Having conducted hundreds of YouTube Channel Audits, we get to see a helicopter view of what Content Creators are doing right and what they are doing wrong.

Today on TubeTalk, Travis McPherson and I share these mistakes with you so that you can fix these on your channel and set yourself up for YouTube success!

If you want to level up your YouTube channel, get more subscribers, and more views, this episode is absolutely critical!

Listen to this episode which is about the 

TubeTalk has been informing video creators and marketers since 2014, and is one of the most respected and listened to podcasts in the online video industry. Don't foprget to 

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You can also find the complete list of all the 

On this week's TubeTalk podcast, we discuss the critical mistakes YouTubers make that are keeping them from success.

5 Critical Mistakes Revealed From Hundreds of YouTube Channel Audits

There is nothing I love more than attending YouTuber events around the world. This is not only a superb place to create network opportunities, but a space to learn from the best-of-the-best!

One event I always look forward to is VidCon, a global content creator event that really does expose how creators are able to grow their audiences and monetize their various platforms.

Of course, Check these out and BUT make sure you pick the right service for you and your channel.

Also don't forget to check out more info about 

Next up listen to this episode which is about 

YouTubers can earn money both on and off the platform - find out how!

5 YouTube Monetization Services You've NEVER heard of with Jim Louderback, VidCon GM

There is so much information about YouTube and its algorithms. But what info is correct and what is false?

, one of the very first SEO industry leaders to go all-in on digital video and the first to coin the phrase “social video marketing.”

With over 2 decades of experience in digital media, Mark is a pioneer, and a digital marketing expert who really understands that ins and out of the YouTube system.

Does changing the video metadata after a video is published good or bad?

Do descriptions, tags, and titles matter, or is YouTube AI smart enough?

Do likes, dislikes, and comment help or hinder your video?

Should you or should you not link to external websites off YouTube?

If you finally want know what is FACT and what is FICTION and how it impacts your video performance, THIS is the episode for you!

Let's BUST some YouTube Algorithm misconceptions!

5 YouTube Algorithm Myths YouTubers NEED to Know With Mark Robertson

Travel is one of the biggest and most competitive verticals on YouTube, with millions of videos around the topic being uploaded every day.

But breaking through to become a successful travel-focused creator means exposure, brand deals, and the chance to break away from the 9-5 life.

On this week's episode of TubeTalk, we talk to Bryce Jurgy, the dad from the Jurgys, on how his family's travel and adventure channel found success in a such a crowded space.

With 226K subscribers, and over 32M YouTube views, the story of the Jurgys is an inspiring one, and is essential listening for anyone thinking of creating content around travel and lifestyle. 

Click on the podcast link above and take a listen!

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If you want to take your YouTube channel to the next level and 

 then make sure to download vidIQ. Join over 1 million other users and use vidIQ to help you research YouTube, analyze videos, audit your own channel, and take actionable steps 

And if you’re really serious about growing your YouTube views and subscribers, sign up for exclusive access to the 

 and learn how to launch a successful YouTube Channel in just 30 days.

How do you carve out a successful career as a travel channel on YouTube? In this week's episode of TubeTalk, we talk to one family that's done just that!

How to Find Success as a Travel Channel on YouTube

Do you dream of your videos going viral on YouTube? Do you wish you could crack the code and find the secret formula for viral video success?

On this week's episode of TubeTalk, we talk to Cory Williams, the "world's first professional YouTuber," with several billion views to his name. He's found massive success with multiple videos, and he's going to share some of his inside tips and tricks with us today. 

Have you ever wanted to know the secret sauce to viral video success on YouTube? Find out on this week's episode of TubeTalk.

The Secrets to Going Viral on YouTube [Expert Insights]

Many creators tend to focus on one specific platform at a time, and that's often the right approach. However, that isn't to say that you can't successfully repurpose that content to build new audiences and communities elsewhere on the web. Or use that content to drive traffic to another property, such as a website.

On this episode of TubeTalk, we talk to Stephen Farnsworth of 

 about how he and his wife (the actual stay at home chef in the partnership) have leveraged both YouTube and blogging to build an engaged community around the content they create. Click on the podcast link above and take a listen!

