Do you want to make money on YouTube? Millions of creators are earning a very good living from the platform by uploading content that drives huge views and engagements. Whether that income is from advertising revenue, merch sales, or brand deals, we keep you updated with best practises and ideas.

How To Make Money on YouTube

Do you know how to do keyword research so you understand what videos people are actually searching for on YouTube? Do you know how to create a custom YouTube thumbnail? Do you know how to create a Playlist on YouTube?

vidIQ has a ton of tips that will help every creator maximise their video content. We publish content every week to keep you up to date with all the best practices.

YouTube Tips & Tricks

YouTube Shorts content is set to explode! 

All the latest tips, tricks, and rock-solid advice you need for this new feature.

YouTube Shorts

Ask any YouTuber and they will tell you that generating significant views and subscribers isn't easy. But with the right strategy and tools, any video creator can build an engaged subscriber base when they understand what those subscribers want to watch.

Appealing to an audience to watch content you are passionate about making is just the first step, you need to know how to reach them and get your videos discovered. Our guides to how to guide more views on YouTube will give you the best tips to succeed on the platform.

How To Get More Views on YouTube

Six months ago, we told creators to experiment with YouTube Shorts. We advised them to film vertical videos under 60 seconds (as the requirements suggest), post them to YouTube, and create a featured section on their channel to house the content.

Why did we suggest this? In just a few weeks, we saw channels getting thousands of views from Shorts. They mostly came from the YouTube Shorts shelf, a display area where different Shorts are featured. By the time a creator’s video left the shelf, it would have hundreds, thousands, or millions of views.

That’s how powerful Shorts are. With them, you can gain more subscribers in two weeks than you’ve had all year. Without them, you’ll miss a valuable opportunity to get discovered on the platform.

How to Create a YouTube Short: The Complete Beginner's Guide

If you want to know exactly why that is, watch our latest video about Shorts and the competition that’s quickly surrounding them.

The best time to post a Short was months ago. But if you hurry, you can still reap the benefits of creating content that gets played millions of times.

Need a push to get started? Here are three undeniable reasons to experiment with Shorts.

Reason 1: Creators Are Still Getting More Views and Subscribers From YouTube Shorts

The first reason is a little obvious but worth repeating. Extra views from Shorts have helped many channels grow, and they’ve got the numbers to prove it.

. In September 2020, he had 40k total channel views. After posting original, 3D-animated Shorts, he now has more than 3M subscribers and almost 2B views.

How This YouTube Creator Got 1.5 Billion Views In Just 80 Days

Jake isn’t the only creator to reap the benefits of Shorts. There’s also MrBeast, a popular creator who grew his 

 to 4.79M subscribers. Professional YouTube channels such as 

 have Shorts with more than 200k views each. Members of the vidIQ community have seen explosive growth, and some TikTok creators have successfully transitioned to Shorts.

You could be next if you act now. Shorts are viewed 3.5B times each day, so there are plenty of people willing to watch your videos.

Reason 2: Pretty Soon, You’ll Have to Compete With Creators From the U.S.

Did you hear the news? Beginning in March, U.S. creators will get a beta version of the in-app Shorts camera.

The announcement came from Neal Mohan, chief product officer at YouTube. On Feb. 17, he shared the news in a 

“Currently, Shorts is available in beta in India. Since the beginning of December, the number of Indian channels using Shorts creation tools has more than tripled... In the coming weeks, we'll begin expanding the beta to the U.S., unlocking our tools to even more creators so they can get started with Shorts.”

To be clear, anyone can post a Short today. As long as a video is vertical and under 60 seconds, YouTube will recognize it as a Short. What Mohan is mentioning above refers to a TikTok-style camera that’s only available in India. With it, creators can record, edit, and post Shorts directly inside the app, adding music and other special effects to their content.

When the U.S. market gets the Shorts camera, things are going to get very competitive. More creators will have tools for creating better Shorts. Plus, thousands of people who never posted a Short will do so just because there’s a new feature encouraging it.

In the coming weeks, it’s going to be harder to do what creators like Jake, MrBeast, and LegalEagle have done. Rather than wait, it's better to experiment with Shorts right now.

Reason 3: If YouTube Monetizes Shorts, You Can Make More Money

Right now, there’s no way to monetize Shorts. The Shorts display area doesn't support ads, and advertisers may not want to appear on a seconds-long video.

But if you think about YouTube’s history, things are always changing at the company

Just because creators aren’t making money from

Shorts today, that doesn’t mean they won’t in the next five or 10 years.

It's likely YouTube isn’t doing this for free. With content as popular as Shorts, the platform could be searching for ways to monetize it as we type.

Before that happens, put yourself in a position to earn Shorts revenue. If you start posting them now, you can increase your chance of monetizing that content.

