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.

Getting Views

How To Get More Views on YouTube

Getting thousands or even millions of YouTube subscribers is a dream for most creators. In the articles below, we'll show you how to turn casual viewers into long-term fans. 

Subscribers

YouTube Subscribers

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

Monetization

How To Make Money on YouTube

Want to see how your channel is performing? Read these YouTube analytics articles to discover what's working and what isn't. You'll learn how to identify which videos have the most Watch Time, clicks, audience retention, revenue, and more.

Analytics

YouTube Analytics

Watch Time is arguably THE most important metric on YouTube right now, and creators won’t be able to monetize their content without 4000 hours of it. But what is it and how can creators increase the amount of Watch Time their videos attract? We keep you updated on the best practices around Watch Time, and how you can increase how much your video content generates.

Watch Time

YouTube Watch Time

YouTube Shorts content is set to explode! 

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

YouTube Shorts

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.

Tips & Tricks

YouTube Tips & Tricks

At vidIQ we have incredible insights into what viewers are searching for on YouTube. Not only can we confirm the top keywords being searched for, we can also show you how you can leverage that interest to create content around trending topics and tentpole events. That's going to give you a clear edge over other creators!

Insights

YouTube Insights

Your In-Depth Guide to Building a Successful YouTube Channel

Thumbnails are one of the biggest pain points for new creators, and an important one to solve. Thumbnails are the "book cover" of your video—something that needs to grab attention in just a fraction of a second. 

There are so many elements that go into making that winning thumbnail for your content, and it's simply not possible to address all of that here. So, 

 with expert, John Scott, to get all your thumbnail queries answered.

In this post, we'll walk you through the ideal 

, some key best practices for creating thumbnails that stand out!

12 Types of YouTube Thumbnails People Love to Click On

First impressions are critical in the endless ocean of YouTube content. The thumbnail plays a massive role in getting viewers to click on your video over countless others. For new YouTubers trying to gain traction, getting your thumbnail right can be the difference between a low-performing video and that ever-alluring viral hit. Here’s why size specifically matters:

: YouTube thumbnails appear across a wide range of devices—desktops, tablets, and, most importantly, mobile phones. Therefore, you need a thumbnail that remains sharp and eye-catching across all these platforms.

: Thumbnails with the correct size and dimensions ensure a polished, professional look. Low-quality, blurry images won’t just make your video less appealing—they’ll make it look amateurish.

 Faster Than Ever: 6 Ways to Make YouTube Thumbnails in Record Time

The Best Size for YouTube Thumbnails in 2024

When designing your thumbnail, the recommended size is 

 with a 16:9 aspect ratio. This size works across devices and ensures your thumbnail looks pleasing to the eye. Additionally, the minimum width YouTube accepts is 640 pixels but going lower than the recommended size is probably not a good idea. To keep things simple, here's what you need to follow.

: 16:9 (standard YouTube video aspect ratio)

https://www.oberlo.com/blog/youtube-thumbnail-size

Using the optimal size guarantees that your thumbnail will look crisp, regardless of the screen size it's being viewed on. It also helps your video stand out in YouTube search results and suggested video sections, making it an essential element of your overall video SEO strategy.

Best Practices for Creating YouTube Thumbnails

Creating a well-designed thumbnail is more than just getting the size right. It’s about crafting something that resonates with your audience and drives them to click. Let’s break down some important design strategies that’ll help your thumbnails pop in 2024:

Your thumbnail needs to deliver a clear message in a split second. Overloading it with too many details, colors, or text can be overwhelming, especially when viewed on smaller screens like mobile phones. Stick to one focal point and keep the design clean.

Text on thumbnails can be incredibly effective—if done right. Use 

 that stand out against the background. Avoid cramming too many words; instead, aim for short, snappy phrases that intrigue viewers. Also, contrast is essential. If your background is dark, make sure your text is light, and vice versa.

Your thumbnail should immediately grab attention, even when it’s displayed alongside hundreds of others. Using high-contrast colors can help your image stand out. Consider using colors that are complementary or that contrast sharply with YouTube’s default red, black, and white color scheme.

Thumbnails that feature human faces—especially ones that show strong emotions—tend to get higher engagement. Whether it’s excitement, surprise, or curiosity, showing a human expression can create an instant connection with potential viewers.

One great trick for building brand recognition is to use a consistent style for all your thumbnails. This could include specific color schemes, text placement, or the use of your logo in a corner. Over time, viewers will come to recognize your videos at a glance, making it more likely they’ll click on your content.