Having a great YouTube channel and an amazing blog is a sure-fire way of building an engaged and loyal audience. On this week's TubeTalk, we chat to a creator who has leveraged both platforms and found real success on both.

How to Use Both YouTube and Blogging to Build Your Audience

iJustine has built up an incredible brand presence across all the major social media platforms. She's always evolving, always staying that one step ahead, and making the content she creates absolutely relevant to today's audience.

, she knows what it takes to succeed on YouTube and she’s here to give us some golden tips. Such as why collaborations are amazing but not essential, how bringing your personality to the content you create is a winning formula, and how creators can help their community during this current pandemic.

Click on the podcast to listen, or read the full show notes below.

iJustine - How to Rock Your YouTube Channel: Full Transcript

Liron Segev: Today I am super, super excited to be joined by one of my personal favorite tech YouTubers. I've been watching her content since way back when I lived in South Africa. She was actually part of my inspiration for moving to the US - so I’m a bit of a fanboy. She has over 6.3 million subscribers on YouTube, 1.4 million subscribers on Instagram and absolutely killing it on TikTok. She brings us this amazing tech content. She does it in her own way. iJustine, welcome to TubeTalk.

 Thanks for having me. This is so exciting.

Liron Segev: For those who've don't know, how would you describe iJustine in a tweet?

 Oh, I would say my content is basically me. So when people are coming to my channel, there's nothing really specific that you're going to find. It’s mostly tech stuff, but I also love cooking, travel, my dog. My channel is based on my interests, but also around finding a community of people who also love the same things. But for the most part, I love tech, so that's what I've been focusing a lot on the past couple of years.

Liron Segev: How long have you been uploading content for?

 For about 10 years. Well, it's maybe 14 at this point. It was 2006 but over the past couple of years I just kind of stopped the daily vlogging because it was just beyond exhausting, and it just was not fun anymore.

I always said when I'm doing something that isn't fun anymore, I have to pivot and shift to find something else, and creating more consistent tech content was great because it was still topical. You have a quick turnaround time but I'd still be able to infuse personality into it while covering tech in a really fun way. It's been really fun and it's just crazy to see it all kind of come to this point.

Liron Segev: And it's evolving all the time. I mean if you look at your content from years ago compared to your content now, it's completely changed but it still has you. You've always been the pivotal part of your own content. Do you find that you naturally tend to evolve your content or has this been something to appease the YouTube algorithm?

 I think it's natural. I mean, obviously, we focus on the algorithm. We think about it, we blame it for everything, even though sometimes I know it's like, "I know that video wasn't that good," so it was technically my fault, but I'm going to blame the algorithm. But I think it was just a natural progression because I've always created content about things that I liked and enjoyed.

I've been loving TikTok so much because I can actually sort of go back to being like my crazy weird self, which is always what I started doing on my channel, and then I started taking it a little more seriously to cover tech in a more serious way, but also really fun.

But I think just making content that is fun is just really what's important, especially now. It's just finding something you're passionate about and just going back to, making it fun, and not worrying about the production as much because it's like, let's just get the content out. It doesn't even matter at the end of the day sometimes.

Liron Segev: Yeah, it's a great platform. It gives you the ability to express yourself and just create stuff that you love. I mean, you've seen a lot of creators who really put out so much content just trying to appease that YouTube algorithm and more content and more content. Getting those views, it's absolutely draining.

 Yeah, I mean back in the day I used to have four or five different channels. I mean I ran a gaming channel, which I posted and edited three videos a day, and a daily vlogging channel, and then a daily iPhone video channel, and then my main channel, which I was posting on three times a week. So I was posting 40 or 50 videos a week, by myself, with zero help. So that's when I was like, this is crazy. It got to be too much.

Liron Segev: That's the kind of commitment you have to have your channel to be able to grow that.

 But I realized it wasn’t healthy. I think when you are younger you do take your health and energy levels for granted. Now I'm like I can't stay up all night and edit. I really try but I can't.