Use These Tools to Start Leveraging YouTube Shorts

Even if you decide to post a few Shorts, you’ll need a way to measure their impact on your channel. When you 

, you’ll find two powerful tools within the Chrome extension – one for tracking Shorts views and another for researching popular Shorts on YouTube.

This dashboard is on the top right corner of all YouTube pages. Hover your mouse over the menu to discover how many Shorts views your channel earned in the last 48 hours. For easy access, click the box beside this metric to add it to your dashboard.

This tool lets you research the most-viewed videos on YouTube for any keyword. To access it, go to the YouTube Studio and click 

Type #Shorts into the search bar, then filter the results to show channels with 1,000 or less subscribers. This will show you all of the small channels on YouTube getting tons of views with Shorts. You can use this as motivation to start posting your Shorts or an idea generator for future Shorts.

Shorts are doing well on YouTube. They’re going to be around for a long time, so don’t wait to post your first vertical, less-than-a-minute video. Do it now to reap the benefits before creators in both India and the U.S. can do the same.

Is it too late to capitalize on the viral nature of YouTube Shorts? No, not yet. But in the coming weeks, it may be harder to stand out with short video content.

3 Reasons to Upload YouTube Shorts Before the Competition Gets Tough

Did you know the way you film yourself has a very real impact on your audience, sometimes in a more negative way than you ever intended? Or that developing the skill for storytelling will turn you from a good YouTuber into a great one?

In this week’s episode of TubeTalk, the YouTuber’s podcast, we speak to a filmmaker who's going to be sharing all the industries tips and tricks on how to get better at storytelling and how to engage your audience. If that's what you're looking for for your videos, this is the episode for you!

How to put your audience at ease with different filming techniques

How storytelling is one of the most important skills a YouTuber can have

Tips and tricks for being a better storyteller

How providing real value as a creator is the key to more views and subscribers

That ‘who’, ‘what’, ‘why’, ‘where’, ‘when’, and ‘how’ are the cornerstones of good storytelling

Our guest this week is Victoria Grech, a global authority on filmmaking. Her profession takes her around the world, and her extensive list of clients span Europe, United States, Asia, and Canada.

Tips and Tricks to Being a Better YouTube Storyteller

Victoria started on YouTube by teaching viewers how to use DSLR cameras and just 12 months later was teaching the same subject at Pinewood Film Studios! One of the biggest lessons she learned that as a creator, you have to provide value to the audience.

But how do you convey the passion and expertise you have for a subject to provide that value? By being a great storyteller!

Many of us can stand in front of a camera and reel off 10 things about the latest piece of tech, but can you tell a really good story about those 10 things? Are you delivering the message in the right way?

Victoria confirms that storytelling is a real skill, and it’s one of the major reasons why top creators and production companies can charge the rates they do. The majority of YouTube creators haven’t been to film school and have no real idea the process being scriptwriting or other skills so often approach filmmaking the wrong way. But by understanding how to really communicate with their audience can transform a creator’s content.

Victoria advises any video creator to study neuroscience psychology which will help you take the viewer on a journey. A good script can make the viewer laugh, cry, feel nervous, then feel happy all in 30 seconds!

Tune into this week's TubeTalk podcast to learn how to be an expert storyteller on YouTube. Huge thanks to Victoria for her insights and advice - don't forget to follow her on 

Subscribe to TubeTalk: The Video Marketing Podcast

TubeTalk has been informing video creators amd marketers since 2014, and is one of the most respected and listened to podcasts in the online video industry. Subscribe today so you never miss an episode! You can find vidIQ's TubeTalk at:

Don't forget to leave us a review if you love the show!

If you want to take your YouTube channel to the next level then make sure to download vidIQ. It will help you research YouTube, analyze videos, audit your own channel, and take actionable steps 

The ability to tell a great story is an art that all the top YouTubers have mastered. In this week's TubeTalk podcast, we discuss how you can develop the skill of storytelling to build your audience.

Why Storytelling is the Most Important Skill a YouTuber Can Have: TubeTalk Episode 166

We hear all the time about branding but is it really that important? Turns out it is! In this week’s episode of TubeTalk, the YouTuber podcast, we’re joined by Phil Pallen, a UK based strategist who helps people and companies position, build, and promote themselves. We discuss why have to position yourself or re-visit the positioning of what you're doing, who you are, and why people should care.

Phil’s work has been featured in CNN, Access Hollywood, Entertainment Tonight, and The Daily Mail, and he's worked with brands across all industries, including one of the sharks on Shark Tank, a number of politicians, and even a Nobel Peace Prize winner. He speaks at conferences around the world, including Tokyo, Dubai, Auckland, Helsinki, and LA.

How Important is Branding for a YouTube Creator?

Everyone defines branding differently, which makes it a valid question to ask, and a potentially confusing one to understand or to answer. Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos says your brand is what people say about you when you're not in the room, whereas my definition is a combination of things: branding is your control over the first impression you give others online, and the best branding re-creates the in-person experience. There should be nothing artificial about it. All we're trying to do is take what makes you in real life so great, and re-create that on the web, so it feels like technology is not so much sitting in the way between you and me. Very simple.

