How To Make It On YouTube In 2023 - Colin And Samir

The Nugget

  • Building a sustainable creator career involves balancing creative fulfillment with commercial success, often requiring a consistent content format, understanding audience value propositions, and exploring avenues like newsletters and courses as value prop extensions.

Key quotes

  • "We are not creating purely because we think it's a good financial decision. There's a lot easier ways to make money than what we do."
  • "Everything takes longer than you think, and this is taking us longer than we think."
  • "Find as much time as you can to spend time with yourself...all of this is self-discovery whether it's entrepreneurship or creativity."
  • "Being an artist is about practicing the art of awareness."

Key insights

Building a Creator Career

  • Success as a creator involves focusing on both the content creation process and developing a viable business model. It typically requires identifying a consistent content format that resonates with an audience, exploring monetization avenues like courses or newsletters, and ensuring commercial activities align with personal values.

Content Format: The Engine of Success

  • Finding a unique and replicable content format is crucial ("the engine"), enabling consistent content delivery and providing a sustainable foundation for growth and commercial success.

Balancing Creative and Commercial Aims

  • Balancing the drive for creative expression with the realities of commercial success involves scrutinizing the process, focusing on personal development, and progressively integrating commercial activities like selling products or launching newsletters without compromising the creative essence.

Extending Value Propositions

  • Exploring value prop extensions like newsletters and courses can build deeper engagement with audiences. Success in these ventures relies on knowing when and how to diversify, ensuring these extensions are true to the creator's brand and audience's expectations.

The Role of Self-Discovery

  • A sustainable creative career is deeply intertwined with self-discovery, requiring creators to spend time understanding their motivations, process pleasures, and long-term goals. This understanding guides decisions around content and business development.

Make it stick

  • 🔄 Balancing Act: Remember, a sustainable creator career demands a balance between creativity and commerce. Developing a consistent content format is just as important as exploring commercial extensions that align with your brand.
  • 🧭 Self-Discovery: Spending time with yourself, through journaling or walks, is key. Knowing who you are and what drives you is the bedrock of making content that satisfies both you and your audience.
  • 📈 Value Prop Extensions: Think of courses, newsletters, and other products as extensions of your core content. They should resonate with and bring additional value to your audience.
  • 🎨 Awareness & Adaptability: Being aware of what works for you creatively and what resonates commercially is critical. Adaptability and willingness to evolve your content and business strategy based on this awareness will ensure continued relevance and success.
This summary contains AI-generated information and may have important inaccuracies or omissions.