I think it's knowing when you have to take a step back and you have to focus on yourself that’s really important. And sometimes I'm like, I'm not going to meet this deadline. I'm not going to meet the embargo, and if I do I'm going to make myself sick, and I'm not going to be able to function tomorrow. So I think it's just realizing do what you can but you have to come first or you're not going to be able to be present for your audience or your work.

I definitely have ups and downs as most creators do, and what I will do is if I'm feeling great, I will shoot a bunch of videos, some of them which won't be timely.

I just posted a video on my channel that I shot back in June of last year. I was like, well, I might as well just post it because we were making lattes at home. So even just having those spare videos for times when you need it is really crucial. I can breathe because I know I have a piece of content to put up.

Liron Segev: Well, that's a great golden tip right there.

 Yes, it’s good to try to just have a couple of extra videos.

Liron Segev: Okay, we have to address the elephant in the room. One thing we hear time and time again that it's too late to be a success on YouTube. It's too saturated, I've missed this boat, I should've done this years ago.

 I should have joined TikTok a long time ago, and I didn't. But it really isn't ever too late because you really don't know what's going to happen.

I think being able to find that audience, especially around something that is heavily searched for, you could hop on that, and make content that answers people's questions, especially in the tech space.

If you have that same question of how do I pair my Nintendo Switch Pro controller to my Nintendo Switch, somebody else has that, so simple things like that that you can create content around, it ends up being evergreen content. I don't think it's ever too late. I mean it's definitely more difficult, so I think just keeping consistent and really enjoying what you're making is a huge part of it.

Liron Segev: The one problem that a small channel is going to face is they're not going to be first, right? We all know that the bigger channels, the bigger influencers, get invited to the events, get access to devices early, and therefore by the time a device launches, they're going to get those initial juicy eyeballs and views right off the bat. How does a small channel try to compete in that space at all?

 I mean, I think a lot of the bigger creators do get things. There are even products that I won't receive and I know my friends will get it. So sometimes I'll be like, okay, "Well if I know I'm getting this phone after them, I might skip the unboxing because, yeah, you've seen it. Sometimes you can even make jokes and be like, I know you've seen a bunch of videos, but here's my take on it.

Adding that personal spin and opinion I think is really important. And then find something else fun that you can do. For me, a lot of times for some of the new Samsung devices or some of the newer phones, everyone has done an unboxing. Everyone has already seen that.

So I'll take it out and actually use it, and I'll use it either for a week and I make a video vlogging, actually using the device. I think just showing what it can do as opposed to just reading off some spec sheets and stuff like that that people have already seen and heard. People want to see what it does and how it actually works.

Just try to do something different than what everyone else has already done.

Liron Segev: And make it personal. That's what I love about your channel. It's always been about you. It's all about how technology fits into your life. So if you can't be first, well, bring it back to you. What do you bring to the device? What do you bring to the table? What do you bring to whatever your channel is about that's not a copy of somebody else, but it's you, and therefore that's what the audience connects with.

 For sure. Yeah. There are even some lenses that I was trying to find, and I was like, "Why is no one using the lens? I want to see it zoom. I want to hear what the lens sounds like if it's on the body of the camera and there's a microphone attached. It's these weird things that I will end up testing out that I'm searching for myself. I was like, "Man, this lens would have been so cool. Why is no one just giving all the weird information that you wouldn't."

I want to know what this auto-zoom sounds like if I'm not using a microphone on it. It's strange things like that that you're just answering the questions that you would probably have. I guess that is the bigger tip.

Liron Segev: I love that because if I have that question, probably thousands, if not hundreds of thousands, of other people have that same question and don't make the mistake thinking that, "Hey, it's obvious. I know how to do this, therefore everybody knows how to do this." That is absolutely not the case.

Let’s shift gears slightly and talk about collaborations because that has to be one of the number one questions we get asked time and time again. You've done a lot of these collabs with a lot of big people, and a lot of small creators. What is your take on this whole must-do collaborations? Are they absolute must or are they kind of nice to have?