If you're a YouTuber or if you have some sort of an online personality, whether that’s on Instagram, YouTube, LinkedIn, whatever the platform is, it's you, and you have to remove any of those barriers between you and the audience.

It's much easier to connect with someone in real life than it is online. People who understand YouTube or understand social media as a means of growth, who are building a base or becoming an influencer are amazing, because it's much harder to do that online than it is to do it in person.

Phil confirms that the resource that YouTuber’s are chasing is people's time and attention span. Building out your brand based on your personality then becomes your competitive advantage. It's your secret sauce.

Humans love familiarity and routine. How can we inject personality into everything we do so that it feels more familiar and exciting? That's what anyone who's had success on YouTube, they are masters at that. They are masters in keeping us coming back for more, and wanting more, and making us feel like we know you even though, honestly, we'll probably never meet you in real life. If we do, great, but it's that ability to re-create the in-person experience.

The prospect of branding yourself on YouTube can be overwhelming but Phil’s advice is to either re-visit the positioning, or start from scratch. Sometimes people are building a brand new idea, concept, a product, a service from scratch. That's great. Or we're taking something that already exists and re-visiting the positioning.

The most important thing is looking at your goals. What is it you're trying to achieve? You’ve got to be crystal clear on what your goals are. Phil’s formula is to pair up something you love to do with something others need and are willing to spend money on. Because if it's something they need and they're willing to pay for, then you're going to have a lot easier time growing and marketing yourself without having to actually pay to get eyeballs to you.

Branding is all about your overall image. It's what you want to achieve, where do you want to be, what's the road map to get there, will they spend money and buy your stuff, whatever that stuff is? This is all part of the branding process. Even if you’re building a YouTube channel or a brand around a hobby, Phill thinks it's incredibly important to think of yourself as a business - and every good business satisfies a need.

Tune into the podcast to hear more tips on building a brand on YouTube from Phil Pallen.

 Huge thanks to Phil for his time and invaluable insights around personal and business branding. Learn more from Phil by 

Subscribe to TubeTalk: The Video Marketing Podcast!

Developing your personal or business brand on YouTube is one sure-fire way to stand out from the crowd. Learn more about the art of branding in this week's TubeTalk podcast.

The Importance of Branding for YouTube Creators: TubeTalk Episode 161

Welcome to the first in an exciting new series focusing on some of the most inspiring YouTubers around today. We're taking a look at their creator journey, and the story behind their success.

In this episode, the spotlight falls on Grant Thompson, otherwise known to millions as 'The King of Random'. Grant nearly quit the platform three times before finding the right work/life balance for himself and his team. His '

, and he has built a solid business around his YouTube content. You can read the full transcript of Grant's story below:

YouTube Creator Journey: The King of Random

Hey, guys. My name is Grant Thompson, known around the internet as The King of Random. For the last eight years, I've been very passionate about figuring out how the world works and really taking time to figure out the mechanics of our society, everything from pyrotechnics to napkin folding, and from welding to making bread. Everything that I've learned so far, I've turned into videos and put on my YouTube channel so that all the knowledge and experience I've been gaining through my personal experiences could be shared with the rest of the world. Our YouTube channel has over 10 million subscribers now and 2 billion video views. And I'm gonna show you how it all started, because this is my creator journey.

Here's the super fast version of my life story before YouTube. I was born in Canada to some amazing parents who tried their best to raise a kid like me. And probably like a lot of kids out there, I struggled in school and grew up with low self-esteem. I also got bullied and became a trouble-maker to get attention and that ended up getting me in trouble with the law.

But, at age 14, I decided to take ownership for my life. I started finding joy in things like extreme sports, cliff jumping, whitewater rafting, repelling, and even skydiving. And by age 19, I left Canada to go to England for two years to serve a voluntary church mission. And then I came home, bought an airplane, and decided to work on the oil rigs as a roughneck, blowing up dynamite and drilling for oil in the Northwest Territories.

It was dangerous work, but the money that I made was enough to help me pay for my airplane and the fuel for all the time I spent flying it. I got licensed as long-haul tanker truck driver at age 22. Then I moved to Oahu, Hawaii to fly airplanes and drive motor coaches for Hawaiian tourists. While I was out there, I became a commercial airline pilot, and moved back to the mainland to work for SkyWest Airlines by age 23. And with that stable career, I got married at age 26, bought 11 houses, and semi-retired at age 29. My wife and I have four kids, all boys. And during that time, that's when we decided to buckle down, learn how the world works, and start making videos on YouTube.

A lot of people ask me how the King of Random got started. And it was really back in 2009 when the economy was struggling, there were rumors of another great depression. I had a wife and kids to take care of and I took that responsibility seriously. So, I started on a personal journey to intimately understand how the important things in our society work, like light bulbs, electricity, and filtered water.

