Cross-Niche Outlier Detection
Goal
Identify high-performing videos from adjacent business niches to extract transferable content patterns, hooks, and structures. These outliers provide inspiration for content ideation without being directly competitive.
Two Approaches
1. TubeLab API (RECOMMENDED)
# Default: 1 query = 5 credits, ~100 outliers from last 30 days
python3 ./scripts/scrape_cross_niche_tubelab.py
# Custom search term
python3 ./scripts/scrape_cross_niche_tubelab.py --terms "business strategy"
# Skip transcripts (faster, cheaper)
python3 ./scripts/scrape_cross_niche_tubelab.py --skip_transcriptsPros: Pre-calculated scores, no rate limiting, fast Cons: 5 credits per query
2. yt-dlp Scraping (LEGACY)
python3 ./scripts/scrape_cross_niche_outliers.pyUse only if TubeLab credits are exhausted. Often fails due to rate limiting.
Scripts
./scripts/scrape_cross_niche_tubelab.py- TubeLab API (recommended)./scripts/scrape_cross_niche_outliers.py- yt-dlp direct scraping./scripts/generate_title_variants.py- Generate title variants for outliers
Process
1. Video Discovery
- Search keywords (50 videos per keyword)
- Monitor business channels (15 videos per channel)
- Deduplicate and filter noise
2. Outlier Scoring
- Base score: video views / channel average views
- Recency boost: <1 day = 2x, <3 days = 1.5x, <7 days = 1.2x
- Threshold: 1.1x or higher (10% above average)
3. Cross-Niche Scoring
Modifiers applied to base score:
- -20% per technical term (API, Python, code, SDK)
- +30% for money hooks ($, revenue, income, profit)
- +20% for time hooks (faster, productivity)
- +20% for curiosity gaps (?, "this changed everything")
- +10% for listicles (numbers in title)
4. Transcript & Summary
- Fetches transcript (youtube-transcript-api, Apify fallback)
- Claude summarizes: hook, structure, how to adapt
- Raw transcript saved for deeper analysis
5. Title Variant Generation
For each outlier, generates 3 title variants adapted to your niche.
6. Output to Google Sheet (19 columns)
Cross-Niche Score, Outlier Score, Days Old, Category, Title, Video Link, Views, Duration, Channel, Thumbnail, Summary, Title Variants 1-3, Raw Transcript, Publish Date, Source
TubeLab Options
| Flag | Description | Default |
|---|---|---|
--queries N | Number of searches (5 credits each) | 1 |
--terms "a" "b" | Custom search terms | entrepreneur |
--min_views N | Minimum views | 10,000 |
--max_days N | Max video age | 30 |
--skip_transcripts | Skip transcripts | False |
Keyword Tiers
Tier 1: Adjacent Business/Tech
- "AI for business", "ChatGPT business use cases", "no-code automation"
Tier 2: Broad Business
- "scale your business", "solopreneur success", "founder productivity"
Tier 3: Money/Revenue Hooks
- "increase revenue", "passive income systems", "10x your income"
Monitored Channels
Alex Hormozi, My First Million, Starter Story, Colin and Samir, Ali Abdaal, Think Media, Iman Gadzhi, Pat Flynn, GaryVee, MrBeast, Justin Welsh, Charlie Morgan
Output
- Google Sheet: "Cross-Niche Outliers v2 - [timestamp]"
- ~100 outliers with 19 columns
- Sorted by publish date (most recent first)
- 3 title variants + raw transcript per outlier
Environment
TUBELAB_API_KEY=your_key
ANTHROPIC_API_KEY=your_key
APIFY_API_TOKEN=your_token (optional fallback)Workflow
- Run weekly for ~100 outliers
- Review by Cross-Niche Score
- Pick outlier with good thumbnail/title
- Use title variants as starting points
- Recreate thumbnail with your face (see recreate-thumbnails skill)
Schema
Inputs
| Name | Type | Required | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
terms | array | No | Custom search terms (default: 'entrepreneur') |
queries | integer | No | Number of TubeLab searches (5 credits each, default: 1) |
min_views | integer | No | Minimum views (default: 10,000) |
max_days | integer | No | Max video age in days (default: 30) |
skip_transcripts | boolean | No | Skip transcript fetching (faster) |
Outputs
| Name | Type | Description |
|---|---|---|
sheet_url | string | Google Sheet with ~100 outliers (19 columns) |
Credentials
| Name | Source |
|---|---|
TUBELAB_API_KEY | .env |
ANTHROPIC_API_KEY | .env |
APIFY_API_TOKEN | .env (optional fallback) |
Composable With
Skills that chain well with this one: title-variants, recreate-thumbnails
Cost
5 TubeLab credits per query + Claude API