 It definitely helps, but I feel bad because I think people will think, "I have to collab. I have to collab." But at the beginning of my channel, I didn't really collab with anyone. It's surprising, I'm an extreme introvert so I'm like if I can just sit in my house. This whole isolation quarantine thing? I'm thriving. This is what I love. It's hard for me to go out. So I'm like now that thing that I was forcing myself to go outside, I'm like, "Oh, great."

I don't want people to think that you have to collab because I think building your channel yourself, you don't ever want to be like, "Oh my gosh, well, I owe my entire channel to so-and-so for giving me all these views and subscribers." I think that sometimes it is hard too because then that person I guess feels like, they're like, "Oh, well, I made that person," if that makes any sense at all.

But I think collaboration is definitely fun, and to be able to work with people that you look up to and people that you enjoy creating content with is, is amazing.

But, at the beginning don't focus on trying to get a collab because if you're a smaller channel and you reach out and you say, "Hey, I'm going to be starting my YouTube channel soon. Do you want to collab? I mean most likely, I'm like, "Okay, cool. What kind of content are you going to make?" I feel like as a bigger channel you have to be careful with who you collab with because you don't know what that person is going to do.

Will they have a scandal in the next week? Will they do something crazy and then put your reputation on the line? So I think people do have to take that into consideration. Is this a risk? Is it a liability? It's weird because a lot of people don't think about that, and it's something that I do really think about a lot.

I love collabing, and I definitely have a close collab circle of people that I continuously work with. I think they're fun and I think it's just trying to find a fun way to do them,. But don't feel like that's the only way to do it. It's helpful, but you can do yourself.

Liron Segev: You don't have to. That's the message. It's nice to have. It's awesome if you do it with your friends and you're really adding value to each other and that's great. But is it a make or break thing? Definitely not.

 No. I mean, I think there are people that can go their entire careers and not have to collab. But if you can, I'd definitely recommend it. But if somebody turns you down or doesn't write back? Nope. Keep trying.

Maybe try in another five months or another six months depending upon how your channel is doing. Because again, you got to be careful, too, about who you collab with.

Liron Segev: When it comes to YouTube, it's kind of divided into those two sections. You've got the entertainment and you've got the how-to, right? Now entertainment's obvious - we subscribe because we want more of that content.

But it's not so obvious when it comes to the how-to channel. I mean, once I've told someone how to unblock the toilet, there's no real reason to subscribe to me, right? So especially in the tech space, once you've told someone the 10 best settings for the Galaxy S10, well, they've got it. That's pretty much they're done. So what would make someone stick around in how-to channel and actually subscribe for the rest of those videos?

 If they're doing it in a fun way. I mean, if somebody is teaching me how to do something and they're really funny, I'm like this is great. This is good content, it’s fun, and you're getting an answer. But a lot of these channels you can base it strictly off search. Even if you don't have a lot of subscribers, you can continuously be getting that content through recommended videos through search.

I actually don't look at my analytics that often because it stresses me out. It's really funny because years ago when I first started, I mean, I was obsessed. I would look, I'm like, "Oh these are down. This isn't working out." And then, finally, when I stopped looking, things started looking up.

I mean, I check every once in a while just to see, "Okay, monthly views are down. That's okay. It's like a slow tech time." I think just not becoming obsessed is really a difficult thing, especially when the analytics are all there. But with analytics, everything changes every single day, so you can't ever really pinpoint a specific thing. You just have to be able to change and pivot.

Really speaking to your audience and reading comments, I think, is the best way to gauge what they like, who's watching, and how they found your content.

I think one of the joys of having a smaller channel is you can actually have those dialogues. You could really get that feedback and actually have conversations. Whereas now, I mean, I try to respond to a lot of the comments, but then you get a lot of spam. You see those same people continuously commenting, so you can engage with a lot of people that are consistently there. But it gets harder as the channels get bigger, and you do sometimes feel disconnected from your community.

That's why I'm always active on Twitter and just always reading comments. I think it's just trying to value those moments with your audience because a lot of those people that have started watching me from the beginning, they're still there. I still see them and we have this bond from back in the day when I used to live stream.

