- 2 months ago
YouTuber Tom Scott joins WIRED to answer the internet’s burning content creator and YouTube strategy questions. Should YouTube videos have an intro? What is a good traffic source on YouTube? Do thumbnails matter as much as people say? Answers to these questions and many more await on Creator Support.
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00:00If you're watching this because you actually want to make stuff, go make stuff, that's
00:04the only way to get better.
00:05I'm Tom Scott, I've been making stuff for the internet for more than 25 years.
00:10I'm here today to answer questions from the internet.
00:13This is creator support.
00:19Colin asks, any tips on how to go viral so I can exit the workforce with everyone else?
00:24Firstly, you will not be exiting the workforce.
00:26Make stuff.
00:27Every single project that you make is a new roll of the dice, is a new chance to go viral.
00:32What you want is to steadily grow, to build up your skills over time, to make stuff and
00:38make stuff and make stuff, and then, when you're in a position to make good stuff, then you
00:42want the number one, you want the viral hit, because then people can come in and go, oh,
00:46there's more stuff here, you can do that, and it's all good.
00:48That's what you actually want to do, you don't want to go viral yet.
00:51Make stuff.
00:53Angel of Lord asks, is upgrading your gear worth it?
00:56Upgrading your microphone is worth it.
00:58That's the very first thing you should do when you've got some money coming in.
01:01Bad audio is really difficult.
01:03I know that everyone's got subtitles on now anyway.
01:06If you don't have subtitles on your videos, you absolutely should.
01:09I think it's 30% of my viewers, and I'm on YouTube, watch with subtitles.
01:12On mobile, it's going to be way higher.
01:13But, if you have bad audio, immediately people are like, oh, I can't understand, I'm going
01:18to move on.
01:19And if you're on short form, you're gone in a second.
01:21Clear audio is vital, and the first thing you should do is get the microphone closer
01:25to your face.
01:26And the cheapest way to do that is to buy an off-the-shelf one that plugs in and just
01:29hold it in front of your face.
01:31Maybe you want to get a fancy wireless one later, maybe you want to get a proper boom mic
01:34later or something like that.
01:35But the first thing you should do is upgrade your microphone.
01:38Any Lingenberry asks, do you think thumbnails matter as much as people say?
01:43One hundred percent.
01:44Thumbnails on YouTube matter so much.
01:46The packaging of a video, for whichever platform you're on, matters so much.
01:51I hate that the packaging is important.
01:53I would much, much rather be doing a nineties television magazine show with a half-hour running
01:59length and four or five sections in there, and maybe the third section isn't something
02:03people would generally choose to watch, but they're already watching the show.
02:06Now, and I really dislike that every single thing has to be packaged like this, but time
02:13after time after time it is proven that the thumbnail and the packaging is really important.
02:18That said, if your thumbnail is a lie, think about what audience that's going to attract
02:23and whether they actually are the audience you want.
02:27I'm kind of old school in this, that I think the thumbnail should be true.
02:32YouTube's AI features in their studio will now generate new thumbnails for you.
02:37If you're a YouTube creator and you go to that little AI icon and you say, generate some
02:41thumbnails for our most recent video, it'll do it.
02:43Just as ideas, I don't think they actually want you to use them.
02:45As I record this, my most recent video, I was filming in a candy factory, a sweet shop,
02:50a rock shop for the British people watching.
02:52And there's some elements in there, there's some sugar being pulled out, like molten sugar
02:56flowing out of a cauldron.
02:57And there's me in there dressed up in factory gear.
02:59And what it generated was this giant cauldron with enormous amounts of bubbling candy coming
03:06out of it.
03:07And it generated this shot of me just kind of recoiling back from it in terror with an uncanny
03:11valley version of my face.
03:12And yeah, it's a very good thumbnail.
03:14It would have attracted people to the video if I'd have photographed myself for it, took
03:17it out of the uncanny valley.
03:18But it's a lie.
03:19That didn't happen.
03:20That's okay for some audiences, I guess.
03:23I make factual content, so I want it to be real.
03:26The kettle wasn't that big, I wasn't recoiling in fear, I was holding the camera, I wasn't
03:30in that shot.
