The Business Gurus Who Taught You Instagram Are Quietly Leaving Instagram
The business gurus who taught you that you need to be on Instagram and podcasting to grow your business are slowly leaving Instagram and podcasting.
Amy Porterfield spent 16 years building her business on a podcast. But earlier this year, she announced she is going all in with YouTube because the data was clear to her. When she looked into the numbers, the plain audio format of podcasting does not do the amount of work that video does when it comes to new people discovering you.
And she's not the only one. HubSpot, Alex Hormozi, Taki Moore, and Ryan Deiss have all vocally said that video and YouTube is where you need to be focusing right now.
Here's what nobody is really saying out loud for you to hear. These companies and coaches have the numbers at a massive scale that show them exactly why YouTube needs to be their now decision. And they are 100% right. The opportunity to be discovered on platforms like Instagram and podcasting is so low, and the opportunity on YouTube to be discovered is massive.
But I'm going to tell you this right now. If you are copying what they are doing, you are going to 100% burn out, and you're going to blame YouTube. You'll say YouTube doesn't work for you.
Stay with me through this post, because the version that works for you as a coach at your size only needs to take you about two hours a week to implement the same YouTube strategy they're doing.
I've been on YouTube for over 11 years, and I've been shouting it from the rooftop. This is where all business owners' content should live. I took all of 2025 off of Instagram, focused on publishing just one YouTube video a week, and had my best year in business to date. Completely off Instagram.
So when all these big name coaches started announcing their pivots this year, I wasn't surprised. I've been doing this for the last 10 years. Let me walk you through who's moving, what they were doing before that stopped working, why YouTube is what's working, and what you should copy versus what you should avoid at all costs.
Amy Porterfield's Discoverability Gap She Couldn't Ignore
Amy was heavy on audio. She had bouts of being on Instagram, but she really focused on her podcast. And I see this all the time with business owners. Every business owner is starting a podcast, so that's what they focus on.
Amy even said in her announcement video that she doesn't like recording videos. She doesn't like getting ready to be on camera. Podcasting was comfortable for her, and it worked for a while.
But when she dug into her analytics, it showed a discoverability gap she just couldn't ignore anymore. In her own words, inside her team's analytics she saw a chart that made her stomach drop. It was their discoverability, and the gap between audio and video was way bigger than she expected.
Here's the reality that hit her, and it's one you need to sit with too.
Podcasting Nurtures, It Doesn't Grow
Podcasting is great for nurturing an audience you already have. But it is not a growth engine like it used to be. And if the people who need your message, who need the solution you have for their problem, can't find you and can't search your content, none of it matters. It doesn't matter how many podcast episodes you pump out. People aren't going to find them.
That's why Amy said specifically that in 2026, she's going all in with YouTube.
A lot of people weigh this decision as "do I do YouTube or podcasting?" It's not apples to apples. A podcast will keep your current audience warm, but it is not going to bring you new people. If you've already exhausted your list and you can't sell your coaching program anymore because you're not bringing fresh eyeballs into your world, podcasting is not going to magically fix that.
You've got to be searchable on YouTube. Amy has the data to prove it, so you don't have to wait to make this decision yourself. You have to realize you need to make a change now if you want to keep building your audience and bringing new people into your coaching program and courses.
HubSpot Is Planning for the Death of Blogs
This is a big one. HubSpot is the company that invented inbound marketing. They built their entire empire on blogging and Google search.
But recently, their vice president of media said on record that they are now operating from an assumption that blog and Google traffic is going away. So they've moved their investment from that style of content to video content.
They've already said they're seeing roughly 80% year over year growth in long form video views and 80% growth in leads from long form video.
Think about that. This entire company built on blogs, built on using blogs to grow an audience, is planning for the death of blogs. If Google search and blogs were working the way they used to work, HubSpot would not be making this massive investment to move. They would be the last company on Earth to move if it was still working.
Ryan Deiss Turned Off All Ad Spend and Nothing Changed
Ryan Deiss recently did an interview with Taki Moore, another business owner who has gone all in with YouTube. In fact, Taki's first video when he got serious with YouTube brought him a client while that video was live less than an hour.
In that interview, Ryan said he turned off all ad spend. Complete zero dollars in ads. He went all in with YouTube and organic overall.
You know what happened? He saw nothing change.
Organic is running his business. He's creating bingeable sessions on YouTube that send people to his VSL, and that's what is closing his coaching programs. Long form video content.
Why Taki Moore Offboarded His Entire Sales Team
Taki has said he's been able to completely offboard a sales team because he doesn't need to do sales calls anymore. His YouTube videos do the selling for him.
People find him on YouTube or through a Google search that surfaces a YouTube video. They binge watch his videos, and they know from those videos alone that he's who they want to work with. He doesn't need a sales call because those people are already bought in.
That's what long form video does that no other platform can. It builds trust. It lets people get a real sense of whether you're the best person for them. And it lets you do less behind the scenes work chasing leads.
People who have bought from me off my YouTube videos had no idea who I was the week before. But they had a problem. They searched it. They watched my videos and realized that's exactly who I need to learn from.
That is something podcasts are not doing, because podcasts are not showing up in search when people need their problem solved.
Alex Hormozi's Second Channel Makes More Than His Viral One
Alex Hormozi believes in YouTube so much that he started a second YouTube channel. And that second channel is making so much more money for him than his viral YouTube channel.
