47:54Think Media Podcast · Interview
What YouTube Actually Wants in 2026
YouTube's Creator Liaison explains at NAB Vegas what the algorithm actually rewards, what's changing in 2026, and what creators keep getting wrong.
May 22ndThe argument in one line.
Low views are almost never a video quality problem — they are a channel positioning problem that starts before the camera turns on, rooted in not knowing who the content is for, what they consistently get, and what kind of creator is making it.
Read if. Skip if.
READ IF YOU ARE…
- You have been posting consistently but feel your channel is all over the place with little growth to show for it.
- You recently pivoted your channel topic and are wondering why your numbers dropped or your algorithm reset.
- You are starting a YouTube channel and want to skip the identity confusion that stalls creators for years.
- You are debating whether to abandon an existing channel and start fresh, or keep posting through the confusion.
SKIP IF…
- You already have a clear channel identity, a defined audience persona, and consistent content pillars.
- You are a brand channel with a content strategist handling positioning — advice here is aimed at solo creators.
The full version, fast.
Low views are almost never a video quality problem — they are a positioning problem that starts before the camera turns on. The hosts identify four failure modes: not knowing who the content is for, making multiple pivots before the algorithm can recalibrate, posting videos without giving anyone a reason to subscribe, and not having decided what kind of creator you are. The fix is sequential: write your channel purpose in one sentence, pick two to three content pillars, commit to a direction for 10 to 20 videos minimum, then let the data compound. Switching mid-experiment does not just reset views — it resets the algorithm conditioning and signals confusion to both the audience and YouTube simultaneously.
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Create a free account →Who's talking.
00:00hostSean Cannell
00:00cohostNathan Eswein
Where the time goes.
00:00 – 02:13
01 · Hook: community comments + identity confusion preview
Four real creator comments from community tab establish the problem; teaser of identity confusion.
02:13 – 07:37
02 · Problem 1: No defined viewer
Start with who, not what or why. Algorithm equals audience proxy. Knowing your viewer makes video planning easier, not harder.
07:37 – 12:25
03 · Problem 2: Pivot shock
Every pivot resets the algorithm. 2026 advice: start a second channel rather than pivoting an existing one.
12:25 – 17:07
04 · Problem 3: Content without positioning
Posting videos is not the same as building a channel. Must answer: why subscribe? What will they get consistently?
17:07 – 23:52
05 · Problem 4: Identity confusion
Coaching case study of a creator with great execution but no defined creator identity. Clarity is a process, not a day-one decision.
23:52 – 32:45
06 · Four fixes + CTA
Define channel in one sentence. Choose 2-3 pillars. Commit to one direction. Give it time to compound (10-20 videos minimum).
Lines worth screenshotting.
- You could replace the word algorithm with audience — the algorithm serves content based on viewing patterns, so knowing your viewer IS knowing the algorithm.
- Every pivot resets your channel whether you realize it or not — old subscribers stop clicking, new viewers do not recognize you.
- A video might work, but a channel needs direction — individual viral moments do not fix a structural positioning problem.
- If your identity is unclear, your content will be too — even technically great videos underperform when the creator has not decided what kind of creator they are.
- Start a new channel if you are making a drastic pivot — a fresh algorithm in 2026 is easier to train than a confused existing one.
- One video is not an experiment — you need 10 to 20 videos minimum before you can interpret whether a direction is working.
- Defining your niche correctly makes planning easier, not harder — when you know your audience, you already know what problems they have.
- Clarity takes time, but confusion costs you even more time — the expense of switching directions is compounding, not linear.
- The algorithm is a proxy for audience fit — confusing YouTube means you have already confused the humans you are trying to reach.
- You are most powerfully positioned to help the person you were yesterday — your who is the version of yourself you have already solved problems for.
- A channel that is about too many things cannot be described in 30 characters — that length test is a useful positioning gut-check.
- Identity confusion is the invisible layer underneath all tactical problems — better thumbnails and titles cannot fix an undefined creator identity.
- Starting a new channel is not quitting — in 2026 it is a deliberate strategy to capture a fresh algorithm signal with fierce clarity from day one.
- Content pillars solve the blank-slate problem — two to three repeatable topic buckets eliminate the weekly question of what to make next.
Four root causes that stall a YouTube channel.
WHAT TO LEARN
Most channel growth problems trace back to four positioning failures that play out before the first frame is ever captured.
- Defining who you are making content for is not a branding exercise — it is the input the algorithm needs to match your videos to the right viewers, and skipping it confuses both the platform and the audience.
- Every significant channel pivot effectively resets the algorithm's audience-matching model, meaning old subscribers disengage and new ones have no context — a drastic pivot is better executed on a new channel than grafted onto an existing one.