For example, this is how the vidIQ channel home page looks at first glance. As you can see, there is homogeneity in the way we use our creators faces and other graphical elements across videos./

While designing thumbnails can be fun, it’s wise to avoid a few traps. Here are some common mistakes that you should avoid at all costs:

: Never use clickbait or misleading images that have nothing to do with your video’s content. This will only frustrate viewers, hurt your channel’s reputation, and lead to a high bounce rate—something YouTube’s algorithm won’t like.

: You don’t want to clutter your thumbnail with unnecessary text. Keep it short and to the point. Let the title of your video do the talking, and use text on your thumbnail sparingly.

: More than half of YouTube’s traffic comes from mobile devices, so always ensure your thumbnails are legible on small screens. If you’re adding text, make sure it’s large and bold enough to read easily on a smartphone.

: A blurry or pixelated thumbnail can significantly reduce your video’s chances of getting clicked. Always use high-resolution images, and if you’re unsure, err on the side of larger file sizes (

Tips for Testing and Optimizing Thumbnails

If you’re not sure which thumbnail design will work best, don’t be afraid to experiment. YouTube allows you to change thumbnails even after your video has been published. Here are some tips for testing and optimizing your thumbnails over time:

: Try switching between different thumbnails on the same video and track their performance in 

. This way, you can identify which design drives more clicks.

 of your videos. A higher CTR means more people are engaging with your content, which helps boost your visibility in YouTube’s algorithm.

: Beyond the CTR, also look at how long people are watching your video. If your audience is dropping off quickly after clicking, your thumbnail might not accurately represent your content. 

 for optimizing, testing, and comparing different thumbnail options for the same video by using the above metrics. 

According to YouTube, 90% of the best-performing videos use custom thumbnails.

 In 2024, making it on YouTube involves more than just creating great content—you need to package it well, starting with your thumbnail. Understanding the 

 and following design best practices will set you on the path to success. 

Whether you’re just starting or looking to level up your YouTube game, getting your thumbnail right is a crucial step to increasing your views, engagement, and subscriber count. 

Now it’s time to create that killer thumbnail

Learn the correct YouTube thumbnail measurements for 2024 and how to optimize them for the best quality and viewer engagement!

YouTube Thumbnail Measurements: The Right Size for 2024

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

Subscribe to TubeTalk: The Video Marketing Podcast!

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.

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

If you're a YouTube content creator do you ever stop? Are you always thinking about the next video even before you've stopped thinking about the last one? Do you ever stop thinking about YouTube?

Phew! All this thinking (amongst all the actual YouTubing) can be exhausting.

We are always thinking and analyzing and at some point, we just can't seem to find our flow again. Every video is a struggle to create. The spark is diminishing. This is burnout.

YouTube burnout, mental burnout of any description, is a part of mental awareness that continues to make headlines as our digital worlds become ever more omnipresent.

Even YouTube's biggest star can struggle with 'switching off'?

"I'm taking a break from YouTube next year. I wanted to say it in advance because I made up my mind. I'm tired. I'm feeling very tired. I don't know if you can tell." - Felix Kjellberg (PewDiePie)

So on today's episode of TubeTalk let's unpack those questions with someone who provides a sounding board to those who feel the daily pressures of content creation. That man is 

, the first-ever life coach dedicated to creators.

What is the definition of creator burnout

Why the YouTube platform is a breeding ground for burnout

Why are creators much more susceptible to burnout

How To Beat Burnout as a Content Creator: Full Transcript

Josh Zimmerman:	Thank you. Thank you so much. It's great to be here.

Liron Segev:	Josh, let's talk about beginning Creator Coach, that sounds extremely, extremely specific. Give us the tweetable version. What is Creator Coach? What do you do?

Josh Zimmerman:	Wow. Tweetable version, is that 240 characters? I have a little bit more. Creator Coach is all about helping creators in their life as well as in, specifically burnout and helping them really move from point A to point B and see what's getting in the way.

One of the things that I realized when I had a lot of creators coming to me back in 2017, 2016 about burnout and reading all the articles was that everyone was talking about it and no one was doing anything about it. I didn't see anyone out there really addressing the issue and so I decided I was going to.

Liron Segev:	Okay, well, you hit the nail right on the head right at the get-go, which is burnout. We hear that word constantly. We hear it in the news, on social media feeds, when we speak to fellow creators at events. Let's just define what is burnout.

