Gyre is a multi-functional service that enables you to run continuous streams, which can help you achieve your goals, regardless of your channel’s size or the type of content you create.
What is Gyre?
Gyre is a cloud service that allows you to create and launch continuous streams. Looped (or continuous) streams are a universal tool that can help you achieve your objectives, depending on your individual needs.
The service is designed to be easy to use and requires only your videos, a computer, and an internet connection.
How does Gyre work?
The basis of looped streaming is pre-recorded content. Your older videos or pre-recorded/edited content can be perfect for streaming. Gyre helps you to create a continuous stream of your pre-recorded content, which plays 24/7 in a continuous loop.
You can run as many as 8 streams on your channel on multiple platforms, such as YouTube, Twitch, Vimeo, and Facebook/Instagram.
Why should you use continuous streams?
Continuous streams can help you to achieve several goals, such as attracting new traffic to your channel, accelerating your channel’s promotion, and increasing revenue.
They can also help you to promote and monetize your pre-recorded content, which is a win-win way to improve your channel’s performance and make the most of all the content you have.
How do continuous streams affect the development of a YouTube channel?
Continuous streams can help you to attract new viewers, increase retention, and generate new traffic for your channel.
They can also help you to monetize your content, promote your pre-recorded videos, and generate more revenue for your channel.
What channels are suitable for continuous streams?
Gyre is suitable for all types of YouTube channels, regardless of the topic or the number of subscribers. The primary factor is relevant and high-quality content.
How to start a Gyre continuous stream?
Starting a continuous stream is easy with Gyre. You need to register with Gyre, choose your plan, prepare your content for streaming, upload videos to your personal server, create playlists, and enjoy improved channel metrics.
Here are a few additional things to know about Gyre:
Gyre offers a flexible subscription system depending on your needs, with both monthly and annual packages available. Plus, there’s a free 7-day trial period so you can try the service out before committing.
Continuous streams are perfectly legal and safe to use. Gyre follows the requirements of the platforms where it offers users to run continuous streams and does not violate the policies of video hosting sites and social media.
Gyre helps you to create and run streams without using your channel data. Authorization only requires your email, so access to accounts and content remains only with the owners of the YouTube channels or social media accounts.
In addition to YouTube, Gyre now also supports other popular platforms such as Twitch, Vimeo, and Fb/Inst. This means that Gyre users can reach and interact with their target audiences on these platforms as well.
Gyre’s Knowledge Base includes video tutorials that can help you understand how to create and run continuous streams, as well as an FAQ and support chat if you need additional help.
Overall, Gyre is a useful tool for content creators looking to maximize the potential of their existing content and attract new viewers to their channel. It’s easy to use and offers a variety of features that can help you achieve your goals.
What is live streaming?
Live streaming refers to the process of broadcasting video content over the internet in real-time. This allows viewers to watch an event, show, or activity as it’s happening, rather than watching a pre-recorded video.
What are some benefits of live streaming?
Live streaming can help you connect with your audience in a more immediate and interactive way, as viewers can comment and ask questions in real-time. It can also increase audience engagement and help build a community around your content.
What equipment do I need to live stream?
At a minimum, you will need a camera and an internet connection. Depending on the complexity of your live stream, you may also need additional equipment such as microphones, lighting, and software.
What platforms can I use to live stream?
There are many platforms available for live streaming, including YouTube, Facebook, Twitch, and Vimeo. Gyre is a service that allows you to create and launch continuous streams on multiple platforms, including YouTube, Twitch, Vimeo, and Fb/Inst.
What are looped or continuous streams?
Looped or continuous streams are a type of live stream that plays pre-recorded content on a loop, creating a 24/7 stream of your existing videos. Gyre is a cloud service that allows you to create and launch continuous streams.
Why should I use Gyre for continuous streaming?
Gyre offers a flexible subscription system and is easy to use, with video tutorials and a knowledge base available to help you get started. It also allows you to create 24/7 streams from your pre-recorded content, saving you time and effort. Additionally, Gyre offers the ability to stream on multiple platforms, increasing your potential audience reach.
Is it legal to use continuous streams on YouTube and other platforms?
Yes, continuous streams are legal and can be a valuable tool for content creators. Gyre follows the requirements of the platforms where it offers users to run continuous streams, and does not violate the policies of video hosting sites and social media.
How can I monetize my live streams?
There are several ways to monetize your live streams, including ads, sponsorships, and merchandise sales. To monetize your content on YouTube, you will need to meet the platform’s requirements for the YouTube Partner Program, including having at least 1,000 subscribers and 4,000 hours of watch time in the past 12 months.
How can I improve the quality of my live streams?
To improve the quality of your live streams, you can invest in better equipment, such as high-quality cameras and microphones. You can also optimize your internet connection to ensure a stable and uninterrupted stream. Additionally, Gyre allows you to optimize and prepare your pre-recorded content to ensure that it is suitable for continuous streaming.
OpenAI’s GPT-3 language models have revolutionized the field of natural language processing and have made significant advancements in the development of AI-powered conversational agents.
What is ChatGPT+? – ChatGPT+ is the latest version of the ChatGPT model. It is an upgraded version of ChatGPT that has been fine-tuned further on a more diverse and broader range of conversational data.
One of the popular language models in this line is ChatGPT and its upgraded version, ChatGPT+. In this article, we will explore the differences between these two models and what makes them unique.
ChatGPT is a conversational AI language model that uses the GPT-3 architecture. It is trained on a massive amount of text data and is capable of generating human-like responses to natural language inputs
The model has been fine-tuned on conversational data, which has helped it to generate more natural and coherent answers to conversational queries.
ChatGPT+ is the latest version of the ChatGPT model. It is an upgraded version of ChatGPT that has been fine-tuned further on a more diverse and broader range of conversational data. This has resulted in a model that is capable of generating more accurate and natural answers to a wider range of conversational queries.
One of the key differences between the two models is the amount of data they have been trained on. ChatGPT+ has been trained on a much larger and diverse dataset, which has allowed it to better understand the nuances of language and generate more natural answers.
This makes ChatGPT+ more suitable for use in complex conversational scenarios and in applications that require a high degree of accuracy and naturalness in language generation.
Another difference between ChatGPT and ChatGPT+ is their performance in terms of speed and efficiency. ChatGPT+ is faster and more efficient than its predecessor, making it more suitable for use in real-time conversational applications.
Additionally, ChatGPT+ has been optimized to handle a wider range of inputs, including multiple languages, which makes it more versatile and useful for a wider range of applications.
In conclusion, ChatGPT and ChatGPT+ are both powerful conversational AI language models developed by OpenAI.
While ChatGPT is a highly capable model, ChatGPT+ is an upgraded version that offers improved performance, versatility, and accuracy. If you’re looking for a conversational AI model for your business or application, it’s worth considering both ChatGPT and ChatGPT+ to see which one better fits your needs.
Q: What is ChatGPT+?
A: ChatGPT+ is an upgraded version of the ChatGPT conversational AI language model developed by OpenAI. It has been fine-tuned on a larger and more diverse dataset, which has resulted in improved accuracy, naturalness, and versatility in language generation.
Q: How does ChatGPT+ differ from ChatGPT?
A: ChatGPT+ has been trained on a larger and more diverse dataset than its predecessor, ChatGPT. This has allowed it to better understand the nuances of language and generate more natural and accurate answers to a wider range of conversational queries. ChatGPT+ is also faster and more efficient than ChatGPT, making it more suitable for use in real-time conversational applications.
Q: Can ChatGPT+ handle multiple languages?
A: Yes, ChatGPT+ has been optimized to handle a wider range of inputs, including multiple languages, which makes it more versatile and useful for a wider range of applications.
Q: Is ChatGPT+ suitable for use in business applications?
Q: How does ChatGPT+ perform in terms of accuracy and naturalness of language generation?
A: ChatGPT+ has been fine-tuned on a larger and more diverse dataset, which has resulted in improved accuracy and naturalness in language generation compared to its predecessor, ChatGPT. The model is capable of generating more coherent and natural answers to conversational queries.
I hope these answers provide a good overview of ChatGPT+ and its capabilities. Let me know if you have any further questions!
Welcome to our blog post about the exciting new trend of “workcations”!
As more and more people are able to work remotely, the idea of combining work and travel has become increasingly popular. In this post, we’ll be discussing the benefits of taking a workcation, as well as some tips and tricks for planning and making the most out of your next one.
I personally use Booking.com to find a great hotel, apartment or location and plan from there.
Whether you’re a digital nomad, a freelancer, or just someone looking for a change of scenery, we hope you’ll find this post informative and inspiring.
So grab your laptop and let’s get started on planning your next adventure!
What is a workcation?
A workcation, also known as a “working vacation”, is a trend that combines the travel and leisure aspects of a traditional vacation with the remote work capabilities of today’s workforce.
This type of vacation can last for a few days, weeks, or even months and allows individuals to work from anywhere in the world, as long as they have access to the internet.
The rise of remote work
Remote working has made it possible for more people to consider a workcation as a viable option for their vacation time. With the ability to work from a hotel room or vacation rental, individuals no longer have to sacrifice the opportunity to travel and explore new destinations because of work.
However, it is important to note that not all jobs can be done remotely, so it is important to consider if your job is location-independent before planning a workcation.
There are many benefits to taking a workcation, including the ability to travel and explore new destinations, not using up vacation days, not interrupting your workflow, combating burnout, boosting creativity and productivity, and improving work-life balance.
Traveling to a new destination allows individuals to explore new cultures and try new activities while still being able to complete their work responsibilities.
Taking a workcation also means that individuals do not have to use up their vacation days, allowing them to save them for a traditional vacation later in the year.
Additionally, workcations allow individuals to keep up with their workflow without falling behind and can also help combat burnout by allowing individuals to recharge in a new environment. Being in a new environment can also boost creativity and productivity.
Lastly, workcations can improve work-life balance by showing individuals that it is possible to enjoy themselves while still being productive.
Working from Home Stats
Category
Statistic
Percentage of U.S. workers working remotely (2021)
42%
Global employees working remotely at least once a week (pre-pandemic)
30%
Increase in remote work since 2005
173%
Percentage of companies offering remote work (2021)
As of 2021, 42% of U.S. workers were working remotely, with 30% of global employees working remotely at least once a week before the pandemic.
Remote work has increased by 173% since 2005, and 52% of companies offered remote work options in 2021. Among remote workers, 78% reported improved work-life balance, and 85% reported higher productivity.
How To Take A Workcation
It is important to first discuss the possibility with your boss and ensure that your job is location-independent.
After receiving approval, individuals can start planning their destination and accommodation. There are many websites available to help individuals plan their workcation such as Booking.com where I book all of my trips from as little as £35pn in London.
These websites offer a variety of options for accommodation and coworking spaces, making it easy for individuals to plan their workcation.
Working Vacations Stats
Category
Statistic
Percentage of workers who have taken a “workcation”
42%
Average length of a working vacation
5 days
Percentage of workers feeling more productive on a workcation
66%
Percentage of workers planning a workcation in the next 12 months (2021)
34%
Top reasons for taking a workcation
Change of scenery (54%), work-life balance (44%), and increased productivity (40%)
Approximately 42% of workers have taken a working vacation or “workcation.” The average length of a working vacation is five days, with 66% of workers feeling more productive during this time. In 2021, 34% of workers planned to take a workcation in the next 12 months.
The top reasons for taking a workcation include a change of scenery (54%), improved work-life balance (44%), and increased productivity (40%).
Stay connected with colleagues and stay on top of work-related tasks.
Don’t forget to enjoy your vacation and make time for relaxation and exploration.
How do I convince my boss to allow me to take a workcation?
Show your boss how a workcation can benefit both you and the company by increasing productivity and reducing stress.
Offer a plan for how you will stay connected and productive while away.
Propose a trial period to see how it works.
Show them examples of other companies that have successfully implemented workcations.
In conclusion
A workcation is a great option for individuals who have location-independent jobs and want to travel while still being able to complete their work responsibilities.
With the rise of remote work, it has never been easier to plan a workcation and the benefits of taking one are numerous. From the ability to explore new destinations to improving work-life balance, a workcation is a great way to combine work and leisure.
Are you looking for ways to use ChatGPT to run a business? Here are ten ideas to get you started:
Virtual assistant business: ChatGPT could be used to create virtual assistants that can handle tasks such as scheduling appointments, sending emails, and managing social media accounts. This could be a great way to help busy professionals save time and streamline their workflows.
Chatbot development: If you have a background in coding or web development, ChatGPT could be a useful tool for creating chatbots for businesses to use on their websites or messaging apps. These chatbots could be used to provide customer support, answer frequently asked questions, or handle sales inquiries.
Language translation service: ChatGPT could be used to create a language translation service that can instantly translate text or spoken words from one language to another. This could be a great way to help businesses and individuals communicate with people in different parts of the world.
Online tutoring service: ChatGPT could be used to create an online tutoring service where students can receive personalized tutoring and homework help in real-time. This could be a great way to help students who are struggling to keep up with their studies or who are looking for extra support.
Social media management service: If you’re a social media pro, ChatGPT could be a useful tool for creating a social media management service. This service could handle tasks such as scheduling posts, responding to comments and messages, and analyzing social media metrics.
Personal shopping assistant: ChatGPT could be used to create a personal shopping assistant that can help users find and purchase products online.
Virtual event coordinator: ChatGPT could be used to create a virtual event coordinator that can handle tasks such as scheduling meetings, sending invites, and managing registrations. This could be a great way to help businesses and individuals plan and execute events online.
Customer support chatbot: ChatGPT could be used to create a customer support chatbot that can handle inquiries and complaints from customers in real-time. This could be a great way to improve customer satisfaction and free up human customer service reps to handle more complex tasks.
Personal finance manager: ChatGPT could be used to create a personal finance manager that can help users track their spending, create budget plans, and make financial decisions. This could be a useful tool for individuals looking to take control of their finances and make better financial decisions.
Online therapy platform: ChatGPT could be used to create an online therapy platform where users can receive counseling and mental health support from licensed therapists. This could be a great way to provide access to mental health care for individuals who may not have access to traditional therapy services.
I hope these business ideas have given you some inspiration for how ChatGPT could be used in different industries. Whether you’re looking to start a virtual assistant business, create a chatbot, or offer online tutoring services, ChatGPT has the potential to be a valuable tool for running a business.
Q: What are some ways that ChatGPT could be used to run a business? A: ChatGPT could be used to create virtual assistants, chatbots, language translation services, online tutoring services, social media management services, personal shopping assistants, virtual event coordinators, customer support chatbots, personal finance managers, and online therapy platforms.
Q: How can ChatGPT be used to create a virtual assistant business? A: ChatGPT could be used to create virtual assistants that can handle tasks such as scheduling appointments, sending emails, and managing social media accounts. This could be a great way to help busy professionals save time and streamline their workflows.
Q: How can ChatGPT be used to create chatbots for businesses? A: ChatGPT could be used to create chatbots for businesses to use on their websites or messaging apps. These chatbots could be used to provide customer support, answer frequently asked questions, or handle sales inquiries.
Q: How can ChatGPT be used to create a language translation service? A: ChatGPT could be used to create a language translation service that can instantly translate text or spoken words from one language to another. This could be a great way to help businesses and individuals communicate with people in different parts of the world.
I hope these FAQs give you a good overview of how ChatGPT could be used to run a business. Let me know if you have any other questions!
Facebook Groups are rapidly emerging as a powerful tool for promotion, revenue generation, and social interaction, of course. Still, while that last point may be obvious, and most people will be able to see the promotional potential of Facebook Groups, monetisation is a little less intuitive.
Can you monetize facebook groups? Yes! In fact there are so many little tricks to monetize a facebook page we’ve made a list!
That’s why we’ve put together this post to illustrate the many ways you can monetise your Facebook Group, as well as a few ways to ensure your group succeeds.
Let’s dive in.
10 Ways to Monetise Facebook Groups
It should be noted that some of these suggestions will only work if you are an admin of a group. Now, in no particular order;
Promote Products
If you’re a member of a popular group (and, of course, if you are the admin of one), you could use it to promote any products you sell. Of course, you will need to make sure the group in question allows promotion, and if it does, there will probably be guidelines you will have to adhere to.