- Uploading videos is not the same as building a channel — without a clear reason for a viewer to subscribe and a consistent promise of what they will keep getting, individual videos can perform without growing the channel.
- Identity confusion — not knowing whether you are a teacher, entertainer, or inspirer on YouTube — is the invisible layer that undermines even technically excellent content, and it resolves through time and iteration, not a single decision.
- One video is not a valid experiment for a new direction — committing to 10 to 20 videos in the same direction before evaluating is the minimum data needed to distinguish a bad strategy from a good one that has not had time to compound.
- The cost of switching direction mid-experiment is not a reset to zero — it is a deficit, because the algorithm was already being conditioned in one direction and now has to unlearn that signal while you rebuild.
Terms worth knowing.
- Pivot shock
- The audience and algorithm disruption that follows a significant channel topic change — old subscribers stop engaging, new viewers do not recognize the content, and click-through rates drop even before the creator notices.
- Content pillars
- Two to three repeatable topic categories that anchor a channel, giving the audience predictable value and the algorithm a consistent signal to match the channel to the right viewers.
- Identity confusion
- A state where a creator has not yet decided whether they are a teacher, entertainer, inspirer, or community builder on YouTube — described as the invisible glue that holds everything else together.
- Fresh algorithm
- The clean recommendation slate a brand-new channel gets before YouTube has formed any viewer-matching patterns — seen as an advantage in 2026 when starting over with clear positioning.
- Viewer signals
- The behavioral data YouTube collects — watch history, search queries, time-on-platform — that the algorithm uses to decide which viewers to show a given video to.
- Video Ranking Academy (VRA)
- A Think Media coaching program for YouTube growth, referenced as the context for coaching case studies discussed in the episode.
Things they pointed at.
ON CAMERA
05:04channelRory Vaden — Start With Who
Lines you could clip.
03:14
“You could replace the word algorithm with audience. The algorithm is deciding if it is gonna serve up your content based on the viewing patterns of those people.”
11:15
“Every pivot resets your channel whether you realize it or not.”
12:57
“A video might work, but a channel needs direction.”
32:08
“Clarity takes time, but confusion costs you even more time.”
Where the conversation goes.
02:13 – 07:37denseNo defined viewer
07:37 – 12:25densePivot shock
12:25 – 17:07denseContent without positioning
17:07 – 23:52denseIdentity confusion
23:52 – 32:45steadyFour fixes + CTA
Word for word.
metaphoranalogystory
00:00If your YouTube channel feels all over the place right now, you're not alone. We actually asked our audience why they're stuck. And one of the biggest patterns wasn't just slow views, it was confusion.
00:10I've been working with someone in our one on one coaching program. His editing's ridiculous. His thumbnails are sharp.
00:15His setup is dialed in. His Achilles heel is identity confusion. This this young guy, he he doesn't know
00:23where his lane is yet. I wanna update my 2026 advice.
00:27When people say, should I start a new channel or keep posting on my same one if I'm gonna pivot? My advice now is
00:36Navec h d said, I've been transitioning from a random post anything channel to something with an actual niche. It's a lot harder than trying to figure out a video. Todd the big dog said, I pivoted from an AI channel to a real content channel a couple weeks ago, waiting for the algorithm to catch up.
00:51Alamil Zono said, I make pranks, challenges, and vlogs. The biggest challenge? People unsubscribing and not growing.
00:58And Sham Is Home said, the direction is really confusing me this year. So if that's you, whether you're starting a channel or you're stuck and you want some clarity to go forward, we're gonna break down what's actually happening here in five steps so that you can get fierce clarity on your channel's direction. Sean,
01:16this is a serious topic. What's your initial take here? Yeah.
01:19I love that we are doing these community tab posts on the Think Media channel. So if you listen on audio, you know, stay engaged with us over there because we do wanna answer your specific questions. We're doing polls over there.
01:30And so to get feedback that people are really struggling with this and there's a couple things that are happening. You're ultimately sending mixed signals to both YouTube and you're sending mixed signals to the audience.
01:43Like if YouTube doesn't know what you're doing, the audience definitely doesn't know what you're doing. And so the problem is if you got different topics, you're attracting different audiences or different expectations. And when your channel is confusing, YouTube doesn't know how to who to show it to.
01:56So before we get into the five steps to fix this and anybody listening can either improve their improve their existing strategy or start with fierce clarity.
02:05If you're just starting from scratch, this will be powerful and if you feel stuck right now or confused, this will help you give clarity. But before we get to the steps, let's talk about problems. And the first one is no defined viewer.
02:16This is the biggest one. This one's hard
02:18and it's you know, one of the famous phrases is is okay, you're gonna start a YouTube channel, who is your target audience? Yep. And what is your value proposition?
