I relate so hard to what you said about not being able to review all three phones in front of you - I used to want to try and cover every single new thing that I could buy or that arrived with me. I felt like each was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity that I'd feel stupid to let pass me by But when your content becomes better, and the time required for every single part of the process goes up, not to mention your standards get higher, it becomes completely unfeasible and you have to pick and choose. Here's to making more things just because we enjoy them!
True, everything Marques said isn't even specific to being a youtuber. It applies to any profession, particularly if you're self employed - you have to wear multiple hats and if you're successful you either end up turning down work or employing/managing people to keep up. Even in regular jobs, you get employed to do something but as soon as you want to get a promotion the higher you go the further away from doing the thing you were originally doing you get.
Nearly 20 years doing this now, ive resisted having a cameraman/editor/ team etc as the thing that made youtube so good back in the day was it was normal people and there mates doing awesome stuff and i've always felt if i get a team of people behind the scenes i start to become a TV show or a manager so my work process today is the same as back in 2006 lol. Its put a limit on the amount of content but thats all. My only tip at present is KEEP ON DIGGING. Great vid Marques as usual.
I completely agree with this mindset while it will improve the efficiency of certain things, it will definitely dull down the things you can do. As you can't take the same risks once you build a team. No offense to LMG/Linus Tech Tips, but they're a good example of this. They've grown so fast over the years that they can't do anything simple anymore without some sort of involved process. It makes everything very corporate feeling (which it is in their case).
I still can't get over how much you have hauled out by hand in those bucket thingies. I've dug a bunch of holes by hand, but my back groans for at least a week after doing about 1% of what I've seen in your vids. 😖 Please don't stop though! Haha.
Colin is my favorite content creator hands down. I’ve never sat and thought about why that is the case, but you just explained it for me. It really does feel like just a cool guy filming all the cool stuff he wants to do. It does absolutely feel like content from the early days of RU-vid.
Great video! Very well said. Having been on this platform now for 18 years - I totally feel every single word you said. I "left" RU-vid as my full-time job almost six years ago now, and it was such a good decision for me. I don't have to focus on maintaining all 8 of my octopus tentacles, but instead can work with a larger team and just stick to my core competences and "heart." Loved all the disparate analogies here - you get it.
They are quiting..... because some people are fed up, that people are pointing finger on everybody to make profit instead of finding healthy solutions that help our society and community and inspire people in healthy way. we became a society of "pointing finger on everybody" because its profitable, but it doesn´t make the society happy and productive, we are suposed to find solution to healthy lifestyle. not pointing finger on our neighbors, on certain group of people, on old people, or on young people, on vegetarian people, on broken people on healthy people we are supposed to feel empathy and find solutions It solves nothing, it just contributes to more and more problems and less and less happiness, less and less satisfaction. I am fed up that youtube constantly sends me videos where people trow trash on each other and analyze celebrities and nonsense. We all do it at some point, but some people do it so often that they dont realize how unhappy it makes them feel.
I'm not a content creator by any means, but I cannot express how much this video has helped me come to understand what I'm feeling and why something needs to change. Thank you for all you do, and for all the greats who are putting themselves first!
The only problem with "everyone wanting to become a RU-vidr" is that it doesn't produce any tangible products. Entertainment and information yes, but nothing of real tangible value.... like it or not.
Very well said. Even outside of RU-vid, starting a business of any kind can be very difficult. Especially when it starts to grow and you begin the process of adding different levels of responsibility to your team in order to maintain it. This video definitely makes all of the sense in the world to me and it is very helpful. Thank you for it.
I really needed this right now. I'm by no means a big creator, but the pressure still mounts at times. Thank you for putting this so eloquently and for the great insights.
Didn’t think I’d be getting a MKBHD shout out for quitting RU-vid 😂 great insights! For me I don’t feel burnt out but I do feel the need to stop the machine for a bit, slow down, learn, recalibrate and give myself time to figure out what the next phase is. Whether that’s coming back to RU-vid but doing it differently or doing something completely different. It’s just very hard to do that figuring out while keeping the machine going. Anyways thanks man 🙏🏻
Brah I don't know you or honestly ever heard of you or your channel, but I can see why you deserve your subscribers. Good, genuine communicators are what we all want and I applaud all of you content creators who don't fall into the Death of a Salesman trap. The medium and era may be different, the sliding scale of value and worth may be different, but never forget your worth and NEVER sell too much of yourself for too cheap. Love the treadmill analogy. Best of luck
What's weird is... even if you never cater to the algorithm, ignore pressure to post frequently, don't sell any merch, and avoid management headaches by never expanding to a team, continuing to make videos the same way you always have... you can experience burnout. I've heard.