03:30So, yeah, I could have put that up, and a lot of my audience would have been angry at
03:34me, first for using generative AI and second for lying, and a load of kids would have come
03:39along who aren't really going to like the video in the end, it's not who I'm pitching
03:42my video at.
03:43So, sure, I could have got more views with it, but it wouldn't have been the people who
03:47the video was aimed at, and they wouldn't have stuck around.
03:49So yes, thumbnails matter an enormous amount, but they've got to also match your audience.
03:54I also now hate that I have to generate three titles and three thumbnails for each video,
03:59and YouTube will automatically ABC test them, and if none of them work, maybe I need to change
04:03them up again.
04:04It's constant work.
04:05I do miss just uploading a video.
04:08Sarah Mann asks, how far in advance do you plan content?
04:12Do you prefer to lock it down or be a bit flexible?
04:14It's going to be different for everyone.
04:15For me, I used to have weeks in advance.
04:19Back when I was making stuff in sort of 2018, 2019, I was making videos that now I really
04:24don't like all that much.
04:26My old format, the one that ended in 2023, I look at them like, man, why did people watch
04:32these?
04:32They're short, and they're scripted, and they're kind of stilted.
04:34But it meant, like, 2018, 2019.
04:36I had, like, eight weeks of videos in the buffer, already scheduled, ready to go.
04:41It was great.
04:42And then COVID hit, and I used up all that buffer, and it never really recovered.
04:48Like, maybe I'd get up to two weeks, and that was always a bit nerve-wracking.
04:52For the new series, for the stuff I started in 2026, I recorded 41 videos in advance on
05:00a single eight-week road trip.
05:01And they're all longer, and I think they're the best things I've ever done, but they are
05:07so good because they were able to be made as one continuous block.
05:12And I can put references in video one that will pay off in video 23 or 36.
05:18The flip side of that is that I can't be flexible.
05:20If it turns out that something I filmed months ago actually has a disaster, like, touch wood,
05:25it's not going to happen, but I have to work out, how am I going to deal with that?
05:28How am I going to change a video that already has references from months ago?
05:32Please try and have a buffer.
05:34Like, if you want to avoid burnout, please, please, please try and have some buffer.
05:38A Quora user asks, what is a good traffic source?
05:41Okay, this is a little inside baseball, and the answer is, first of all, a good traffic source
05:45is going to differ for each creator, but generally, you want a good mix.
05:49YouTube's advice is to have three types of content.
05:52Hub, hero, and help.
05:54Hub is your episodic, your regular content that is just going out, like,
05:58that's building up the audience slowly over time so that when someone comes in and sees you,
06:03there's also a load of regular stuff there, and they can watch that too.
06:06That is your hub.
06:07Then you've got your hero.
06:08That's the big, splashy stuff that draws in people, that goes viral,
06:12that makes big waves, gets shared around, gets new audience in.
06:16And then you have your help.
06:17That's the stuff that people search for.
06:19They're looking for help on this thing now, they type in the keywords,
06:21or type in the keywords, and they find you there.
06:24If you have all three of those, you're going to get a mix of traffic sources,
06:27and that is hopefully what's going to propel you forward.
06:31OK Rub asks, how important are the first 10 to 15 seconds of a video to the algorithm?
06:36Very important, but not for the reason you'd expect.
06:39I was lucky enough a while back to have a chat with the guy in charge of the YouTube algorithm,
06:43head of product for recommendations.
06:45His name is Todd, and I cannot remember his last name, so that's Todd Algorithm.
06:49And he said this publicly, I'm not breaching any confidences or NDAs here.
06:52In any sentence where you use the word algorithm, replace it with the word audience.
06:57That's what YouTube is trying to do,
06:59and it's generally what the other platforms are trying to do as well.
07:02In any sentence, just replace algorithm with audience.
07:05They want to be this transparent glass layer that means that every single video you're recommended
07:09is something you'd want to watch.
07:10How important are the first 10 to 15 seconds of a video to the audience?
07:14Really, really important, because after 10, 15 seconds,
07:17if they look at that and go, oh, that's fine,
07:19they are going to judge a book by its cover,
07:21and the title, the thumbnail, the first 10 to 15 seconds are that cover,
07:25and the algorithm will just reflect what the audience is doing.
07:30Xstatic asks,
07:36Depends on the platform.
07:37If it's for YouTube, you'll know pretty quickly.
