As I’m sure you know, the creator journey is a bumpy one. There are roadblocks and challenges that can be super frustrating to come up against. I’ve totally been there and want to help.

Maybe you’re struggling with thumbnails, growth or you just feel like Youtube and the algorithm is against you. These are just a few of the roadblocks I’d like to help you overcome today.

Thumbnails

A major roadblock almost every creator has to overcome is the dreaded thumbnail. It’s so common that a creator has great content, but no one is clicking on it because the thumbnail is… well… less than great. Sometimes the thumbnails are too busy, too boring, too niche, or too vague. It begins to feel like there are so many ditches to fall into that it’s almost impossible to do it well. Why even try?

But your thumbnail is so important. It is 100% worth putting in the time to make it good. Just remember to KISS: Keep it Simple Stupid. Don’t overcomplicate things or make it too abstract. Be clear. Less is more. Create the thumbnail as if you were going to show it to a five year old. Not that your audience is dumb, but because your audience is going to see it for about .4 seconds and will need to understand it immediately.

If you are not sure if your thumbnails need help, check on your click-thru rates and impressions. If these are low, your thumbnails need work. YouTube understands how difficult thumbnails can be and is here to help. YouTube is introducing new A/B thumbnail tools to help test out your thumbnails. You don’t have to choose one and then panic when it doesn’t immediately begin performing well. With this tool, you will be able to test out different thumbnails on the same content. Does your face on your thumbnail help or hurt your content? What about a solid background verses a picture? What about 3 intriguing words vs no words at all? This will help you gather data so much faster on your thumbnails and see what works and what doesn’t.

Intrigue

I talk about making your titles, thumbnails, hooks, intriguing all the time. But this idea can be a big roadblock for many creators. “Intriguing” can take on many forms. This can look like being so for or against something that it is intriguing for people to click in, whether they agree or not. Some creators think they just need to change their title into a question. And that is not that intriguing, especially if the answer can be yes or no. Think more about teasing content rather than giving it all away. If the title says, “The best investment strategy to earn you the most money,” but then the strategy is show in the thumbnail, that’s not very intriguing. Try to create your title, thumbnail and hook in a way that you form a question in your viewer’s mind and they HAVE to click and watch to get that question answered.

Accountability

YouTube is an amazing place to be creative and has lots of freedom to create how you want. But at the same time, we are accountable for the decisions that we make. What do I mean by this? Creators always feel like they did really well when a video does well. But when a video doesn’t perform well, suddenly it’s the YouTube algorithm’s fault. “I’ve done everything you said and it didn’t work. It must be the algorithm’s fault.” Or maybe, “I’ve been shaodowbanned.” If you are thinking this, you may need to take a tough look in the mirror and be accountable for your responsibility in the matter. It takes time and hard work to develop the skill of YouTube.

Humility is a big part of this. You may be the expert at something, but that doesn’t guarantee you success. Your content can not be all about you as a creator and what you want to say. It has to be about how you can serve your creator.

Shallow Content

Another roadblock creators face is not going deep enough with their content. It’s so easy to just do the fun things and not put into the work to dig deeper. There’s often friction around digging deep into your target audience because it’s so much easier to remain surface level. But if you are wanting to dig in and do the work, you will see the results.

A lot of creators start out just having fun and after they make a little success, they realize they are going to have to go deeper, work harder, analyze their analytics, put in more time, etc, if they want to actually turn this into a career. If you are at a point, where you feel like this and you want someone to come alongside you and help you dig deeper, check out vidIQ one on one coaching. We have very talented coaches willing and ready to help.

Keep Changing Lives!

Tim Schmoyer

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