I 100% agree. As a content creator in China for around 7 years now with over a million followers, I can tell you that making sure that you're still spending at least 60-70% of your time doing the part of content creation that you love, but also remembering that you can sometimes slow down to a walk, and speed up to a jog or run when it comes to the number of videos you're making is totally ok. It's not all or nothing for the entire time. It's your career, and you get to decide because burnout sucks! And the whole point of working for yourself is YOU get to make the rules.
I think the trick is youtube creator jobs actually DO scale like regular jobs - what you're describing is very similar to how most small businesses scale (your job becomes more and more overhead and coordination). For example, it's not that different than trying to scale a plumbing business. The biggest difference seems to me that you still need to be the "star", which makes it hard to naturally transition into a management / owner role because you can't delegate that role easily. A lot of these "quitting youtube" videos seem to happen when creators reach the level of scale that they realize they need to delegate the star role, and that requires a conversation with fans to reassure them and try to keep them onboard through the transition (Linus Media Group seems like a great example of this).
This is something a lot of people discount without realising I feel. Chasing to grow in their revenue and audience size only to come to hate what it does to their creativity and the work they conduct themselves in. I personally related to what Tom Scott said in his not-quite-leaving video, about hating the idea of being a manager. I've always said couldn't be a CEO and would never want to be. To a lot of people, that's me limiting myself, or not being, "ambitious". In reality, I'm merely aware of where I'm most happy and most comfortable. An executive office and the money that comes with it wouldn't make me happier, but the consequences and responsibilities of those achievments would make me miserable.
Also the Tom Scott reference missed that he added other content over the years that isn’t stoping, just the original series that has been going for 10 years.
@smartereveryday This explains so much. I was just looking at your cadence of videos a few days ago and found my assumption blown away that there wasn't the forced posting to feed an algorithm that other creators have. Given how memorable your content has been, I truly believed you had cranked more content out. Which truly says everything that the quality of the idea and the merit of the content matters most. A need to rewatch for deeper nuggets and the shareability of the message creates in views. A Seinfeld eque approach.
While I was hearing Marques I don't know why but I just though about you and your channel. I was hopping to know that you will keep your channel focus on what makes your mind curious and just spread that excitement as always (It's laminar flow, we all know lol). Anyways, I still feel the excitement and curiosity in your eyes when you talk about something, it doesn't matter if you are looking to water, rockets, carburetors, just visited a farm, talk to NASA or the president. I don't know if this will reach you but thanks for sharing your point of view and I hope you don't get any pressure chasing the algorithm because channels like yours do a big impact and should be preserved as they are.
I appreciate your honesty! As a fellow RU-vidr who started a few months ago and focuses on hair tutorial videos, I totally relate to the part about "cutting some arms," which, for me, one of the arms I will like to cut off is the editing process. As I grow and evolve, seeking help with editing is something I'll likely explore. I've noticed many big creators expressing a desire to quit. In my view, pacing oneself can indeed help reduce burnout. I'm committed to keeping the creative process enjoyable - it should be fun, not a chore. Let's continue creating and enjoying the journey
I gotta say. Your octopus analogy applies outside of the creative space, to anyone who is working with or managing teams. It’s smart to know your own strengths and fill that role as best you can while relying on and trusting others to do what you’re not great at and reaching the same goal. Great vid
In summary: become a comfortably jogging two-legged octopus and buy six more treadmills for each of the other 6 legs and make sure to keep your three hearts intact
@@marcellkovacs5452 I’m not necessarily saying the other ways are bad, just that Scott did it best. I understand life happens and you can’t plan for everything.
@@SyntheticFuture you just contradicted yourself with the second sentence. I watch Mark but Unus Anus was meh ngl it felt like a 2nd channel just to shill merch and legally call it "limited-time only"
Your NAILING this. Thanks fo the brilliant deep dive and honest revelations. This is also true for any other person working for himself and growing. You end up doing absolutely nothing you started off enjoying. Brilliantly you also looked at the solution and not just the problem.
My answer has been to save some videos for myself. Just make something for me, without help. It may not even be for RU-vid. Use the scale to keep the machine going. To pay the bills. The trap is chasing money. Creativity is always at arms reach if we ignore the game
Do I get it right that you want some videos to be perfect and others that are good enough, so they can be released in time? Which, I gotta say, is a really great way. I'm not a patreon, but I do wonder how you communicate that to your patreons?
