I spent 6 hours editing a stream VOD once and in the end, I used maybe 12 minutes of footage. Almost everything was unusable. And it wasn't because the content was bad, it was because there was no focus. I was trying to craft some kind of simple narrative. Just something of focus that viewers could follow. But it felt kinda impossible. And for a long time I thought I was the problem. Like maybe I just suck at editing or it's just way too hard. But here's what I've learned since then working with streamers to turn their content into YouTube videos. The editing problem isn't actually an editing problem. It's a planning problem. 🤯 Most streamers treat streaming like this: They turn on the stream. They play games or do whatever. Maybe have a Just Chatting session Then they end stream. And then later they're like okay time to make YouTube content. So they scrub through 4, 5, 6 hours of footage looking for whatever they could find. A moment. A clip. Something they can use. And I'm sure most of you already know, this takes FOREVER. But here's the big mind blowing concept that changed my whole perspective on this. Streaming doesn't equal YouTube content. You can stream for 6 hours and have zero usable YouTube videos. Not because you're bad at streaming, but because you didn't give yourself anything to work with. I mean look at every top streamer who uploads consistently. Browse though their YouTube videos from the first or second channels. You'll notice something. Every video has a clear topic. A beginning and end. There's some kind of goal or focus. These are what I call stream segments. It's not just random stuff that happened to happen on stream. Every single thing they do, you can tell there's some kind of intention behind it. And that's what makes those moments on stream good material for YouTube long form. They're not editing harder. They're planning smarter. (I hope that landed lol) After studying videos from many streamers who are winning on YouTube I realized something crazy. Streams are super similar to a variety show you see on TV. Whether you wanna compare it to Asian variety shows or live ones here in the west. There's a lot of stuff happening with multiple segments that can be cut up into their own videos for YouTube. And I see that happening all the time with Late Night TV Shows. So that's why I call this the Late Night Method. Think about how SNL or any late night show works. They don't just go live and see what happens right? They have segments. An interview. A musical guest. A skit. A monologue. Each segment has a beginning, middle, and end that can stand alone. And that's exactly how most people consume late night content. As YouTube clips! Not full episodes. I don't think I've ever seen a full episode of any late night TV now that I think about it lol. I know there definitely are people who watch full episodes of SNL but I know there are A LOT MORE people who watch the segments on YouTube. It gets distributed and pushed to whoever it's relevant to. If you like comedy skits you get more of that. If you like interviews with a particular celebrity you get that. Your streams should work the same way to make lots of long form YouTube videos. The shift is simple! Before you go live, know what you're going to do. Not a full production schedule or a script. Just what's the one thing I want to accomplish or talk about today? (Start simple, you don't wanna overwhelm yourself) If you're playing a game and you have a goal in the game, whether you want to beat a boss or get to the next level or get a certain item, then just say it. Hey chat, this stream we're going to try really hard to beat this boss. We're going to try doing it within 2 hours. Let's see if we pass or fail. If it's a competitive game maybe it's you trying out a new character. Or trying to get to a certain rank by the end of the stream. If it's conversation topics you're passionate about, say you want to talk about cooking, then maybe research some cooking concepts beforehand or gather topics from your Discord and see what people want to talk about. If they want to talk about mise en place or they want to talk about soups, you can have a whole focused conversation on it. And that conversation can translate to YouTube. I mean, you see people reacting to reality YouTube shows all the time (like The Button) or Master Chef right? My favorite example is Atrioc (warning I will bring this guy up a lot in my posts). Because he's an experienced marketer and has a lot of knowledge of businesses and economics, he often uses that to have great and funny reactions to episodes of Shark Tank. He even has a segment every Monday called Marketing Mondays. Seriously go watch his stuff! Especially on the Big A channel (his second channel) There are so many great examples to pull from. And the best part is that if you really pay attention, you'll notice the edits are super simple. The point is you're being intentional. You're giving yourself material to work with. Now I know what you're thinking. But I barely have time as it is. I totally understand. But here's the counterintuitive truth and you might not like it... You need to stream less. A focused 2-3 hour stream with planned segments will give you more YouTube content than a 6 hour stream where you're just vibing. Trade streaming hours for planning hours. You'll actually grow faster. Plus you can conserve more of your energy. Notice how by after 4 hours your energy levels are way lower than when you first started? Then by the end of the stream you're a total zombie? Save that energy for something more productive and give your stream a better experience by staying live when you're at peak energy. The problem was never that you suck at editing. The problem was never that you don't have enough time. The problem is you've been trying to find stories in footage that never had one. An hour of planning saves 5 hours of work. So here's what I want you to do. Before your next stream, answer one question. What's the one thing I want to accomplish or talk about today? Say it out loud to chat when you start. That's it. You'll be surprised how much easier everything becomes. Try it out and let me know how it works. Good luck, have fun. And thanks for reading! :)

Quitting social media is actually so hard. I still have to come on here to post. That's all I wanna do is post but not scroll. But just opening the apps tempt me to scroll and sometimes I catch myself doing it without even realizing I started in the first place. But since I stopped scrolling, life had honestly started to get a lot better. I feel like I have way more time. I'm less irritated, less overwhelmed, less worried. Life is honestly way more positive without social media.

Agree or disagree: Thumbnail designing will be dead within the next year. 😭

difference between sales & marketing in 1 photo

thumbnail designers are pretty much useless in 2026. the final thumbnail this guy made isn't good, but the reality is 99% of thumbnail designers use AI anyway. thumbnail designers are replaced, but the value of someone who understands youtube packaging and can switch your titles and thumbnails for you is unmatched. if i were a thumbnail designer in 2026, I would: 1. learn youtube strategy 2. make multiple thumbnails for my clients (and charge the same, it takes 10 minutes with AI) 3. tell my clients what titles to use 4. set up the A/B tests and switch titles and thumbnails constantly to milk the performance of my client videos designers who can't do this are genuinely cooked. designers who CAN do this are going to get ahead of all their peers and make a ton of money.