my channel name is MKBHD, and the theme is tech videos

anything from smartphones to cars to TVs

anything with an 'on' button.

I think the main point of a collaboration is

to make the video better

to bring something into the content that couldn't otherwise have been there

and hopefully share their work with my audience

and my work with their audience.

Like, if you made a Venn diagram of my channel

and the channel of someone I'm looking to collaborate with

I don't want it to be too much of an overlap

or one circle inside the other

because the audience would probably have already gotten that perspective

if they already watch this channel.

But you don't want it to be completely separate

because then you're sort of losing the connection to that topic.

So having a slight overlap

that's the perfect opportunity to see if you can collaborate with that person.

I think it often first helps

to pick a video topic and then chose the collaborator.

So, I did a video about a new electric truck.

I have a friend who's really into trucks already

and makes his own videos and does a DIY-style channel

so I had him talk about it because that's something I couldn't speak to.

They can say things that I wouldn't have known to say

and that helps the video.

And, a recent video where I had a bunch of different YouTubers

in the video

was really entertaining and exciting and it made that video better

and also each one of them had their own voice and style and perspective

that would make you want to go watch the rest of what they do

so it was kind of a win-win.

The audience got a better video

and each of those creators who participated

got some people also going to watch the rest of what they did.

The style of the collab changes based on who's involved.

I've interviewed Elon Musk, I've interviewed Kobe Bryant

and you often think like

"What could those people possibly get out of me interviewing them?"

But they often get to tell their story

in a way that they haven't been asked about before

or haven't had the opportunity to share before.

The other side of it is when I'm just talking with a creator

that's the easiest type of video

because they can riff on something forever

they're good on camera

they can ask me questions

I can ask them stuff.

I've only had maybe One or two creators in the area

to collaborate with.

So almost all the rest of them are people in different regions

where I'll either travel to them or have them submit a clip.

So, I guess if you're a newer channel

looking to reach out to other, more established channels

"Look, I have this expertise here, I would really love to help you

"or to give you this bit of content here

"but also, maybe check out my previous videos

"maybe you like something you see here

and you want to bring something I haven't mentioned into the picture."

So, make your own videos as good as you can

and then ideally, it speaks for itself

as far as people wanting to collaborate with you.

A practical suggestion

as a small creator to reach out to big channels for a collab

is, obviously there's email, but also social media works really well.

I think just tweeting at someone or getting in touch via social

looks very different, especially if your audience backs you up

or they say "Hey yeah, I'd also like to see that."

That looks very different in someone's radar than an email does.

That's actually how I got Elon to agree to an interview.

I tweeted at him

there were obviously people seeing that tweet and replying

and they got into that, and he agreed.

So that's definitely something that works.

You can look at a collab two ways after the fact.

You can look at it on paper, and the numbers

and you can look at the final product

the actual video.

Obviously on paper you want to see that the audience enjoyed the video

that they got to see it

and that maybe people from your channel went

and viewed their video and subscribed to their channel

and vice versa.

You also kind of just want the video to end up

better than it would've been if they weren't involved.

So that's more a sentimental idea of a collab

but I want to look back and say, "I'm glad I brought them in"

or "I'm glad I went to his studio," or "I'm glad I had them in a Q&A."