02:29Yes. So who is your channel for and what is your value proposition? I think when people want you know, generally though people don't know where to start with this.
02:36Like, I don't is it Tom? Is it Karen? Like, what do you mean?
02:39Who's my you know, and is it in business, it's called an avatar. Like, do you have a customer avatar or target audience?
02:46But if you're making content and you don't really know who it's for, if you try and reach everybody, you end up reaching nobody. But break this down because you deal with this in coaching all the time with our clients. 100%.
02:57I gotta be honest, this is actually the thing that most people don't start with or wanna skip over because it's boring. Mhmm. It can be.
03:03Some people get pumped up about this and jacked up. I'm a little nerdy. I enjoy this kind of stuff, but a lot of people just wanna jump to creating videos.
03:09And here's what might be helpful to know. You could replace the word algorithm with audience.
03:16You really can't, because the algorithm is deciding if it's gonna serve up your content to people based on the viewing patterns of those people.
03:25So this is why it's actually the ultimate hack to figure out your audience, because you're actually aligning yourself with YouTube. Because YouTube, you know, takes into account these things called viewer signals. These are literate literally things like watch history, search queries, the time they spent on platform with a specific video from a specific creator.
03:44There's a ridiculous amount of things that YouTube's measuring, and so to the degree that you actually understand your viewer, you've defined who you're trying to reach, you're aware of their interests around your niche and why you would be special to them to watch, now you actually make YouTube's job easier because that's what YouTube is trying to figure out.
04:01So actually, you're much better, uh, you're better off to define it for yourself
04:05in your videos so that you make YouTube's job easier in a sense. You know what? I also think the mistake that can happen here, when we say who is your channel for, I think if people were honest, they could say it's for me.
04:18And that's the problem. Oh, man.
04:20Because you're posting whatever you want and you're posting random videos and you're posting it's actually not for the audience. By the way, that's your choice.
04:29It's your tube. You can do whatever you want. But at the end of the day, are you obsessed with the viewer by defining a viewer and knowing problems and ambitions?
04:39There's the that's the that's the goal to know. First of all, you've identified the person. This is this channel's for kids.
04:45It's cartoons, it's entertainment, it's animation, it's Blippi, whatever you wanna do. This channel is for entrepreneurs. This channel is for and then you might get more specific.
04:53So is it for, uh, you know, women, men, demographic, psychographics?
04:59But what do they struggle with and what do they want? What are their problems? What are their ambitions?
05:03And recently, Rory Vaden was interesting. He was talking about personal branding, but he actually said you shouldn't start with what and you shouldn't even start with why even though there's a famous book on like start with why, start with your mission. He actually said when building a personal brand, who should be the first question?
05:20Wow. Start with who. And so I actually think if we dig into, you know, thanks so much for people commenting on these posts and what a Navek HD said is he said a transition from a post anything channel to something with an actual niche.
05:36And he said it's a lot harder trying to figure out a video. I'm just wondering if he's saying it's harder to figure out a video now that he's defined his niche, I actually wanna say he did it wrong.
05:47I when you define your niche correctly, planning videos actually gets easier.
05:52It should be easier. It should be easier. Yeah.
05:54Because when you know your who, you then just ask what are their problems and ambitions? Who's gonna be watching this? What do they wanna click in?
06:02What are they into? If it was an entertainment channel, what artists are they listening to?
06:06What trends are they following? What are they watching online? You know the right thing to talk about at the right time.
06:11If you know demographics and psychographics, then you know that, you know, Kanye recently dropped an album and if you include Kanye in your thumbnail or you mention that, it's gonna resonate with your audience.
06:23If you also know your audience, they still might have no clue what that is. They wouldn't understand any references. That's starting with who.
06:30So there's a lot here that takes you very far down the road. And if you've defined, well my channel is my own hobby channel where I just want to post whatever I want my own video essay and maybe people will benefit from it and enjoy it and maybe it'll blow up.
06:45Maybe people love to just hear me talk about whatever. Yeah. Maybe.
06:49I'd say probably not. So starting with who defining your viewer. If you're an entrepreneur or a creator that wants to scale their online business, that's why we created the Think Media Mastermind.
06:59I have so much more clarity as to my ideal target audience now, which means my content is about to be so much better and more targeted towards the exact person I'm trying to reach. Super intimate,
07:09high level strategy. I had the skills that I already knew sharpened. I feel like I went to my next level.
07:17For entrepreneurs
07:19and creators that wanna scale with YouTube. This was the first time that I was able to get in a room with a lot of other serious YouTubers and talk with other people who love creating content and love YouTube. Usually, I don't get to do that, so this is really special.
07:34You can check it out at thinkmediamastermind.com.
07:37Number two, pivot shock. And pivot shock is coming out of the fact that somebody recently said they pivoted Yeah. From AI to real.