Remember to participate in the group beyond just promoting things. People tend to react poorly to someone who only ever contributes to a community for selfish reasons, and you will likely find you get better results if you participate.
Build a Reputation
If you have an area of expertise that you plan to turn into a career of some sort, you can start laying the groundwork for that future in a Facebook group! Let’s say for argument’s sake that your area of expertise is something technical like machine learning. You could find an appropriate group and start helping others with their problems, gaining a reputation as an authority in the subject matter. Then, when you decide to try your hand at something a little more professional, such as freelance work, or even a YouTube channel, you will already have a group of people who know you are the real deal.
Remember, the Internet has made it possible for more people than ever to try their hands at things that would normally have needed a formal education. But there will always be a place for people who know what they are talking about and are willing to offer a helping comment.
Charge Membership or Subscription Fees
If you are running a Facebook that is particularly useful to its members, you could start charging membership or subscription fees to join. Bear in mind that your group will have to be something special, offering things that your prospective members wouldn’t be able to get elsewhere.
In order to do this, you will have to set your group to private and invite only, and then set up your own way of handling payments, as Facebook does not currently offer this option.
Earn Advertising Revenue
On a similar note to the previous suggestion, a popular group will likely be of interest to advertisers. Those advertisers could go through Facebook’s own advertising platform, of course, but that platform does not currently offer a way for advertisers to target specific groups. As the admin of a group, you can provide that option for your group.
Again, you will have to deal with the mechanics of this one by yourself, as Facebook does not provide the tools to do it.
Collaborate With Brands
One-off advertisements are fine, but striking up a deal for ongoing collaboration with a brand or company offers much more stability in your revenue stream. Once again, this is something you’ll have to arrange yourself. You will need to be able to show any potential brand that your group is worth collaborating with. It can also be useful to have some ideas to present to said brand for how the collaboration could go, such as running competitions.
Dabble in Affiliate Marketing
Affiliate marketing allows you to make money from product or service promotion in much the same way that advertising does but in a less intrusive manner. Affiliate links and promotions will typically fit into the general flow of the content in a group, offering the members something of value. An example of this might be providing an Amazon Affiliate link to a product that’s been discussed in the group. The members will not have to pay anything extra (indeed, many affiliate programs offer special deals for affiliates), and you will make a little extra case from each sale.
Accept Donations
It may not be the most reliable way to monetise your Facebook group, but if you have enough members and they are engaged and active enough, you could consider accepting donations.
Of course, this suggestion assumes you are an active participant in the group and that the members can see the value you bring. If you just started the group but don’t really do much from day to day, you may struggle to find anyone willing to donate.
Offer Consultancy Services
If you establish yourself as an authoritative figure on a particular subject, you could parlay that reputation into a career in consultancy work. With today’s fast-paced world of development and creation, people and companies are often branching out into areas they aren’t necessarily familiar with. In these cases, they might not want to hire an expert, but that doesn’t mean they won’t benefit from an informed opinion.
Network
Whatever your intended career going forward, you can probably benefit from a little networking. Whether it’s just people in the same niche as you or people in positions of influence who can be of direct help to your career, getting involved in communities like this can present opportunities that you wouldn’t otherwise have had.
Sell Your Group
Now, this is explicitly against Facebook’s rules, so we have to say that we do not recommend you do this, but selling popular groups is a thing that happens, and it can be very lucrative. Especially if you develop a knack for building popular groups and can do this on a regular basis.
Again, this is against Facebook’s rules, so you take a risk by doing this. That being said, there’s no way for Facebook to catch you unless you make a big deal out of it.
5 Tips for Helping Your Group Succeed
We won’t dwell on this section too long because advice for making your Facebook group succeed deserves a post of its own, but here are some tips for making sure your Facebook group thrives.
Keep Engagement High
Engagement is the lifeblood of a successful Facebook group. Regardless of what your ultimate goal for the group is, you’re going to want active members who are commenting and replying and reacting to the content.
One way to ensure engagement stays high is to post engaging content yourself, as well as draw attention to popular posts by other members.
Promote The Group
If you want the group to succeed, you need to get the word out. You could advertise if you’re prepared to throw some money at the problem, but if not, you’ll need to do the leg work and get out there yourself.
Other groups are a great place to promote (as long as the group in question allows that kind of thing), but you can also take it off Facebook and get the word out that way. Just remember not to spam, as that will almost always have the opposite of the desired effect.
Foster a Welcoming Atmosphere
If you want people to join and participate in your group, you need to foster the kind of atmosphere that encourages it. What kind of atmosphere that is will heavily depend on the type of group you are running. You can enforce the atmosphere you want with things like rules, temporary (and permanent) bans, and, of course, comments.
Be an Active Participant
We’ve already touched on this in the “keep engagement high” section, but it’s important enough that it deserves its own section. You should be active in the group, encouraging conversation, drawing attention to good posts, and generally keeping everything going.
Encourage Members to Invite Others
Promoting a Facebook group doesn’t have to be a one-person operation. Once you start to build a membership base of engaged users, you can gently encourage them to do a spot of promoting themselves.
We’re not suggesting you demand they go on a full advertising campaign, of course, but things like sharing the link with friends they think will be interested and other low-effort activities.
Final Thoughts
Facebook Groups are not the most obvious thing that springs to mind when you think about options for generating revenue online, but they are certainly an option.
That being said, we have to admit that the biggest monetisation potential for Facebook Groups involves them being used in conjunction with other things. For example, using your Facebook group to drive traffic to affiliate links or services you offer elsewhere or promoting products or services within the group. The options for monetising a group using official Facebook channels is extremely limited, but there is every chance that will change as the platform evolves.
Being a student isn’t easy, and one of the biggest hardships you will face as a student is finding the finances to do things like… well… eat. Fortunately, the has never been more opportunity for students (or anyone, for that matter) to make a little extra income on the side.
In the interests of making life a little easier for our intrepid knowledge seekers and future leaders, we’ve put together a list of thirty side hustles that students can help make life a little easier while you are putting yourself through higher education.
Start a YouTube Channel
YouTube has made many people rich, and even though those people are a huge minority, there are many many more people who make a respectable side income from the platform.
And, given the popularity of YouTube, there is no shortage of advice out there to get you started. You can even start right here! You can create a channel around something you are passionate about, something you are knowledgeable about (both is a bonus) or even what you are studying.
Start a Blog
Essentially the same premise as starting a YouTube channel, just with written words instead of video! As with YouTube, you can start a blog about anything you have a passion for, special interest in, or knowledge of. It could be the subject you are studying, your favourite genre of movie or novel, or just weird facts from around the world.
If you have a talent for telling an interesting story, you can put that talent to work in blog form.
Offer Dog Walking Services
You don’t need to limit your side hustles to things online, of course. One example of a real-world side hustle is dog walking services. Pet dogs are more popular than ever, but that popularity, unfortunately, coincides with a time when more of us are out working than ever before.
Enter the intrepid dog walker.
If you like dogs, you could make a respectable side income by taking several of the furry little critters out for walkies, giving their owners some peace of mind in knowing that their best friend isn’t being neglected at home.
Become an App Tester
A lot of effort goes into making apps work, but all the effort in the world won’t make up for a lack of user feedback. App developers naturally would rather get that feedback under controlled circumstances, rather than putting an app out and waiting for the negative reviews.
That’s where app testing comes in. There are many services that provide the opportunity to be an app tester, here are a few of them;
Secret shopping is the kind of side hustle that will sound like a dream come true to the right kind of person. Also called “mystery shoppers”, these are people who are paid to shop in stores or eat in restaurants with the hidden agenda of collecting information.
There isn’t a great deal of financial rewards for this side hustle, but you will typically be reimbursed for your purchases.
Take Paid Surveys
One of the older and more well-known side hustles of the Internet age is the paid survey. Exactly as the name suggests, paid survey companies will pay you a modest sum to complete a survey, with your answers being valuable to market researchers and other similar parties. Here are a few paid survey sites to get you started;
If you don’t have a particular skill or interest in mind for your side hustle, you could take a more generalised approach with something like Amazon’s Mechanical Turk. This is a service that operates on the principle that humans are still better than machines at some things. Essentially, people who need a large number of small tasks doing (things like tagging images) can sign up and do just that.
Offer Online Tutoring
If you’re a student, it’s safe to say you’ve at least done well through primary and secondary education. That’s great for you, but there are millions of children (and adults) who are struggling with this very thing.
You can offer online tutoring in subjects like maths. Or, if you have particular areas of expertise, you could tutor in those as well.
Start an Online Course
On the subject of areas of expertise, if you are particularly knowledgeable in something, you could create an online course around it. Again, this could be something you are just good at, or it could be something you are studying, perhaps offering an introductory level of education to a subject that you are studying at an advanced level.
Sell Old Items
Granted, you wouldn’t be able to keep selling old items forever, but there are several apps (and, of course, eBay) designed to make it easy for you to find a buyer for some of your old things, from clothes to gadgets.
Become a Reseller
Essentially, the difference between someone selling old items and this suggestion is that you will be first seeking out items to sell before you can sell them. This might mean scouring things like Facebook Marketplace and Craiglist for hidden gems, or it could even mean buying things in bulk to get the price down.
Become an Affiliate Marketer
Affiliate marketing is the process of advertising someone else’s product in exchange for a “piece of the action”, so to speak. The most well-known example of this is Amazon Affiliates, where you can link to any product on Amazon and make a little cut of any sales you generate.
This side hustle works best if you have something to pair it with, such as a YouTube channel, or a blog, but really anywhere you can promote something will work. You could even go door-to-door… but we wouldn’t recommend it.
Sell Print-on-Demand Merchandise
Got a flair for design? There are many services on the Internet that allows you to create products like t-shirts, mugs, mouse mats, and other things of that nature with little more than a click of the upload button.
Again, this works especially well if you have a popular YouTube channel to base your products on, but if you can create compelling designs, you can certainly make print-on-demand merchandise a successful side hustle in its own right.
Sell Artwork or Photography
If you do have that creative flair mentioned in the last tip, you could always put it to good use in other fields, such as selling artwork and photography. A number of sites will let you upload stock imagery so that you can profit from the licensing of those images. Just remember that once you do this, you have no control over how the image gets used, so be careful what images you choose to sell.
Write an eBook (or a physical one)
When “write a book” is suggested, the first thing people tend to think of is a novel. Now, if you have it in you to write a novel, certainly give it a go. But as side hustles go, it’s not the most effective way to make money. Given the typical time it takes to write a novel combined with how long an average publisher takes to respond (probably to say “no thanks”), you might not be a student by the time you see any money from a novel.
But you can create eBooks (or regular books) that are non-fiction and centred around something you are an expert in.
Offer Proofreading and Editing Services
Don’t fancy writing a book? What about proofreading someone else’s? Most of us can put together a blog post, but we’re not all up to a professional standard with the technical aspects of our writing.
If you are confident in your command of the English language (or any language, for that matter), you can offer your services as an editor or proofreader, checking other people’s work for mistakes.
Become an Influencer
Granted, not everyone can become an influencer, but if you have an entertaining personality and you like being in front of the camera, becoming an influencer may be a viable option for you.
Influencers typically operate through social media platforms, such as—Instagram, or Facebook—and can earn money through brand deals.
Become a Ride-Share Service Driver
If you have a car, you could consider working for a ride-share company like Uber, or Lyft. Services like this give you the ability to have complete control over the amount of time you spend working on your side hustle—a kind of flexibility that is a must for busy students.
Become a Virtual Assistant
No, we’re not suggesting you be available 24/7 to respond to questions anytime someone says “Siri” to their iPhone or “Alexa” to their Amazon Echo. Websites like PeoplePerHour.com make it possible for you to find people who need certain assistant-like tasks completed, such as email management.
Review Apps and Websites
Similar to testing apps, there are also sites that will pay you to review apps and websites. We’re not talking about being paid to review something by the company that made that thing—that would be cheating. This is typically for sites that offer consumer information, and want a large number of honest reviews.
Become a Translator
If you know more than one language, you could find work as a translator. This will typically be written word translation, but you can certainly find verbal work as well. This could even be paired with our “transcribe audio” suggestion a little further down.
Deliver Things
Similar to Uber (indeed, including Uber), there are companies that offer the delivery of things like food and other items, and they need people to make those deliveries. Unlike Uber, however, this work doesn’t necessarily need a car. It’s a common service offered in big cities and can be done on a bike.
Offer Cleaning Services
Many of us struggle to find time to keep our homes or workplaces as clean as we’d like, so why not take that load off someone’s mind by offering cleaning services! This sort of work can be done in the evening or on a weekend, so it shouldn’t affect your studies.
Sell Advertising Space on Your Car
Getting your brand in front of eyeballs is most of the battle for advertisers, but that’s good for you because it means you can get paid simply for letting advertisers use your car as an ad. Services like Carvertise will pay you as much as $500 a month to put ads on your vehicle.
Rent Out Your Car
Or you could rent out the whole thing! Car-sharing services like Getaround can connect you with people who need to rent a car, letting you earn a little extra cash. If you’re not using your car at the time, this one is a no-brainer.
Rent Out Your Parking Space
If you have a parking space you’re not using in a part of the world where it’s hard to find parking spaces (we’re looking at you, London), you could rent it out to someone, and put that land to good use.
Transcribe Audio
While speech-to-text recognition is getting better by the day, humans are still often needed to transcribe audio. You don’t need any particular skill for this, but being a good typist will make your life much easier if you decide to take on some transcription work.
Become a Freelancer
If you have a skill, you could just charge people to use it. Whether it’s copywriting, illustration, video production, and more And the good thing about freelancing is that if you like it, freelancing can always become a full career when you are done with your studies.
Become a Social Media Manager
If you have a knack for social media, there are plenty of people out there who do not that would be willing to pay you to help them grow their online presence.
Get a Part-Time Job
And, finally, the obvious one. From tending bar to stacking shelves, there is always the option to go out and get a part-time job, earning money the old fashioned way.
Whether you are considering starting a YouTube channel for business or pleasure, the allure of that big red play button can be hard to resist. YouTube is proven to be a great medium for expanding a brand, bringing attention to your business, or just connecting with an audience over something you are passionate about. And it is for these reasons that so many people want to start a new YouTube channel, even now when there are so many channels out there.
In this post, we’re going to look at some of the mechanical aspects of starting a channel, as well as some tips for how to go about getting those first views, but we wanted to start off by reaffirming your desire to start a channel (we’re assuming you do want to if you’re reading this!)
Is It Worth Starting a YouTube Channel?
One of the main roadblocks to a successful YouTube channel is a reluctance to pull the trigger on that “create channel” button. This can happen because of a variety of reasons—most of which we’ll cover in more detail in a moment—but the important thing to remember is that new channels are being created all the time, and plenty of YouTubers who are successful today started out recently or were shy to begin with or thought their chosen topic wouldn’t get much interest.
Ultimately, the majority of YouTube channels do not achieve the kind of success their creator hopes for, we can’t deny that. Whether they want to achieve financial independence through their content, become an internet megastar, or just find a small audience that is interested in what they are interested in, most don’t make it. But the one thing you can be certain of is that if you don’t start a channel at all, you definitely won’t succeed.
With that in mind, let’s take a look at some of the biggest reasons why people don’t start YouTube channels at all. And then tell you why you shouldn’t let those reasons stop you!
“I’m Too Shy”
Many would-be YouTubers love the idea of starting a channel, but when faced with the prospect of sitting in front of a camera and speaking to strangers on the Internet, they soon find themselves wilting away from the idea.
We’re not going to tell you that the shyness just goes away—though it does get less severe if you stick at it—but we can tell you that you don’t necessarily have to fight that shyness to run a YouTube channel.
There is more than one way to make a YouTube channel, and not all of them involve showing your face. In fact, it’s entirely possible to run a successful YouTube channel without showing your face or speaking! Granted, the style would have to work with your content, but many popular channels are clips shows, use virtual characters in place of on-camera appearances, and make use of text-to-speech technology.
“My Interests Are Too Niche”
Okay, we won’t lie and say there is no such thing as a “too niche” topic when it comes to an entire channel. You can certainly limit your potential audience to the point that you’re never going to hit those YouTube Partner Programme goals if you choose something extremely obscure.