07:40It's unusual for something to go slow for a while and then suddenly take off.
07:45If it's not taking off, you repackage it.
07:47You change the title, the thumbnail, you try again, you keep going.
07:50After a while, you go, okay, well, that was not a winner.
07:52That happens.
07:53For other platforms, the stories I've heard from people who use Instagram and TikTok
07:57and publish there, YouTube Shorts in particular,
07:59it's completely random.
08:01It's the whims of some black box algorithm,
08:04and it really feels like it's not reflecting the audience.
08:06It's just randomly sending down lightning bots from on high and going,
08:10you, you shall now have views.
08:12I don't know, but for YouTube, you'll probably know in a couple of hours.
08:18Pokey asks,
08:19Should my YouTube videos have an intro, or is it just a waste of time?
08:23Depends on the intro.
08:24The best ever introductions were the ones from Top Gear.
08:27Tonight, so-and-so does this.
08:30If you're just setting up expectations, great, do it.
08:32Because one of the most powerful editing techniques,
08:34and you can see people do this if you know what you're looking for,
08:37is never conclude a question until the next one is set up.
08:42So at the start of the show, your intro, you set up expectation A and B.
08:46You resolve B, but before you do that, you set up C.
08:49Before you resolve C, you set up D.
08:50And then at the end, you resolve D and A.
08:53That is a really powerful technique if you're subtle about it.
08:57You can see so many YouTube videos that really go,
09:00Oh, but you won't believe what happened when we did that.
09:03Like, be subtle.
09:04Be subtle.
09:04On the other hand,
09:05If your introduction is 10 seconds of 3D animation with dubstep over it in your channel name,
09:10drop it.
09:10You are not Prestige Television,
09:12and even Prestige Television has a skip intro button for a reason.
09:15A Reddit user asks,
09:16Is clickbait in your title and thumbnail worth it?
09:19I would direct you to Veritasium's excellent video on this,
09:23where he describes it not as clickbait,
09:25but as curiositybait.
09:27If you are lying in the title and thumbnail,
09:30absolutely not.
09:31It'll get you the views.
09:32For a little while,
09:32they'll realize that you are a liar,
09:34and they won't come back.
09:35But part of the game,
09:37part of getting your stuff out of the world,
09:39is packaging it in the way that the medium requires.
09:42Back when DVRs and TiVo came along in the,
09:45I think, late 90s?
09:46That feels about right.
09:47The titles of shows got shorter and simpler.
09:50You ended up with things like Storage Wars and Ancient Aliens.
09:54In part, those titles, those short titles,
09:57rather than the more abstract titles that came before,
10:00because they needed to fit in the slot on a DVR guide.
10:04They needed to fit when you're clicking through
10:05on your television, on your channels,
10:07to just see two words,
10:08because that's all the room you've got.
10:09This is exactly the same thing.
10:11You have to package your content to fit the medium.
10:13Just don't lie about it.
10:15Then Advice asks,
10:17Is it true that the more content you put out,
10:19the better for audience growth and retention?
10:21The more good content you put out, the better.
10:24If you're just sending out stuff
10:27and you don't care about it
10:28and no one cares about it,
10:29the audience isn't going to care about it either.
10:31What you want is something summed up
10:33by the word ikigai, concept from Japanese,
10:36which is what you love,
10:37what you are good at,
10:38what the world needs,
10:39and what you can be paid for.
10:41The stuff that took off for me
10:42had all those four things.
10:44The format that I finally found,
10:45it was something that I was interested in
10:47and that I really did enjoy doing.
10:49It was something I'd like to think I was good at,
10:51that I could do.
10:52It was something that the world was interested in
10:54and watch,
10:55and it was something I could get paid for.
10:56Like, how many people are lucky enough
10:58to have all those four things?
11:00If you can find that,
11:01when you find that,
11:02put out as much of it as you can.
11:03If you're not interested in what you're putting out,
11:05if you're just doing it to tick a box,
11:07then I think the audience will notice.
11:09A Quora user asks,
11:11I want to change my YouTube niche
11:12without losing my old audience.
11:14How can I do it?
11:15You can't.
11:16That's the bad news.
11:17Even for me,
11:18like, the new stuff that I'm making
11:20that is a continuation of my old content,
11:23but longer, slightly different format.