Liron Segev: Your community is your audience, and it's really important to serve your audience, to serve that community. At the end of the day, they're the ones who are going to watch your videos. They're the ones who are going to comment. They're going to be the ones who are going to share, and those are the ones that you build a relationship with.

The more you engage with your community, the more you ask them questions, the more you put surveys up, you put polls up, those are the viewers who are going to tell you what they want to see

iJustine: For sure. Yeah. And I think you can develop this audience that has the same interests as you. I mean, I probably have made the mistake of making a lot of different content. Since I've been doing that from the very beginning, I think it helps my channel. It's helped, but it's also kind of hurt because I think a lot of people that have that one consistent thing, people know what to expect. Whereas mine, I mean, they don't really know.

But, I just think sometimes we all think too much about what we're doing. Just create and have fun. And I think TikTok, again, it's crazy and weird, but it helps me go back to that simple way of creating. Whereas now, I mean, we'll overthink a YouTube video. We shoot for an entire day, like 12, 18 hours doing an iPad review and then edit for like another 20 to 30 hours and then post it. I'm completely dead, and then I make a 15 second TikTok. I was like, yeah, that was fun.

Liron Segev: It's a lot of work. People really don't see that.

 A lot of the tech stuff is a very quick turnaround time. I'm so grateful, though, that I've been working with my friend Tyler for the past, I guess, a year now. He edits maybe about half of my videos now, which is great.

For the most recent iPad review one, we'll kind of tag-team a video where he'll start the rough edit, and then he'll be halfway done, and then I'll work on the first half, fine-tuning that, and then he'll be working on the back half. He sends me the back half and then I put them all together. I was like, okay, that's just definitely saved a lot of time. It's just interesting to see these different ways of working.

And it's not even sometimes about the gear that you have. It's storytelling. This was a really fun test. For my birthday this year, I was quarantined, so I thought, "What am I going to do?" So I filmed my day and then I wanted to teach myself to edit on LumaFusion on the iPad. So I'm like, "I'm going to shoot this entire video. This is my birthday treat to myself. I'm going to learn how to edit all on the iPad, shoot everything with the iPhone.

It was actually the best birthday ever because I just learned a skill, learned how to edit with an iPad and basically proved to myself that if you want to have a YouTube channel you just need a phone. You can create everything on that.

Granted, I did edit on the iPad, but LumaFusion is on the iPhone so you can do anything just with an iPhone. It really, I don't know, it just kind of like brought me back to, wow, this is a really powerful device. I mean, it was a 14, 15 minute video that I edited, added voiceover all on iOS. It was like, this just proved you don't need to have everything. Just get yourself an iPhone, you're set.

I mean, I'll sometimes have a crazy expensive camera and I'll be like, "Man, I've messed up the settings. I'm just going to use my phone." And it works.

I think a lot of things, obviously, lenses do make a difference but, for the most part, you really can do everything on the phone. I don't know. I'm just really excited about the future of mobile tech because it's amazing.

Liron Segev: We've spoken a lot about your channel. We've spoken about some amazing tips that you can give creators to be really inspired to understand it's not about the gear, it's not about the collaboration. It's about good content. It's about bringing yourself to the party. It's about sharing good value and engaging you with your community.

Liron Segev: As we’re wrapping up, if you could put something up in Times Square or a tweet for the whole creator community would see, what message would you give us?

 Be kind. I think that's just such a huge answer. I mean, especially right now, I think just being kind to people. A lot of us tech people have the knowledge to help homeschooled kids who don't know how to set up their computers.

And for elderly people who don't have access to a computer to be able to talk to their family who are now in isolation. That's been something that I've been focusing on right now is trying to find the easiest way to get this tech to the people and get the knowledge to them on how to use it.

So I think, right now, if somebody out there has an extra webcam, an extra microphone, or an extra computer, reach out to your community and find somebody who can use that.

That's been my big personal project, just reaching out to people around and just trying to be kind and help, because I think right now is a time that we really all have to be kind because that's really the only answer I think.