This is part of the magic of your brand the way you articulate the subject you're discussing makes it easy to follow, I love your channel and have been faithful to your brand for Years now
Great video (as always). I went through this as a writer before I experienced it as a RU-vidr. I always dreamt of being a published novelist (and with good reason; it's a wonderful job), and I spent a lot of time doing it for free before anyone ever paid me. But the creativity part of writing, while of course it's at the center of the work, is only part of the story. You also have to think about invoicing and net-45 payment schedules and marketing your books effectively and collaborate with designers and editors and audiobook producers and foreign language agents and so on. All of this is great work, of course--it's inherent to your dreams coming true, which is of course an amazing experience--but it's very difficult to remain creative while also doing a good job of the other stuff, and "the other stuff" becomes a bigger and bigger part of your job. This is one reason why I used to publish a book every other year and now it's every four or five. With RU-vid, it's even more extreme, because there is even less support, and the business models aren't as mature. And when people feel like they've lived the dream, and now they're ready to go on and live another life, I think we should thank and congratulate them. Thanks as always for using your voice with such care and thoughtfulness. -John
People see a successful RU-vidr and think I can do that. In reality running a creative business is all consuming. As a photographer working on making the leap to RU-vid. The amount of work involved is INSANE. To get my first video out I’ve had to learn the ins and outs of outs of shooting video, learning premier, audition & after effects, learning color grading, bashing my head against a wall matching audio tone from different sources, diving into the black hole that is licensed music, learning the tax structure for gig work, and on and on. All of that is before my first video is an even done. Even as I improve my base RU-vid skill set I learned very quickly you just can’t speed a lot of the workflow up much while still maintaining a high bar for quality. It is a dream job for someone like me but the amount of work required is far beyond 99.9% of people.
@@AnthonyJGianotti It's a lot of work if you want it to look professional. I make simple documentary videos so I get by with simple editing too and still don't have time to publish everything I record. Because I do that in my spare time between paying job and family.
“Do what you love. Love what you do” is on my wall above my imac for a good reason. 💖 Delegating the things you don’t love sounds like a wonderful idea. Because somebody will love to do that thing you don’t. I’m so glad you are there being an inspiration in a way that goes way beyond tech - just in your being-ness. Such good energy and authenticity - and so smart. Just some of the things we all appreciate about you. 💖
It's refreshing to hear a realistic and thoughtful perspective on the complexities of being a content creator. Your analogies really hit home and made the message clear.
I totally resonate with what you've expressed here. The RU-vidr job is more multifaceted than most people understand and the burnout is real. Keep your passion at the core of everything you do and remember why you started.
I have yet to post a video, but it's been my biggest source of information and entertainment for about seven years. I have strong feelings about the platform and a hope for the future of it. Those who started out as pure creatives, and found themselves at that point where they had to choose to either create less, and manage more, or continue to progress in creating, and earn less, I hope those who chose to manage, will be able to pass the creative torch to younger creatives. RU-vid's going to keep changing, in ways that many of us don't like. Some things it changes, will be for the better.🤞 But as the platform attracts more corporate firms, it would be nice to see a line of torch-bearers, continue to pass that torch.
He did not mention the most important thing in this whole story which is money and wealth. the question is how much did all those youtubers make before making the conscious decision of retiring or quitting or whatever ! i find the video quite misleading and deceptive because there was a deliberate effort to avoid talking about that !
@@maxgibifyit’s a SUPER crybaby problem. Like there’s no physical labor they have teams to edit, come up with idea and they get plenty of free products. Plus making more money than most people with degrees. He gets to go to award shows. Meet with the head of Apple. But these people are burned out because “I have to make videos and travel”😂😂😂😂
Final achievement: made it into a MKBHD video 😁 You're absolutely right on this one! Although I believe it requires a skill to delegate (cut off arms). A skill I had trouble with. I have huge respect for small businesses and channels with a small team that succeed at this. It ain't easy, I can tell now 🙂
We in turn have huge respect that you and your team taught us so well and helped many of us make our starts easier. Really hope to see you find passion again and some day to meet again.
As a project manager, too many people ignore the fact that you have to trust the person or people around you to help. Be it coworkers, friends or family. Everyone learns at a different rate and even a different way (visual or textbook). Yeah you have to have the patience and support. I've always said I was a jack of all trades but master of none. And that's okay.... I don't need to be the master, I have good people around who with their skill sets can help the team get on track and hit the finish line (or target date) I think personally not everyone is a manager or something like a project manager. That too is okay, we definitely need reliable coworkers or staff to focus on a few things rather than split with tons of work. That is a recipe for disaster imo Trust is earned but trust can only be earned when people get out of their own comfort zones and take a chance on someone or something they don't normally do. Listening is key. And for me personally, taking good notes is always key and important.
🔖Meanwhile rage-bait channels are getting all the views. Just pick a subject to rant about and there you go, that's your content for the day. It's so low effort. Long form content that take 2 weeks to write cannot compete with that..