Josh Zimmerman:	Burnout is starting to become very common in every single circle but we're hearing it more and more with creators of all types. Really what that means, and it means a lot of different things to different people but really the baseline is that you just do not have any more energy or will to move forward with creating content.

Liron Segev:	Do you find these different levels of burnout could be: I'm a little bit burnt out? Can I be a lot burnt out?

Josh Zimmerman: Absolutely. I came up with a burnout timeline, right? There's four stages that we can really identify, which is preventative. That's really like, again, the baseline where you're managing stress and avoiding the symptoms of burnout. The next bucket is onset, right, where the stress and other factors begin to increase pressure and the symptoms of burnout.

Then we really quickly move to what I call the death spiral, which is where you really circum to the pressures that begis to alter the path, and you question directions and encounter more stress. That doesn't stop, because there are no boundaries in a lot of places.

A lot of creators don't have a lot of boundaries because that's what you do, you create. There are no boundaries to your creativity. When things start to spiral out of control, it's really hard to find something to grasp onto.

Once you're down that spiral, the next one is the most unfortunate which is the flat line. If you think of the EKG, you have flat lined and that is you've lost all ability to create due to the numerous and previous factors that I talked about. Burnout is a key factor in the lives of almost every creator.

Everybody is on this timeline somewhere right now. My job is to help them move through those timelines or those different timelines and hopefully bring them to somewhere where they start to notice those symptoms and be able to address those before things start to go downhill quicker.

Liron Segev:	Before we get to the flatline

Liron Segev:	As creators, we're always on, we don't take a break. We're always thinking of the next content. We're thinking of this thing called the algorithm. We're constantly always on this hamster wheel of constantly, constantly being on.

I mean, it's not like you go to work, you do your shift, you go home and then you're done. This creator life almost follows you wherever you go. Are there any specific causes that you know that causes us to start saying, okay, I'm starting to hit the first stage of burnout?

Josh Zimmerman:	Well, what you just said is exactly correct. I would take it a little bit of a step further. What a lot of people don't understand is that being a creator, just like you said, it's not a job where you get to, you know, at five o'clock, six o'clock, seven o'clock you get to turn the lights off and go home.

The thing that people really don't understand outside of the industry and even inside the industry is that you don't turn off, because what you're putting out there, even if it is just a sliver of your life, that's you. That is you are always on.

There is nothing that is sustainable when you are constantly on. You just can't turn it off, especially when it is a part of you that you are putting out into the world at such an intimate level. One of the first things is to be aware of that.

If you're tired and if you start to stress, which this job is extremely stressful, and you start to lose motivation, that's when it's good to take a step back and to say, okay, what's going on? What am I feeling? What is happening that is causing me to not want to do what I normally do or lose enjoyment in that?

Liron Segev:	Right. Well, I think that's an important point. One of the first question I always say is, are you passionate enough about the subject or are you doing it for the views? There's a big distinction between the two.

Because those who love what they do and they can wake up every morning cannot wait to get in front of that camera or cannot wait to write that blog post or post those pictures, those are the people who've got the right mindset coming in and, probably, longevity versus the people who are living to the algorithm. What are people into today? I'll make those videos today. I'm going to try build up my channel based on a trend because then you're on a very fast pace to that burnout.

Josh Zimmerman:	It's an ego thing, right? It makes you feel good. The bigger you get, the more numb you become to them but those numbers do equal your income. I highly encourage everyone to also branch out and diversify your income just in case something turns with the system. I'm using big air quotes, "algorithm."

Liron Segev: Not in case, because it will change.

Josh Zimmerman: It will change. Right. I know someone who went from making $50,000 a month to five overnight. That's going to shake you to your core. Anyone that is chasing views, you know, I haven't really worked with anybody who is... I wouldn't advise anybody to ever start a channel just to chase views.

The people that I work with, and the creators that have huge success are people who are creative at their core and ended up starting on YouTube just because it was an outlet. It wasn't to get famous. If you are out there and you are trying to do that, there's other ways to do that.

Liron Segev:	People do fall victim to those vanity metrics at a point.

Josh Zimmerman:	All the time. 100% and they are corrosive because of the fact that it is these numbers that... Here's the big thing, people forget that those numbers are actual people.

Liron Segev:	Yes, yes, yes, yes. Absolutely.

PewDiePie recently announced he is taking a break from YouTube because he is, "feeling very tired". Are you? On this week's episode of TubeTalk, we explore mental health around content creation, the dangerous of burnout and how to avoid it.

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