That being said, assuming your interest is not so niche that you could start a support group for it and get everyone in a single room, being niche is actually a good thing!
Having a niche subject matter makes it easier to get noticed and build an audience when you are first starting out. It’s generally better to be laser-focused at the start of your YouTube career, build a small audience, and then gradually expand your niche to broaden the potential audience. So your niche interest could actually be the thing that makes your channel succeed.
“I’m Too Late to the Game!”
YouTube is easily the most popular platform for user-generated video content at the moment, and that popularity can make it a little intimidating to dive in yourself. With so many people already on the platform publishing videos, how can you hope to make a splash of your own?
It’s true that it can be hard to make an impact on YouTube when you’re just starting out, but it is far from impossible. In reality, the vast majority of successful YouTube channels got started under these circumstances. Whether there are two million or twenty million other channels, you’re still going to be trying to make your mark in a very crowded room.
Ultimately, if you release good content on a regular basis, you stand a good chance of succeeding on YouTube, regardless of how many channels are already taking up space on YouTube’s recommendations page.
How to Start a YouTube Channel
So, hopefully, we’ve convinced you that the excuses you’ve been making to yourself for why you shouldn’t start a YouTube channel aren’t valid, now let’s get to how you actually go about it.
Create a Channel
We said we’d cover the basic mechanics of starting a YouTube channel and we weren’t kidding. The first thing you need to do is create a YouTube account if you don’t already have one. There are no stringent requirements for creating an account; as long as you have an email address, you should be good to go. After that simply follow these steps;
Sign in to your YouTube account and click on the user icon at the top right-hand corner of the page.
Click the gear icon to open up your YouTube account’s settings page.
Click “create new channel”.
Choose “Use a business or other name”, enter the name of your channel and away you go!
Choosing Your Channel’s Name
The last part of that list—entering the name of your channel—obviously requires you to know what name you’re going to use. It’s worth putting a good deal of thought into this part of the process before getting started, as changing your channel’s name after it is established can be a bit of a headache.
Now, we want to stress that, while this decision is important, it should not be a decision that keeps you from starting a channel. There is a fine line between giving something due consideration and using that consideration as an excuse to not get started at all.
If you are starting a channel as part of a business or an existing brand, that should make naming a little easier. If you are starting a channel as an individual, it’s important to consider what you want for the channel’s future. For example, if you have plans to one day grow your channel to the point of having a team working on it, perhaps bringing other content creators on board, you will want to steer clear of using your own name, as that links the channel to you specifically, making it a little weird when other people are on there.
Alternatively, if your plans don’t involve anyone but you being in front of the camera, you should consider using your name in the channel name, as it will make it easier for you to parlay any YouTube success into success in other areas.
Set Up Your Channel
With your channel made, you need to spend some time setting up your channel. This means adding things like profile and header images and filling out your about section. You can also arrange how your channel page looks, but don’t worry too much about this until you have a few videos uploaded.
In your about section, make sure you explain what your channel is about, but try to keep it as clear and concise as possible. Many viewers won’t even click to expand the about section, so try to get the basic premise of your channel into the first sentence, but in a way that grabs the reader’s attention.
If you are tying your YouTube channel to something larger—such as a business, brand, or other personal projects—be sure to put links in your information. These should show up in the top right-hand corner of your channel pages, just below the header image.
Start Making Videos
The most important part of being a YouTube is, of course, being a YouTuber! Simply picking out a good name and creating a channel isn’t much use if you don’t then create content for it, regularly.
There is a veritable cornucopia of excuses to not make videos, and we’re not saying they’re all bad reasons. But, as with the channel name choosing, you should not let this become a crutch that you use to stop yourself from doing the deed. Remember, the quality of your video can always improve. The quality of you can always improve. But there’s no reason you can’t be improving while you make content, and there is no better practice than doing.
Just make the best content you can, and always strive to improve.
Keep Going
Once you’ve gotten over that initial hurdle that so many people fall at, you just need to worry about sticking with it. This is one area where bloody-minded persistence isn’t necessarily the best road to take. You should be persistent, yes, but in a smart way.
By ensuring that your channel grows, you will find it much easier to stay motivated and keep putting out new videos. Here are some tips for ensuring that happens.
Work Your Niche
We touched on this before, but a good way to get started as a YouTuber is to really drill down into a niche, finding an audience through the simple act of providing them something that not many others are. And if it’s something nobody else is providing, all the better!
The problem with such a tight niche is that it can severely limit your growth potential. To give an extreme example, if you start a channel based around talking local news for a small town with a population of 700 people, you’re going to struggle to find millions—or even thousands—of viewers who are interested in your content.
As you grow, try to expand your niche slowly and organically to widen your potential audience.
Take Advantage of Search Engine Optimisation
You don’t have to become an SEO expert (though it will certainly help if you do), but you should familiarise yourself with the basics of optimising your videos for being found in YouTube search and even other search engines like Google or Bing.
We’re not going to tell you that you need to upload new videos every day or week to be successful—many popular YouTube channels have upload schedules that involve months between videos—but you do need to be consistent.
If you start off uploading weekly videos and then abruptly don’t put out another video for a few months without warning, it will be a turn off for your viewers, and it will cause YouTube’s algorithm to question whether you are a reliable content creator.
Build a Community
Playing an active role in the community that arises around your channel will ensure you have some degree of influence over how that community develops. It will also give your viewers a strong sense of connection with your content.
You can do this in a number of ways, such as regularly replying to comments, or setting up and actively participating in a Discord server or subreddit.
Monetise Your Channel
When you reach a stage where monetisation is an option (whatever form that comes in), you should strongly consider doing it. YouTube doesn’t need to be about the money, of course, but it is hard work, and it’s much easier to motivate yourself to make time for it if you’re getting something tangible back.
Final Thoughts
YouTube continues to be the premier video platform for user-generated content, and there is still plenty of opportunity there for those willing to put the effort in.
People today understand more than ever the importance of diversifying when it comes to your source of income. After decades of financial crisis’ and global pandemics, younger generations are acutely aware of how risky it is to put all your eggs in one employment basket.
This has always been the case for YouTubers, of course. Since the beginning of YouTubers making money from their content, it has always been the advice for smart YouTubers not to rely solely on YouTube to pay their bills. Adpocalypses, changes to personal situations, and much more can make YouTube earnings evaporate in no time.
Of course, telling you that it’s important to spread your wings a bit financially is all well and good, but we want to go that extra step and give you a few ideas on where you can spread your wings!
A side hustle is defined as any job or occupation that is not your main job or occupation. In a traditional sense, an example of this might be someone working in a factory through the week and then doing a few shifts tending bar on the weekend. In this case, the bar work would be a side hustle.
Of course, things are a little more fluid these days, with the lines between side hustles and a “main job” being a little blurrier, but there is an emotional component that is strong these days than it once was. It is not uncommon for people who make their money online to have something that they consider a side hustle actually be their primary source of income!
Still, whether you classify something as a side hustle based on the money it makes you or how important that activity is to you, the basic premise remains the same; it’s a way of earning money that you consider secondary to another way of earning money.
How Much Money Can You Make With a Side Hustle?
The amount of money you can make with a side hustle will, of course, vary tremendously depending on several factors, such as what the side hustle is, how good you are at it, how much time you put into it, and more.
As mentioned above, how much money it makes does not necessarily affect its status as a side hustle. If you consider YouTube your “primary” hustle, you may well find one of your side hustles overtaking as your largest source of income. Our advice would be to not think too much about things like the exact amounts. As long as you’re making enough (whatever “enough” means to you), it doesn’t matter which hustle is making the most money.
Don’t Think of it as a Side Hustle!
While you should get too hung up on the specific amount being made by any form of hustle, it’s important not to think of things as secondary, or unimportant. If your job involves making money on the Internet, you should consider all of it your job, whether it’s making the most or not.
If you start thinking of legitimate income sources as unimportant, you run the risk of letting them slip until they stop being legitimate income sources. You may think of yourself as a YouTuber, but if you have half a dozen side hustles, they will quickly amount to a significant portion of your income, so you probably literally can’t afford to neglect them.
Top 10 Side Hustles for YouTubers
That’s enough about what side hustles are, it’s time to get to our top ten side hustles for YouTubers. Of course, if you simply searched for side hustles and found this post, you aren’t a YouTuber, don’t stop reading. We’ve picked these ten side hustles because they work well with YouTubing, but they are perfectly viable side hustles for other walks of life, too.
In fact, if you see your main hustle on here (blog writer, or podcaster, for example), just swap that one out for “YouTuber” and keep on reading!
Oh, and a little side note about the YouTube Partner Programme, we haven’t included that in this list because we assume that if you’re looking to add side hustles to your resume, you’re already making money from YouTube.
#1 Affiliate Marketer
Affiliate marketing is perhaps one of the most well-established means of making money on the side for YouTubers. This is the process of promoting something in the course of your usual content and making a little money on the actions taken by your viewers.
The most well-known example of this is, of course, Amazon’s affiliate program. When enrolled as an Amazon affiliate, you will be able to get a personal affiliate link from any Amazon product. Viewers who happen to buy that product will not pay any extra—indeed, they wouldn’t even know it was an affiliate link if you didn’t tell them (more on that in a second)—but you will make a small commission on anything they buy through your links.
There are many forms of affiliate marketing available, as well as services designed specifically to facilitate linking companies with people like you. It should be noted, however, that you should always give some sort of indication to your viewers that a link you have put in the description or a product you are promoting in your video is something you are promoting as an affiliate. It’s not hard to find out, and viewers will be turned off by this kind of dishonesty. It could also get you in trouble with YouTube.
#2 Merchandise Seller
Whether you have some kind of merchandise that exists independent of your YouTube channel, or you start releasing merchandise that ties directly in with your YouTube channel, having that channel can be a great way to promote it.
Naturally, if your merchandise is tied to the channel (for example, t-shirts with the channel logo on them), you’re going to want to promote it from that channel. Alternatively, if you want to start (or already have) a small clothing line, you sell artwork, or you sell pretty much anything on a site like Etsy, you can leverage the popularity of your YouTube channel to give that side hustle a bit of a kickstart.
#3 Course Instructor
Many YouTubers have some area of expertise, even if their channel is not about imparting that expertise. These days, the administrative side of creating and hosting an online course to teach other people things is relatively painless. There’s still a lot of work in putting the course together, of course, but there’s a lot of work in running a YouTube channel, as well, and you’re not letting that stop you… are you?
Of course, if your channel is centred around educating, such as a DIY channel, or tutorials on coding, it will be much easier to translate that audience into an online course. But even channels that are not about teaching viewers something can take advantage of this side hustle, as long as the course is teaching a skill that is on display when you make your videos.
#4 Channel Manager
If you have a particular flair for handling YouTube channels, you might consider turning your attention to becoming a channel manager. Essentially, you would take on the management of other people’s channels, and handle almost everything except for the content itself.
Many people don’t have the time or desire to effectively manage their channel themselves, but proper channel management can make an enormous difference. As you will no doubt be aware of this is a side hustle you are considering.
The main thing to beware of here is letting this side hustle take over. A good channel manager will typically have several clients. And, while managing a channel doesn’t take nearly as much time as making content for it, it all adds up if you keep adding clients to your roster.
#5 Blogger
Bloggers may resent seeing their profession listed as a side hustle on a YouTube blog—especially since blogging was a viable source of income before YouTube—but don’t be mad; YouTube can just as rightly be called a side hustle for bloggers. And the good news is this makes sense whichever way round you look at it.
Essentially, you have something to share with an audience, and you are currently doing it in video form. By translating that content to written form, you can reach a whole new audience. Or you can make it supplemental, giving your YouTube audience something else to consume.
#6 Podcaster
In a very similar vein to being a blogger, you can get more of your message out in audio-only form through podcasts. And, again, if you are a podcast, you can easily look at this suggestion in reverse, with YouTube being the side hustle.
This suggestion works best for channels that already have a podcast-like feel, such as panel show channels, or interview channels. If you regularly put out hour-long videos that are mostly talking, you’re going to miss out on a lot of viewers purely because of the time requirements. Not everyone has that much free time to sit and watch YouTube.
Those same people might have an hour’s worth of commuting to do every day, or regularly go for a job and like to listen to something while they do. They might just want something to put on while they do a bit of cleaning around the home. If your content is already podcast-like, putting it out as a podcast will involve negligible work. And, if it succeeds, it could drive more traffic to your YouTube channel.
Of course, you can still make a podcast if your channel isn’t the kind of channel described above. As long as you have something interesting to talk about, you can find an audience.
#7 Produce Video Content
This one is a little trickier. As we mentioned above in the channel manager section, creating content for a channel is the most time-consuming part, so the idea of producing video content for others might not seem like the best plan.
While you could certainly produce video content for other YouTube channels, we’re suggesting something more specialist, such as making animations idents, or infographic clips. If you have a skill for this kind of thing, there will undoubtedly be plenty of people and companies that are happy to pay for your services.
#8 Stock Trader
This one doesn’t really tie in to you being a YouTuber unless your YouTube channel revolves around you being a stock trader, or talking about stock trading in some form. If this isn’t you, you can still get into stock trading (or currency trading), to earn a little (or a lot) extra on the side, just be sure you know what you’re doing. We categorically do not recommend anyone dabbling in the stock market without knowing what they’re doing beforehand.
#9 Become a Consultant
You don’t have to make content to take advantage of your expertise. Consultancy work is a great way for you to exploit your own knowledge while helping others. One example of this could be helping other YouTubers grow their channel (assuming you have proven yourself able to do this in the first place of course!), but it could just as easily be any other area of expertise you have.
#10 Champion a Cause
This one is kind of cheating. You won’t necessarily make any money from championing a good cause, but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t do it. Whether it’s planting trees or donating to charities, you have the power to make an impact.
Final Thoughts
YouTube is undoubtedly a great platform for launching other projects, whether they are passion projects, side hustles, or even new careers. The list above is a relatively small selection of the possibilities for adding new hustles to your game, so don’t worry if none of the above work for you.
Of course, if all else fails, your side hustle could always be other YouTube channels.
Top 5 Tools To Get You Started on YouTube
Very quickly before you go here are 5 amazing tools I have used every day to grow my YouTube channel from 0 to 30K subscribers in the last 12 months that I could not live without.
1. VidIQ helps boost my views and get found in search
I almost exclusively switched to VidIQ from a rival in 2020.
When I first started I threw things together in Window Movie Maker, cringed at how it looked but thought “that’s the best I can do so it’ll have to do”.
Big mistake!
I soon realized the move time you put into your editing and the more engaging your thumbnails are the more views you will get and the more people will trust you enough to subscribe.
That is why I took the plunge and invested in my editing and design process with Adobe Creative Suite. They offer a WIDE range of tools to help make amazing videos, simple to use tools for overlays, graphics, one click tools to fix your audio and the very powerful Photoshop graphics program to make eye-catching thumbnails.
Best of all you can get a free trial for 30 days on their website, a discount if you are a student and if you are a regular human being it starts from as little as £9 per month if you want to commit to a plan.
3. Rev.com helps people read my videos
You can’t always listen to a video.
Maybe you’re on a bus, a train or sat in a living room with a 5 year old singing baby shark on loop… for HOURS. Or, you are trying to make as little noise as possible while your new born is FINALLY sleeping.
This is where Rev can help you or your audience consume your content on the go, in silence or in a language not native to the video.
A GREAT way to find an audience and keep them hooked no matter where they are watching your content.
4. PlaceIT can help you STAND OUT on YouTube
I SUCK at making anything flashy or arty.
I have every intention in the world to make something that looks cool but im about as artistic as a dropped ice-cream cone on the web windy day.
That is why I could not live on YouTube without someone like PlaceIT. They offer custom YouTube Banners, Avatars, YouTube Video Intros and YouTube End Screen Templates that are easy to edit with simple click, upload wizard to help you make amazing professional graphics in minutes.
5. StoryBlocks helps me add amazing video b-roll cutaways
I mainly make tutorials and talking head videos.
And in this modern world this can be a little boring if you don’t see something funky every once in a while.