I connect to this so much being a 27 year old ceo for a food brand. Every single thing you said is true and I hope everyone hears you clearly. You have to be good at everything to a degree, but you also need to be good at getting rid of tasks and managing people. The future of wealth is owning your situation and being at your speed on the treadmill. Thanks Marques
Yeah I was thinking about it when he says "Creative Jobs don't scale like regular Jobs". But to some degree that is true of most Jobs. Engineering, programming, brick laying, marketing, waiting, cooking all don't just scale where you get to make more money doing the same thing. The job of a CEO is very different to the job of doing whatever that company does. I suppose one difference is that with RU-vid you earn basically nothing until you're big enough that you have to focus on these other aspects of it.
@@FreelyGiveI was going to say that too. Great video but a lot of non creative jobs (im an office worker) has the same thing. even doctors and nurses (see Scrubs, season 2 finale)
as someone who recently started hiring people to handle some of my editing work after 11 years of doing everything myself, it's been a huge boon to my creativity. i don't need to think about editing nearly as much, which has almost revitalized my brain and my motivation to do more interesting things. i think a lot of people who want to start a channel really do not realize how much work it is. when i first started, i saw so many channels and people who thought they had so many good ideas for youtube, but once they exhausted those ideas, they just full stopped creating content, whether it was because they ran out of ideas, or got too tired of it. it's not enough to just have 8-10 video ideas, make them and that's it. you gotta make those and then keep it going... forever. and that is not something many people are prepared for, both physically and mentally. i'd rather be doing this than 99.9% of other jobs out there, it is a privilege to be here, the freedoms are amazing, but that doesn't mean it's all sunshine and rainbows either. you have to eat, breathe and sleep content.
I can relate, it's a lot more work than I initially expected. On top of the passion you want to share (mine is cooking and baking) you have to learn to master all the rest: record videos, pay attention to the lighting, edit videos in premiere pro, have decent audio, work around RU-vid limitations (e.g. a short with a big file size will see its quality crushed in half by YT), navigate through music copyrights, suffer restrictions in some countries because of the music you selected, deal with flakey analytics, try not to fall in depression when your content isn't promoted by YT, etc etc... I believe there are basically two worlds: the big channels with an established audience who will cash youtube money until the end of time, and the small channels (like mine) who have to try and grow but where the attendance will expect the same quality as the bigger channels. Not easy, but I'm confident I will get there one day...
I appreciate you making this video and putting it out there for everyone to see. I just so happen to come on your channel since it's been a long minute and stumbled on this video. It's something I needed to hear going into a different work field in general. I'm on that path where I'm trying to figure out my passion is and what is worth my diligence and time. Listening to you gave me a little different perspective and I think it will help me down the road. Much love and kudos to you for being where you're at today! 🙌🏻😎
I knew he was pulling my leg. He's having too much fun and getting free new stuff sent to you all the time is likely a blast. If he ever gets kids, he might change gears.
It's interesting, on my path as a new teacher, watching and listening to RU-vidrs describe the process. It parallels a lot of the feelings that go into our careers - how it feels like you're always trying to keep up, running constantly, how it consumes your life. It's an art, a passion. If you don't remind yourself of the core of why you are there often, you will lose yourself to burnout. I relate a lot to Mattpat, how he said it's best to end on a high note. I think it's why we lose a lot of teachers - to quote Harvey Dent, you either die a hero or live long enough to become a villain.
thanks so much for putting this up as a musician and creator who is trying to establish herself and struggling to find the balance in all this, i can really relate. The analogies were very eloquent and intelligent and gave me hope and a feeling that it's normal what i'm going through. thank you! 💕
Now this has come full circle. I became aware of the new set of RU-vidr creator, quitting videos, based on a tweet that you put out a week ago on X. Great stream of consciousness, post! Had a kind of Coltrane solo vibe to it. It started inside and then you started improvising way outside the changes with your octopus analogy. Totally dug that! Thanks 🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻
Well said Rick. I watched your video and then this one. Food for thought for us RU-vidrs for sure. Nice Coltrane point. This makes me think more of Marty Friedman's solos ;)
Great advice and Yep It's a dream job and so grateful we can do this, but it is way more hours than many people think. Just like anything it has its ups and downs for sure. Finding what works for you and working on a scale that works for you takes time to figure out. Either way all those videos resonate with any full time creator.
i would suggest that even smaller youtubers (like ourselves) have a strong sense of what advice and wisdom is shared. Common sense will make you digest it's meaning a great deal.
I’d argue that a regular career can go along the same path as a creator career. I work as an analyst, I’m a senior analyst with a couple of direct reports. I’m able to still do the part I enjoy (analysis). My boss is like me and likes the analysis, but due to other parts of his job namely facing off to stakeholders and managing the team. He has to let us get on with the analysis now. What you’re describing is the same in that as your grow, you need to learn when to let go and let other people be the ‘worker bees’.