07:45That's actually quite a big pivot. That's actually massive. And then some channels pivot, they were in one niche and in another niche, so maybe they feel directionless, the algorithm's confused.
07:53Break this down. You're you're very experienced. You've coached so many people.
07:58What is pivot shock? Yeah. Pivot shock is this one actually for me, you know, it hits the the audience for sure, but it also has a lot to do with the creator themselves because a lot of creators don't even know how to handle a pivot.
08:09And it's because maybe we just don't quite understand YouTube or we're getting started and we're still trying figure out what we're trying to do. And so I understand the the shock from the creator perspective as well.
08:18Because if you go from something like an AI based channel to it's you now, and you're you're the main creator, you have to understand a couple of things. Like, when you go through a pivot like this by the way, something we can touch on is I think that people are making multiple pivots way too soon in their journey, and they're wondering why we can't keep anybody around.
08:35But assuming you do go through a serious pivot, you can run to this problem where old subscribers don't click you. Totally. New viewers actually don't recognize you because you changed up your content so much that even sometimes, you know, in the title and thumbnail, the the entire topics that you're talking about are different than the topics that brought people to you in the first place.
08:55And so this can result in lower click through rates. You can actually have, like, slower growth. You're like, all of a sudden, people aren't tuning in as much.
09:02And if you did go through a pivot like this, maybe you didn't even realize it. You're just going through and creating videos, and you're changing and you're adapting and you're growing. And the audience that you had, even if it's just a couple 100 subscribers, right, if you're all of a sudden not making the same content that they subscribed for, you're essentially starting at zero.
09:20Right? Because those people who have already subscribed aren't there for the same reason that you are creating for now. I wanna update my 2026
09:28advice. Yeah. Let's hear it.
09:29When people say, should I start a new channel or keep posting on my same one if I'm gonna pivot? Mhmm. My my advice now is you I think you should start a new channel.
09:39I agree wholeheartedly. Um, because I sometimes would say, well, if you aren't super established or you only have maybe a few 100 subscribers because the problem is if you have, like, 10,000 subs or 50,000 subs and you were talking all about BTS, the band and you were talking all about like let's say pop culture and then you decided, well I've aged up and I'm gonna talk about something different.
10:00So you built a fan base, know, and subscribers that wanted to hear stories and fan lore about BTS. Yeah. Then you're like, you know what?
10:07Now I'm gonna do minimalism for women in their forties.
10:12Obviously, that would be insane. The pivot shock Yes.
10:16Of a subscriber base that wants you know, k pop or whatever BTS is. Did I just say Is that true?
10:23Yeah. I think it's k pop. Yeah.
10:24Okay. Yeah. And so I just know I know they're like all over charts.
10:28They're gigantic. You know, that is so massive.
10:31Now sometimes the pivots are more subtle, but let me just define why my 2026 advice is start a second channel is because that's a whole separate strategy that a lot of people are doing. A lot of creators you could look at are starting channels from scratch because they want a fresh algorithm.
10:46Mhmm. And because YouTube is actually doing a good job. If you start a new channel with the right There we go.
10:53Videos, I'm even gonna hit metadata. I know people, you know, we already proved it in a previous episode, but like SEO is still alive. Yes.
10:59The content matters most, but like the metadata that hits it. If you like drop those bombs on YouTube, new channel, fierce clarity on your audience, fierce clarity on your media that metadata, fierce clarity on the SEO, and then great engagement and you know what you're doing right out of the gate, a brand new channel can build so much momentum because you have a fresh algorithm.
11:18Yes. Every pivot resets your channel whether you realize it or not. So if you make a drastic pivot, you're causing confusion to your audience, you're causing confusion to the algorithm, you might be confusing yourself and that's why some people are saying they feel directionless.
11:31So, um, and if you are gonna pivot gently Mhmm.
11:36You gotta be ready for the dip That's right. And commit to a channel long enough. I think micro pivots not from k pop to minimalist women's advice in forties, that's too extreme.
11:47Mhmm. But if like, you know, you you if you zoomed out like a lot of people have built loyalty with me, obviously here on the Thick Media Podcast, they're getting to know you.
11:56If we made a pivot, there's some level, you know, whatever and and we went from YouTube advice to social media, that would be a pivot.
12:06Yeah. Like really just social, like zooming out. If we then zoomed out a little bit more, yeah.
12:13Like, it's you would make a strategic decision maybe expecting a dip. There's been a change,
12:19but, you know, just side quest side point. There's something about starting a fresh algorithm in 2026 that you can lean into, which brings us to number three, content without positioning. What's that mean?
12:28So content without positioning is is this idea that posting videos is not the same as building a channel. So when you're posting content without positioning, that means like without the through line, without consistency, even and not just in uploads, but, like, consistency in your presence, in your brand, and the value that you're giving.
