- It has been 10 days since the last time I uploaded
to YouTube, and maybe you're watching this
because you are struggling as a content creator.
You don't know what to post,
you don't know what's okay to post.
You don't know when the right time to post is,
because maybe, in the future,
when you're watching this video,
maybe the chaos hasn't ended yet.
Maybe it feels like the world is coming to an end.
Hopefully you're watching this video several months
from now, and the world hasn't ended just yet,
fingers crossed.
But all joking aside, right now there's a lot
of serious things going on in the world,
and maybe you don't know how to talk to your audience
about that, and you feel pressured in some way.
Or maybe, you've already addressed that with your audience,
and you don't know how to go forward
off of the back of that, into your regular content.
And so, what do you do as a content creator?
And also, how does taking a break from making content,
effect you in terms of your business?
How does it effect you, if you're a YouTube creator,
how does it effect the YouTube algorithm?
These are things that I wanna talk about in this video,
creator to creator.
So we're gonna unpack a lot of stuff in this video.
I'm hoping that you'll watch it all the way through,
'cause I have a lot of great tips, but,
to be honest with you,
it helps me more in the YouTube algorithm,
if you watch the video to the end.
If you don't, it actually negatively impacts me
in the YouTube algorithm, which we will talk about.
So, let's jump into the video.
Hey everybody, this is Alberto Blake,
helping you create something awesome today.
Welcome back to the channel.
Today's video is a little bit different.
If you have watched my previous video,
I made a video where I expressed my thoughts,
and I kind of talked about where we are as content creators.
I made a video called, "A Message to All Content Creators"
and I talked about my own struggles with making content,
and knowing what the right thing is,
when we've had so many chaotic things, and crisis happen.
We had the coronavirus, and we had the economic fallout
from the coronavirus, back to back.
Rampant unemployment, people losing everything,
and it was very scary.
But then on top of that, we had just tragic event
after tragic event, between Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery,
George Floyd, and it culminated in this boiling point
for radical change in the world, and also now,
massive protests happening,
not just here in the United States, but worldwide.
As a content creator, a lot of us,
we make content so that people, when they leave their job,
or they come home from school,
they have something to escape to,
they have some kind of relief.
And some of us, like myself, we make content to help people.
I make content specifically
to help people become content creators,
become content creators,
Which I also teach people to do on this channel.
I also try to give people skills,
that I think will be helpful to them
and future proof their career.
I teach people how to make money online,
so they can supplement their income,
and maybe they can help their family.
And so, for me, I've actually had the same struggle
as a content creator, that you're going through right now.
How do you post during a crisis?
Well, let's talk about that.
So when the coronavirus pandemic started,
it also began to lead to a lot of economic changes
that effected people's lives.
We see the rampant unemployment numbers,
we see job displacement, we see frustration,
we see people starting to work from home,
and having to adapt.
And, a lot of content creators were able
to successfully provide help, and resources,
and capitalize on that.
And I made a few videos around those topics.
But it also derailed me
from topics I had already planned to talk about.
With building online business, passive income,
and also the breakdown of my own income revenue stream,
so I could talk you through the story
of how I built different parts of my business,
how I make my money, how much.
And I wanted to show you guys the proof of that,
and I wanted to do it in a transparent way to encourage you,
but also to educate you on a realistic timeline
for that stuff.
It was gonna be complex.
But I didn't end up making that content.
And why didn't I end up making that content?
Because I was worried about being judged to be, insensitive,
dismissive to the economic woes of others,
or to be bragging about how much money I make,
while other people are losing their jobs.
And while no part of my content really could,
or should have rightfully been interpreted that way,
I did feel concern about it.
I was pressured enough to not make content that genuinely,
100% believed in,
because I thought that would be called insensitive,
and I thought I'd be attacked for it.
And right now, there are a lot of you,
who you make beauty content, gaming content, tech content.
You make silly videos on the internet, and you feel like,
you can't do that anymore,
because there are serious things going on,
and who will pay attention to it,
and who will listen to you?
Guess what?
Everybody who's facing those horrible things in the world,
doesn't wanna keep facing those horrible things
in the world, in their feed, on their phone,
hour-after-hour, minute-after-minute.
Reintroducing themselves to that trauma, and to that pain.
They want a release, they want some relief,
they want something good.
And they deserve something good.
They deserve the content
that you are capable of making for them.
So should you address what's happening
in the world at any given time, in that content?
Well, there's a way to do it,
if you don't feel comfortable
with touching on those subjects.
And it's not cowardly for you to decide
to not touch on those subjects.