Timestamped Highlights: 0:18 🎥 RU-vidrs quitting, retiring, or cutting back on RU-vid 1:42 🌟 RU-vid as a dream job and its growing complexity 3:07 🏀 RU-vid as being a professional athlete 5:03 ⚖ Creative jobs don’t scale like regular jobs 7:40 🏃♂ Avoiding burnout and finding the right pace on the treadmill 10:43 🐙 Octopus analogy: multiple roles of a RU-vid creator 12:15 ✂ Getting help and delegating tasks effectively Supported by NoteGPT
As someone running a computer repair shop business full time while trying to scale a channel with crazy growth, this video is reassuring that I’m not alone in my struggle. Literally another full time job.
Love you Salem! You're truly T H E G R E A T E S T T E C H N I C I A N T H A T S E V E R L I V E D. I wish you the best of luck! (You got me into fixing laptops as a hobby, thank you for that)
Great response man and love the analogies! For me, the only thing with cutting off the "arms" is that you still have to manage those arms and I am a terrible manager lol. So I've just not scaled up and cut back on content.
it shows, high production is nice sometimes but the more personal (and still very well produced) videos you make are really refreshing especially from a large creator. I like the direction your channel has gone a lot
“So I’ve just not scaled up and cut back on content” and it’s working for you. I’m doing the same and I’ve only been doing RU-vid properly for about 6 months 😂
Hey man! I've been watching your videos for years. Before I was even in a creative field, and now I am! It definitely is my dream job, people do get burnt out for sure. I've struggled to understand why the older generations want out of the industry, I love the work but I can see in a few decades being taxed by it. Hope to see you on here for years to come, good to see professional perspective from a peer at the same age range. Thanks for the hard work!
I resonated deeply with your video about why people stop making RU-vid videos. Your insights touched on the emotional aspects that many creators experience. Your words reminded me of the journey and passion behind content creation, and it's reassuring to know others understand the challenges. Thank you for sharing your thoughts and fostering a sense of connection within the community ❤ Jarno from Easy Finnish
We're a channel with 2 million subscribers, and it's been extremely exhausting creating content for the past couple of years. When videos no longer hit, it gets harder and harder to justify the investment we put into the platform. We're doing what you suggested and going to focus on content we enjoy making and hope there are others out there like us. -Eric
the first person to wholesale outsource "running" a RU-vid channel in the way most only fans "models" are managed by teams that specialise in dealing with the non performer side of things will change the game completely &make a uttload of money into the bargain Especially for that young "I want to be a youtuber when I grow up" generation, many of whom are extroverts and creative but may not have all the other octupus arms necessary to run a channel
I feel like some just realize they have made money and want more free time . Let’s be honest yall make bank . That guy doing audits says he makes 1.2 M a year from RU-vid . He has two employees that he pays 80+k . Yall get use to that and want more time . In sure you’ll take it for granted and don’t even realize it. And I think that’s natural. No hate in that.
But just like every single other video on the subject, all this is is a list of reasons why someone would retire at all, not why everyone is retiring at the same time. It's not an intentional strawman, but it does ignore the main part of the question: Why are youtubers retiring NOW?
Thanks for your advise. I really needed that because there is no one teaching, showing what is really going on. You have always been an honest person with regards to this. Thanks again for being real.
So true. I am over 5 years in and I share testimonies and miracles. It’s been amazing but it’s also a lot of work. I didn’t monetize my channel. It takes a lot of time to preview guests, read their book, record, edit, write, graphics, social posts…reply, etc. As a busy mom of 2 I find I am getting a little burned out. It has been wonderful but people really have no idea how much it takes to keep it going. I may cut back my content or pause. I don’t know yet. You made great points here. ❤
Perfectly well said 🙌 Something we're grappling with here at Viva La Dirt League. Burnout is a real thing and we're actively looking to keep this sustainable for ourselves!
This is all true. I think a lot of the younger people dreaming of being a youtuber also don't quite realize how many hours they will be working, and how little of a social life they will have.
As someone who is going through a transition career-wise who has also thought about going all in on RU-vid from time to time, this resonates quite a lot. Thank you for making this.
This was an excellent video. The growing pains that you’re speaking about are actually very common and lots of areas of industry. The restaurant industry, for example. That industry has a lot of failure in it for this very reason. A chef loves to cook, and gets the joy in cooking for other people, and then thinks the logic responses to start a restaurant. And then, as the restaurant you spend more of your time working on the business end of it and teaching others to do the thing you love to do, which is the cooking. The answer? Others to take on the pieces that are stealing away your first love so that you can go back to focusing on what made you great… financially possible, of course.
