I interviewed Jay Alto who’s worked with MrBeast, Ryan Trahan, Colin and Samir, and more.Jay is a master of thumbnails, creativity, and now has a YouTube channel of his own. In our conversation, Jay breaks down the 4 elements of a great thumbnail, how to find better ideas, and the weeks of prep-work that go into a Ryan Trahan video. Plus he roasts some of YouTube’s best and worst thumbnails, from Mark Rober to MrBeast to my interview with Logan Paul.

Chapters:

00:00 - 0:36: Who is Jay Alto

00:37 - 01:33 Presented by Hubspt

01:34 - 03:39 Ryan's Creative Process

03:40 - 06:38 Finding Ideas on YouTube

06:40 - 08:29 The Thumbnail Checklist

08:30 - 09:31 Roasting Mark Rober's Thumbnail

09:32 - 10:33 HubSpot Presents: Another Bite

10:34 - 12:01 Improving Mark’s Thumbnail

12:02 - 13:57 Roasting MrBeast's Thumbnail   

13:58 - 17:40 Roasting My Thumbnail

17:41 - 19:42 Scripting Like Top YouTubers

19:43 - 21:21 How to Grow Your Channel Sustainably

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I interviewed Zach King about how he's gotten over 20 billion views, created over 3,000 videos, and become one of the world's most popular creators. In this interview, Zach broke down his step-by-step process for turning simple ideas into viral videos. We also covered: how Zach uses AI, how much money he's made from YouTube Shorts vs TikTok, when it makes sense to hire a team vs not, how to script your next YouTube video, and what it's like working with Terry Crews, winning money from MrBeast (aka Jimmy Donaldson) and Airrack, and we may have started beef with another YouTuber cough cough Graham Stephan ; )
Chapters:

00:00 - 00:38: Who is Zach King?

00:39 - 01:35: Presented by HubSpot

01:36 - 04:47: Zach's Creative Process: Then vs Now

04:48 - 05:46: Using Prompts to Spark Ideas

05:47 - 07:24: T-Sheet" Brainstorming

07:25 - 13:44: Example Video: Step-By-Step

13:45 - 15:52: The Extra 10%

15:53 - 18:29: Process for Long-Form Videos

18:30 - 21:21: How Zach Makes Money

21:22 - 24:04: Comparing Pay: TikTok vs YouTube

24:05 - 28:39: YouTube Strategy 2023

28:40 - 29:48: Higher Budget Videos

29:49 - 33:14: Solo Creators vs Teams

33:15 - 34:14:  Another Bite: Presented by HubSpot

34:15 - 34:50: Zach's Hiring Rules

34:51 - 37:27: What YouTubers Can Learn From Hollywood

37:38 - 39:22: The Rise of Twitter Creators?

39:23 - 42:28: Most Expensive Videos

42:29 - 46:25: Re-creating "The 9-5" for creators

46:26 - 51:21:  Future of Filmmaking

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Before there was MrBeast there was Liza Koshy. She was one of the world's fastest-growing YouTubers and Viners, growing a fanbase well beyond 25 million subscribers. Her videos have over 2.6 billion views, but then she stopped uploading. So what happened to Liza Koshy? In this interview, I asked Liza why she left when she was on top of YouTube, what it was like hosting the Met Gala, voice acting in the new Transformers movie, and how she's applying all her skills as a host, actress, and director today. Who knows, we may just see Liza on Saturday Night Live soon enough.

Chapters

00:00 - What happened to Liza Koshy?

00:35 - Presented by HubSpot

01:45 - Liza's Creative Process

06:46 - Becoming a "Single-Person Studio"

09:31 - Filming Process: Liza vs Vogue  

14:52 - Liza's unique approach to hosting Met Gala

19:22 - Taking up more space

21:59 - HubSpot Presents: Create Like The Greats

22:35 - Who's ignoring Liza Koshy?

25:56 - What people didn't see

29:20 - Creating in groups vs solo

31:53 - What can YouTubers learn from Hollywood? Vice versa?

35:58 - "I've said no to large sums"

36:48 - How big is your team?