11:25Like, viewing numbers are down a bit.
11:27Intellectually, rationally,
11:29I am fine with that,
11:30because I know from the statistics
11:31people are watching for much longer.
11:34They're sticking around.
11:35And the feedback I'm getting
11:36is these are really good,
11:37but I am going to lose
11:39some of the old audience
11:40who don't like this.
11:41Now, if you can make it like this,
11:43where it's a combination of novelty
11:45and familiarity,
11:46that's what you want in a new series.
11:47If you're changing niche,
11:48try and make it.
11:49Have a connection to the other
11:50so you can bring more people over.
11:51But ultimately,
11:52if you're changing niche,
11:53even if you're just changing
11:54a bit of the format,
11:55some people are not going to stick around.
11:57That sucks.
11:58It is still a stab in the heart
12:00every single time I open up YouTube Studio
12:03and the new thing is getting lower view count.
12:05Don't think of it as losing the old audience.
12:07Think of it as starting from scratch
12:08with extra bonuses
12:10and new stuff coming in.
12:11You have such a start
12:13compared to everyone
12:14who really is starting from zero.
12:16Subscribers are a useless metric.
12:18They were great when YouTube started.
12:20Controversial opinion?
12:21YouTube should take away
12:23the subscriber count.
12:24Like, they're never going to do it.
12:25Like, there's too much
12:26cultural cachet in it.
12:28But it's a useless figure.
12:29They should replace it
12:30with watch time hours,
12:31which is a number
12:32that only ever goes up.
12:33It's fair to both short form and long form,
12:35but they'll never do it.
12:36But subscribers is meaningless
12:39because it just means
12:40someone clicked a button at one time
12:41and now they're not interested anymore.
12:44Like, don't worry about those numbers.
12:46If you are starting
12:47in a completely new niche,
12:50maybe start a new channel.
12:52Puzzle Headed asks,
12:53what have you learned from brand deals?
12:55A brand deal these days
12:57for YouTube
12:57is one of those ads
12:59that is incorporated into the video.
13:00It's called a host read
13:01or a host read advert.
13:03For Instagram,
13:04it may be an entire short form video
13:06that is dedicated to a product.
13:07But what I've learned
13:09is that everyone draws the line
13:11of what is an acceptable brand deal,
13:13of what is selling out
13:14just below what they're doing.
13:16So for me,
13:17I take some brand deals.
13:18I will never take one
13:19from a gambling company.
13:20I will never take one
13:21from some mobile app
13:23that uses loot boxes
13:24and gacha mechanics
13:25just kind of grab huge amounts of money
13:27through addiction mechanics.
13:28I won't do that.
13:29I don't think those are acceptable,
13:31but there are loads of folks who do
13:33and they will all go,
13:33oh yeah, sure, I take those,
13:35but I don't take
13:35whatever the next thing down is.
13:37And equally,
13:37there are people
13:38who are going to be looking down on me
13:39because they are very proud
13:40to never take
13:41or have to take
13:42those brand deals.
13:43The reason why everyone takes them
13:44is the money, obviously,
13:46but a brand deal on YouTube
13:48will get you,
13:49as a rule of thumb,
13:50as a very vague guideline,
13:52about 10 times
13:53what you would get
13:54from just the YouTube ad revenue
13:56that comes in.
13:57And I certainly couldn't resist that.
14:00And these days,
14:01it is so accepted
14:02that when an up-and-coming creator
14:03gets their first brand deal,
14:05you will see comments that are like,
14:06oh my god, congratulations,
14:07you got a sponsor,
14:08like, get the bag.
14:09Roberto Blake asks,
14:11what skills do you personally need
14:13to practice as a content creator
14:14in order for you to improve further?
14:16Make stuff.
14:17Just make stuff.
14:19It's as simple as that.
14:20Every skill,
14:20every single thing
14:21is improved by actually making things.
14:24There are so many people
14:25who spend so much time just worrying
14:27about every detail,
14:28worrying, oh, I can't make this now
14:29because this isn't right.
14:30Just make stuff.
14:32And every other skill
14:33will follow from there.
14:35Simply Here For Now asks,
14:36what more can I do
14:37to push my content out to the algorithm?
14:40Or do I just have to wait?
