I know, I know.
You read the subject line and thought…
“Yeah, okay Tim… I’d love to have the struggles of a creator with 100K+ subscribers. My wallet’s too small for my fifties and my diamond shoes are too tight.”
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Or maybe you’re a mid-sized creator and you know EXACTLY what problems we’re going to discuss before you’ve even read this e-mail or watched the livestream.
We’re going to take today to talk about how to overcome problems with mid-sized channels and how you can avoid them if you’re a smaller creator.
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Making enough money to make your channel sustainable. Smaller creators believe that once they hit a certain subscriber count, they should be making x number of dollars. This is NOT true at all. You’ve GOT to have a business plan in place to generate income outside of YouTube Adsense. That means having a plan in place for a digital product, a course, a consultation, or a membership. There are so many different ways you can capture value online and through your channel – we encourage smaller creators to start working on that now before you grow to a larger-sized channel.
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Struggling to systemize what you do. Most mid-sized creators have been a one-man band for most of their YouTube lifespan. You’ve probably filmed, edited, made thumbnails, planned, answered e-mails, handled your own brand deals, made the branding for your channel/website, etc. At some point, you need to onboard new people to help you grow. Creating systems for each thing you do will set up new people for success when you bring new people on and help them to produce a product or do their job in the best way possible.
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How to find good people, hire them, and manage a team. As Video Creators has grown, this is where I spend half of my time now as the CEO – managing the team. It’s important to me to pick the right people for the right roles so the business can really grow. I usually look for hires from our own customer base because I know they already believe in what we’re doing enough to have made a purchase from us. I talk more about what the hiring process looks like above, but the main things I like for in a new team member is humility, someone who is teachable, and someone who embodies our core values.
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Reinventing yourself to keep things fresh. Most TV shows only last 3-5 seasons before they’re off the air. People get bored of the same thing over and over again. What worked for mid-sized creators for a while may not be working anymore. If you want to experience real growth, you’ve got to try new stuff. You can A/B test or jump right in – but make sure you’re experimenting with new content.
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Handling the stress of higher stakes. When you hire a team and are responsible for other people’s income for their families, it can be a whole new kind of stressful. Or if you don’t have a team yet, not getting the results you need from a video (and having less income when that’s your full-time gig) can be filled with pressure and stress. Maybe you’re afraid to take a vacation and are running yourself into the ground. You’re more important than your channel. You’re probably thinking about it WAY more than your viewers are. Remember to practice self-care, spend time with your loved ones (virtually until we can flatten the curve of this virus), and breathe.
Did we miss something? Are there any other struggles you face as a mid-sized creator?
Hit ‘reply’ and let us know! We love hearing from you.
Keep changing lives,
Tim
P.S. If you’re a mid-sized creator, chances are you’re already doing a lot of things right on your YouTube Channel. You can still get stuck or hit a rut, though. Our team would love to help you through this. If you need help overcoming your struggles as a creator, book a call with us here! We’d love to help.
NEW STORIES MENTIONED
– Members-only Live Streams: https://support.google.com/youtube/answer/7544492
– YouTube Is Demonetizing Coronavirus Videos Under Its Long-Standing “Sensitive Events” Policy https://www.tubefilter.com/2020/03/05/youtube-demonetization-coronavirus-videos-sensitive-events-policy/
– Instagram Reportedly Toying With ‘Video Response’ Feature For IGTV https://www.tubefilter.com/2020/03/06/igtv-experimenting-video-response-feature/
– Google defeats conservative group’s YouTube censorship appeal https://venturebeat.com/2020/02/27/google-defeats-conservative-groups-youtube-censorship-appeal/