I wanted to know how they were produced and I wanted to know how to make them at home if I needed to. So, I spent the next year tinkering and experimenting with anything I could get for free off the classified ads. And in the process, I was making discoveries about things that were blowing my mind. I made an arc welder out of microwave parts. I build rocket rocket motors from sugar. I played with high voltage electricity that I made from glass bottles and saltwater.

And what was really fun about that time, was as I'd share these random experiments with friends, people began asking like, who is this guy? Why does he know these kinds of things? And quite often, I'd share my newest passions with my brother and he always seemed to have this friend hanging around just listening in the background to all these random projects going on. And one day, he just stepped up and said, "Dude, you're like the King of Random." And that's pretty much where the name came from.

I could feel that the things I was experimenting with were kind of peculiar. And people in general seemed unusually interested to know more. So, that's when I decided to learn how to make videos and start sharing these ideas on YouTube.

In 2010, I created my first YouTube channel. And since I wasn't really planning on becoming a famous YouTuber, I just enter the date and time, which was 01032010814. It was just this random number, but it gave me a place where I could upload stuff. And so, I started using my handicam to make fun little videos about how to start fires using water bottles or how to build rockets and random things like that because I thought it was cool to share. And it seems like the internet agreed because hundreds of thousands of people started watching them.

Now, right about the end of 2011, that's when I started getting really serious. I thought, I could probably make this a business because nobody else was making the kind of content I was sharing and there seemed to be a need for it. YouTube had just offered monetization to creators, so I got my channel monetized and I said, I'll do this as an experiment. The idea was if I made 100 videos that were good enough to get 100,000 views, then it would probably be worth it. And in the process, I'd have a great excuse to learn more about the things I was passionate about anyway.

Some people have asked how I know so much about so many different things and the truth is, I really don't. When I began, I wasn't an expert at all. I just looked at the kind of people I'd like to be, even though most of them were fictional, like MacGyver or James Bond. But the Mythbusters were a great real-life inspiration to me. I wondered how do you go from knowing absolutely nothing, to being just like one of those guys. So, this became my own personal journey, one step at a time, learning how different things work to become like MacGyver or more like a Mythbuster myself.

Sometimes, I'm interested in welding and do a bunch of welding projects. Sometimes, it's pyrotechnics. Sometimes, I'll just be folding napkins 'cause I was on a cruise and I thought that was cool. Or I could be making apple swans. It's just whatever I'm interested in. I typically spend a little bit of time in a few videos exploring those topics, and then once I was satisfied, move onto something else.

Like most internet content creators, almost all day, every day, I spent working on new videos, concepts, and ideas to the point where it was almost an obsession. And I think this happens for a lot of creators. It go to the point where I felt like I was actually limiting my own personal progression so that I could keep making videos and content for the internet. It was a real battle because what I really wanna do is just play and explore the world, but then nobody knows about it. But if I take the time to create videos, then I don't have as much time to play and tinker. So, it's been this constant struggle to juggle the best of both worlds. But it's really been worth 'cause it stretched me and made me grow.

The success of our YouTube channel has helped build me as a person, it's helped build my self-confidence. You know, back before I'd made any projects myself, I did feel a little insecure in this society, because I didn't know how anything worked. And when you don't know something, you're kind of dependent on the system. But now things are completely different.

I've learned so much and feel like I've broken through to the point where I could be okay supporting my family whether or not there's any kind of apocalyptic collapse. And not only that, but in the process, people have looked to me as an inspiration and people are actually willing to try a few things for themselves because I've left a trail for them to follow.

These videos aren't just about showing cool things that we've made. It's really about empowering people, showing you that you can try something new and do something you thought was difficult. So many people have stopped me in the streets and told me how they've sat down as a family and done some of the projects together from our channel. And that's something I could have never predicted when I started making these videos eight years ago.

I think one of the hardest things for creators these days is experiencing massive success. When you make something that does really well and attracts an audience, that audience expects you to make more, which is really awesome. But it kinda ties you into this cycle where you have to constantly be making more. And if you're the one doing it, then it has to be you. It's your face, your mind, your projects. And it really is stressful and it's a constant grind. I think that's why we see so many creators today suffering from mental health issues and needing to take breaks.

I was at that point myself two years ago, ready to quit YouTube for the third time when I read a book called The E Myth, and that changed my life. I started building systems instead of building videos. I hired my first employee, started putting together training programs, started to become more of a leader, and started treating the YouTube production more like a business as well, one that was gonna stick around longer than I would.

And now here we are today with 14 employees making five videos a week. We're finally at a place now, where we've built a really good machine that I think looks really promising. We've got the platform, we've got the content that we produce every day, and now I'm bringing in the employees that can spend all day tinkering and prototyping and playing in a sustainable way that's not gonna burn them out. So, looking forward, The King of Random movement has a very bright future.