38:30 - Liza's Vocal Impressions

41:00 - Liza's Big Goal...and Obama's advice

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I interviewed Tana Mongeau who won Creator of the Year over MrBeast, Emma Chamberlain and David Dobrik at the Streamy Awards and has amassed over 5 million subscribers, an eight-figure empire, an OnlyFans agency, and products like Dizzy and Tanabis. But what's most impressive is that she's done this all after bouncing back from moments like TanaCon (her rival event to VidCon which featured Casey Neistat and Shane Dawson as speakers) and her wedding to Jake Paul. So does her comeback prove that Tana Mongeau is impossible to cancel? Watch this interview to find out.

Timestamps:

00:00-Who Is Tana Mongeau?

00:46-Presented by HubSpot

01:56-TanaCon: What Really Happened

05:48-Picking Better People To Work With 

08:11-Red Flags Most Creators Overlook

09:24-The 30% & Double Standards 

11:13-Regrets 

12:34-$605M Wedding to Jake Paul 

15:59-Inside Tana's Business

16:23-HubSpot Presents: Create Like The Greats

16:59-Inside Tana's Business (continued)

19:06-Prioritization: "You're not Bloomingdale's" 

20:20-Tana's products (and not doing what MrBeast did)

22:57-Leaving enough money on table to buy an island

24:54-Tana's income streams & how much she makes

28:25-Living with David Dobrik & Future of Content Houses

30:46-Beating MrBeast for Creator of the Year

32:54-Tana in 5 years 

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I interviewed Terry Crews about how he broke into Hollywood, changed YouTube with his Old Spice videos, and using deepfakes and AI to make videos after he's gone.

Timestamps:

00:00 - 01:10 Meet Terry Crews

01:11 - 01:51 Presented by HubSpot

01:52 - 05:25 Terry predicted this 25 years ago 

05:26 - 06:48 Using NFL To build portfolio in...art? 

06:49 - 08:11 Toy Story ruined Terry's animation career 

08:12 - 12:57 Arnold Schwarzenegger story

12:58 - 16:05 Preparing for famous White Chicks role 

16:06 - 17:49 Using “typecasting” to your advantage 

17:50 - 20:33 "Creating your own sport" 

20:34 - 20:56 Working with Old Spice 

20:57 - 21:42 The Shine Online 

21:43 - 23:58 Why working with Old Spice was "dangerous" 

23:59 - 28:25 Terry's Deepfake & using AI 

28:26 - 29:38 Deepfakes create new acting opportunities 

29:39 - 35:47 Impact of deepfakes on copyright and remixes 

35:48 - 38:47 "No medium is beneath me" 

38:49 - 42:03 Working with Zach King & creative process 

42:04 - 43:09 Surprise

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I interviewed Danny Duncan who is one of YouTube’s wildest creators — but he’s also one of the smartest. Years before MrBeast launched Beast Burger or Feastables and Logan Paul and KSI sold out stores with Prime, Duncan was crashing Zumiez’s website and selling out Tilly’s and Spencers with his popular merch line Virginity Rocks.Danny Duncan shared untold stories about his early years (like living with Chris Chann in LA, working with Jason Lee of My Name is Earl), all the businesses he’s started (From 16 Handles to Good Sport), how he’s been able to sell $150 million of merch, and why he's not exactly just the "bad boy" people think he is. We were also joined by his manager Stefan Toler who had a lot of amazing stories to share.