14:41What more can you do
14:42to push your content out to the audience?
14:44Other than repackaging it,
14:45trying different titles
14:46and things like that.
14:47I mean, don't spam people.
14:49Don't go wildly and post it
14:50because that's a way
14:50to get people really angry at you.
14:52But it is, like many things,
14:54about who you know,
14:55not what you know.
14:56If you can collaborate with people,
14:59even if that's not in person,
15:01even if that's not actually on video,
15:02if you can make those connections
15:04to other people,
15:05then that's more powerful
15:06than anything else.
15:07There is the method
15:08of doing a forced collaboration
15:10where you just take
15:11someone else's content
15:13and make a video.
15:14Like, the number of people
15:15who make a video about Mr. Beast
15:17because that will get
15:18Mr. Beast's fans
15:19to click on their video.
15:20Cool.
15:21Are they going to be interested
15:22in your video
15:22or are they going to be interested
15:24in just something
15:25about the person they like?
15:26They're not going to come back.
15:27All you've done
15:28is taken a little bit
15:29of someone else's audience
15:30who are then not going to like
15:32what you do next.
15:34A Quora user asks,
15:35how do you find your niche online?
15:37You try as many as possible
15:39and you see what you like
15:40and you enjoy
15:41and you see what the audience
15:42responds to.
15:43But that question feels like
15:46it comes from someone
15:47who wants to be an influencer,
15:49a creator, a YouTuber,
15:51a TikToker
15:51and isn't sure why
15:53or what they want to do
15:54to get there.
15:55Like, yeah, absolutely.
15:57I want to have a million subscribers.
15:59Cool.
15:59What about?
16:00It feels like someone who's like,
16:01yeah, I want to be a rock star.
16:03Okay, great.
16:04Which instrument?
16:04What genre of music?
16:05Like, if you don't have
16:07that passion for it,
16:08are you going to stick around
16:09and do that?
16:10So try a lot of niches,
16:12try a lot of different things,
16:13try a lot of different instruments
16:14and see which one works for you.
16:17Beneficial List asks,
16:18how do you deal with burnout
16:20when your heart is tired
16:21but you don't want to give up?
16:24I'm not a therapist.
16:27I wish I knew.
16:28If you are just starting out
16:31or if you don't have many subscribers,
16:33you've been trying this for a long time
16:34and you're burned out
16:36and it's not working,
16:36maybe you stop.
16:37Maybe you do try something else.
16:39If it is your job
16:40and you have this schedule
16:42and that's something
16:43I'll talk about later,
16:44like, if you have this schedule
16:46that you have to hit
16:47for a certain amount of time,
16:49you suck it up
16:50and you do it
16:51because it's your job
16:52and you figure out a way
16:54to make it more sustainable
16:55as you go.
16:55I will note that this is
16:57from a subreddit
16:58that is not advice for YouTube,
17:00it's advice for Fansly,
17:02which is an adult platform.
17:03I know folks
17:04who make content
17:05for platforms like that
17:06and burnout is so difficult there
17:08because it is,
17:09by necessity,
17:10intimate.
17:10But even if you're making stuff
17:12for YouTube
17:13and for Instagram
17:14or for anything
17:15that involves you as a person,
17:17the more you tear off
17:19pieces of your soul,
17:21the more you throw memories
17:22and personal stuff
17:24into the fire of the engine,
17:26the more you do that,
17:28often,
17:28the better the audience responds
17:30and there are only so many
17:32pieces of your soul
17:33and so many memories
17:34that you can fuel the engine with
17:37and if you can avoid
17:38becoming personal,
17:39if you can do this
17:40and still maintain a wall
17:42between you and the audience,
17:44even if it's a glass wall,
17:45even if there's just something there,
17:47that's going to help a lot.
17:49Dr. Mothman asks,
17:50how do I be a creator
17:51without being a people pleaser?
17:53Bad news,
17:54you have to be.
17:55Sorry.
17:55I met someone the other day
17:57who kind of plays the heel online,
17:59like lovely in person,
18:00but is kind of abrasive
18:02and aggressive with a personality,
18:03like actively seems to dislike
18:05the audience.
18:06But the audience like that
18:08and he plays this character
18:10like a wrestling heel,
18:11he's just the bad guy.