I'm definitely excited for the future of tech, and I think everything that's happening right now, I think it's really going to change the way that we interact. I mean, the technology is going to change and adapt to the way that we need it.

I mean, I'm excited about the future, and I'm just really just humbled by how kind people have been to everyone. It's been really cool to see. And then, again, if there are people that you know that you can help with any extra video tech that you have because some of these people can't be connected.

That's where it's breaking my heart because if they don't have the means to get this tech, they're not able to do their homeschooling. So it's like how do we get this tech in the hands of people that need it?

YouTube OG iJustine has been publishing content since 2006 so she knows what it takes to succeed as a creator. She gives us her advice on collabs, how to build a community around how-to channels, and how creators can help others right now.

YouTube Superstar iJustine Interview: How to Rock Your Channel

Are you thinking of starting a gaming channel on YouTube? Or perhaps you've been gaming for a couple of years but now want to get serious about generating significantly more views and subcribers.

vidIQ's resident online gaming expert Dan Carson is here to help you wherever you are on your YouTube journey. In this week's episode of TubeTalk, he walks us through the most common mistakes YouTubers make when it comes to researching, creating, optimizing ,and publishing gaming content.

While gameplaying or streaming Fortnite, Minecraft, Animal Crossing, and GTA content sounds fun (and it is!), you won't build your channel until you undersatnd what kind of value you bring to your audience.

Only by creating a strategy that sets you apart from the millions of other creators in the space will give you the tools to succeed.

start a successful gaming channel like PewDiePie

, Markiplier or Game Grumps then take a listen to the podcast and find out what those huge creators are doing right.

For more solid advice around growing a gaming channel on YouTube 

Gaming is one of the most fiercely competitive verticals on YouTube, so avoid these mistakes and set yourself up for success as a gamer!

The Top 5 Mistakes Gaming Channels Make on YouTube [and How to Correct Them]

We're all currently living through a brand new reality. We're on lockdown for both our own safety, and that of our families, friends and wider community during this coronavirus pandemic.

I have seen plenty of creators asking if they should still even be creating content. Something doesn't feel right to them about it in the current climate. And that's totally understandable given the stress and uncertainty facing the world right now. So on this episode of our TubeTalk podcast (

just click the play button above to hear it in full

) we’re going to talk about being a creator in a time of crisis, and we have one of the world’s best experts to talk us through what that means for your content.

We’re joined again by our friend Josh Zimmerman from 

. Josh has already helped an enormous number of creators who suffer from 

, and is in a unique position to guide us through these extraordinary times.

Josh will talk about what it's like to be a creator or a creative in this new normal, and how you can navigate some of uncertainty or anxiety you may be experiencing right now.

Many YouTubers are struggling with heightened anxiety and stress right now. On this episode of TubeTalk, we discuss the importance of looking after your health as a creative.

Coronavirus Anxiety: Tips for YouTubers from a Top Industry Coach

Name me a topic that you can’t find at least one video about on YouTube. Go on, I’ll wait.

There’s unique, unusual, thought-provoking, and hugely entertaining content being uploaded to the platform every day, and creators are building significant views, subscribers and communities around it.

Our guest on this week’s TubeTalk podcast (

) we talk to Dan Markham of ‘What's Inside’, who has grown his main YouTube channel to 6.8M subscribers, and his social following to over 500K followers.

Dan is clearly positioned to give us all the tips and tricks of building an audience, building a following, and absolutely rocking it on YouTube with his unique content around discovering what’s inside things.

So you have an idea for a channel on YouTube but it's around an unusual or unique topic. How do you make that work? On this week's TubeTalk podcast we talk to one creator who's done just that!

How to Create a YouTube Channel Around the Most Unique or Unusual Content

YouTube is an amazing platform for viewers to find entertainment and information resources. It’s also an amazing platform for creators to earn revenue from ads run against the entertaining and educational content they upload. But what if revenue from AdSense isn’t an option?