I try with overlays, jump cuts and being funny but my secret weapon is b-roll overlay content.
I can talk about skydiving, food, money, kids, cats – ANYTHING I WANT – with a quick search on the StoryBlocks website I can find a great looking clip to overlay on my videos, keeping them entertained and watching for longer.
Given the body of work on this website and the YouTube channel, this topic may seem a little unexpected. It shouldn’t be, however, as knowing your alternatives allows you to make the best of any situation. There are times where YouTube isn’t the best platform for a particular piece of content, and it’s not necessarily a failing on YouTube’s part.
In this post, we’re going to look at some of the top YouTube alternatives, outline what makes them different (if anything), and talk about when and why you might want to use them over YouTube in some cases. But, before we get into the alternatives, there’s something we need to address.
Online Platform Competition
It’s perfectly normal to think of comparisons like this as a competition, but that’s not really applicable most of the time. When you consider services like Netflix and Amazon Prime, you can make a direct comparison because the services are essentially offering the same thing. They can enter into this kind of battle because there is a lot of subjectivity about who is better. If you like the shows on Netflix more, you’re going to prefer that service. In this manner, both services can co-exist.
Things are a little different for platforms like YouTube. Essentially, everyone is striving to offer something a little different, because going into direct competition is dangerous. If one platform manages to get a significant upper hand, it can spell the end for the other platform.
So, what does this mean for this post? Simply put, when directly comparing YouTube to an alternative, the “best” platform will often come down to how you are using it.
Anyway, enough of the caveats, let’s get to the alternatives!
Top YouTube Alternatives
Bear in mind that these alternatives are in no particular order. We’re not saying the first on the list is the “best”.
Twitch
Probably the most widely known user-generated video streaming service out there is Twitch, the Amazon-owned gaming platform. Now, if you know anything about Twitch, you will already know an important difference here.
Twitch is primarily a live streaming service.
While YouTube has recently started moving into the live streaming business in a big way, Twitch is mostly focused on it. There is some functionality to upload videos to Twitch as you would with YouTube, but you need to have Partner or Affiliate status to gain access to that functionality. Additionally, the service really isn’t intended for this kind of content, so don’t expect anywhere near the levels of engagement (or revenue) as you would get from a YouTube upload.
For live streaming, however, Twitch is really the only other game in town. In fact, it’s more than fair to say (for now) that Twitch is the top dog when it comes to live streaming. If your content is heavy on the live streaming, you won’t find a more ideal platform with as large a potential audience as Twitch can offer, other than YouTube that is.
DailyMotion
When talking about direct competition for YouTube, DailyMotion is probably the closest thing you will get to a service that tries to beat YouTube at its own game. It even has a similar layout and many of the same features, such as playlists, recommendations, and categories.
The main appeal of DailyMotion is the restrictions, of which there are fewer. Of course, there are still limitations on what you can upload, but you are far less likely to run into trouble with DailyMotion over things like graphic content and nudity than you are with YouTube.
There are also fewer users, which in turn means less money to be made. The flip side of this is that the general quality of user-generated content tends to be higher. Another downside is that users are limited to 4GB of uploads unless they are a pro user, which means paying a subscription fee.
Metacafe
Metacafe, like DailyMotion, offers a recognisably YouTube-like service, though it actually predates YouTube having been around since 2003. The focus for Metacafe is on shorter content (imagine some kind of lovechild between TikTok and YouTube), and tends to be of a lighthearted nature.
As a creator, you can get paid making content on Metacafe, with the going rate being about $5.00 per 1,000 views.
Vimeo
Vimeo started out very much a YouTube competitor, but over the years has grown into a more specific niche that has worked very well for it. If we could offer a single phrase to compare Vimeo to YouTube, it would be “quality over quantity”.
Don’t get us wrong, we love YouTube, but there is a lot of low-quality content on there. Vimeo isn’t going to give your fill of funny animal videos, but you will find award-winning shorts, premium events, and a range of other high-quality types of content.
Vimeo enforces strict quality guidelines to ensure that this level of quality is maintained. They also place quite heavy restrictions on their users, such as a 500MB per month upload limit, though you can pay to upgrade to a 5GB per month limit.
Final Thoughts
If you were looking for an alternative to YouTube that offers exactly the same service, the closest thing you’re going to find is DailyMotion, though the service isn’t identical, and the userbase is far smaller. For users making independent movies or other types of higher-quality content, Vimeo is probably the way to go. Streamers need look no further than Twitch.
Ultimately, every service has its strengths and weaknesses, but for the service offered by YouTube, you’re not going to find a like-for-like alternative that does things as well. It’s all about deciding what you need and looking for the service that does that the best.
Of course, these are certainly not the only alternatives online, so we thought we’d include a few honourable mentions that didn’t make the cut;
Vevo
9GAG TV
DTube
Crackle
Internet Archives Video Section
Some of these are alternatives in a purely viewing sense, but again, it’s all about what you need from your video streaming service.
Top 5 Tools To Get You Started on YouTube
Very quickly before you go here are 5 amazing tools I have used every day to grow my YouTube channel from 0 to 30K subscribers in the last 12 months that I could not live without.
1. VidIQ helps boost my views and get found in search
I almost exclusively switched to VidIQ from a rival in 2020.
When I first started I threw things together in Window Movie Maker, cringed at how it looked but thought “that’s the best I can do so it’ll have to do”.
Big mistake!
I soon realized the move time you put into your editing and the more engaging your thumbnails are the more views you will get and the more people will trust you enough to subscribe.
That is why I took the plunge and invested in my editing and design process with Adobe Creative Suite. They offer a WIDE range of tools to help make amazing videos, simple to use tools for overlays, graphics, one click tools to fix your audio and the very powerful Photoshop graphics program to make eye-catching thumbnails.
Best of all you can get a free trial for 30 days on their website, a discount if you are a student and if you are a regular human being it starts from as little as £9 per month if you want to commit to a plan.
3. Rev.com helps people read my videos
You can’t always listen to a video.
Maybe you’re on a bus, a train or sat in a living room with a 5 year old singing baby shark on loop… for HOURS. Or, you are trying to make as little noise as possible while your new born is FINALLY sleeping.
This is where Rev can help you or your audience consume your content on the go, in silence or in a language not native to the video.
A GREAT way to find an audience and keep them hooked no matter where they are watching your content.
4. PlaceIT can help you STAND OUT on YouTube
I SUCK at making anything flashy or arty.
I have every intention in the world to make something that looks cool but im about as artistic as a dropped ice-cream cone on the web windy day.
That is why I could not live on YouTube without someone like PlaceIT. They offer custom YouTube Banners, Avatars, YouTube Video Intros and YouTube End Screen Templates that are easy to edit with simple click, upload wizard to help you make amazing professional graphics in minutes.
5. StoryBlocks helps me add amazing video b-roll cutaways
I mainly make tutorials and talking head videos.
And in this modern world this can be a little boring if you don’t see something funky every once in a while.
I try with overlays, jump cuts and being funny but my secret weapon is b-roll overlay content.
I can talk about skydiving, food, money, kids, cats – ANYTHING I WANT – with a quick search on the StoryBlocks website I can find a great looking clip to overlay on my videos, keeping them entertained and watching for longer.
Like many new trends on YouTube and beyond, there are plenty of question marks around virtual YouTubing. What sets these questions apart, however, is that the head-scratching over other YouTube trends tends to be along the lines of “why do people watch this?”, whereas, with virtual YouTubers, it is often literally a question of how it works.
Virtual YouTubers, a type of YouTuber that uses a digital avatar as their on-screen persona, typically use innovative motion tracking software to copy their movements in real-time and animate their 3D avatar automatically. There are different ways that this can be achieved, as well as different software options for achieving it.
In this post, we’re going to take as much of an in-depth look into the way virtual YouTubing works as we can without drifting into the realms of computer science and other topics that might need a masters degree to understand. So, if you’re curious and have asked yourself “how do virtual YouTubers work?” keep reading!
What is a Virtual YouTuber?
We’ll keep this section brief as the question of what a virtual YouTuber—or VTuber—is, can be quite in-depth, which is why we already have a dedicated post on that very thing. This post is going to assume you already know (hence why you’re curious how they work) but for anyone who isn’t, here’s a quick primer.
Virtual YouTuber channels present themselves like a regular YouTube channel with the exception that the YouTuber in question is a digital avatar that is brought to life by the person or people behind the channel. These avatars are often in the style of Japanese anime, but there is really no limit to what a virtual YouTuber can be, which is a big part of the appeal for this kind of channel.
How Do Virtual YouTubers Work?
There are a few stages to the process of running a virtual YouTuber channel, and they can each seem a little daunting to the uninitiated.
While it is true that the technology behind much of this is both remarkable and complex, the end-user experience is actually quite simple. It is often a statement on how far technology has come that we can do things on our phone that would have taken a team of experts and a lot of expensive equipment weeks or months to do in the past.
Let’s take a look at the different stages involved and what they entail.
Avatar Creation
We’re going to call this the first step on the road to a virtual YouTube channel. Now, granted, the actual first step would be coming up with a premise for your channel, as well as things like a format and possibly making branding decisions. However, that first step is not unique to virtual YouTubing, since you should be doing that with any new YouTube channel.
A digital avatar is something you can animate that will serve as the on-screen personality. It may just be something to look at while the YouTuber talks, or it may be a fully-fledged persona, like a character that the YouTuber is acting the part of. We’re going to give you three examples of different styles of virtual YouTuber to illustrate (pun intended) the methods used.
It should be noted that not all of these examples refer to themselves as virtual YouTuber, though that does not mean they don’t technically fit the definition.
Old School Animation
Our first example is a channel called Code Bullet. This style of virtual YouTubing is perhaps the most time consuming, and we’d only recommend this as an artistic choice since the money you might need to spend to use the other two methods could easily be justified by the time saved in not doing things this way.
Code Bullet creates videos where he does things like tries to create an AI that can play Tetris, or an AI that can play the perfect game of Snake. The on-screen visuals are accompanied by an illustrated avatar of a human body with an old-school computer monitor for a head.
Now, if you were to adopt this method and animate every frame, you would be in for a difficult time indeed. Code Bullet videos have been known to creep over the half-hour mark on occasion, which would mean a lot of work if he were creating smooth animations for the entire thing.
As it turns out, Code Bullet has a few tricks up his sleeve to lighten the workload. Firstly, his avatar is not on-screen the entire time, which reduces the amount of animation required. And, secondly, the avatar is not properly animated. Instead, individual poses are drawn, and the avatar snaps between them. It would make for a jarring animation style in a cartoon or animated movie, but it works well for Code Bullet and suits the style of video.
For this style of digital avatar, you would need some artistic flair to be able to create the artwork, or perhaps hire an artist or enlist the help of a talented friend to do it for you. It would be ideal if you could do it yourself because you would always be able to get new illustrations as you need them. As we said, though, this method is easily the most time-consuming.
Live 2D Animation
For this style of digital avatar, you would still need the artwork to create your avatar, but the ongoing process of running the channel will be much easier. Our example for this kind of avatar is Gawr Guru, a VTuber who plays videos games through the persona of a girl with questionable maths skills but impressive gaming skills. These 2D avatars are “rigged” so that they can be animated naturally, almost to the point that they look three dimensional.
This is done by moving parts of the 2D animation together so that the overall effect is one of natural motion. For example, move the face to the right a little while keeping the head stationary and you get the effect of the avatar looking a little bit to the side.
There are many applications available for the creation of these very things, making the process of creating a ready-to-animate digital avatar as easy as the average character creator in a video game. Some of these applications also take care of the animation part of the process (which we’ll get to shortly) while others just handle making the avatar itself. It is also possible to pay other people to create a rigged avatar for a relatively small price. The main downside to this style is that the technology is limited in terms of what you can do with the avatar. The above example of moving the face slightly works to great effect… but only if you move the face slightly. If you move it a lot, it starts to look unnatural. And, of course, you can only the parts of the avatar you have the artwork for. The software can’t guess at what the back of your avatar’s head looks like.
Live 3D Animation
Opting for a 3D avatar is probably the most costly option in time or money (or both) in terms of getting things set up. Once you are ready to go, however, the operation of a 3D avatar is no more complicated than a 2D avatar, but with the added bonus that you have far more options in terms of movement.
Our example for this style is AI Angel, a virtual YouTuber who makes a lot of types of content along the same lines as an account like PewDiePie, but does so from the persona of an artificial intelligence.
3D avatars are complete three-dimensional models, meaning they have no limitations on what angle you can film them from, what positions you can put them in, or what props you can have them work with.
The downside to this style is that it takes a lot more work to set up—especially if you want your avatar to look realistic (cartoonish avatars are easier to make). It will also require more computing power, the more detailed your avatar and their environment are. A relatively simple avatar probably won’t tax your system too much, but if your computer is already straining to live stream, record video, and play video games at the same time, adding a complicated 3D avatar into the mix might be the straw that broke the camel’s back.
Animating the Avatars
Once the digital avatar is ready, it’s time to think about animating it. This section only applies to the live 2D and 3D animation styles—if you are using the traditional illustration method mentioned above, your animation style is drawing more frames for your avatar. Like we said; it’s not the quickest method.
The main benefit to having rigged avatars is that they can be animated in real-time; there just needs to be something to animate them. Fortunately, there is plenty of software to take care of this.
Now, you could animate your avatars by hand, though it would be an incredibly time-consuming way to go about it. Granted, it would be much quicker than the traditional method of drawing each frame of your avatars animations, but it would still be far more time-consuming than the alternative.
The alternative in question, of course, is motion capture.
Motion capture works by tracking parts of your body and translating them to the same parts of your avatars body. So, you raise your hand; the software sees that your hand is raised and raises your avatar’s hand. The two most common ways of achieving this motion capture are through video-based motion recognition, and through the use of motion-sensitive devices like virtual reality controllers.
The trade-offs between the two are fairly straight forward. Using motion-sensitive devices such as a VR headset and controllers will usually give you more accurate movements, avoiding the kinds of jerky stuttering movements that can sometimes happen with inaccurate motion-capture. The downside, however, is that you have to wear said devices. This may not be an issue for you, but most people would probably opt to carry out a task without a bulky VR helmet on if they had the option.
Conversely, video-based recognition is much less invasive. It tracks your movements through your webcam, or the camera on your phone, making it far easier to use and more natural feeling. If you hadn’t already guessed, the downside to this method is that it is less accurate, and the range of motion it can track is more limited. For example, if you were to spin around three hundred and sixty degrees, a VR setup would be able to detect that, whereas a video-recognition-based system would likely get confused.
What to Styles and Methods to Choose?
So, you’re ready to start a virtual YouTube channel of your own? Fortunately, the decision-making process is relatively simple here. Firstly, we can almost universally discount traditional animation as an option. Unless you absolutely must have a particular style that can’t be replicated with live animation methods, the additional time it takes to animate your avatar just isn’t worth it.
As for the choice between live 2D and 3D animation, if you intend to do a lot of movement—especially if you are animating a lot of your avatars body and not just the upper part—you should go with 3D. The range of motion available to you with a 2D avatar will not do the trick. On the other hand, if you do not need all that freedom of movement, 2D avatars are easier to make and less resource-intensive on your computer.
As for the method of animating your live avatar, you may be able to rule out VR devices on cost alone. If you have a VR headset and controllers already, or money is no object, and you can afford to buy one, that’s great. But if you don’t have one, you could be looking at a lot of money to get one, which may be enough of a reason to go video-recognition-based. If both options are on the table, go with the VR option if you intend to make a lot of body motion that needs animating. Otherwise, a good webcam and decent lighting will be a far more sensible option.
Top 5 Tools To Get You Started on YouTube
Very quickly before you go here are 5 amazing tools I have used every day to grow my YouTube channel from 0 to 30K subscribers in the last 12 months that I could not live without.
1. VidIQ helps boost my views and get found in search
I almost exclusively switched to VidIQ from a rival in 2020.
When I first started I threw things together in Window Movie Maker, cringed at how it looked but thought “that’s the best I can do so it’ll have to do”.
Big mistake!
I soon realized the move time you put into your editing and the more engaging your thumbnails are the more views you will get and the more people will trust you enough to subscribe.
