YouTube began as social media. It was a place of expression, connection and building community. But as monetization has come on the scene, it has become a major driver in how people approach their content and sometimes the only thing people think about while making content. Now with AI tools coming on the scene, the entry level to making content has become even lower with complete AI channels. How do we navigate this as creators? How do we use AI while keeping the human connection? We will talk about all of this today.

AI Tools

AI can be a great thing. It has given us a lot of good tools that can help us with our videos. ChatGPT can be super helpful with titles and ideation. MidJourney can be helpful with thumbnails. But I find it hard to really rely on AI to create a good thumbnail. It just seems off. AI is advancing every day. But at this point, AI really struggles with human elements. Check out this ​AI generated commercial​ to see what I mean.

But one of the things that has been unexpected has been creators that have created new channels that are completely done with AI. These AI-based faceless channels are now competing with human channels.They present material much in the same way that google does. But, it’s missing those human elements and primal branding that get people to interact or keep people coming back. If you want to succeed on YouTube, you need connection, whether that’s from showing your face or from using primal branding well.

Affect on Creator Health

Plus, it is incredibly more rewarding for you as a creator when you have this connection with your audience. Money is great, don’t get me wrong. But when that is the only reason you are producing on YouTube, the focus becomes just getting out as much content as possible. The the frustration inevitably comes of why it isn’t performing like you hoped. This really sucks the joy out of YouTube and is the quickest way to burnout.

A lot of short creators are struggling with this as well. Shorts are blowing up all over the place, but monetization is really tough with short content. My question to you is what is your goal with your content? Most creators that succeed on YouTube never had money as their initial focus. It’s a great benefit, of course, but the focus was the love of creating and turning what you love into your career.

A Great Idea

So many creators are so focused on getting the clicks, that they miss that it all comes down to a great idea.

How do you get a great idea? Go back to your target audience. How do you want them to feel? What are you trying to achieve for them? What are the angles you can take on this idea? How can I tell a story about this?

Don’t look at other creators and compare success. This will only frustrate you. Take the time to nurture your idea. I see creators all the time have an idea and immediately start filming. I would encourage you to dig deeper to make the best possible video from it. Ask yourself: What is the intent of this video? (discoverable, sales, community) What makes it a great idea in the first place? What unique twist can you make to stand out from the crowd? How can you craft a good story to really draw people into the content? Maybe you had a great idea, with a poor performing video last year. How can you take that idea, nurture it and create a much better video for it?

If you are stuck and feel like you aren’t getting clicks, we encourage you to dig deep. You can use AI to help with that. It’s a great tool. But that’s where I would encourage you to keep it, as a tool. Don’t let it run your channel. Instead, allow it to help you dig deeper while maximizing your human connection.

Power Tip

There are new and improved permissions on YouTube! Now, you can allow your channel managers and editors to create shorts, posts and comments as you. This is extremely helpful to be able to delegate that without having to hand over your login and password to others. To do this, go to YouTube studio – settings – permissions – and invite them with their email address.

Keep Changing Lives!

Tim Schmoyer

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