We empower every video creator with the insights and inspiration they need to grow! #CreatorObsessed
San Francisco, CA
Joined October 2011
- Tweets47.8K
- Following872
- Followers19K
- Likes57.6K
vidIQ retweeted
Today marks 4 years since selling Video Creators to @vidiq. I spent almost 10 years of my life growing that business while also somehow having 7 kids in 8 years, moving a few times, and trying to keep up with an industry that moves at lightning speed.
During that time, I worked personally with over 3,000 creators, made more money than I ever thought I would, learned how to grow and manage a world-class team, spoke on the industry’s largest stages, and almost lost my marriage while my health deteriorated.
Today I’ve been reflecting on the past 4 years since integrating my team into vidIQ. A few themes come to mind:
1️⃣ Build deep personal relationships with people locally who don’t care about your status or industry achievements.
2️⃣ The most rewarding and lasting work is the work of pursuing the heart of God, your wife, and your kids, in that order.
3️⃣ Being an influencer isn’t the same thing as having influence. The latter is a more powerful tool for impact and legacy.
4️⃣ Raising a healthy and connected family is the best way to have an impact that lasts for generations after me.
5️⃣ Creating systems that support one-on-one coaching for 630 creators/year at Video Creators to 1,000 creators/month at vidIQ has been both more fun and more challenging than I could’ve anticipated.
6️⃣ Effective leadership isn’t just about having a clear vision; it’s also about having the kind of character that people want to follow.
7️⃣ Trust is the most important gift for me to steward well. Handle it with humility.
8️⃣ If I don’t prioritize my own health, I have less energy to be effective in every other area of life.
Each point has many stories behind it that maybe I’ll tell at a later time. For now, today is a day for me to reflect on the past and look forward to what’s ahead.
ALT Signing the contract to sell Video Creators.
RT @sandieman: with Shorts requirements going up.. might be good time for YouTube faster on Swipes. cc @nealmohan
vidIQ retweeted
GIVEAWAY: 3 @vidIQ max plans (6 months each)
I'm partnering with vidIQ-- the tool great YouTubers (and me lol) use to research, optimize, and grow our channels
I'll give 1 max plan to a small YouTuber, 1 to a Shorts creator, and 1 to a general YouTube creator
To enter:
- Follow me + @vidIQ
- Reply with your YouTube link
Bonus: the replies are basically a discovery board, so go find channels to sub to while you're here :)
I'll draw winners next week. Good luck!
vidIQ retweeted
VidiQ x Mayowa Of YT.
This one still feels unreal to me.
The first thing I noticed was VidiQ following me back on X. I was actually surprised because, when I first started YouTube automation, I used to watch a lot of their videos just to understand YouTube updates, algorithm changes, tags, SEO, and how to position a channel properly.
Back then, I mainly knew VidiQ as that tool that helped with metrics, tags, and those clean graphics creators post online to show their channel growth.
But recently, VidiQ has evolved into something much deeper.
Now, it is not just about tags and metrics anymore. You can analyze your channel, research content ideas, study what is working in your niche, get title suggestions, understand your audience better, and even discover content opportunities you may not have seen on your own.
I have personally gotten title ideas from VidiQ many times, and some of them actually became outlier videos.
So when VidiQ reached out and said they had something interesting for my community, I was curious.
I was like, what could it be?
Then they told me people in my community can get access to VidiQ Max for just $1 for 30 days.
Omo, I thought I was dreaming.
Because what do you mean someone can enjoy all those powerful features for just one dollar for the next 30 days?
If you are into YouTube automation, faceless channels, content research, niche validation, title testing, or you are just trying to understand what is working on YouTube, this is actually a big opportunity.
With the right workflow and VidiQ Max, you can make serious progress on your channel within 30 days.
I am not saying it is magic.
But if you already know what you are doing, or you are willing to learn and stay consistent, tools like this can help you move faster.
You can use it to analyze your channel properly, research video ideas before wasting time on the wrong topics, get title suggestions that can actually increase your chances of standing out, understand what is working in your niche, track your performance, and find opportunities your competitors may be missing.
This is the kind of tool that makes the process easier when you combine it with the right strategy.
And the craziest part is that you can try VidiQ Max for just $1 for 30 days.
That is why I am excited about this partnership.
VidiQ x Mayowa Of YT is not just a random collaboration to me.
It is a full-circle moment.
From watching their videos when I was still trying to understand YouTube automation, to now partnering with them and bringing an offer like this to my community.
God is good.
If you want me to show you how to get access to the VidiQ Max $1 offer, comment “VIDIQ” and I will DM you the details.
vidIQ retweeted
Sometimes it's easy to think, "Is there really room on YouTube for me? Isn't it already overly saturated? Would anyone want to watch my content?" Yes! 👇
Geraldine is a 56-year-old photographer who moved back into her childhood bedroom in NYC after a divorce. She wanted to build a narrative documentary series for Gen X women starting over in midlife, but when she started with her @vidIQ Creator Coach, Jeff, she'd already spent a year posting on YouTube before giving up. When she decided to give it another go, she felt overwhelmed and was battling perfectionism. She questioned whether anyone would care about her story.