, a fitness instructor with over 2.3M subscribers on YouTube. Caleb is passionate about the content he makes - hugely popular workouts set to some of the biggest tracks around.

, he can’t generate revenue from AdSense against those videos, but instead uses YouTube to earn money from other successful business ventures built around his brand. In this podcast you will learn:

How you can turn any hobby into YouTube content

How to make a business out of that hobby on YouTube

How to grow your business away from YouTube

How to leverage your YouTube brand to grow other successful ventures

How to Make Money With YouTube When AdSense is Not an Option: Podcast Snapshot

Liron Segev: Tell us how you got started. What happened when you picked up your camera and you decided, okay, YouTube is the place for me. How did that journey start?

Caleb Marshall: It was really by accident. I wish I could say that it wasn't but before I started my channel. I didn't watch YouTube, I didn't know anything about YouTube. I had just grown up playing with cameras and iMovie and I loved making little home videos but I really was never immersed in the YouTube culture.

However, I was teaching these dance fitness classes at my college as a hobby, and I recorded myself. I just had a lot of fun in the creative process and I threw those videos up on YouTube and I just kept doing that every couple of weeks or so. Within eight months I had 100,000 subscribers. It was then I decided to get more serious.

I was happy with my content, but I didn't know exactly how I wanted to shoot it or present it. But I did have a brand behind it and a vision and I think having that vision is what allowed me to keep going. Because it was less about the little details and having every shot perfect or having multiple cameras. It was just using what I had in the moment and just having a vision of where I kind of wanted it to go.

Liron Segev: The whole thing with YouTube is that yes, a lot of people do this as a hobby and at a certain point you tend to go, Oh, hold on, this is actually a thing. I'm actually getting some traction. People are loving what I'm doing. You went in with a vision, you had an idea and you said, "Well, it doesn't have to be perfect. I just want to produce my content, put it online and see where this leads and then turn it into a business. Get it out there."

Caleb Marshall: I've been doing the same format of videos for five years but always improving on the production values. The goal is to get everybody up and moving, no matter what level you are, you should be able to play the video and follow along.

You should laugh, you should be having fun. It should be something that adds value to your day or takes the stress away. That's my goal is really just to bring joy into people's lives through easy to follow along with the dances.

Making the move from Indiana to LA was the smartest thing I've ever done for YouTube. I know you can really do it anywhere but with me not monetizing any of my videos, I really had to count on making those connections and real relationships out in the industry.

Liron Segev: Okay, Whoa. You have videos with millions of views, like this one where you do a routine to Meghan Trainor’s “Me Too” but you don’t earn revenue from them?

Caleb Marshall: I haven't made a dime off those videos. Actually I've had to pay.

Liron Segev: Okay, you're going to have to break it down for us. Why is that? We know that we want to make videos on YouTube and hopefully and that's going to bring us money. You have 26 million views on a video and you're not making a cent? What's going on?

Caleb Marshall: No, and that's the problem. I started the channel but just out of passion. It was never started as a business and when it became something that I could leverage, something I really wanted to invest all my time in.

Then I had to get creative and figure out how I could do what I love and make money because everyone's first suggestion to me is, just don't use copyrighted music but that wouldn't make me happy and therefore I wouldn't want to be doing this.

As I've gone on, I've had to find a balance and now we do like YouTube memberships and that's been really awesome because I can give people hour long workouts instead of just one song at a time and I can find a way to monetize my audience there. We can go on tour but I've had to get really creative and it's been an uphill battle.

Four months ago we had a label contact us and we had to remove almost 50 videos. The Megan Trainor one, the Sia one. I mean those were all gone. All my views were gone and I mean the labels were just coming for us really hard and were upset that we were using their songs.

It's confusing because then I have other record labels coming to me and saying, "Hey, will you please use my music? We'll pay you to use my music." It's very confusing but monetization isn’t turned on for any of my videos unless there's been a deal with the record label.

Liron Segev: Copyright music is obviously quite a big pain at this stage because it makes sense you to use the latest and the greatest tracks that are out there, but now you have a problem because the labels are saying forget it. They are either they're telling you to take it off or that telling you that if you are monetizing, we going to earn that revenue.

