Exhaustive Tutorial Traffic Library
Capture durable search demand with a complete how-to catalog
- Difficulty
- Moderate
- Time to result
- ~months to results
- Steps
- 5
- Confidence
- 95%
Identify an evergreen task that prospective customers already want to complete, enumerate its meaningful variants, and publish a focused tutorial for each one. OT bought an encyclopedia containing roughly 50 ways to tie a tie and converted the entries into individual YouTube demonstrations. Each video answered a specific practical query and ended with a call to visit the store. Early videos attracted only modest viewing, but the catalog later accumulated millions of views across the series. The mechanism combines existing search demand, comprehensive topical coverage, and a relevant path from instruction to product. Unlike a single campaign, the library can keep being discovered after publication. Results may take time, so the approach depends on useful demonstrations, patient publishing, and a product that naturally follows from the lesson.
Origin
OT used a tie-knot encyclopedia to map roughly 50 tutorial topics, filmed the knots, and directed viewers to its store. The founders report that the series later accumulated millions of views.
Core principles
- 01Existing questions reveal durable content demand
- 02Coverage compounds when each tutorial solves one specific task
- 03Educational content should lead naturally to the relevant product
How to run it
- 1
Choose an evergreen task
Select a practical problem that prospective customers repeatedly try to solve and that naturally connects to the product.
Pro tip Favor demonstrated actions over broad opinion topics.
Watch out High traffic with no product relevance may not produce customers.
- 2
Map the full topic set
Use a credible reference or customer-question list to enumerate the useful variants of the task.
Pro tip OT used an encyclopedia to find around 50 tie knots.
- 3
Produce focused demonstrations
Create one clear tutorial per variant so each piece directly satisfies a specific query.
Pro tip Keep the instructional portion useful enough to stand on its own.
- 4
Connect lesson to product
End with a concise call to action that offers the relevant next step without displacing the instruction.
Watch out Do not turn the tutorial into an advertisement before solving the viewer's problem.
- 5
Let the catalog compound
Publish the collection, monitor discovery, and retain useful evergreen videos even when early view counts are modest.
Pro tip Judge the library over a longer horizon than a paid-ad creative.
In the wild
OT's team turned the knots in an encyclopedia into a series of individual YouTube videos. A model demonstrated each knot, and the videos directed viewers to OT's website. The guest says initial videos drew roughly one or two thousand views, while the collection later reached millions of views in aggregate.
→ The series became a long-term source of awareness and traffic to the store.
Common mistakes
Publishing disconnected topics
A scattered content calendar loses the comprehensive coverage that makes the library useful and discoverable.
Expecting instant scale
OT's tutorials began with modest viewing and accumulated reach over time, so early counts alone can misjudge the asset.
Is it for you?
Best for
It is best for products adjacent to a broad set of specific, evergreen how-to questions.
Not ideal for
It is not ideal when the tutorials have little connection to purchase intent or the underlying questions change too quickly.
From the transcript
“we can do a YouTube version of every single one of these”
“at the end is like go to.com”
From the episode
564: From $0 to $100,000 a Day Selling Neckties