He's committed to YouTube as well. Obviously, he's a full blown media company with content all over the place, but his number one platform is YouTube.
Again, I've been shouting YouTube from the rooftop for over 10 years. This is the reason my business has stayed sustainable. Posting one video a week, making consistent sales, not burning out from content, not even being on Instagram for an entire year.
Why YouTube Is the Move (Not Just Because the Gurus Said So)
Sure, these people can tell us they're going all in with YouTube. But why specifically do I think this is the move you need to make right now if you haven't committed to a solid YouTube strategy?
Nobody Searches Their Problem on Instagram
YouTube does one thing no other social platform can do for you.
Nobody is going to Instagram to search a problem they have. Nobody is pulling up Spotify or Apple Podcasts to search a problem they have. They are searching YouTube. They are searching Google. They are searching AI platforms.
That is where people who are ready to buy a solution, who have their credit cards out and want their problem solved immediately, are going.
That's why a podcast can nurture the audience you already have, but YouTube builds an audience you don't have. Amy said it herself. Her biggest gap was being discovered by new people.
And yes, Instagram can grow your audience, but only out of a posting volume that's going to burn you out. All of these business owners know that's exactly what's happening, because they're burnt out on Instagram too, or they've hired a full blown team to post constantly. Amy realized it's not even worth having a team for Instagram. She's just going all in with YouTube.
Two Words: Evergreen and Evermore
The second reason they're going all in with YouTube comes down to two words. Evergreen means the content never expires. A video you publish this month answers that same buyer's question next year. And evermore means it keeps driving you leads forevermore, whether you have time to show up this week or not.
An Instagram post will work for about 48 hours and then die off. A podcast episode drops from the feed. Do you know many people scrolling through your podcast feed to listen to old episodes?
A YouTube video is a library of sales assets that sell while you're offline.
I have a client who stopped posting to YouTube for a year and still grew her audience, still got views, still built her email list. While not even showing up for a year.
Your Instagram Captions Are Invisible to AI
There's another piece of this you have to realize. AI has changed the game for everybody.
When people are researching who to hire, who to work with, who to buy from on ChatGPT and Claude, AI pulls YouTube content. Your captions on Threads, on TikTok, on your podcast are invisible to AI.
The reason the gurus are shifting is because they see this too. They are preparing for AI. And that's why being off Instagram for all of 2025 was my best business year yet. That was my library of content on YouTube working for me. That is the evermore lead generation I've built.
So answer this question honestly. Look at the last 10 pieces of content you've created for your business. Could a stranger with the exact problem that content solves find it on Google or through AI? Because if they can't find it now, they're not going to find it a year from now.
What You Should Copy vs. What You Should Avoid at All Costs
Here's where the playbook splits for you and these gurus.
They are executing by building custom studios. They're spending $200,000 on a strategist to help them build their YouTube strategy. They've got massive production teams, all the fancy lights, fancy audio, fancy editing.
And honestly, that's fine for them. They have the budget and the team.
But for most coaches I work with, who are trying to get from 500K a year to over a million and want consistent clients every single month without the feast and famine, you don't need that level of production. I have never had that level of production.
Connection Converts, Not Production Value
Connection with your person through authentic, real video content converts. I will tell you that you do need good lighting and good audio, or people just aren't going to watch. But it doesn't need to be professional.
I use a super simple camera, a Sony ZV1, with a microphone plugged right into it and a ring light in front of me. That is it. Nothing fancy.
I had a client grow her YouTube channel from 400 subscribers to over 240,000 subscribers, and she started that channel on a camcorder. She's making six figures from her business every single year with super simple video production.
Nicole made $19,000 in her first five videos with a super simple setup. Belle closed $152,000 from just 16 videos on YouTube without a huge setup either.
Posting a Video Is Not a YouTube Strategy
And you need to understand one more piece of this. These gurus aren't just coming up with a video idea and posting whatever they feel like.
There is a strategy behind creating YouTube videos that build a binge session. The more somebody watches of you, the warmer they get, and the more likely they're going to say yes to you. That also gives the YouTube algorithm exactly what it wants, so the algorithm starts feeding your content to more of the right people.
Just posting a video to YouTube isn't a YouTube strategy.
The strategy I teach my coaches and clients who sell courses is what I call the Playlist Funnel. It's videos built in a deliberate sequence so your ready-to-buy viewer binge watches, and every video builds a case for why they need to work with you and why you're the best fit for the problem they have.
That's the difference between just having a YouTube channel and having a sales asset of videos that live forevermore.
Are Your Video Ideas Attracting Ready-to-Buy Viewers?
There are specific types of content you need to be creating for YouTube. What I classify as ready-to-buy viewers are the people showing up to your video who are the perfect fit for your coaching program or course. Not random people DIYing things, beginners who are never going to buy from you.
That's the lens you need to look at every content idea through.
I built a quick custom GPT where you plug in a video idea and it tells you if that video is going to attract ready-to-buy viewers. Are you creating Beginner Betty content, attracting people who will never buy from you? Or are you creating Expert Esther content, the people who are ready to buy and searching to have their problem solved?
Go to TrenaLittle.com/whoswatching to test out that GPT right now.
The gurus have the data. They've made their move. The question is whether you're going to keep waiting for permission or start building your own library of sales assets, two hours a week, one video at a time.