We're starting to roll out project kits that people can do at home. We're thinking about putting together a King of Random camp, where people can get together and build things. We're writing books, we're selling merchandise. We'd might even find a way to put project kits in schools so that teacher and kids could do these things in class. The only real guarantee in life is change. So, whatever the future holds for me and The King of Random, one thing's for sure. I'm sure we're all gonna learn a lot. And the journey, no doubt, will be random. Stay random my friends and we'll see you in the next video.

We'd like to say a HUGE thanks to Grant for taking us on his journey. Tune in next week for a brand new episode.

YouTube superstar The King of Random nearly quit the platform three times - luckily he stayed and now has over 11.3 million subscribers, and 2.4 billion views. Read his story here.

How to Get More Views on YouTube Like The King of Random

When you think of LinkedIn, you think of this professional network, the one that's used for business. So us as YouTubers who are creating fun, cool, and exciting content on YouTube, is LinkedIn a world we should be investigating? Well, the answer might surprise you. Today we're going to show you how you can use LinkedIn to actually help your YouTube channel. Let's do this.

So can YouTubers use the power of LinkedIn to help them grow their YouTube channel? There's only one person who's amazing at doing this. She is our LinkedIn expert 

The trick to getting YouTube views via LinkedIn

How commenting on other people's posts can bring huge rewards

How to optimize your LinkedIn profile for success

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. Subscribe today so you never miss an episode! You can find vidIQ's TubeTalk at:

Why All YouTubers Should be Active on LinkedIn: TubeTalk 200 with Judi Fox: Full Transcript

Judi Fox: I'm excited to be here, thank you for the introduction. That was amazing.

Liron Segev: So let's start at the top. So firstly, who is Judi Fox in a tweet?

Judi Fox: In a tweet? Judi Fox is someone who likes taking complicated topics and making them simple.

Liron Segev: Wow. That is even, I think it's 140 character tweets. Not just a tweet. Well done. That's respected. So, Judi we have content creators, we have YouTubers who are uploading and growing their channel, building up their audience. And we've been hearing about LinkedIn, LinkedIn, LinkedIn. So let's start, should YouTubers be looking at LinkedIn?

Judi Fox: Hell yes. I will say that even just in the last two months, so we are talking end of 2019, beginning of 2020, YouTube videos in the LinkedIn news feed when you're scrolling, they will play in the news feed and actually not even send you off of the site. So I uploaded a YouTube video about two months ago and got 11,000 views on a YouTube video. I don't think people would be mad about that, right.

Liron Segev: Not at all. And just to be clear, when you say you uploaded a YouTube video, you didn't upload the video natively into LinkedIn, it was uploaded on your channel and you used the link and you basically uploaded the link into LinkedIn.

Judi Fox: Yes, I got views on my YouTube video.

Liron Segev: Okay. But we've been hearing forever that LinkedIn hates YouTube and when you upload a link or you drop a link into your articles or into your post, LinkedIn doesn't really want to bubble that content. So what's happened?

Judi Fox: I agree. I think because all of a sudden they're playing within the newsfeed. You literally stay on LinkedIn and watch that YouTube video. I just did it as an example this morning with a client. I showed them, I said, I'm scrolling, scrolling through the newsfeed, I'm playing my YouTube video, and it didn't open up another browser. It didn't send me. It just played right there in the newsfeed.

Judi Fox: Yes, and I don't think LinkedIn announced it anywhere. I don't know if they're playing around with it. I don't know exactly what happened, but I noticed it and I went, click, something is going on here on LinkedIn that's changed. So, upload your YouTube videos to LinkedIn.

Liron Segev: Okay. Now you've been doing this for a long time. You've seen clients big and small. You've seen people making amazingly wonderful mistakes. Can you share anything, any tips that we should be looking out for, so when we upload our content, like what's the right way? What's the wrong way?

Judi Fox: I think because LinkedIn has been this professional platform, that's the word that everyone puts with it. There's some type of energy. And if you've ever read the book, the Speed of Trust, or any type of business relationship, you think integrity and trust. And all of these leadership and professional words come to mind with LinkedIn.

So there are certain, let's just say decreasing trust activities that people do. So one example is they forget that LinkedIn was first a written and reading platform. The platform is definitely built to still read your content. They will watch your videos.

But what I notice is that, that ‘See More’ button on every single post is probably one of the most trust-building activities you can do. People will be more likely to click see more if you actually provide a story or some type of level up moment, pass that see more button. So that way when they see your content, they'll invest a little bit of time in it. They'll give it a like, eight out of 10 people potentially could even just like it based on the fact that you've built up their trust.

And they're willing to look like they are leveling up their business and their life and their mindset and their leadership by just even surrounding themselves by your content. If you continue to provide content past that ‘See More’ button.