12:48And if you're posting a video without any reason to subscribe, this is the reason that you can feel all over the place and that you can't be hitting the mark, because a video might work, but a channel needs direction.
12:59So you can ask yourself these couple questions for every, you know, every video and on your channel. Why should someone subscribe?
13:06What will they get consistence consistently? And we often say here at Think Media, Sean. Sean, Right?
13:11Like, we don't wanna ever upload a video that someone didn't subscribe for back to the whole idea of starting a second channel. Why? So that under the umbrella of this channel, it's uniform.
13:20Right? There's there's these buckets of content or pillars of content that you can expect here, and you so you have to be able to answer this, and some people may not even have stopped to think about this. Why would someone subscribe to my channel?
13:32And what are they getting consistent consistently right now? And for most of us, if you're feeling these symptoms of being all over the place, you probably haven't defined these. Yeah.
13:41And let's go back to Todd the big dog. Now, I know I'm lacking some information, but I'm just gonna use what information we have from his comment. He said I pivoted from AI to real content a couple weeks ago.
13:49I'm waiting for the algorithm algorithm to catch up.
13:52Here's what I would say from the information we do know. AI or real, the interesting question is what is actually your channel about?
14:00That's yeah. That's where I was gonna say. So what is the through line because that's really what we're talking about here with content without positioning.
14:06What's the through line? What's the reason to subscribe to the entire channel not just watch an individual video? Because while I would actually agree with him that AI to real is a massive pivot in expectation.
14:17Yeah. However, if your channel makes a promise, let me put it this way.
14:23If I uploaded a video podcast on this channel using 11 labs to clone my voice and the script was good and it didn't really feel like AI, maybe it even did feel like AI, but you're like, yeah, that's Sean talking and people do know me here. And if the entire video was kinda like b roll, like, so you just didn't see me, and then it went out on video, um, and then it was uploaded on audio, there'd be nothing to see.
14:51I guess my point would be, but yet we stayed on mission Yes. On task We stayed on brand. And Yeah.
14:56The promise of the title was really great and then the content of my AI voice reading it was, you know, really great. Yeah. And the viewers were like, woah.
15:05And the listeners were like, there's some epiphanies in here. There's some great stories. Okay.
15:10Whether you knew it was AI or not, did it deliver on the promise of the channel? Yes. So formats is important.
15:16But what's interesting about formats is, again, maybe somebody like might say, only wanna listen to Sean, but what we're doing at Think Media is also like, no. We wanna we wanna build a brand where people realize the people on our platform, whether that's Nathan, you, whether that's Nathan on the Think Media channel, whether that's Craig, whether that's our coaches.
15:35It's like you're just getting a consistent value and a consistent promise when you experienced our brand. So what do I mean by that? Is I mean that we sometimes are focusing on the wrong things.
15:44Yeah. You know, if you pivot from an AI and you're real, but you deliver the same value, what's the value of the channel? What's the promise of the channel?
15:52What's the through line of the channel? What's the consistent you've defined a who, but also it it is what.
15:57What would they keep coming back on and watching? And I mean, think last thing to ask would be, and what can they expect?
16:05Like why would they subscribe and keep what if you haven't defined that? You know who it's for and what problem it solves and what that clear focus is. And let's let's talk about niche or not.
16:15Do I niche down or not? Do I focus my topic or not? Yeah.
16:19I I think the focus is the keyword. Let's I'm happy to throw the word niche out. What's the focus of your channel though?
16:26And if it's about too many things or it's not clear, if it takes too long to describe, if it could be in one sentence as opposed to four paragraphs Mhmm. The moment you're like, well, listen, do you have thirty minutes? I can really explain to you the vision.
16:39No. I don't have thirty minutes. I have 30 characters.
16:43What is your channel in 30 characters? Send me it in text. Don't send me a thirty minute audio recording.
16:48Yes. The most offensive thing anyone can send even though I send a lot of them, you know. Especially too.
16:54That was the Thirty minutes of my drive this morning. Sean, could you type that out? That'd actually be a lot more kind and thoughtful so we'd have to listen.
17:01Yeah. Like, consolidate the message down. If you haven't taken it taken the time to write it down.
17:06Okay. We're gonna get to these five steps in a second, but there's one more. Last thing is identity confusion.
17:10Identity confusion. Yeah. And this is this is the deeper issue.
17:13This is where you haven't decided what kind of creator you are, and hang with me.
17:18This matters everything. This is the .
17:23I'm gonna share a quick story. I've been working with someone in our one on one coaching program, VRA Accelerator. He's a young guy.
17:29He has all the chops it takes to do this YouTube thing. Every single one. Ridiculous.