But what about the part where people are quitting because YT has become so restricted, political and a genuine PITA? Other places don't pay as well, but they allow freedom. Silly-con valley is just disappearing up it's own hole.
The answer is called an agent. Basketball players also have all those brand relations stuff, they just outsource the work for a fee. This is why companies outsource , so they can focus on core value.
Marques, what you so clearly and eloquently share in this video regarding a RU-vidr job applies perfectly to everyone who decides to become an entepreneur and -in the track of growth- faces that “octopus challenge” presented here. Great message: THANKS.
Two points come to mind. First, my mother taught me something important when I was really young. Decide whether you are a leader or a worker. Leaders will shoulder the burden of responsibility and all the rewards that come with risk and control. Workers will maintain routine, creative, reliable employment. Decide which is at your core and follow that path. Second point. Your description of chasing opportunity that leads to overhead and oversight, drawing you away from creativity is shared by many others. Generally speaking we learn to Walk then Run then Fly... and it's all so natural for this to happen. I suspect youtubers aren't aware of the formula until the reality of a living wage is dangled just within reach and then... the chase is on.
Content creation is such a journey. It is a lot of work, but you gotta find your path. And I respect all the creators who have quit, or found other passions or interests. Changing careers is common and I’ve seen many people change to being a creator later in life too and start smashing it.
Hey Marques! As a new RU-vidr, this video really resonates with me, and I can't help but think about how it relates to your journey as a seasoned content creator. It's so true that being a RU-vidr might seem like a dream job, but it comes with its own set of challenges and complexities. Your content has always been top-notch, and I admire the way you handle your channel. I think finding that balance between external goals like growth and fame, and the internal motivation of simply enjoying the creative process, is crucial for creators like you. This video reminds us all to be deliberate about our RU-vid careers, preserving what we truly love about creating content while delegating tasks that can lead to burnout. As a new RU-vidr, I appreciate these valuable insights and consider them as gems of wisdom. Thanks for sharing your journey with us, Marques! It's a valuable reminder for all creators, including those who look up to you. 🙌🎥💡
Really love the octopus analogy! I’ve had to learn so many different things over 10 years to become a full-time creator from all kinds of camera settings, lighting techniques, animating, etc. It’s hard to imagine letting go of an octopus arm and allowing someone else to control a part of my channel, but I feel like that’s going to be inevitable if I want to grow to the next level. Very blessed to be on this treadmill though! For creators trying to make this a career: There’s 2 ways you can approach this. 1) Try something, fail, and get discouraged. Or 2) Try something, fail, and keep going until you figure it out. If you keep trying to figure it out, you will eventually, so keep learning and don’t give up! 🙏🏻
Ngl what u said really helps me lot to understand that sucess comes from failure, experience and improvements. I believe keep our mental and physical health check is one of the way for keep moving forward without any burnout and self doubts, thanks for ur words!
@@dumb_art156 Exactly! “Success comes from failure, experience, and improvements” is a really great way to word it 😄 Glad I could help! Now keep creating and reach your goals!!! 💪🏻
It's still wild to me that RU-vid has been around long enough for even some of the most dedicated creators to move on. The recent retirements aren't just your usual RU-vidr that's been on the platform for a few years. It's creators that have been here for 10+ years, creators who were there when RU-vid was starting to take off. We're slowly moving to a new era, and it's a weird feeling as a long time user of the platform.
Ten years in any job even a very well paid job is quite a long time these days. Actually the more well paid a job is the more able a person is to have options to change to another well paid job.
I haven't watched this video yet but I've heard that RU-vid has gotten really bad about demonetizing videos with no details for the demonetization. Yet they'll still run ads. I don't know how true it is but for a lot of people this is their job. A lot of content creators have employees they need to pay.
People are getting sooo much money they could live for generations without even need to work a single day. It's only natural that some of them finally decided to just retire and live slowly. I mean even if they're no longer making youtube content, the channel are still there generating money. They don't need to worry about any financial problem, they've reach financial freedom. I would do the same.
Marques always has The Insight on things going on in the internet. This makes a lot of sense and has me thinking on things as I grapple with where I want to go in my own creative endeavors. I'll be keeping this video in mind.