Jeff coached her on hooks and storytelling nuance. He helped her build a weekly posting structure, guided her Shorts strategy, and kept her creating through the messy real-life moments that threatened to derail her momentum.
After a few months of improving her creator skills, her video, "Apartment Hunting in NYC at 56," hit 140,000+ views in under two weeks. She's gained 1,690 subscribers in 14 days. The channel went from 768 subs six months ago to 4,050 today, with 358,000+ total views across 60 videos.
And her message to Jeff says it all. I love it!
You have a story to share. Keep improving your skills so it reaches the people who need to hear it. #reachpeople #changelives
vidIQ retweeted
Some of my favorite creators to celebrate are those who are using YouTube to reach others and change lives.
Denis often watched lullaby YouTube videos with his son to help him fall asleep. While he was thankful for what others were creating, he thought, "Maybe I can make something like this for my son that other kids would enjoy, too."
So he started creating his own lullaby videos in his spare time. He showed them to his son and the kid loved them just as much as the ones from established channels. His son's excitement fueled him to setup a streaming server in his office and watch every "how to start a YouTube channel" video he could find.
He knew the content was good, but nobody was clicking. Denis loved making these lullabies. His son still watched every one, but he was frustrated by the limited reach his videos were getting. He wanted to reach more than 40 families. So he spent money to promote the video. That didn't work. "Mistakes of beginners," he called it. Then his second child was born and he found himself wanting to help families even more, except with significantly less time to do so.
That's when he started working with our @vidIQ Creator Coach, David.
David had been studying the channel. He suspected that Denis needed to make a few tweaks to better target his most ideal viewer.
The text was too small, the composition too busy, the emotional hook was unclear. The intros opened with a slow logo fade, and a toddler's attention doesn't wait for a logo.
David's feedback was specific:
- Bold "SWEET DREAMS" text readable at any size.
- One sleeping baby bunny as the clear focal point.
- A watchful parent bunny making direct eye contact, an instant emotional trigger for any mom or dad scrolling to find a video for their kid.
- Warm lantern glow against cool moonlight.
- And cut the intro. Get the character on screen in the first second.
So Denis made the changes to the video, uploaded it, and waited. Two hours later, he messaged David: "It seems like it's catching up."
That video now has 7,609 views, 190x his previous upload. His channel went from 5 views a day to 500+. Total views jumped 7.6x in 18 days. The next two videos hit 1,949 and 1,445 views each.
If every view represents a real person who is now watching that video, that means thousands of children are now falling asleep to his lullaby videos.
Sometimes precise adjustments in how you target your ideal viewer make all the difference in how you impact families around the world. #reachpeople #changelives
vidIQ retweeted
We pulled the day by day view history of 8.6 million YouTube videos with a full year of data, and split it by format.
Shorts and long form are not the same game. They're not even the same sport.
The typical Short earns 95% of its first year views in the first 7 days. After a week, it's basically done. A firework.
Long form is the opposite. The typical long form video keeps climbing for weeks, and almost half of all long form views land after the first month.
Shorts spike. Long form compounds.
So "post daily or die" is really Shorts advice. If you're betting on long form, the game isn't the launch. It's building something the algorithm keeps recommending in month three.
Are you playing for the spike or the compound?
vidIQ retweeted
One of our best-performing creator partnerships started with a translator.
I don't speak Turkish.
The creator didn't speak much English.
So he had someone translate my entire partnership pitch during our first call.
A few days later, he posted about @vidIQ on X.
500+ retweets and 300+ purchases in the first 24 hours.
What I've learned after testing creator promotions across both X and YouTube:
X gives you an immediate answer.
YouTube gives you a long-term answer.
A great X post can drive a massive spike in conversions within hours.
A great YouTube video can keep generating customers for years.
Neither is better.
They're just solving different problems.
The bigger lesson:
Some of the best partnership opportunities come from places most people aren't looking.
Different countries.
Different languages.
Different platforms.
vidIQ retweeted
One of our creators sent this message to their Creator Coach last night.
8 weeks ago, she already had a YouTube channel, but was overwhelmed by how to best position her content on YouTube. She couldn't figure out how to make YouTube work for her style of storytelling, so she just stopped posting.
However, what I love about this story is that she runs high-stakes professional meetings every day. In her full-time gig, she deals with analytics, data, and important decisions without feeling nervous. But hitting publish on a YouTube video? She was stuck.
After two months of coaching at @vidIQ, she pivoted her entire channel. She gave it a new name and took a new direction. After feeling overwhelmed for so long, last week she uploaded 3 videos in one night and sent her coach this thank-you message.
The shift for her wasn't some new YouTube tactic or hack. It was clarity. Having someone help her see that the story she wanted to tell was worth telling and that all she needed was a clear direction that would work on YouTube.
I love it! There's now one more creator who's spreading a message that changes lives. Check her out at youtube.com/@grandmadoes-ai She's just getting started.