17:36His thumbnails are sharp. His setup is dialed in. It's like I'm I've actually been working with him, and I've been waiting for the day that he pops off because it's gonna come.
17:45But here's the thing. The big his achille his Achilles heel is identity confusion. This this young guy, he he doesn't know where his lane is yet.
17:55And when you know where your lane is, and it's at the intersection of what you're passionate about, what you can speak to, and and what you can see yourself doing years from now, we haven't found that yet. And so you can have. He's just living proof.
18:09And if he were sitting right here, he'd be totally okay with me sharing this because the big unlock has been, no. No. No.
18:13Actually, set aside the camera. Don't go film another. Don't do what you already are crushing.
18:18He's crushing with all that stuff. It's not the issue. You need to figure out who you are, man.
18:21So are we entertainment? Are we education? Do you have a business idea that you wanna connect things to, or is this more like lifestyle content?
18:29And up until this point, he's had fire videos, banger videos. And here's the thing we've done too, Sean, we even started a new channel.
18:37Because I was, like, you know, just trying to diagnose everything, and I'm like, that's our last solution, but it just wasn't working. I was like, let's try the fresh the fresh algorithm play.
18:45I just don't get it. Don't get it. Same results.
18:47And it's because up until this point, he can have the flashiest, best content, but because this piece is missing, people are clicking in. And my hunch is we don't believe who we're interacting with, that even the views we are getting Yep.
18:59For some reason, there's something missing there. So The word that's coming to mind is alignment. Yes.
19:03That's very super deep. But when you get in alignment
19:08and if somebody's disaligned, that's not even what we're fully diagnosing here, but we are at least we are diagnosing the problem. I don't know that we have a solution to fully get into alignment other than the fact that it's can be an ongoing process of coaching and feedback and practice and then time.
19:24100%. Time to test a version.
19:27You know, like things that really helped me, Nathan, is I daily vlogged well, actually I had some friends send me a camera, Benjie and Judy Travis, and they sent me this Canon Elf, a huge blessing, but this like little point shoot camera.
19:41And as soon as I got it, I pressed record that day and uploaded my first daily vlog because I'd watched them do it. And I actually committed to daily vlogging for thirty days, which was insane because I had nowhere near the time. Had a full time job like I wasn't daily vlogging Yeah.
19:53And I went zero to daily vlogging thirty days immediately. It's amazing. And just and like brute force.
19:59Yeah. Film whatever I could during the day and then edit at night or the next morning to do it daily. And now I had the blessing of having a video background and an editing background, so I edited fast.
20:09But here's actually what's interesting, is that you could you could call those some of the thirty day best days of my life. Mhmm. And it did not lead to a successful vlogging career.
20:17Yep. It did not lead and to your point, do I have the chops for that?
20:22Maybe. Maybe not. Do I even I don't know.
20:25I also personally whether I do or I don't, it's not something I wanna do, not in that format if it was whatever. Identity confusion. So so if, yeah, you're if you're disaligned, if you're in the wrong niche, you don't wanna get into a box someone else made for you by by figuring that out because if your identity is unclear, your content will be too.
20:44100%. And that and this is all about clarity and alignment versus confusion and chaos.
20:49Yes. And the algorithm not really knowing. And so yeah, I think you could pick an identity.
20:54Are you there on YouTube to teach? And then step into it because sometimes we haven't like embraced that. Yes.
21:00Taking the day to say, oh, I'm a teacher on YouTube. Yeah. I don't have a PhD.
21:04I don't even have a degree, but I'm one or two steps ahead of the person I wanna help. I'm one or two steps ahead of the person I was yesterday. That's your who by the way.
21:12You're most powerfully positioned Oh my goodness. To help the person you were yesterday. So you've identified your who.
21:18I'm gonna teach them this or am I gonna entertain? Am I gonna inspire? Am I gonna create a place for conversations and debates?
21:24But picking that, picking a lane or at least embracing the journey to not feel the pressure but to be like, listen, the low views are practice and experimentation. Yes.
21:34Because I am figuring out my identity. I'm practicing my voice. I've heard a lot of podcasters and and while they say on the stats, it takes about two years to even start making money from your podcast get get going.
21:45Mhmm. But I've had my friends like Carrie Nuehof say, he's got a big faith based podcast, huge now in church leadership.
21:51He's like, bro, this thing like he's like ten years in. He's like, I don't think I figured out my voice until year four. I didn't even thought Okay.
21:59That's like saying I didn't like get an alignment with my identity until four years in of doing it consistently. Yeah. Of actually like showing up, doing it.
22:07Some things just come over time where layers of clarity while you stay in learning, stay in practicing. And so, um, we're gonna talk about how to fix this, but do you have any final parts for that part? We would've been diagnosing the problems.