That is why I took the plunge and invested in my editing and design process with Adobe Creative Suite. They offer a WIDE range of tools to help make amazing videos, simple to use tools for overlays, graphics, one click tools to fix your audio and the very powerful Photoshop graphics program to make eye-catching thumbnails.
Best of all you can get a free trial for 30 days on their website, a discount if you are a student and if you are a regular human being it starts from as little as £9 per month if you want to commit to a plan.
3. Rev.com helps people read my videos
You can’t always listen to a video.
Maybe you’re on a bus, a train or sat in a living room with a 5 year old singing baby shark on loop… for HOURS. Or, you are trying to make as little noise as possible while your new born is FINALLY sleeping.
This is where Rev can help you or your audience consume your content on the go, in silence or in a language not native to the video.
A GREAT way to find an audience and keep them hooked no matter where they are watching your content.
4. PlaceIT can help you STAND OUT on YouTube
I SUCK at making anything flashy or arty.
I have every intention in the world to make something that looks cool but im about as artistic as a dropped ice-cream cone on the web windy day.
That is why I could not live on YouTube without someone like PlaceIT. They offer custom YouTube Banners, Avatars, YouTube Video Intros and YouTube End Screen Templates that are easy to edit with simple click, upload wizard to help you make amazing professional graphics in minutes.
5. StoryBlocks helps me add amazing video b-roll cutaways
I mainly make tutorials and talking head videos.
And in this modern world this can be a little boring if you don’t see something funky every once in a while.
I try with overlays, jump cuts and being funny but my secret weapon is b-roll overlay content.
I can talk about skydiving, food, money, kids, cats – ANYTHING I WANT – with a quick search on the StoryBlocks website I can find a great looking clip to overlay on my videos, keeping them entertained and watching for longer.
While the depth and breadth of content that can be found on YouTube has grown immensely since the early days of wall to wall vloggers, it seems as though the jump cut will forever be considered synonymous with YouTube.
YouTubers use jump cuts to speed up the pace of the video, to hide mistakes and/or to keep you engaged for longer than just simple talking head videos. If you are moving around the screen it helps the video flow better and gives the viewer something new to focus on, preventing viewer fatigue.
That being said, even today there are plenty of channels that make use of the technique, with perennial favourites like Philip DeFranco—who arguably helped push jump cutting to the forefront of YouTube consciousness—still doing their thing all these years later. But why do they do it? Or, for that matter, what is it?
We’re going to answer both of those questions and more, so settle in, and let’s get started.
What is a Jump Cut?
The proper definition of a jump cut is a sudden transition from one scene to another. That is, no fading in and out, no special effects, just one frame you are looking at one scene, and the next frame you are looking at a different one.
This is the definition of a jump cut as it applies to things like television and cinema, but the YouTube variant is a little different.
In the context of YouTube, a jump cut does not need to cut to a different scene, and often doesn’t. Jump cuts on YouTube are far more often used to cut from one part of a scene to a later part of a scene, essentially snipping out the intervening footage. This is possible because the idea of YouTube jump cuts is established. What would once have been considered messy, unprofessional editing is now a style, and viewers have become used to it and don’t wonder what’s gone wrong with the video when jump cuts happen and the YouTuber snaps from one position to another.
Of course, it is still a jump if it does cut from one scene to another—the established definition still applies when relevant—it is just that, on YouTube, it is more often used in this manner.
Why do YouTubers Jump Cut?
So, now that you know what a jump cut is, why do YouTubers use them? There are a few reasons why this technique is so popular, so we’ve broken them up into the big ones.
Give the Video More “Punch”
You don’t need to be an expert in psychology to understand that the average attention span of a human being, shall we say, not what it used to be. Sure, the subject matter of a video can be enough to draw people in if they are interested enough, but on an online platform like YouTube, dry, slow content will not bring in the new viewers.
Jump cuts allow a YouTube to speed up the flow of their video so that the beats of the content hit closer together, leaving the viewer less time to become disinterested and click away to something else.
Reduce “Dead Air”
On a very similar note to the last one, jump cuts provide a handy method for cutting out some of the more awkward pauses, sniffles, sneezes, and mistakes that might otherwise have required a reshoot of a particular part of the video.
As we mentioned above, the fact that jump cuts are now something viewers are used to makes it possible to use jump cuts to edit out mistakes without having to worry about continuity between the remaining footage. If the YouTuber suddenly cuts from one position to another, that’s just the style of the video.
Keep the View Time Down
If you have a lot to get through, jump cuts can be a great way to keep the overall time of the video down, since excessively long runtimes can be off-putting in certain niches.
Keep the Editing Time Down
Jump cuts are quite possibly the lowest-effort method of cutting a video together, short of paying someone else to do it for you. Almost all YouTubers start out doing everything for themselves, including editing. And, when they are trying to upload multiple videos a week—often around a job or education—anything that saves time on the overall process of making the video will be welcomed. It is said that, on average, you will spend five hours editing for every one hour of footage you recorded, so this is certainly an area to focus on when trying to save time.
Fast Talking is More Persuasive
One way or another, you are trying to persuade your viewers of something. You might have a point you are trying to get across or the persuasion might just be that you want them to keep watching. Well, it turns out fast talkers are more persuasive and, while a jump cutting YouTube might not be a particularly fast talker in day to day life, jump cuts allow them to create the impression of fast speech by cutting out the gaps between sentences.
Comedy
A well-timed jump cut can be pretty funny. That’s all there is to this one.
Monologuing is Hard
Granted, scripting makes things a lot easier, but sitting in front of a camera and talking for three to ten minutes solid is no easy task. And, unless you are planning on hosting a late night show, it’s not a skill that has a great deal of use in mastering. With jump cuts you can dive into your monologues without worrying about getting through the whole thing in one take.
When Not to Use Jump Cuts
As long as that list of reasons why YouTubers use jump cuts is, they are not perfect in all situations, as most things aren’t. Here are a few reasons to steer clear of using jump cuts in your YouTube videos.
You Want the Viewer to Digest What You’re Saying
Jump cuts are fine for getting relatively light information across. The aforementioned Philip DeFranco makes good use of them, but DeFranco covers daily news and entertainment stories. He occasionally dives into big topics, but there’s rarely anything you need to fully engage your brain on.
For something like a VSauce or a PBS Spacetime, a jump cut format would be wholly inappropriate, because the presenters want the information to get across in a methodical, thorough way, and bombarding you with key points on something like the physics of a black hole will likely overwhelm you (unless you happen to be an astrophysicist of course).
You’re a Slow Talker
All the notes about how fast talkers are persuasive and how “dead air” can be a turn off for the viewer aside, some people are just slow talkers, and it’s not always something you can do anything about. This isn’t a death knell in your YouTube dream’s coffin, of course, but you need to play to your strengths. If you can string fast sentences together, jump cutting works. But if you speak slowly, jump cuts will look awkward and stilted.
It Reduces Your Watch Time
Now, let’s be clear, we are not suggesting you stuff your videos with awkward silences and drawn out sentences just to increase the watch time, but if your content sits well without the jump cuts, this could be a reason not to add them.
As most of you probably know, watch time is one of the most important metrics to improve when you are looking at boosting your visibility in the YouTube algorithm, not to mention increasing the revenue you get from the YouTube Partner Programme. The more time people spend watching your content, the more ads YouTube can show and the more likely they are to promote your videos in the future.
Just remember, this only works if people watch your videos. Having a thirty-minute video will do you no good if viewers click away after two minutes because the content is boring.
The Non Sequitur Jump Cut
All the talk so far has assumed the jump cuts being used are done so in a linear fashion, such as would be the case if someone recorded a five-minute monologue and then used jump cuts to edit out all the “uhm”’s and “ah”’s.
A well established convention on YouTube is the non sequitur jump cut, which is almost like a regular jump cut, only instead of cutting from scene to scene, it is cutting from one train of thought to another. This is often used to interject small asides, almost like footnotes in a book, and allows the YouTuber to add more context to a topic, or interject their personal take on something they are talking about in otherwise neutral tones.
Final Thoughts
The jump cut, like many techniques and tools at a YouTubers disposal, is a powerfully useful thing when used correctly. And, like most useful things, it can be overdone. If you cut too often, you can very easily give your video a white noise feel, where the information is coming at the viewer so fast that it is hard to absorb.
Used correctly, however, it can make a video punchier, more entertaining, and better-flowing. And, like all things on YouTube and in life, you can learn how best to utilise jump cuts with practice… but looking at other YouTubers who do it well won’t hurt, either.
Top 5 Tools To Get You Started on YouTube
Very quickly before you go here are 5 amazing tools I have used every day to grow my YouTube channel from 0 to 30K subscribers in the last 12 months that I could not live without.
1. VidIQ helps boost my views and get found in search
I almost exclusively switched to VidIQ from a rival in 2020.
When I first started I threw things together in Window Movie Maker, cringed at how it looked but thought “that’s the best I can do so it’ll have to do”.
Big mistake!
I soon realized the move time you put into your editing and the more engaging your thumbnails are the more views you will get and the more people will trust you enough to subscribe.
That is why I took the plunge and invested in my editing and design process with Adobe Creative Suite. They offer a WIDE range of tools to help make amazing videos, simple to use tools for overlays, graphics, one click tools to fix your audio and the very powerful Photoshop graphics program to make eye-catching thumbnails.
Best of all you can get a free trial for 30 days on their website, a discount if you are a student and if you are a regular human being it starts from as little as £9 per month if you want to commit to a plan.
3. Rev.com helps people read my videos
You can’t always listen to a video.
Maybe you’re on a bus, a train or sat in a living room with a 5 year old singing baby shark on loop… for HOURS. Or, you are trying to make as little noise as possible while your new born is FINALLY sleeping.
This is where Rev can help you or your audience consume your content on the go, in silence or in a language not native to the video.
A GREAT way to find an audience and keep them hooked no matter where they are watching your content.
4. PlaceIT can help you STAND OUT on YouTube
I SUCK at making anything flashy or arty.
I have every intention in the world to make something that looks cool but im about as artistic as a dropped ice-cream cone on the web windy day.
That is why I could not live on YouTube without someone like PlaceIT. They offer custom YouTube Banners, Avatars, YouTube Video Intros and YouTube End Screen Templates that are easy to edit with simple click, upload wizard to help you make amazing professional graphics in minutes.
5. StoryBlocks helps me add amazing video b-roll cutaways
I mainly make tutorials and talking head videos.
And in this modern world this can be a little boring if you don’t see something funky every once in a while.
I try with overlays, jump cuts and being funny but my secret weapon is b-roll overlay content.
I can talk about skydiving, food, money, kids, cats – ANYTHING I WANT – with a quick search on the StoryBlocks website I can find a great looking clip to overlay on my videos, keeping them entertained and watching for longer.
Fair warning, dear reader; this is going to be one of those posts that doesn’t really give you a definitive answer. At least, not in all cases.
The issue of copyright is one that has been a thorn in the side of copyright holders, content creators, and user-generated content platforms since… well, since user-generated content platforms became a thing. Using content that you do not own the rights to is a dicey business, and one that can land you in trouble with YouTube. But at the same time, there are situations where it is perfectly acceptable. And, of course, there are messy grey areas in between.
In this post, we’re going to do our best to cover all the basics, so, if you’ve been wondering how much of a video can you use legally, keep reading!
The Video Matters
The main reason that there is no definitive answer to this question is that how much of a video you can legally use depends entirely on the video, as well as other factors around the video. Let’s start from the good and work our way to the bad.
Public Domain Videos
Public domain videos are the best-case scenario when it comes to video content you want to use. This is because public domain content is completely free for anyone to use for any purpose. You can clip it, remix it… you can even repost it in its entirety, though YouTube will prevent you from monetising that kind of thing.
Public domain means that the copyright has expired, and the work has passed into the public domain. This also means no one can copyright it, however, works that incorporate public domain content can be copyrighted if they have been sufficiently modified from the original content.
Creative Commons
If you can’t find public domain content that suits your needs, Creative Commons is the next best thing. You will need to pay attention to the specific licence, however, because there are several flavours of Creative Commons, and they all have different stipulations.
For example, a CC0 licence is, for intents and purposes, the same as public domain works. CC0 is a “no rights reserved” licence that can be used for anything and does not require attribution. There are also versions of the Creative Commons licence that require attribution, or that are free to use for personal work only, and so on.
Other Types of Free Licence
There are several other types of licence out there that will allow you to use content without worrying about the copyright, but you should always check the specifics of each licence. For example, the Against DRM Licence becomes void if DRM is placed on the work using the licenced content.
Copyrighted Content
And here we get to, unfortunately, the most common type of content you are likely to want to use in your videos. The reality, most of the content will be copyrighted, and, depending on the copyright holder, it may be an almost impossible prospect to get permission.
If the copyright holder is a large corporation—like Viacom, or Disney—you can pretty much kiss goodbye to any hope of legally using the content. It’s not impossible, but if you can even get a response from them, they’ll probably ask for an extortionate amount of money.
If the copyright holder is another YouTuber—especially a YouTuber of similar or smaller stature to yourself—then your chances of getting permission go up somewhat. Whether they say yes will still come down to their preferences and what you intend to do with the content, but you should at least be able to talk to them about it.
Fair Use
Fair Use is a complicated topic that deserves more than a small section in this blog post, so we won’t try to cover everything here. To sum it up, however, the concept of fair use says that you should be able to use copyrighted material for limited and transformative purposes without the permission of the copyright holder. Some examples of fair use include commentary videos, and parody.
Unfortunately, there is no rigidly defined concept of what constitutes fair use, and it is not a law as such, but a defence. That means that fair use would not come into play until after you have been sued, and are in court defending yourself. Needless to say, companies like Disney are not shy about breaking out the lawyers, and they probably have more money than you.
So, while the concept of fair use is appealing, the practical nature of it means you can still fall afoul of copyright holders, no matter how reasonable your interpretation of fair use is.
False Flags
Another problem to be aware of is copyright holders claiming content that they do not have the rights to claim. This can happen in situations where the content has similar audio to some copyrighted content, or where the copyrighted content features some public domain or Creative Commons licenced work. It is nearly always the result of YouTube’s Content ID system, which automatically checks for copyright infringement.
Unfortunately, there are no checks in place to verify that the “copyright holder” actually owners the copyright to the content they are claiming. In most cases, you should be able to counter-claim it and, as long as it was an honest error, the claim will be removed.
Final Thoughts
As a general rule, you should strive to avoid using content that you didn’t create as much as possible. Granted, there are situations where it’s just not possible, but there will always be additional baggage with content you don’t own, even if it’s just YouTube demonetising the video for re-using existing content.
If you do have to use content from elsewhere, be sure to check the copyright status of it, and pay attention to any licencing that might apply.
And, if you are relying on fair use, it’s best not to push the boundaries of the fair use description… unless that’s precisely what you’re going for, of course.
Top 5 Tools To Get You Started on YouTube
Very quickly before you go here are 5 amazing tools I have used every day to grow my YouTube channel from 0 to 30K subscribers in the last 12 months that I could not live without.
1. VidIQ helps boost my views and get found in search
I almost exclusively switched to VidIQ from a rival in 2020.
Within 12 months I tripled the size of my channel and very quickly learnt the power of thumbnails, click through rate and proper search optimization. Best of all, they are FREE!
2. Adobe Creative Suite helps me craft amazing looking thumbnails and eye-catching videos
When I first started I threw things together in Window Movie Maker, cringed at how it looked but thought “that’s the best I can do so it’ll have to do”.
Big mistake!
I soon realized the move time you put into your editing and the more engaging your thumbnails are the more views you will get and the more people will trust you enough to subscribe.
That is why I took the plunge and invested in my editing and design process with Adobe Creative Suite. They offer a WIDE range of tools to help make amazing videos, simple to use tools for overlays, graphics, one click tools to fix your audio and the very powerful Photoshop graphics program to make eye-catching thumbnails.
Best of all you can get a free trial for 30 days on their website, a discount if you are a student and if you are a regular human being it starts from as little as £9 per month if you want to commit to a plan.
3. Rev.com helps people read my videos
You can’t always listen to a video.