18:12But that's still pleasing the audience.
18:15Now, how close you bring the audience
18:17is a choice.
18:18I've always said I want viewers,
18:19not fans.
18:20I don't want people to be attached to me,
18:21I want people to be attached to,
18:22the things I'm making
18:23and to come back and enjoy that.
18:25So you can put a bit of a wall in there,
18:27but ultimately part of the job
18:29is pleasing the audience
18:30and there's no way around that.
18:33Lonelylupine asks,
18:34are attention spans shortening
18:36or have short attention spans
18:37been hidden before?
18:39I think we are getting used
18:40to taking in more data
18:43and more information faster.
18:44I'm now at the point
18:45where I'm watching most stuff
18:46that isn't like comedy
18:48or drama or something like that
18:49at two times speed.
18:50If it's scripted,
18:52I'm up to three times speed.
18:53If it's scripted
18:54and they talk slow,
18:55I might even get up to four times speed
18:56if it's just someone reading a monologue
18:58and that is the speed
18:59at which I take in information.
19:00Because if you're reading
19:01and you're a fast reader,
19:02you can take in information that fast.
19:04I think that people
19:05are taking in more information now
19:06because there is so much of it
19:07and we are adapting to do that.
19:09Is that a bad thing?
19:10Ask us in 100 years.
19:12Ask the descendants
19:13of this year's social scientists
19:16and neurologists.
19:17They'll be able to tell you,
19:18but I couldn't tell you now.
19:20Noelle asks,
19:21how has your content evolved
19:22since you first started
19:23and what lessons
19:24have you learned along the way?
19:26I first started throwing stuff
19:28at the internet
19:29technically in the 20th century.
19:31I think
19:32in that I was writing
19:33HTML for a GeoCities page.
19:35So the answer is
19:36I just kept throwing ideas
19:39out there
19:39until one worked.
19:41And then once it did,
19:42that kept evolving.
19:43It's evolved beyond all recognition.
19:45I generally hate
19:46anything I've done in the past.
19:48There are only maybe
19:49a dozen videos
19:50from my like 10-year series
19:51that I'm really proud of
19:52and would say,
19:53oh yeah, I'd do that.
19:54Like there's so many where I'm like,
19:56oh, I could have done that better.
19:57Like, yes.
19:58Do I need to see a therapist about that?
20:00Absolutely.
20:01A Quora user asks,
20:02how do you know
20:03what content your audience likes?
20:05They'll tell you.
20:06They will tell you so much
20:08in comments,
20:09in messages
20:09on whatever platform you're on,
20:10in emails
20:11if you're old school like me.
20:12Like, you will get
20:13so many messages.
20:15But whether you pay attention to them
20:17is up to you.
20:19Because, yes,
20:20the audience likes one thing,
20:22but maybe that's not
20:23what you want to do anymore.
20:24I've always made the analogy
20:26to being in a band.
20:26The audience would like
20:28four albums
20:29which are
20:30really identical
20:32to the one album
20:33they really like of yours,
20:34but are also new
20:35and novel and exciting
20:36at the same time.
20:37You have to manage
20:38those expectations
20:39and accept that sometimes
20:41the audience is only gonna
20:42sort of like
20:43what you put out
20:44and maybe that's okay.
20:46Maybe that gets rid
20:46of a few of the people
20:47who like the stuff
20:48you used to be doing
20:49in the past
20:49and brings in
20:50some people
20:51who are doing the stuff
20:52you want to do
20:52in the future.
20:54Trust Nobody
20:54asks,
20:55is the idea
20:56of being a full-time
20:57content creator
20:58over-glamorized
20:59and financially reckless?
21:00For some people,
21:01yes.
21:02I met someone
21:03a few weeks ago
21:04and apologies if you're
21:04watching this
21:05who has just got
21:065,000 TikTok followers
21:08and they were thinking
21:09of quitting their job
21:09and doing it full-time.
21:11I tried to suggest
21:11politely
21:12because it was just
21:13someone I just met
21:14that maybe that wasn't
21:14a good idea.
21:15I will say that explicitly
21:16now in the hope
21:17that they're not watching this
21:18and it doesn't sound
21:19quite so rude.
21:19Don't do that.
21:20That's a really bad idea.