22:18We give you the five steps to fix this, but transition us. Yeah. Know.
22:21A 100%. And I think that the key point there is
22:24the only way to find that clarity is to persist. Right, is to, like, continue moving through. And so to the degree that you can stay in momentum and keep posting just like this young guy we're working with.
22:34We haven't stopped uploading until just recently where it's like, okay. Now let's really pause and do that. He's been uploading all through this, and he's even said, yeah.
22:40I mean, this has been completely worth it because of the clarity I'm getting. Like, we're accelerating how fast I'm moving through this alignment process. It's good.
22:48Feedback loops, all of that. Okay. We got five steps.
22:50What are they? Are you a business owner or serious content creator that is struggling to crack the YouTube code? Are you feeling stuck, overwhelmed, or just plain frustrated with slow growth?
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23:48to apply or click the link in the show notes. Alright. Let's jump back into the episode.
23:53Step one to fix this is define your channel in one sentence. You could do this right here. I help who get what result through fill in the blank type of content.
24:05Here's an example. I help new creators grow on YouTube with simple tutorials.
24:10If you do this and you find that clarity, you just defined your channel, I actually think a lot of this this this feeling of being all over the place goes away. Yeah. I agree.
24:19And that would be like that's what we do at Think Media. We help creators grow on YouTube with simple tutorials. So you could fill in the blank for you.
24:24What I would take it about a little bit deeper is that's the teaching side and so some individuals still might be like, okay, but I'm more entertainment. But you you still need a formula like I and even if you don't post this publicly, you need to get clear on this for yourself.
24:40Yes. So it's like, I'm seeking to entertain. What is the point of your vlog?
24:44I am seeking to entertain and help, uh, people relax in a world that's stressful.
24:51Our aim is to bring more light heartedness into the world. Love it. Oh my goodness.
24:55We wanna be a model family that values kids and faith and whatever and share the lessons we're learning in life and raising kids with the world.
25:06That might be a vlog thing. You know, I wanna enter like define your channel in one sentence.
25:12Define your channel in one sentence. Okay. Number two, choose two to three content pillars.
25:19Two to three content pillars. The feedback we got in the beginning, and lots of people in our community are again struggling with this, is like each week you're looking at a blank slate and what do I make this week?
25:29Yeah. Or I tried this concept. I've tried somebody said I tried pranks and I tried challenges and I tried this, but I'm struggling.
25:36And so if you're doing too many different things on your channel, what is a repeatable topic that could keep serving the same audience and helping them towards the same outcome? By the way, you could start with one content pillar.
25:47Maybe you want a little variety, but it's like, you know, one of our students actually has a really big channel that's helping people that have been through specifically, like, narcissistic relationships. And, uh, yeah, she's been a part of our Video Ranking Academy crushing it.
26:02She has what you'd call a video podcast, but she doesn't interview anybody. Uh, they're simple solo rounds.
26:08So they're essentially talking head videos. There's some editing in there. It's not where she started, but she's continued to upgrade her channel.
26:13She's over a 100,000 subs now. And so she's like dialed in though.
26:18So each video that is distributed on YouTube, but also video podcast and whatever. I I mean, from my perspective, I see she only has one content pillar. But it's these different topics, the problems people face when being these relationships or recovering or trauma bonding or you know, emotional abuse or the stuff they've through, how to deal with it.
26:37And by the way, it's endless. How do you deal with maybe a a a parent that was a, you know, a narcissist? What are the different types of So she can You you think about the people you're serving, you then also realize what's cool about the flag she planted on what her channel's all about.
26:52She might say, I help, uh, individuals who've suffered, uh, you know, narcissistic abuse or have dealt with those types of relationships heal and find ways to cope or deal with the relate I've made it really complex, but it it's clear what her channel's about.
27:06And it's like one pillar. So it's like kind of one format, clear for the audience, clear who the outcome is because this can expand over time.
27:14But the challenge for the listener would be like, yeah, what what are your content pillars? Here on this podcast, I guess we have solo rounds, we have I mean, in a way, we have like teaching and interviews.
27:25That'd be another way to put it. Yeah. It's me solo, it's you solo, it's us, but like we're going through an actual framework we're teaching here.
27:31Interviews are a little bit different. What are your pillars? What are your content pillars?
27:35Are they particular type of skit? Are they news? Are they live streams?
27:39Less is more. We're saying two to three, but I wanna I mean, pick one. Start simple so you have predictability, faster creation, stronger stronger signals,
27:49but it brings us to number three, commit to one direction. Break this down. 100%.
27:52And actually step three, commit to one direction, but step four is give it time to compound. I actually think these are siblings. They go right right with each other.
27:59So after you've done all of this stuff, commit to one direction. Yes.