You could actually just be admitting to yourself
that you're not educated enough
that you don't wanna be irresponsible,
and you don't wanna make mistakes.
And that's perfectly reasonable.
And I'll be very real with you, a lot of black creators,
right now, are being pressured
to make their platform all about the current issues,
or to speak up about it.
And while it's great to speak up about these things,
and great to speak truth to power,
here's a true fact that I don't think a lot
of people will be willing to say.
As black content creators,
our blackness has always been inconvenient
to talk about, at scale.
And something we've been conditioned
to avoid this entire time.
We are barely comfortable talking about it, out loud,
on camera in some cases,
because it's a been a liability in our career.
For our entire lives.
For our parents entire lives,
and our grandparents before that.
And so you cannot be shocked that some of us,
don't know how to address it,
and confront it, with our audience,
because we've had zero experience with it.
And the experience we have had, eh,
hasn't gone so well sometimes.
So, with that in mind, I want to remind people that,
from my point of view, and this is just my opinion.
And again, this is another situation where,
I risk being taken out of context.
I don't think, having the expectation
that everybody uses their platform
in exactly the same way, is appropriate.
I think everyone has to figure out
what they are comfortable with, and what they're capable
of doing, and feeling like they've done it honestly,
earnestly, and responsibly.
Because, when people go
through the motions, it's very obvious,
and we see mainstream celebrities right now,
being called out, being called fake, being called pandering.
Some of them are very sincere in what they believe,
but guess what?
The delivery doesn't feel quite right,
because they are doing
what they think they're supposed to do,
instead of speaking from the heart.
The video that I recently posted,
you could tell that I was speaking from the heart.
And it made up for the horrible audio quality,
because in that state, I messed up,
I plugged the microphone into the headphone jack.
And so I screwed up that video,
but I felt I had to put it out, imperfect as it was,
because, it was the authentic emotion
that I felt at the time.
It was very loosely edited,
and I salvaged the audio as best as I could.
Sorry for everybody's ears on that video.
And so, if you don't know what to say,
and you don't feel educated about these issues,
the thing that I would say is,
instead of talking to your audience,
listen to people who can educate you.
And listen to their experiences,
and listen to their stories, and truly hear them.
And I don't think that, that's a controversial thing to say.
I also think that opening your platform for conversations,
if you want to do that, is also a very good option.
Even if it's just conversations with your own audience.
So, those are things that I think we can do responsibly.
I'll give you one more thought on this.
It's okay, to make content to give people something positive
to consume, and a way to stop doom scrolling
through their feed.
And it's actually probably very good
for their mental health, if you make content
that allows them some type of release and relief.
That being said, the way that you can say
that you're addressing it through your content, is to say,
"Hey everybody, I know you're probably having a rough day."
Or, "It's been a rough week."
Or "A rough year.
And so I wanted to make something fun for you to enjoy,
so here is that video."
And so I think you can address,
and acknowledge that horrible things are happening.
Serious things are happening, and say,
"But this is not about that, this is about
what I can do to make you feel just a little bit better.
And to have some kind of optimism and hope,
and something to look forward to, because you deserve that."
And I think that is a legitimate point to make.
Again, that is just my personal opinion,
and my feelings on it.
You guys can let me know how you feel
about it in the comment section.
And I'm open to that conversation.
I also think, if you're in an emotional state right now,
like I've been for a minute now.
And anybody who's been following me in Twitter,
and Instagram, and in the YouTube Community tab,
probably has a better look into
what my mental state has been like
for the last little bit here.
Hint, it's not been great.
And so, I watch content that is feel-good content,
in order to get away from it,
and stop my very bad habit of doom scrolling in my phone,
confronting myself, reintroducing myself to horror,
after horror, after horror, in a masochistic fashion,
it's just abusing myself at that point.
At some point, someone put something good in my feed,
and that's my escape hatch.
With that in mind, if you are not feeling up
to the task of making content.
It's been literally 10 days, for me, in terms of posting.
In terms of making and posting your content,
if you are feeling anxious about that,
or you're not just feeling the energy,
because you feel discouraged, you feel depressed,
or you are personally effected by a tragedy in your life,
a crisis in your life.
The thing that I wanna tell you is,
that if you are experiencing personal tragedy,
or the chaotic events that are happening
in the world right now,
have personally effected or impacted you.
Or you're a part-time creator,
and you're an essential worker on the front lines,
or you're on the front lines of a protest right now,
fighting for justice, fighting for equality,
fighting for causes you believe in, then guess what?
If you don't feel up to making your regular content,
right now, that's okay too.
And your audience will understand.