Liron Segev: Okay, so for those who don't know, when you have an article or a post on LinkedIn, it shows you a little preview, the first line or so. And then if your article goes beyond that or your post goes beyond that, it's a see more button that you've got to click on to expand so people can read the rest of your content. Correct?

Judi Fox: Yeah, it's just like when we click the see more button on our YouTube descriptions. It's just like the same button on Facebook. The same thing on Instagram. It tells the platform that people are investing more time into your content when they click that button.

Liron Segev: Okay, so what is a tip that we can take away from this to be more professional? Think written form first?

Judi Fox: Think that you're there to give more past the ‘See More’ button. So it's not necessarily professional. I like using the word leadership type of content. So instead of using the word professional just to describe LinkedIn, I now use the word leadership. And leaders, they make the people following them, not make, but they give and put boundaries and context in so that when people come to them they feel like, oh, a sense of safety or security or yes this person has me and they've got my back.

Whatever your leadership vibe is so you can show up in that way and each time they know what to expect from you. And that's what I believe is truly being consistent. Not necessarily, oh I have to post every Wednesday at 9:00 AM. You could basically post once a month but because you're so consistent you could probably knock it out of the post or out of the park. Do you know what I mean?

Liron Segev: Absolutely. So people expecting information from you, they've built some trust with you, so you're building your authority and your consistency. What else can we be doing to be able to get our content out there that's going to get somebody to say, okay, I like this content? I'm going to actually watch their YouTube videos because now they've embedded in and I know that it's going to add value to me.

Judi Fox: I think anytime that we can show up consistently also for a network of connections. For example, consistently supporting and commenting on your colleagues and your peers is very, very important because if you go out and show that you are supporting others in the same or parallel type of industries or business or content that's out on the platform, we all know that we're not the only voice ever.

And even some of the biggest names that we know, we forget that there are still millions of people who don't know who they are. And I think we just don't realize that we gravitate and we need a diverse set of voices. So for you to actually support content that's out in the world and go and do that on LinkedIn, it actually gets returned to you tenfold.

Liron Segev: But you still got to be authentic. I mean, just going to every content creator out there and giving them a thumbs up and saying “nice post”, that's not a great practice.

Judi Fox: That's not leadership level. That's your equivalent of passing by every cubicle in your corporate office and just being like high five, high five. You want your leader to actually be like, hey, how was your weekend? I know what you were up to this weekend, not in a stalky way, but I know how much you love the Superbowl. I mean, or I know how much you love this sport. What's your golf game like?

You have some relevant conversation with that person, which is the equivalent of showing up on somebody's post and acknowledging, doing active listening skills back to them, acknowledging what they wrote first and then giving your opinion if they asked a question.

Liron Segev: And just generally being a good citizen of the platform, contributing positively, and people will then rise to the top. People will say, oh, okay, I can consistently see this person being really helpful. What are they up to? And then maybe they could go check out your profile.

And on the profile bit, I know it's a discussion we've had many times, are people still making mistakes when they're setting up their LinkedIn profiles?

Judi Fox: Of course, everyone, it's always progress over perfection. So there's never any one who is ever perfect. And I would say, just to wrap up the comment thing, I really want to make this clear, that I've had clients that spend the first two to three weeks of my program, only focused on commenting. And it's grown their reach by 4000%, that I know, that are seeing their content. So I think people don't realize that commenting is shown more in the newsfeed than people realize.

Judi Fox: Yes. I had to put that out there because I've literally had people tell me like, oh my God, it changed my life. Commenting actually changed my entire experience on LinkedIn.

Liron Segev: And I'm glad you stopped to make that point. That is very, very critical.

Judi Fox: One of my favorite recent, I mean it's just in the last week, that one of my clients got Arianna Huffington's attention because she commented on her post and then she reached out and said, I would love for you to write for Thrive. And then she literally, within a week, she now has an article up on Thrive. And it all was from commenting.

Liron Segev: Nice. Okay. Can we get to the profile now?

Judi Fox: Yes. So I definitely think a picture is always worth a thousand words. We have these things in the world for these reasons. So literally LinkedIn is giving you the most amazing banner image at the top, just like you have a YouTube banner and you would really, really find that your YouTube banner really positions you, right?

It can tell your audience when you're uploading in your schedule. It can tell them the value proposition of the content you put out and so they know your niche. The moment they land on your banner, they get your vibe, they get what you're selling or whatever you're promoting, your book.

Same exact thing on LinkedIn. You literally have a banner image and take advantage of it because the moment somebody lands on your profile, it's seven to 10 seconds, just like a resume where we decide we're going to invest more time or we're going to click off.

Liron Segev: It's amazing how very similar that is to YouTube. It's when somebody lands, they see a video that they like. They will then naturally click on your name to see what your channel is all about and the first thing they see is that banner. And so many people are still undervaluing the power of that visual imagery to instantly connect with an audience to say, hey, this is what I'm all about. Are you here for those? Great. If you're not, move on. LinkedIn is the same.

