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Howdy,

Here is your weekly dose of The Creator Stream, a list of what I’m enjoying and exploring in the Creator Economy. Please feel free to forward this along to friends.

My Favourite Things This Week

🧰 YouTube Thumbnail Tool I’m Using

New YouTube Thumbnail + Title Tool - A tool I've been using for a couple of weeks now is Brandon Shepherd's 'Click Pilot App'.

It's a website that lets you preview your YouTube thumbnails and titles whilst comparing them with videos from search terms, channels, playlists, or trending.

This is a HUGE upgrade from Thumbsup.tv which is regarded as the holy grail for previewing your videos pre-upload, but it’s quite basic.

With Brandon’s app, it gives you the ability to add your competitor’s channels so that you can see how well your thumbnail stacks up against their videos. It also lets you randomise your thumbnail’s positioning on the homepage to see if it catches your eye compared to competitors.

Definitely worth checking out if you’re a YouTuber!

🎥 My Latest Video

Why You Can't Stop Watching: How YouTubers Hold Your Interest - Speaking of being a YouTuber, I uploaded a video that breakdowns how the likes of Casey Neistat, Dodford, and Mr. Beast make it hard for you to click off their videos.

If you don’t have the time to watch, here’s a quick summary:

It’s all about storytelling and each of these YouTubers does it in their own way. I chose these three YouTubers as they are in completely different niches but there are similarities across all of their videos which they use to hold your interest.

1. Casey's skill lies in turning everyday life into compelling stories, creating a narrative that is both realistic and highly entertaining through set-up, conflict, and resolution.

2. Dodford uses careful planning and research to create insightful short documentaries, using the same three-part story structure of set-up, conflict, and resolution but crafted from other people's lives.

3. Mr Beast employs the art of surprise to keep viewers engaged and emphasizes that a good story should always contain a surprise.

If you want to watch the full video you can find it on my channel here.

Want To Advertise in The Creator Stream?

If you're interested in sponsoring The Creator Stream Newsletter, send an email to [email protected] and I'll get back to you!

📱 MAJOR YouTube Shorts Update

The Biggest YouTube Update Since The Introduction Of Shorts - Starting in September, Shorts will now let you link your YouTube Shorts to long-form videos through the use of 'content links'.

This will be huge for driving traffic to grow your audience and make it easier to grow your channel than ever before.

This will especially be a turning moment for Podcasts and other long-length content. I can't wait to see the impact this has on both content types on the platform.

Thanks for reading, if you want to reach out to me, just send a tweet to @WhiffenYT. Have a wonderful weekend!

Jamie

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Whenever you're ready, there are 3 ways I can help you:

1. If you want to improve your thumbnails, I recommend you sign up for free at The Thumbnail Vault. It's a database of over 1,000 of the best thumbnails on YouTube for inspiration with breakdowns on why they got views.

2. Book a free 15-minute consulting call with me where I can give you some pointers on how to improve your YouTube Channel.

3. I create videos on how I’m helping my clients get more views and make money on YouTube. Check out my channel.

Want To Advertise in The Creator Stream?

If you're interested in sponsoring The Creator Stream Newsletter, send an email to [email protected] and I'll get back to you when I can!