However, I do feel it would be irresponsible for me
to not talk a little bit about how YouTube treats content
when you take a break, since I've personally experienced it.
And, so, I have a little bit of data from all the times
that I took 30 days plus off from YouTube.
In my case, usually for physical health,
or mental health, or travel.
So really quickly, I wanna walk through that part of it.
Don't worry, this isn't gonna be a super long video,
we're not gonna go on too long.
Here's the main thing.
The YouTube algorithm doesn't punish you
for taking time off, it can feel like that,
but what it actually does is, it rewards consistency more.
And so that's kind of saying the same thing,
but differently.
So what do I mean by that?
Well, user behavior drives everything
in the YouTube algorithm at this point,
in fact subscriber counts are largely irrelevant.
Marques Brownlee in a video, where he actually talked
about his experiences, and his thoughts on the color
of his skin and race,
at the end of the video he actually shouts
out a few smaller YouTube channels that he likes,
and actually thank you Marques
for listing me in that line-up.
I really do appreciate it,
and I appreciate all the new subscribers
that have come from that.
I bring that up to say that subscribing,
just like Marques said,
subscribing doesn't help a content creator,
if you don't engage with their content,
and if you don't watch content from them,
because you like them.
So you have to actually watch content,
watch it for as long as possible, or all the way through,
and you have to engage and watch it frequently,
or YouTube will not show that content to you.
It will show content to you,
that you have been proven to watch more often.
Whether it's based on the topic,
whether it's based on the content creator,
whether it's based on the brand that it relates to.
It will show you more of that content
on your YouTube home page.
And the thing is, if you look
at your YouTube home page, and you think
about the last 50 to 100 videos you've watched,
you'll see exactly the evidence of what I'm talking about.
So, as a viewer, that's how YouTube works.
As a content creator, if you are not frequently
or consistently posting videos,
you go further down the line in someone's watch history,
in terms of their previously watched videos.
Which means that, you're less relevant to that person
at the time that they are most consuming YouTube.
Which means your content is less likely to show up
in the YouTube home page, and in suggested.
You will show up in the YouTube subscription feed,
but if you haven't uploaded for a while, like,
you might be very far down there,
compared to people who are uploading more consistently
and more frequently.
You also have to understand that many people,
have these absurd number of channels
that they're subscribed to, at this point,
because they have a variety of interests.
And so, in terms of the sorting, and the priority,
and who gets to be on their home page,
it's going to be content that is more consistently watched
by them, and performed better with people like them.
So when you take a long extended break from YouTube,
you're not being rewarded for consistency,
and somebody else is.
And that's where it can feel
like you're being punished for taking a break.
I think you should take a break if you need one.
I think that you should really think about how
to not ghost your audience completely,
while your doing that.
But, what I will tell you is that,
posting in the community tab does help
while you're not uploading videos, to keep engagement going,
and to also prepare your audience for your return,
and to let them know that you're still active,
and that you're not ghosting, or flaking on them.
The other thing that I will tell you about this, is that,
this is not an endorsement for you to go
and to become a daily uploader,
or to absolutely never take breaks
from your YouTube channel.
This is just to help you understand how viewers
and viewer behavior rewards consistency,
frequency of uploads matter,
predictability matters, and performance matters.
And that's why, when you want to support a content creator,
or if you're a content creator,
understanding that videos being watched all the way
to the end, watching multiple videos,
these are the things that help grow a content creator.
Subscribing by itself is all but meaningless in some ways,
and I don't wanna be dismissive of that,
because I know, how much subscriber milestones mean
to the YouTube community, mean to the culture.
But I want you to understand,
it's not this great algorithmic advantage,
and in a lot of cases, it actually hurts.
And it also hurts perception wise too, to have subscribers,
but then not have the views,
and it doesn't mean you did anything wrong,
it just means that the way the ecosystem works,
it rewards consistency, a lot.
And it rewards engagement,
and it rewards high click-through rates.
And the thing is, when you are not consistent,
those things suffer for it.
And so, that's just why I want you to understand,
and I want you to, not really take that
to heart as a criticism, or you're doing something wrong.
I want you to just be aware that you might want
to think more strategically about your content.
It's also why, I'm going to make a much larger effort,
to stick to my posting schedule and try to get out videos,
Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, for you.
Question of the day.
What have you been struggling with as a content creator,
and did this video help address any of it all?
Let me know in the comment section.
Like this video if you like it.
Don't forget to subscribe.
Check out the other awesome content here on the channel,
there's plenty of it here, to help you.
As always, you guys, thanks so very much for watching,
and don't forget, go out there
and create something awesome today.
Take care.
(upbeat music)