Maybe you’re on a bus, a train or sat in a living room with a 5 year old singing baby shark on loop… for HOURS. Or, you are trying to make as little noise as possible while your new born is FINALLY sleeping.
This is where Rev can help you or your audience consume your content on the go, in silence or in a language not native to the video.
A GREAT way to find an audience and keep them hooked no matter where they are watching your content.
4. PlaceIT can help you STAND OUT on YouTube
I SUCK at making anything flashy or arty.
I have every intention in the world to make something that looks cool but im about as artistic as a dropped ice-cream cone on the web windy day.
That is why I could not live on YouTube without someone like PlaceIT. They offer custom YouTube Banners, Avatars, YouTube Video Intros and YouTube End Screen Templates that are easy to edit with simple click, upload wizard to help you make amazing professional graphics in minutes.
5. StoryBlocks helps me add amazing video b-roll cutaways
I mainly make tutorials and talking head videos.
And in this modern world this can be a little boring if you don’t see something funky every once in a while.
I try with overlays, jump cuts and being funny but my secret weapon is b-roll overlay content.
I can talk about skydiving, food, money, kids, cats – ANYTHING I WANT – with a quick search on the StoryBlocks website I can find a great looking clip to overlay on my videos, keeping them entertained and watching for longer.
Public domain video is a great source of content for clips, transformative projects, and, frankly, just entertainment.
Public domain video—and any other content, such as audio and text—is completely free of copyright, and can be consumed for free, as well as used in other media without having to seek permission.
Naturally, with YouTube being easily the largest distributor of free-to-consume video around, there is plenty of public domain video on YouTube… if you know where to look. Though this is by no means an exhaustive list, we’ve collected together some good channels for public domain content.
What is “Public Domain”?
If you’re not sure what public domain means, it is essentially a piece of content that has either passed naturally out of copyright due to age, been released from copyright by the copyright holder, or was never copyrighted in the first place.
Public domain material has no licencing requirements or restrictions, and can be used in part or in whole for any purpose, including commercial. A popular example of someone using public domain content to make something new is the 2009 novel, Pride and Prejudice and Zombies by Seth Grahame-Smith. This novel uses the original text from the classic novel, Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen, but adds more narrative, turning the story of 19th-century English aristocracy into one set amidst a world full of zombies.
If you are interesting in uploading public domain content to your YouTube channel, check this post out.
Public Domain Movies YouTube
Cinema has been around for a long time, and there are many movies that, either by quirks of copyright law, a filmmakers generous nature, or just the length of time since they were made, have passed into the public domain. Here are some channels where you can find entire public domain movies.
Public Domain Films
As the name of the channel suggest, Public Domain Films uploads entire public domain movies. There is a lot of variety here, from 7-minute shorts to full 90-minute movies. Some are in colour, some are relatively recent. There are films as recent as the late 1980s on there.
Public Domain Movies — Classic Movies Free
Much the same as above, Public Domain Movies has a wide selection of full movies that are in the public domain. This channel also has a selection of playlists, breaking those movies up into genres to make it easier to find something you like.
Public Domain Cinema
Public Domain Cinema is, broadly speaking, the same as the previous two suggestions, though with over 300 films, they are bound to have some public domain movies that Public Domain Films and Public Domain Movies don’t have.
Public Domain Music YouTube
Public domain media is not limited to movies, and there can be just as much of a demand for public domain music. Here are a few channels that deliver that very thing.
Audio Library
Audio Library is a channel dedicated to collecting copyright-free music for creators to use in their projects. And, with over four million subscribers, it is an incredibly popular resource.
It should be noted that not everything on this channel is public domain—there is a lot of Creative Commons music, and other licences that allow people to use the music freely while not being public domain. For most use-cases, this will be a minor detail, but if you are planning on using the audio in your videos, you should always make sure you know what the licencing and copyright situation is.
Public Domain Classical Music
Being one of the oldest genres to be recorded, it shouldn’t be surprising that there is a lot of classical music in the public domain. Public Domain Classical Music is a channel dedicated to just that.
Public Domain Music
Public Domain Music doesn’t have a gimmick or specialisation, but it is another source of public domain music that you can use in your videos without having to ask permission. You can also just enjoy listening to it, if you wish.
Why is Public Domain Content on YouTube?
You might be wondering why anyone goes to the trouble of uploading public domain videos and music to YouTube, and there are a couple of answers to this.
The first answer is pretty straightforward; money. There is no copyright on public domain videos, which means there is no restriction on what you can do with it, and that includes monetising it. Populate a channel with hundreds of public domain videos, promote it, and rake in the cash, right?
Well, not exactly. While this has no doubt worked for some, YouTube has a policy against monetising duplicate content, even if there are no copyright issues at play.
The second reason is accessibility. You see, while public domain content is free, the distribution is not. If a book publisher does a printing run of a popular novel that is now in the public domain, you can’t demand they give you the book for free because they still paid for the printing and the paper. Likewise, any online video host is paying for the bandwidth and storage of that content, and the fact that they are hosting public domain materials does not obligate them to give you access.
However, YouTube allows free access to all its normal video content, so uploading public domain videos and music to YouTube is a great way to make sure it is available to everyone for free.
Final Thoughts
If we’re being completely honest, you’re probably not looking for public domain content to consume it. The chances are, if you’re the kind of person who is interested in obscure movies from 1923, you’ve probably already seen them.
The more likely reason, of course, is that you want to use public domain media in your videos, and that is a perfectly legal and acceptable thing to do under the current laws.
Can you monetize public domain footage? – Just remember that you can’t simply re-upload public domain content wholesale and expect to monetise it. YouTube will let you upload it, but they won’t let you monetise it as it will be considered re-used content.
Top 5 Tools To Get You Started on YouTube
Very quickly before you go here are 5 amazing tools I have used every day to grow my YouTube channel from 0 to 30K subscribers in the last 12 months that I could not live without.
1. VidIQ helps boost my views and get found in search
I almost exclusively switched to VidIQ from a rival in 2020.
When I first started I threw things together in Window Movie Maker, cringed at how it looked but thought “that’s the best I can do so it’ll have to do”.
Big mistake!
I soon realized the move time you put into your editing and the more engaging your thumbnails are the more views you will get and the more people will trust you enough to subscribe.
That is why I took the plunge and invested in my editing and design process with Adobe Creative Suite. They offer a WIDE range of tools to help make amazing videos, simple to use tools for overlays, graphics, one click tools to fix your audio and the very powerful Photoshop graphics program to make eye-catching thumbnails.
Best of all you can get a free trial for 30 days on their website, a discount if you are a student and if you are a regular human being it starts from as little as £9 per month if you want to commit to a plan.
3. Rev.com helps people read my videos
You can’t always listen to a video.
Maybe you’re on a bus, a train or sat in a living room with a 5 year old singing baby shark on loop… for HOURS. Or, you are trying to make as little noise as possible while your new born is FINALLY sleeping.
This is where Rev can help you or your audience consume your content on the go, in silence or in a language not native to the video.
A GREAT way to find an audience and keep them hooked no matter where they are watching your content.
4. PlaceIT can help you STAND OUT on YouTube
I SUCK at making anything flashy or arty.
I have every intention in the world to make something that looks cool but im about as artistic as a dropped ice-cream cone on the web windy day.
That is why I could not live on YouTube without someone like PlaceIT. They offer custom YouTube Banners, Avatars, YouTube Video Intros and YouTube End Screen Templates that are easy to edit with simple click, upload wizard to help you make amazing professional graphics in minutes.
5. StoryBlocks helps me add amazing video b-roll cutaways
I mainly make tutorials and talking head videos.
And in this modern world this can be a little boring if you don’t see something funky every once in a while.
I try with overlays, jump cuts and being funny but my secret weapon is b-roll overlay content.
I can talk about skydiving, food, money, kids, cats – ANYTHING I WANT – with a quick search on the StoryBlocks website I can find a great looking clip to overlay on my videos, keeping them entertained and watching for longer.
Anyone whose familiar with the topic of YouTube as a money-making opportunity will be familiar with the concept of niches.
If you’re not, all you really need to know for this post is that some niches are worth more to advertisers than others, and the more valuable a niche, the more revenue it has the potential to generate for YouTubers.
Choosing the right niche (or niches) is key to not only ensuring that your channel is financially successful, but also to ensuring that you can maintain the kind of momentum necessary to stick at it long enough to be successful. With that in mind, we’ve picked out seven of the highest paid niches on YouTube.
It’s best to pick a niche you are interested in, but that doesn’t mean you can’t lean towards a more valuable niche that you’re interested.
And now, in no particular order…
Affiliate Marketing
It probably shouldn’t come as a surprise that one of the best paying niches on YouTube is about another way of earning money.
Affiliate marketing—earning income through referrals—typically commands a CPM (cost per thousand views) of around $12 to $22, and is probably the highest paying niche available.
Because affiliate marketing is such a viable way to succeed, there is a lot of interest in affiliate marketing products and, as a result, a lot of interest in advertising said products And, because YouTube ads work on a bidding system, the more interest there is in advertising something, the more money those advertisements will generate.
Personal Finance
Our next pick, and something that you might see as establishing a bit of a trend on this list, is personal finance.
Being financially successful is about more than finding ways to make lots of money, you also need to manage your money well, and more of us are coming to learn that.
That’s where personal finance products come in. These might be anything from debt management consultations to services and software for tracking your finances. Videos making content in this niche can expect to see a CPM of between $4 and $12.
Business Advice
In much the same vain as the personal finance pick, business advice is also a very lucrative niche, often commanding CPMs in excess of $10. This one makes a lot of sense, as more and more opportunities for small businesses become accessible to regular people, more of us are looking to start a business of our own.
It could be a craft brewery, a 3D print on demand business, an Etsy store, or any number of other ways to start a business without hundreds of thousands in capital. But those people still need advice on running a business, which is why this niche is so competitive.
Drop Shipping
Very much continuing the theme of our last pick, drop shipping is a business model whereby a business owner markets and sells products that another company stocks and ships, that company being a drop shipping company.
This works to both companies advantage, as the smaller company does not need to worry about purchasing and storing lots of expensive stock, and the larger company does not need to worry about things like customer service.
There isn’t a great deal to be said about print on demand that wasn’t said in our drop shipping pick because the basic business model is very similar, and so are the CPM figures.
Many drop shipping services will offer a print on demand component on some of their products, allowing companies to offer those products with their own branding.
Trading and Investing
It’s probably obvious to you now that all of the highest paid niches on YouTube are ones that revolve around finances in some form or another, so you shouldn’t be surprised to see investing and trading on here.
Videos on the hows and whys of investing, as well as tips for those brave YouTubers who are willing to put that information out there, do very well in their own right, but content in this niche that trading platforms, signal services, and the multitude of investing and trading related services and products can advertise on routinely see CPMs as high as $18.
Content Creation
Our last pick might not be the most lucrative in terms of CPM—typically around $5 to $10, if you were wondering—but it is probably the most relevant to anyone reading this post.
Content creation is big business these days, whether it is creating content on video platforms like YouTube, or making podcasts, writing blog posts, or any number of other ways to make things and put them out into the world.
Crucially, there is a seemingly endless supply of products, tools, and services to help people in their content creation endeavours, which means there is plenty to advertise about.
Final Thoughts
While the niches shown here are hot right now, this is very much a volatile marketplace, and there are so many factors that can affect it.
If you can find a niche you are comfortable working in and interesting in making content for, you are in the ideal position as a YouTuber, because you will enjoy what you do.
We understand that many YouTubers don’t necessarily have that luxury, however, and it is sometimes necessary to hunt for the niche that makes the most financial sense. As with most areas of online revenue generation, the best advice you can take here is to not put all of your eggs in one basket.
If you focus everything on one niche, and that niche takes a dive for some unforeseeable reason, you will find yourself in a sticky spot.
If you can diversify your content and tackle multiple niches in different areas, you stand a much better chance of withstanding any dramatic changes to any single niche’s popularity.
Top 5 Tools To Get You Started on YouTube
Very quickly before you go here are 5 amazing tools I have used every day to grow my YouTube channel from 0 to 30K subscribers in the last 12 months that I could not live without.
1. VidIQ helps boost my views and get found in search
I almost exclusively switched to VidIQ from a rival in 2020.
Within 12 months I tripled the size of my channel and very quickly learnt the power of thumbnails, click through rate and proper search optimization. Best of all, they are FREE!
2. Adobe Creative Suite helps me craft amazing looking thumbnails and eye-catching videos
When I first started I threw things together in Window Movie Maker, cringed at how it looked but thought “that’s the best I can do so it’ll have to do”.
Big mistake!
I soon realized the move time you put into your editing and the more engaging your thumbnails are the more views you will get and the more people will trust you enough to subscribe.
That is why I took the plunge and invested in my editing and design process with Adobe Creative Suite. They offer a WIDE range of tools to help make amazing videos, simple to use tools for overlays, graphics, one click tools to fix your audio and the very powerful Photoshop graphics program to make eye-catching thumbnails.
Best of all you can get a free trial for 30 days on their website, a discount if you are a student and if you are a regular human being it starts from as little as £9 per month if you want to commit to a plan.
3. Rev.com helps people read my videos
You can’t always listen to a video.
Maybe you’re on a bus, a train or sat in a living room with a 5 year old singing baby shark on loop… for HOURS. Or, you are trying to make as little noise as possible while your new born is FINALLY sleeping.
This is where Rev can help you or your audience consume your content on the go, in silence or in a language not native to the video.
A GREAT way to find an audience and keep them hooked no matter where they are watching your content.
4. PlaceIT can help you STAND OUT on YouTube
I SUCK at making anything flashy or arty.
I have every intention in the world to make something that looks cool but im about as artistic as a dropped ice-cream cone on the web windy day.
That is why I could not live on YouTube without someone like PlaceIT. They offer custom YouTube Banners, Avatars, YouTube Video Intros and YouTube End Screen Templates that are easy to edit with simple click, upload wizard to help you make amazing professional graphics in minutes.
5. StoryBlocks helps me add amazing video b-roll cutaways
I mainly make tutorials and talking head videos.
And in this modern world this can be a little boring if you don’t see something funky every once in a while.
I try with overlays, jump cuts and being funny but my secret weapon is b-roll overlay content.
I can talk about skydiving, food, money, kids, cats – ANYTHING I WANT – with a quick search on the StoryBlocks website I can find a great looking clip to overlay on my videos, keeping them entertained and watching for longer.
There are often question marks over the legalities and practicalities of using content that you didn’t create your YouTube channel. For many situations, the answer is quite clear. For example—if you want to just upload an entire modern movie that is still in copyright, the answer is a resounding no. You will get a copyright strike for that, and possibly worse if you persist.
For other situations, the answer may be dependent on what you mean by your question. For example, can I upload public domain movies on YouTube? From a legal standpoint, yes. Absolutely. But let’s reframe that question. Can I make money uploading public domain videos on YouTube? No. No you cannot.
The context of the question is important, because if you are just looking to upload the video with no ulterior motive—perhaps you are trying to create an archive of something—then there is no problem. But if you want to monetise your content, we have a problem.
Can you reuse content on YouTube?- YouTube’s Stance on Reused Content
While it’s true that most of YouTube’s policies and service changes stem from a direct or indirect way to increase revenue, it’s not always immediately obvious how a particular change might help with that.
In the case of public domain content, there are no copyright holders to sue anyone, and the content is still subject to the same rules regarding monetisation as everything else, so what could the problem be?
Well, fewer viewers mean less ad revenue, and less appealing content means fewer viewers. If the same content is appearing in several videos across multiple channels, that content is going to lose its value to the viewer. Moreover, it makes YouTube as a hole look less valuable.
If someone is searching for something and comes across the same content several times, they’re less likely to search there in future.
So, when YouTube detects content that already exists on YouTube—even when that content is not copyrighted—it will demonetise it. This isn’t an unofficial rule, they explicitly mention it in their monetisation policy.
Other Public Domain Problems
Though not technically a problem in terms of YouTube policies, there are other issues you might run into when using public domain content in your videos.
Not Really Public Domain
There is nothing to stop someone uploading content to a hosting service and claiming it is public domain. That is, nothing except for the copyright holder. However, if you use said content, you will be responsible for your copyright infringement all the same.