28:05Oh my goodness. Most creators are failing and feeling all these symptoms because you're changing everything, every daggum two videos. And so the most important thing you could do is commit to one direction because one video is not an experiment in my opinion.
28:18Like, if I'm working with someone and we're like, hey, we're gonna try this new direction. We have clarity on our channel. We know our pillars.
28:24You can't, like, you can't do one video. I need, like, 10 to It's a big enough test. I need yes.
28:28I need way more videos to actually get information about this strategy in this direction. So step four, give it time to compound. 10 to 20 videos minimum.
28:38Mhmm. And you might be like, Nathan, what the I'm dead serious. Totally.
28:41This is why okay. If I'm saying I want 10 to 20 videos from you, take it seriously. Slow down.
28:47Figure out these things so you can commit to that level of volume. Let the data build over time, and then you can interpret all that data to let you know how is our audience responding, how are we feeling this because the reality is I wish it could happen faster, but clarity takes time.
29:03Clarity takes time and confusion costs
29:06time. Yeah. 100%.
29:08And actually, I wanna recommend a resource that we have for individuals because I don't know what we promised earlier but those are the four steps of how to fix it.
29:16You definitely gotta commit to one direction, give it time to compound. But we actually have a free training over at thinkmasterclass.com and I also just updated this.
29:25So we have what's called our seven step YouTube growth system. And what's so powerful is that seven steps isn't just about like tactical things about how to get views, it'll help you on the whole strategic side and help you If you've already been getting clarity in this episode, it is gonna like lock it in for you to give you clarity on exactly what to do in what order so that you're also posting videos that get views and make money.
29:50And that's what the whole point of it as well. If you don't wanna do that, well then don't check out the class. But if you're interested of how do I actually grow a YouTube channel that is also gonna earn money, this class breaks it all down.
29:59It goes deeper than we've been talking here and you get to watch over my shoulder on demand at thinkmasterclass.com. We'll link that up in the show notes as well. But you gotta define your channel in one sentence.
30:10You gotta choose two to three pillars. You gotta commit to one direction, and then you gotta give it time to compound.
30:17You need to let the data build. You need to let your audience adjust, and switching is too expensive.
30:23I'll end with a story and then let you close. I think that too many people misunderstand how expensive switching is.
30:31What this would when I think of switching, it'd be like if you're in Texas. Now for our global audience, that's sort of center America, huge state. And I'm right now in Seattle and, uh, Nathan is normally living in Nashville.
30:45So basically think about like the center of America and then think about the Left Coast and then think about the East Coast on the right. And so what's interesting is like when you pick a direction, right, if we were gonna do a road trip and we're like, alright family, we're packing up kids, Goldfish, tablets, Nintendo Switch Yes.
31:05Games, eye mask, pillow, whatever.
31:09Um, you pick a direction and we start we wanna go to your house. Yeah. So we start driving from Middle America to Nashville.
31:15Yeah. Okay. So we leave, and but if we change our mind and we maybe get a couple states over, drive for a few days, break a couple times, you know, we're almost there.
31:24We're almost there. Yeah. You're like, I'm waiting.
31:27I got some food cooked. We're gonna hang out. But then you're like, you know what?
31:31I actually changed my mind. I wanna go to Sean's house in Seattle. What do you not only like you're turning around Mhmm.
31:39But now your your hours in a different direction. Yeah. You're you're starting from scratch and so for some individuals you might think, well, I already have some subscribers.
31:47I have some You do have the lessons but how the algorithm might be conditioned. Yeah. Shoot.
31:50You're turning around and you're in a way starting from a deficit but there's just a cost to change. There's a cost switch. So now you're making up time, you're driving the other direction.
31:59Pick a direction and stick with it long enough. Too many creators are switching things up too much time. Clarity takes time, but confusion costs you even more time.
32:10So get clear, choose a direction, lock into it. Podcast, we asked you where you're stuck. This whole episode exists because of your feedback.
32:18Would you please let us know? Continue the conversation. What stuck out to you from today's episode?
32:23Where did you feel challenged? Where do you're like, man. Yep.
32:25I really need to crack that. What have you already tried and it's not working? We'd love to hear about where you're at on your YouTube journey because that's what we're here for.
32:32We're here to support you. We're here to challenge you, and we're here to help you get closer to your goals on YouTube this year. This is the Think Media Podcast.
32:41I'm Nathan Eswein, and I can't wait to connect with you in a future episode.
The Hook
The bait, then the rug-pull.
The episode opens with a diagnostic rather than a promise — four real creator comments pulled from a community poll, each one a different flavor of the same confusion: channels that feel directionless, algorithms that will not cooperate, audiences that will not stay. The co-hosts use these comments as a diagnostic entry point into four structural problems that cause a YouTube channel to stall before a single video even has a chance.
