Teach People Who Don't Want to Learn

One of my most popular YouTube Shorts, at 117M views, is this quick tutorial breaking down how I magically (through editing) grab Thomas the Tank Engine from my TV and throw him into a picture book.

Does that sound like a video that would go viral? Absolutely not.

I think what's happening is that I'm tapping into a sweet spot of what I call teaching people who don't want to learn. It's the perfect blend of sharing expertise on a really niche topic in a way that's dumbed down just enough to captivate any viewer.

The key is simplifying the explanation. In my Thomas video, I'm intentionally simplifying the highly technical visual effects editing and instead describing it with red outlines and cutouts. I always explain as if I'm teaching with physical objects. Instead of digital video layers, I'm speaking in terms of layering pictures on top of each other.

Marketing Examples

To back this up, I opened Instagram and started scrolling. Within a few minutes I found two examples:

1. A design company that solved why an elegant eyewear holder kept tipping over - and how they fixed it.

2. A bakery that spent $70k on a robotic, brownie-cutting blade - an oddly specific problem to solve.

Conclusion

While my previous post about creating effort-focused content covers the low lift end of the spectrum, sharing your expertise on a niche topic is a great way to approach more in-depth video content.

✨ Is there some interesting detail about your artistic process or business? Share it! But explain it in a way that even someone with zero interest would find fascinating.