It may not seem fair, that’s the way of the Internet. The only way to definitive prove that a piece of work is public domain is to have it checked out by an expert, which isn’t exactly practical. If you stick to trusted sources, you should be fine. Some random WordPress blog isn’t an ideal source, however.
False Flags
While we don’t doubt that there are unscrupulous devils out there who are prepared to flag a public domain video for copyright violations that don’t exist, the risk of false flags actually comes from a more innocent—though no less frustrating—place.
YouTube’s Content ID system is a way for eligible YouTube channels to have YouTube automatically flag content that it recognises as someone else’s. This is used by TV studios, record labels, and more. The problem is, sometimes these eligible YouTubers use public domain content themselves, and the Content ID system doesn’t always know that. It just knows that the content they uploaded belongs to them, and you have just uploaded content that contains something identical to their content. The fact that it’s identical because you both got it from the same place doesn’t factor in.
In most cases, this mistake should be solvable with a simple counter-claim. Unless the copyright holder at the other end of the claim is an unsavoury individual with no morals, it should be quickly resolved.
Try to Use Original Content
Regardless of whether you are using public domain footage, Creative Commons, or legally licensed video, it’s a good idea to use original content as much as possible. A good metric to strive for is an 80/20 split, with 80% of the content you create consisting of your own original footage. Of course, that’s not going to be possible in all situations. For example, channels that offer commentary on real events will always have a large portion of their content consisting of footage they don’t technically own. But, if it’s possible, you should certainly strive for as little third party footage as you can get away with.
Why Use Public Domain?
If you’re new to the concept of public domain, and you’re wondering what’s so appealing about it, public domain works are works that are not under any copyright. They could have been intentionally released to the public domain at some stage, or they could have passed into the public domain after their copyright term expired.
These works essentially do not have an owner, so they cannot be “stolen”. Transformative works—that is, new works that use public domain content in a way that significantly changes it from the source material—can be copyrighted, however.
To give you a couple of examples, a content creator who includes a minute of public domain content in their video cannot claim ownership of that minute of video. However, someone could release a public domain video in its entirety with their face in the corner giving commentary, and claim that specific video, even though it contains all of the public domain content.
Final Thoughts
Anything that is public domain is essentially fair game for anyone to do anything (within the law, of course), but you should ask yourself what you are trying to achieve. Many attempts to make money using public domain content would fall flat for one reason or another, and end up being nothing more than a waste of time.
However, if you are using public domain content as part of a more complex video, you can certainly pull that off.
Top 5 Tools To Get You Started on YouTube
Very quickly before you go here are 5 amazing tools I have used every day to grow my YouTube channel from 0 to 30K subscribers in the last 12 months that I could not live without.
1. VidIQ helps boost my views and get found in search
I almost exclusively switched to VidIQ from a rival in 2020.
When I first started I threw things together in Window Movie Maker, cringed at how it looked but thought “that’s the best I can do so it’ll have to do”.
Big mistake!
I soon realized the move time you put into your editing and the more engaging your thumbnails are the more views you will get and the more people will trust you enough to subscribe.
That is why I took the plunge and invested in my editing and design process with Adobe Creative Suite. They offer a WIDE range of tools to help make amazing videos, simple to use tools for overlays, graphics, one click tools to fix your audio and the very powerful Photoshop graphics program to make eye-catching thumbnails.
Best of all you can get a free trial for 30 days on their website, a discount if you are a student and if you are a regular human being it starts from as little as £9 per month if you want to commit to a plan.
3. Rev.com helps people read my videos
You can’t always listen to a video.
Maybe you’re on a bus, a train or sat in a living room with a 5 year old singing baby shark on loop… for HOURS. Or, you are trying to make as little noise as possible while your new born is FINALLY sleeping.
This is where Rev can help you or your audience consume your content on the go, in silence or in a language not native to the video.
A GREAT way to find an audience and keep them hooked no matter where they are watching your content.
4. PlaceIT can help you STAND OUT on YouTube
I SUCK at making anything flashy or arty.
I have every intention in the world to make something that looks cool but im about as artistic as a dropped ice-cream cone on the web windy day.
That is why I could not live on YouTube without someone like PlaceIT. They offer custom YouTube Banners, Avatars, YouTube Video Intros and YouTube End Screen Templates that are easy to edit with simple click, upload wizard to help you make amazing professional graphics in minutes.
5. StoryBlocks helps me add amazing video b-roll cutaways
I mainly make tutorials and talking head videos.
And in this modern world this can be a little boring if you don’t see something funky every once in a while.
I try with overlays, jump cuts and being funny but my secret weapon is b-roll overlay content.
I can talk about skydiving, food, money, kids, cats – ANYTHING I WANT – with a quick search on the StoryBlocks website I can find a great looking clip to overlay on my videos, keeping them entertained and watching for longer.
It’s only natural in today’s data-saturated world to assume that content creators have access to a vast wealth of information about their viewers. And that assumption would be correct; YouTubers can see a great deal of information about the people who watch their content.
YouTubers cannot see who is watching their videos. Most YouTubers would LOVE to see who watched their videos, but this is not possible.
There are many data points for YouTubers to explore, but those data points stop short of telling you things like who is watching, liking, and sharing your content.
Can YouTubers See Who Viewed Their Video?
Of course, when we say YouTubers can’t see who has viewed their video, we just mean that there is no stat or dashboard panel that will show you your recent views, nor is there a link you can click on for a given video that will take you to a list of viewers. There are ways to infer some of your viewers, however.
For example, it is safe to assume that anyone who has commented on a video (and is not obviously spamming) has watched it. It’s not exactly of practical use from a data analysis point of view, but it may be useful in some cases.
What Can YouTubers See?
In terms of names, there are only two significant situations in which a YouTuber can see the who, and those are comments and subscribers.
Comments are a given, as every comment has a username attached to it. Not only that, you can click on them to head of to that user’s YouTube page. If they are also a YouTuber, this is a nice, easy way of getting to their channel if you want to check something out. It’s also sometimes abused by people posting all manner of attention grabbing comments in the sole hope that you will click on their name.
Subscribers are a little more complicated. YouTubers can see who has subscribed to their channel if the user in question has that feature enabled. Users can choose to keep their subscriptions private, which prevents them from showing up in the YouTuber’s subscriber list. They still count towards the total subscribers figure, of course, there’s just no way of knowing who they are.
Analytics
If there is one thing that Google is known for… after search… and AdSense… and a veritable graveyard of projects… it’s analytics. Google collects an immense amount of data about the people using its various platforms, and for the people who make Google money, Google likes to make life as easy as possible for them by giving them access to as much of that vast treasure trove of data as possible.
Can YouTubers see who viewed their video? No. But can they see what percentage of their viewers were white men in their mid-thirties residing in England? Absolutely.
A big part of Google’s data collection is anonymisation. Google themselves might not have opted to do things this way if they’d had the choice… but they didn’t have the choice.
So YouTubers can see a great deal of information that gives them insight into the type of person that is watching their video. Essentially, they can see demographics. They can see if the majority of their viewers are male or female, or if they are in the United States, even what device they are watching the videos on.
What the YouTubers do with that information is their own business, but if you are a viewer worrying about what your favourite YouTuber might be able to see about you; don’t worry, there’s no way for them to link any of the data they can see to you.
Why Would YouTubers Need to See Who is Viewing Their Videos?
The truth is; they don’t. This may go a long way to explaining why YouTube don’t let YouTubers see who is viewing their videos, but there really isn’t much benefit, and some of the ways YouTubers might use this information are even negative.
For example, if a YouTuber has been targeting another YouTuber with less-than-friendly behaviour, and finds that their victim has been watching their videos, it could add more fuel to their unsavoury fire.
On the flip side, there is no added value to being able to put usernames and accounts to the analytical data YouTube provides. Knowing that a specific person is watching your content doesn’t give you any significant insight into your channel’s performance, so why bother?
What Else Does YouTube Hide?
The names of viewers isn’t the only thing YouTube keeps from its content creators. YouTubers also can’t see the names of people who have liked or disliked their videos. In fact, the only time YouTube is explicit about a like is when the YouTuber themselves clicks the little heart on a comment for their video.
It is also not possible to directly tell who has shared your videos, though this particular metric is quite easy to find through other means, as it involves essentially just searching for links to your video.
Final Thoughts
In today’s privacy-concerned world, where huge corporations are routinely harvesting and selling our data, it’s understandable to be concerned about what information about you is being passed around behind the scenes.
It’s important to remember that, just because YouTube aren’t making your account name available to the YouTubers you watch, they are still collecting vast amounts of data about you, and you have to be comfortable with that if you want to use the platform as a logged-in user.
That being said, the typically unpopular part of this kind of data collection is less about personal safety—after all, your data is anonymised—and more about the fact that the company—YouTube in this case—is profiting from your data. The counter to this, of course, is that you agree to YouTube’s terms of service when you use their platform, and all of this is covered in those terms.
Regardless of the reason for your interest in this topic, we can say confidently that YouTubers cannot see who has viewed their videos.
Top 5 Tools To Get You Started on YouTube
Very quickly before you go here are 5 amazing tools I have used every day to grow my YouTube channel from 0 to 30K subscribers in the last 12 months that I could not live without.
1. VidIQ helps boost my views and get found in search
I almost exclusively switched to VidIQ from a rival in 2020.
Within 12 months I tripled the size of my channel and very quickly learnt the power of thumbnails, click through rate and proper search optimization. Best of all, they are FREE!
2. Adobe Creative Suite helps me craft amazing looking thumbnails and eye-catching videos
I have been making youtube videos on and off since 2013.
When I first started I threw things together in Window Movie Maker, cringed at how it looked but thought “that’s the best I can do so it’ll have to do”.
Big mistake!
I soon realized the move time you put into your editing and the more engaging your thumbnails are the more views you will get and the more people will trust you enough to subscribe.
That is why I took the plunge and invested in my editing and design process with Adobe Creative Suite. They offer a WIDE range of tools to help make amazing videos, simple to use tools for overlays, graphics, one click tools to fix your audio and the very powerful Photoshop graphics program to make eye-catching thumbnails.
Best of all you can get a free trial for 30 days on their website, a discount if you are a student and if you are a regular human being it starts from as little as £9 per month if you want to commit to a plan.
3. Rev.com helps people read my videos
You can’t always listen to a video.
Maybe you’re on a bus, a train or sat in a living room with a 5 year old singing baby shark on loop… for HOURS. Or, you are trying to make as little noise as possible while your new born is FINALLY sleeping.
This is where Rev can help you or your audience consume your content on the go, in silence or in a language not native to the video.
5. Shutterstock helps me add amazing video b-roll cutaways
I mainly make tutorials and talking head videos.
And in this modern world this can be a little boring if you don’t see something funky every once in a while.
I try with overlays, jump cuts and being funny but my secret weapon is b-roll overlay content.
I can talk about skydiving, food, money, kids, cats – ANYTHING I WANT – with a quick search on the Shutterstock website I can find a great looking clip to overlay on my videos, keeping them entertained and watching for longer.
In the interests of not leading you on, let’s just say straight at the top here; this is not going to be one of those posts that poses a question and gives you a straight forward answer, because when it comes to the best frame rate for YouTube, there is no direct answer.
However, my personal opinion as somebody who has been creating content on YouTube is – 24fps is a universally accepted baseline for YouTube frame rate quality for vlogging, educational videos and normal every day use. 30fps 60fps and higher is optimal for gamers and any higher is personal choice and only really needed for advanced video editing and slow motion content.
Like many things in the YouTubing world, the answer to this question varies substantially depending on what type of content you are making, and what your personal circumstances are.
We’re going to do our best to lay it all out for you so that, while we can’t just say “this is the best frame rate for YouTube”, you should at least have all the information you need to determine the best frame rate for you.
Cinematic vs YouTube
When uploading videos to YouTube, it’s crucial to consider the optimal frame rate to ensure a smooth viewing experience for your audience. Frame rate, expressed in frames per second (fps), is the frequency at which consecutive images (frames) are displayed in a video.
The ideal frame rate depends on the type of content, audience preferences, and devices used for playback. Here’s a breakdown of common frame rates, their suitability, and comparisons:
24 fps (Cinematic):
Standard frame rate for films and cinematic content.
Gives a “film look” due to motion blur.
Not ideal for fast-paced action, sports, or gaming content.
30 fps (Television Standard):
Common frame rate for television content, including news broadcasts and sitcoms.
A good balance between smooth motion and manageable file sizes.
Suitable for most content types, including vlogs, tutorials, and interviews.
60 fps (Smooth Motion):
Ideal for fast-paced action, sports, gaming, and high-quality live streams.
Offers very smooth motion and minimal motion blur.
May result in larger file sizes and longer upload times.
Frame Rate Comparisons
Frame Rate
Pros
Cons
Best for
24 fps
Film look, smaller file sizes
Not ideal for fast-paced content
Films, cinematic content
30 fps
Balance of smoothness and file size
Not as smooth as 60 fps
Vlogs, tutorials, general content
60 fps
Very smooth motion, minimal motion blur
Larger file sizes, longer upload times
Fast-paced action, sports, gaming
Examples:
A vlogger sharing travel experiences might choose 30 fps for a good balance of smoothness and manageable file sizes.
A gaming channel showcasing high-action gameplay would benefit from using 60 fps to capture the fast-paced action without sacrificing quality.
A short film or narrative content creator might opt for 24 fps to achieve the cinematic look.
The best frame rate for YouTube depends on the type of content you’re producing and your target audience’s preferences.
For most general content, 30 fps is a safe choice. However, for more cinematic content or fast-paced action, consider using 24 fps or 60 fps, respectively.
What Are Frame Rates? Why does YouTube Frame Rate Matter?
When you boil it down to its most basic components, video is essentially just a sequence of regular still images shown in quick succession.
Before the days of digital media, these image were stored on film and literally rolled in front of a bright light at a set speed to get the effect of moving pictures projected onto a screen, but these days we can just store it all in a digital file.
Frame rate is, quite literally, the rate at which the images—or “frames”—rush past your vision. If the frame rate is too low, the video will start to look more like a slide show than a video. If the frame rate is too high, the video will look fine but over a certain threshold, the human eye ceases being able to tell the difference, and those extra frames don’t come for free, as we’ll get into later in the post.
Shooting Frame Rate Vs Showing Frame Rate
The frame rate you shoot video at is not necessarily the frame rate you will show the video at. Two well known examples of this are silent movies and slow motion.
Silent movies were shot at the very limit of where film stops looking like motion and starts looking like choppy slideshow footage—typically between 16 and 18 frames per second. However, to give the final result a more fluid feel, they were shown at between 20 and 24 frames per second, which is also why movies from this era have that comical sped-up look to them.
At the other end of the spectrum, slow motion footage will often be shot at much higher frame rates than the human eye can discern, such as 480, and even 960 frames per second. The footage is then shown at something more reasonable, like 30 or 60 frames per second, with the result being much slower video.
How to Choose the Best Frame Rate for Your YouTube Channel – What Frame Rate Should I Use?
So, now that you know what the main variables are and how they affect your footage, how do you go about settling on a frame rate for your content?
Again, we can’t give any definitive answers that will suit everyone, but we can give you some firm guidelines that should steer you to the right answer.
Remember, we’re talking about the frame rate that you show export your videos at, not necessarily the frame rate you shoot at.
What is the lowest frame rate for YouTube? [The Hard Floor]
Unless you are recreating the old silent movie effect we were talking about, you should never use a frame rate lower than 24 frames per second.
Below this speed your video will start to look choppy, giving the impression of low quality footage, or possibly Internet connectivity issues.
Even YouTube suggests that a lower frame rate(below 24 FPS), you will experience choppy quality, and the video will seem like it’s lagging in real-time. As a matter of historical fact, 24FPS for movies was initially agreed upon back in 1926 by projectionists, as motion pictures hit the talkies.
What is the highest frame rate on YouTube? [The Pointless Ceiling]
Showing video over 120 frames per second goes beyond what the human eye can distinguish, and so is wasted. And we’re being generous with 120, the truth is it’s closer to 75 frames where our eyes tap out.
