getedgehq/skills

Paddy Galloway's YouTube Outlier Packaging

Based on Paddy Galloway's public method. Not affiliated with or endorsed by Paddy Galloway.

When to use

Use this skill to turn a channel brief into a focused strategy, prioritize video ideas, or prepare a title and thumbnail package before production. It also supports reviewing a channel whose uploads rarely exceed its usual view range. The central decision is which viewer promise deserves production effort, followed by how to communicate and fulfill that promise. [S1][S4]

Produce a readable strategy page with a supporting packaging appendix. Keep the page useful for decisions; put the evidence ledger, title candidates, and thumbnail briefs in the appendix. For a single upload, use the existing channel strategy and complete only the relevant fields. Do not force a full channel planning exercise into a narrow packaging request. Follow templates/output-template.md for either scope.

The method primarily concerns long form YouTube. Treat Shorts, business models, and device-specific production as optional context when they affect the brief. Galloway's numerical recommendations are working heuristics, not guarantees. Preserve the user's constraints, label missing data, and distinguish public recommendations from this package's operational adaptations. references/method.md explains those boundaries; references/sources.md identifies the fetched evidence.

Procedure

1. Establish scope and inputs. Read references/method.md. Gather niche, audience, recent comparable uploads, view counts, production capacity, access, budget, and the decision deadline. Separate observed information from estimates. Use the template's intake fields to record unresolved inputs without inventing evidence.

2. Choose a sustainable model and starting territory. Use references/method.md to select a low frequency, high frequency, or weekly approach. Identify one or two sub-niches to win first. Explain how the model fits the team and leaves time for ideation, packaging, and intros. [S1][S3][S5]

3. Name the visible advantage. Follow references/method.md to identify distinctive knowledge, skill, personality, or access. Attach a concrete proof point and a filming implication to every claimed advantage. Generic enthusiasm is insufficient evidence of differentiation. [S1]

4. Map three viewer groups. In templates/output-template.md, describe core, casual, and new viewers and why each would click and stay. Use references/method.md to broaden understandable stakes while preserving the channel's subject and expertise. [S1][S6]

5. Build and tag the idea pool. For a strategy pass, brainstorm at least 100 ideas, using internal outliers, external outliers, and innovation. Record source links, baselines, and uncertainty using references/method.md. For a single upload, inspect relevant existing ideas and comparables instead of padding a new pool. [S1][S2]

6. Shortlist through explicit gates. Apply demand or novelty, viewer fit, creator advantage, and package clarity from references/method.md. Write a one sentence premise and revise failed gates before filming. Consult examples/worked-examples.md for illustrations of reframing without unsupported claims. [S4][S6]

7. Explore title angles. Draft at least ten materially different titles for the lead idea. Use references/method.md to vary stakes, contrast, novelty, and unanswered questions. Pair each promising angle with a visual concept rather than selecting a title in isolation. [S2]

8. Develop visual alternatives. Generate at least five thumbnail concepts and prepare three distinct variants. Follow references/method.md for focal elements and the glance test. If image creation is unavailable, supply production-ready briefs and explicitly mark rendering as unfinished. [S1][S3][S6]

9. Choose the combined promise. Review scroll stopping, curiosity, and believable value together. Use checklists/review-checklist.md to reject ambiguity, clutter, or an unsupported implied outcome. Record the chosen pair, alternatives, required shots, and selection rationale in templates/output-template.md. [S4][S6]

10. Confirm delivery and execution. Plan visual or verbal promise confirmation in approximately the first five seconds, followed by the actual investigation or payoff. Apply references/method.md to catch missing footage, access, and quality problems. Set a decision deadline that allows publication and learning. [S4][S6]

11. Review and repeat. Complete checklists/review-checklist.md, then schedule comparison with the channel baseline, retention curves, and audience reached. Use references/method.md to define a prompt follow-up when a format works, while continuing experiments. Return to the idea pool with the resulting evidence. [S1][S2][S5]

Files in this skill

• SKILL.md: Entry point, scope, and the agent's main loop.
• references/method.md: Detailed principles, decisions, numerical heuristics, warnings, and edge cases.
• references/sources.md: Six fetched public sources and their contributions, indexed by citation ID.
• examples/worked-examples.md: Two invented before and after packaging illustrations with rule annotations.
• templates/output-template.md: Strategy page and packaging appendix with field guidance.
• checklists/review-checklist.md: Pass/fail review, completion criteria, and failure repairs.