A Creator’s Guide to YouTube (That Nobody Asked For)

YouTube is still the wild west. Harsh but full of opportunity.

The good, the bad, the ugly.

The creators before you have seen things and lived to tell about it—things that might be worth knowing. And who else really knows this madness but other creators?

1. Hook ’Em in the First 10 Seconds

The first 10 seconds of your video are your audition—that’s when potential viewers are either leaning in or swiping away. So don’t use stock footage in your opener. Any idiot can spot a fake smile or a lame lifestyle shot. They’re turn-offs because they feel “canned”.

Show them something real—something worth sticking around for.

2. Titles and Thumbnails are Your Elevator Pitch

You have literally less than two seconds to persuade a viewer to tap on your video. Read that again.

Miss the shot and they’re gone forever.

Slick production doesn’t mean **** if a song doesn’t have a great hook. Your titles and thumbnails are your hook—play them off each other and make them relevant to the first moments of your video.

3. Make What You’d Watch

If you wouldn’t click on your own video, why would anyone else? And if you don’t love making it, it’ll show. People can sniff out fake enthusiasm like bad acting. You gotta love what you make.

4. How to Cut like You Didn’t Learn It From a Blog

If your cuts between speakers/cameras feel clunky or the pacing feels odd, you’re probably cutting at the wrong spots.

Pro tip: cut your clips on consonants. Your transitions will look and feel more natural. Crazy right?

5. Friends Don’t Let Friends Tank Their Metrics

Asking your friends to “like” your video might seem like a good idea. Yeah, it’s not. They’ll click, drop a comment, then bail—leaving your precious watch time stats in the gutter.

The all-seeing algorithm decides your video is trash. Uh oh.

You’re better off letting total strangers judge you. At least they’re honest. If your friends have subscribed to your channel, maybe break the news to them—thanks, but no thanks?

6. Don’t Give the Algo an Excuse

How’s this for ass-backward logic: Don’t set all your uploads to “Notify subscribers”. The subscribers who loved your Jet Packs for Commuters vid might not be so hot on Why City Buses are the Future. When they swipe away, your vid’s taking an early hit.

Sometimes it’s better to let the algorithm do its thing.

7. Aim for Evergreen

Chasing trends is like spending 15 days learning a 15-second dance trend that’s old news 15 hours later. Excitement fades fast—play the long game.

Make content that is watchable a month from now—a year from now. It’ll keep pulling in views long after the music fades.

8. Flip the Script

Look, originality is a tough nut—and it can often be a bigger lift than just copycatting others. But sharp creators know how to take an idea and run with it—in directions that nobody else could have dreamed up.

Maybe you see a new content angle you hadn’t thought of. Ask yourself: “What could I do with this? How could I turn this on its head?” Creativity isn’t magic, it’s seeing what others missed.

9. Don’t Sabotage Your Channel with Poor Tools

Content creation is a grind. But top creators don’t wing it—they plan, they organize, and they stand out. Good planning can happen with the right tools—a workflow that helps you cut the clutter, focus your planning, and shape better scripts.

It just so happens that we’re building one.

10. Your House, Your Rules

Your channel is your screening room, your gallery, your creative space. Your comment section is for guests, not party crashers. Don’t give haters the mic. Block, delete, move on.

Bonus: Your First 50 Videos Will Probably Suck

You’re going to screw up. Your lighting will be trash. Your delivery will be pained. Your audio will sound like it was mic’d by Vikings.

Eh, it’s fine. You weren’t about to bail were you?

The only way to get better is to keep improving—every upload. Push through the cringe, the doubts, the existential dread. If you love it, make the videos anyway. Inevitably, you’ll suck less.

>> Read part 2: Making Good Videos, Grabbing a Few Eyeballs, and Not Totally Face-Planting