Judi Fox: It's a free billboard, driving down the internet highway and it's being laid out right there for you. So take advantage of that. I call it optimizing the above the fold. So anything that you have to now scroll down to, just focus on everything. If you only have an hour or two to update your above the fold section.

At a minimum, what I tell people what will convert is kind of turning it into a little bit of a business card, not being over the top business card. But at a minimum, put your tagline if you have one. Put your company logo and your website and a message me for more information or something that has some type of call to action. Something that tells people to connect and message you and something with your website.

Liron Segev: So the banner itself, should we update it kind of quarterly? Should we update it every six months? Once a year? What do you think is a good practice?

Judi Fox: We should update it about once a year, especially if you're not having any major changes in your business or your branding or what you're working on and promoting. You would update it about once a year on average.

Liron Segev: And then would you advise that your banner on YouTube be the same banner on LinkedIn so people have that association between the two?

Judi Fox: I definitely think it's nice to have similar elements. If it makes sense to make them work, then I would do it. But I think there are certain things about the YouTube banner that I've seen that you may not necessarily translate over to LinkedIn. For example, if you have a schedule on YouTube and you're uploading a certain schedule, that wouldn't make sense in your LinkedIn banner.

Liron Segev: Okay, great point. Can every niche be on LinkedIn? Are there some niches that literally should not be on LinkedIn?

Judi Fox: I don't know of a niche right now that shouldn't be on LinkedIn unless there's something inappropriate. We forget that a person at work also needs things that may be relevant outside of work. So I think people just forget. There's an artist that I know that when she posts a painting because she's showing a time-lapse of her painting and she's doing all kinds of really cool video tricks, I guess, editing. She is really exploding. I mean I notice every video she puts up, it's like a 100,000, 200,000 views.

We are so forgetful that we are not one-dimensional creatures ever. And not our title.

Liron Segev: So again, LinkedIn has changed and the way we looked at LinkedIn has changed where we used to say, okay let's upload maybe a shorter clip, lots of text on the image because people are going to watch it without sound and then direct them to watch the rest on YouTube. Is that still a thing?

Judi Fox: My video was 10 minutes long and lives on YouTube and drove traffic. And my results were people were watching the entire video. I just feel like it's more about telling people exactly what's in that video versus forcing them to invest time into a video.

They're building trust with you when you literally say here's basically what's in this video. But you can also watch it. And so what ended up happening is people were willing to read that and hear and see, okay, that's what's in the video. Yeah, I'll spend some time watching that. And we forget that the LinkedIn platform will do that.

Liron Segev: Okay. So we got to kind of look at LinkedIn slightly different than we used to in the past. And I think that's a big thing, where somebody might've experimented with LinkedIn a year ago, six months ago.

Liron Segev: It changes so quickly and maybe they didn't get the results they were looking for and they've written off the entire platform saying it's not for me. Can we come back to this? Because one thing I've been hearing again and again on LinkedIn is that LinkedIn doesn't like you if you post just links. If you're going to continue down this path, well it's you basically telling LinkedIn you don't have good content.

Judi Fox: You do have to, and that's why I have a strategy for, a commenting strategy, and an engagement type of strategy because many people have, let's just say, burned out their social capital by spamming the platform to be honest and not really actually being there for the content. They're not there for other people. They just show up, post, just numbers after numbers like you just said. Basically I call that the ‘talking at us’ energy. They're just shouting at us. Pay attention to me, pay attention to me. I'm posting, I'm posting!

The moment you flip over, the harder it is for people to see you because you have been spamming the platform. I do tell people to spend one to two, maybe even three weeks where you just basically spam the platform with comments. And I do say it's spam, but it's not.

If you're going to flip the conversation, just go out and become a comment master and just blow up with comments. And what ends up happening is people literally are like, whoa, where did this person come from? I am so glad they're here. I never saw them before or, I mean I was just looking not to put somebody on the spot, but I was looking at Jay Shetty's content. And I was surprised he has maybe, I can't remember how many followers, but he has a crap ton, whatever a crap ton is.

Judi Fox: Yeah, that's a technical term. But I'm kind of putting him on the spot. But I think that's a good example of somebody who is posting and has not earned it if that makes sense. So right now he's not getting a lot of likes and comments, maybe like two comments per post.

Liron Segev: So basically you've burnt your whole social capital. That's quite a good way of looking at it.

Judi Fox: Yeah. I mean obviously we know Jay Shetty and we know his voice and we know him on Facebook. But LinkedIn doesn't quite know him. And so you have to spend just even a couple of weeks to build up that social capital for people to go, oh, I recognize you. Yes, it can come back. So shout out to Jay. I feel bad. I just put him on the spot and he didn't even know it.