Great thoughts and thinking as usual, love it. And also love seeing the shift in mindset from more, money, fame to more being in the moment and having fun doing something creative in the first place. People naturally love to have fun and other people love to join in but business kills all the fun
You hit the nail on the head with this one! The biggest lesson I’ve had to learn is that you CANNOT do everything on your own… the creation of content stays in the center of everything, and all the other pieces get outsourced! Being a jack of all trades is the fastest way to burnout! It sounds good but it’s DANGEROUS ‼️
It depends on what you want to achieve. Doing my channel I enjoy all of it, editing, filming etc… I guess I would outsource editing at some point. But then what I do, probably read the books I’ve been wanting to read for years now. 😅
As someone who's lucky enough to be full time on RU-vid for 3+ years now, 6+ years in total on the platform and 1,300+ videos it really is an astounding amount of work. I taught myself iMovie, then Final Cut Pro, shooting on an iPhone then learning my Sony a7IV, then learning how to edit S-log footage, then actual color grading, setting up pro level mics. Learning basic image editing, SEO, thumbnail design, video structures/engagement, studying video analytics. Countless hours of work and stress to be in this sought after role. It's brutal work at times yet so enjoyable and fun at times. I think of it like, "go make a movie...that's due tomorrow. Great, now do it again, and again and again". The treadmill, the octopus, all great analogies. After running for too long on the treadmill at times I definitely agree that balance is so important.
I found this video to be so helpful. Especially the treadmill analogy. Marques, my dad was one of your biggest fans. He passed away last year and every time I see one of your videos I think of him. He would often send me your videos to encourage me with my own channel. He was 76 when he passed. I just wanted you to know that. ♥ ~ Jennifer
I seriously cant express how relatable this video is to me rn! Editing used to be my fav part but has now become a chore that’s creating friction for me. Trust me this video was the little push i needed to go all-in on the search to find an editor.
Such a great video. Never in a million years would I have anticipated the grind that this job necessitated when we started. It's always nice to see more experienced creators speak on this topic
I have a travel/ theme park channel, and I realized having fun with your videos and enjoying the process creates constant creativity. Love what you do 🥃
3 месяца назад
You'll be doing this a long time! I'm sure it's an ongoing challenge but your sense of balance ability to reflect on life in your field is admirable!
Marquas- dude I love everything you were saying in this content. The fact that you to understand the niche and how to provide content here is so important for everyone hoping to jump into this area. You have been one of my heroes in this area in that you understand, how this works and how to create this content that people understand and love. Thank you for putting this out there, I don’t want to quash anyone’s desires to be a creator but… They have to understand that is not a simple thing. This is not easy. If it was, then everyone would do it and be famous. Thank you sir thank you.
I thank you and think that you accurately defined the transformation required in "any" job that one undertakes in their life journey. The prospect of doing everything well is a myth and needs to be understood at the fundamental base of the journey/job. The quote, "Do what you love," means exactly that. It's not complicated yet we make it so. Your perspective in insights are invaluable and again, I thank you as a beginning YT content creator~
As a person in their 50s, this is one of the most insightful videos I’ve seen. This advice is not only good for “You Tubers,” but for any career person in general. Every high schooler and college student should see this- regardless what they inspire to do in life. Wow!
New Creator that just climbed on the treadmill chiming in, this video gave me some great reflection on what being a "Professional RU-vidr" is. For me, it's been alot of work but I'm enjoying the process and I'm looking forward to uncovering all the pieces while holding onto being creative. Thanks for the insight
This applies to any business, not only to the business of RU-vidrs. That's why way more people should listen to this. If you are an expert on something and want to have your own business, you will soon shift to manager and it takes different skill set and it's taking a lot of time to manage everything. Great analogy-filled and advice-filled video 👏
Yeah, I was listening to his story and was thinking, thats pretty much the same as with any other self-empliyed business. If you are scalling up, you are progressively doing less and less of the "basic" stuff that you were doing when you started. If you want to scale, you have to become the manager and delegate the other stuff. If you want to just be a creative RU-vidr than don't grow out of it. It is a matter of choice, not everybody needs to be huge enterprise channel with millions and millions of subscribers.
Agreed. It's not because the job is creative, it's because a lot of RU-vidrs work for themselves. If you work for a big channel, then it is a regular job.
Came to the comments to post exactly this. It's 100% the story of any sole proprietorship. I recommend the book Systemogy; lot of good discussions at how to scale a small business. In reality it happens in any career to someone who is successful. As you gain more success, you do less and less of the work that got you there, and more and more BS / admin / mentoring / etc. It's just that most people don't do it live on a public video every day.
wow you can say things so beautifully and clearly. This confirms for me that I am doing well. I haven't been doing it for very long but I really enjoy doing it. I have seen many videos in which they give certain advice on how to best have a RU-vid channel, but it makes me so unhappy. I just follow my own path in this. I also learn a lot about myself. I also had to get used to seeing myself on video, but that is quite a process😂 Thank you for this video!