Caleb Marshall: I don't want to work with labels who don't support me. I don't want to support people who don't support creators and so I've just made a choice that I'm never using music from that label again, whether they want me to or not, I just want to focus on working with people who see me as a value, see me as a marketing tool because really that's what my YouTube channel is. It's a marketing tool for music.

Liron Segev: You've mentioned you do memberships, which is your one form of revenue but then you did also say that you go on tour. Tell me about the tour part.

Caleb Marshall: Yes. Well that's my favorite thing. That's what I started doing in college was teaching live classes. YouTube was always just a way to kind of get out there what I was already doing. Doing the YouTube videos allows me to sell tickets for basically a “cardio concert” and we rent out concert venues.

It started out like local YMCAs, your local gym but now we're renting out concert venues and doing live shows there. We have lights and sound and we'll have little skits in between.

There's like a 15 song playlist and it's all the songs from our channel and so people know that dance is kind of already when they come but I'm instructing and everyone's following along and it's like a big sweaty, sexy church service. It's amazing.

Liron Segev: How do you use your social media?

Caleb Marshall: I really think it changes. I love Instagram - I feel like that's kind of my homepage. I feel like Facebook used to be that for me. Facebook used to drive all of our ticket sales. It was our driving factor of our business model and then when the algorithm shifted overnight, we just stopped selling tickets to tours.

People stopped seeing my content. It was crazy and immediately you internalize all that and you go, Oh my God, people hate me now. But then I talked to other people and everyone's like, no. The same thing happened to me. I use TikTok but that's just to make me smile.

Liron Segev: You understand when things are going right and you understand when things are going wrong. Almost like it's a real business. That's the message I'm trying to drive a lot home into people that your channel is a business and whether you started out that way or you didn't start out that way.

At a certain point you realize that your channel has expenses, you have to travel to events, you have to buy equipment, that things cost money and as soon as you start making that conversion from how it's a hobby too, oh wow, this is actually a business. That's exactly what you've done consciously, which is great and therefore you're able to stay that are one step ahead.

Caleb Marshall: I also think it's also a unique place for me since I am not monetizing the videos, I'm more conscious about how I use this to help my other business models that are making money, or how to use this to direct people to my YouTube memberships. It's a weird blessing that I don't have to be so concerned with monetizing a quick viral video.

It’s also a myth that a viral video will take a creator and carry them to the promised land. That’s just not the case.

Liron Segev: You'll get your bump, you'll get your exposure but it's your channel that delivers and that's what I love about your channel is that you don't rest on the one video. Every video is you putting your heart and soul into it. You can see the energy jumping off the screen and I dig that. It’s awesome that you're appealing to such a wide community and that's the power of the internet.

If people want to find you, they want to follow you, they want to get into everything that you have to offer, where can they track you down?

Caleb Marshall: They can track me down on YouTube at 

. Most importantly I just launched a new podcast with one of my now best friends and ex-girlfriend, Hayley. It's called 

 is a podcast and we talk every week and it's very funny and exciting and a new adventure so go check it out.

If generating AdSense revenue from your content isn't an option, there are still plenty of ways you can use YouTube to build a successful and lucrative career. Find out more on this episode of TubeTalk.

How to Make Money With YouTube When AdSense is Not an Option: TubeTalk 206 with Caleb Marshall

As a YouTube creator you have a huge number of things to take into consideration - your video and audio set up, 

, thumbnail design, content ideas, and SEO for example. But there’s another piece of the puzzle that all creators have to consider - the legal side of content creation.

On this episode of TubeTalk we’ll focus on the legal aspect to brand and sponsorship deals. We’re joined by 

, an attorney who specializes in intellectual property law and contract law. What a perfect guest to discuss the legal issues that every YouTuber should be aware of. In this podcast you will learn:

How to protect yourself as a YouTuber in a brand deal

If you are publishing content on YouTube you need to know about copyright law, and if you are working with a brand you need to know about contracts. We discuss both in this week's TubeTalk.

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