start focusing on long-term impact. For every video they filmed, Phil and Alex prayed over the footage and asked God to use their own pain to help someone else. They envisioned the one person who found healing; the one child who was adopted; the one parent who found their birth child; the one person who found hope.
Despite the eternal dividends, Phil says many people never launch a channel for fear of failure. Instead of being intimidated by the competition, he suggests learning from them and figuring out a way to do it differently.
“Figure out how to take what you’re already good at and make it better,” he says. “Use the tools around you and set goals — specific, measurable, attainable, relevant, and timely. Whatever it is, write it down, stick to it, and pray about it. Success will come when you take a thriving platform, an active audience, your own passion and hard work. Together that equals unparalleled opportunity.”
To maximize this opportunity, Phil and Alex offer 10 tips including 1) be authentic, 2) stay on point, 3) brand your channel, 4) hook immediately (with title, thumbnail, and tags), 5) engage early and often, 6) focus on sound over video, 7) believe in yourself more than your product, 8) remember why you started, 9) know that analytics are your friend, and 10) know your audience.
When you integrate these 10 tips into this incredible tool of technology, you can tap into this audience increasing by the day. Since 2017, nearly 90 percent of marketers are now using video over text as their medium to build personal connection. At the current rate, Phil predicts that within the next eight months, the YouTube audience will double to 3 billion viewers.
For Phil and Alex, this is just the beginning. Out of their YouTube channel came two beautiful children, and a non-profit organization called Love Multiplies. Together they offer education, community, and support for those on the journey through infertility, adoption, and building healthy families.
“When you’re discouraged and feel like it’s too hard, be honest, thoughtful, wholesome, and inspiring,” says Phil. “Hustle towards your dream and grind it into reality. Always remember on the difficult days, if not me, ‘who’? And if not now, when? Dream it and commit to the vision.”
Listen to the episode here: Episode 59.