Oh, she has one story of her own that she wanted to share, too. See the first reply. 🧵👇
vidIQ retweeted
We analyze tens of millions of new YouTube uploads every month at vidIQ.
Uploads in the last 30 days alone: 49M long form videos.
The median one got 207 views.
0.04% hit 1M.
And a Short was 10x more likely to cross 1M than a long form video.
The algorithm isn't suppressing you. The math is just brutal.
Most creators are simply playing the wrong format.
vidIQ retweeted
Mike loved building cars on YouTube. He spent hours out in the garage filming rust repair, chrome bumpers, even full restorations.
But for months, almost nobody watched. One video after another led to more and more disappointment. The car builds were great. His passion was obvious. He just couldn't get found and was about to quit.
So he started working with a vidIQ Creator Coach. The first thing the coach told him wasn't, "Post more." It was actually, "Don't change a single thing about your videos."
First, they determined who his ideal viewer is. Then, based on that, they updated the topics, thumbnails, and titles to use words that their ideal viewer actually uses to describe their problem. No more technical language or language that's merely descriptive and not compelling.
Before long, his videos were speaking the same language as the people who wanted to watch content like his.
The result? A video that usually would've died at a couple thousand views climbed to 13,500. That's 8,700 more than usual. Look at the graph: flat for months, then soon after the packaging matched his audience, it took off.
And not only that video, but it's been reproduced across many other videos on his channel, too.
What I love about Mike's story is that it's the same creator in the same garage making the same videos he's always made. He had an audience out there, but they couldn't find him until he changed his language to match theirs.
Now he runs the 75/25 rule with his coach.
While the numbers will vary based on each creator's goals, for Mike, 75% of his videos are built around language his audience consistently uses to describe what they want with their cars. The other 25% are built around who he is and what he wants for his community.
One grows the channel. The other grows the people who want to learn even more with him.
All of this was from the insight of a @vidIQ Creator Coach who knows what to look for so Mike doesn't keep making the same mistake over and over that throttles his channel growth.
Check out Junk's Automotive: youtube.com/@junksautomotive
vidIQ retweeted
Kudos to @timschmoyer and vidIQ coaching team for helping creators get wins like this.
If your creator looking to get that edge check out vidIQ coaching vidIQ.com/coaching
vidIQ retweeted
NEW FEATURE: paste your YouTube link, ask vidIQ AI Coach to draw the retention graph.
Tells you why people left... and how to improve for next time.
vidIQ retweeted
One of our @vidIQ partners just crossed $628K in total earnings.
Not a huge channel. A trusted one.
Last 30 days: $15K. EPC at $7.43. Sign-ups up 33.9% vs last month.
We've had partners with 5M+ view videos who never touched these numbers.
Views don't convert. Trust does.
vidIQ retweeted
🚨 Creators,
We’re giving you FREE credits to try vidIQ for Instagram + 1 month of Boost (if you record a video with your success story).
Here’s the deal:
Follow our proven Reel workflow
Create content that gets views and traction
Record a testimonial showing your results
That’s it.
If your testimonial is selected to be featured on our socials, you’ll also get a LIVE YouTube session with a vidIQ Coach.
We truly believe in this tool, and it’s 🔥
Are you up for a challenge?
👉 Interest form + secret workflow: forms.gle/GFRoHRcA7A4qngs3A
vidIQ retweeted
Just had a meeting with the @vidIQ team shoutout to TJ Rakowsky
I pushed hard to get something special for my audience .
And we made it happen: $1 for your first month .
Wasn’t easy to lock this in, but he did it for you guys.If you’re serious about growing on YouTube, this is a no-brainer.
Join here 👉 vidiq.com/muteeautomation
vidIQ retweeted
The @vidIQ thumbnail generator is pretty dang good
All three of these images were generated without me giving it a prompt
It generated relevant images based off the title, description, tags, and maybe it’s scanning the video frame by frame as well?
Now, obvi these are not perf but they’re def good enough for my review channel, and they’re only gonna get better
Two out of three of these images actually look like me, and the one that doesn’t look like me, people would still probably say looked like me…..
It also made a nonexistent colorway of a SF Giants hat and another hat I wear frequently
One other minor detail, the XF40V is a portable handheld gaming unit and not a video camera, but again, I didn’t provide any prompt at all, so that’s not bad.
If I gave it product images of the actual products, I think the output would be phenomenal
I save so much time using vidIQ to generate titles, descriptions tags, and now thumbnails
It’s incredibly crazy how much time you can save for $15 a month nowadays
Literally blown away
If you spend time doing these things, check it out ASAP
vidIQ retweeted
YouTube is the #1 streaming platform on TV screens in the US.
Bigger than Netflix. Bigger than Disney+. Bigger than all of them.
But new data raises a question most creators are not asking: are those TV viewers actually watching?
Here is what all of it means for you as a creator 🧵
vidIQ retweeted
You don't need to guess which YouTube Shorts will go viral.
Research shows top-performing Shorts have 70% of viewers watching vs. swiping away.
That ratio determines whether you get recommended to millions or buried.
8 hooks to stop the scroll (and hit that 70%):