Liron Segev: It's okay. But, it's positive advice, which is why we here. We all want to grow, we all want to do better. And this is why we do these things.

Judi Fox: Well and sometimes we forget and we think I've seen the talk that says only if you're a big name, only if you're this, only if you're that kind of will you get attention on LinkedIn. And I say that's bollocks or whatever you want to call it. But the reason I'm putting him on the spot is he is a big name, he has a crap ton of followers, as a technical term. And he is only getting like two comments.

So we have to remember LinkedIn is another language on a different planet. And if you don't speak the language, the planet doesn't know you're there.

Liron Segev: Or it doesn't understand you, therefore doesn't know how to help you, essentially.

Liron Segev: So as we, thinking of wrapping up, and I'm now fired up, I've got my YouTube channel. I'm thinking, okay LinkedIn, I've got to definitely give that a shot. Do I start at fixing my profile first because that's what my attention is going to be when somebody discovers me? Or do I start with commenting first? What's my first step today when I'm ready to hit this platform?

Judi Fox: Yay. I say do the above the fold on your profile. So don't worry about all the features below and you have to scroll down. Just work on what I called the, obviously the banner, and then make sure your profile image, we want to be able to see your face and your eyes.

Sometimes people will give too much of their upper torso but it depends. If you are a dancer, maybe you do want to do something and show that you're like a ballerina. But for the most part, we want to connect with a face and know that you're a real person.

So even having like shades or sunglasses can actually be a deterrent to people connecting, liking and commenting. So just be aware of that. And then like I said, spend one to two hours max on your profile because as you like and comment and engage on the platform, because I truly think if you spend, don't think about your own posts, don't even try to make a post. Just comment for the first two to three weeks to gain that traction. And then when you make a post there will be an audience in your auditorium versus an empty auditorium.

Liron Segev: So above the fold, basically your banner, your picture, maybe your title. Those still count because it's the first thing people see?

Judi Fox: Yes. I think of your title but not so much of a business title, but more keywords for being found in search. I think at some point I've hit 5,000 views of people searching and finding and then clicking on my profile per week.

You want to optimize because I've taken people from only getting 10 or 20 views on their search per week to thousands. It can work.

Liron Segev: A lot of people still see the title as your job title. So say I am the Director of Marketing, it's actually a term heavily used in search, heavily influenced by search. So you should use that as an opportunity to get some of those eyeballs.

Judi Fox: Yeah, just put some keywords. I mean if you notice, there are certain people who kind of pack it with keywords like podcast, youtube, video. And they put these keywords in there and it's for a reason.

It's like being found on the first page of Google search. That's where people will find you in that area, and also in your job title down below. So don't worry about that one right now, but above the fold, make sure you have that. And then if you look at my profile, I have highlighted a video that I was on with video influencers with Benji Travis.

And I drove traffic to that video by highlighting it as a YouTube video right there in my profile. So just look and see that I have what's called a link to a media file. That's a great place to put your videos. I know Tim Schmoyer has put a lot of his videos there. I'm sure, if I think off the top of my head of other YouTubers who are, Roberto Blake has probably done that. I think Sean Cannell.

Liron Segev: That's actually a great little tip to end off on. It’s watching what everybody else is doing in your industry. If these big-name YouTubers are doing certain things, they do it for a specific reason. Maybe they've done the research. Maybe they've already got some strategy that they're trying to do. For you to emulate that is very, very possible. It's all exposed. It's all out there for you to see.

Judi Fox: Yeah, and Roberto Blake, for example, was a great example when I looked at him saying like, I'm a video creator for YouTube. So he put that as his experience, which actually positions him for being one of the top search results when you type in YouTube, on LinkedIn.

So I mean he's definitely nailing that and he's a great example to go check out his profile. He actually said he updated it based on my advice. Shout out to Roberto. He's awesome.

Liron Segev: Love it. So as we're ending, any final bits of advice or something that you want people to know about LinkedIn, being a YouTuber, what should they be afraid of? Or shouldn't they be afraid? Any pearls of wisdom that you can say, okay, if we can do one thing I just want you to take away this? What is this?

Judi Fox: I want you to take away that it is a platform where people really do want to spend time communicating back and forth with each other. So it's a conversation. So if you do upload your YouTube video and you post it there and then people give you likes and comments, be reciprocal. So comment back, like back, go check out their posts, like and comment as you can because that reciprocal nature will be returned tenfold the next time you post.

Liron Segev: Love it. Now Judi, so much information and you have so much more to give. So if people want to connect with you, they want to find out what you're up to, what you have going on, where can we do that?

. I still have room in my connections. We max out on LinkedIn at 30,000 connections.

Liron Segev: I'm surprised you have room. I'm surprised.

Being active on LinkedIn is a strategy that all YouTubers should be using to grow their community and fanbase. We tell you why in this week's episode of our TubeTalk podcast.

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