(00:00⁠ - ⁠01:05⁠) Meet Danny Duncan
⁠(01:06⁠- 02:05) HubSpot's Inbound Conference 2023
(02:06- ⁠⁠03:22⁠⁠) Danny's Motivation
⁠(03:26⁠ - ⁠05:55⁠) Early Days on YouTube ⁠
(05:56⁠ - ⁠08:46⁠) First 10K Subscribers ⁠
(08:47⁠ - ⁠11:04 )⁠ Finding Winning Format ⁠
⁠(11:05⁠ - ⁠13:30⁠) Pranks That Pushed The Limit ⁠
(13:31⁠- ⁠18:04)⁠ Being Homeless ⁠
(18:05⁠ - ⁠21:18⁠) Launching "Virginity Rocks" & Initial Backlash
⁠(23:25⁠ - ⁠26:49)⁠ Turning Jokes into Million Dollar Brands ⁠
(26:50⁠ - 28: 37) Initial Backlash ⁠
(28:38⁠ - ⁠29:40⁠) Cancel Culture ⁠
(29:41⁠ - ⁠31:15⁠) Bucket List & Creator Pressure
⁠(31:16⁠ -⁠32:03⁠) HubSpot Presents: The Shine Online ⁠
(32:04⁠ - ⁠33:09)⁠ Why Danny Doesn’t Look at the Analytics ⁠
(33:10⁠ - ⁠35:23)⁠ Dealing With Copycats ⁠
(35:24⁠ - ⁠40:24)⁠ Danny's Manager: Getting Into 2,000+ Retailers ⁠
(40:25⁠ - ⁠43:19)⁠ Brand 1: 16 Handles FroYo ⁠
(43:20⁠ - ⁠46:49)⁠ Brand 2: Good Sport ⁠
(46:50⁠ - ⁠49:09⁠) Brand 3: Ketnipz
⁠(49:10⁠ - ⁠50:15⁠) Brand 4: Monday Market
⁠(50:16⁠ - ⁠52:09⁠) Where Danny Would Invest $100,000 ⁠
(52:10⁠ - ⁠56:24⁠) Danny’s YT Analytics ⁠
(56:25⁠ - ⁠59:15⁠) Danny’s Income Breakdown ⁠
(59:16⁠ - ⁠1:02:02)⁠ The Future of Danny Duncan

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Paddy Galloway has worked with the biggest YouTube creators in the world like MrBeast, Ryan Trahan, Noah Kagan, Airrack, Jesser and more. He's also made video essays about how Peter McKinnon, Mark Rober, SSSniperwolf and many on how MrBeast himself (aka Jimmy Donaldson) became successful. In this interview, we spoke about how to grow a YouTube channel, how to start a YouTube channel, Shorts, monetization and the future of YouTube.

Timestamps:

(00:00 - 00:40) Intro

(00:41 - 02:07) Working with MrBeast

(02:08 - 03:55) Finding Great Video Ideas

(03:56 - 08:12) Writing Killer Intros & Titles

(08:13 - 10:25) Thumbnail Breakdown 

(10:26 - 11:01) When It's Okay To Sacrifice Retention 

(11:02 - 11:34) How To Make Shorts

(11:35 - 14:20) Testing New Formats  

(14:21- 18:10) How Paddy Makes $50-100K Per Month

(18:11- 19:15) Future of YouTube

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I interviewed Hayden Hillier-Smith, who is the unseen force behind Logan Paul and the 5 billion views on his YouTube channel. In the process, he helped redefine what it means to be an editor on YouTube and shares some of his best lessons and stories for creators are editing their own videos or trying to bring on an editor. 

Today, Hayden Hillier-Smith co-hosts a podcast with Jordan Orme called The Editing Podcast where he's had guests such as Ryan Trahan and Colin and Samir and he's also edited for MrBeast (including the recent "1,000 Blind People See For The First Time"), Sam & Colby, Alex Wassabi and more.

Timestamps:
(00:00) Teaser 

(00:47) How it started  

(01:48) Editing the vlogs 

(03:30) Did Logan give direction? 

(04:15) Editing with humor 

(05:23) Logan's "Style Guide" 

(06:56) Breaking records 

(09:41) Tough moments 

(11:00) Making better, more mature videos 

(12:52) Eureka moments 

(14:20) Editing with emotion  

(15:45) 3 elements of a "good cut"  1

(16:39) Good vs Bad Storytelling (example) 

(18:20) "Traditional editing" mistakes 

(19:45) How Hayden Makes Money 

(23:19) Looking Ahead

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I answer your questions after 8 years working inside YouTube & Instagram. Here’s our top questions from last week with timestamps below.

If you have a question for next episode, join our Discord community of 1,600 creators: www.Discord.gg/Created

Or DM me on Instagram anytime: @Youshaei

How did Peter McKinnon turn $0.55 into 5.5 million subscribers on YouTube? In this episode, Peter talked about:

• Which jobs can prepare you for a career as a creator
• Why he quit his job when he only made $0.55 on YouTube
• How he stood out in a saturated niche
• What he learned about filmmaking from Casey Neistat

And more. I’ve been excited to share this one for a while, enjoy!

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