21:22Ideally,
21:23you have a jumping-off point.
21:24I was very,
21:25very lucky
21:26when I started
21:27that when my channel
21:28finally,
21:29after 15 years,
21:3015 years of throwing
21:32stuff at the internet,
21:32something finally worked
21:33and I had kind of,
21:34oh, okay,
21:35this might be working,
21:36this might be going
21:36up the hill.
21:37That happened
21:38at about the time
21:39when I had a bit of savings
21:40and the place
21:42I was working at,
21:42there were some red flags,
21:43it was time to leave.
21:44So I was lucky enough
21:46and that was luck
21:47to be in a position
21:48where I could jump ship
21:49when I needed to.
21:50Bear in mind
21:51that I had that
21:52because I had a bit of savings,
21:53I had a bit of time.
21:53There are so many people out there
21:55who don't have that luck
21:57or they're holding down three jobs
21:59and they have two kids.
22:00If you have spare time,
22:01you are in such a better position.
22:03If you have spare time
22:04and spare money,
22:06congratulations,
22:06you've already won the jackpot.
22:08It is financially reckless
22:09to jump out of a job
22:11that you need
22:12because there might be something
22:13coming in in future.
22:14That is massively unfair,
22:16but unfortunately,
22:18capitalism.
22:19Bella Nilly asks,
22:20how much time do you spend now
22:22on content creation?
22:24Too much.
22:25Everyone's answer to that
22:26is too much.
22:26Never have a hobby
22:27that turns into a job.
22:28You know,
22:28find a job you love
22:29and you'll spend your entire life
22:30doing it.
22:31It's infuriating.
22:32I'm still working full-time on this
22:33because,
22:34because of course,
22:35because I can do,
22:35because I'm passionate about it
22:37and I want to make it work.
22:38If you can get work-life balance,
22:39please do.
22:40Tell me how to do it.
22:42BBLL asks,
22:43what happens to influencers
22:44and content creators
22:45once they are no longer
22:47at their peak
22:47or become less relevant?
22:49Which I will note
22:49is from the subreddit
22:51LA Influencer Snark.
22:53So I get the feeling
22:54there's a bit of cynicism
22:55behind this question.
22:56The answer is the same
22:57as for a TV presenter
22:59or a band
23:00or anything like that.
23:01If they had a couple of hits
23:03and then nothing else,
23:04they'll get a nice little
23:05trail of royalties in,
23:06maybe,
23:06money from old views
23:08and things like that.
23:08But probably not much else.
23:10They'll go and find a job
23:11somewhere else
23:12and maybe,
23:13if they're lucky,
23:13they'll have an audience
23:14that remember them.
23:15Michael Underwood
23:15is a kids TV presenter
23:17who,
23:18I was slightly too late for him.
23:19I think he was presenting shows
23:20when I was sort of in college.
23:22He's had some shows,
23:23kids remember him,
23:24but he's a teacher now
23:25and he's on TikTok recently
23:27just answering questions
23:28from folks who are now
23:29like in their 20s and 30s
23:30going,
23:31oh yeah,
23:31I remember you off the TV.
23:32How's it going?
23:33And he's really happy.
23:34He's teaching kids.
23:36He's reaching an audience
23:37and occasionally he'll pop on TikTok
23:38and someone will go,
23:39oh yeah,
23:39I remember you.
23:39And occasionally in real life
23:40people go,
23:41oh yeah,
23:41I remember you.
23:41I've got good memories of you.
23:43Thank you for making
23:43my childhood better.
23:44What a wonderful thing to have.
23:46Again,
23:47like starting from zero,
23:48don't frame it as a loss.
23:50You have this gift,
23:52this bonus,
23:53you have this chapter
23:53in your life
23:54that was wonderful
23:55and you still hopefully
23:56have good memories of
23:57and get good things from.
23:58Pop culture is ephemeral.
24:00Relevancy is ephemeral.
24:02There is always a peak
24:03and there is always
24:04a come down after
24:05and the come down sucks.
24:07But what a joy
24:08to be able to say
24:09I did that
24:10and there are still
24:11some good ripple effects
24:12that come from it.
24:14That is all the questions
24:15for today.
24:15I hope you learned something.
24:16Please go watch my videos as well.
24:18That's why I'm here.
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