The quality of the video will look fine, of course, but you will be putting a lot of unnecessary file size (not to mention processing time when editing) into your videos for little-to-no gain on the end result.
What is max frame rate for YouTube? – In 2014 YouTube added 60fps but that has been its top end frame rate every since. After years of capping video playback at 30 frames per second. Back in June 2014, YouTube announced that 60 FPS video playback was on the way in “the coming months.
Does YouTube support 120 fps videos? – No. YouTube currently supports up to 60fps HD video playback on Chrome and Safari. However, If you upload a 120fps video to YouTube, it will be converted to 60fps automatically for compatibility and compression.
What is the difference between 60fps and 120fps? – A 60Hz monitor refreshes the screen 60 times a second, so at 60 fps there is a frame drawn every time the screen refreshes, and at 120 fps there is a frame drawn every time the screen refreshes and once in between refreshes, so it’s not shown on the screen but does get drawn.
How much does frame rate cost? [Economics]
Good video recording equipment is not cheap, and it gets more expensive when you need it to do more, such as record at higher frame rates.
If money is no object for you then you can disregard this point entirely, but if, like the vast majority of us, you have to work within budgetary constraints, you might want to prioritise your spending. If the best camera you have can only shoot in 720p, you should look to upgrade it when you can, but 720p video is not the end of the world.
On the other hand, if you are shooting your video in 4K, but you have had to drop the frame rate and other settings because your hardware isn’t up to the task of editing and exporting, you need to ask yourself if 4K is really that important to your channel.
Style
Finally, when all other factors have been considered, we come to the stylistic reasons for choosing a frame rate. As a general rule, 30 frames per second is fine for the majority of content on YouTube. If you are filming something cinematic—perhaps a short film—you will want to drop the frame rate to 24, as that is the standard rate for movies, and our brains recognise it as such.
On the other hand, if you are just vlogging or shooting regular footage, 30 frames per second avoids the weird disconnect we get from seeing footage that is shot in a cinematic frame rate but isn’t actually cinematic. If you are shooting action footage—a point of view recording of you surfing, for example—you will want to bump that frame rate up to at least 60, if not 90 or 120 frames per second. The lower number of frames is most evident when things are moving fast, and that tends to be the case for action footage.
If you are doing something like slow motion, however, you will probably have a bit of frame rate adjustment to take care of, but if you’re making slow motion videos, you probably don’t need us to tell you that.
The middle ground lies when you are shooting footage that contains both. An example of this might be a “follow-cam” shot of a skateboarder, where you would have normal speed footage as they skate along, but switch to slow motion when they do a trick. In this case it would make more sense to shoot the whole thing in the higher frame rate and deal sort it all out in editing.
Adjusting Frame Rates in Editing
Frame rates can be adjusted after the fact, but it’s important to remember that, at the moment, you should avoid reducing the frame rate to something lower than what it was shot in. At least with the regular software tools we have today.
Because there will still be the same amount of frames available, slowing down the footage will result in that slide show effect we talked about. There are clever AI-based tools being developed that can interpolate between two frames and insert more frames to make the transition smoother, but at the time of writing, these tools are far from perfect and not widely available.
Increasing the frame rate—which will have the effect of speeding up the footage—should be fine, since the process is just cutting out frames and squashing the remaining ones together. It is always easier to remove information than it is to add it.
Recording Equipment
These days, if you are buying a dedicated recording device that is not a webcam, you won’t need to think about frame rate unless you are doing something like slow motion. Generally speaking, all cameras will offer at least 24 and 30 frames per second recording, with most cameras also offering 60 frames per second. If you are happy with the quality of the video itself, the frame rate will be fine.
If you are shooting something like slow motion, you will need a special camera for that, but you probably already knew that. It’s also worth noting that, with the ever-impressive quality of phone cameras, many YouTubers are forgoing expensive cameras and just using their iPhone or Android, and who can blame them? The quality is great on those little devices these days.
Final Thoughts
Frame rates are typically the kind of thing that you don’t think about unless what you’re doing is intrinsically linked to it—such as is the case with slow motion video. For the most part, YouTubers are more concerned with things like the resolution, especially with more and more 4K displays hitting the market every day. And the truth is there is no need to think about it for many YouTubers. For most of us, we can buy a camera, set it to a recording pre-set, and the frame rate it spits out will be perfectly fine for the content we are making.
Top 5 Tools To Get You Started on YouTube
Very quickly before you go here are 5 amazing tools I have used every day to grow my YouTube channel from 0 to 30K subscribers in the last 12 months that I could not live without.
1. VidIQ helps boost my views and get found in search
I almost exclusively switched to VidIQ from a rival in 2020.
Within 12 months I tripled the size of my channel and very quickly learnt the power of thumbnails, click through rate and proper search optimization. Best of all, they are FREE!
2. Adobe Creative Suite helps me craft amazing looking thumbnails and eye-catching videos
When I first started I threw things together in Window Movie Maker, cringed at how it looked but thought “that’s the best I can do so it’ll have to do”.
Big mistake!
I soon realized the move time you put into your editing and the more engaging your thumbnails are the more views you will get and the more people will trust you enough to subscribe.
That is why I took the plunge and invested in my editing and design process with Adobe Creative Suite. They offer a WIDE range of tools to help make amazing videos, simple to use tools for overlays, graphics, one click tools to fix your audio and the very powerful Photoshop graphics program to make eye-catching thumbnails.
Best of all you can get a free trial for 30 days on their website, a discount if you are a student and if you are a regular human being it starts from as little as £9 per month if you want to commit to a plan.
3. Rev.com helps people read my videos
You can’t always listen to a video.
Maybe you’re on a bus, a train or sat in a living room with a 5 year old singing baby shark on loop… for HOURS. Or, you are trying to make as little noise as possible while your new born is FINALLY sleeping.
This is where Rev can help you or your audience consume your content on the go, in silence or in a language not native to the video.
A GREAT way to find an audience and keep them hooked no matter where they are watching your content.
4. PlaceIT can help you STAND OUT on YouTube
I SUCK at making anything flashy or arty.
I have every intention in the world to make something that looks cool but im about as artistic as a dropped ice-cream cone on the web windy day.
That is why I could not live on YouTube without someone like PlaceIT. They offer custom YouTube Banners, Avatars, YouTube Video Intros and YouTube End Screen Templates that are easy to edit with simple click, upload wizard to help you make amazing professional graphics in minutes.
5. StoryBlocks helps me add amazing video b-roll cutaways
I mainly make tutorials and talking head videos.
And in this modern world this can be a little boring if you don’t see something funky every once in a while.
I try with overlays, jump cuts and being funny but my secret weapon is b-roll overlay content.
I can talk about skydiving, food, money, kids, cats – ANYTHING I WANT – with a quick search on the StoryBlocks website I can find a great looking clip to overlay on my videos, keeping them entertained and watching for longer.
Okay, let’s get this out of the way at the top; not all YouTubers have anxiety, but there certainly does seem to be a high prevalence of anxiety among YouTubers when compared to the regular population. In this post, we’re going to explore some of the potential reasons for that, as well as ponder and muse over the implications of it.
In my personal opinion why all youtubers have anxiety – Being a YouTube creator lends itself to a certain personality type. The introvert who wishes to be creative, without their comfort zone mostly solitary. However, as they grow audience, channel growth or failure can become a wider concern and bucks against the introvert personality.
So, before we get into this, we would be negligent if we didn’t make it completely clear that I am not a mental health expert. Where necessary, you will find links to more authoritative sources, but this post is going to explore the subject from the perspective of a YouTuber, not a therapist.
At the end of the post there will be a section on tips for reducing stress as a YouTuber, but if you are suffering from serious anxiety, we fully recommend seeking real help rather than relying on the contents of posts like this one.
Why Do All YouTubers Have Anxiety?
The first thing we want to address is that the framing of this question carries with it an implication that isn’t necessarily correct.
It assumes that the driving factor is YouTube, that there is something about YouTube that leads people to develop anxiety.
Of course, without any additional evidence, it could very possibly be the other way round. There could be something about people who are prone to anxiety that leads them to want to start a YouTube channel. It is also entirely possible that YouTubers are not proportionally worse for anxiety than non-YouTubers, but that YouTubers who suffer from anxiety are just more visible, and so it seems like there’s more of them.
The point we’re trying to make here is that it’s important not to box your considerations in. The prevalence of anxiety among YouTubers could have come about in several ways—or even a combination of ways.
The Tortured Artist
While not every YouTuber is a whirlwind of creativity, it is often the case that someone who takes it upon themselves to become a YouTuber is a little more creative than your average person.
There is also a well established trope of tortured creative types who exorcise their inner demons through their art, but are ultimately a roiling mess of inner turmoil.
As much as this theory might make sense, as best we can tell, there is no confirmed link between creativity and these kinds of disorders. It would have been nice and neat, but it looks like this ain’t it.
Social Anxiety
Though anxiety wouldn’t necessarily be social anxiety, it is a form of anxiety, and one that leads people to avoid social settings. Even people with a crippling phobia for social situations are humans, and, for the most part, humans want to connect with other humans.
YouTube allows you to do just that.
It’s one of the many weird quirks of the human mind that someone who can barely function in a room with twelve other people could happily record a video of themselves and show it to a few million people, but there you have it. Being a YouTuber allows you to develop a community, meet people, and express yourself without ever having to set foot in a crowded party. This is all speculation on our part, of course, but it makes sense to us.
The Stress of Exposure
Anyone who has seen one of the many sad stories of child actors who end up with a laundry list of drug offences and assorted other brushes with the law will be well aware of what fame and exposure can do to a mind that is not ready for it.
While the fame YouTubers experience isn’t quite the same as the fame someone like Lindsay Lohan experienced, it is still a massive amount of exposure. Add that to the fact that many YouTubers start out making a passion project or just doing something for fun and never really expect it to go anywhere, and you have a recipe for successful YouTubers finding themselves thrust into celebrity status without being mentally prepared for it.
Whether it’s the new expectations on the YouTuber to behave a certain way, the potential threats to privacy and safety, or just the plain fact that there are hundreds of thousands—even millions—of people watching your videos, it is perfectly understandable that this situation may lead to a little anxiety.
Over-Representation
We touched on this above, but there is also the fact that YouTubers are far more visible than your average anxiety sufferer. Vloggers in particular are likely to talk about something like anxiety if they are suffering from it, since their channel is essentially built around them talking about their life.
In the US, nearly 20% of the population suffers from an anxiety disorder. When you consider how much the average person in your life opens up to you about the deepest parts of their life, versus how much a typical YouTube tells you about their life, it seems very possible that anxiety among YouTube is on par with non-YouTubers, it’s just that YouTubers talk about it more.
Tips for Dealing With Anxiety on YouTube (YouTube Burn Out)
First and foremost, once again, this is not medical advice. If you are suffering from anxiety to the point that it is debilitating and affecting your quality of life in a serious way, seek professional help.
Identify the Things That Trigger Your Anxiety
You may need the help of a therapist to establish what your triggers are, but some common triggers include;
Caffeine
Chronic pain
Medication side effects
Stress
Trauma
Some anxiety sufferers are luckier than others—someone who is triggered by caffeine can simply stop drinking caffeine, whereas anxiety brought on by chronic pain is less likely to be something you can simply cut out. After all, if your chronic pain was easily curable, you’d have it cured, right?
The idea is to eliminate where you can, and manage when you can’t eliminate. For example, many forms of chronic pain can be eased with regular exercise or stretching, which, coincidentally, can help with anxiety. Trauma can be worked through with a therapist. Medication is trickier, but there are rarely no other options. Examine your triggers and find out if there is a way of managing them.
Stay Healthy
The human body is a complicated thing, and our mood and mental state is much more greatly affected by things than we often appreciate. Keeping your body healthy can go a long way to improving your state of mind, which in turn can help with feeling anxious.
Now, we’re not talking about running marathons or developing rock solid abs (though there’s nothing wrong with those things if that’s what you want). Being healthy just means being in good shape. If you get out of breath going up the stairs, or your body complains when you perform even a moderately physical task, it’s going to affect your mental state.
Create a Relaxing Space
Anxiety is often brought on by environmental factors, and it can help to create an environment that counteracts that. It be a single room in your house (often the bedroom), or it could be your whole house, but work out what relaxes you and make a space that contains those things. From lighting to aromas, consider every aspect, and make a space that puts you at ease.
Take Up Meditation
It doesn’t work for everybody, but taking some time out of each day to clear your head, centre your self, or do whatever it is you need to do relax and take your mind off of the things that cause you anxiety can really help to… well… manage your anxiety.
While we’re here, we can put other activities like yoga or a peaceful walk through some nice scenery in the same boat. Sure, they’re not meditation strictly speaking, but they can have much the same effect.
Change Your Diet
This one is a slow burner as it can take months to really kick in, but changing your diet can help to manage anxiety. As a general rule, you want to skew your meals towards the healthier end of the spectrum because being healthier in and of itself can help with anxiety. There are also some foods that are thought to help, such as lemon balm, valerian root, kava kava, dark chocolate, and more.
Final Thoughts
As with most things in life, there is no quick or easy fix to something like anxiety, and it might be the case that you need to combine several of the suggestions we’ve made in this post to see noticeable results.
As for the apparent correlation between YouTubers and anxiety, it looks as though it is a case of correlation, not corroboration. If there is something about YouTubing that causes anxiety, it is yet to be discovered. Then again, YouTube is relatively new to the world, and it is entirely possible some researchers will one day find evidence to the contrary.
It should go without saying, however, that if you are suffering from anxiety, and you find that YouTubing is the cause, put your mental health first. Take time off, change your schedule, do what you need to do. If you have fostered a healthy community around your channel, your subscribers will understand.
Top 5 Tools To Get You Started on YouTube
Very quickly before you go here are 5 amazing tools I have used every day to grow my YouTube channel from 0 to 30K subscribers in the last 12 months that I could not live without.
1. VidIQ helps boost my views and get found in search
I almost exclusively switched to VidIQ from a rival in 2020.
Within 12 months I tripled the size of my channel and very quickly learnt the power of thumbnails, click through rate and proper search optimization. Best of all, they are FREE!
2. Adobe Creative Suite helps me craft amazing looking thumbnails and eye-catching videos
When I first started I threw things together in Window Movie Maker, cringed at how it looked but thought “that’s the best I can do so it’ll have to do”.
Big mistake!
I soon realized the move time you put into your editing and the more engaging your thumbnails are the more views you will get and the more people will trust you enough to subscribe.
That is why I took the plunge and invested in my editing and design process with Adobe Creative Suite. They offer a WIDE range of tools to help make amazing videos, simple to use tools for overlays, graphics, one click tools to fix your audio and the very powerful Photoshop graphics program to make eye-catching thumbnails.
Best of all you can get a free trial for 30 days on their website, a discount if you are a student and if you are a regular human being it starts from as little as £9 per month if you want to commit to a plan.
3. Rev.com helps people read my videos
You can’t always listen to a video.
Maybe you’re on a bus, a train or sat in a living room with a 5 year old singing baby shark on loop… for HOURS. Or, you are trying to make as little noise as possible while your new born is FINALLY sleeping.
This is where Rev can help you or your audience consume your content on the go, in silence or in a language not native to the video.
A GREAT way to find an audience and keep them hooked no matter where they are watching your content.
4. PlaceIT can help you STAND OUT on YouTube
I SUCK at making anything flashy or arty.
I have every intention in the world to make something that looks cool but im about as artistic as a dropped ice-cream cone on the web windy day.
That is why I could not live on YouTube without someone like PlaceIT. They offer custom YouTube Banners, Avatars, YouTube Video Intros and YouTube End Screen Templates that are easy to edit with simple click, upload wizard to help you make amazing professional graphics in minutes.
5. StoryBlocks helps me add amazing video b-roll cutaways
I mainly make tutorials and talking head videos.
And in this modern world this can be a little boring if you don’t see something funky every once in a while.
I try with overlays, jump cuts and being funny but my secret weapon is b-roll overlay content.
I can talk about skydiving, food, money, kids, cats – ANYTHING I WANT – with a quick search on the StoryBlocks website I can find a great looking clip to overlay on my videos, keeping them entertained and watching for longer.
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