Great advice! ("Keep the creativity part at the core of what you're doing"). Thanks. I teach digital marketing at a college and a few students have started Instagram channels, which is great. Two students started a RU-vid channel reviewing hip hop albums and they're doing great. My advice would be to just EXPRESS YOURSELF. Not necessarily on RU-vid, but on ANY channel you resonate with, whether it's Facebook (like I do, being an obsessive writer lol) or Linkedin or Tik Tok (wait, Tik Tok is very toxic, just my opinion) or X. From a career or economics standpoint, people have to realize that social platforms give them ENORMOUS power. Eventually, they'll find a way to monetize their content, but it's important to START CREATING CONTENT (blogs, videos, podcasts, whatever). In fact, the timing is right since AI is probably going to eliminate most, if not all, non-creative jobs (including knowledge work jobs requiring a university degree). I have a 15-year-old nephew who started composing music and he's on Spotify! Kids, the world is yours! Go for it!
Couldn’t agree more! The octopus analogy is perfect and sums up my life. I contemplated hiring someone to help but couldn’t get round to it. I love the process too much. If my channel does scale more in the future I’ll recess. I do feel it though, between RU-vid / Instagram / running a full time photography / creative business / normal life etc. it’s tiring. It’s non stop.
That “scale up” problem is real in a lot of careers. I worked in corporate doing work I enjoyed and as I moved up it was all management and less of what I actually liked. Eventually I quit, started freelancing, and decided to forgo growth for joy.
I think this applies to many things in life. People feel that scaling to accumulate more things is a natural progression for happiness as there are goals that are attained.. the problem is that acquiring more things means managing more things which leads to more work. Yes these things may in themselves be fun but it’s always best to make sure to enjoy what you already have without getting stuck in a loop of constantly yearning for more. Be grateful for what you already have
Very true! burn out is real but you have to remember why you started your channel in the first place. As an animator who spends hundreds of hours on each video, I can relate, but the difference is "I LOVE WHAT I DO" and wouldn't change it for the world. And trust me, I've had real jobs.
Yooo I used to watch all of your videos religiously🤣🤣💯🙏🏾. Glad to see you're still doing your thing!! Would it be possible to make Tim an adult one time and drop a video like " First time being a Father "?
It’s just as much a real job. Anything you do more than 1225 hours in a year and pays your bills IS a real job. I’ve been doing ‘dream jobs’ all my life (which take up too much time to do RU-vid parallel) and the one thing I had to learn as a youngster is to take yourself seriously - don’t think you’re just doing it for fun or as a hobby. If you realize that you’re doing something professionally then the chances of burning out will drop. Because then you realize you don’t need to do everything, you realize you need to have a life outside of it and you need to plan your holidays and free time. As an entrepreneur or freelance creator you must love and care for yourself enough to put down your laptop and go chill. Make a week schedule. Don’t put in extra hours every day. Take yourself, your ‘real’ job and your health seriously.
"Pick the right speed on the treadmill." Man, that resonates. I'm trying to branch away from my day job, and it feels like I've got one leg each on two different treadmills.
Thanks for the insight. I'm going to share this with all of my young colleagues in media who have quit or are dreaming about quitting their traditional media jobs to go independent.
The octopus example just hit me hard. I think I was the octopus a couple of months ago for 5+ years; I was doing everything: taking way more than I could handle, getting a bonus --> buying real estate, more money in Airbnb than the rental, making it Airbnb, doing consulting work after 9-5, I love to write a blog (blogging before 8 AM or after 6 PM), if the blog is paying good, create another niche based, that niche is doing great, make another sub-niche, there is no F... end. I had to cut my arms, but as Mkbhd said, not all the arms would disable me permanently; I cut the arms in which I was weak or trying to be the best and hired some people who were doing a way better job than me. Now, I am focusing on three things I genuinely enjoy. Although your analogies are a little strange, they make more sense when you connect the dots. Thanks, brother!
Dude you absolutely nailed it. I don’t think people realize the amount of work it is being a RU-vidr. Most people just see the “highlight reel” and think it’s a breeze. When you find your niche and running your pace on the treadmill, it’s very very easy to get burned out. It can be fun and very rewarding, but yeah, there are a lot of ups and downs. And when the analytics aren’t moving in the direction you were hoping… it can really make an impression on your mental health.
I don’t think people realize the amount of work it is to be a top professional in any area!! Honestly, there are a lot of areas that are more useful for Humanity and more difficult to be on top and consistent than being a RU-vidr!
@@Tom-cn4cmgrass is always greener on the other side - work is still work, doesn't matter what you do. Some jobs are more useful to others though, it's why I always pay the plumber. Having a variety of things to do definitely helps against the monotony of work though, that's for sure
@@Allan_Stonework is work until work become staying home working out of home office at your own pace vs having a “real” job outside heat/cold for a fraction of the pay for 10x demand physically/mentally
